Vegetarian Dish Challenge

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Saphellae

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I bought a vegan cook book a few weeks ago and have loved everything coming out of it!

I am not a vegetarian, but I enjoy the concepts that the dishes are based around. Most of them offer healthier alternatives to regular meat dishes, even if you sub the tofu for meat, or sub the vegan milk/cheese with dairy.

I cooked a leek and potato soup last night that Nick is loving.. since he woke up with a cold this morning. A woman's intuition.... :rolleyes: Though, I accidentally mixed up the recipe with another and ended up putting tofu in it where it did not belong - but it ended up good anyways :)

A few nights ago I made an pasta sauce that included silken tofu, sun dried tomatoes, garlic, a ton of basil, salt and veggies. I added some skim milk because it was quite thick. Nick absolutely LOVED it.. and I did too!

I am just so excited to have discovered this book. I can't wait to make more from it! Every meal this week is planned around it. And, for those of us on a budget, tofu is a cheaper substitute for meat if you know how to make it a complete meal (grains, veggies, etc).

So, I am challenging everyone to post their best vegan recipe(s), or a recipe that can be converted to vegan or to a meat dish easily (if you know how with your particular recipe).

Lets hear them recipes!
 
We aren't vegetarians, but we like to cook vegetarian dishes once a week or so. There are several excellent vegetarian cookbooks that I can recommend to you:

By Jeanne Lemlin (most in paperback):
Vegetarian Pleasures
Simple Vegetarian Pleasures
Quick Vegetarian Pleasures
Main-Course Vegetarian Pleasures
Vegetarian Dishes from Around the World by Rose Elliot (paperback)
The Occasional Vegetarian by Karen Lee
World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison
 
Here's one from our own collection that we made last week, and it was really, really good:

Spiced Black-Eyed Peas with Yogurt & Ginger

1½ cups dried black-eyed peas
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 yellow onions, minced
4 tablespoons minced, peeled fresh ginger
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground coriander
¾ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
2 tomatoes, chopped
½ cup plain yogurt
salt to taste
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Pick over and discard any damaged peas or stones. Rinse the peas. Place
in a bowl, add plenty of water to cover and soak for about 3 hours.

Drain the peas and place in a saucepan with water to cover by 2 inches.
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until almost
tender, about 35 minutes. Drain the peas, reserving the liquid. Set aside.

In a large frying pan over low heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onions and
saute, stirring, until soft, about 10 minutes.

Add the ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin and cardamom and saute, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, cover and cook for 2 minutes longer.

Uncover and increase the heat to medium. Add 1 tablespoon of the yogurt
and continue to stir until it is fully incorporated into the sauce. Continue in
the same manner with the remaining yogurt, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Add the peas, ½ cup of the reserved liquid, salt to taste, and the cayenne;
cover and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes.

Uncover and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is very
thick, 3 to 5 minutes.

Transfer to a platter, garnish with the cilantro and serve with steamed basmati rice.

Serves 6
 
This sounds weird, but it's great, a true family favorite!

EGGPLANT ENCHILADAS

2 tablespoons butter
1½ pounds eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 4-ounce can diced chilies
2½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
2 10-ounce cans enchilada sauce
12 corn tortillas
plain yogurt for garnish
chopped cilantro for garnish

1. Melt butter in skillet and sauté egg plant and garlic until soft, about 15 minutes.

2. Add onion and green pepper, cook 10 minutes more.

3. Add chilies, 1½ cups cheese, and salt and pepper to skillet, and mix well.

4. Heat enchilada sauce until steamy in small frying pan. Dip a tortilla in sauce until
soft; spoon a 12 of the vegetable th mixture down center and roll to enclose filling.
Arrange seam side down in a greased 9" by 13" pan. Repeat with each tortilla.

5. Cover all with remaining sauce and cheese.

6. Bake, uncovered, 20 minutes at 350° (if cold, baked, covered with foil for 20
minutes, then uncovered 20 minutes).

7. Serve with yogurt and chopped cilantro on the side.
 
EGGPLANT LASAGNA

Eggplant
1 large eggplant, cut into 3/8-inch thick slices (about 16 slices)
olive oil
salt and pepper

Arrange eggplant slices in single layer on two baking sheets that have been lightly
coated with olive oil. Lightly brush or spray tops of eggplant with olive oil and season
with salt and pepper to taste. Broil eggplant on high, one baking sheet at a time,
about 5 to 8 inches from heat source, until soft and lightly browned, about 2½ minutes. Use spatula to turn slices, and season with salt and pepper. Broil 2½ minutes
more. Repeat with other baking sheet. Set aside.

