My Vegetarian Recipe of the Day

Has the New Year inspired New Year’s resolutions? For many people it has. And how we relate to food is always a popular subject of resolutions. So, for the next couple of weeks I will be posting Low Fat and Vegan recipes, in case you’ve decided to avoid animal products altogether— or in case you’ve decided, once and for all, to get rid of those last few pounds.

These recipes come from The McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook, which is a great resource for fat free or very low fat vegan recipes. The recipes are all ones that can be made in fifteen minutes or less.

Nutty French Toast

1/4 cup raw cashews
1 cup water
2 T. chopped dates
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. cinnamon
6 slices whole wheat bread

Place the cashews in a blender (or food processor) with 1/2 cup of the water. Process until fairly smooth, then add the remaining 1/2 cup water and the dates, vanilla and cinnamon. Process until very smooth. Pour into a bowl. Dip the bread slices into the mixture, coatingboth sides well. Make sure your griddle is hot before you cook the first slice. Cook on the nonstick griddle for about 2 minutes on each side, turning once until browned on both sides. Serve with maple syrup, applesauce or fruit jam.

Veggie Benedicts

2 nonfat English muffins or crumpets, split in half
4 thick slices tomato
1 small avocado
1 c. Hollandaise Sauce (recipe below)

Place the muffins in a toaster or toaster oven and toast until lightly browned. Place a tomato slice on each muffin and then the avocado slices. Pour 1/4 of the sauce over each muffin and serve at once.

Hollandaise Sauce

1/4 c. raw cashews
1 cup water
2 T. lemon juice
1 t. nutritional yeast powder
1/2 t. onion powder
1/8 t. garlic powder
1/8 t. salt
1/16 t. turmeric
pinch of paprika
1 T. cornstarch mixed with 2 T. cold water
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Placethe cashews and 1/2 cup of the water in a blender. Process briefly, then gradually add the remaining water. Process until the mixture is very smooth. Pour into a saucepan. Add the lemon juice, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, turmeric and paprika. Mix well. Add the cornstarch mixture and mix well. Bring slowly to a boil, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add pepper.

If you check in here regularly, recently you may have noticed the site was down. Unfortunately, there was a snafu in renewing our website, and we were out of town, so we didn’t notice for a few days. Anyway, we’re back now and on to Super Bowl snacks. I’ll get back to the healthy recipes during the next space between holidays.

This recipe comes from a great cookbook: The Golden Door Cookbook. The Golden Door Cookbook is based on foods served at the Golden Door Spa in southern California. The recipes are interesting and unique and delicious. BUT they tend to be more gourmet. By that I mean that they usually have extensive ingredient lists and aren’t always the simplest recipes to make. This recipe is an exception to that. While it does have a fairly long ingredient list, it is pretty simple to assemble. If you like, the dip could be prepared alone and served with potato chips or some other “dipper”.

Potato Skins with Ricotta-Sundried Tomato Dip

Dip

2 T. sliced, soaked dry-packed sundried tomatoes (these are the sundried tomatoes that come in a bag, rather than packed in oil— see note on soaking at bottom of recipe*)
1 T. reserved tomato soaking water
3/4 cup low-fat ricotta cheese
1 T. minced shallots
1 T. balsamic vinegar
1 t. dried basil
1/4 t. freshly ground pepper

In a food processor, combine the tomatoes, reserved soaking water, ricotta, shallots, vinegar, basil and pepper and process until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Let come to room temperature before serving.

*To rehydrate dry-packed sundried tomatoes, soak them in warm water to cover for 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and slice. Be sure to reserve 1 T. of the soaking water for the recipe.

Potato Skins

About 20 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
1 t. chili powder
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. paprika
1/2 t. celery salt
4 russet potatoes, scrubbed (a little over 2 1/2 lbs.)

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Spread the rosemary sprigs on a rimmed baking sheet.

In a small bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients, except the potatoes. Set aside.

