My Vegetarian Recipe of the Day

In the world of easy dishes, they don’t get much easier than this. If you have glass parfait dishes, this will be even prettier, but you can make it in a bowl, as well. If Dad washes the berries, the kids should be able to do the rest of this.

Simple Yogurt Parfait

2 cups vanilla yogurt
1 cup granola
8 berries (raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, or an assortment— whatever Mom likes)

In a large glass, layer 1 cup yogurt, 1/2 cup granola and 4 berries. Repeat layers.

Perfect for brunch or breakfast, this recipe has the advantage of being made ahead of time, so no one needs to get up at 5 a.m. to prepare breakfast in bed. I recommend using a veggie sausage like Gimme Lean that is not already preformed into patties, but you can substitute chopped up patties, if necessary.

Prepare Ahead Breakfast Casserole

1 (16 ounce) package veggie sausage
10 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups milk
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups cubed bread
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped (optional)
1/2 cup thin-sliced green onion (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 F. In large skillet, cook sausage over medium-high heat, stirring frequently until thoroughly cooked. I find that the veggie sausage cooks best when you put a bit of oil in the bottom of the pan.

In large mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, mustard and salt; stir well.

Distribute half the bread evenly in a buttered 9×13 x 2 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with half the pepper, half the cheese, half the sausage and half of each optional ingredient. Repeat layering using remaining bread, pepper, cheese, sausage and optional ingredients. Pour egg mixture evenly over casserole.

Bake uncovered for 55-60 minutes, or until eggs are set. Tent with foil if top begins to brown too quickly.

You may assemble this up to 12 hours ahead of time and bake it in the morning. It may require slightly more time to cook.

I have a confession. I love biscuits. However, I really hate rolling them out, cutting them out and, generally, the whole process of making any biscuit that doesn’t come out of a can. Until now. I have just discovered a recipe on Epicurious that will allow me to have biscuits without all the mess. You can use this technique to make Mom delicious cream biscuits for her breakfast in bed (or for afternoon tea or as a side for lunch).

Cream Drop Biscuits

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups chilled heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Add cream, then stir just until a dough forms.

Drop heaping 1/4 cups of batter about 1 inch apart on an ungreased large baking sheet. Bake in middle of oven until tops are pale golden and bottoms are golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes.

Makes 12 biscuits

Unlike the easy recipes I’ve been running, this one is not for the faint of heart. But, believe me, Mom will love you for the extra effort. If you’d like to take Mom to Cheesecake Factory for Mother’s Day but don’t want to wait in line or pay the high prices, consider this copycat recipe as an alternative. I’ll be running a few more copycats over the last remaining days until Mother’s Day.

The Cheesecake Factory German Chocolate Cheesecake

Cheesecake

24 ounces cream cheese, softened and cut into chunks
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Chocolate Cake

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour

Chocolate Glaze

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons whipping cream

German Chocolate Topping

2 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Garnish

Whipping cream

For Cheesecake: In bowl of electric mixer or in food processor fitted with metal blade, blend cream cheese, sugar, eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract until smooth. Set aside.

For Chocolate Cake: In large microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate and butter. Microwave on HIGH (100%) power for 2 to 3 minutes, or until just melted. Cool slightly. With fork, beat in sugar, eggs and vanilla extract until smooth. Add flour and mix until blended. Spoon into well-greased 9 1/2-inch springform pan, spreading evenly. Carefully, spread cheese mixture evenly over top of chocolate batter.

Bake in preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking 55 to 60 minutes. Turn oven off, open oven door and let cake cool completely to room temperature in oven. Refrigerate until well chilled.

Remove sides from springform. Invert cake onto serving plate, so cheesecake is on bottom and chocolate cake is on top. Spread sides with Chocolate Glaze. Spread top evenly with German Chocolate Topping. Refrigerate until serving time. Garnish with whipped cream if desired.

For Chocolate Glaze: In small microwave-safe bowl combine chocolate chips with whipping cream. Microwave on HIGH power for 45 to 60 seconds. Beat until smooth. Spread on sides of cheesecake.

For German Chocolate Topping: In small microwave-safe bowl, beat egg yolks. Stir in sugar, butter and whipping cream. Microwave on HIGH power 4 minutes, stirring every minute. Remove from microwave and stir in vanilla extract. Stir in coconut and pecans until well blended. Refrigerate until mixture is of spreading consistency. Spread on top of the cheesecake.

This recipe for Cheesecake Factory`s German Chocolate Cheesecake serves/makes 12.

In preparation for Memorial Day and the official beginning of summer, I’ll be posting vegetarian picnic recipes over the next couple of weeks. If any of you have any recipes you would like to share, please email them to me at info@mantyweb.com. I’ll be happy to post them. And if you have a blog or a website with vegetarian recipes, send me a vegetarian picnic recipe, and I’ll link to you and, hopefully, send some traffic your way.

I’m a sucker for pesto, and I’ll put it on just about anything I can think of. This is a super easy and delicious change of pace from mayo or mustard potato salad. People will be impressed with your sophisticated offering. It’s up to you whether you want to share how simple it is.

Pesto pasta salad

about 3 lbs. red potatoes
1 tsp salt
one recipe parsley pesto (recipe follows)

Quarter the potatoes and boil in water with 1 t. salt (or to taste) for about 20 minutes, until tender. While they’re boiling, prepare the pesto. Drain the potatoes. Add pesto and stir until mixed.

