Om Nom Noms: The Vegetarian Cookbook Experiment

As a fan of the Dill Potato Salad from Native Foods (our amazing local vegan joint), I decided to find a recipe to try to make my own version of this delicious fare for our Super Bowl Party.  I found a recipe on the Food Network website that had rave reviews.  However, I knew I wanted to make mine with sour cream (their recipe only called for mayonnaise), and even with adding the sour cream, I found that it was a little dry for my liking so I kept adding sour cream, mayo and dijon mustard until it was creamy and delicious.  Their recipe also called for celery and onion, but since I am surrounded by picky eaters, I omitted them.  They turned out fabulous on their own, very impressed!

Creamy Dijon-Dill Potato Salad

Preparation Time: 30 minutes - 15 minutes peeling, 15 minutes combining ingredients

Actual Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Serves: 12

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup tightly packed chopped fresh dill or dry dill
• 1 to 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 3 tablespoons grainy or regular Dijon mustard

Directions:

1.  Put the potatoes in a big pot with enough water to cover by 1-inch. Season with salt and bring the water to a boil. Cook just until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, about 25 minutes.

2.  Drain the potatoes and return them to the uncovered pot off the heat. Let them sit until almost room temperature. (Cooling them in the warm pot will get rid of any excess water in the potatoes, and that’s good.)

3.  Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients together in a serving bowl large enough to hold all the potatoes.

4.  When they’re cool, cut the potatoes into 1-inch pieces, add them to the bowl as you go. Stir gently until all the potatoes are coated with dressing.  Add ingredients to taste.

Recipe from the Food Network; improvised by Me.

One of my New Years Resolutions was to be more proactive with my blogging, yet here I am on the 27th posting my first entry for the year… A work in progress, I suppose.

I have decided to start “Quick and Easy” posts, since I know that realistically it is impossible to prepare every meal. My first entry is the Vegetable Masala Pita.  I love the Trader Joe’s indian cuisine and picked up these “Vegetable Masala Burgers” that turned out to be far from a burger; theyre even better.  They are made with potatoes, carrots, green beans, corn, bell peppers and “indian” spices and are vegan!  These burgers have been sitting in my freezer waiting for the right meal, and I think I’ve found it.  I even created my own version of tzatziki sauce using sour cream, which I was pretty impressed with.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes (during cooking)

Actual Cooking Time: 10 minutes 

Serves: 1-4 per box of Trader Joe’s Vegetable Masala Burger Patties

Level of Difficulty: Super Easy

Ingredients:

• Trader Joe’s Vegetable Masala Burger Patties
• Pita Pockets (any brand)
• Sprouts
• Avocado
• Tomato
• Sour Cream 
• Lemon (not photographed)
• Dill, Salt and Pepper
• (I photographed spring lettuce mix but I omitted it when there was no room in the pita pocket)

Directions:

1. Prepare Vegatable Masala patty as directed on package (I used a toaster oven - 400 degrees for 10 minutes)
2. In small bowl, combine sour cream, dill, salt, pepper and lemon to taste. (I used quite a bit of lemon so it had a zing)
3. Cut pita pocket in half, spread sour cream “tzatziki” mixture and insert half of the patty in each side.
4. Fill with sliced tomato, avocado and sprouts.
5. Voila!

I am always asked by non-vegetarian family and friends, what I am allowed to eat.  My response… everything you eat, without the meat.  Although there is a lot more involved in a vegetarian diet, it all comes back to this.  Being a vegetarian doesn’t have to mean eating lettuce and carrots.  It can prove to be a very fulfilling, health way to eat and live.

 My first vegetarian recipe experiment was Chipotle Chili Mac, a play on your traditional chili.  This is also a vegan recipe!  It was very easy and took less than 30 minutes to prepare.  Including the chili powder and Mrs. Dash Seasoning, this meal cost me about $12 to make and will feed 4-6 people. 

I made my chili with large macaroni.  However, I feel that the large macaroni was way too big for the proportions of the other ingredients in the chili so I changed my recipe to small macaroni.  Also, I made my seasoning mix moderately spicy.  If you prefer more or less spice, adjust the seasoning mixture accordingly.  I added sour cream on the top for creaminess and to lighten up the flavor of the spice. (Note: Adding sour cream makes this recipe vegetarian, NOT vegan)

Voila!

Chipotle Chili Mac 

Preparation Time:  About 15 minutes

Actual Cooking Time:  About 15 minutes

Serves 4-6 people

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients 

• 2 cups uncooked small elbow macaroni
• ½ cup Chopped Onion
• 1 15-oz can of Diced Tomatoes, undrained
• 1 15-oz can of Kernel Corn, drained
• 1 15-oz can of Triblend or Kidney Beans, undrained
• 1-2 cups chopped Spinach (or other leafy green)
• 3 teaspoons Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle Seasoning
• 1 teaspoon Chili Powder (not chili salt)
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Pepper
• Fat-Free Sour Cream (optional)

 Preparation 

1.  Cook pasta in boiling water until tender, do not overcook.  Drain.  Sauté onion in non-stick pan with some cooking spray.  Blend seasonings in small bowl.
 

2.  In medium pot, combine beans, diced tomatoes, and corn.  Add onions and spice blend.  Cook on medium-low until pot comes to a low boil.  (You may add water if mixture looks too dry)

3.  Add spinach during the last 3 minutes of cooking.  (Spinach cooks faster and will wilt if added too soon)

Original recipe from fatfreevegan.com, improvised by Me. 

