You know you have problems when you’ve been a vegetarian for 15 years and you still need spell check to help you get “vegetarian” right. What the freak!

I JUST figured out that the only way I can master the spelling of “vegetables” is by breaking it down to vege and table.

Anyhoot. This is nothing new or wild and crazy but sometimes it just takes a picture to give you a meal idea or stimulate new ideas of your own.

t'was nice

yum

The deets:

• The salad was just lettuce, shredded carrots, an assortment of olives with olive oil, apple cider vinegar and pepper. I forgot to put garbanzo beans! That would have been great.
• The bread was toasted with a bit of lemon and pepper goat cheese, sliced tomatoes and fresh sage and basil (inspired from the recipe below)
• And of course I added my 2 % greek yogurt with grapes and blackberries.

Very easy, hearty and delish.

Yo! I just stumbled upon this site and I’m in lurrrve. They have this great post about 25 healthy recipes that require little time and minimal clean up. The site is sponsored by Martha Stewart (not sure how I feel about that) but, still, it has tons of info about green and sustainable living and hundreds of yummy, easy recipes (with good pics too). Plus they stress local, organic, grass fed, wild, seasonal and heirloom in their recipe ingredients. Here are some I will be trying this month (soooo excited!):

goat cheese and raspberries

Whole-Grain Toast with Goat Cheese and Raspberries

We’ve pared it down to the essentials: minimal ingredients, few steps, and a hassle-free cleanup. A great breakfast, lunch, or dinner doesn’t get easier than this. We created these recipes with flexibility in mind. Adjust the quantity of the ingredients depending on the flavors you like best and the number of people you’re serving. Toast sliced whole-grain bread; let cool slightly. Spread with goat cheese, top with berries, mash with a fork.

greek yogurt and veggies

Greek Yogurt and Vegetable Sandwich

Spread a slice of whole-wheat bread with plain Greek yogurt. Add grated carrots, sliced avocado, chopped walnuts, and sunflower sprouts. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, season with sea salt and pepper, and top with another slice of bread.

remixed lentil soup

Lentil, Carrot, and Lemon Soup with Fresh Dill

Simmer 3/4 cup French green lentils with 4 chopped carrots, 2 sliced garlic cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt in water (enough to cover by 2 inches), until tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in juice of 1 lemon, season to taste, and add about 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill to each bowl before serving. Serves 4.

steamed white salmon

Steamed Wild Salmon with Fresh Herbs and Fennel

Steam skinless wild salmon fillets with fennel wedges in a lightly oiled steamer basket until salmon gives when pressed, about 6 minutes. Stir a mixture of chopped herbs (parsley, basil, tarragon, chives, dill, fennel fronds) with minced shallot, extra-virgin olive oil, and a splash of white-wine vinegar or lemon juice; season to taste. Spoon over fish.

tortillas

Corn Tortillas with Corn, Peppers, and Mashed Beans

Mash pinto or black beans with a pinch of ground cumin and a little olive oil. Saute corn kernels and sliced mixed peppers (hot or sweet) in olive oil with chopped garlic. Toast corn tortillas briefly. Spread bean mash on each tortilla and top with corn and peppers. Top with a sprinkling of cheese if you like.

oh em gee

Heirloom Tomato Sandwich with Herbs and Creamy Tofu Spread

Pat dry 1/2 block extra firm tofu and blend with 3 tablespoons safflower oil, 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, and 2 tablespoons lemon juice; season to taste. Spread onto sliced whole-grain bread and add tomato slices. Top with a handful of herbs, such as parsley, basil, chives, and cilantro. Season with sea salt.

**UPDATE**

I made the Corn Tortillas with Corn, Peppers, and Mashed Beans. Super delish and easy. I sprinkled fresh chopped oregano on top.

i did it!

served with cilantro rice and a garbanzo bean salad

This is the best broccoli recipe ever. Ever, ever, ever. No for real though, there is only one broccoli recipe that comes close to this one, and that is Pasta Pamadoro’s broccoli saute.

Anyway, I got this recipe from The Amateur Gourmet blog about a year ago and I’ve been making it ever since. It’s super fast and easy and when I first discovered it I was making it every night for a week. No lie.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 head of broccoli
• 1 lemon
• freshly shaved parmesan cheese (shredded or grated is fine too)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt to taste

Here’s what you do:

• Preheat oven to 375
• Do not wash the broccoli. Weird, I know. The key to this recipe is keeping the broccoli very crunchy! Adding any moisture will decrease crunch. (So get organic if you can.)
• Chop broccoli (removing florets only). Add to glass bakeware (aluminum is fine too). Drizzle with one tablespoon of olive oil.
• Chop garlic
• Heat garlic and broccoli in glass bakeware.
• Bake until the broccoli turns slightly brown at the edges (10 to 15 minutes). Remove from oven.
• Add the remainder of olive oil
• Squeeze lemon on top
• Add 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheeses, let it melt on the broccoli.
• Enjoy!

