Non-Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian Recipe Exchange's topics - tribe.net

Homemade Veg. Chili

darkmind — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 20:16:07 GMT

This is great for those budgets.

I made this batch with black beans. You can add ground beef substitute, or TSP or TVP if you like, I never added those but once, I added some TVP about 15 years ago, not a fan. Generally I am not a fan of meat-like substitutes - too old school I guess. I should give it a try again some day, I might actually like the meat substitutes if I break down and try all of the variety there are, and thus get all my protein needs met while I am at it.

1lb dry black beans (any beans will do)
6 cups water
Boil for ten minutes then set aside for 1-3 hours. You can even make this part the day before and refrigerate overnight.

Drain and rinse and drain the beans. add 6 more cups of cold water and begin to boil, then set it to a low boil

Dice
1-3 or more Jalapeno's
1 small red bell pepper
1 small green bell pepper (any peppers or no peppers work, as long as you have chili powder.)
1 large onion

saute the veggies until they are somewhat soft. Add to the beans.

add 1 29 oz can of diced tomatoes, and 1 29 oz can of tomato sauce.
1-3 or more Tablespoons of chili powder, depending on your constitution
1-2 Tablespoons cumin
1 Tablespoon onion powder
1/2 Tablespoon oregano
salt and pepper (go light on salt, you can always add it to your bowl of chili)
If you are on the budget and your spice pantry is bare, then just use the chili powder and salt and pepper if you do not have all the rest.

after its boiled almost a couple of hours (check on it and stir it up about every 15 minutes or so) add 3+ tablespoons of corn meal if you have it. If you want to add some frozen corn for a "complete" protein meal, its all good. Cook for another hour or so, or until the beans are done (al dente to soft). There are some good corn bread and corn muffin recipes on www.vegweb.org that will go great with this. But its good with some "buttered" or plain whole grain bread as well. Or no bread at all.

This makes a good batch, so use a large stock pot.

I eat a bowl the first night, then make burritos and corn tortilla tacos with fried diced potatoes (with onions is awesome) and the chili on subsequent nights. You can also make a chili-mac or chili-rice with it. It freezes well and makes tons of meals. You can add soy sour cream, or soy cheese and other fresh veggies to all of the above. Enjoy.

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Easter dinner?

taraneh — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:07:40 GMT

anyone doing the big Easter dinner with family this weekend? what are you making?

this is my favourite dish to take to holiday dinners; it goes well especially if the family is serving ham or lamb :( it's based on a recipe from The Meatless Gourmet by Bobbie Hinman

preheat oven to 400F
chop 2 lb sweet potatoes and/or yams into 1" cubes. you can also add a couple of chopped carrots if you wish.
in an ovenproof dish, toss the potatoes with enough olive oil to coat, along with some salt and pepper
bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender

remove from oven and add 1 1/3 - 1 1/2 c dried fruit (apricots, prunes, apples, pears, cranberries, etc) leave them whole or quarter them according to your preference

stir together:
1/2 c orange juice
1/4 c honey or maple syrup
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/16 tsp ground cloves

stir into potato & fruit mixture.**

bake 15 more minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.

** you can make this dish in advance up to this point; cover and refrigerate, then do the final baking just before serving. you may need to add a few minutes of baking to make sure it's heated through.

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Eggplant & Pomegranate Braise

taraneh — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 19:30:53 GMT

made this dish for dinner last night:

Fesenjan-e Bademjan
(Eggplant & Pomegranate Braise)

http://www.caryn.com/holiday/purim/recipes/eggplant_pomegranate_braise.html

serve this over some steamed basmati rice.

so rich and yummy, even your omnivore friends won't notice it's vegan!

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Tasty Veggies Sandwich

darkmind — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 23:48:28 GMT

I am using a very wholesome heavily seeded whole grain bread for this one. (I've probably been lapsed lately in my protein/grains some days...)

Avocado (use 1/4 or however much you like)
Sprouts (I am using a mixed sprouts, alfalfa-radish etc)
Tomato slices
Onion
Baby Field Greens
Carrot (shredded bits)
Any sort of Vinaigrette, I am using a Red Wine Vinegar dressing. You may like mustard too, or instead of the vinaigrette

other ideas, any other veggies you can think of. Cucumbers is good too (darn, I wish I'd have remembered to get one)

I prep the carrots, onions and tomatoes, two days worth at a time, and I take all the ingredients and keep in fridge at work, I only take a 4 slices of bread (out of freezer )at a time, since I like it fresh as possible. So basically I take in two days worth of bread, tomatoes, onions, and carrots, and then prep and take in the other two days after that. We have a little kitchen, so I put my sandwich together at work. But I am sure you can easily make this sandwich in the morning and it will keep well (provided you do not drench with the dressing).

on one slice start with the avocado, layer on sprouts, then tomato, then onion, then greens and carrots. Put a little of the dressing on the greens. This assures a nice moist sandwich without the use of mayo - with the avocado on one end, and the dressed greens on the other. This is SO TASTY!!!

