Some Veg Ideas

We've been trying to do the vegetarian thing for a while now. We're not 100% there, but we're close. I make mostly vegetarian meals at home, but we'll have meat if we're out and it's being served. What i've found is that it is kind of hard cooking vegetarian, it requires some creativity. Just in case any of you are struggling out there for ideas or would like an excuse to cut down on the meat...here are a few of our staple vegetarian recipes:

CALZONES (from Emily Hill)

Dough:

1 c. warm water

1 T. yeast

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 T. oil

2 1/2 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in water (make sure water is warm enough to activate yeast). Add sugar, salt, and oil. Slowly stir in flour, then knead until is it the right consistency. Cover in bowl in and let rise for 20 minutes. Divide into four pieces for calzones. Roll into round and add any pizza ingredients you desire. I like to switch up traditional pizza ingredients and add things like chopped spinach, cottage cheese, broccoli, red and green bell peppers, etc. The more veggies, the better! Fold the dough in half and press sides together.

Bake for 12-15 minutes at 455 degrees.

**For a simple, but yummy pizza recipe use pitas. Add the ingredients on top of the pita and broil in the oven for 5-8 minutes. So easy and yummy!

Vegetarian Chili (from Amanda Shirley)

This is SO good and healthy!

2 T oil

1 clove minced garlic

1 bell pepper, color of your choice

1 stalk of celery chopped

1 small onion chopped

1 lrg. carrot shredded

1 med zucchini shredded

1 18oz can of tomatoes with juice

2 15oz cans kidney beans drained and rinsed

1 8oz can of tomato sauce

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2t pepper

1 tsp. italian seasoning

Heat oil in plan, add garlic and bell peppers. Saute a few minutes. Add celery and onion. [Suggestion: a food processor comes in very handy for the shredding if you have one]. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then simmer 30-40 minutes.

Garnish with cilantro and cheese.

Black Bean Burgers (found on Allrecipes.com)

*These are SO yummy with sweet potato fries!

1 16 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 egg

1 TB chili power

1 TB. cumin

1/2 c. bread crumbs (packed tight)

Mush black beans with a fork or potato masher. Combine bell, onion and garlic in a food processor (or chop very fine). Drain excess liquid, then add mixture to black beans. Stir in egg, chili powder, and cumin. Add in bread crumbs.

*I've found the key to successful black bean burgers is to drain as much of the excess liquid as possible.

Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes on each side or cook directly on the stove top. You'll need to be gentle, they are not as firm as regular hamburgers.

Add regular hamburger-type condiments like lettuce, tomato, avocado, etc.

Zucchini Alfredo (Found on Allrecipes.com)

1 (12 oz) package linguine

3 TB oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 C. shredded zucchini

1/2 C. milk

4 oz. cream cheese

1/2 c. fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried basil

salt/pepper (to taste)

Cook linguine according to package directions. Heat oil in pan, add garlic, then add zucchini and saute for 3-4 minutes. Pour in milk, then stir in cream cheese and basil. Cook on low for 5-8 minutes. Pour over linguine and stir until it evenly coats the noodles. Add desires amount of salt and pepper.

Hearty Black Bean Soup (from Emily Hill)

1 cup tomato salsa

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp. lime juice
2 T. fresh chopped cilantro

Heat salsa in saucepan to heat through. Stir in beans and broth. Bring mixture to a boil, then lower heat and simmer, covered for 15 minutes. Let soup cool slightly and ladle half of it into a blender. Puree it. Return to pot, stir in lime juice and chopped cilantro and heat through. Serve with tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream.

Other Ideas:

• Stir Fry (we do this at least once a week and I like to add Tofu when I can. It's great for using up those veggies that you NEED to use before they go bad)
• Nachos (again we do this at least once a week and we top on all the veggies we can think of: tomatoes, lettuce, avocado, peppers, etc. plus black beans)
• Omelets (so yummy with peppers and tomatoes)
• Shakes (I've been making these for Eden. I add a scoop of plain whole milk yogurt, frozen strawberries, half a fresh banana and a good slice of tofu or a hand full of spinach leaves...great way to sneak things in she otherwise wouldn't eat)

allrecipes.com has a great collection of vegetarian recipes. Go here to see. I've made some great tofu parmigiana, spinach enchiladas and stuffed shells from this collection.