That’s it. It’s that simple. If you want to get really fancy, you could add some sliced green onions or maybe some hard boiled eggs or nuts or tomatoes, but it’s really delicious, as is.

Parsley Pesto

1/2 cup walnuts or pecans
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated or parmigiano reggiano
1 bunch parsley
3 garlic cloves (or more depending on how much you like garlic— I use about 6)
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

Blend garlic, parsley, nuts, salt, pepper and cheese in a food processor or blender. Add the olive oil in a steady stream and process until just combined. If too thick, add a bit of the cooking liquid from the potatoes.

I’ve made this in the past and have gotten really good reviews. I think the combination of chickpeas (which I consider more Middle Eastern) with the Mexican spices is really interesting. This recipe works well cold, hot, or room temperature.

Mexican chickpea salad

4 cups cooked chickpeas , or 4 cups drained canned chickpeas (from two 15 oz. cans), rinsed
1 med. onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
3 jalapeno chiles, seeded and minced
2 canned chipotle chiles in sauce, rinsed, seeded and minced (optional)
3 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (optional)
4 T extra-virgin olive oil
4 T fresh lime juice, or more to taste
3 T chopped fresh cilantro
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine all the ingredients and let marinate for 2 hours. Adjust the salt and pepper and the lime juice to taste. Serve slightly cool.

Every picnic needs a good dessert, and these brownie bars are a great option. They’re somewhere between brownies and cookie bars— hence, the name. They will pack really well, either precut of in the pan if you’re travelling to a picnic.

Chocolate Chip Brownie Bars

1 1/3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×9 x 1-3/4 inch pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.

Stir in the flour mixture, the nuts, and chocolate chips until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool slightly. While still warm, cut into bars with a sharp knife.

** A couple of notes. I melted the butter and just mixed this all by hand, rather than messing with a mixer, and it worked out just fine. Altogether it took about 10 minutes to prepare. Also, feel free to use other stir-ins (the recipe is very forgiving). You could use chopped up candy bars or white or peanut butter chips— whatever is appealing to you.

I came across this recipe on an MSN group called Vegetarian Soul Food. You should check it out, even if you don’t try this recipe. Many of the recipes there would be great for a Memorial Day vegetarian picnic or any other time this summer that you’d like to grill. I bet it would even be tasty on the George Foreman grill

TEX-MEX VEGGIE BURGERS

1 15 1/4-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained, 1/2 cup liquid reserved

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon cornmeal

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/3 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1/2 teaspoon grated lime peel

1/4 cup cooked white rice

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro

4 teaspoons diced jalapeño chili
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

4 no-lard 9- to 10-inch-diameter flour tortillas (99% fat-free)
8 tablespoons light sour cream
8 tablespoons purchased salsa

Blend 1/2 cup corn kernels and 1 tablespoon cornmeal in processor until moist clumps form. Add 3/4 cup corn kernels; process 10 seconds (reserve remaining corn for another use). Transfer corn mixture to heavy medium nonstick saucepan. Add 1/2 cup corn liquid, onion, bell pepper and lime peel. Cover and cook over very low heat until thick and firm, stirring often, 12 minutes. Mix in rice, cilantro, jalapeño, salt and cumin. Drop 1/4 of mixture onto each of 4 pieces of foil; press pieces into 3/4-inch-thick patties. Let stand until completely cool.

Prepare barbecue (medium heat). Spray both sides of burgers with nonstick spray; grill until crisp, about 5 minutes per side. Grill tortillas until pliable, about 30 seconds per side. Transfer tortillas to plates. On each tortilla place 1 burger, 1/4 of sour cream and 1/4 of salsa. Fold tortillas over to enclose.

Makes 4 Servings

I know it doesn’t get the press of Mother’s Day, but Father’s Day is coming up in a few weeks. So, what do you do for Dad? Is it breakfast in bed? Or barbecue in the afternoon? Surely, you have to have dessert, right? But what if Dad is a vegetarian? No eggs and bacon. No burgers on the grill. What to do… what to do… Not to worry. You can still make Dad a super Father’s Day meal without any meat. Over the next couple of weeks I’ll share with you my favorites for Dad.

So, let’s say you decided to start Dad’s day off with breakfast in bed. There’s very little in the way of food that my husband likes more than a nice, big, cheesy omelette. This one has a bit of a kick to it to make for a great start to a special day.

Avocado, Cheddar Cheese Omelette

8 Eggs – large
1/4 cup Milk. Cooking oil as needed
1 Avocado – sliced
1/4 cup Yellow bell pepper – small diced
1/4 cup Red and green bell pepper – small diced
1 Jalapeno pepper – seeded – finely diced
1/4 cup Onion – finely diced
1 T. Fresh cilantro – minced
2 tsp. Fresh parsley – chopped
Salt to season
Fresh ground black pepper to season
1 1/4 cup Cheddar cheese – shredded

Saute peppers and onions in a small amount of oil. Add cilantro and parsley, season with salt and pepper. Cook until tender. Reserve. Combine eggs and milk. Mix well and reserve.

Heat a non-stick omelette or egg pan over medium heat. Portion beaten egg into pan. Stir in sautéed pepper and onion. Cook until set. Flip omelette and cook until done. Add sliced avocado and top with cheese. Fold omelette and turn out onto warm serving plates.

Top with additional cheese and garnish with fresh cilantro sprigs. Repeat process to create 4 servings.