Vegetarian Meals (lots of photos!)

LOL...I like the cat!

What kind of vegetarian sausage do you use? I am betting it is something that will be hard for me to find where I live. The choices are limited!

For the large sausage links I really like the Tofurky brand sausages. I'm actually able to find them at my local Tom Thumb (I'm in the Dallas, Texas area) but stores like Whole Foods tend to carry them a lot as well. For breakfast sausage I like the Morningstar Farms sausage patties (the regular kind, not the ones that specifically state "soy" on the front).

The next dish in line for a recipe request that I saw was the portobello mushroom "fries". These things are really delicious! I used this recipe, with the exception of the egg. Instead of egg I whipped up a bit of corn starch and water to dip the mushrooms in prior to coating with panko. If your mushrooms are cut thick you may need to up the baking time a bit. I believe I baked mine for 20-25 minutes.

Baked Portobello Mushroom "Fries"

http://blog.seasonwithspice.com/2012/07/healthy-baked-portabella-mushrooms.html

2 large Portobello mushrooms - cut into 1/4" thick slices
1/2 cup of Panko or breadcrumbs
2-3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon of dried parsley or dried basil
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 large egg - beaten

2. Preheat oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Set out two shallow bowls. In the first, beat the egg. And in the second bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, cayenne pepper (or red pepper flakes), garlic powder, dried herbs, salt and pepper.
4. One by one, dip the Portobello slices into the beaten egg and coat well, then transfer to the breadcrumb mixture and coat well again.
5. Lay the coated mushrooms on the lined baking pan and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly brown and crispy (flip the Portobello slices half way through the baking process).

I thought I'd post another small batch of photos. These are actually unique from the rest because I made them all in my rice cooker. For a while I was on a kick where I was trying to see how much use I could get out of that small appliance, haha.

It just so happens that I have the recipes for most of these things as well. It's important to note that rice cookers can vary quite a bit, so you'll need to experiment on the timing with the one you've got if you try this (especially with the pastas).

Not all of these dishes are light, but in most cases I've made low cal variations just as easily.

sliced polenta with tomato sauce (slicing part not done in the rice cooker obviously, haha)



macaroni and cheese with steamed broccoli


"cleaning out the fridge" vegetable soup



fusilli primavera w/ shaved parmesan



banana cherry steel cut oats with pecans



broccoli soup (very light and healthy soup)

I thought I'd post another small batch of photos. These are actually unique from the rest because I made them all in my rice cooker. For a while I was on a kick where I was trying to see how much use I could get out of that small appliance, haha.

It just so happens that I have the recipes for most of these things as well. It's important to note that rice cookers can vary quite a bit, so you'll need to experiment on the timing with the one you've got if you try this (especially with the pastas).

Not all of these dishes are light, but in most cases I've made low cal variations just as easily.

sliced polenta with tomato sauce (slicing part not done in the rice cooker obviously, haha)



macaroni and cheese with steamed broccoli


"cleaning out the fridge" vegetable soup



fusilli primavera w/ shaved parmesan



banana cherry steel cut oats with pecans



broccoli soup (very light and healthy soup)

Just quoting this onto the next page since I just posted it.

jenwalton - i posted the savory oatmeal recipe on page 2 if you're curious to try it out!

At least recipes for these would be greatly appreciated!

-Polenta rounds stacked with mascarpone spinach and marinara with a side tomato salad
-Rosemary tomato soup with grilled cheese on ezekiel bread,
-Handmade mushroom raviolis with a brown butter sauce, fresh thyme, and toasted walnuts, stuffed zucchini boats with baked -portobella mushrooms "fries" and marinara
-seitan and broccoli with pesto and cherry tomatoes
-White bean, tomato, and spinach soup with lots of fresh basil, Ezekiel croutons, and Parmesan cheese.
-Spaghetti squash with marinara and a side of garlic broccolini,
-Avocado rotini with tomatoes and parmesan.

Getting another post of recipes going, though I think a bunch of the previous ones I posted have been lost in the pages of this thread, haha.

