"Zucchini Noodle" Lasagna

      Oh, the wonders of Pinterest.  I saw this idea a few weeks ago and have been itching to try it. The recipe below is my own ethical, vegetarian take on it.

Ingredients:
1 medium onion
2 cups diced mushrooms
2 cups cooked chopped spinach (you could also thaw frozen for this)
1 cup chopped asparagus (or veggie of your choice)
15 oz hydrated beans (or 1 can if you're not worried about BPA)
3 medium zucchinis
1 can diced tomatoes or the equivalent fresh/home canned
Seasonings to taste (garlic, oregano, pepper)
Optional : HUMANE cheese (something local, or Cabot or Organic Valley - do your research!)
Optional: HUMANE greek yogurt (Again maybe Cabot or Oikos)<
Optional: Seasoned breadcrumbs
Preheat oven to 400

      As usual, all measurements are approximate and can be adjusted to taste.  Chop up you onion and put it in a large pot, NOT over heat (you want it to have at least 5 minutes off heat for max nutrition; the same applies if you're using fresh garlic and for most fresh herbs).
      
      Next dice the mushrooms and throw them in.

       Add the spinach, asparagus, beans, tomatoes, and seasonings. Simmer until juices are released and everything blends.  While this is happening, slice the zucchini into thin, lengthwise strips. I love my mandolin for jobs like this.
      Once the filling is ready, add a couple healthy dallops of the yogurt.   Stir in and allow to heat for a couple minutes. 
       Cover the bottom of your lasagna dish with a thin layer of the fulling mix.  Layer on the zucchini slices as you would lasagna noodles.  Add another layer of the filling, and another layer of zucchini.  Top with the last of the filling.  Cover with shredded cheese, or, for a vegan option, leave out the yogurt and substitute seasoned breadcrumbs for the cheese.

       Bake 20-25 minutes.  Enjoy!  Let me know if you try it.  This recipe is a lot healthier and faster than traditional lasagna, and by leaving the yogurt out and swapping breadcrumbs for the cheese, it becomes vegan and dairy free. 

       Anyone have any suggestions for making it gluten free?

"Sausage" Casserole

      This started out as just a fridge clean-out meal and may become a comfort food favorite.

I used: 
1 med onion 
About 10 large shitake mushrooms, diced 
1 lb Gimme Lean "Sausage" 
1 cup steamed chopped kale or other dark leafy green 
1/2 lb steamed brussels sprouts 
3 med red potatoes, microwaved for 2 min then sliced (don't burn your fingers!) 
1/4 - 1/3 cup organic low sodium veggie broth 
Sprinkling of pepper, oregano, paprika, and chili power or BAM (by Emeril Legasse)

      First, I chopped the onions and let them sit for at least 5 minutes.  In the meantime, I diced up the shitakes (I found some at the farmer's market, bonus!), and started to fry up the sausage in a tbls or so of grapeseed oil.  Then I threw in about 3/4 of the chopped onion and all the diced shitake.
      
      While that sauteed, I put a layer of the sliced potatoes in the bottom of the casserole dish.  Once the "sausage" was heated through and the onions started to get transparent, I added the mixture on top of the potatoes. On top of that, I layered the last of the onion, the chopped kale (leftover from an earlier meal - any dark leafy green will work), and the brussels sprouts (which I cut in half).

      I then sprinkled the dish with the veggie broth and topped with another layer of potatoes.  Sprinkle on the seasonings, and bake uncovered at 375 until the potatoes start to crisp.  Makes an amazing comfort food  

      A note about "fake meats:"

      I have mentioned before that I am not a fan of “fake meat,” as you buy it from the grocery store.  To be sure, it is MUCH better than the inhumane, processed, chemical filled meat products from factory farms you find in the grocery store, but “fake meat” is still a processed food.

       But for all my ruminating and pronouncing on health and ethical eating, we still have our vices, and fake meat is one we’re not giving up just yet.  We eat some fake meat product probably once a week.  Most often, it’s “fake” breakfast “sausage,” like the Gimme Lean used in this recipe.

