From the category archives:

Vegetarian Dishes

Fried Green Tomatoes: A Southern Delicacy

by Joi on August 19, 2010

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 – 2 TBS All-Purpose Flour
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp. kosher salt, plus extra for sprinkling
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Canola oil for frying
3 medium-sized round green tomatoes, sliced 1/2-inch thick

Heat about 1/8 inch oil in a large skillet – over medium heat.   Beat the eggs in a shallow bowl.

Combine the cornmeal, flour, and pepper in a large bowl.

Coat the tomato slices, one at a time, in the egg mixture, then dredge in the cornmeal mixture.

Fry the slices in the hot oil until the cornmeal is a golden brown, about 2 or 3 minutes – each side. The goal is to turn the tomatoes only once during the cooking time.

Carefully remove the tomatoes from the oil and place them on a paper towel-lined plate. Sprinkle with salt while they’re still piping hot!

We LOVE fried green tomatoes around our house and eat them joyfully each summer. I even serve them at breakfast: Toast English muffins and place a fried egg on the bottom half. Place a fried green tomato on top of the egg and top with the other half.

Outstanding!

Freezing Green Tomatoes:

I have never tried freezing green tomatoes (for the record, none ever last long enough in our kitchen TO freeze) but I have heard of people who slice and coat the tomatoes, place them on a baking sheet, and place the sheet into the freezer.  When the tomatoes are frozen solid, they place them into a freezer bag or freezer container.  Word is they thaw and fry up beautifully.

I’m going to have to give this a shot.  How surprised would my family be to see fried green tomatoes on the Thanksgiving table?  I think my hubby would tear up with happiness.

This would be me headed out to the garden to commence the ceremony….

Recipes from the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville

by Joi on July 14, 2010

As Mayberry’s Sheriff, Andy Taylor might say, “Why, who’d have thunk it?“  A vegetarian chef  mastering meat-laden meals of the South?

At the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel Nashville, that’s exactly what has gone down – whether Sheriff Taylor saw it coming or not.

Executive Chef Kevin Randolph has been serving up mouth watering southern fare for over a decade, and one would never guess from biting into his Baby Back Ribs that he doesn’t taste them himself.  The man’s a vegetarian.  Which, I’d guess explains why the second recipe, The Ultimate Veggie Burger is SO outstanding – this, he eats himself!

Having been a chef for 30 years, and a vegetarian for 8, Randolph certainly knows his way around both sides of the kitchen. Below you can find his recipes for Southern Style Baby Back Ribs, as well as for the Ultimate Veggie Burger, courtesy of the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel Nashville.

Southern Style Baby Back Ribs

Ingredients:

2 1-2 lb. Rib Slabs
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 tsp. garlic
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp BBQ spice
1 tbsp. mesquite seasoning
1/2 tsp. Cheyenne pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup olive oil

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients except for ribs in a large mixing bowl. This will serve as the BBQ Rub.

Grill Baby Back Ribs for about 3 minutes on each side. (Best to grill with open flame using hickory charcoal but a gas grill will do as well.)

Place your ribs on a sheet pan and rub them down on both sides with BBQ rub recipe.

Wrap the whole pan with aluminum wrap and bake in the oven @ 225 degrees for 2.5 hours.

Enjoy with or without sauce.

Ultimate Veggie Burger

Makes twelve 4-inch burgers

Ingredients:

3/4 cup dried brown lentils, rinsed and picked over
2-1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup bulgur wheat
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped fine (about 2 cups)
1 large celery rib, chopped fine (about 1/2 cup)
1 small leek, white and light green parts only, chopped fine (about 1/2 cup)
2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed (about 2 tsp)
1 lb cremini or white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced about 1/4 inch thick (about 6-1/2 cups)
1 cup raw unsalted cashews
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 cups Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
Ground black pepper
12 buns for serving

Preparation:

Bring 3 cups water, lentils and 1 teaspoon of salt to boil in medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until lentils are just beginning to fall apart (about 25 mins). Drain in fine mesh strainer. Line baking sheet with triple layer paper towels and spread drained lentils over. Gently Pat lentils dry with additional paper towels. Cool lentils to room temperature.