A couple of weeks ago I went to a cooking demonstration by Chef Mu. One of the dishes he prepared was a sesame cabbage saute with garlic and ginger. I tried making this the other day.  It was so yums that I had to make it again to go with my Miso Soup – and post, of course! I don’t have his exact recipe, but this is my take. Seriously you guys, this is SO easy and SO good. Make it!

colors!

Here’s what you need:

• Cabbage or carrots
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Sesame Oil
• Canola Oil
• Salt and pepper

Here’s what you do:

• Shred cabbage. Chef Mu used 1/2 a head of red cabbage and 1/2 a head of green cabbage (I used carrots instead of the 1/2 a head of green cabbage)
• Chop 3 or 4 cloves of garlic
• Chop 2 tablespoons of fresh ginger
• I forget what Chef Mu did here, but I heated the garlic and ginger with a tablespoon or two of canola oil. He may have just cooked the whole dish in the sesame oil, but it’s expensive so I needed to conserve my bottle.
• Once that started to cook I added the cabbage and carrots. I cooked that until it was soft but still crunchy. Then I added the sesame oil (2 to 3 tablespoons) in the last minute or so, and stirred it to make sure it coated all of the cabbage.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cabbage and carrots before cooking. I was in a rush, but if I had more time I would make the slices thinner.

No disrespect, but this is kinda the best Miso Soup I’ve ever had. I went to the farmer’s market this weekend and brought back fresh kale and homemade tofu. Instead of doing the usual garlic saute I thought I’d try something different.

me so hungry (get it me so = miso. ha!)

What you need:

• 7 to 10 cups of vegetable broth/stock or water. Use low sodium broth if you can. (I used 4 cups of veggie broth and 4 cups of water…maybe more)
• 5 green onions (use the light green and white part)
• 5 tablespoons of Miso (you can get it at your neighborhood grocery store)
• 2 tablespoons of fresh ginger (I grated)
• 3 cloves of fresh thinly sliced garlic (or chopped)
• 1 head of kale. chopped.
• 1 block of tofu chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
• 4 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce

What you do:

• Bring broth/stock/water to boil
• Add green onions, ginger and garlic. Reduce to simmer. Let sit for 5 minutes.
• Add Miso (stir until it dissolves).
• Add soy sauce, tofu and kale. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Not too long because you want the kale to stay a tad crunchy.
• Eat the amazingness

adding tofu and kale to soup base

this carton was 3.99 probably overpriced. but it will last a while.

One word: MASTERPIECE! So freaking good! Foolproof too.

steaming veggies

baked tofu

Finished product. I get a C on the presentation but I was SO hungry I couldn't play around.

Here’s what you need:

• extra firm tofu
• a bunch of fresh basil
• 3 tbs fresh ginger
• a bunch of fresh mint
• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 2-3 tbs olive oil
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 head of brocoli
• 5 carrots
• 1 onion

Here’s what I did:

• chop tofu into small cubes
• chop basil and ginger
• marinate in fridge in 1/4 cup of soy sauce for 30 + minutes
• cook brown rice (two cups of rice in four cups of water). Follow package.
• steam chopped veggies on medium in 1/4 cup of water for about  5 minutes. You don’t want them soft. Keep a lil’ crunch!
• on a frying pan, or whatever you got, add 2 to 3 tbs of olive oil and 1/4 cup soy sauce (more if you want)
• stir fry on medium heat for about 5 to 10 minutes. The idea is to make the rice crispy. Just play it by ear until it looks BOMB and starts smelling real nice. Add chopped mint in the last 2 minutes.

They say the way to a man’s heart is through the kitchen (or whatever), well same thing goes for my friends. If you know how to cook, I will be your BFF for life! This weekend we had a potluck/surprise birthday party for my girl. Everyone brought amazing healthy food (mostly vegan, all gluten free). I’m getting hungry just looking at the pics.

Here’s what we had:

• BAKED plantains (what a concept! All she did was chop them and toss them in the oven.)
• Steamed shrimp with bomb seasoning (still waiting for that recipe…)
• Cilantro rice (I brought that one. Recipe here.)
• Grilled veggies (me again thanks to my new cast iron grill.)
• Garbanzo bean salad (recipe below)
• Corn Tortillas (we used them as shells for the grilled veggies. Instead of frying them she heated them up in a saucepan – they browned without any oil.)
• Another veggie dish (first photo)
• Candy via a pinata (Yippie!)
• Wine!