      I neither endorse nor indict fake meat products.  I use them, but I use them sparingly as they are a processed food.  Most of the time, if I need a “meat substitute,” or something to fill a meat-like role in a recipe, I try to do that with more whole foods like Tempah.  For a couple excellent uses of Tempah, please check out Sloppy Joes and Mexican Lasagna. 

Spaghetti

       Spaghetti is a great go-to quick and easy dinner.  We pretty much always have whole wheat noodles and a couple jars of organic spaghetti sauce in the cupboard.  And if we really are dealt just a SUPER busy night with nothing prepped ahead of time, there's no harm in just throwing the two together and calling it good. But I'm pretty sure we all know that's not really my style.

       I honestly don't think we've had spaghetti that was just noodles and sauce in years.  It can still be quick and easy: If I'm pressed for time, I'll just throw in a can of beans and a bag of frozen spinach or other frozen veggies.  Boom, that's it. Still quick and easy, but definitely a more nutritious, satisfying, and rounded out meal.

      And if I have a few minutes, I like to dice up an onion and a couple peppers and some basil from the garden and sauteé them for a few minutes before adding the sauce.  And I always like to throw in some leafy greens. The nutritional benefits of leafy greens (kale, spinach, collards, mustard or turnip greens, chard, . . .), are so amazing that I see no reason not to slip them in at every possible point.  Note: like onions and garlic, kale benefits from being allowed to sit for a few minutes after being chopped and before being heated.

      Just ten minutes of chopping for a drastic improvement in flavor, nutrition, and texture.  And if your kids don't like chunky veggies in the sauce or bulk at the idea of greens in spaghetti, throw the veggies in the blender or ninja for a few seconds before stirring into the sauce. It really is just that easy.

      Last night we had spaghetti, not because we were particularly rushed, but because I was too lazy to invent something else (it's rare, but it happens).  I added an onion and, from the garden, a red pepper, a green pepper, and some fresh basil. I also threw in a good about three cups of chopped Farmer's Market kale.

       Lastly, I added some Boca fake meat crumbles. I don't like cooking with fake meat, because it's processed and sometimes has artificial colors, but MacGyver loves it once in a while and we happened to have some in the freezer. I'm also a big fan of Veggie Patch brand meatless balls (ok, they're called meatless meatballs, but I call them meatless balls in hommage to La Vie Boheme from Rent).

       What is your favorite quick and easy dinner?
       Do you doctor your spaghetti?

Mama's Cold Remedy Soup

     Most - I think all - kid's cold remedies and expectorants have been  taken off the market. So when Flintstone came down with a cold I can only imagine he picked up from the Dr's office the other day, I found myself searching for a way to give him some relief.

     For pretty much everyone I know, the go to at home remedy for a cold  (besides a hot toddy - can't give Flintstone one of those!) Is chicken soup. WELL, we don't have any humane local chicken handy this week, and really the negative health effects of eating meat outweigh any minor positives in the
"remedy," so I started from scratch.

     This is a very flexible recipe. There are a few "essential"n ingredients, ones I'm labelling as such because they have healing or helping properties, and the rest is up to you!

     Onion - Essential - I always dice the onion first in any recipe and  let it sit for at least five minutes. This maximizes the nutritional benefits of the food since it gives time for the chemicals to mingle and  create super healthy compounds. For my purposes, I just chop the onion in first and throw it in the bottom of the pot (not over heat). I'm not into  dirtying a whole bunch of dishes to hole all the ingredients - one pot, one
knife, one cutting board, and the countertop compost container.

     Garlic - essential - I put a lot of garlic in this recipe. Garlic is  known for it's cold fighting properties, and, as such this is a very garlicy soup. Fresh is best, and the same chop (or crush) first and let sit health
rules apply. Use as much garlic as you can stand (or have!).

