Black Bean Salad with Feta

Jon's mom gave me this recipe at my wedding shower.  Jon talked about how good it was, so I finally decided to try it.  I can't believe how refreshing and amazing this recipe is with so few ingredients.  It's actually pretty addicting!

Ingredients:

• 2 15 oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 sweet red pepper cored, seeded, chopped
• 2 cups finely chopped cabbage
• 4 green onions chopped
• 4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

 Method:

1. Combine all ingredients and mix.  Cover and refrigerate until well-chilled.  Makes 8 1-cup servings.

Curried Pumpkin Soup

Tis the season for everything pumpkin, hot, and fall-la-la--la la la laaa la FALL!!!!  I love fall because you can get some of the best seasonal food from pumpkin to butternut squash and soon for fresh pomegranate!  My most favorite food to make and eat in the world is soup.  I have always loved soup, but now that I cook my own, it's nearly an addiction.  It's perfect to eat hot soup in my cool apartment to feel warm without turning the heat up.   I learned to really appreciate and enjoy seasonal food in Japan.  It is definitely a culture and way of life to eat and make food based on the season.  With that in mind, please enjoy this divine curried pumpkin soup recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 15 oz. can pumpkin
• 1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Method:

1. Saute mushrooms and onion in butter until tender
2. Add in flour and curry powder and mix until blended
3. Gradually add the broth
4. Bring to a boil; cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes or until thickened
5. Add the pumpkin, milk, honey, salt, pepper, and nutmeg; cook until heated through

Original recipe here

Oatmeal Wheat Scones

When I lived in Australia way back in 2004, I fell in love with scones.  I never had a scone before then.  I have searched high and low for appropriate scones as I remember them in Australia.  You can of course find "scones" at Starbucks and many other coffee shops and cafe's but they aren't what I recall.  The ones I find here are usually loaded with sugar and have lots of fruit inside of them.  They generally have a harder outside and not too fresh on the inside.  Thanks to my Simple Vegetarian Pleasures cookbook, I found an excellent scone recipe that allows me to eat scones the appropriate way that I remember.  Since this did come from one of my cookbooks, I can't publish the recipe, but please feel free to email me and I'll send it right to you!  This recipe is unique since you use oatmeal in it.  It leaves the inside very moist and fluffy.  You put any flavor jam on top of the scone and then whipped topping over the jam.  It was heavenly delicious!

Oatmeal Scones

Macaroni & Cheese

This is a very simple and delicious recipe.  I'm not quite sure why we decided to make homemade macaroni and cheese since we actually enjoy regular mac-n-cheese kraft version, but the homemade is far better.  It's amazing how good it tastes with so few ingredients.  It makes a lot, so feel free to make for a week worth of lunch!

This recipes comes from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 1 16 oz. package of macaroni
• 1 pound sharp cheddar cheese, sliced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• salt and peper to taste
• 1 12 oz. can evaporated milk or 1/2 cup regular milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until el dente.  Drain.
2. Grease a 2 quart casserole dish.  Place a quarter of the macaroni in the bottom, followed by an even layer of one-quarter of the cheese slices.  Dot with butter and season with salt and pepper.  Repeat layering three times.  Pour evaporated milk evenly over the top of all.
3. Baked, uncovered, for one hour, or until top is golden brown. 

Ethiopian Food

On our honeymoon, we had somehow made it a priority to eat international and interesting foods.  One evening in Boulder, we tried Ethiopian food.  Jon has had it once or twice before and this was my first time ever having it.  It has quickly made it's way to the number one position in my favorite ethnic foods ever.  There are plenty of vegetarian options and incredibly spicy.

The sad news is the closest Ethiopian food to me is in Montreal.  The good news is this allows me to experiment in cooking!

So, one night, I made about 5 different dishes of Ethiopian options.  Typically, you share an entree with everyone at your table in the manner shown above in the picture.  Then, there is "injera" - an incredibly spongy, thin bread that you use to pick up the food.

The stable of all these different types of dishes are different lentils - I used brown and red lentils and yellow and green split peas for all of the bases.  Then, I used tons of different spices.

I am not going to post all of the recipes because there are so many of them.   I got ALL of the recipes from the website below.  I made them all except for the 'gomen'.

http://www.pakupaku.info/ethiopian/ethiopianintro.shtml

Sadly, I couldn't make the injera bread because I didn't have the right type of flour.  However, I plan to find it when I am in a big city next!

I encourage you to make it and share with many friends OR have a week's worth of lunch!

Traditional Bread & Butter Pickles

Or in other words...sweet pickles.  I know a lot of people actually don't like sweet pickles, but Jon LOVES them.  He can eat a whole jar in one sitting.  With our new love for pickling and canning food, we made this great concoction with the help of a recipe from our canning book.  It's super easy, but I must warn you that the vinegar smell is one to burn the nostrils.  Picklers beware!

