My Vegetarian Recipe of the Day

My husband loves eggplant. So, this is a great idea for viewing the Super Bowl, or anytime that we’d like a lighter, portable meal. Eggplant parmesan might be a little messy for sitting on the couch, but maybe with a bib…

This recipe was inspired by a recipe on Epicurious.com. I simplified the recipe, but if you would like to attempt the original recipe, you can view it here.

Eggplant Parmesan Heros

2 jars marinara sauce
1 (1 1/4-lb) eggplant, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
1 1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups fine fresh bread crumbs (from firm white sandwich bread), lightly toasted
1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (3 oz)
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups vegetable oil
4 (12-inch-long) loaves Italian bread, halved lengthwise
1 lb mozzarella, thinly sliced

Prepare eggplant:
Toss eggplant slices with 1 teaspoon salt in a colander set over a bowl, then let stand 30 minutes.

Stir together flour, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a shallow bowl, then stir together bread crumbs and Parmigiano-Reggiano in another shallow bowl.

Dredge eggplant slices in flour, shaking off excess, then dip in egg, letting excess drip off, and dredge in bread crumbs until evenly coated. Transfer eggplant to sheets of wax paper, arranging slices in 1 layer.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Heat vegetable oil in a deep 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then fry eggplant 4 slices at a time, turning over once, until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per batch. Transfer with tongs to paper towels to drain.

Arrange bottom halves of bread loaves on a large baking sheet and tops on another large baking sheet, all with cut sides up. Spread 1/4 cup tomato sauce on each top and bottom. Divide eggplant between bottom halves, overlapping slices slightly. Top each (open-faced) sandwich with 1/4 cup tomato sauce and one fourth of mozzarella.

Bake open-faced sandwiches in lower third of oven until cheese melts, about 3 minutes. When cheese begins to melt, put tops of loaves in upper third of oven and bake until edges are golden, 3 to 4 minutes (watch tops closely; they burn easily). Put tops on bottoms to make sandwiches, then slice into serving pieces.

What’s a Super Bowl without some nachos? This super easy recipe comes from Boca Burger’s site.

Boca Burger Nachos

1 pouch (1 cup) frozen BOCA Meatless Ground Burger
1/2 cup chunky salsa
16 tortilla chips
2 Tbsp. shredded Monterey Jack cheese (or vegan alternative)
1/4 cup chopped tomato
1 Tbsp. chopped jalapeño peppers
sliced green onions
sliced black olives

MIX ground burger and salsa in nonstick skillet; cook on medium heat 5 min. or until heated through, stirring occasionally.
ARRANGE tortilla chips on plate; top with ground burger mixture. Sprinkle with remaining ingredients.

For something a little different than chili, try this Louisiana alternative— gumbo. This recipe is adapted from a recipe by Emeril Lagasse, although I’m sure he wouldn’t want to claim it, though, without its animal ingredients.

8 cups vegetable broth or stock
1 1/2 cups olive oil
1 1/2 cups bleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 bay leaves
2 cups chopped yellow onions
1 cup chopped green bell peppers
1 cup chopped celery
one package, Boca Burger smoked sausage, half finely chopped, half cut crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices (optional)
2 cans white beans
2 tablespoons chopped green onions or scallions
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Cooked rice, for serving

In a large, heavy pot or a Dutch oven over medium heat, combine the oil and flour. Cook, stirring constantly, until the roux is a dark, chocolate brown color, about 20 to 25 minutes. Add the salt, cayenne pepper, bay leaves, chopped onions, bell peppers, celery, chopped sausage and beans. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are very soft, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the broth and stir until the roux mixture and broth are well combined. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Add the sliced sausage and cook another 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaves.

Stir in the green onions and parsley and serve the gumbo in individual soup or gumbo bowls over hot, steamed rice.

Well, the Super Bowl is upon us, so my series on Super Bowl snacks must come to an end. But don’t worry. Starting Monday I’ll be running a new series of recipes. Romantic vegetarian recipes, suitable for a special dinner with your sweetie.

Ancient lore holds that certain foods can improve your love life. Modern science isn’t convinced, but admits that certain foods may improve circulation or just make you feel better and that this may affect your libido.

So, what are these “love” foods? And are there foods that should be avoided when we’re planning a romantic evening?

This list of foods to include in your romantic meal include anise, basil, mustard greens, arugula, asparagus, almonds, avocado, bananas, chocolate, carrots, coffee, cilantro, figs, garlic, ginger, honey, licorice, mustard, nutmeg, pine nuts, pineapple, raspberries, strawberries, vanilla and wine. Obviously, if the love of your life has an aversion to bananas, that wouldn’t be your food of choice. And too many glasses of wine can ruin your evening. If you’re going to go heavy on the garlic, you might want to allow for time to practice some oral hygiene. But plan a meal that includes some of these foods and see what happens. If nothing else, you’ll have a delicious, romantic meal, and special time together is the best aphrodisiac.

Are there foods that you should avoid? The ancients had a list of these, as well. To avoid extinguishing the flame you’ve kindled, stay away from dill, lentil, lettuce and watercress.