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What have you been cooking/eating lately?

darkmind — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 23:24:52 GMT

I've been making the same standard fare... bean tacos and burrito's, pasta and marinara, sandwiches with whole grain bread... maybe I will post my favorite recent sandwiches (I tend to make the same thing for four days of the week, then change it up or eat out on Fridays)...

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Why THIS tribe???

darkmind — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 01:27:49 GMT

I started this tribe because I wanted a place for people who favor a vegetarian diet that skips the dairy and eggs. But that is not all. I wanted to have a place for folks to really talk about what they are cooking. It is hard for people starting this adventure in vegetarianism/veganism. It is so hard to organize ones thoughts around food and how to get a delicious nutritious vegetarian diet without eggs, milk and cheese. What I think helps is to have a place to chill and talk about the food. Cooking it, shopping for it, and yes, EATING it. Leave the politics surrounding the food lifestyle choices to other tribes that thrive on that... This tribe is for people trying to shop and eat in a thoughtful manner. Just go to the store and throw that whole food in the basket, then kick back at home and get creative with your purchases. Then please do come here and tell us how you do it.

My background, I grew up in a beatnik, buddhist-hindu hippy culture, and back in the day, there were vegetarians, and lacto-ovo vegetarians - those who partake of dairy and eggs in addition to the vegetables-grains-pulses-fruits. There were even Fruitarians. There were people who fasted. There were people who lived on brown rice and oranges for months... there were even those who got too high fasting and died. They found their bliss I guess... people get real high, fade away in alot of different ways, and for lots of reasons.

But anyway, this tribe is for the philosophical eater of non-lacto-ovo vegetarian diet. I do hope you will stay. I want people to come here when they are looking for a way to make the dietary choices that they are being drawn to. And I want them to be comfy and we can all chill out together and have a good time.

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Storing Veggies

darkmind — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:38:04 GMT

A secret to keeping your many veggies fresh in the fridge, particularly if you are a once a week shopper like me, is to keep them away from fruit in there.

Dedicate the furthest shelf away from veggies, if you can, to Fruit, and always keep the fruit in its bag, with the end fastened closed. I also store my veggies according to type. I use both of the bins (one says "Fruit", the other says "Vegetables") for veggies, and store the leafy stuff in the small fruit bin (Cilantro, Basil, Lettuces, Green Onions whatnot) and the large bin for things like Cauliflower, Carrots, mushrooms etc. I always store Asparagus out of the bins, on the main shelf away from the fruit.

I find my veggies stay fresh and usable practically forever now that I keep things separated. Since leafy stuff changes fast, keeping my mushrooms away from them has had the most noticable effect. I also try to shop early in the day on Saturday, that seems to be when the veggies are freshest.

If you see something in your bins needing to be used, take it out of the bin and set it next to your milk or juice, or whatever you enter the fridge alot for, that way it will remind you to look up a recipe for that veg. on www.vegweb.com or tribe =)
(or some other sites I like and will post around here from time to time...)

I keep tomatoes, onions and potatoes out of the fridge, but I keep the tomatoes with the fruits, across the kitchen away from the root veggies and onions.

For tastier citrus and other types of fruit, allow it to sit out until at room temp before eating it. Same thing with fresh veggies.

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Split Pea Soup

darkmind — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 21:46:07 GMT

Dinner tonight (perhaps with some baked sweet potato fries)

This ones likely been done and seen before, but I thought I would post my recipe anyway, its simple and good.

16 oz (1lb) bag of split green or yellow peas
4 carrots, coarsely diced
1 med. onion, coarsely diced
1-2 or 3 stalks of Celery, split and coarsely diced (the idea is you have equal carrots to onions to celery, of a uniform size.)
Lightly Salt and Pepper to taste (moderation is best, the peas have plenty o' flava)

pick over the peas a plateful at a time (look for stems and stones you don't need haha)
put in pan, fill with water and pour it off, a couple of times
add 8 cups of cold water
bring to boil, then simmer 1/2 hour

begin prepping the trinity (carrots, celery and onions) when prepped
begin the carrots first, saute in a frying pan in about 1 T. or so of oil (any mild oil will do, such as canola)
after they begin to cook, add the celery and onions, cook the trinity until the onions and celery start to go translucent and the smell of the trinity gets stronger.