I have to say upfront that I don't remember how I made all of these things. Several of them I made months ago, but I can give you a general idea of what went into them. In a few cases I can get more specific!

Polenta rounds stacked with mascarpone spinach and marinara with a side tomato salad

Copy/paste from a message I sent to someone on MFP asking for this recipe a couple of days ago!

The marscarpone filling (you could probably use a light cream cheese or neufchatel as well) was incredibly easy to whip together. I thawed and drained (really squeeze out that extra liquid) some frozen spinach, stirred in the cheese with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder. That's about it! I may have had some chopped fresh basil in there as well.

For polenta I actually like to use coarse grind cornmeal (Bob's Red Mill makes the one I use) in place of regular polenta, because it's whole grain. Standard polenta would work just fine though. I do one part polenta to three parts liquid for cooking it. Personally I love to cook my polenta in vegetable stock and spices, because it imparts so much flavor to the polenta itself. You could use water as well, but you'll definitely want to salt it so the polenta isn't bland. You just cook it according to package instructions (comes together fuss-free in a rice cooker too) and then spread it out onto a cookie sheet to let it cool. When polenta cools it becomes quite solid, so you can slice it.

When it's at this point I took a regular drinking glass to cut out the rounds, sprayed the rounds with cooking spray, and baked them around 400-425F for oh... 20 minutes maybe? You want to flip them halfway through. You know they are done when the outside is golden and crispy.


Rosemary tomato soup with grilled cheese on ezekiel bread,

Copy/paste from page 3:

Unfortunately I make tomato soup so often that I do it with dozens of variations and rarely measure my ingredients. It's rare that it comes out the same way twice, haha. I often base it on this very basic tomato soup recipe that I've used for years though.

Recently I've been opting for using whole grain bread, or often no bread at all. I sometimes add white beans, spinach, or chopped basil. One time I used tortilla chips instead of bread and added in a number of southwestern spices and hot sauce. Sometimes for a little more indulgence I'll add a bit of cream, yum yum.

However, for the rosemary soup I add an entire sprig of fresh rosemary to the olive oil and let it "steep" for a couple of minutes before I continue on with the recipe as usual.

While I can't give the specifics on that exact soup from that meal, here is a very simple starter soup recipe that is great to experiment with.

Basic Super Easy Tomato Soup

1 can (14.5oz) of diced tomatoes, with juice (you could use whatever canned tomatoes you have on hand though)
2-ish cups of vegetable stock
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-2 cloves of garlic (optional, unless you're me - then fresh garlic is NEVER optional XD)
1/2 onion, diced (also optional, i didn't have onion last time i made it)
1-2 bay leaves
1.5-2 slices of soft sandwich bread, crusts removed
Miscellaneous dried herbs for seasoning, or fresh if you've got them

Heat the olive oil in a pan on medium heat and cook the onions until soft, then add the garlic and cook another minute or two.

Add everything (seasonings too) but the bread into the pan. Bring to a soft boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 5-10 minutes. I personally don't add salt to this because the stock and canned tomatoes both have sodium, and it's salty enough for me. season to your own tastes of course.

Tear the bread into pieces and add to the soup. Simmer and stir until the bread begins to break down.

Remove the bay leaves.

At this point having an immersion blender will make this WAY easy. Just blend it until it's smooth right there in the pan, or leave some chunk tomato bits if that's what you prefer. If you don't have an immersion blender you'll need to transfer the soup to a standard blender or food processor to get it smooth.

Ready to eat!