This recipe will make a pretty presentation. You can serve it as a main course, with an arugula salad on the side, or you can serve it as a side to a nut loaf, for example. The recipe includes several reported aphrodisiacs: raspberries, nutmeg and pine nuts. This recipe is an adaptation of a recipe by Julie Sahni, teacher, food historian and culinary author.

Raspberry pilaf with pine nuts

1/2 pint Red Raspberries
1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Grated Nutmeg
1/8 tsp Ground Cloves
2 cups cooked Basmati Rice
2 Tbs Toasted Pine Nuts

Set aside half the raspberries for garnish and mince the remaining half.
Combine minced raspberries, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and 1/4 C water in a nonstick saute pan over med-high heat and bring to a boil.
Add rice and mix until the fruit puree is well distributed.
Continue cooking until the rice is heated through.
Transfer the rice to a heated platter, scatter the reserved raspberries and pine nuts on top and serve.

What’s a romantic meal without something sweet? Fortunately, for ovo-lacto vegetarians, most sweets are acceptable. If you’re vegan things are a bit more tricky, but not impossible. Today’s sweet is appropriate for vegetarians but not vegans. I’ll include something for vegans soon.

One word on chocolate, a large percentage of the chocolate available in grocery stores comes at the cost of young lives. Many cocoa plantations use child labor. Some use child slavery. If at all possible, please consider purchasing fair trade chocolate.

Chocolate Zabaglione

1/4 cup whipping cream, or heavy cream
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips or bars
8 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1 t. almond extract (or hazelnut, if you can find it)
Pinch salt
1 pound fresh strawberries or raspberries, hulled and quartered
1/4 cup crushed amaretti cookies (if using the hazelnut, use hazelnut biscotti)
Bittersweet chocolate shavings, garnish

Add cream and chocolate to a heavy small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring often, until the chocolate chips are melted and smooth. Set aside and keep warm.
Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, almond or hazelnut extract, and salt in a large glass bowl until blended. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, but do not allow the bottom of the bowl to touch the water. Whisk the egg mixture over the simmering water until it is thick and creamy, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Using a large rubber spatula, fold the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture.

Divide the strawberries among 6 footed dishes. Pour the warm zabaglione over the berries. Garnish with cookies and chocolate shavings and serve.

This recipe is courtsey of 24 Hour Fitness. I’ve mentioned a couple of changes at the bottom. I think stuffed portobellas make for a very sophisticated meal. Serve it with a little polenta or perhaps a rice pilaf and a mixed green salad, and you have the perfect romantic meal. Cilantro is on the list of aphrodisiacs, so its addition should really light up your evening.

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with Cilantro Pesto

Nonstick cooking spray
8 medium-sized portobello mushrooms (5-6 inches in diameter)
1 cup zucchini, finely chopped
1 cup carrots, shredded
3 green onions, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons unseasoned breadcrumbs
1/2 cup shredded, reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Spinach-Cilantro Pesto:
1 cup loosely packed spinach leaves
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
3 cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon fat-free parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1-2 tablespoons water
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all pesto ingredients except olive oil, lemon juice and water in a blender and pulse blend until coarsely chopped. Gradually add olive oil and lemon juice until mixture is finely chopped. Add enough water to make a paste. Salt and pepper to taste and use at room temperature. Spinach-Cilantro Pesto is also great with pasta and other vegetables.

Rinse mushrooms well. Gently remove mushroom stems without damaging mushroom cap. Chop mushroom stems and set aside. Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat until hot. Add chopped mushrooms stems, zucchini, carrots and green onions and saute until crisp-tender (8-10 minutes). Stir in breadcrumbs and Pesto and mix well.

Divide mixture and gently pack in a mound on the mushroom caps. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Arrange mushrooms on pan and roast at 425 degrees until mushrooms are tender, about 15 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle mushrooms with cheese and continue cooking for 5 minutes.

** My notes on this recipe: I prefer to marinate portobella mushrooms for about 30 minutes before I use them. You can mix olive oil and balsamic vinegar (about 1/2 c. of olive oil and 1/4 c. of vinegar) in a large ziplock bag. Add the cleaned mushrooms, shake them around a bit and let them sit for 30 minutes before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.

This recipe comes from a great blog called 101 Cookbooks. All of the recipes are not vegan (or even vegetarian), but it’s a fun look at cooking and cookbooks.

This romantic recipe is my promised answer for vegans looking for a sweet treat. I know that there may be an issue with sugar in some of these ingredients, but you should be able to find a vegan product that you feel good about to use in this recipe.