Ingredients:

• 6 cups sliced, trimmed pickling cucumbers (1/4" slices)
• 2 large onions, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup preserving and pickling salt (you can just use regular salt, if desired)
• 1 3/4 cups white vinegar
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 tablespoon mustard seeds
• 2/3 teaspoon celery seeds
• 2/3 teaspoon ground turmeric
• Pickle granules

Method:

1. Combine cucumbers, onions and salt in a glass or stainless steel bowl.  Mix well, cover with cold water and let stand at room temperature for two hours.  Transfer to a colander placed over a sink, rinse with cool running water and drain thoroughly.
2. Prepare stockpot/canner and jars 
3. Combine vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds and turmeric in a large stainless steel saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar.  Stir in vegetables and bring to a boil.  
4. Pack vegetables into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Add rounded 1/8 teaspoon pickle granules.  Ladle hot pickling liquid over vegetables, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Remove air bubbles: re-measure headspace.  If needed, add more cucumbers to meet recommended headspace.  Wipe rim, center lid on jar.  Screw band until fingertip-tight.
5. Process filled jars in boiling water for 10 minutes.  Remove stockpot lid.  Wait 5 minutes., then remove jars, cool and store.
6. Allow to sit for 24 hours before eating 

We didn't have enough cucumbers, so as you can see, we have way too much room in our jar.  However, they still turned out great.  This will only affect your pickles if you plan to store them for a long time.  We ate ours in under one week, so it made no difference.

I hope you enjoy! 

Barbequed Tempeh

A while ago, I wrote about the Italian-flavored tempeh and described tempeh.  This recipe is another excellent way to prepare tempeh.  At very least, the barbequed sauce that it makes is phenomenal.  I highly recommend at least trying the BBQ sauce.  You won't be sorry you did!  We've been making this recipe since May 2009 nearly every month.  The picture doesn't look too appetizing, but I promise it's great!

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Ingredients:

• 2 lb tempeh, cut into 1/2 inch wide strips
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion (can be omitted, if needed)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 11/2 teaspoons peeled and minced fresh ginger
• 1 14 oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons tamari or other soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat.  Add the tempeh and cook, turning until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes total.  Remove and set aside.
2. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger to the skillet, cover, and cook, stirring a few times, until softened, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the tomatoes, molasses, mustard, soy sauce, vinegar, and cayenne and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, to thicken the sauce slightly and develop flavor for 15 minutes.
5. Return tempeh to the sauce and cook 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Original recipe here

Ice Cream Cake

When I was engaged, I made a lot of decisions to not do things in a traditional manner. One of those things involved a "honeymoon" shower instead of a typical wedding shower.  However, one thing that I definitely wanted to remain in tradition was the collection of recipes from friends and family!  Of course, I requested everything to be vegetarian.

Skip a few months and let's bring it to August 18 which is my friend's birthday.  Our mutual friend told me that she wanted an ice cream cake for her big day.  Instead of buying one at Friendly's like I typically would have, I decided to try one of the recipes that was given to me at my shower.  Thanks to my mom's friend, Kathy for this recipe!

Ingredients: 

• 1 package of oreo cookies
• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream (however, you could substitute this with any flavor you like)
• 2 jars of hot fudge
• 1 container of cool whip

Method:

1. Crush oreos into small pieces, then remove a small amount for top of dessert
2. Melt all of the butter and mix into the remainder of the cookies
3. Press mixture into a 13x9 pan 
4. Place into freezer for about 15 minutes or until frozen hard
5. Soften ice cream until you can spread easily over crushed oreos.
6. Place into freezer for about 35 minutes or until frozen hard
7. Microwave hot fudge according to directions on the jar and spread over the ice cream
8. Return everything back to the freezer until the hot fudge freezes
9. Top with cook whip and remaining crushed cookies

Serving:
Take out of freezer 15-20 minutes before serving

To continue with my story, I brought this to work for my friend's birthday.  Everyone raved about the recipe and how good it was.  My boss literally was stalking the freezer to continue eating more and more.  It's incredibly easy to do, just time consuming since you need to wait for the layers to freeze before continuing! 

Pickled Daikon recipes

Daikon are essentially huge white radishes (check out the picture to the right).  I had never seen a daikon before I moved to Japan.  And of course, I'd never eaten one before them, too.  Since being back in the USA, I have only had it at Japanese restaurants.  The most popular way for Japanese people to eat them is by pickling them.  It takes away from the rather bitter taste of a radish.

We grew about 20 of them in our garden.  We were very successful and we quickly had 20 daikon to eat.  We made a stir fry out of them (See below), but that only uses one of them up.  We decided to try to pickle them.

We tried four recipes:

1.  Chinese Pickled daikon
2.  Bahn Mi (Vietnamese version) (we tried two of these kind)
3.  Sweet picked daikon

Of the three, Jon and I agree that the best is the sweet pickled daikon, followed by the bahn mi, then the chinese pickled daikon.  It's fun pickling and actually rather easy!  Now that we have more experience, we hope to pickle cucumbers.  We canned them, too so we don't have eat them quickly.  We will certainly be pickling more daikon so we don't waste it!

       me pickling to the right

Jon canning the pickles!

final products!

