How to Pull-Off a Very Veggie Thanksgiving

Hope everyone was able to enjoy their Thanksgiving day with family and friends!  Jason and I hosted my family at our house, which is actually the fourth time hosting the big Turkey day for us.  This also makes the second time we have prepared a mostly-vegan meal.  My family helped out  a lot this year and brought the turkey plus many side dishes and pies.  I tackled most of the side dishes and made almost everything vegan-friendly for my brother and I.  We of course ended up with twice as many dishes as we had people, and we took pictures of everything but the food.

Thanksgiving Menu 2012
Food Brought & Bought:
Turkey - not vegan, made by Mom and Dad
Turkey Gravy - not vegan, made by Mom
Turkey Stuffing - not vegan, made by Mom
Organic Pumpkin Pie - vegetarian, made by Mom
Pumpkin Pie - vegetarian, provided by Ken
Green Beans with Slivered Almonds - vegan, made by Mom
Chia Seed Pudding - vegan, made by my brother
Triple Berry Pie - vegetarian, from Wheatfields
Crescent Rolls - vegan, believe it or not

Food We Made:
Mashed Potatoes -vegan
Thanksgiving Gravy - vegan
Wild Rice Stuffing - vegan
Hippie Loaf - vegan
Corn Dish - vegan
Cranberry Sauce - vegan, no sugar added
Bread Stuffing - vegetarian
Apple Walnut Stuffing - vegetarian
Scalloped Carrots - vegan
Thyme-Braised Brussel Sprouts - vegan
Coconut Whip - vegan

Like I said, lots of food!  And everything turned out fairly well (although the hippie loaf could have been a little more browned).  I've linked to the recipes for some of the dishes above.  Here are a few tips for...

Veganizing your Thanksgiving without too much trouble:
1)  Use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth or turkey drippings for your stuffing.
2)  Use almond, soy, rice, or hemp milk to make your mashed potatoes creamy.
3)  Use vegan stick butter (Earth Balance) instead of butter.

These simple switch-outs will make most of your dishes vegan-friendly for those certain family members.  Here are some of our favorite recipes that I created vegan versions of:

Corn Dish
4 round tsp Ener-G with 6 Tbsp warm water
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
3 Tbsp sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 can corn (with liquid)
1 can creamed corn
1/2 stick melted vegan butter

Mix the above ingredients together and pour into a greased casserole dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes to 1 hour until golden brown.

Scalloped Carrots
5-6 carrots peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 onion chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp vegan butter
4 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 cup almond milk
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp soy sauce or tamari
1 tsp garlic powder
Fried Onions

Boil carrots until slightly tender, do not over-cook.  Meanwhile saute onion with olive oil, set aside.  In a saucepan over medium heat melt butter and whisk in flour, making a roux.  Add milk, nutritional yeast, soy sauce, and garlic powder.  Heat until thickened, add more milk if too thick.  Once at desired consistency (similar to creamed soup) mix together with onion and carrots, pour into a small casserole dish.  Top with fried onions.  Bake covered with foil for 30 minutes, then remove foil for 15 minutes until browned.

And finally I have a few...

Time-saving tips for any type of Thanksgiving meal:
1)  Chop all onions, celery, mushrooms, carrots, etc. the night before and portion into containers/plastic bags for each dish.
2)  Roast your potatoes in your crockpot on low setting starting that morning.  An hour before meal time, mash the potatoes in the crock and turn it to warm setting.  Serve out of the crockpot.
3)  Make as much of a dish as you can ahead of time without cooking all the way through.  Do the final baking in the hour or two before meal time (ex. stuffings, scalloped carrots, hippie loaf).
4)  Make a list of all of the dishes you are preparing so you can check things off as you go.  You can even go so far as to make an "oven schedule" to coordinate your precious oven time.
5)  Do dishes as you go along.  It is helpful to have a wonderful husband who is willing to take on this task.
6)  Don't say no to help.  If someone offers to bring something, say yes!