     Chili pepper - essential - This soup should be somewhat spicy. The  chili pepper is an excellent decongestant and improves circulation, which is very important when you're sick. We happened to have an unbelievable Crop of chilis in the garden this year, so I used fresh, but I also threw in  some red pepper flakes and chili powder for good measure.  I also added a generous sprinkling of regular ground pepper, but I put that in just about everything.


      Carrots and Celery - flavor essential - this iss just the sort of soup that calls for the flavors of carrots and celery.  I recommend organic celery because it is one of the "dirty dozen" typically the highest pesticide produce, and is pretty easy to find organic.  I used our last carrot (organic, of course) then had to resort to using the organic shredded carrot MacGyver keeps on hand for sandwiches.  Whatever works.

      Salt - essential - This is probably the only time you'll hear me recommend adding salt to anything.  I feel that the US American diet is already over inundated with sodium, and, as such I rarely cook with it.  But here (depending on how much sodium is in your broth - we buy the lowest sodium organic brand our store carries), salt is necessary for taste and to sooth a coughing throat.  You can use whatever kind of salt you prefer - sea salt, kosher, whatever.  But if  you're pregnant, I recommend using iodized salt.  Pregnant women often don't get enough iodine (a necessary nutrient) because it is generally left out of prenatal vitamins.

      Shitake Mushrooms - Essential - you CAN leave these out if you really really want to, or you can substitute other mushrooms, but I don't recommend it.  Shitake mushrooms are PACKED with disease fighting properties and vital nutrients.  They add a lot to this soup.

      Herbs - in this soup, fresh is always best.  Normally, I don't feel too guilty about using dried herbs if that's all we have on hand, but I think this soup benefits a lot from the oils in fresh herbs.  I used rosemary and oregano from our garden and a lot of tried Thyme since thyme is not one of the half dozen or so herbs we grow and Thyme has great antiseptic properties and tastes great in this soup.




      Veggie Broth - Essential - I ALWAYS have at least one box of it in the pantry.  I use it all the time.  We buy organic because it's easy to find and generally doesn't cost any more than regular veggie broth.  Seriously, veggie broth is awesome.  You should start using it to replace all animal broths immediately.

 

      From there, you add whatever other veggies you happen to have on hand.  Since I made this Saturday morning before we went to the Farmer's Market, we were out of almost everything.  I used broccoli,  peas, corn, and a few new potatoes (skin on!).  Just chop up the veggies (onion and plentiful garlic first) and throw them into the pot as you go.  Pour in the veggie broth, add the herbs, salt, and pepper, and simmer until you reach desired flavor/texture.  Throw in some whole wheat noodles for a kid pleasing touch.

      What foods to you serve when you or someone in your care is sick?  What are your comfort foods and home remedy recipes?

Farmer's Market Ravioli

Tonight we had caprese ravioli we get from a guy at the Farmer's Market. I sauteed up zucchini and squash, also from the Farmer's Market, with a small onion in a little bit of grapeseed oil with some oregano and bam.  MacGyver made a delicious vegan sauce from almond milk and a bunch of basil and sweet red peppers from our garden. He roughly blended it all then boiled it down with a little sherry.  Delicious!

Featured Cookbook: Happy Herbivore

About a month ago, I posted about my ever evolving pursuit of Ethical Eating.  If you’re unfamiliar with Ethical Eating (not to be confused with veganism), please, please follow this link and find out a little about it.  I think you’ll be surprised by the ethics behind some foods and the very simple ways you can make a difference.  Anyway, in response to that post, Tricia asked if I could throw any good vegetarian recipes her way.  I started making a list of a few of my favorites, which promptly got buried under mountains of work.

Then I got a new cookbook.  An awesome new cookbook.  I had spent many hours over at least three visits to the bookstore scouring countless vegetarian cookbooks, trying to find a couple to buy.  While the internet provides millions of great, free vegetarian recipes, I remain loyal to cookbooks.  I like browsing through them.  I like having them on hand whenever I need them.  I even like the way the pages get stained with little droplets of cooking and powdery with flour – cookbooks sort of pick up the life of the kitchen like magic.  I think the bookworm and the pagan in me work together to foster this love of cookbooks.

