Last minute recipe that we all LOVED!

Vegetarian Ziti (or Penne)

*serves 8

1 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 can Low Sodium Garbanzo Beans (Chick Peas)
1 medium Zucchini, diced
2 medium Carrots, diced
1 cup sliced Cremini Mushrooms
1 cup chopped Walla Walla Sweet Onion (or any sweet onion)
1 can Diced Tomatoes
1 cup Low Sodium Vegetable Broth
1 box Whole Wheat Penne or Ziti pasta
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 tsp Black Pepper
2 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 Tbsp Creole Seasoning (Tony Cachere's)
4 oz Shredded Asiago Cheese (1 tbsp. per serving)


1. Cook pasta according to box instructions.

2. Heat large skillet over medium high heat with 2 Tbsp Olive Oil and 1 Tbsp Butter.

3. Add onions, carrots, garbanzo beans and mushrooms and saute until the onions are translucent.

4. Add the zucchini, diced tomatoes, vegetable broth and all the seasonings to the skillet, reduce heat and cover.  Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

5. In a large bowl combine cooked pasta and the vegetable mixture and let sit for about 10 minutes before serving.

6. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp of Asiago Cheese on each bowl.

Enjoy!

We like to serve pasta dishes like this with skillet toast!

Chili Goodness!

We tried this recipe last night....it is very spicy so you will want to reduce or OMIT the Cayenne Pepper if you don't like spicy food!

Vegetarian Sweet Potato Chili

*Serves 6

1 medium red onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 medium carrots, diced
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces
4 garlic cloves, chopped, or 1 heaping tablespoon of minced garlic
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more or less, depending on how spicy you like your chili)
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
28-ounces canned diced tomatoes, including the liquid*
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can white beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups vegetable broth
garnishes: sour cream, sliced scallions, sliced radishes (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a 4 to 6 quart Dutch oven or stockpot, sautée the chopped vegetables in one to two tablespoon of olive oil on medium-high heat. You’ll need to stir the ingredients every few minutes so they can cook evenly.
2. Once the onions start turning translucent, turn the heat down to medium-low. Add all of the spices and canned ingredients, and stir. Cover and cook for up to two hours, stirring occasionally.
3. By the time your chili is done, the sweet potatoes should be nice and soft and the liquid should have reduced a bit, producing the hearty chili consistency that we all know and love.

 

 

Fried Rice can be so easy!

This is a really easy, great tasting recipe for fried rice with pan seared tofu!  I split  the recipe and make it in 2 batches (I don't have a pan big enough to do all of it), you can certainly cut everything in half and make a batch for 4 people.

*Serves 8

Mr Dowg's Easy Fried Rice

 

 

4 Tbsp Sesame Oil
6 cups cooked white rice
1 lrg Red Onion, diced
2 cups frozen Peas and Carrots (Jenny!)
4 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup Low Sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp Sweet Chili Sauce
2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp Kosher Salt (or to taste)
2 tsp Black Pepper
1 package of Extra Firm Tofu, drained, diced and marinated.  (see recipe at the bottom)

1.  Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add the sesame oil to the pan.

2.  Once the oil is shimmering, add the onions, peas and carrots and saute until tender.

3.  Slide the veggies to one side of the pan and use the empty half to fry up the eggs until cooked through. Add the Kosher salt and pepper at this time.

4.  Mix the eggs and veggies together in the pan and then add the rice to the pan.

5.  Completely mix the ingredients in the pan and then poor over your mixture of soy sauce,sweet chili sauce and Worcestershire sauce.  Mix completely and then move to a large bowl.

6.  Carefully mix in your pan seared tofu so you don't break it all up.

Serve and enjoy!

Marinated Tofu!

1.  Take your tofu out of the package and put it in a bowl that has a few sheets of paper towels in the bottom.  Place a few more paper towels on top and then put something with some weight on top to help force the liquid out of the paper towel.  Let it sit for about 30 minutes.

2.  While your tofu drains, get a bowl and mix together 2 Tbsp of Sesame Oil, 3 Tbsp Soy Sauce and 2 Tbsp Sweet Chili Sauce.

3.  When the tofu is drained, cut into 1/2 inch cubes and place in the bowl with the marinade.  Put the lid on and shake it to fully coat the tofu pieces.  Let site for about 30 minutes,

4.  Drain tofu and sear in a hot skillet with a couple Tbsp of oil until golden brown and delicious!

This is great in the fried rice but it also can be used in pasta dishes as well.

Brussel Sprouts???? Really????

Growing up I absolutely HATED Brussel sprouts.  I was forced to eat them every time they were served for dinner.  It is one of the few things that my mom cooked that I absolutely hated but she just used frozen Brussel sprouts and boiled them.  YUCK!  Once I was grown and able to fix food myself they were something that I swore I would never eat again.  Well, with going vegetarian I am looking for new things to fix because just eating salad and the same old broccoli and cauliflower all the time gets boring.  I started looking for different recipes and kept coming across ones for Brussel sprouts.  I actually made a slaw out of them from a recipe I found but that is not what I am going to post today.  I tried this recipe the other night and we all loved it, I found the basic recipe online but of course I have to tweak things to make it my own!