Everything came together fairly well.  There was of course that last hour of craziness in the kitchen trying to keep everything warm, but we succeeded!  My brother even brought over his harmonium and treated us to a little pre and post-dinner entertainment.

I tried my hand at the harmonium as well.  It's kind of like mini organ or an accordion that you sit on your lap or the ground.

We had a great time!  Thanks to my wonderful husband for not only being the dish-washing fiend, but for photographically documenting the evening.  I feel so lucky and blessed to have family close by to celebrate the holidays with!  We were sad we missed out on the Brewer Thanksgiving, an annual tradition where they invite over all of the international faculty and students in my father-in-law's department that do not have family to celebrate with.  It seems "non-traditional" to most but it really is what the spirit of Thanksgiving is all about.  Happy Thanksgiving to all of our family and friends we were not able to celebrate with!

Hankering for "Meat"

I am becoming more adventurous when it comes to the category of meats, fake meats that is (did you think I was turning back to a carnivore?).  Before, the Tofurky and “meat crumbles” just kind of repulsed me.  And don’t get me wrong, I definitely don’t think that replacing meat with fake meat means you are eating healthy.  It’s still processed food and not whole food, meaning it’s probably lacking in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and likely loaded with sodium and preservatives.  But sometimes a girl just gets a hankering for a corn dog, or a delicious piece of sausage pizza.

A week ago I spent a fabulous three day weekend in KC with two of my dear friends.  The first night there we hit up a great restaurant and brewery called The Foundry.  They had bar food, and not just any bar food, but VEGAN BAR FOOD.  From my limited experience in Nebraska it is extremely difficult to find a credible bar that also serves a plethora of vegetarian and vegan dishes.  I took full advantage and ordered the “cheat lover’s pizza”…vegan Italian sausage, vegan cheese, ratatouille vegetables, wild mushrooms, basil, and red sauce.  It was nothing short of amazing!

On the same trip we went to RA, a sushi restaurant with a lot of vegetarian options.  I ended up getting the vegetarian rolls and Dengaku Tofu.  The tofu was deep fried and delicious…so hot and creamy.  I had not had tofu like this before!   

Maybe all of this tofu and vegan sausage wasn’t so disgusting after all.

This KC getaway led me to be a little more daring at my trip to Trader Joe’s last week.  I went on a week night while Jason was at class…which created the perfect storm.  I was:

1)      At Trader Joe’s on a slow night

2)      Not rushed

3)      ALONE

Yeah, I went a little crazy.  I picked up a few new items that I had not tried or seen there before; the soy corn dogs, soy chorizo and some firm tofu for good measure (along with numerous other items I will not bore you with).  I’ll admit I was still craving bar food at the time, but I managed to turn most of these items into fairly healthy meals (save the corn dogs).

For breakfast on Saturday I tried my hand at a tofu scramble that I had been reading about in so many vegan cookbooks and blogs.  The premise is that firm tofu crumbles into a consistency similar to scrambled eggs.  I also wanted to try out my chorizo for something a little different (spicy food for breakfast, what?).

I crumbled half of the container of firm tofu and added about an eighth of the chorizo, which also crumbled once the casing was removed.

Next I chopped half of a zucchini, 4 sundried tomatoes (comes in a huge jar from Costco), and a teaspoon full of chopped garlic (also from a huge jar from Costco).

I started by sautéing the veggies for a minute or two in a little olive oil.  Once softened, I added the tofu/chorizo mixture, a handful of torn spinach leaves, and then stir fried everything for a few minutes. 

I ate only half of the scramble Saturday along with my vegan almond butter waffle and a much needed cup of coffee.

I honestly kept forgetting that I was eating tofu, the consistency is that close to eggs…couldn’t tell a difference.  Jason even tried a bite, he said it didn’t have the flavor of eggs but the texture was the same.  The chorizo wasn’t super obvious as far as texture, it mainly added flavor to the dish as I didn’t need to add any additional spices.  Overall, I’d say it’s worth repeating for me, especially if I’m craving a big greasy breakfast (it really wasn't greasy).

