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lazy vegetarians are everywhere. this is a collection of easy recipes and tips for dining out for vegetarians with little time or effort.



Tuesday, March 30, 2010

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Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Raw foods

I'm not sure the whole draw of the raw food movement, but it has been interesting to me for a long time now.  If anyone out there has opinions, i'd love to hear them.

There are lots of raw food recipes out there that seem interesting to me, but have not been real high on my list, but this one seems interesting: http://goneraw.com/recipe/mango-nanna-pudding

Mango Nanna Pudding:
Ingredients: 
- 1 ataulfo (aka champagne mango), preferably, but any mango will work, ataulfo seem to be more puddingesque
- 2-3 medium bananas
Preparation: 
1. Peel mango.
2. Blend mango and bananas together in blender until desired consistency is reached. I blended it until completely smooth but you could leave it chunky if you wish.
3. Garnish with other fruits if desired.

Cheese puffs

Hors d’oeuvres can be extremely complicated to make and be very time intensive, which is odd since they are usually just bite-sized little snacks that disappear quickly.
I’ve managed to hobble together a cheese puff recipe that is not difficult and requires very little actual effort. 
The single longest investment of time is spent defrosting, which is still quite easy since you just take it out of the freezer and let it sit on the counter for a while. 
These super-easy cheese puffs can be made with just cheese or with spinach and cheese, or like I usually like to do, mix-and-match. 
Preheat your oven to 400 and get out an ungreased cookie tray.  Parchment paper can be used for this, but I’m simple and just skip it.
You want to start with a good puff pastry from the grocery store freezer.  Let it defrost according to the package directions and then lay it out on a lightly flour-dusted countertop or cutting board.
Using the dough as it stands will give you a very thick and flakey crust, which is great if you want a larger final product that is more than one bite, but if you’re looking for smaller, bite-sized snacks, use a floured rolling pin to thin out the dough some.
Make an egg wash by scrambling the egg and the water in a small bowl or mug.
Brush the egg wash on the rolled out dough. 
Cut the dough to the size you want to make the snacks.  Try two inch squares for starters.
The cheese you choose makes this your own and can give you vastly different results.
I love some Havarti cheese, and it works really well with the pastry.  For the spinach and cheese ones, I like a classic shredded mozzarella mixed with the chopped spinach, maybe a little parmesan in the mix.
Slice and cut the cheese to fit well inside the dough you’ve cut.  An easy way to do this is to use shredded cheese and just make small piles.  Make sure the edges of the dough are clear. 
If you’re making the spinach ones, just defrost the spinach and drain all liquid, then mix with the shredded cheese and put it on the dough like the plain cheese ones.
Place a second square of dough on top of the small piles of cheese or spinach and cheese.
Gently press the edges to seal in the filling. 
Brush a layer of the egg wash over the top as well and place them on the baking sheet.
Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.


Ingredients:

1 package of frozen puff pastry
1 package of cheese (any variety)
1 package of frozen chopped spinach
1 egg
1-2 tsp of water
Flour for sprinkling the counter

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Super easy banana bread

Everyone loves bananas.
The are great on cereal.  Great by themselves.  A great base for a desert. 
But every time I buy a bunch of bananas, there is a few bananas that end up sitting in the kitchen until they are too ripe to eat and end up getting tossed.
The best solution for that problem is banana bread.
With about a million recipes out there for banana bread, it is hard to find one that isn’t good.
There are some that take a lot of preparation and others that are as simple as mashing some bananas and throwing it in the oven.  That is more my speed.
This recipe is one of the simplest ones out there, so it called to me.
You don’t need a mixer or fancy equipment, just a bowl, a wooden spoon and a loaf pan.
Preheat the oven to 350.
Start with some over-ripe bananas peeled and smashed in a large mixing bowl. 
Stir in the melted butter, then the beaten egg, sugar and vanilla.
Next is the baking soda and salt.  Try to mix them in evenly throughout the mixture and stir it well.
The flour goes in last and stir it in until all of the flour has been incorporated into the batter.
Pour the finished batter into the greased loaf pan.  Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top of the batter.
Bake for about an hour, or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.
I prefer to slice it while it is still warm and spread butter on the slice.  It makes a great breakfast cake or a little snack at any time. 
You can make this into more of a desert by mixing in chocolate chips as you pour the batter into the pan or topping with some vanilla icing.


Ingredients:
    •    3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
    •    1/3 cup melted butter
    •    1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
    •    1 egg, beaten
    •    1 teaspoon vanilla
    •    1 teaspoon baking soda
    •    Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
2 Tbs brown sugar
vegetable shortening or butter to grease the loaf pan

Monday, January 25, 2010

it's meatless monday...

http://www.meatlessmonday.com/why-meatless/
much like the British version, meat-free monday, this baltimore based group encourages folks to give up eating animals one day a week.
with some compelling stats, this link has a few good reasons to give up eating meat for at least one day a week, including the meat industry's high usage of fossil fuels and water.  reducing your meat intake by one seventh will reduce your personal contribution to that huge carbon footprint that is the meat industry.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Mama's?

http://www.mamasvegetarian.com/live/
There is a vegetarian fast food place in Philly that i haven't tried yet.
Someone tell me what is wrong with my life.
Also, anyone who has tried it, tell me the deal and if it is worth the trip...

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Stir fry barbecue

I have another recipe on here that is for a seitan sloppy joe, and I made almost the same dish, but didn't chop everything as finely and it turned out completely different.
The sloppy joes recipe is very easy, and this stir fry is almost the same thing, but with large chunks of veggies and seitan and served over rice. 
You just start with about six cutlets of seitan and cube them about 1/2 inch in size.  Roughly dice a pepper and an onion and fry the veggies in a heavy pan.
Mix in the seitan cubes and barbecue sauce until it is all thoroughly mixed.  Let the mixture sit in the pan and burn a bit on the bottom of the pan.  Scrape it up into the rest as you mix so that you are incorporating the slightly burnt barbecue sauce into the flavor and texture of the overall meal.
Once you've heated this mixture sufficiently to your level of burnt-ness, serve it over cooked rice and top with some sweet-and-sour sauce.
You can try bringing some heat and using some finely chopped habanero pepper as well, if that's your style.