While preparing the lentils, bring 2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir bulgur wheat into boiling water and cover immediately, let stand off heat until water is absorbed (15-20 mins). Drain in fine mesh strainer, use rubber spatula to press out excess moisture. Transfer bulgur to medium bowl and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12 inch non-stick skillet over medium heat until simmering. Add onions, celery, leek and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally until golden brown (about 12 mins). Spread mushrooms on baking sheet with vegetable mixture; cool to room temperature (about 20 mins).

Process cashews in food processor until finely chopped (about 15 one-second pulses). Stir into bowl with wheat along with cooled lentils, vegetable-mushroom mixture and mayonnaise. Transfer half of mixture to now empty food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped (about 15-20 one-second pulses). Mixture should be cohesive but roughly textured. Transfer processed mixture to large bowl; repeat with remaining unprocessed mixture and combine with first batch. Stir in Panko, 1 tsp salt and pepper to taste. Line baking sheet with paper towels. Divide mixture into 12 portions, about 1/2 each, shaping each into a tightly packed patty, about 4 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick. Set patties on baking sheet (paper towels will absorb excess moisture). Patties can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated up to 3 days.

Grill burgers over a medium-hot charcoal fire, or preheat a gas grill on high. Grill until well browned (about 5 mins), flip and grill on opposite side until well browned.

Vegetarian Recipe: Baby Spinach, Grape, and Walnut Salad

by Joi on June 26, 2010

The following recipe is from an excellent cookbook and guide to eating a Vegetarian diet: The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Being Vegetarian – Second Edition. Try the recipe (outstanding), then grab a copy of the book. It’s filled with wonderful recipes you’ll use again and again, whether you’re vegetarian or not.

Baby Spinach, Grape, and Walnut Salad: A Vegetarian Recipe

2 TBS balsamic vinegar
3 TBS virgin olive oil
Freshly ground pepper
Pinch dried oregano
2 cups baby spinach leaves, washed
2/3 cup red grapes, seedless and sliced in half
1/4 cup raw walnut pieces

In a medium bowl, combine vinegar, olive oil, pepper, and oregano with a blender, mixer, or fork until thoroughly mixed.

Add spinach, sliced grapes, and walnuts to the bowl, and toss with vinaigrette. Serve on a chilled plate.

And a great tip from The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Being Vegetarian – Second Edition: To maintain your frozen vegetables’ nutrients, do not cook or zap them in a microwave. Instead, to thaw frozen vegetables for a salad, simply put the vegetables in a strainer and run hot water over them for about 30 seconds until they’re thawed.

I use the technique above each time I make Spinach Artichoke dip – works brilliantly!

How to Get Your Kids to Eat Vegetables? Be Creative!

by Joi on June 17, 2010

Today is actually Eat Your Vegetables Day.  What better time to have a vegetarian supper.  In our house, we have at least 2 suppers a week without meat.  Fortunately, we all love vegetables so much that we never even miss it.

Some people have a lot of trouble getting their kids to eat vegetables.  It’s funny, my three daughters have always been really, really good about eating their vegetables and fruit.  Compared to a lot of other kids, they’re culinary saints.  I’m not sure if the reason is that I’ve always fixed them and tried to make them as creative and delicious as possible or if we’re just lucky.

One reason may actually go back to when they were babies.  When each of my girls were ready to eat baby food, I started them out with vegetables.  My thinking was that if they got accustomed to the sweet, delicious fruit baby food, they might not be interested in the corn, green beans, sweet potatoes, or beets.  So, each of our babies had corn as their first baby food.   Then sweet potatoes… then apple sauce.

Whatever the reason(s), they’ll try any vegetable or fruit put in front of them and finish off most of them.