To use up the remaining chorizo I decided to make a taco filling last night.  We made two taco fillings to be precise as Jason is not quite on board with the fake meats as of yet.  I started by chopping half of a red bell pepper, a quarter of an onion, and the remaining zucchini half from breakfast Saturday.

I boiled 1 cup of dry quinoa with 2 cups of water in the rice cooker.

Oh, and here’s proof I was cooking meat for the hubby.  I still don't miss meat itself, just the idea of meat.  Surprisingly the smell of ground turkey cooking really bothers me now.

The chopped veggies were sautéed in a little olive oil along with a teaspoon of chopped garlic.

Next I added the remaining chorizo (7/8 of a package to be precise).

Then, the cooked quinoa was added along with 1 can of drained and rinsed black beans.

Just so you know I had no clue what I was doing, completely flying by the seat of my pants.  But, it kind of resembled a sort of taco filling, right?  My goal was, protein, protein and more protein…hence the soy chorizo, quinoa AND black beans.

So my dear husband had come across this idea to make your own mini taco bowls.  I’m still wondering why I had not found this on Pinterest before?!  I think it’s totally Pinterest worthy (I'll fix that!).  Please refer to it for details on the bowl making.

We had mini taco bowls with our respective taco fillings, topped with chopped lettuce, tomatoes, and avocados, served with a side of Spanish rice.

I really liked the taco filling!  The chorizo gave it all the spice it needed while the quinoa and beans helped add more bulk to the recipe.  I have plenty of leftovers (which reheated well at lunch today) and I even froze a bag of taco filling for down the road.

Operation Fake Meats was a success overall.  I’ll admit, it’s sometimes hard to stick to a completely vegan diet.  Especially when everyone else around you is still indulging in cheese burgers (i.e. my patient’s lunch today, it smelled awesome), which is why I choose my battles.  I feel like the world of fake meat is good for the occasional splurge as a vegetarian.  It gives me a little of what I am missing without feeling completely crummy afterward.

Vegan Chorizo Tofu Scramble

(Makes 2 Servings)

Ingredients:

½ package firm tofu, crumbled

1/8-1/4 package Trader Joe’s Soy Chorizo, removed from casing and crumbled

½ zucchini, chopped

4 sundried tomatoes, chopped

1 teaspoon chopped garlic or 1-2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 handful torn spinach leaves

1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

Heat olive oil in skillet.  Add veggies and sauté until softened.  Mix crumbled tofu and chorizo together in bowl and add to skillet.  Add torn spinach leaves. Stir fry for several minutes until desired texture achieved (I like my tofu slightly browned).

Vegan Chorizo Taco Filling

(Makes a lot, no clue on servings here)

Ingredients:

1 package Trader Joe’s Soy Chorizo, removed from casing and crumbled

1 cup dry quinoa

2 cups water

½ red bell pepper, chopped

½ zucchini, chopped

¼ onion, chopped

1 teaspoon chopped garlic or 1-2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

Directions:

Heat oil in large skillet.  Cook quinoa according to directions (1 cup dry quinoa with 2 cups of water).  Add chopped vegetables to skillet, sauté until softened.  Add crumbled chorizo to skillet.  Add cooked quinoa and black beans to skillet.  Cook until heated through.

Fixin' Freezin' Feastin'

As much as I love to cook and eat vegetarian, it is much more difficult to eat-and-go.  When you want to eat fresh, healthy food, it requires a little more planning, prepping, and cooking time.  Last summer (prior to my conversion) my dear husband bought me a cook book called “Fix Freeze Feast” by Kati Neville and Lindsay Tkacsik.  This was my introduction to the world of cooking in bulk. 

Although the idea sounded great (spend a day prepping food that will feed you for many future meals) I never really got around to trying it until now.  The only caveat, over half of the cookbook has chapters titled “chicken, beef, or pork main dishes” and I no longer partake in these.  (There are a few pages of “meatless mains”, although most contain dairy.)  So I adapted. 