Ricotta
1 15-ounce container part-skim ricotta cheese
¼ cup grated Romano cheese
1 egg
1 cup basil leaves, stems removed, loosely packed

Put ricotta, Romano cheese, egg and basil in bowl of food processor and mix well,
about one minute. Set aside.

Assembly
1 24-ounce jar spicy tomato sauce
12 "no-boil" lasagna noodles
2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Lightly coat a 9" x 13" x 2" baking dish with olive oil. Spread 1 cup sauce in pan. Place
6 lasagna noodles over sauce, slightly overlapping. Spread half the ricotta mixture over
noodles. Top with 8 eggplant slices. Sprinkle eggplant with 1 cup mozzarella cheese.
Repeat layers. Finish with remaining sauce and grated Parmesan cheese.

Bake, uncovered, at 350° until bubbling and lightly browned, about 55 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Note: if you use regular lasagna noodles instead of the "no-boil" type, use only 6
noodles, cover the uncooked lasagna with plastic wrap and leave it on the refrigerator
overnight to soften the noodles. Bring to room temperature and uncover before baking.
 
Linguine alla Caprese

4 large ripe tomatoes, cored and seeded, cut into ½-inch dice
½ cup fresh basil leaves, slivered
¼ cup fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped
3 scallions, thinly sliced
7 ounces ripe brie (rind removed) or mozzarella, cut in small cubes
3 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
a cup olive oil
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
salt, to taste
12 ounces linguine or spaghettini

1. Combine everything except pasta in a large serving bowl.

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and
cook until al dente, about 11 minutes for linguini.

3. Drain well, add the pasta to the tomato sauce and toss well;
season with salt.

Serves 6.
 
PASTA WITH RAW TOMATOES & MARJORAM

2 pounds ripe tomatoes
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh marjoram, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
fresh pepper & salt to taste
1 pound gemelli, rotini, or other spiral-shaped pasta

Core and seed tomatoes, chop into small pieces(about ½ inch).
Put chopped tomatoes in strainer or colander and allow to drain for
about 30 minutes.

In large serving bowl, stir together oil, marjoram, garlic, salt and
pepper. Add drained tomatoes and mix well.

Cook pasta, drain, and add to sauce. Toss and serve immediately.

NOTES:

Don’t overdo the garlic as it’s raw and quite intense; start with only
2 small or 1 large garlic clove.

This recipe is best served without grated cheese, which tends to
detract from the freshness of the tomatoes.
 
SPRINGTIME LASAGNA

4 cups marinara sauce
1½ cups water
½ cup white wine
11 no-boil lasagna noodles
1 Tablespoon olive oil, divided
12 oz. fresh baby spinach
1½ pounds fresh button mushrooms, quartered
½ tsp. salt, divided
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 Tablespoons chopped flesh oregano
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¾ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 pound part-skim ricotta cheese
1 large egg, beaten
½ cup (2 oz.) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup (2 or.) part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Heat a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat; coat pan with ½
Tablespoon olive oil. Add spinach and saute 4 minutes, stirring until wilted.
Transfer spinach to a large bowl.

3. Return pan to heat; coat with remaining ½ Tablespoon olive oil. Add
mushrooms and ¼ teaspoon salt to pan; saute until all liquid evaporates,
about 10 minutes. Add garlic and saute 1 minute more, stirring.

4. Add mushroom mixture, remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, oregano, lemon juice,
red pepper, ricotta, and egg to spinach in bowl; stir to mix well.

5. Combine sauce, water, and wine; spread 1½ cups of mixture over the bottom
of a greased 13 x 9-inch baking dish (use pan that’s at least 2 inches deep).

6. Lay 3 noodles in baking dish; spread half of ricotta mixture over noodles; top
with 4 noodles, then remaining ricotta; put last 4 noodles on top.

