I use the word “aspirational” a lot in my work. The marketing world is a funny place, especially when you’re someone who makes the sausage and, therefore, knows how it’s all made.
So you’d think I’d be smart enough to be immune to magazines, blogs and products that are all marketed to people like me who aspire to certain things, but generally miss the mark for one reason or another. To be fair, these tactics aren’t underhanded, just that they recognize that there are a certain group of people who will identify to things because these things symbolize what they hope for themselves and their lives.
Vegetarian Times is aspirational for me.
One of the things that the new Weight Watchers program has done for me was truly introduce a more reverent place for fruits and vegetables into my life. I feel like I talked a good talk, but it was just talking. Fact is, I didn’t eat nearly the amount of fruits and vegetables before that I do now. I still slack once in a while – this week, my personal goal is raw fruit and/or vegetables with every meal or snack – but for the most part the majority of our grocery bill is spend in the produce department. When fruits and vegetables don’t count against your daily Points allotment, it makes it easier to not be hungry throughout the day and not be filled the sort of self-loathing and sadness that typically sends me straight for the ice cream.
So of course I’ve started to investigate vegetarian cooking. I picked up a Vegetarian Times when I was recovering from surgery, and immediately made plans to make at least one meal a week, sans meat, and not relying on soy meat products.
So far, it’s generally been a success. Last week I sauteed kale, onions and garlic in a vegetable broth, served with a side of quinoa and brown rice. The biggest screw up was my attempt at mashed turnips – too much scallion and garlic I completely misjudged what the texture would be like, or the taste, which, I’m sorry, was as close to potatoes as my toe jam. I’m sure I was doing something wrong, of course, but I don’t think I’m likely to be a turnip fan anytime soon.
Tomorrow I’m making vegetables in a broth with a sesame dressing. When I’d announced this approach to Scott, his nose turned up and he grimaced. He’s only sort of on board with my aspirations here.
Aside from how little-to-no cost is associated with vegetarian-focused eating in terms of my diet, I just feel better eating this way. I feel lighter and have more energy. I want to learn more how I can incorporate vegetables into my diet aside from baby carrots and apples – plus, there are all sorts of cooking techniques that are foreign to me that, when learned, open up vegetables in a whole new way.
In lieu of mastering any of this - and, as an aside, I still can’t bring myself to do more with tofu than make it in the scramble I listed at right and thrown into a smoothie – I’m still on the hunt for some recipes that are vegetarian in nature but don’t take an hour to clean, cut and prepare. Anyone have any suggestions? Any go-to’s?
I just sent you one of our favorite vegetarian recipes!
Emily @ Daily Garnish has never steered me wrong. Ever. Her recipes are vegetarian/vegan, easy, easily adaptable, creative, chock-full of produce, and always delicious.
One of our fall/winter standbys around here is roasted mushrooms, caramelized onions & kale served over pumpkin cheese grits. Easy, tasty, & filling. It’s not really much of a recipe, but I’ll try and post it once we’re back from vacation.
I love this idea of no meat one day a week! I’m going to try this too! I’m a total crock-pot loyalist these days. I loved this recipe from one of the Facebook crock pot groups:
Crock Pot Caponata
Serves 6 – I’ve eaten it over bulger and quinoa.
1 pound plum tomatoes, chopped
1 eggplant, in 1/2″ pieces
2 medium zucchini, in 1/2″ pieces
1 onion, finely chopped
3 stalks celery, sliced
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey*
1/2 tsp. molasses*
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Combine tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, celery, onion, parsley, vinegar, sugar, raisins, tomato paste, salt & pepper in crock pot. Cook, covered on low heat for 5 1/2 hours. Do not remove cover during cooking.
I love this idea of no meat one day a week! I’m going to try this too! I’m a total crock-pot loyalist these days. I loved this recipe from one of the Facebook crock pot groups:
Crock Pot Caponata
Serves 6 – I’ve eaten it over bulger and quinoa.
1 pound plum tomatoes, chopped
1 eggplant, in 1/2″ pieces
2 medium zucchini, in 1/2″ pieces
1 onion, finely chopped
3 stalks celery, sliced
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey*
1/2 tsp. molasses*
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Combine tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, celery, onion, parsley, vinegar, sugar, raisins, tomato paste, salt & pepper in crock pot. Cook, covered on low heat for 5 1/2 hours. Do not remove cover during cooking.
