Cabbage Salad and Rice and Beans

It’s getting warmer where I live, and so I figured it was about time to make another salad type thing.  What is really irritating is that the price of lettuce has gotten ridiculously high- M says because of all the ice that attacked the US the other week.  So that meant cabbage was on the menu, and I spotted this salad recipe the other day.  It looked really good, especially, the peanuts, so I decided to make that.  Although I didn’t get an overwhelming burst of flavour when I first tasted it, I still like this one quite a bit.  As for the rice and beans… M has been saying for a while now that she wants rice and beans, and so I decided to go ahead and make them.  These actually turned out quite good.  They’re not as tomatoey as previous rice and beans that I have made, and I really liked the two different kind of beans.  It added a nice touch.  And I always love the hot dogs.  I have never eaten salsa verde, either, and I think that was what added a nice zing to the dish.  Not to mention that they are really filling, and easy to make.  Gotta love that!

“Hot Dogs”, Beans, and Rice

Adapted from I Eat Food

Serves 8-ish

1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced

4 cloves garlic, pressed

1 dried chipotle chili, rehydrated and chopped
2 vegetarian hot dogs, coined
1/2 cup dried black beans, cooked

1/2 cup dried pinto beans, cooked

1 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes

2 Tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp molasses

8 oz salsa verde

1 cup rice, cooked

Heat a frying pan over medium heat with a bit of water, and add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Sauté until tender, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 225.

In a casserole dish sprayed with nonstick spray, combine all of the ingredients. Bake, covered, for 20 minutes or so, until heated through. Serve.

Peanut Cabbage Salad

Adapted from Kalyn’s Kitchen

Serves 8

1/2 medium head green cabbage, finely shredded
1 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Salt and pepper to taste
Peanuts, to taste
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp agave nectar
2 tsp sesame oil (opt)
1 tbsp soy sauce
Hot sauce, to taste
1/4 cup mirin

In a large bowl, combine the cabbage through salt and pepper.
In a small bowl, mix together the rice vinegar through mirin, and pour over the cabbage. Mix well.
Chill until ready to serve, and top with peanuts.

Sauted Snow Peas

These were quite easy to make, and rather similar to another recipe for green beans that I have made numerous times before.  However, I loved the addition of the onions.  I was making another dish on the same night, and I had some leftover onions, so I decided that I would just put them in with the snow peas.  And they turned out to be just the right thing to go along with the sauce.  These were so useful for my lunches during the week, to go with the hummus wraps.  A nice veggie side dish, with an excellent flavour.

Simple Snow Pea Stir Fry

Adapted from Kalyn’s Kitchen

Serves 4-6

1 lb. snow peas
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame seed oil, divided
Hot sauce, to taste
3 slices ginger root
2 large garlic cloves, pressed
¼ cup chopped onion

1/2 tbsp peanut oil

Black and white sesame seeds

Mix together the soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, and hot sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.

Heat a wok over medium high heat, and add the remaining 1 tsp sesame oil with the peanut oil. Put in the ginger for about 45 seconds, and then remove- this flavours the oil. Add the onion, then garlic, and finally snow peas. Cook for 3 minutes and add the sauce. Cook until tender, about another minute, and serve with sesame seeds.

A Green Bean Casserole and an Onion Quiche

This green bean casserole is quite different.  It's red, for starters, because of the paprika.  And the sauce is pretty different, too, I think, because it's not just plain condensed cheese soup.  It's a bit more than just the average green bean casserole, with a unique look and flavour.  I also really liked the onions that covered the whole thing.  Gotta love those carmelized onions!

As for the pie- well, it doesn't have a lot of different flavours, and the yogurt really dominates the dish.  So, the quality of yogurt plays a really big role in how good this will taste.  I really liked how the pie turned out, probably because I really like that sort of thing.  It's simple enough to make, too, even with the extra work of making the pie crust.  I actually liked this one just as much as a different onion pie that I had made a few months back, which was also quite good.  The vanilla flavour is different from anything that I have ever eaten before, and the seasonings on top add a nice bit of flavour.

Red Green Bean Casserole

Adapted from Hey, That Tastes Good!

Serves 8

1 1/2 lb green beans

1 can reduced fat condensed broccoli cheese soup

1/4 c milk

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 tsp peanut oil

Preheat the oven to 350. Spread the green beans in the casserole dish. Mix together the condensed soup, milk, salt and pepper, paprika and soy sauce in a small container, and mix into the green beans. Meanwhile, heat a frying pan over medium heat with the oil, and sauté the onion until browned, about 10-15 minutes. Spread over the green beans.

Bake for 45 minutes, until beans are tender and heated through.

Yogurt Onion Pie

Adapted from Vegetarian 400

Serves 6-8

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

1 oatmeal-sesame pie crust or other pie crust
1 egg, beaten
6 oz fat free vanilla yogurt
1 1/2 tbsp thyme
Poppy seeds
Nutmeg
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat a frying pan over medium heat, and saute the onions for 10 minutes, until tender.  Put in the pie crust.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400.

Meanwhile, mix together the egg and yogurt, and pour over the onions.  Sprinkle with thyme, poppy seeds, nutmeg, and salt and pepper.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until heated through.  Cut into wedges and serve.