The concepts still apply (taken from “Fix Freeze Feast”)

1) Get Organized…plan ahead what you are going to make

2) Consolidate ingredients…pick what’s on sale and what you can buy in bulk

3) Go shopping…buy in bulk if possible

4) Prep your food

5) Label and assemble containers of food to freeze

6) Cook your food at a later time and enjoy!

For the past few weeks I loosely followed the above guidelines.  A few weeks ago I had a craving for lasagna, which I have not had in months.  I did a little searching online for recipes and couldn’t find one in particular that I liked.  I decided to just wing-it and see what I could come up with…which was rather dumb brave of me since I was planning on cooking in bulk.  The plan…shop for random vegetables and assemble them into two lasagnas, half vegan and half vegetarian with cheese (for the hubby). 

I came home with:

1 red bell pepper

2 zucchini

1 package fresh spinach

2 boxes of no boil lasagna noodles

1 container ricotta cheese (for him)

1 container Tofutti cream cheese (for me)

1 package frozen chopped spinach

What we already had at home:

4oz container fresh baby bella mushrooms (leftover in fridge)

4 cans of tomato sauce

1 can tomato paste

1 package shredded Italian cheese (for him)

1 egg

Garlic

Various spices

Red wine

When we got home I put Jason to work making sauce.  He makes amazing spaghetti sauce (I never knew that people actually made spaghetti sauce from scratch until I met him, Prego was all I knew).  While he was busy at the stove with the sauce, I started chopping away.  I ended up with a mixture of the red bell pepper, mushrooms, and zucchini which I sautéed with a splash of olive oil, some veggie broth, and a little red wine.

As this was cooking up on the stove I mixed up the cheesy fillings for our respective lasagnas…Jason’s consisted of the typical ricotta mixed with an egg and 1/3 of the pack of thawed and drained chopped spinach (on the top), mine was a mixture of the container of Tofutti cream cheese with the remaining 2/3 pack of spinach (on the bottom).

After all three components were ready (sauce, veggies, and cheesy filling) I started assembling the lasagnas.  We decided it made more sense to do two pans with half vegan and half vegetarian with cheese.  This way we could freeze one assembled pan before baking it, and have one pan for dinners that week.  I started with a little sauce on the bottom to help prevent the noodles from sticking.

(I continue to do each step with both pans but will only show one in the upcoming photos)

I then added a layer of noodles and veggies.

Sauce was poured over the veggies.  I added a layer of fresh spinach leaves and some Italian cheese to Jason’s side.

Next came another layer of noodles along with the cheesy fillings and more sauce.

This was topped with more noodles, and the first veggie layer was repeated (veggies, sauce, spinach and Italian cheese on Jason’s side).

 

The final layer of noodles was added and topped with the remaining sauce.  Jason’s side was doused with cheese, I added torn spinach to my side to further differentiate vegan vs. non-vegan (although I did sprinkle a little Parmesan on my side).

At this point, one lasagna went into the freezer while the other went into a 350 degree oven for an hour (I think it was an hour).  The results…

It was oh so delicious…although we both agreed we could have used more veggies.  I would say you could double the veggies (4 zucchini, 2 red bell peppers, 8 oz. mushrooms) and make more sauce (maybe 6 cans of tomato sauce?).  Either way, I really thought that the cream cheese sub mixed with the spinach was a good filling substitute for the ricotta.  It still has a similar texture, and you don’t miss the cheese as much throughout the lasagna.  I would also consider adding some vegan mozzarella on top.  

 Jason enjoyed his first vegetarian lasagna, I think it helped that he still had plenty of cheese on his side.  This pan of lasagna gave us four servings a piece which lasted through the week, and it reheated well in the microwave.  The frozen pan came in handy this last week which we heated in the oven for a little over an hour.  It tasted even better the second time around, perhaps the sauce had time to marinate the noodles and veggies?