Using a small, sharp knife, slice off a 1/4 inch thick slice from all four sides of each potato. (Save the peeled potatoes for another use.) Blot the cut sides of the potato skins dry with paper towels and arrange them, skin sides down, on the rosemary. Sprinkle the cut sides evenly with the spice mixture. Spray with vegetable oil spray, or brush with olive oil.

Bake for about 20 minutes, remove from the oven, and spray with the vegetable oil spray again (or brush again with olive oil). Return to the oven and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are golden brown and beginning to puff. Serve with the dip.

Do you need more than snacks to satisfy your hunger on Super Bowl Sunday? These sandwiches are plenty hardy. (Last year I posted a recipe for eggplant heros that would also be good.) This recipe is super easy, as it’s really more assembling than cooking.

Chicken Parmesan Hero Sandwich

2 jars marinara sauce
2 packages prepared soy chicken breaded patties (approx. 8 patties)
4 (12-inch-long) loaves Italian bread, halved lengthwise
1 lb mozzarella, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Microwave or heat soy chicken patties according to directions on the box. Cut in half.

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 marinara on each top and bottom. Divide soy chicken patties between bottom halves. Top each (open-faced) sandwich with 1/4 cup marinara 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.

Tired of the same old french onion dip? This dip from the Food Network will add a little heat to your party.

Spicy Sour Cream Dip

1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 chipotle chile in adobo, chopped
1 teaspoon abobo sauce
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients. Adjust the seasoning, to taste. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve. Serve with tortilla chips or veggies.

I’m not waiting for the Super Bowl to make this chili. I’m planning to make it for dinner this week. Chocolate in chili? Sound absurd? Not at all. It gives the chili a nice depth that vegetarian chili can sometimes lack. I’ve never used semi-sweet chocolate pieces, opting instead for cocoa. If you prefer using cocoa, you can always just add a little extra oil.

This recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates. My first vegetarian cookbook was Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant, and I’ve bought several other Moosewood cookbooks since then. I highly recommend any of them. I like that they’re a bit chatty about the recipes. I also like that this particular cookbook arranges things by event. So, if you need a recipe for a birthday breakfast in bed, you can flip to that section and have a whole menu laid out for you.

Anyway, enough about the cookbook and on to the recipe.

Black Bean and Chocolate Chili

2 T. vegetable oil
1 1/2 c. chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
1 small fresh chile, minced
1 T. ground cumin
2 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves (I’m leaving those out, not being a huge clove fan)
1 t. ground coriander
1/2 t. ground black pepper
1/2 t. salt (I’ll probably use more like 1 t.)
1 1/2 c. chopped bell peppers
3 c. cooked or canned black beans (2- 14.5 oz. cans, rinsed and drained)
2 c. undrained crushed canned tomatoes (one 14.5 oz. can)
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1 T. soy sauce
1 1/2 oz semi-sweet chocolate, broken into small pieces (or you could use about a 1/4 c. chocolate chips)
chopped scallions

In a saucepan, warm the oil on medium heat. Add the onions ad garlic and saute until the onions become translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the celery and chile, cover, and cook for about 5 minutes.

Reduce the heat and stir in the spices and bell peppers. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, until the bell peppers begin to soften. Stir occasionally to keep the spices from burning. If needed, add a little juice from the canned tomatoes.

Add the black beans, tomatoes, lemon juice and soy sauce. Bring the chili to a simmer, cover, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the chocolate. When it is melted, adjust the salt, black pepper and lemon juice to taste.

Garnish with chopped scallions.

If you’re rooting for Da Bears next weekend, then there’s no better dish for you to serve than a Chicago-style Pizza. And, since it’s pizza, you can put whatever toppings on it that you like. If you want to try something a bit different than this recipe, you can find a great recipe for a stuffed Chicago-style pizza on fellow-blogger Andrea’s site.

For just the basics, use this recipe and add whatever toppings you find appealing.

