This is the second time we've made this dinner from The Big Book of Vegetarian by Kathy Farrell-Kingsley and it was still really yummy. Chock full of fresh veggies like corn, carrots, peas and onions with veggie crumbles and then a mashed potato topping. It yields quite a lot of food and I had leftovers for lunch for a couple of days after, which is always good. A nice hearty dish.
This casserole from Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson was tasty but not worth the calories for the serving size. Especially compared to some of the lower calorie dishes we've been making. It wasn't bad, just didn't feel satisfied for the caloric intake. Was easy to make; just softened up the onion and garlic and put them in the slow cooker with crushed tomatoes, veggie crumbles, red wine, basil, salt, pepper, ziti, and parsley. Added a small amount of freshly grated parmesan after it was cooked and viola! Nice flavor, but probably won't make it again in the near future since we're trying to lose weight and eat lighter meals.
Words can't even describe how flavorful and satisfying this meal is. The black bean stew is so complex in its flavors due to the various seasonings that goes into it. And the potato/cheese mixture is delightful with the smoked mozzarella. This came from the Cafe Flora Cookbook by Catherine Geier with Carol Brown and was just as delicious as we remembered from making it before. We haven't made the stew on its own yet, but most likely will as it is so darn yummy!
Another great recipe from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson. When we sat down to eat it, it tasted a bit bland and we were quite confused until I realized that I was worried I over-salted the dish last time I made it when in actuality, it brought out all the flavors. We salted it a bit and ta-da, the yummy goodness we remembered appeared. This will be one of our slow cooker staples for sure. I've noted to use more salt in the cookbook to avoid the confusion again in the future!
A great easy to make stand-by at our house from The Compassionate Cook. The sweet and sour sauce has such a nice flavor and all the great veggies (bell pepper, onion, carrot and celery) mix together nicely. A good, low calorie flavorful dish we both enjoy. This is one of the recipes we've probably repeated the most as it's pretty easy to throw together.
Another one of our recent favorites. As you can tell, I didn't get this egg quite as crispy as the last time we made this. It has such a wonderful flavor and keeps so nicely for leftovers. Again, this came from The Wok Bible, by Sunil Vijayakar, Becky Johnson & Jenni Fleetwood.
One of our new found favorites. This version ended up a little mushier than the previous one we made but was still quite flavorful. I'm not sure if I stirred it too often or what to make it mushier so next time I will let it be and not mess with it so much. This came from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson. I really like the heartiness that the kale provides.
These cookies were really yummy! We got the recipe out of Martha Stewart's Holiday Cookies magazine from 2005. The ingredients were minimal; butter, brown sugar, honey, flour and a pinch of salt. My lady did a wonderful job on these. She had never made cookies quite like these. We ended up eating them all! Granted they were light, but still! So yummy! A nice way to finish off our Thanksgiving meal.
This was the main dish for our Thanksgiving dinner and was the featured recipe in the November/December issue of Vegetarian Times magazine. We had great success with their Thanksgiving recipe last year. It was good. We didn't have the right size bowl for the puff pastry to sit on top correctly, but that's ok since it was flavorful. The veggie mixture consisted of onion, celery, garlic, thyme, white wine, butternut squash, red potatoes, green beans and corn. Was pretty tasty. It's kind of hard to tell in the picture but the puff pastry crust had cut-outs of hearts and other things on it. We looked for a small leaf cookie cutter but were unable to find one easily. We also had some boxed stuffing that I'd been wanting to make for some time (sage and onion) and it was so very disappointing. I am now on the hunt for a good vegetarian stuffing recipe we can make at home rather than using a boxed one. We enjoyed some wine with our candlelight dinner for two; all in all, a nice meal.
Another five ingredient soup from the November/December issue of Vegetarian Times magazine. I have to say it was really bland. It consisted of olive oil, garlic, fire-roasted tomatoes, vegetable broth and basil. I don't think we'd make it again unless we figured out a way to add some flavor by experimenting with some seasonings. Oh well, everything we make can't be a hit unfortunately!
This soup came out of the November/December issue of Vegetarian Times magazine. It was really yummy. It was reminiscent of a chicken noodle soup actually. It's much more pasta-y then it should be as I added about twice the amount since the original amount was hardly noticeable. Oh well, it was still good. We will probably make it again since it was really easy and only contained five ingredients; vegetable broth, pasta, egg, parmesan and spinach. Just won't use extra pasta next time!
Another great dish from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson. Prep was minimal, just softened up the onion, garlic and bell pepper prior to adding to the slow cooker and then cooking the rice closer to when the bean mixture was ready. It had a great taste. The recipe said it serves 4 but we probably got closer to 6-7 servings from it. It kept really good and as with some dishes, I liked the leftovers better than the fresh meal. It was firmer. Not to say it was runny out of the cooker, just a little different after being refrigerated. We'll definitely make this again. I really like using our slow cooker and so far we've had great success with it.