I will never see a salad as a full meal, but I do love my salad as a side to a hearty meal.  This particular salad caught my interest because I love asparagus.  Even my non-veggie loving boyfriend can appreciate how tasty and versatile asparagus is in cooking.  This recipe is incredibly simple, even if it does take a little time to boil the egg and steam/saute the asparagus., it is worth every second. 

I steamed my asparagus because it gave me a little more free time to do other things while it cooked.  I squeezed a little bit of lemon juice into the water to infuse a little citrus flavor.  I also used Ken’s Lite Caesar Dressing and it was an AMAZING compliment to the flavors of the egg and asparagus.  I think a nice addition next time would be some Betty Crocker Bac-o’s Bacon Flavor Bits.  They are delicious and VEGAN!

Egg-cellent Asparagus Salad

Preparation Time:  Less than 5 minutes

Actual Cooking Time:  About 10 minutes

Serves 1 person 

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients (per single salad serving)

•  1 Egg
• 4 Spears Asparagus, snapped into halves
• 2 cups Spinach (or other leafy green)
• Your Favorite Salad Dressing
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Bac-o’s Bacon Flavor Bits (optional)

 Preparation

1. Hard boil egg in small pot of water with a dash of salt.  Steam or sauté asparagus until tender.

2. Cool asparagus and egg before dressing salad

3. Chop or slice egg and combine with spinach and asparagus spears.

Original Recipe from fitnessmagazine.com, slightly improvised by Me.

Can I just say WOW?!  These were so tasty and incredibly easy.  

I try to make smaller portioned recipes since I usually eat alone or with one other person.  If you would like this recipe for more than two people, simply double or triple the recipe.  However, with doubling or tripling this recipe, be leery of adding too much olive oil.  I would recommend adding and mixing in single teaspoons until you feel like the potatoes are properly covered. (nobody likes adding more calories and having greasy potatoes)  You could also use Pam Cooking Spray instead of oil but the potatoes wont get as crispy of a skin.

I love ketchup on potatoes and decided to spice it up a bit.  I added some chili powder, garlic salt and pepper to a small cup of ketchup to create a “chili ketchup”.  (no recipe for this, just added to taste)  It turned out to be a successful hack.  These potatoes would also be fabulous as breakfast potatoes.

Derwicious Oven Fries

Preparation Time:  About 5 minutes

Actual Cooking Time:  20 minutes

Serves 2 people

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 2 potatoes (cut into wedges or fries)
• 4 teaspoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 teaspoons Mrs. Dash Seasoning (or any non-salt seasoning)
• ½ teaspoon Salt
• ½ teaspoon Pepper

Preparation

1.  Preheat oven to 450 F

2.  Toss potato wedges with oil, salt, pepper and Mrs. Dash  Seasoning. Spread the wedges out on a rimmed baking sheet.

3.  Bake fries for 20 minutes, turning once half way through.

Original Recipe from eatingwell.com, slightly improvised by Me.

Last night was mexican night! I have made this salad before, its fresh and zesty and totally vegan! After eating the salad, I think that it would be best if the lettuce were chopped (like a chopped salad) and mixed with the corn and bean mixture before serving, so I adjusted my recipe accordingly. The recipe calls for the lettuce and avocado to be added before serving because the lettuce and avocado will become soggy in the mixture if left.

Bon Appetit!

Zesty Corn, Bean and Avocado Salad

Preparation Time: About 10 minutes

Actual Cooking Time: None!

Serves 4 people

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 1 15-oz can Kernel Corn, drained
• 1 15-oz can Black Beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 medium Tomatoes, diced
• 4 cups Romaine Lettuce, finely chopped
• 1 medium-sized Avocado
• 1 Lime
• ½ cup Chopped Cilantro
• Chili Powder, Salt & Pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Combine corn, beans, diced tomatoes, and cilantro in medium sized bowl. Squeeze in half of lime to mixture and add chili powder, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well, cover, and refrigerate a couple of hours to allow flavors to blend.

2. Before serving, add to chopped lettuce. Peel and slice avocado, placing one-fourth of the slices on each salad plate. Serve with wedges of lime to be squeezed over the salad at the table, if desired.

Original Recipe from fatfreevegan.com, improvised by Me.

I apologize for my absence… I was sick for about a week and then life got the best of me.  I’ve been eating a lot of Trader Joe’s prepared meals lately.  I know, shameful.  I found this recipe on a website, using chorizo.  Growing up with a hispanic parent, chorizo and eggs was plentiful in our household.  It was one of the things I missed most about giving up meat, for its flavor, not its ingredients (yuck!)  So needless to say, I was SO excited when I discovered soyrizo!



Several people tried this soup and it turned out to be a fan favorite.  I like that you can spice it up as little or as much as you want and refrigerated overnight, the leftovers are even more yummy because the veggies absorb the flavors of the broth.  



Black Bean & Soyrizo Soup

Preparation Time:  About 15 minutes
Actual Cooking Time:  About 30 minutes
Serves 4-6 people
Level of Difficulty:  Moderately Easy (more prep work than tough work)
Ingredients

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 6 oz of Soyrizo
• 1 small sweet yellow onion, chopped
• 3 bell peppers, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle Seasoning and Garlic Salt, to taste
• 2 cans of chicken broth
• 2 15 oz cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
• Fresh cilantro, chopped

Preparation

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Remove the soyrizo from the casing and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the onion and bell pepper then continue to cook for 5-7 minutes; season with Mrs. Dash, garlic salt, sea salt and pepper, to taste. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 60 seconds. Add broth and cans of black beans then simmer, partially covered for 30 minutes. For less chunky soup, mix some of the soup with an immersion blender.  Taste, re-season with spices if needed.  Garnish with cilantro.

Original recipe from For The Love of Cooking, improvised by Me.