The recipe for sweet pickled daikon 

The recipe for the bahn mi daikon


The recipe for the chinese pickled daikon

Kale Chips

I'm back!  After nearly a month hiatus of cooking and posting, I am back!  Do I have any followers left? LOL.  I have a few recipes to get up here, but it's all going to be very unusual and international.  If you have the time, I encourage you to try.

The graduate assistant in our office has a farm share.  She pays a farmer and gets vegetables all summer long.  She is getting so much kale that she doesn't know what to do with it.  She offered some to me and I made kale chips out of them.  Super good! 

Ingredients:

• One bunch kale
• One tablespoon olive oil
• One teaspoon seasoned salt

Method:

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil.
2. With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
3. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes. 

Enjoy!

Original recipe here

 

Daikon and Broccoli Stir-Fry

When I lived in Japan, I was introduced to all sorts of new food!  One vegetable that I fell in love with was daikon, which is essentially a huge white radish.  In Japan, people often pickle them or put them inside sushi rolls.  Aside from going to the local Japanese restaurant here, I haven't had it since.  I was ecstatic to grow it here during the summer!  We pulled a "daikon" out of our garden about 2 weeks ago, it was way too small.  Yesterday, we pulled another one out...they're starting to get there!

We wanted to use up the medium-sized daikon before our wedding.  We're leaving for our honeymoon for two weeks and are trying to use up all our fresh foods!  I got this recipe from wal*mart.  They have free recipes in the produce section of our wal*mart.  I had to change some items to make it vegetarian.  The end result was soooo good.  We're very pleased with the results.  Definitely can't wait to get more daikon out of garden after our honeymoon.

On this note, this might be my last blog until the first week of August.  Sorry folks, I'm tying the knot!

this is a daikon (a white radish)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup vegetable broth
• 2 tbsp. less-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 tbsp. cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 daikon, cut into thin strips
• 3 cups broccoli florets
• 2 cloves garlic, minced 
• 1/4 cup cooked and chopped spinach
• Rice

Method: 

1. In small bowl, stir together broth, soy sauce, sesame oil, cornstarch and sugar
2. Heat large skilled and add oil, when hot proceed to step 3
3. Add daikon and broccoli; stir-fry in hot oil until crisp-tender
4. Add sauce mixture and garlic and spinach.  Cook and stir until sauce thickens (approximately 10 mins)

Serve over rice!

Chiang Mai Noodles (Khao Soy)

When I visited Thailand nearly 3 years ago, we were introduced to Khao Soy, while visiting the northern city of Thailand called Chiang Mai.  We did a one day tour of a far away temple with a local man.  He brought us to the local markets and insisted we try this.  It was fantastic.  Later during my trip, I participated in a Thai cooking school call Baan Thai.  I bought their cookbook which included the recipe.  It's my first time trying it out and we had some difficulty obtaining the ingredients.  We tried out best, but it didn't taste exactly like the original dish.  We still enjoyed it though.

Ingredients:

• 1.7 ounces of deep-fried egg noodles (I just used the oriental crunchie noodles)
• 3.5 ounces of boiled egg noodles (I just used regular egg noodles for soup, but you should try to find Thai egg noodles)
• 1.7 ounces of tofu, cut into cubes (add more if desired)
• 2 tbsp. cabbage, chopped
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 cups coconut milk (about one can)
• 3 chopped shallots
• 1.5 tbsp soy sauce (meat eaters: use 2 tbsp fish sauce)
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. indian curry powder
• 1 tbsp. red curry paste

Method:

1. Make egg noodles according to directions on package
2. Mix the red curry paste with the indian curry powder
3. Place a large saucepan or wok over low heat, put the oil, red curry paste/powder and stir constantly until fragrant
4. Add coconut milk and cabbage and turn to medium heat and stir constantly
5. Add soy sauce, sugar and tofu
6. Mix well until is covered and warmed thoroughly

Serving method:

1.  In a bowl, add desired amount of egg noodles.  Add the coconut/tofu mixture on top of it.  It should be kind of soupy.
2. Add the deep-fried egg noodles on top.  
3. Place the shallots on top of this.

Spinach & Artichoke Dip

Well, with all this spinach, naturally, we made one dish that everyone loves!  Spinach and Artichoke dip!  It used a lot of our spinach up, but we have to go back to harvest more soon anyways.  I got this recipe from my sister who got it from a friend.  This is one of the best spinach and artichoke dips I've had.  Next time, I'll be sure to add a little more garlic salt, but otherwise totally good.   Everyone at the dinner party I went to really enjoyed it, too.  Thanks Lisa!