Any parent of “grown” children knows that when your children reach their teens and twenties, you get new children: Their boyfriends/girlfriends!  Our youngest daughter’s boyfriend is a sweetheart and we love him to distraction.  When it comes to vegetables, he’s like most kids – if it’s green, he doesn’t even want to look at it!  He loves green beans, though, but they’d darned sure better be seasoned with ham or bacon!

One of my signature dishes is a great Spinach Artichoke dip.  My husband, all of my girls, and our oldest’s boyfriend adore this dip.  But I always make sure I have salsa or a cheese dip for Mr. Not-If-It’s-Green!

If you have kids in your family who have similar aversions to fruit and vegetables (even if it is just green ones), take heart.  With a little creativity, you can present vegetables and fruit to them as a fun food.  Many restaurants are making it easier.

  • When you take your kids to Subway, order a fun little bag of apple slices.
  • At fast food restaurants, order salads to go with their sandwiches instead of fries.
  • The fruit and yogurt parfait at McDonald’s can be approached as  a “treat.”  Treat it with the same excitement you would an ice cream cone and your kids will pick up on the excitement.

Around the house, let your kids help in the kitchen.  Encourage them to pick out vegetables and fruit they want to try at the supermarket, then let them help you fix them. Many parents make the mistake of treating fruit and vegetables as something “healthy” that their kids HAVE to eat…. sort of like medicine!  Treat vegetables and fruit like any other food – something delicious and fun to eat.

Disney’s Family Fun website offers a lot of cool ideas for getting your kids to eat their vegetables.  The adorable creation above is their Cucumber Snake.  Is he cute or what?  His “snake pit”?  Hummus!

Gather lots of different vegetables for your kids to come up with their own creations.  You can use hummus, ranch, or peanut butter for dipping fun.

Click the following link for the recipe/directions: Crazy Cucumber Snake: Get Your Kids to Eat Their Vegetables!

Fruit Dip That’ll Have Them Begging for More Fruit

by Joi on May 27, 2010

We all know that fruit is wonderfully healthy for us and we try to put it in front of our families as often as possible.  Sometimes it’s a hit, sometimes not so much.

I love fruit so much that it’s like dessert for me, but not every member of my family feels the same way.  I encourage my husband to eat more fruit with Cottage Cheese and vanilla yogurt (usually with added nuts or granola).  My oldest daughter, Emily, is a huge fan of breakfast food, so I can easily serve her raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries in oatmeal, in pancakes, or alongside French Toast.  Both of them also like fruit salads and cereal with fruit.

Our youngest daughters, Brittany and Stephany, have always been a little bit of a challenge – especially Brittany.  The following Fruit Dip recipe (along with caramel sauce for apples and pears) is one sure-fire way I can get fruit into ALL of my family members.

Delicious Creamy Fruit Dip Recipe

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons of your favorite syrup (not butter-flavored or light, though)
Fresh Fruit (or you’ve defeated your purpose!)

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream, sugars, and syrup. Beat until smooth and creamy. Chill until ready to serve.

This fruit dip is excellent with strawberries, apples (stir in a little caramel sauce in place of the syrup for an extra treat with apples), pears, peaches (have mercy!), grapes, blackberries, your fingers…. did I type that out loud??

Another Idea: If you’ve made a killer fruit salad, this dip is delicious and beautiful when drizzled over the whole shebang.

Yield: 2 delicious cups

Click the following link to find out which fruits made the Top 20 list of Superfoods according to South Beach Diet.

Eating Well on a Budget? For Reals?

by Joi on March 14, 2010

One of the books I’d most recommend to anyone right now is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Well on a Budget by Lucy Beale and Jessica Partridge. At a time when we’re all challenging ourselves to stay on a budget AND eat healthy, this is the book we absolutely needed the most.  If you’re like me, you’d just about decided that eating as healthy as you wanted to was out of your budget.  I was pretty much at that point when this outstanding book came along.

After arming myself with the knowledge and tips from these authors, I know that it isn’t just possible to eat well on a budget, it’s deliciously possible.