Garbanzo Bean Recipe via my girl MOPLX

• 1 Can of Garbanzo Beans
• a couple spoonfuls from TJ’s “Corn and Chile, Tomatoless Salsa”
• chopped red onions
• chopped orange bell pepper
• some chopped cilantro
• a squirt of half a lime
• a squirt of canola oil (EVOO would prob be better but I ran out)
• a squirt of apple cider vinegar
• a sprinkle of ground black pepper
• a sprinkle of curry powder

To. Die. For.

You just got home from work. You’re broke and there isn’t much going on in you’re fridge. What do you do? Refer to 30 second meals! This couscous recipe is ready in under three minutes (give or take 5) and the beans require almost no effort and are fantastical!

PART ONE: SPICY BLACK BEANS

Here’s what you need:

• 1 can of black beans
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbs Cajun seasoning
• 1 tbs Cayenne pepper
• 1 tbs olive oil

Here’s what you do:

• saute garlic cloves (not long, you don’t want them to burn!)
• add seasoning
• cook a bit more
• add black beans
• cook a bit more

PART TWO: COUSCOUS WITH A TWIST (recipe inspired – but highly modified – from thekitchn.com)

Here’s what you need:

• 1 cup of couscous (whole grain is best but lord knows I couldn’t afford that)
• 1.5 cups water
• 1/2 thinly sliced red onion
• 2 tbs capers
• 2 tbs raisins
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste

Here’s what you do:

• heat 1.5 cups of water
• add raisins and oil
• spray pan with Pam (or some non-sticking agent) and heat onions until cooked
• once water starts to boil add couscous (8 grams of protein by the way!)
• Cover and remove from heat, once couscous absorbs the water (should take a few minutes) add onions and capers
• add salt and pepper

Chow down!

Newsflash: If you think becoming a vegetarian is going to help you lose weight, think again. The logic is simple, really. New vegetarians only eat carbs. I was ALWAYS tired during my first 10 years as a vegetarian because I only ate bread and pasta (Cheesecake Factory was the kick-it spot for real). It wasn’t until college, when I started reading more about health and nutrition, that I realized I had to make a conscious effort to get protein into my diet. Instead of eating the usual bagel for breakfast, I began to eat eggs and oatmeal. A couple hours after breakfast, I would eat a snack (or breakfast 2, as I like to call it) that consisted of a carb and protein. (Examples: fruit and low fat string cheese or nuts and yogurt). I lost a couple of pounds (although I was probably just shedding the freshman 15) and discovered that when I ate that way – 6 smaller well balanced meals a day – I had so much more energy.

Come to my house for breakfast 1, breakfast 2, lunch 1, lunch 2, dinner 1 or dinner 2 and you will never catch me cooking a meal that doesn’t have a carb, protein and a veggie. It becomes second nature. What I eat when I don’t have time to cook, on the other hand, is another story….

Which leads me to my point (sorry got a little sidetracked there). Recently the Journal of the American Dietetic Association released a study that puts adolescent and young adult vegetarians risk leaping into the life of a binge eater.

The Participants: 2,516 males and females, ages 15-23 years.

The Analysis: Tested for significant differences between current, former, and never vegetarians within the younger and older cohort.

The Results: Adolescent and young adult current vegetarians were more likely to report binge eating with loss of control when compared to nonvegetarians. Among adolescents, former vegetarians were more likely than never vegetarians to engage in extreme unhealthful weight-control behaviors. Among young adults, former vegetarians were more likely than current and never vegetarians to engage in extreme unhealthful weight-control behaviors.

When I first became a vegetarian a trillion light-years ago, there weren’t many fake meat alternatives. Not the case now. Some of the faux meat options on the market today have carnivores fooled.

Every once in a while I like to try something new. This week I purchased MorningStar’s “Griller’s Prime” hamburgers. MorningStar has a good reputation for producing high quality veg food, so I thought these would be a homerun. Not quite. I’m eating my second one now and it’s kind of making me want to throw up. (Hold on while I go toss this last bite in the trash….Okay back.)

These don’t have anything on BOCA Burgers, which are more succulent and less chewy. I thought the “Griller’s Prime” version would taste like it was straight off the grill. Instead it was loaded with sodium and had a flavor that was too complicated for it’s own good. Nice try, but lets work on that MS. BOCA 4 Life!