Eat Free or Die! » Vegetarian

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Smitten Kitchen’s “Smashed Chickpea Salad”

Posted in Eating In, Ingredients, Uncategorized, Vegetarian | Tags carrots | No Comments »

At 7pm, I still didn’t know what I was going to make for dinner. Fortunately, I had stocked up on canned chickpeas a couple of weeks ago. Also, fortunately, I went to the Catonsville Farmers Market yesterday.

I Google-d “chick pea salad” and found a great recipe over at Smitten Kitchen. I had all of the ingredients in the house. Unfortunately, for the second time in a row, the dog ate the whole grain farmers market bread, so I had to scrounge crusts from the store bought.

I served the chick pea salad on the toasted crusts and over fresh local lettuce, garnished with diced fresh, local bright red and yellow peppers and more black olives. It was very tasty and DH was still hungry afterwards. We finished up by eating local cranberry-walnut bread and some fresh, delicious summer peaches.

You can find the recipe and photos here:

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Posted in Eating In, Food, Vegetarian | Tags chickpeas, recipe, salads, summer, Vegetarian | No Comments »

Indulge with Berries – Pancake Style

Monday, August 25th, 2008

So, I’m not always about diet food these days. There’s a lot more out there to eat than salad, and not every meal must be penance for past caloric sins. That being said, these pancakes are not light fare. They are, however, delicious and pretty simple to make. Besides, after the berry-picking trip of two weeks ago, I’ve got several packets of hand-harvested blueberries in the freezer ready to go.

First, I would exhort you to make these from scratch. Jiffy mix and Bisquick are convenient, sure, but that box of miscellaneous baking mix that’s been sitting in your cupboard for months isn’t going to give you the best results. Besides, if you’re going to spend the calories on something tasty, doesn’t it make sense to put some love into it? Making your own batter also ensures that you know exactly what you’re eating. Plus, it’s just really simple to do.

Ingredients:

1 c flour, unbleached all-purpose
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 c soy or skim milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 whole egg
1/4 tsp cinnamon, fresh ground if possible
1 c blueberries, fresh or frozen, rinsed & drained

(more…)

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Posted in Food, Quick, Vegetarian | Tags blueberries, breakfast, fruit, pancakes | No Comments »

A Slice of Heaven

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008

So, just to let you know…

I’m sitting here with a small plate in front of me. On this plate is a sandwich. The sandwich consists of two slices of artisan-made rosemary Italian bread, lightly spread with mayo. Between this bread are slices of tomato, from a ripe Roma tomato still warm from the summer sun. There is a bit of salt and pepper.

There are currently three bites out of this sandwich.

I’m about ready to pass out from joy.

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Posted in Food, Quick, Vegetarian | Tags fresh, lunch, sandwich, summer, tomatoes | No Comments »

100-Mile Caprese Salad

Friday, August 8th, 2008

Caprese Salad The “100 Mile” menu is supposed to be centered around locally produced ingredients. In my area of the country, the Mid-Atlantic, spring through fall offer plenty of opportunities to take advantage of local farmers’ products.

Here’s an easy one – almost every community has a local or regional dairy, and farmers’ markets explode with fresh herbs and summer vegetables. The Caprese Salad of tomato, mozzarella cheese, and basil with a vinaigrette dressing is a fantastic starter for a meal or side dish for a picnic. If your farmers’ market has someone who’s selling a boutique buffalo mozzarella, grab it!

More refined versions of this dish call for olive oil only, and layers of sliced Roma tomato, cheese, and whole basil leaves. This more rustic version is heartier and packs a bigger flavor wallop. This salad is vegetarian, but not vegan.

Ingredients:

1 lb. assorted cherry tomatoes (red, orange, yellow, purple varieties)
8 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese (part skim)
10-12 leaves fresh basil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

(more…)

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Posted in Diet, Food, Vegetarian | Tags basil, caprese salad, mozzarella, summer, tomatoes | No Comments »

It’s All About What You Do With It

Monday, July 14th, 2008

Die-hard carnivores have some preconceptions about vegetarian foods. “Bland,” they say. “Wimpy,” complain others. It involves all that chopping and weird produce. However, in nutritional bang for the buck, vegetables provide a filling, healthy meal if you choose wisely, and flavor is all a matter of how you work with them. Plus, with a few adjustments this dish can go from vegetarian to omnivorous in a flash.

This basic Thai-style vegetable curry takes about 45 minutes from start to the table, mostly because of the number of ingredients that must be assembled. Don’t be intimidated – it’s a lot of stuff, but it’s prepared very simply.

Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes
8 oz. frozen, cut okra
10-12 large leafs kale
3 cups prepared vegetable stock
1 13.5 oz can coconut milk
2 cups plain non-fat (or low-fat) yogurt
2 shallots, minced fine
1 1″x1″ knob of fresh ginger, grated fine
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. ground coriander seed
1/2 tsp. ground cumin seed
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
3/4 tsp. grated nutmeg (fresh, if possible)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Salt
Limes

(more…)

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