First, a few all-important facts:

  • You and your family won’t gain weight if you each eat about 2,000 calories a day per adult.
  • You don’t need to purchase more food than your target number of calories for the week.
  • You won’t be wasting food or letting it rot in the refrigerator. If it rots because no one eats it, be wary if you consider purchasing that food in the future.

Throughout the book, the authors provide a lot of what I call “Roadblocks” – thoughts and circumstances that lead us to choose poorly while at the supermarket or restaurant.  They offer ways around, or through, these roadblocks.  There are also great tips on saving money, staying on a budget, eating healthier foods, and making each calorie count.

There are also a lot of wonderful recipes… we’ll get to them in a minute!

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Well on a Budget has 21 chapters in all and is over 300 pages in length. I suppose you’d expect authors who are so budget conscious to give their readers even more than they paid for. I’m very grateful and you will be as well.

A Few of the Chapters From Eating Well on a Budget

  • The Best Nutrition at the Best Price
  • The Budget
  • Food and Menu Planning
  • Eating Out on a Budget
  • The Shopping List
  • More Ways to Save on Food
  • Breakfasts
  • Beef and Pork Main Dishes
  • Desserts

The next time you dine out at a sit-down restaurant, notice the price of coffee, tea, and a glass of wine.  They’re probably higher than you thought.  You may choose not to order them again. – - Page 18, Eating Well on a Budget

I was really glad to see that the authors covered all aspects of dining – at home as well as in restaurants.  They’ve included great tips on saving money each and every time we place a bite or drink into our mouths.

Chapter 2 includes a clear, perfectly laid-out plan for starting to budget.  They tell you the tools you’ll need (receipts, notebook, calculator) to become a budgeting whiz and how you’ll need to go about the process.

Food Preparation is covered in Chapter 5 and includes…

  1. Cooking to save money
  2. Preparing in quantity, eating in moderation
  3. Making delicious use of leftovers
  4. Keeping prepared foods on hand

Here’s one of the great tips (“Kitchen Wise“) from this chapter:  Keep sandwich fillings on hand for quick meals on the run.  You’ll need bread, mayonnaise or mustard, and fillings, such as cheese, sliced meats, tuna, or peanut butter.  Add an apple or other piece of fruit, and you have a balanced meal.

Some of the Remarkable Recipes in Eating Well on a Budget

The recipes the authors have chosen sound delicious!  What’s more, they’ve included dietary information, cooking time, prep time, serving size, and “Tasty Tidbits.”  Again, giving the reader far more than he or she expected.

A few of my favorite recipes from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Well on a Budget are:

  • Hummus
  • White Chili
  • Creamy Clam Chowder
  • Nine Vegetable Soup
  • Grown Up Peanut Butter and Jelly (YUM!)
  • Baked French Toast with Honey Walnut Syrup
  • Chile Egg Puff
  • Savory Spinach and Bacon Bake
  • Zesty Breakfast Burritos
  • Just Right Cheese Omelet (made with Monterey Jack Cheese!)
  • Hawaiian Ham Rollups
  • Egg Salad with Red Pepper and Walnuts
  • Ham and White Bean Soup
  • Red Chili
  • Quick Beef Fajitas
  • Lemon Pecan Stuffed Chicken
  • Herbed Salmon Cakes
  • Lasagna with Meat and Cheese
  • Fruit Glazed Carrots
  • Raspberry Banana Bread
  • Slow-Cooked Pudding and Fruit Cake
  • Cookies Flavored with Tea
  • Pear Cobbler
  • Buttermilk Corn Bread
  • Cheese Grits Casserole
  • Many, Many more!

Since we’re all thinking about Easter meals and Easter recipes, I thought I’d include the Fruit-Glazed Carrots recipe in the review.  Save this one (better yet, print it out) for your Easter meal.  There’s also a great recipe for Mustard-Glazed Ham in the book.  Order today and you’ll be set long before Easter gets here!