Ingredients:

• 1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup grated romano/parmesan/asiago cheese
• 1/2 cup spinach, boiled down and chopped (you can use frozen spinach, too)
• Shredded Italian Cheese
• 1 can of artichoke hearts
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Basil to taste
• Garlic powder to taste
• Salt and pepper

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Drain and chop artichoke hearts

3. Mix together cream cheese, sour cream, grated cheeses, garlic, basil, salt and pepper in one bowl.

4. Add spinach, artichoke hearts with the cream cheese mixture.  Put in a greased dish.  Sprinkle with the shredded Italian cheese on top.

5.  Bake on 350 for 20 minutes

Serve with tortillas!

Mexican-Style Pasta

I'm really starting to utilize my easy vegetarian dinners cookbook!  After one or two failed recipes out of it, I rarely opened it.  We found another keeper.  As the name of the cookbook suggests, it's simple.  This is almost like a chili sauce over pasta.  It was really good and we plan to use it again.  Feel free to email me for the recipe!

Nutty Spinach Pizza with Two cheeses

This summer, Jon and I are trying to grow vegetables in a community garden plot.  We pay only $25 for the whole year to use this.  The soil and everything is a part of this small fee.  While we just learned from a fellow gardener how to fix our green beans, snow peas, and carrots...our spinach is fully ready to continue harvesting!  Today, we got TONS of spinach and will go back for more tomorrow.   If nothing else grows, at least we got a lot of spinach.

So, with all this spinach, we decided to make a spinach pizza out of the Easy Vegetarian Dinners book.  I know some of my followers enjoyed the last pizza I made.  This one is pretty good, too.  It uses swiss cheese as the base and then you top it with caramelized red onions combined with steamed spinach, garlic and crushed red pepper.  You top that with pine nuts and then colby cheese.  It's so easy!  Feel free to email or message me if this one looks good.

While I'm going to try to continue with my blog as much as possible, I might be not as regular since my wedding is next weekend and followed by a two week honeymoon.  Please be patient and keep reading and I will be back on a regular schedule.  Oh, you can also probably expect a lot of different spinach recipes for the next week!

                                   all of our harvested spinach from today

                                     the pizza which includes swiss cheese, 

                                     colby cheese, pine nuts, crushed red pepper, 

                                     red onion, and our yummy spinach!

                                       served with a spinach salad

Tomato Zucchini Quesadillas

Jon actually gets full credit for this one.  He made these for me as a surprise.  They're your typical quesadilla but you put zucchini inside.  It was very delicious.  This recipe came from the simple vegetarian pleasures cookbook.  If you'd like the recipe, email me!

Orengini

When I lived in Japan, my friend Maria who lived about 4 hours away from me made this recipe, sorta.  Hers was a little bit different.  I tried to replicate it when I came back to the United States.  However, it was too difficult for me.  She add vegetables and sauce inside her orengini.  Our rice balls kept falling apart when we tried frying them with the stuff inside.  Since then, we removed this step to make it work.  I misunderstood the name of this traditional Italian dish.  I thought Maria said orengini, but in fact it's called "arancini'.  Since the recipe is slightly different from the true arancini recipe, we kept the name orengini.  I suppose this is a good representation of how things change in time!  Essentially, orengini is like risotto.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups uncooked sticky rice
• 1-2 eggs
• Bread crumbs (about one cup)
• Marinara sauce (one full jar)
• Vegetable oil
• Cheddar or mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

1.  Cook rice  

2.  Beat up the eggs in a bowl that is convenient to roll around the rice ball

3.  Place one cup of bread crumbs into another bowl that is convenient to roll the rice ball in 

4.  Heat up the oil when rice is nearly done cooking. 

Process

1.   After rice is done cooking, mix in cheddar cheese or mozzarella cheese (cheddar gives a better taste)

      *if using non-sticky rice, you definitely need to add  cheese to make the rice sticker to remain in ball shape

2.  Make the rice/cheese into a ball a little larger than a golf ball

3.  Roll balled rice around in beat-up egg

4.  Roll balled rice around carefully in bread crumbs.  Carefully take out the ball with a spoon.

5.  Place breaded balled rice into hot oil until bread crumbs are well cooked and remove from oil (about 2 minutes on each side)

6.  Heat marinara sauce

Serving:

1.  Place rice ball on a plate

2. Place the heated marinara sauce over the ball

3.  Add mozzarella cheese on top

 

Bibimbap

When living within and traveling around the great continent of Asia, a vegetarian finds the one or two dishes available to them within that region.  Bibimbap turned out to be my savior when I visited S.  Korea.  This turned into and remains one of my favorite dishes in the world.  Thanks definitely extends to my friend Corey who introduced me to it.  My favorite type of bibimbap (dolsot) is impossible to recreate without an expensive stone bowl.  This type comes with rice in the bottom, vegetables and a raw egg.  The stone bowl is so hot that as you mix around the ingredients, the eggs and vegetables cook and it becomes a sort of fried rice in a bowl.  The traditional bibimbap comes with beef, but that is easily left out for an amazing dish.  Finally, it's been impossible for me to find the red chili sauce that Koreans put with it.  This sauce pretty much makes the dish.  Instead, we use sriracha sauce.  I highly recommend you try making this OR get it the next time you're in a Korean restaurant.  Unfortunately, my source for this recipe can't be found.  It took me a long time to find this exact recipe well over a year ago.  I have no idea where I got it from off the internet.  I have modified it only to exclude the beef.  The recipe is a bit challenging at first, but is very easy for us now!