7. Pour remaining sauce mixture over noodles.

8. Bake, uncovered, at 400° until bubbling, about 40 to 50 minutes,.

9. Combine Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses; sprinkle evenly over lasagna;
bake an additional 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and slightly browned.

Yield: 12 servings.
 
White Bean & Fennel Soup

olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 large fennel bulbs (or 3 small)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound dry Great Northern or cannellini beans
1 bay leaf
8 cups water
salt
¼ cup white wine
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided, for garnish (optional)

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy soup pot over medium-low heat. Add the
onion and carrots, and cover and cook until they soften, about 20 minutes.

3. Trim the fennel bulbs. Chop and reserve at least a cup of the fronds. Dice one bulb
(two if small) and add to the pot (you can do this before the onions and carrots are
fully softened). Set the remaining bulb aside until later.

4. When the vegetables are softened, stir in the garlic and cook 2 or 3 minutes.

5. Add the beans, bay leaf, and water to pot, cover and place in oven.

6. After 1 hour, stir in ½ tablespoon of salt. Continue cooking until the beans are
tender, another 45 minutes to 75 minutes. Cooking time can vary depending on the
condition of the beans, so begin checking after 30 minutes. Add water as needed to maintain a loose, soup-like consistency. When the beans are tender, remove the pot from the oven.

7. Quarter the remaining fennel bulb lengthwise. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil over
medium heat, add fennel quarters and brown for two or three minutes on each side,
covering between turns to avoid splattering. When the fennel is well browned, add the
wine, cover and cook over low heat until tender, about 10 minutes.

8. When the fennel is tender, remove it from the pan, sprinkle with salt, cut each quarter in half lengthwise, and add to soup. Discard liquid remaining in pan.

9. Just before serving, stir in the reserved chopped fennel fronds. Add freshly ground
black pepper to taste and more salt if necessary. Top each serving with a drizzle of olive oil.
 
Vegan Tempura Batter

well i work at a Japanese restaurant and just recently the owner asked me to make the tempura batter we use vegan. so i started looking up recipes and i count find any that i liked, all of them used like baking powder, and with having 2 add flower already, idk it just seemed like it would b to dry. so i decided 2 just give up on the internet and make my own recipe. after abotu an hour of hard thinking i though of using agar agar in the batter to replace the proteen of the egg.

*because of the small ammount of agar agar needed you will have some left over

first set your deep fryer to 325 digrees. and make shure your oil is verry cleen.

what u will need to do is to for the batter is soke about 1/2 an ounce of agar agar in about 6 oz of water for 15 min. after the 15 min are up, slowly bring the water to a simmer, and allow the agar agar to desolve. once desolved combind 2 oz of the liquid to with 17oz of cold water, 1 teaspoon of salt, and a small squirt of vinigar (only about 1 teaspoon at the most)
then slowly mix in flower until the consistency is slightly thicker then a demi consistency.(if you want the batter to be a little thicker then traditional batter that uses just water, an egg and flower) for that last step of mixing in the flower, make shure NOT to use a wisk or u will form gluten. i use 2 chopsticks when i mix in the flower.

now just coat what ever you want to tempura in a light coatign of flower, then dip it in the batter and put it in the deep fryer. dependign on what your fryign it can take anywehre from 15 sec- a minute or 2.
 
Over the years I've had a few vegan friends, and I think that the very best dish I make for them is hummus. But also buy Near East taboule or couscous. I season them myself so that I know there is no Worcestershire sauce in them. Look at ingredients, and buy Indian foods so you get a huge amount of flavor per serving. When it comes to Mexican foods, you'd be surprised at how far you can go without adding meat. Cumin is the secret to making Mex foods tasty without adding more heat than you want.
 
For those of you who are not looking outside and seeing the single digit temps I'm seeing, I have before and will again recommend taking onions, squash, eggplant, and other vegetables. Cut up and brush with olive oil and season with your favorite mix (for this purpose I like Cavender's Greek). Grill them over charcoal. They are great just chopped and tossed in a salad, with rice, or pasta. But, the real secret is if you puree them and put them into a bean or split pea soup, you'd swear you had a ham bone in there.
 
Here's a vegetarian ( not vegan) quesadilla recipe I made recently which is relatively low fat and healthy too.