Vegan Amaretto-spiked chocolate mousse

1/2 cup organic chocolate soy milk (for this recipe I like to use Vitasoy Rich Chocolate Soy Milk)
9 or 10 ounce bag of semisweet vegan chocolate chips (I’ve had good success with Tropical Source or Sunspire Brand all-natural brands, NOT carob chips)
12 ounces silken tofu
1/4 cup Amaretto or almond-flavored liquor
1/4 teaspoon natural pure almond extract (I use the Flavorganics Almond Extract for this recipe)
Pour the chocolate milk into a small pot and bring to a simmer. Remove the milk from heat and let cool a bit while you melt down the chocolate chips. You can melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler or if you are like me, and don?t own a double-boiler, you can cobble one together using a tiny saucepan set under a larger mixing bowl. Fill the tiny saucepan with an inch or two of water and bring barely to a simmer ? place the big mixing bowl with the chocolate chips on top of the tiny saucepan and let the heat come up and gently warm the chips while you stir occasionally until completely melted. Remove from heat.
Add the soy milk and silken tofu to the melted chocolate chips. Process with a hand or regular blender until completely smooth. Stir in the Amaretto and almond extract. Taste and adjust for flavor, adding a bit more extract if needed.
Chill in the big bowl (or in individual bowls) for at least 1 1/2 hours, the longer the better. The pudding will set up nicely as it cools.
Makes 6 decadent servings.

Risotto strikes me as a particularly elegant, romantic dish. I don’t know what it is about it. Is it the foreign name? The fact that when I was growing up I’d never even heard of a risotto? I’m not sure, but for whatever reason, risotto conjures pictures of candlelit tables and violin players. And it’s not a difficult dish to make. Really. This one has the added advantage of containing the romantic sounding chanterelle mushroom. Serve it with a mixed green salad or one of the delicious asparagus dishes I’ll be posting early next week.

Chanterelle risotto

2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves chopped fresh garlic
2 cups sliced chanterelle mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups Arborio rice
5 cups vegetable broth
2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt
freshly ground black pepper

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Cook and stir the garlic and mushrooms in the melted butter for three minutes, being sure to brown the mushrooms little. Set aside.
Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in rice, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Slowly add vegetable broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring frequently and allowing all the liquid to be absorbed before adding more broth. Continue cooking until the rice is tender to the tooth. Stir in cheese, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Here is the promised asparagus side dish to accompany your chanterelles risotto.

Steamed asparagus with lemon butter

1/2 pound fresh asparagus
Salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Wash asparagus and trim off bottom of stems by about 2 inches. In a large skillet, bring about 1/2 inch of water to a rapid boil. Season the water with salt and add the asparagus. Cook the asparagus for 2-3 minutes or until bright green and just tender. Drain the asparagus and add butter to the skillet. Stir in the zest and juice. Return the drained asparagus to the skillet and toss to coat. Serve immediately

Variation: After the asparagus is drained, refresh immediately in a bowl of ice water. This will help the asparagus to retain the bright green color. Serve the asparagus cold with vinaigrette.

If you want something light for a romantic meal, try this delicious vinaigrette over a spinach salad with mushrooms. Garnish with extra strawberries.

Strawberry Vinaigrette Dressing

1 pint fresh or frozen strawberries,
washed and tops cut off
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1-1/2 tsp. walnut oil
2 Tbsp. honey
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper

Combine first 5 ingredients in a blender and blend thoroughly. Dressing will have a creamy appearance. Season with salt and white pepper.

I’d like to post a series of recipes that are a snap to make for dinner. These will include recipes that take less than 30 minutes to prepare, as well as recipes that can be made ahead of time in a crockpot or slow cooker. I’m at home most of every day, but there are still times when five o’clock sneaks up on me, and I haven’t even thought about dinner until the kids are hanging on my leg saying “we’re hungry.” Whether your working or at home, those times happen. And when they do, you don’t have to make a Taco Bell run. Just make sure that you have a well-stocked pantry, and you can whip up a meal in less time that it will take you to find your keys (or does that only happen at my house?)

This recipe comes from The McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook. If you don’t have this cookbook, I highly recommend it. All the recipes are vegan and pretty near fat free. They’re also pretty tasty and very easy.

Black-eyed Pea Scramble

1 15- ounce can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 c. frozen chopped hash brown potatoes
1 onion, chopped
3 T. ketchup or vegetarian barbecue sauce
1 t. vegetarian Worcestershire sauce (or you can leave this out or substitute Bragg’s amino acids)
1/2 t. oregano
1/2 t. thyme
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place the peas, potatoes, and onion in a saucepan with water to cover. Cover and cook over medium heat until the potatoes are heated through. Serve stuffed into pita bread, rolled up in a tortilla, or spooned over toasted whole wheat bread or rolls.

We eat this on toast or just by itself. Serve it with a side of your favorite green vegetable or salad, and you have a complete meal.

This is super fast. It says cook 30 minutes, but I don’t think it really takes that long. As a bonus, it’s also low carb— so, if you’re on the South Beach Diet, it’s perfect for that. You can double it pretty easily, and it ought to freeze well, although I haven’t tried that.

Mediterranean Chickpeas

2 medium onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T olive oil
2 cans chickpeas, rinsed
1 10-oz package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted (you could throw in some fresh, if that’s what you have)
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
1 t crushed red pepper flakes
1 t dried oregano
1 T. lemon juice
salt & black pepper, to taste

Sauté the onions and garlic in the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until the onions are tender. Add chickpeas, spinach, tomatoes, pepper flakes, and oregano. Cover and simmer for 30 min. Add lemon juice, salt, and pepper.