Chicago-style Pizza

1 (.25 ounce) envelope rapid rise yeast
2 cups lukewarm water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup cornmeal
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 pound sliced mozzarella cheese

1 can pizza sauce (or make your own)

Topping suggestions: Peppers, onions, pineapple, olives, spinach, zucchini, soy meat substitute

3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons olive oil

Place the water in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over the water, and let stand for 5 minutes to dissolve. Pour in the vegetable oil, olive oil, cornmeal and 3 cups of the flour. Mix with the beater for 10 minutes. Add the remaining flour, and switch from the beater to the dough hook. Mix for about 5 minutes. This can be done by hand, but the dough is very rich and moist. Pour the dough out onto a floured surface, and cover with a large bowl. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and let rise again. This time won’t take as long.

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).

Grease two 9 or 10 inch round cake pans. Divide the dough evenly between the two pans. Press the dough out so that it goes all the way up the sides of the pans. Lay the slices of mozzarella cheese onto the crusts like tile. Next put the pizza sauce over the mozzarella. This is the time to add your toppings. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top, and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top is golden and gooey, and the crust a light golden brown.

Yes, I know, it’s another chili recipe. But can you really ever have too many chili recipes? And this one is Chili Blanco, or a white chili, and for some reason it’s much harder to find a vegetarian recipe for that kind of chili. And you can make this ahead and turn it into excellent nachos for you Super Bowl munching pleasure. Just put it on some tortilla chips with some diced tomatoes, cilantro, jalapenos and melted cheese and voila!— the perfect snack.

Chili Blanco

1 pound small navy beans, rinsed and drained
8 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large yellow onions, coarsely chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups Imagine Not Chicken broth (or some other kind of vegetable broth or stock)
1 large bay leaf
1 4 oz. can green chilis, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup each: chopped green bell pepper, celery and julienne carrots
1 teaspoon each: cumin (or more, to taste) and fresh ground black pepper
1 cup grated jack cheese
1/2 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped

2 cups baked tortilla chips, coarsely crushed (you can leave this out if you’re making the chili for nachos)
5 green onions, sliced (white and green parts)
sour cream, optional

Place the beans in a large pot and cover with the 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let set, covered for 1 hour. Drain. Alternately, you can soak the beans overnight.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot, sauté the onions until golden. Add the garlic and sauté 1-2 minutes, until garlic is translucent, but not browned.

Combine the beans, onions, broth, and bay leaf in a 6 quart pot. Bring to a low simmer, cover and cook until tender. Stir in green chilies and mash with a potato masher OR cool the mixture and puree it briefly in a blender or food processor. You want it to remain chunky, so don’t puree it too much. Season to taste with salt. When the beans are tender, sauté the bell pepper, celery, carrots, cumin and black pepper until just cooked. Stir into the beans after mashing. Add cheese and cilantro, stirring to blend. Serve garnished with green onions, chips and sour cream, if desired.

Only have a few minutes to prepare something sweet for your Super Bowl party? This recipe from Food Network’s Paula Deen just takes five minutes and is delicious.

Peanut Butter Brownie Cupcakes

Peanut Butter Brownie Cupcakes Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
Show: Paula’s Home Cooking
Episode: Picnic in the Park

1 (18 1/2-ounce) package chewy fudge brownie mix (recommended: Duncan Hines)
1 (12-ounce) package peanut butter chips or 24 miniature peanut butter cups

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 regular muffin cups with paper cupcake liners.

Prepare the brownie mix according to package directions for cake-like brownies. Fill the cups half full with brownie batter. Place about 1 tablespoon peanut butter chips in the center of the batter, or press 1 peanut butter cup into the batter in each muffin cup until the batter meets the top edge of the peanut butter cup.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the cupcakes are set. When they can be handled safely, remove them from the muffin tins and let cool completely on wire racks. Store in an airtight container.

** If you have a few extra minutes, you could always make your own brownies, rather than using a mix.