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Ingredients:

• 3/4 to 11/2 cups rice (uncooked) ((use sticky rice))
• 2-4 carrots
• 10 oz. spinach, fresh
• 8 oz. bean sprouts - with or without attached beans
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup + 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1/4 cup ground sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic 
• Sriracha

Overview
Start the rice cooking in a rice cooker or pot.  While the rice is cooking, make the namarus (side dishes).  Mince the garlic and grind the sesame seeds for all the namarus at once.  Sesame seeds expand when ground, 2 or 3 tablespoons of sesame seeds will make 1/4 cup of ground sesame seeds.


Carrot Namaru

• 2-4 small carrots
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons ground sesame seeds
• 1/4 tsp minced garlic

Cut the carrots into matchsticks.  Boil in water for a few minutes, covered.  Drain.  Put the carrots in a bowl.  Add the sesame oil, ground sesame seeds, and minced garlic.  Mix.

Spinach Namaru

• 10 oz. spinach
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 tsp ground sesame seeds
• 1/4 tsp minced garlic 

Put the spinach in a large covered pot with an inch or two of water.  Bring to a boil and cook as usual.  Stir occasionally to keep the spinach from sticking to the pot.  The spinach is done when it's dark green and reduced to a fraction of its original volume.  Drain the cooked spinach.  Cool by adding cold water to the pot and drain again.  Squeeze the spinach in your hands to remove the water.  Slice the cooked spinach into 1 inch pieces.  Put the cooked spinach in a bowl with the sesame oil, ground sesame seeds, and grated garlic.  Mix.

Bean Sprout Namaru

• 8 oz bean sprouts - preferably with beans
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp ground sesame seeds
• 1/4 grated garlic

Put the bean sprouts in a pot and fill with water to cover the sprouts.  Cover and bring to a boil on high heat.  If the sprouts don't have beans, stop cooking them when the water boils.  If the sprouts do have beans, continue cooking until the beans are soft.  Drain and put the the cooked sprouts in a bwol.  Dress with sesame oil, ground sesame seeds, and grated garlic.

Egg
Fry up three eggs so that yolk is hardened.  When finished, cut the eggs into strips.

Assembly
Place the rice in the bottom of a bowl, place the three namarus and egg over top of the rice.  mix in the spicy Korean sauce as desired.

Spicy Bow Ties

This was a random pick off the internet.  It turned out decently.  Jon enjoyed it and I thought it was okay.  It was definitely nothing phenomenal (unlike yesterday's post).  It's an interesting mix of ingredients to create the sauce over bow ties.  The creator did a great job of keeping it low fat for those weight-conscious readers. We doubled the recipe, if you're cooking for one, you definitely don't need to!  Check it out!

 Ingredients:

• vegetable oil cooking spray
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 small sweet red pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 2 green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2/3 cup nonfat sour cream
• 2 tablespoons skim milk
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon chili powder
• 2-4 drops hot sauce
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• 4 ounces farfalle pasta, uncooked (bow tie pasta) 

Directions:

1. Coat a large nonstick frypan with cooking spray, add oil.
2. Place over medium high heat until hot.
3. Add sweet red pepper and peas, saute 2 to 3 minutes or until veggies are crisp tender.
4. Add green onions and saute 30 seconds or until onions are barely limp.
5. Remove from heat, and keep warm.
6. Combine sour cream and next 5 ingredients in a small bowl, stir well and set aside.
7. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat, drain.
8. Place in a serving bowl.
9. Add veggie mixture and sour cream mixture, toss.
10. Serve immediately.

Original recipe here

Cheese & Spinach Stuffed Portobellos and Roasted Asparagus & Garlic

Wow, I outdid myself tonight.  Jon and I went overboard at the grocery store this week.  We bought things that we usually don't purchase because it's so expensive.  I did this with some ideas in my mind.  My sister gave me this portobello recipe from her friend and I was craving asparagus so I bought some.  I told Jon that he was getting a surprise dinner tonight.  It was a hit!  I also combined it with some corn on the cob for the summer feel.  We ate it on our fancy schmancy china that was just given to us as a wedding gift from my mom.  I highly recommend this recipe!

4 servings | Active Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 large portobello mushroom caps
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 cup finely chopped fresh spinach
• 1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped kalamata olives
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 3/4 cup prepared marinara sauce

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.
   
2. Place mushroom caps, gill-side up, on the prepared pan. Sprinkle with salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Roast until tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
   
3. Meanwhile, mash ricotta, spinach, 1/4 cup Parmesan, olives, Italian seasoning and the remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Place marinara sauce in a small bowl, cover and microwave on High until hot, 30 seconds to 1 1/2 minutes.
   