Small red onion
tomato
Red pepper ( the veggie, not the flakes, although that would be good too)
Corn kernels ( canned or fresh, your choice)
A little oil
Black beans ( or pink or whatever you got, I used the canned )
Flour tortillas
shredded cheese ( montery jack, cheddar, your choice)
cumin, or fajita spice mix

Fry up the onions and pepper ( diced so the pieces are same size as the corn kernels)
Add the corn and beans, tomato ( no set amount, just an even mix of all)
Toss in some of the cumin or fajita spice ( maybe a tbs or 2, depending on taste)
Place one tortilla on a baking sheet
put a layer of the mixed veggies and beans on top, spread evenly
put a layer of cheese ( the more the better, but if your watching your weight , reduce the amount)
place second flour tortilla on top
Press down a little so top tortilla is sitting directly on the cheese
Bake in oven 375F for about 10 minutes or until the cheese melts. Watch, because they can burn quickly and easily.
Can spray the top witha little pam if you want it extra crispy, just watch for burning.
cut into 1/4ths and eat.

Sorry about the inaccuracies, I just wasnt paying attention while i was cooking, not realizing id post the recipe or want to make it again, which i would because it was great. I think Guy Fieri did something similar, so can probably find what he did on food network. ( I just checked , and he does, its called something like grilled corn quesadillas or something like that )

larry
 
Hmm, I've got a whole blog of vegan recipes. So it's hard to pick just one. I've done Bolognese Lasagna, Philly Cheese Steak, Swedish Meatballs, lots of veggies, pasta and soups. I think I'll post my Zucchini Masala, a tasty and more healthy variation of Chicken Tikka Masala. The dal in the picture is from one of Yakuta's Posts.



Zucchini Masala
2 tbs Earth Balance Margarine
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs ginger, minced
3 serrano peppers (2 for a milder version), seeded & minced
1 tbs coriander
1 tbs cumin
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp garam masala
15 oz can tomato sauce
4 medium zucchini, quartered and cut in half or thirds
12 oz silken tofu
1 tbs lemon juice
6 oz coconut milk

Melt margarine in a frying pan. Saute the garlic, ginger and peppers until fragrant. Add spices and fry for slightly longer. Add tomato sauce and bring to a boil, stirring in the spices. Blend together the tofu, coconut milk and lemon juice. Add the blended tofu and coconut milk. Stir to combine and add the zucchini. Reduce to simmer and cover, stirring occasionally. Cook until the zucchini is tender. Add a little water, if necessary, to attain desired consistency.

Serve with basmati rice or roti, naan or flatbread. Also good with Indian Fried Tofu (I'll post tomorrow).

4 Servings: 275 cal (18g fat, 22g carbs, 11g protein)
 
VYAPTI,

The recipe looks great. Im guessing there was an oversight, but how much zucchini? And how should it be cut up ??

larry.

Ill be sure to try all the recipes you mentioned, they look great.
 
There is a modified Burmese dish I learned from a friend.

1 can of coconut milk
2 of the same sized cans of veggie broth ( I use the fake chicken broths)
a few cloves of garlic
cilantro
oil
linguini or rice noodles shaped like linguini
lime
hard boiled quail eggs ( which i dont use but others may like it)
red pepper flakes.

Mince garlic, fry in oil until just cooked
scoop out most of the garlic, leaving some behind and the oil behind too in the pot
add coconut milk, broth
cook until hot
add hard boiled quail eggs ( if using)

Boil linguini or rice noodles until cooked
cut lime into wedges
chop up cilantro

To serve, place linguini in a bowl
Place some of the garlic you removed on the noodles
Place some of the chopped cilantro on the noodles
shake some hot pepper flakes on the noodles
squeeze a lime wedge on the noodles

Then, dish out some of the " soup" along with the eggs to cover the noodles

** When he made it, in the soup was pieces of boiled chicken too. since im a veggie, I replace the real chicken with fake stuff. use whatever you like, or nothing at all.**

Eat with spoom and fork :)
 
VYAPTI,

The recipe looks great. Im guessing there was an oversight, but how much zucchini? And how should it be cut up ??

larry.

Ill be sure to try all the recipes you mentioned, they look great.

Ooops. I fixed it. Use 4 medium zucchini quartered, then sliced in half. I'm bookmarking your Burmese dish too. Thanks
 
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