I went through cookbook after cookbook, but couldn’t find just the right one.  Many of them called for unusual ingredients I had never heard of, or just had very extensive ingredients lists.  Others might as well have been regular non-veg omnivore cookbooks because every other recipe called for soymeat or TVP.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Morningstar Farms Grillers Prime burgers once in a while, and Punky and MacGyver are all about vegetarian sausage patties, but I wasn’t looking for 105 different ways to prepare “fake” meat.  I can come up with th0se myself.

Then I found it.   It had everything I wanted:
-  Uncomplicated ingredients lists.
-  Simple recipes.
-  Full, hearty, stand alone vegetarian meals that didn’t rely on meat alternatives.
-  Quick prep times for many of the recipes.
-  Nutritious recipes (believe it or not, it’s very easy to get really unhealthy in vegetarian cooking – fettuccine alfredo from a pouch, anyone?)

Seriously, even if you’re not a vegetarian, this cookbook rocks.  MacGyver and Punky are still omnivores; they still eat meat on the weekends (and probably other times when I’m not around ;-)), but they have loved everything I have made from this cookbook.  These are full, satisfying meals.  You never miss the meat.  When I started the push toward vegetarianism, half the time I just subbed beans for meat and went with it.  And while that works pretty well in a lot of dishes, after a while you miss the meat.  Hence my motivated search for a veg cookbook like this one.

This wonderful book that you should totally try even if you’re not a vegetarian (or vegan, like the author) is called
The Happy HerbivorebyLindsay Nixon

I was so thrilled with it that after preparing just two recipes from the book (and tabbing 8 more for the next couple weeks), I contacted Ms. Nixon to ask permission to share one of her recipes with you all.  Graciously, she agreed.  Not only did she allow me to post one of her recipes here, but she honored me with a short interview:

Q.  You used to be a lawyer, or you are a lawyer but no longer practicing - however you choose to look at it -  how does that play into your current life? 

A.  I am still technically licensed, but I am not practicing anymore. I started happyherbivore.com in law school when I went vegan and it morphed into a healthy weekend hobby when I was a lawyer. Then life handed me a curve ball which, in the end, allowed me to reevaluate my priorities and passions, so I left the law to pursue a new career. I guess I made the right choice because a few months later, I had a book deal :)

Q.  Are your dogs vegan?  (I ask this because I've been contemplating starting on the hunt for a more ethical dog food myself lately)

A.  Yes! They also get home cooked meals. I wrote a great post about them and their diet here on the blog.

Q.  Are you also vegan in other areas of your life - clothes, hair products, etc.?

A.  Yes and no. We don't buy cosmetic products (or other products) that are tested on animals or contain animal ingredients. We even avoid beers and wines that are not "vegan" because they are filtered with isinglass, eggs or something else. We also don't buy clothes or shoes, etc that are made out of leather and we've replaced all of our leather shoes from our pre-vegan days. That said, Scott & I both still own wool coats that we've had for years, before we were vegan. We don't have the resources to replace them (plus, we feel its better to use it then get rid of it anyway). We also will both eat things like whole wheat bread that has a dab of honey in it. We try to source breads (and other foods) that don't have honey but we have very limited options where we live (St. Maarten), so we bend on the honey issue.

Q.  What was the most unexpected health benefit you got from becoming vegan?

A.  I went vegan initially because I'd heard it would clear my skin and help me lose weight, but I didn't expect it to actually work! A healthy vegan diet has really helped me stay at a healthy weight, which I thought was something I'd always struggle with.

Q.  You are a self-proclaimed big mouth.  I'm sure you've had plenty of people give you flak about being vegan.  What has been your most humorous, enlightening, or infuriating encounter with an omnivore so far?

A.  Anytime an omnivore asks me where I get my protein, I ask them where they get their fiber :)

Q.  What is your favorite wine and why?

A.  I'm actually not much of a wine drinker, though I do enjoy a glass of sangria from time to time. The Nixon household praises hops.

