To start the new year off on…a foot, Andrew and I are going to vegetarian for the next two months. No real reason why, mostly just as a challenge. I still love me a good steak or some chicken and waffles, but for now I’m going veggie.
Turns out I don’t have very much experience in this new diet, so I’m looking for suggestions. I’m pretty sure it’s not healthy to subsist on cereal and bread for two months, but I don’t have a lot of good vegetarian recipes in my book. So, to my (albeit somewhat limited, hi Meri! hi Mom! hi Kathy!) readership, what are your favorite non-meat recipes? Give me something unique! I’m excited to try some new stuff and if I remember, I’ll even try to document it here!
Comments
I’m posting on your blog! I read it! And I second the quinoa goodness…Michelle and I made this (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Leek-Tomato-Quinoa-108583) yesterday and it’s delicious.
Hope you’re enjoying the 2 hr delay 🙂
GAGOOOTZ!!!!! Also, I was just thinking about the time you ordered a steak and Andrew ordered a salad, and the waiter tried to give you the salad…and now you’re going vegetarian. The world is a crazy place! 🙂
So I’m not veggie but my new fav thing is….CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER! I’m a giant giant giant chocolate fan. That chocolate peanut butter cake, that looks ubber yummy! But back to veggie. I eat it for breakfast with a banana and its awesome. Its “technically” called Dark Chocolate Dreams, they have it at Wegmans, in the peanut butter section. Its also in the “Eat This, NOT That” cookbook on the eat this side 🙂
hmm. I think that Jen said KeenWa was good. I doubt thats how you spell it. Sound it out. She said Melissa eats it because its protein.
also, LOTS and LOTS of cake. Cake is good!! haha What else, what else?
I think that we will have KeenWa for dinner. Sounds yummy! I think we will use Elise’s recipe. Okay, now I need to get the ingreedients!
So I’m not veggie but my new fav thing is….CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER! I’m a giant giant giant chocolate fan. That chocolate peanut butter cake, that looks ubber yummy! But back to veggie. I eat it for breakfast with a banana and its awesome. Its “technically” called Dark Chocolate Dreams, they have it at Wegmans, in the peanut butter section. Its also in the “Eat This, NOT That” cookbook on the eat this side 🙂
hmm. I think that jen said KeenWa was good. I doubt thats how you spell it. Sound it out. She said Melissa eats it because its protein.
Oh, Meri’s comment about quinoa reminds me of this recipe, which has become a standard in my rotation: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Quinoa-and-Black-Beans/Detail.aspx
Quinoa is great for an after-work dinner because it cooks up so quickly and, with the addition of some veggies, can basically be a complete meal.
Ooo this is exciting! Let me know how it goes- maybe Melissa and I can cook you a veggie filled meal 🙂
Generally, anything with lentils and quinoa is usually delicious 🙂 And pasta is always a fabulous fallback.
Here are some recent favorites:
http://veganpandamonium.blogspot.com/2010/07/chickpea-artichoke-salad.html (I think we made this at that party at Melissa’s)
http://www.whatwouldcathyeat.com/2010/10/stuffed-kabocha-squash-with-quinoa-and-chickpeas/ (My entire family loved this!)
http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/holidays/black-eyed-peas-2/ (My parents loved this)
http://www.savoringthethyme.com/2010/09/panini-kathy-shares-the-apple-brie-pecan-panini/ (easy and yummy)
I thought I would give you a preview of dinner tonight (and my breakfast for the rest of the week):
Spinach Quiche
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup milk
4 eggs
8 ounces shredded cheese
10 ounces chopped spinach
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 pie crust (because if I make it from scratch we’ll go hungry)
Whisk together mayonnaise and milk until smooth. Whisk in eggs. Layer the spinach cheese and onions in the pie shell, making a few layers of each. Pour in egg mixture. Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or so. Remove the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes until the top is brown and the filling has set.
I seem to recall you don’t like olives, but Smitten Kitchen’s smashed chickpea salad is amazing.
Invest in some vegetable bouillon and you can make lots of soups and stews full of veggies and beans. Split pea soup is like the cheapest healthy meal ever. And if you use yellow split peas and add curry powder, it becomes dal!
Indian food in general is very vegetarian friendly; there are lots of yummy curries you can make that have tons of protein. Chana masala is my favorite, though I don’t have a go-to recipe for it.
Put slices of polenta in ramekins, add some good tomato sauce (maybe doctored up with some sauteed onions/garlic/whatever), crack an egg on top, and bake until the egg whites are set but the yolks are still runny. (I like Alton Brown’s “savory polenta” recipe but I assume premade polenta would work as well.)