So Round 1 of “Fix Freeze Feast” was a success.  For Round 2 we decided to try enchiladas.  I have made this recipe twice before, so I already knew it was a keeper.  I figured I would play it safe this time and make a recipe I knew we loved and would want to eat again and again.  The recipe is as follows found on http://www.plantbasedhealth.com/index.php/other-tasty-favorites#enchiladas

Quinoa and Bean Enchiladas

1 Green Bell Pepper, sliced (I used 2)

1 small Onion, sliced (I used 2)

1 Squash or Zucchini, sliced (I used 2)

4 cloves Garlic, minced

Cumin to taste

Chili Powder to taste

Salt & pepper to taste

1 1/2 c. cooked Black or Pinto Beans (2 cans)

1 1/2 c. cooked Quinoa (I cooked 1 ½ cups of dry quinoa)

1 c. Salsa

4 oz diced Green Chilies

Daiya vegan cheese, optional

10 - 6” Tortillas (will require more for future enchiladas)

20 oz Red Enchilada Sauce (I used 1 14.5oz can, will need more for future reheating)

1 Avocado, halved and sliced (omitted)

1/2 c. fresh Cilantro, chopped (omitted)

To cook-in-bulk for this recipe I doubled the veggies since chopping takes up a lot of the time in the prep work.  I took half of the chopped pepper, onion and zucchini and put it in a freezer bag for easy cooking in the future.  The other half was sautéed in a pan with a little olive oil, the garlic, cumin, and seasonings.

 

Meanwhile I started cooking the quinoa in the rice cooker.

After the quinoa was cooked I mixed it with the salsa, green chilies and 2 cans of black beans (we like a higher bean to quinoa ratio than the original recipe).

Once the veggies and quinoa filling were ready I began the assembly, a spoonful of quinoa mix and a spoonful of veggies in each tortilla and rolled it up.  I made one small pan for the freezer with no sauce (4 enchiladas) and one larger pan to bake that night (6 enchiladas).  We figured the frozen version might reheat better if the sauce was added just before baking.

 

 

I poured a can of enchilada sauce over the larger pan that was baked that night along with a little cheese (half real cheese and half vegan).

 

The larger pan then went into the oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

So no surprise to us, they were amazing yet again!  But what I was surprised about was how many left over and frozen enchiladas I was able to prepare in the same amount of time (about one hour of prep).  Here is what I ended up putting in the freezer.

This includes:

4 frozen assembled enchiladas (with no sauce)

1 bag of cooked quinoa mixture (half of what was leftover)

1 bag of frozen veggies ready to sauté

Between it all I figure we will get 14 more enchiladas (4 pre-made and enough filling and veggies for 10 more).  What a time saver that will be!  I think this type of cooking is the way to go.  I just need to be more creative in coming up with recipes that I can make in bulk.  Making it vegetarian/vegan is a little more challenging but definitely do-able!

Adventures in Waffles

It’s been a busy week…hence the no blogging since last Sunday.  I hope to have a few updates for you throughout the week with kitchen updates!

This morning I decided to make waffles, vegan waffles.  It might sound weird, but I promise that turning waffles vegan does not take away from their deliciousness! 

Breakfast is most definitely my favorite meal of the day.  I’m one of those people that orders breakfast for dinner whenever given the opportunity.  Last year, before my conversion, I was considering starting a breakfast blog if that gives you any indication of my love for this meal.  

Once going vegan, my breakfast options were drastically limited…or so I thought.  This is one of the first vegan recipes I found for my beloved breakfast items.  I liked this recipe because of the simple ingredients, no crazy vegan foods here!

http://www.vegan-heartland.com/2011/10/classic-belgian-waffles-low-fat-refined.html

I had made this recipe a few times in recent months, and it was good.  But it still had that “health food” taste to it.  They were fluffy and tasty, but they weren’t the golden, crispy Belgian waffles that I was longing for.  I read somewhere recently that chickpea flour or gram flour helps your baked goods to turn out crispier.  I know, I know…no one has chickpea flour in their kitchen.  But good news, it’s easy to find at your local Asian or Indian food mart! 