Quick Tomato Cheddar Soup

I went out to eat the other day (nothing spectacular), and had this soup.  Well, not this exact one, but it was tomato cheddar.  So that got me thinking, and that's how I ended up totally ab libbing what to put in this soup.  It turned out to be quite tasty, especially after it was blended.  Actually, this soup was the whole reason I went traipsing across town in order to find an immersion blender, which really did make all the difference in making this soup ten times better.  It's certainly not perfect yet, but I loved it enough so that I would be willing to make it again.

Cheddar Tomato Soup

Serve 6

1 onion, chopped

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

5 cups water

3 vegetable bullion cubes

2 cups vegetarian mutton (opt)

2 cups pasta, cooked

2 cups milk or Silk

2 tbsp corn starch mixed with 2 tbsp water

1 1/3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Heat a Dutch oven over meduim high heat and add the onion.  Saute for 6 minutes, until tender.  Add in the tomato, water, and bullion, bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add in the remaining ingredients except pasta and mutton, remove from heat, and blend.  Return to heat, add the pasta and mutton, heat through, and serve.

Obession With Potato Pizzas?

Here's yet another potato pizza recipe.  I love these things- they are so good for my lunches, and fun to eat and make.  I love how the broccoli on these shriveled up to practically nothing, and became a sort of cumbly thing on top.  But, oh, these did taste really good.  I loved the cheese in place of the tomato paste, as it made a nice change.  I cannot say enough that I am so grateful to have discovered potato pizzas.  They are such a useful thing.
BTW: That's asparagus in the picture.  Yum yum!!

Cheesy Broccoli Potato Pizzas

Adapted from Happy Healthy Life

Serves about 8

2 large russet potatoes, sliced longways, 1 cm thick
1 1/4 cups broccoli florets
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp Italian herbs, dried or fresh (thyme, basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage)
pinch of salt
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 415 degrees.
In a bowl, combine broccoli, vinegar, garlic powder, and herbs.

On a baking sheet, lay the potatoes out, and then top them with cheese. Add the broccoli on top of the cheese. Pop them in the oven for 35 minutes or so, until the potatoes are tender.

Pasta Sauce

Here's something that a fan of pasta will fall head over heels in lve with.  This sauce is great; M was so excited about it, and I'm a big fan too.  This is certainly among the best pasta sauces that I have ever made, and is great for a hight ratio of sauce to pasta, which I like.  I had a sudden inspiration to toss in some molasses, and that seemed to really liven this recipe up.  I love the dark colour, and the lovely rich flavour.

"Beef" and Tomato Pasta Sauce

Adapted from A Dash of Flavour

Serves 8
2 cups vegetarian burger crumbles
1 onion, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
2 teaspoons garlic, pressed
1 red bell pepper, diced

2 tbsp vegetarian beef bullion

1/2 cup water

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

¼ cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon dried oregano
Chili sauce to taste

2 tbsp molasses

2 tablespoons barbecue sauce

Salt and pepper, taste

Cooked pasta (spirals work really well)

Heat a saucepan over medium high heat and add the onion and carrot with a bit of water.  Saute for a couple minutes and then add the bell pepper.  Saute for 5 more minutes, until tender, and then add the remaining ingredients except burger crumbles and pasta.  Bring to a soft boil, and then reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer for about 45 minutes, uncovered. 

10 minutes before serving, add in the burger crumbles.  Heat through and serve over pasta.

Spring Rolls

I have not made spring rolls in ages, but here they are on the menu again.  And they are better than ever!  I spotted an interesting recipe in my cookbook, and though that it looked like a good way to use up some rice noodles that M and I got for a prize a while back when we spent $20 at the Asian Market.  Odd, I think, to win free noodles, but there you have it.  Anyway, I loved these spirng rolls, and they came in handy for my lunch and dinner.  The egg on the outside really gave them a nice coat, and baking them really created a nice cruncy outside.  The really amazing thing, though, was that they are about 35 calories each.  That's what I call low calorie, especially if you think about all the oil that goes into other spring rolls.

Thai Spring Rolls

Makes about 20

Adapted from Low-Fat No-Fat Thai

About 2 oz cellophane noodles

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1 carrot, shredded

1 small bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch strips

1 1/2 cups cabbage, shredded

2 green onions, finely chopped

1 small can bamboo shoots, drained

4 oz frozen tofu, thawed and chopped

2 tbsp vegetarian oyster flavoured soy sauce

2 tsp agave nectar

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

20 spring roll wrappers

2 tbsp flour mixed with water to form a thick paste

1 egg white

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the noodles.  Remove from heat, and let sit for 20 minutes.  Drain, and roughly chop.

Meanwhile, for the filling, heat a wok over medium high heat.  Add a bit of water, and then the garlic.  Stir for a couple seconds, and toss in the bell pepper and cabbage.  After those are tender, about 3 minutes, add the carrot, green onions, bamboo, and tofu.  Heat through, and remove from heat.  Add in the cooked noodles, soy sauce, agave, and cilantro, and mix through.

Heat the oven to 425. 

To make the wraps:  Place about 2 tbsp of the filling in a line in the middle of a wrapper, horizontal to you.  Fold the edge farthest away from you over the filling to cover it, and then fold in the two sides.  With your finger, add a bit of the flour paste to the edge closest to you.  Roll the edge closest to you up to create a roll (it should seal with the flour paste).  Brush with the egg white, and place on a baking sheet coated with nonstick spray.  Repeat with remaining filling.

Bake for 10 minutes, until heated through.  Serve with a dipping sauce.