Crisp Fried Tempah

A popular snack in this house. The major part about this experiment is gathering the courage to buy tempah. Tempah is a soy product that is sold in thin blocks. It sometimes turns dark between the soy beans and this can turn you off from buying it if you don't know that the dark areas are perfectly natural and safe. Anyway, I slice this up and pan fry it in grapeseed oil (grapeseed oil is great for pan frying because it has a low flashpoint and makes things crisp without drenching it in oil.) Shockingly, this is a favorite of the non-vegetarian in the household. It is yummy!

Not so creative but quick

Easy, healthy stir fry.
Boil whole wheat spaghetti. Saute frozen mixed vegetables in Pam and salt and pepper. Add cooked spaghetti. Stir in noodles, add soy sauce and stir fry for a few minutes. If you want, add a raw egg when it is still very hot and stir and serve.

Upgrade. Use fresh sliced veggies, tofu (marinated in soy sauce, rice vinegar and a little sesame oil), and udon (japanese noodles, you can find the whole wheat variety if you want). The veggies will take a little longer, push them to the side, add tofu and cook. Add cooked udon, soy sauce and sliced green onions.

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Dutch specialty really veggie--Hutspot.

The Dutch do add ground meat to this side sometimes, but it is great as a veggie entree. Hutspot.
Brown sliced onions in skillet, add sliced carrots and sliced potatoes. Grill briefly, add water. Boil until just tender. Drain, mash but not completely. Stir with Smartbalance, salt and pepper.

Veggie Sushi Rolls

My son is now the house sushi roll maker. We are going to have it every Sunday. Last night we filled the seaweed wrappers with sticky sushi rice and julienne strips of carrots, boiled eggwhite, and very roasted marinated tofu. Toppers were pickled ginger, wasabi, soy sauce and rice vinegar. Although my son chose Ranch dressing--hmmm.
Next week we are going to replace seaweed in some of the rolls with a layer of roasted sesame seeds, the California roll way. This way if seaweed isn't your favorite, you can enjoy sushi rolls with everyone else.

Pumpkin Crust

For a fun alternative to pie crust--1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mixture), 1/2 box Jiffy Pie Crust mix. Stir pie crust with pastry fork to get big lumps out. Add pumpkin. Line springform or other pie pan with mixture, smoothing using the back of a spoon. Not too thin! Bake crust for 20 minutes at least. Pull out. Fill with whatever you want!
Last night I filled it with Soy Chorizo from Trader Joes, a layer of a mixture of corn, sliced black olives and green onions and next feta cheese. I put it in the frig. Tomorrow night I will add kidney beans and chopped tomatoes and bake for 20 minutes. Then broil for 4 minutes. I think I will make a sauce but I don't know what yet.
:)

African Stew

This is my adaptation of a recipe I no longer have but I sort of remember. Fresh green beans, baby yams, cumin seed, turmeric, diced tomatoes, onions, oil. Heat oil, roast cumin seeds, add diced onion, saute until transparent, add slice baby yams, and fresh green beans, tumeric. Saute for a few minutes. Add diced tomatoes with juice. Cook in skillet for twenty minutes. (Until potatoes soft.)
There you have it. African stew.

Sauteed Broccoli and Grape Tomatoes

Chop garlic and slice onions. Saute in Pam. Add brocolli slightly blanched in microwave. Saute for several minutes. Turn up heat, clear broccoli to sides of pan and add grape tomatoes in the center. Saute for a few more minutes, stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper. A great veggie side and the vitamins in it all help each other with absorption.

Mashed Potato Side Tip

I cook one or two starches at the beginning of the week and put them in the fridge. I used the bowl of boiled potatoes as a side last night. I put them whole into the food processor, added milk, salt pepper, green onions, and some Smart Balance. Scooped the whole thing into a microwaveable bowl cooked them for 4 minutes. Add salt and pepper. Fresh mashed potatoes. Voila.
Now if I could only train my family members to follow those steps.

Shaw on Vegetarianism

While we ourselves are the living graves of murdered beasts, how can we expect any ideal conditions on this earth? ~George Bernard Shaw

Chocolate Chip Cookie Moofins

Yesterday, I made toll house chocolate chip cookies without any shortening, margarine or butter! I replaced all of the shortening with applesauce and added a little extra flour. I cooked them in mini muffin pans. My kids loved them. We call them Chocolate Chip Cookie Moofins.

Fun With Yams

Tonight my son asked for mexican pizza. I thought I could do the same old same old or I could choose to use the yams that I really wanted to use in the night's dinner. They were baby yams. So I peeled and grated them, added drained kidney beans, some flour, two eggs and salt and pepper. I formed pancakes and cooked them in the cast iron skittle. I put the cooked yam cakes on a cookie sheet. Next I chopped grape tomatoes into little bits and spread them on the cakes. I topped it with vegetarian chorizo from Trader Joes. and sprinkled the top with lite cheddar. These I broiled. I served them with a Greek yogurt and green onion garnish. Sides were cooked green wheat berries and applesauce. My family loved it!