If you haven’t been there yet, check out the Asian Food Mart on 76^th between Cass and Dodge.  It has the “fishy” smell, but the aisles are wide and clean, the lighting is good, and the prices are clearly marked.  They also offer a huge variety of every Asian ingredient you could ever dream of, and a lot of cheap vegetables.  It’s a great place to find the more unique ingredients for your recipes.

So I knew I wanted to use chickpea flour, but I also had an urge to add some almond butter to give it a nuttier flavor.  Really, I didn’t know what the almond butter would do to the recipe, but I thought I’d give it a try.  I also added a little oil to the mix, my last batch of waffles stuck horribly to the waffle iron even after using nonstick cooking spray.   Again, I didn’t know how this would affect the recipe, but I figured I’d throw it in.

This is my altered vegan waffle recipe that I ended up with:

Almond Butter Waffles

2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour

½ cup chickpea flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup apple sauce

2 tablespoons almond butter

1 tablespoon maple syrup

¾ cup almond milk

1 tablespoon canola oil

Ingredients I Forgot but Meant to Add

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. 

Microwave almond butter for 30 seconds to soften.  Add applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla extract to almond butter, mix well.

Mix almond butter mixture, almond milk and oil with dry ingredients.  Add mixture to waffle iron and cook as directed.  We have the waffle plates for our Griddler, which makes the perfect amount for Jason and I.  This recipe is just the right amount to fill our Griddler without any leftover.

The result…a golden, crispy, Belgian waffle!

I topped my waffle with vegan butter, raspberry syrup and reheated frozen berries (Triple Berry Blend from Costco).  The verdict…Mmmmmm!  Worth a repeat.

Close Encounters of the Burger Kind

Recently my husband referred me to an article from the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/dining/a-vegetarians-struggle-for-sustenance-in-the-midwest.html

The author talks about his struggles of finding vegetarian meals living in the Midwest, as well as the “meat-loving” attitude of the region.  I don’t have a lot of experience to go off of, just 4 months thus far.  Last week I did have two very different restaurant experiences, both at “burger joints” here in Omaha.

Friday night we went to Blanc Burgers + Bottles in Midtown Crossing.  Being that it is a burger place I was not expecting much, maybe they’d have a salad or soup or some sort of fried vegetable appetizer?  There were two vegetarian main course options on the menu, a marinated portabella burger and a spiced lentil burger. 

When I tried to order the spiced lentil burger without the yogurt the waitress asked “are you vegan?” and my instinctive answer was “yes”.  Apparently I should have said “no, I just avoid meat and dairy”, because this girl was determined for me to eat vegan!  She explained that there were eggs in the lentil burger (which I would have been ok with that night) and that the portabella burger had already been contaminated by the cheese.  She was very excited to tell me about their vegan black bean burger, a new item that will soon be permanent on their menu, which consisted of a black bean burger on a ciabatta bun topped with spicy green chili sauce, spinach and avocado. This sounded pretty good, so I agreed, but mainly to appease her.  I didn’t want to argue that “well I’m mostly vegan but sometimes I’m ok with a little egg and I won’t freak out if cheese has touched my mushrooms”.  I felt pressured to eat vegan which was a new and weird experience for me.  At the end of our conversation the waitress explained that she understood because she has friends who are vegans. 

In the end I was very pleased with my forced selection, quite possibly the best black bean burger I have had in the past four months!  It was soft in the middle (not mushy) with a crispy, slightly breaded exterior, and the ciabatta bun was wonderful!  So I give Blanc a thumbs-up for their one vegan burger and for having two vegetarian burger options in addition.