4. When the mushrooms are tender, carefully pour out any liquid accumulated in the caps. Return the caps to the pan gill-side up. Spread 1 tablespoon marinara into each cap; cover the remaining sauce to keep warm. Mound a generous 1/3 cup ricotta filling into each cap and sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan. Bake until hot, about 10 minutes. Serve with the remaining marinara sauce.
   

Original Recipe found here:  http://www.eatingwell.com/print/7573

Ingredients

• 9 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 3 cups diagonally sliced asparagus
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
  

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.  Tear off 6 large pieces of foil. Divide garlic, olive oil, wine, asparagus, and thyme and arrange them on each piece of foil. Fold over each foil packet to seal. Place the packets on a baking sheet and roast for 20 to 25 minutes until the asparagus is tender, but still a little crisp. Carefully open packets and serve asparagus with juices poured on top.

I slightly modified the asparagus recipe, please click here for the original recipe.

White Pizza with Broccoli and Mushrooms

This is a recipe that I found in my Vegetarian Times magazine.  It was my first time attempting a pizza that you don't just throw into the oven.  I am SO pleased with the results.  It is a delicious recipe that I will most certainly be making again.  By the way, I am moved into a new apartment with a phenomenal kitchen.  I will be happily cooking in here!  It's like heaven compared to our old place!

 Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons margarine or butter, divided
• 6 oz. mushrooms sliced (2 cups)
• 8 oz. broccoli florets (3 cups)
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 cup low-fat milk
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella, divided
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan, divided
• 1 13.8 oz pkg. refrigerated pizza dough

Method:

1. Place pizza stone or baking sheet in center of oven and heat to 425 F
2. Melt 11/4 tsp. margarine in skillet over medium-heat.  Add mushrooms, and cook 4 to 7 minutes, or until beginning to brown.  stirring frequently.  Add broccoli and 1/3 cup water.  Cover tightly, and steam broccoli in skillet 3-4 minutes or until tender.
3. Meanwhile, heat remaining 11/2 Tbs. margarine in saucepan over medium high heat.  Add flour and cook 2 minutes, or until pale golden, stirring constantly.  Stir in milk, garlic, and salt.  Cook 3-4 minutes, or until mixture thickens and begins to boil, stirring constantly.
4. Remove from heat. Stir in 1/4 cup mozzarella and 2 Tbs. Parmesan until sauce is smooth and cheese is melted.
 *If you like extra-crispy pizza, prebake the dough 3-4 minutes before adding the toppings* 
5.  Spread white sauce over dough to within 1/2 inch of edge, and top with broccoli mixture.  Sprinkle remaining mozzarella and Parmesan over top.
6. Place the pizza in the oven and bake 18-20 minutes, or until edges are golden and the center is hot and bubbly.  Cool slightly before slicing and serving.

Notes: This should be enough for 6 slices.

Spicy Potato and Carrot Soup

This recipe was a random try out of the Easy Vegetarian Dinners book.  Jon and I were surprisingly pleased with the outcome.  It calls for a spice called "Jamaican Jerk".  We were unable to find this, but found "Caribbean Jerk" instead.  I believe it's the same thing.  While, I can't share this recipe here, I would be happy to send it by email or facebook, if you ask.  It's very simple.  Essentially, you boil up some carrots and potatoes with vegetable broth.  Then, add the jerk seasoning.  After boiling, you puree the carrots and potatoes and add cooked pasta noodles and evaporated milk.

The results are amazing, especially in winter.

Vegetable Lasagne

Over four years ago, my sister Lisa gave me this recipe.  I don't even know where she got it from, so I can't credit the source.  The first time I made it was for Jon's twentieth birthday as a surprise.  He absolutely loved it.  It got lost over the years and it resurfaced in my gmail account in March.  I surprised Jon again by making it.  We have been making it quite regularly since March.  It's a little bit more expensive of a dish with all the ingredients, but it's well worth it.  It leaves us with alot of leftovers, so it feels like although the ingredients cost alot, we get quite a few meals out of it.  I highly recommend you try this recipe.  I promise you won't be disappointed!

Ingredients:
8oz dried lasagna noodles (9-10) OR one box of no boil lasagne
2 beaten eggs
2 cups cottage cheese
1 15oz. carton ricotta cheese
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil or cooking oil
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
½ to 1 teaspoon black pepper
1 ¼ cups milk
1 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and thoroughly drained
1 10 oz package frozen broccoli, thawed and thoroughly drained
1 cup shredded carrots
¾ cup shredded parmesan cheese (3oz)
1 8oz. package shredded mozzarella chesse


Method:
1.  Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. Drain, set aside. (unless using no boil noodles)

2.  In a bowl combine beaten eggs, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese and Italian seasoning. Set aside.

3.  In a large skillet cook mushrooms, onions and garlic in hot oil until tender. Stir in flour and pepper; add milk all at once. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in spinach, broccoli, carrot and only ½ cup of parmesan cheese.