Love this, and can’t wait to follow along as you explore veggie cooking. I’ve been veggie for quite awhile, but must admit, I tend toward the lazy when it comes to cooking(steamed veggies, roasted veggies, side of quinoa, side of rice, rinse & repeat ad nauseum), so perhaps I’ll pick up a trick or two along the way as well. Happy veggie eating!
I love Deborah Madison and have had seriously tasty results from most of her recipes. I especially love her tortilla soup recipe which is a little time consuming but easy in her Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.
I am still on my quest to eat more veggies. Generally I find I like them better if I roast them. I have also really enjoyed the cookbook “Vegetables Every Day” by Jack Bishop. It includes recipes for pretty much every possible vegetable.
We eat vegetarian for every meal, but I love 101cookbooks.com for real food meals. A go to is her white bean dill carrot salad served with a green salad and brown rice.
What a random coincidence that we both attempted mashed turnips in the same week! (Mine were awful. Need to re-think that one.) Also, if you’re looking for tasty veggie treats, try these: http://freutcake.com/2011/05/09/chili-sauce-kale-chips/. We actually do lots of meatless dinners – let me know if you’re interested in some links to recipes we’ve enjoyed.
I’m not sure how you feel about mashed cauliflower in place of potatoes, but they’re a hit in our household. I boil or steam the cauliflower till it’s soft, sautee a small clove of garlic in some butter, then add that and some milk and greek yogurt to the cauliflower and mash it all together with salt and pepper. It is definitely NOT potatoes, but I like broccoli/cauliflower already, so it is a good side dish for us! (Now cauliflower is looking like a bizarre word to me.)
We do vegetarian dinners most nights during the week. I got into the habit in grad school when it was much cheaper and easier to skip meat. One of our favorites now is a spinach and pinto bean tortilla with cheese. Its simple to make and really good.
We make this dish at least once a week and it’s a favourite for everyone including my 4 year old daughter. It’s awesome with rice and a salad and makes the best sandwich in a crusty whole grain bun with lettuce and mayo. Also delicious in a wrap and it takes less than 15 minutes to prepare.
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/tofurecipes/r/crockpottofu.htm
Turnips are labor-intensive, but if you persist, you may come to love them. My family were Irish and when I was growing up my mother and granny mashed them and mixed them into mashed potatoes. I couldn’t get enough of that brew — still love it with an unholy love.
They are on the stringy side, so the texture is odd, but oh, the taste…the taste! If you peel and cube them on the small side before cooking, it helps. They aren’t so chewy then. And if you get yourself a Foley food mill (still in production after about a billion years and still the best) you will have the smoothest mash on earth. It’s also a good upper body workout!
P.S. I meant that they mixed mashed turnips, not family members, into the potatoes. (It’s been a long day.) Cannibalism has never been on my list of aspirations.
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/11308
This recipe is seriously amazing. Next time I do it, I’m going to try it by making it in ramekins rather than the aluminum though.
Are you looking for vegan meals, or just vegetarian? Egg dishes are great (quiches, frittatas full of veggies, huevos rancheros.) Last night we had one of my favorites, roasted winter vegetables with a side salad. Salads. Are you not doing pasta? I can’t remember — but the other night we had pasta with goat cheese and olives and it was amazing. Mac and cheese, except put tender cauliflower instead of the pasta. Try Mark Bittman’s book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. It’s extremely down-to-earth and easy, and he has a time estimate on all his recipes.
lentil soups! My babies like them also…
Try mashed parsnips, instead of turnips. They are much sweeter and less . . . weird than turnips. I also like turnips, but they are more of an acquired taste, I think.
I usually (1) make a bunch of brown rice, white rice, or quinoa whenever I make a little, so I’ll have some left over. (2) Roast heartier vegetables (tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper) in the oven at 425 for about 15 minutes, or whenever you smell them. Toss them on top. (3) If you have time, toss fresh herbs (parsley, cilantro, a little mint, sage, whatever) into a blender with olive oil, garlic, lemon/lime juice (or vinegar, if you don’t have – but Mark Bittman says always buy 6 lemons when you are at the grocery store. That’s too many for me, but I always have 1-2 lemons on hand). Adjust to taste, pour this salsa verde/pesto concoction on top. You can use yogurt in here too – just cut down on olive oil.
And my absolutely default lazy dinner is pasta tossed with feta and garlic [both of which I always have] and whatever vegetables we have in the house to steam/saute while the pasta cooks. The secret to good pasta w/ veg is that there should be more vegetables than pasta. Any vegetables work – we always have broccoli and onions, usually some kind of tomatoes (canned or not), corn, peas, whatever you have. Feta is a universal donor.