Monday night we headed to Brewburger’s with a group a friends for the national title game.  I was half-expecting to order a side salad for my meal, but was pleasantly surprised that they offered a vegetarian portabella mushroom burger.  Our waiter was friendly, and was skilled at encouraging everyone to completely gorge themselves.  I was worried when it came time for me to order.  I started out asking for some guac and chips, which went over ok.  He definitely gave me “the look” when I ordered the vegetarian burger, especially when I specified no cheese.  “I know, I’m one of those people”, I responded.  He tried to come up with a side for me to eat but I fear I disappointed him horribly by turning down his offerings of gravy and cheese drenched fries (all specialties there).  Even though the waiter dismissed the vegetarian burger, I was thoroughly impressed when it came out.  The portabella had an amazing marinated flavor and great texture; it was topped with cooked carrots, zucchini and green beans.  If he has any future vegetarian customers I think he should be a little more excited about what they have to offer.  I guess that’s my beef with this guy…I have one option to order on the menu, so at least play it up and pretend that it’s good so I can look forward to my meal.  I must mention the giant chalice of freshly pounded guacamole that was presented to me, also quite delicious.  It gets 10 bonus points for presentation!

I apologize for not having any pictures, but this way you can make up your own image in your mind of what a chalice of guac looks like.

In summary, eating out in the Midwest is sometimes a challenge, but I have yet to find a place where they offer no vegetarian or vegan options.  Most places are use to working with food preferences and allergies now days, so it’s not hard to get what you want.  Obviously Omaha has more options (and I’m guessing more vegetarians) than the rest of the state, and I have yet to attempt to eat out in small-town Western Nebraska, so I can’t speak to that.  The pro-meat attitude is something that is very pervasive in the area, but I feel like a lot of people are at least interested and understanding when you say that you are vegetarian/vegan for “health reasons”.  I hear “I could never give up meat” a lot, which I too thought at one point (I really don't think I can convey to you the depth of my love for bacon before September 2011).  But you can eat more vegetables and fruits, and when you start filling your plate with these, you have less room for the meat and processed foods.  Most people can handle the idea of moderation a lot easier than complete withdrawal from animal products.  So fellow Mid-westerners, I encourage you to slowly cut back on your meat consumption, and embrace vegetables as a delicious and enjoyable option when eating out.  You can eat to your heart’s content and not feel bloated and miserable when you leave the restaurant…just extremely satisfied!  Props to both Blanc and Brewburgers for having the tastiest veggie burgers I have tried thus far!  Even you carnivores might want to give them a try for something a little lighter on the stomach next time.

Fajit-as with no Meat-as!

Last Thursday night I was at a loss of what to make.  Usually, I am terrible at coming up with a spontaneous recipe (unlike my husband who is a pantry and leftover genius!).  I am a planner, and have a very difficult time not using a recipe or at least having a meal in mind.  It was after 6:00 and nothing had come to me yet.  I did have a red bell pepper intended for another recipe, but since I used up the broccoli in the mac ‘n’ cheese I couldn’t make the “creamy broccoli and rice casserole”, so the red pepper was fair game.  What to do with the red bell pepper?  Ah-hah!  Fajitas!  So I started chopping:

1 red bell pepper

½ container of baby bella mushrooms (approx. 4oz)

1 onion

2 zucchinis (a great versatile veggie to keep on-hand)

2 cloves garlic

I cut the veggies into longer strips, taking care to cut out the seeds in the pepper and the zucchini (I feel like the seeded portion of zucchinis can get too mushy).  The garlic was minced.  I don’t wash my mushrooms; I just rub off any dirt with a paper towel.  Leaving them dry helps them to soak up all of the flavors of the sauce and veggies that you are cooking with (I learned this at a cooking class last summer!). Oh, and I read this tip in a book at some point (possibly Veganomicon?):

Become a mouth breather when chopping onions and you will never shed another tear! 

I feel like I have super-sensitive eyes, especially to fumes.  I don’t just cry when chopping onions, I bawl and my nose starts dripping like a faucet.  Needless to say I was highly suspicious of this “tip”.  I am happy to report that I’ve done it twice now and it totally works!  But you really have to concentrate when mouth-breathing.  The slightest inhalation through your nose and you’ll notice those eyes start watering!