4.  To assemble, in a greased 3 quart (13X9 pan) rectangular baking dish layer 1/3 of the noodles, folding or cutting to fit, if necessary. Spread with 1/3 of the cottage cheese mixture. Then with 1/3 of the vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the mozzarella. Repeat the layers twice. Sprinkle with ¼ cup remaining parmesan cheese.

5.  Bake uncovered in oven 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until heated through. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Italian Flavored Tempeh

What in the world is tempeh?  That's the question that I am most often asked when I bring it up.  I have been a vegetarian for twenty years.  My first experience with tempeh was about 2 years ago.  I am not sure if this a recent invention for vegetarians...or if I've been missing out for years.  I first tried a tempeh reuben at a local restaurant.  It was phenomenal and I usually get it when I eat there.  Then about one year ago, I discovered how to make BBQ tempeh (recipe to come another post).  The BBQ tempeh was even better.  Now, I have a new recipe, thanks to an old roommate who has gone vegetarian.  It is simple.  What's even better, I had all the ingredients ready to go.  So, what is tempeh, you ask?  I never answered that question did I.  It's because I can't.  It's a soy product that takes on the taste and flavor of whatever you put with it.  This recipe marinates the tempeh in soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and olive oil with other spices.  I LOVED it and so did three of my colleagues.  Jon, on the other hand, wasn't overly impressed.  Too bad.  I ate it by itself and then ate it in my salad.  Other suggestions include serving it over rice or couscous.  Thanks go to Sam, for the delicious recipe (see below):

1¼ hours | 1 hour prep

SERVES 4

• 8 ounces tempeh

For the marinade

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed between fingers

1. Cut tempeh into 1/2 inch wide cubes.
2. Combine the marinade ingredients in a container with a lid, stir to combine.
3. Add tempeh, cover and shake well until all pieces are coated.
4. Place in refrigerator for one hour or overnight.
5. Shake container every now and again (when you think of it) to coat all pieces. The tempeh will begin to absorb all the marinade.
6. When ready to cook, heat a non stick skillet over medium low heat.
7. Add tempeh and any liquid and cook for about 10 minutes, turning pieces until they begin to caramelize.
8. Serve immediately or keep in a covered container in fridge.

Link: from Recipezaar

Mushroom and Artichoke Casserole

....and I'm back for a little while.  I will take the weekend off, though.  I'm blogging as much as I am cooking and these days I'm not cooking much.  With a wedding pending in 5 weeks, a move in 10 days along with my typical daily obligations - I'm finding myself eating out way too much for my good.

This recipe is simple.  I got it out of the The Vegetarian Gourmet's Easy International Recipes book.  It's basically just mushrooms and artichokes tossed around in butter, parmesan cheese and bread crumbs and tossed into the oven for 30 minutes.  I used canned mushrooms because it's all we had.  It was okay, but I think freshly cut mushrooms would have made a world of difference.  Jon loved it either way.  I'm lucky because he's so easy to please!  Here it is, Mushroom and Artichoke Casserole:

Modified "Easy Chickpea Curry"

When I lived in Japan, I had a Scottish neighbor who would often invite me to dinner.  She would make her signature dish - a type of Thai curry made with coconut milk.  It offers a "sweet and spicy" taste.  Well, I thought I could find a recipe on the internet that would offer this same type of idea.  I kept finding chicken and fish dishes only.  It was hard to substitute it with anything I had in stock (ideally tofu).  Instead, I found this other recipe.  It seemed perfect because I had every ingredient.  After starting it out, I came to realize that my potatoes were 'soft'.  According to Jon, I could probably still eat them.  The internet sources I read advised against it.  In the end, I decided to substitute in peas and spinach in place of the potatoes.  It honestly had a really good taste to it.  I think I overdid the spinach.  I used a whole frozen 10 oz. bag.  I could have probably gotten away with 7 oz.  I also served it over brown rice since I had about 3 cups cooked and ready to use (I made too much when I made my Bombay rice and peas).  I think the taste of the spices and curry would have been better brought out through jasmine rice or white rice.  Overall, it was good and I would definitely like to try it again.  I am going to supply my recipe below and link back to the original one that includes potatoes instead of my peas and spinach.

 ngredients:

1 tablespoon butter 1 onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 3 teaspoons curry powder 2 teaspoons garam masala 1/2 teaspoon ground paprika 1/2 teaspoon white sugar 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric 1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained 4 oz frozen peas 7 oz frozen spinach 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk 1 tomato, chopped 1/3 cup milk 2 tablespoons ketchup 2 tablespoons sour cream 2 cubes vegetable bouillon

Directions:

1.	Melt the butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Cook and stir the onion and garlic in the melted butter for about 5 minutes, until onion is translucent. Sprinkle in curry powder, garam masala, paprika, sugar, ginger, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Continue to cook and stir 3 to 4 more minutes, until spices are lightly toasted.
2.	Mix in the garbanzo beans, peas, spinach, coconut milk, tomato, milk, ketchup, sour cream, and bouillon cubes. Simmer the curry over medium-low heat for about 25 minutes.