Handmade mushroom raviolis with a brown butter sauce, fresh thyme, and toasted walnuts

For the raviolis I buy wonton wrappers as the "noodle" part. In this case I sandwiched two together, but you can fold them over into triangles as well. I don't remember exactly how I made the mushroom filling, but it's likely that I sauteed some mushrooms with garlic, onion, and thyme and then pulsed it in the food processor until it was fine enough to be used as ravioli filling. The butter sauce (not low fat at all, but it doesn't take much to pack a lot of flavor) is just browned butter with a bit of chopped pecans cooked in it and fresh thyme added at the end.


stuffed zucchini boats with baked -portobella mushrooms "fries" and marinara

For the zucchini boats I split a zucchini down, scrape out the guts, spray with cooking spray, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake at 400 for about 10 minutes until it's starts to soften a little. While it bakes I prepare whatever filling I'd like to use, making sure that everything in the filling is cooked. I've used whole wheat orzo tossed with veggies, I've used veggie chorizo, I've used polenta, I've used marinara and cheese - the possibilities are endless. Fill the boats and bake for another 10 minutes or so.

The next dish in line for a recipe request that I saw was the portobello mushroom "fries". These things are really delicious! I used this recipe, with the exception of the egg. Instead of egg I whipped up a bit of corn starch and water to dip the mushrooms in prior to coating with panko. If your mushrooms are cut thick you may need to up the baking time a bit. I believe I baked mine for 20-25 minutes.

Copy/paste from page 4:

Baked Portobello Mushroom "Fries"

http://blog.seasonwithspice.com/2012/07/healthy-baked-portabella-mushrooms.html

2 large Portobello mushrooms - cut into 1/4" thick slices
1/2 cup of Panko or breadcrumbs
2-3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon of dried parsley or dried basil
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 large egg - beaten

2. Preheat oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Set out two shallow bowls. In the first, beat the egg. And in the second bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, cayenne pepper (or red pepper flakes), garlic powder, dried herbs, salt and pepper.
4. One by one, dip the Portobello slices into the beaten egg and coat well, then transfer to the breadcrumb mixture and coat well again.
5. Lay the coated mushrooms on the lined baking pan and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly brown and crispy (flip the Portobello slices half way through the baking process).


seitan and broccoli with pesto and cherry tomatoes

This is one of the easiest thing I make. I whip together a pesto with whatever fresh herbs and greens I have on hand. This is one of my favorite ways to use up the stuff that is in danger of going bad because I have too much of it. I almost always include basil, but I use fresh spinach and arugula a lot as well. One time I did a delicious rosemary pesto. Just put a ton of greens in the food processor with some salt and pepper, thin it out with a bit of olive oil, add a clove of garlic (adjust to suit your garlicky needs), and pulse until it's spreadable. Added toasted nuts and parmesan cheese is common for a more traditional pesto but if I want to make something lower fat I occasionally omit that. Once it's done I just toss it together with some lightly browned store-bought seitan. Toss in halved cherry tomatoes at the very end and you're done. Takes about 10 minutes.


White bean, tomato, and spinach soup with lots of fresh basil, Ezekiel croutons, and Parmesan cheese.

This is one of those things I can't give you a recipe for. I really never make the same soup twice. I can tell you that on it's most basic level this soup is vegetable stock cooked with a can of petite diced tomatoes and flavored with onion, garlic, fresh herbs, etc. I use this basic broth for a lot of soup and add all kinds of veggies to it. In this case white beans and spinach The croutons are just cut up pieces of ezekiel bread that I sprayed with cooking spray and baked until dry and toasty. When they came out I sprinkled them with a little salt and garlic powder.


Spaghetti squash with marinara and a side of garlic broccolini,

Cut the spaghetti squash in half and scrape out the guts like you would with a halloween pumpkin. Spray with cooking spray or rub with a little oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and place face down on a cookie sheet. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 375F. When it's done just spoon some marinara sauce into it and eat it like spaghetti.

For the broccolini I usually just cook it in a high sided skillet with a bit of garlic and butter. It's simple but delicious.

Avocado rotini with tomatoes and parmesan.

For the "sauce" I just blended up some avocado with a little lemon juice, a little olive oil, some garlic, some basil, and some salt and pepper. Then I poured it over cooked and drained whole wheat pasta and stirred together while the pasta is still hot. Tossed in some diced tomatoes at the very end and topped with a little cheese.


Phew - big post!