Jason however was disappointed with my astonishing news; he really wanted to buy me onions goggles.

http://images.bedbathandbeyond.com/assets/product_images/230/7207814875182P.JPG

  

Let’s get back to the recipe.  I put a little oil (1 tablespoon olive oil, I think) in a hot frying pan and started to sauté the garlic with a few shakes of ground cumin.  After a minute or so I dumped in the veggies with a cup of water mixed with a teaspoon of Vegetable Better Than Bouillon.  The moisture helps you cut back on the amount of oil you need to cook, plus the veggie bouillon adds some flavor and intensity.  I also added a few drizzles of tamari (it’s like soy sauce, except vegan and less salty).  This all sautéd/cooked for about 5-7 minutes with frequent stirring.

While this was happening I threw a can of black beans with half of a can of Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chiles), salt, pepper, and some more ground cumin in a sauce pan.  I also had some white and brown rice cooking in the rice cooker.

Everything came together fairly quickly and easily.  Thankfully we had leftover whole-wheat tortillas in the fridge.  So here’s what dinner looked like:

 

It was pretty yummy!  The veggie flavor was wonderful and the cumin, tamari and Better than Bouillon added some nice depth.  Mushrooms are amazing, they have a great earthiness that adds so much to meatless recipes (this coming from a girl that almost started crying when Jason put an entire can of mushrooms in spaghetti sauce a few years back).  Here’s a run down of all of the ingredients used for Thursday night’s dinner:

Veggie Fajitas

1 red bell pepper

4oz. baby bella mushrooms

1 onion

2 zucchinis

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp oil

1 cup water

1 tsp Vegetable Better Than Bouillon

1-2 Tbsp Tamari

Salt and pepper to taste

Whole-wheat tortillas

Beans and Rice

1 can black beans

½ can Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles

½ tsp ground cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

¾ cup brown rice

¾ cup white rice

1 ½ cups water

We were possibly expecting my brother to drop by for dinner, but since he couldn’t make it we had a lot of leftover fajita fixin’s.  They’re the fajitas that just keep on keepin’ on!  Let me explain.  Since Thursday night’s dinner shared with Jason, I have had fajitas, beans and rice for lunch on Friday, a Chipotle-style burrito with rice, beans and fajita filling on Saturday for lunch, more fajitas, beans and rice for lunch on Monday, and it looks like it will be my dinner tonight as well (in nacho form?).  My pride and joy, however, was Sunday breakfast.  I was actually creative with leftovers (again, a trait that my husband possesses, but I sadly do not).

I chopped up some leftover fajita veggies with a sundried tomato and tossed this into a lightly sprayed frying pan.

 I next added a ton of torn spinach leaves.

 As you can see, they cook down quite a bit.

Next, I added an egg (gasp!) scrambled with some almond milk. 

 I occasionally, like once a month, eat an egg.  I’ll admit I was slightly hung-over that morning (I’m just old, not a drunk, I swear) and there’s just something about a big greasy breakfast that sounds appealing.  So I’m a-okay with eggs in moderation (again like once or twice a month) and as long as they are mixed with mountains of veggies.  The egg acts as a veggie vehicle if you will; it’s no longer the main player in my breakfasts.

The one egg isn’t even enough for a true omelet since I have so many veggies in there, it just becomes a sort of veggie scramble.  I want to try a tofu scramble sometime, but never seem to have tofu just lying around when I need it. 

This was my Sunday morning breakfast; coffee, glass of water, veggie scramble, some fried hash brown, and half of an English muffin with lingonberry jam.  Lingonberries are a tart Scandinavian berry similar to a cranberry but smaller.  They have even more antioxidants than blueberries or cranberries, so stock up the next time you visit IKEA or your local Scandinavian store.

So that is the tale of the veggie fajitas.  And I think this might be a new record for me...5 days in a row using of leftovers!