Original recipe here (from allrecipes.com)

Pesto Sauce

I never realized how easy pesto sauce is.  As a vegetarian my whole life, one dish I have grown to dislike is spaghetti.  Often times, a vegetarian is brought to a restaurant where the one and only dish you can have is...spaghetti.  Or a vegetarian goes to someone's house for dinner, that has never met a vegetarian before.  They have no idea what to serve you...so you get....you guessed it!  spaghetti.  Not to mention that my first few years in college was very vegetarian unfriendly and usually, my only option for years was spaghetti.

I avoid spaghetti like the plague.

But, pesto sauce makes it all better.  Pesto makes pasta seem exotic.  It gives a whole new meaning to a box of spaghetti noodles that cost only .88 cents.  Pesto + Pasta = perfection!  To my health and weight conscious followers - it's a little fattening.  It's "healthy fat" ingredients - olive oil and nuts.  But, fattening nonethless.

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Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup lightly toasted pine nuts
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Directions:

1.   Combine all ingredients except olive oil in blender or food processor
   
2.  Process until finely chopped
3. While still slowly chopping, slowly add the olive oil.  Continue processing until it's smooth

Serve over pasta!

Rhubarb Bread

My boss has dozens and dozens of rhubarb growing out of her garden.  She didn't plant them, but rather they came with her house when she bought it.  To be honest, I have NEVER tried rhubarb in my entire life.  Isn't that slightly weird?  Her seven (eight?) year old son asked me if I liked it.  I told him that I never tried it.  We ran over to the family garden and he taught me how to choose a ripe rhubarb and how to pull it out.  He took a little nibble out of the one we pulled out.  I tried it, too.  He likes it, me...not so much.  However, my boss told me that it's great in recipes.  I took all of their ripe rhubarb and brought it home.  I got a recipe off of allrecipes.com.  It was meant to make two loaves.  I wanted to make one loaf for my sister who was having surgery and one loaf for Jon and I to try.  It's rather scary, but Jon and I both fell asleep with our second loaf in the oven.  I woke up at 2am gasping for breath and realizing that our second loaf was still in the oven.  Thank whatever god there is that our apartment did not burn down with us in it.  We never got to try a loaf before sending it to my sister and her husband.  However, the consensus between the two of them is that it's delicious.  The good news is Jon is babysitting my boss's three sons over the summer.  So, I'm sure there's plenty more rhubarb where the initial batch came from!

The recipe is here:

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, stir together milk, lemon juice and vanilla; let stand for 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, oil and egg. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda, stir into sugar mixture alternately with the milk mixture just until combined. Fold in rhubarb and nuts. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.
3. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. Sprinkle this mixture over the unbaked loaves.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a loaf comes out clean.

Recipe online here 

Bombay Rice and Peas

This recipe caught my eye immediately when I saw it in my cookbook.  It offers three of my favorite food ingredients: plenty of spices, rice and peas.  One new spice I cooked with was ground cloves.  It definitely added a unique taste to the dish.  I was worried that there weren't enough spice quantities for the dish to taste amazing.  However, somehow, with less than entire tablespoon of mixed spices, it tasted very spicy.  If this dish looks interesting to you, you can find it in the Vegetarian Gourmet's Easy International Recipes book.  It's topped with fresh cilantro to give it an extra boost of flavor!

Quick and Spicy Tomato Sauce for Pasta

My sister shared with me her recipe that she said was the best one she has made yet.  I was ecstatic when I heard of a new recipe I could try!  The recipe is actually meant to be meat included.  I made it minus the meat.  I also plan to provide you the recipe my style, but to link to the group that has the full recipe, meat included.

My sister claims this is the best meal she's ever had.  In my opinion, it was good, definitely better than normal spaghetti sauce you get out of the can.  I am a spice fanatic.  If the recipe calls for more than 4 spices, I'll probably be sure to love it.  

In my opinion, it was good - but it wasn't anything that I would brag about.  It wasn't nearly as spicy as I anticipated.  However, it wasn't a complete flop!

Recipe 

Ingredients 

Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes, liquid included
• 1 teaspoon finely minced canned chipotle en adobo and sauce, or more to taste
• 2 teaspoons chopped oregano leaves
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• Salt
• 1/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves

plus pasta noodles (We used one lb. which was way too much)

Directions

Fill a large stockpot with water and bring to a boil for pasta.  When boiled, put in one pound of noodles.

Make Sauce:

1.  In a 4-quart saucepan heat the oil over medium heat. 

2.  Saute the onions until translucent, about 3 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.

3.  Add tomato paste, tomatoes, chipotles, oregano, rosemary, and salt. 

4.  Bring all the ingredients to a low boil, reduce heat and cook for approximately 15 minutes, until liquid has evaporated slightly. 

5.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste. 

6.  Combine with pasta noodles when complete

Yield: 6 servings 

Recipe is courtesy of the food network.  To see it on their site with meatball instructions, please go here