Fruit-Glazed Carrots Recipe

Page 246, Eating Well on a Budget

4 cups sliced carrots
2 TBS water
2 TBS fruit jam or jelly – peach, strawberry, or apricot
1/2 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 TBS olive oil
dash salt and ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place carrots in a microwave-safe bowl with water. Cover and microwave on high for 8 minutes. Drain well. Add jam, vinegar, and olive oil. Mix gently.

Transfer carrots to a lightly oiled 8x8x2 or 9x9x2 inch baking dish. Season with salt and pepper. Bake 15 minutes. Serve hot or chill 20 minutes before serving.

Variation: Try orange marmalade or chutney to intensify the flavor of the carrots. For a spicy taste, substitute 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce for the vinegar.

Kitchen Wise: The sauce for these carrots tastes great on other vegetables as well, such as broccoli, snap peas, and spinach. You can also serve the sauce on the side for dipping. – Page 246, Eating Well on a Budget

Hmmmmm, I just happened to think of another way to use this sauce. Have you ever made homemade fried jalapenos? This sauce (particularly if you use Red Plum or a berry-based jelly) would be outstanding to dip fried jalapenos in.

Do yourself, your family, and your budget a huge favor and head over to Amazon right now to order this wonderful book.  I wouldn’t recommend it to you if I didn’t know 100 percent that you’ll love it as much as I do.    Here’s the link to healthier eating and a happier budget: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Well on a Budget

Classic Quesadillas Without the Classic Extra Fat and Calories

by Joi on January 27, 2010

On another blog recently, I was pointing out my husband’s outrageous loyalty to favorite brands (NordicTrack among others). I got to thinking about it and I might even be more loyal to certain brands when it comes to cooking and cleaning. You certainly know about my dedication to Sargento Cheeses and Beemer (online) Cheeses. I figure, if something’s outstanding, why wander away from it.

When I’m in the grocery store, in the dairy and cheese aisle, I don’t even bother looking at the other brands of cheese – I just look at the varieties of Sargento. (By the way, I realize this is reading kind of like a commercial, so I’ll just add that I am not being paid in any way to say these words! I just think this brand of cheese is ridiculously good.)

Sargento has been offering delicious, better than average cheese for some time now – but recently they began adding Reduced Fat cheeses to their line-up. I ignored them for a while, pretending like I didn’t see them any more than they saw me. Then I tried them and was blown straight away. If the packages didn’t tell me that they were reduced fat, I swear I’d never know.

I recently bought a few bags of Sargento Reduced Fat 4 Cheese Mexican Cheese (Shredded Reduced Fat Monterey Jack, Cheddar, Queso Quesadilla, & Asadero Cheese). I used one bag with Chicken Tacos and the other with a recipe for Classic Quesadillas that was on the back of the bag. Delicious! The recipe is below and you must, must, must try it.

Classic Quesadillas Recipe with Sargento’s Reduced Fat 4 Cheese Mexican Cheese

2 cups (8 oz.) Sargento® Shredded Reduced Fat 4 Cheese Mexican Cheese, divided
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
2 tsp. chopped bottled jalapeño peppers
4 (8-inch) fat-free flour tortillas
1/2 cup chunky-style salsa
1/4 cup fat-free or light sour cream (optional)

Directions:

  1. Combine 1-1/2 cups cheese, beans, cilantro and jalapeño peppers in a medium bowl; mix well. Spoon onto tortillas; fold each tortilla over.
  2. Coat large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat until hot. Place 2 quesadillas in skillet. Cook 1 minute or until golden brown on bottom. Turn; sprinkle with 1/4 cup cheese. Cover; reduce heat. Cook 2 minutes more or until golden brown and cheese is melted. Cover to keep warm.
  3. Repeat with remaining quesadillas and cheese. Serve with salsa and sour cream, if desired.