This omelet was fantastic. It came from Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen by Deborah Madison (obviously). It was very easy to make. It consisted of fresh corn & basil, 2 eggs, smoked mozzarella and salt & pepper. One of the more decadent things we've made lately. We used butter which you could also really taste. Lately when I've made us eggs I use a bit of oil rather than butter. It was a heavier meal, that's for sure, but so satisfying and filling it was definitely worth it. We shall make this again. Plus now that I know I can make a good flat omelet, I can play with the ingredients and come up with other concoctions.
Our second dish from The Wok Bible by Sunil Vijayakar, Becky Johnson and Jenni Fleetwood. This soup reminded me a little bit of the Vegetarian Hot Pot which we like so much. I did make a note not to use as much lime juice next time as it overpowered the overall flavor for me. It called for the juice of one small lime; I think half a lime will be sufficient. I think I added a bit more chopped peanuts than needed per bowl but I didn't want to waste the ones I chopped (not realizing I was only making 2 bowls not 4 and wasn't sure about putting the nuts in the leftover containers). Other than that, it was very yummy. The sprouts added a nice crunchy texture to the noodles. At first I thought the mixture of fresh herbs (mint, cilantro and basil) sounded odd, but they complimented each other quite nice. I even went so far as the slice some green onion and red bell pepper for garnish which gave it a great splash of color as you can see. A good soup that we will make again; prep was pretty easy.
This recipe came from somewhere online but is said to be inspired by The Vegan Family Cookbook by Brian P. McCarthy. It was quite a hearty chili with both black and pinto beans, butternut squash, bell pepper, carrot, onion, green chiles, and crushed tomatoes. The color was quite appealing with all the orange & yellow fall vegetables in it. The only spices were fresh garlic, cumin, chili powder and salt. I enjoyed the leftovers quite a bit the following day; seemed to have thickened up a bit and the flavors melded together more completely. The recipe called for squash or pumpkin so it can be versatile as well. Not one of our favorite chilis we've made, but it was still pretty good.
This was the first recipe we made out of our newest cookbook, The Wok Bible, by Sunil Vijayakar, Becky Johnson & Jenni Fleetwood. The book was discounted and I couldn't pass it up. It has a bunch of great looking recipes (and images galore). Being as how I love cooking with my wok, this book will be heavily used. This meal has more calories that what we've been making but it was well worth it. You have to treat yourself every now & then, right? It's basically a different version of fried rice. The vegetables used were: fresh corn, red shallots, a red chili pepper, carrots, green beans, and a bell pepper. It called for green Thai curry paste which gave it a unique flavor unlike most fried rices I've had. Having the crispy fried on egg on top of the dish was nice too. We had leftovers without the egg and they were just as yummy. We'll be making this again when we want to splurge a little.
I have been on the hunt for a potato taco recipe and finally got one in my newest cookbook, Cafe Flora Cookbook by Catherine Geier with Carol Brown. These were really good. The filling was a mix of mashed potato, smoked mozzarella, cheddar and red bell pepper. Such a nice flavor to them. They were baked to melt the cheese and make the tortillas a bit brown & crispy. The black bean stew was very flavorful and we will probably make it again without the tacos (although we'll be making the whole dinner again for sure). The stew consisted of black beans, corn, cilantro, cumin seeds, chili powder, garlic, red pepper flakes, brown sugar and oregano ~ it smelled so good while cooking and the taste didn't disappoint. All in all, a fantastic, flavorful dish which made the new cookbook definitely worth buying. The prep was pretty easy too.
This recipe came off the internet, I belive in one of my vegetarian recipe groups I'm in or it may also have come from Weight Watchers. It was a really yummy dish. However, I have not used our oven much yet since we moved and it cooks at a much higher temperature than it says so I lost about half of the eggplant slices, which was ok as there was still enough for dinner, just not any leftovers. Next time we make this I will make the eggplant slices thicker ~ when I was cutting them, I kept thinking that they needed to be thin enough to roll up; not keeping in mind that they soften and shrink when you bake them. Oh well, live and learn is Luinda's motto. All in all, it was really yummy and my lady and I both enjoyed them and will make it again. The sauce was made from scratch using canned crushed tomatoes and herbs; came out quite good if I do say so myself. A good low-cal dinner even with the small amount of cheese.
We have had this dish before and it was still yummy. As you can see from the previous post, it looked, and tasted, a little different than the last time we made it. Still very yummy and something we will make again. A nice hearty, not too heavy soup.
This delicious and appealing soup is from Deborah Madison's book Local Flavors. We had purchased all the ingredients at the farmers market with the intent to make the soup for a harvest celebration with our circle sisters. That unfortunately fell through, or has yet again, been postponed. My lovely wife and I went ahead and made the soup and it was great. The yellow tomatoes were a pain to peel but other than that, it was really enjoyable. The color of the tomatoes and peppers were really visually appealing. We didn't have smoked Spanish paprika, but I added a splash of liquid smoke to keep the smoky undertones. This is the first time we've used opal basil and I really liked it. Although I love basil in general, so that's not surprising. Notice how lovely the color blends in with our fall decor, thanks to my lady.
