Tag: Vegetarian

Fake It Til You Make It

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I have two fakers here today and both are good for the environment and my tummy!

Faker #1: Chicken Parmesan for Lunch

1 Morningstar Chicken Patty, some pasta sauce, and mozzarella cheese.  Faux-Chicken Parmesan!  Delicous and meat-free!  I love being home for lunch and making more exciting meals, not that Cliff bars and frozen vegetables aren’t great but I much prefer an exciting lunch.  Do you prefer quick, light lunches? or elaborate lunches?

Faker #2: Paper Cup

It’s not paper!  It’s a ceramic reusable travel mug!  Kind of fun and environmentally friendly, right!?!

Speaking of paper… My paper is almost done!  I’m putting the finishing touches on my bibliography!  Thank goodness!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Portabella Stuffed with Quinoa, Apples and Cranberries

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Since as earlier mentioned, lunch was ridiculously boring.  I tried to get a little creative with dinner.

First, I cooked some Portabella Mushrooms in a pan with some salt, pepper and olive oil.  To prevent them from sticking and burning I added a little bit of brine from my artichokes since I was out of vegetable broth.

Then I put those aside, sauteed some apples, added some cooked quinoa and dried cranberries.  I cooked those together for a few minutes with some apple cider for moisture (you could probably use juice or water too).

Then I piled the mixture onto the Portabella and enjoyed!

The lovely fella decided to add some shredded mozzarella to his.

Quick and Easy!  Pretty Tasty too!

Raw vs Roasted

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Almond Butter

It’s pretty delicious.  Last week, I was talking to a friend about almond butter, our favorite brands, cost, deliciousness, etc. He said he prefers raw almond butter.  So when I stopped by Trader Joe’s on my way home from Thanksgiving, I got a jar of raw almond butter to see which one I liked better.

VS

I think I like the regular roasted Almond Butter better.  I mean they both obviously taste like almonds but the roasted one is smoother and has a more distinct taste. 

Are there any health benefits to eating it raw vs roasted?  Which do you prefer?

December Recipe Challenge Update:

Anna at Newly Wed, Newly Veg joined the December Recipe Challenge!  Check out her recipe for Barley with Mushrooms!

If you have a fun/exciting/healthy recipe, don’t forget to e-mail me so I can link you here!

P.S. This is my life for the next week…

Have a fantastic day!

December Recipe Challenge: Vegetarian Borscht

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Today is day 1 of the December Recipe Challenge.

Since it was snowing when I went to class this morning, I decided upon something hot, delicious and FULL OF VEGETABLES!

I came across this recipe a few days ago and was instantly inspired!

Vegetarian Borscht

Inspired by Mostly Soup
1 Small Onion
1 tsp minced garlic (2 cloves)
1 Pound Beets (peeled and shredded)
1/2 lb carrots (shredded)
1 medium potato
1/2 cabbage (thinly sliced)
2 tbsp Olive Oil
4 cups of vegetable broth
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Lemon
Sour Cream (optional)

Gather all your ingredients:

Wash your veggies, peel your beets…

Use a handy dandy food processor to easily shred everything

Then heat the oil, add the onions and garlic with some salt and pepper.  Sautee them for about 2 minutes.

Add the beets, carrots, and potato.  Cook for about 5 minutes.  In the mean time, heat up your vegetable broth.  When you slice your cabbage, don’t use a crappy knife… it sucks.

Add the vegetable broth and cabbage.  Simmer for 20-30 minutes.  Then add the juice of 1 lemon.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and enjoy!  I had it with a slice of pumpernickel toast!  Mmm!

That was super fun to make!  It also helped that the lovely fella was there to take pictures and do the dishes!  I can’t wait to make another fun/healthy recipe!

What do you like to have on a cold day?

Anyone else make an exciting new recipe?

Being a “Picky” Eater

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I’m not sure I’ve made this completely clear, but I’m a vegetarian.  Right now, I won’t get into the reasons why I am a vegetarian, but I point it out because I came across an interesting opinion article in the NY Times today called “Complaint Box: Picky Eaters.”

In essence, the article talks about the million dietary demands (see cartoon above) that people place on themselves and the difficulty in tailoring a dinner party to meet all these needs.  It’s sort of a funny article and relevant to me, especially with Thanksgiving coming up.

I’m going to the lovely fella’s family’s house for Thanksgiving because it’s too expensive to get to California but the Philadelphia area is within driving distance. They are not vegetarians, nor do they plan on being.  That’s fine.  I don’t expect everyone in the world to make the same lifestyle choices I do.

That being said, I have a few concerns:

1. I don’t want to eat Turkey (or really any other meat).  I was never that big a fan of it anyway, but the idea of it right now sort of makes me sad.  I also think it might be rude of me to offer to make something because I would hate to ruin their established traditions (aka what if they have a sweet potato casserole that they LOVE and look forward to each year?)

2.  I don’t want them to feel like they have to prepare a special meal specifically for me.  The author of the article mentions the difficulty in preparing something that everyone can enjoy, but I don’t think that should be her concern.  She ends the article:

I have had enough with people who want to have it their way, and I am done catering to the quirks of food-obsessed numskulls. If you eat in my home, I will grudgingly respect medically diagnosed allergies, since it puts a pall on conversation when a guest goes into anaphylactic shock at the dinner table. But beyond that, I expect you to eat what you can, ignore the rest and not make trouble. On Thursday, 15 people are sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner at my house, and with God as my witness, I promise you this: There will be dark meat.

I can completely appreciate that.  While I don’t consider myself to be a “food-obsessed numskull,” I think everyone is entitle to make choices about what he or she puts in his or her own body.  However, when you are a guest at someone’s house, you shouldn’t inconvenience your host.  I know her language is a bit brash, but I agree you should “eat what you can, ignore the rest and not make trouble.” Do you disagree?

That’s what I’m going to try to do.  Thanksgiving should be about spending time with people you care about (I know this sounds cheesy) not about the food. I’ll try my hardest not to complicate matters and if I have to eat something with meat in it, one day won’t kill me, right?  I can push bits of bacon to the side and deal with chicken broth.

How do you deal with “picky” eaters? What are your plans for Thanksgiving?