I didn’t have any sour cream on hand, although it is wonderful with quesadillas, tacos, burritos, etc.   In addition to the salsa, I served these with one of my favorite things on earth – guacamole.  I almost always have at least 2 avocados rolling around the kitchen.  Actually, make that at least 4 – two on the counter ready to go and a few more on a shelf, softening up.  It’s my avocado system and it’s a delicious one.

So are these quesadillas!

Iron Chef America Bamboo Steamer

by Joi on January 25, 2010

Iron Chef America 12-in. Bamboo Bamboo Steamer

Tonight for supper I made fish, shrimp cocktails, boiled baby carrots in a buttery dill and rosemary sauce, and steamed vegetables. I arranged a combination of red peppers, squash, wax beans, mushroom caps, red onion slices, and celery into each layer of my beloved bamboo steamer and steamed the vegetables until they were a tender crisp.

I added some bay leaves to the water in the pot below and the entire kitchen smelled amazing. Fortunately, the vegetables tasted just as good as my nose told me they would.

If you don’t have a bamboo steamer yet, I urge you to buy one this week. I have two electric steamers and 1 bamboo steamer. I haven’t used either of the electric ones since the bamboo steamer moved in.  It’s love!  Steaming vegetables is a wonderfully healthy way to cook…. and oh so classy.

The Iron Chef America 12-in. Bamboo Bamboo Steamer at the top of the post is from Cooking.com.

Features:
Iron Chef is an innovative cooking competition from from Japan. Originally produced by Fuji TV, Iron Chef combined the excitement of a one on one sports competition with gourmet cooking. The title Iron Chef comes from the original Japanese title, Ironmen of Cooking. The bamboo steamer is made from all natural bamboo with an authentic handmade Chinese design. The double-woven lid allows the steam to hover in the top while the bottom keeps the vegetables from soaking in water. One of the healthiest methods of cooking, steaming allows for the foods natural oils and flavors to be released so that no oils are needed.

Asparagus Casserole Recipe

by Joi on January 21, 2010

Asparagus Poster Print

Asparagus Casserole Recipe

1 large can asparagus, drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
Velvetta Cheese
Ritz Crackers

Mix asparagus, soup, and eggs together; spoon into a greased baking dish. Sprinkle Velveeta cheese heavily on top. Sprinkle crushed Ritz Crackers on top of cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

A lot of Asparagus Casserole recipes call for cracker crumbs – and many of them specify “saltine crackers.”  My granny always used Ritz Crackers, though… never saltines… and her casseroles were always outstanding.  I recall a baked Macaroni and Cheese dish that she also topped off with buttery Ritz Crackers.  I usually have issues with baked Macaroni and Cheese because they don’t seem as creamy as traditional Mac & Cheese, but Granny’s was (like every single thing that came out of her kitchen) superb.

I’ll go through her recipes (amongst the most prized recipes in my collection) and see if I can find her Baked Macaroni and Cheese recipe.  Please be here, please be here, please be here…..

Strawberry Banana Frosty Recipe with Organic Ricemilk

by Joi on December 28, 2009

I’ve been straight up addicted to Rice Dreams Vanilla Rice Drink for quite a while now. It sits deliciously on my list of Top 10 Favorite Healthy Foods and Drinks. Recently, I tried Full Circle’s Organic Original Ricemilk and was very pleasantly surprised. In fact, when my Top 10 list grows to a Top 20 list, you’ll find Full Circle ricemilk amongst the winners.

Full Circle Ricemilk is low in fat, with no soy protein and no cholesterol. Of course, none of that would mean jack if it weren’t good – which it most certainly is!

On the back of my most recent container was a great-sounding recipe for a Fruity frosty. I thought it sounded like something you might be interested in, so I thought I’d share.

STRAWBERRY BANANA FROSTY

Makes 3 Servings

3 Cups Full Circle Original or Vanilla Ricemilk, chilled

1 Ripe Banana

1 Cup Strawberries

Place all ingredients in blender and puree until smooth.  Serve immediately or refrigerate.…. and call me when they’re ready!


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