Add the trinity to the pot of peas (I added a 9th cup of water since it looked like it might get too thick to suit me)
deglaze the pan you cooked the trinity in with a couple of ladles of the liquid from the pea pot, when that looks likes its taken all the flavors, readd it to the pea pot.

Cover with the lid askew a little, for about one to one and a half hours on med. low heat. Or until the peas are done and the carrots are soft as they should be in a soup. Stir it occasionally or you'll scorch it or at best get clumpy peas.

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Stuffing, Baked Sweet Potato Fries, and Corn

darkmind — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 01:11:34 GMT

Its a simple meal tonight that will leave stuffing and sweet potato leftovers(when for one person).
Adjust quantities to household size.

Its very cold out and I need stick to my ribs food!

So here is what I am doing (writing while the stuffing cooks)

Stuffing (you can add mushrooms, nuts, raisins, etc. its very amenable to potpouri style)
1/2 16 oz bag stuffing mix
3/4 med. onion
2 stalks celery
1-2 T. vegan margarine
hot water
To Taste: Bell's seasoning, onion powder, salt (be modest with salt) or just ground sage if thats what you have. Some stuffing mixes are pre-seasoned, but I like spices so I keep them on hand to enhance the experience of my diet.

dice celery and onions, add to stuffing mix,
mix in the seasonings, be modest unless you know what you are doing.
add margarine
add just enough hot water to moisten til it clumps. Don't over or under wet this.
put in med. casserole dish(or pie pan, whatever you have)
bake at 350 deg. for 45 -55 minutes (may take less or longer depends on YOUR oven and your preferences).

I bake it uncovered since I like crispy crust... but you may cover it then cook it uncovered later to crisp it up(see latter part of this post for the idea behind that).

While that is cooking, at about 30 minutes (during which I write this post) cut med. to large sweet potato into fries, thin or thick
In large bowl, put seasonings of your choice (the first googled recipe calls for some cumin/chili powder) maybe some salt
add to the seasonings 1.5 T. your choice oil

at 45 minutes mix up the fries in the oil/seasoning mixture

when the stuffing is done, (or you may take it out early to finish with the sweet potatoes)
bake the fries at 400 deg. on an ungreased cookie sheet for 25-30 minutes. Sometimes I turn them after 15.

put the stuffing on the back of the stove where it will stay warm,
if you take it out early you may then pop it back in after you turn the sweet potatoes (at 15 minutes) and let it finish cooking at high heat(either covered or uncovered).
When the fries are crisped/browned to your taste, take them out (after about 30 minutes total).

Some types of sweet potatoes are a little less apt to bake crispily.(new word) but they are still good. limp but good.

Frozen corn (is best this time of year)
cook desired portion in a little water on the stove.

You can figure out the rest (don't forget to turn off the oven!)
Enjoy

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Garden Veggie Marinara

darkmind — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:00:52 GMT

This is an easy recipe that requires about one hour of cooking to bring out the flavors

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes

1 large green bell pepper, diced
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1 large onion, diced
1 carton fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
fresh garlic minced, or minced from jar, or just garlic powder
Italian Seasoning (oregano, thyme, rosemary). I use Italian spices in a mix and some Bell's
Salt, Pepper and even a little chili powder (if you like a little zip to it)

In a large preheated saute pan, heat 3 T. oil (Olive oil or Canola or Sesame or other vegetable oil) on sort of high heat
quickly saute garlic (if using fresh or jar) and then add the Onion and Peppers, still on high, stirring constantly until these begin to cook down
add mushrooms, until the mushrooms cook down
Add both the canned tomatoes, stirring always

add the spices to your taste, its better to underspice than to over spice, so always pour your spices into the lid of the spice jar before adding to be sure...

bring to bubbling boil, stirring constantly
cover with a lid that is vented (slightly skew on the pan) to allow steam to escape so that you get a thick chunky sauce, rather than a watery one. Stir occasionally, every ten minutes, this should be briskly bubbling (smaller bubbles). When it reaches the thickness you desire, turn off heat and allow to sit while you make your favorite pasta. This sauce works well with any pasta, whether an angel hair or a rigatoni or fettucini.

Enjoy.

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Great Vegan Recipe Website

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 09:21:49 GMT

www.fatfreevegan.com

Go check it out!

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Great Indian Cooking Site

darkmind — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:39:57 GMT

Manu's tribe here, Indian Food, is awesome, but a lady named Indira in Seattle I believe, has an incredible Indian Cooking site.

She includes pics of her ingredients, the prep, and the finished product. It really gets your appetite going, just like the recipe pics on vegweb.
Her blog: http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/
over on the left is a categories list, with grains, ingredients and veggies listed.