 Bonus question:  You have lived in my favorite city, and the state I currently live in (SC), and now you live on an island (*envy*); how  would you say each of those places, as well as your "vagabond"  lifestyle have affected your veganism and your cooking?

A.  Living--and traveling to-- so many places has a huge impact on my recipes. I draw a lot of inspiration from all the different cuisines I've been exposed to. Each city has also helped shaped me as a chef.  For example, living in New York City is why I focus on quick, no fuss recipes since my kitchen there (where I wrote my cookbook) was tiny.

It's smaller than my mom's closest! Meanwhile island life has really made me value simplicity and cooking with what you have available to you.

Not only is the cookbook awesome, but the author is, too!  Seriously, I could have hounded her with dozens more questions.  I mean, come on – a vegan lawyer who went to school in NY, wrote a cookbook, and is now living on a tropical island where she makes vegan food for her dogs?  We’re talking serious girl crush.

So, without further ado, I give you the recipe I made last night, African Kale and Yam Soup.  My comments in green.

I double all the recipes in the book to make enough for all three of us, but the amounts below are from the original recipe, which would be perfect for 2 people.  Everyone ALWAYS wants seconds, and there are rarely leftovers.

        Ingredients:
1 whole red onion, small 2 cups vegetable broth 1 whole yam, diced – I used sweet potatoes5 cups kale, chopped 2 tsp chili powder 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp garlic powder ¼ tsp red pepper flakes 1 tsp mild curry powder ¼ tsp cinnamon     1 tbsp yellow miso paste – This is a rather unusual ingredient – the first I’ve encountered after making about 6 recipes from this book – but it wasn’t hard to find, and I’m thrilled to have gotten it because it proved delicious and MacGyver and Punky love Wakkame Miso Soup anyway.

DirectionsLine a medium pot with 1/4 cup of water and cook onions over high heat until translucent, about 3 minutes.  Remember to let the onions sit for at least 5 minutes after you slice them up to maximize their nutritional value.
Add broth, yam, 3/4 cup water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to medium and cook until potatoes are almost fork tender, about 3 minutes. Immediately add kale and remaining ingredients and cook, stirring frequently, until kale is dark green and soft, about 3 more minutes. Set aside for 5-10 minutes, allowing flavors to merge.  See how SHORT that cook time is?  For me, chopping up the veggies for any recipe is always the most time consuming part, but when the rest of the prep is this fast and easy – and the meal is this delicious AND healthy – it’s soooo worth it.  Plus, the chopping in this recipe is minimal, just the onions, sweet pots, and kale.  (The picture above is from the book; the one on the left I took last night.  I always like to compare how good a recipe looks compared to the professional shots, and so far all the ones from The Happy Herbivore have done quite nicely.)

I suggest serving the soup, which is just a little bit sweet, with a semi-dry Reisling from Washinton State - there are a lot of good organic brands out there, too!  The book also suggests serving with bread, and I wholeheartedly agree.  I'd suggest a crusty Italian bread.

This recipe, after having eaten the 5 Spice Harmony Bowl from the book last week, inspired Punky to announce that Kale is her new favorite veggie because it’s so healthy, so yummy, and so versatile.  I am totally okay with that.

Please let me know if you try the recipe!  I would LOVE to hear what you think of it.  You can find a whole bunch of other awesome recipes on Lindsay’s website.  I also highly suggest the Teriyaki Chickpeas (also delicious on a spinach salad), the Mexican Cabbage, and the Kale Chips – a great, nutritious snack food!

And, in case you’re interested, here are the links to a couple other vegetarian recipes I love from before I got The Happy Herbivore:

Curried Beans and Kale
Spinach Brownies – you have to try these; you won’t believe it!

Disclaimer:  I was not asked to write this post, nor have I been compensated in any way for doing so.  I just happen to love this cookbook and the associated website and wanted to share them with my wonderful bloggy friends.

Originally posted:

Feb 22, 2011 12:09 PM