Balsamic Roasted Brussel Sprouts

 

 

1 lbs Brussel Sprouts, trimmed and quartered

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

3 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard

1 tsp Kosher Salt

1 tsp Black Pepper

 

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees

 

2.  In a large bowl, put the Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar and Dijon Mustard and whisk until you form an emulsion.

 

3.  Trim and quarter the Brussel sprouts and add them to the bowl.

 

4.  Toss the sprouts to fully coat.

 

5.  Place sprouts on a baking sheet and sprinkle with the kosher salt and pepper.

 

6.  Roast in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes until they are golden brown and delicious.

 

 



"Rainbow" Veggie Pasta

This is a recipe that I came up with all on my own.  It is a good way to use up vegetables that you have in your fridge that need to be used.  It would be easy to substitute things in place of what I listed.  I have made variation of this a couple times now and we all seem to love it every time!

"RAINBOW" Veggie Pasta

 

 

*Serves 8 - approx. 332 cal per serving

 

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Med Red Onion - finely chopped

3 Carrots - chopped

1 can Chick Peas (Garbanzo Beans) - drained and rinsed

1 Lrg Zucchini - chopped

Splash of Worcestershire Sauce

2 cups Grape Tomatoes - sliced

2 cups Kale - chopped

1 Tbsp Garlic Powder

1 Tbsp Onion Powder

2 tsp Kosher Salt

2 tsp Black Pepper

2 Tbsp Italian Seasoning

1/2 Cup Water

1. Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta, cook pasta according to box instructions.

 

2. Add 2 Tbsp Olive Oil to skillet over medium heat.

3. Once oil is shimmering, add onions, carrots and chick peas along with 1 tsp of Kosher salt to skillet and saute until the onions are translucent.

 

 

4. Add Zucchini and a splash of Worcestershire Sauce to skillet and cook an additional 5-7 minutes.

 

 

5. Add kale, tomatoes, all the remaining seasonings and 1/2 cup water to the skillet, cover and cook another 5 minutes.

 

 

 

6. Remove vegetable mixture to a large bowl, add pasta to the bowl and the last Tbsp of oil to the bowl and mix all together.  If it looks really dry you can a little pasta water to the bowl and stir.

 

*Salt/Pepper to taste if you think it needs more!

 

Per MyFitnessPal:

Ingredients	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Barilla - Mini Penne Pasta, 1 box (56.0g)	1,600	336	8	56	0	16
S & W - Garbanzo Beans, 1 1/2 cup	330	45	8	21	1,380	6
Generic - Zuchinni, 2 cup	58	14	2	2	11	6
Grape Tomatoes - Generic, 2 cup (75g)	60	12	0	4	0	8
Onion - (Red), 1 Cup, Chopped	48	15	0	2	6	7
Oil - Olive, 2 tablespoon	239	0	27	0	1	0
Spice - Coarse Kosher Salt, 2 teaspoon	0	0	0	0	2,240	0
Spices - Pepper, black, 2 tbsp	33	8	0	1	6	0
Spices - Garlic powder, 1 tbsp	28	6	0	1	2	2
Spices - Onion powder, 1 tbsp	24	6	0	1	4	2
Generic - Italian Seasoning, 4 tsp	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kale - Kale, 4 cup	132	24	2	12	100	6
Carrots - Raw, 2 cup, chopped	105	25	1	2	177	12
Add Ingredient

Total:	2,657	491	48	102	3,927	65
Per Serving:	332	61	6	13	491	8

A different Cauliflower!

I am trying to find some new things to do with common vegetables.  I always have cauliflower in our fridge and was getting tired of just eating it raw or steaming it with broccoli.  Tonight I decided that I would roast it and season it.  I just coated it in olive oil with seasoning in it.  It came out DELICIOUS! Kind of like baked fries but with more flavor in my opinion.

In the words of Alton Brown...... "Golden Brown & Delicious!"

Roasted Cauliflower Poppers

1 Head of Cauliflower

1/4 cup Olive Oil

1 tsp Kosher Salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp Onion Powder

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Wash and clean Cauliflower.  Cut off and discard the stem. Cut the cauliflower up into bite size pieces

3. In a large bowl, combine the oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder.  Add the cauliflower and toss to thoroughly coat each piece.

4. Place cauliflower onto a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.  Bake for one hour, turning the cauliflower 3 times during the cooking process until each piece has a nice brown coloring.  The browner the better.

5. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

No more processed, chemical containing Ranch dressing for us!

As we started this vegetarian adventure I knew that we would be eating a lot of salads.  And of course, being from the south, salad means RANCH DRESSING! I knew immediately that I had to come up with a better for us version of ranch instead of eating the highly processed stuff that you can buy in stores.  I found a recipe online that was OK, but I had to tweak it a little to get something that I was happy with.



Homemade Avocado Ranch Dressing.

*Serving size 2 Tbsp

2 small Avocados (really ripe)
1 cup Mayonnaise or Veganaise
1/4 cup Soy milk
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Onion Powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp Dried Dill
2 tsp Dried Parsley Flakes
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Place ALL ingredients in a blender (I use a Magic Bullet) and blend until smooth!  I store in a squeeze bottle so it is easy to put on salads.