Here is the page for all the thumbnails of her recipes:
http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/recipes-blogged-sofar/thumbnail-recipe-gallery/

Bon Appetite

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Knives

darkmind — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:18:20 GMT

About a month or so ago, I decided I would break down (and use my Macy's card - not a fan of using credit...) and invest in one or two decent knives. I've been buying the same brand of knife, Chicago Cutlery, from various big box or local hardware store. Chicago has a sweet little paring knife that I favor but I've had to replace them because I seem to lose them once a year, I think accidentally tossing/dropping them in the trash with stuff from the cutting board (sorry, I live in an urban area and do not have a compost heap). The problem with these is I'd have to take them with me every time went to my brother's in Maine so he could sharpen them. But they sharpen well and do the job.

Well, I knew I was missing something, particularly if I watch cooking shows, and see how handy those folks are with the knives, particularly the asian types.

So I found a set in a box, JA Henckels International Classic(made in Spain), a smallish asian type with a paring knife. They listed at 75$ but were on sale for 50 something, and I also bought a knife sharpener (also Henckels) that listed at 25$ but was on sale. So with the coupons I'd gotten by mail(Macy's seems so eager to tempt me to use credit... they send me these coupons all the time), my purchase came to about 73$.

I have to say this is one of the best investments I have made in a very long time. It is worth every penny. There is a BIG difference between these knives and those 7-10$ Chicago Cutlery knives I've favored for so long. And I think I will be happy with just the two knives for the rest of my life. Yes, life, because they have a lifetime warranty.

But back to the way they chop and slice and dice. It really is amazing how much difference it makes in my veggie prep work. Compared to the Chicago brand, which I can sharpen up well now on my own, these knives are Maserati's. Those old knives are literally like cutting with a plastic spoon, compared to these Henckels. I would guess that any of the high end knives are comparable. The Henckels Classic are apparently the low end knives of the brand, but I find nothing low end about them. The change in Cutlery really has made cooking a joy for me, where before it seemed like drudgery and chore!

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Quick Vegan Gravy

darkmind — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 00:44:50 GMT

I made this tonight to go over some baby potatoes (along with fresh asparagus). Its still really cold out here in Boston area, so I've been making heartier fare lately...

have a whisk ready and if you have one, a small lidded jar

1 T. vegan margarine (any no-dairy margarine will do)
Mince 1/3 med. onion (this is left from the other 2/3 in the stuffing the other night)
mince 1/2 stalk of celery
sliced couple of mushrooms (if you have them)
flour
soymilk
salt, pepper (and a little onion powder and a *trace* of Bell's or ground sage)

saute the onions and celery in margarine in a small saute pan over medium heat, you can salt and pepper and season now too.

put 2 heaping t. flour in 1 cup measuring cup
add about enough soymilk to wet the flour, you want to make a wet roux paste, and mix this good with the teaspoon to de-lump it
when its delumped add more soy milk, up to the 2/3 mark and whisk if necessary,
Alternately, if you have a lidded jar (a recycled preserves jar or whatnot) throw all the ingredients in and shake it like mad. This will guaranty lumpless gravy in about 30 seconds.

add the shrooms to the celery-onion sauteing
let the shrooms get cooked a little

pour in the gravy roux and stir like mad, or whisk it good. This will thicken quickly.

It's easy to oversalt since the soymilk makes it sweetish... just add more soymilk. I over salted and added too much flour(kinda thick) and I was able to balance both with more soymilk.

Note, I am not sure Bell's is available nationally, since I only came across it since moving to New England.

You can figure out the rest, enjoy!

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20 Minute Mushroom Basil Pasta

darkmind — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 02:27:20 GMT

What I had for dinner tonight

Makes 1-2 servings(depends on if you make a large or medium can of tomatoes)
Marinara
Fresh Basil (as much or as little as you like)
Minced Garlic (as much or as little as you like, jar or fresh)
5 - 10 Fresh Mushrooms (fresh is best)
Large or medium can of diced tomatoes, drained (organic or commercial) -or- diced fresh romas or other paste tomato
1/4 or 1/2 box of Angel Hair Pasta - this cooks quickest (organic wholegrain or commercial semolina)

start the water for pasta , when it boils, add the pasta
Chop basil into thin strips (pick the leaves off the stems and discard stems)
Slice Mushooms
Heat 2 T. Olive Oil on med. high heat in saute pan
add mushrooms and saute for just a few minutes
add the garlic and basil then shortly thereafter add the drained tomatoes, saute until much of the liquid reduces
salt to taste, check on pasta, al dente
turn off heat for the sauce and then drain the pasta

You can figure out the rest, serve with a side salad and enjoy! Goes well with a roasted garlic paste bruschetta(vegan), which I sometimes prepare, and toast before I start cooking the pasta...

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