My Vegetarian Recipe of the Day

Here is one of my vegetarian recipes for Lentil Soup. Let me know what you think of it.

Steps To Make Vegetarian Lentil Soup

1. Take a breakfast-cupful of green lentils and put them to soak in cold water overnight.
2. In the morning throw away any floating on the top.
3. Drain the lentils and put them in a stew-pan or saucepan with some vegetarian stock or water.
4. Add two onions, two carrots, a turnip, a bunch of parsley, a small teaspoonful of savory herbs and a small head of celery. If you have no celery add half a teaspoonful of bruised celery seed. (You can also add a crust of stale bread.)
5. Boil all the ingredients together and occasionally a dark film will rise to the surface. This must be skimmed off.
6. The soup must boil for about four hours, or until the lentils are thoroughly soft.
7. Then strain the soup through a wire sieve, and rub all of the contents through the wire sieve with the soup. (This can take a while!)
8. After all of it has been rubbed through the sieve the soup must be boiled, and if made from green lentils it can be colored green with some spinach extract–(vegetable
   coloring, sold in bottles).

Some Additional Notes
If made from red lentils, the soup can be colored with a few drops of Parisian essence (burnt sugar). In warming up this soup, after the lentils have been rubbed through a sieve, it should be borne in mind that the lentil powder has a tendency to settle, and consequently the saucepan must be constantly stirred to prevent it burning. In serving the soup at table, the contents of the soup-tureen should be stirred with the soup-ladle before each helping.

If you want to make a thicker soup then take the soup described above and do the following:

1. Slice four large onions, and fry them brown in a pan that has a little
   butter.
2. Boil the onions in some of the broth of the soup until they are tender.
3. Rub the onions through a wire sieve and add them to the lentil soup (above).

This makes for a thicker Lentil soup and/or oniony soup (I like onions so I prefer it this way).

I’m a big egg roll fan.  And I think they’re great for parties.  Generally, you can make them ahead of time, freeze them and reheat them.  They’re not too messy.  They’re filling.  What’s not to love?  This recipe from Vegetarian Times is even baked, so they’re not too horrible for your diet. 

Baked Mini Egg Rolls & Hot Mustard Sauce

• 1 T. soy sauce
• 1 t. rice vinegar
• 1 t. cornstarch, plus some extra for dusting baking sheets
• 1 cup shredded cabbage
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 T. minced fresh ginger
• 1/4 cup sliced water chestnuts, drained and chopped
• 1 cup frozen, shelled edamame, thawed
• 2 T. finely chopped roasted peanuts
• 1/2 t. dark sesame oil
• 26 won ton skins
• 1 large egg, slightly beaten

Whisk soy sauce, vinegar, and 1 t. cornstarch in bowl to blend;  set aside.

Warm large nonstick skillet over med-high heat;  coat with cooking spray.  Add cabbage and carrots;  cook, stirring, until cabbage is softened, 3-4 minutes.  Add ingredients down to dark sesame oil, stirring just until heated, about 1 minute.  Add cornstarch mixture;  cook, stirring until thickened, about 1-2 minutes.  Transfer to plate;  cover, adn chill about 20 minutes to cool.

Place several won ton skins on work surface, with a corner of each facing you (in diamond shape).  Brush top corner of each with egg.  Put 1 T. filling in center of each;  fold bottom corner, then both side corners over filling, and roll up.  Place egg rolls on baking sheet dusted with cornstarch and cover loosely with plastic as you go.

Preheat oven to 425 F.  Put second baking sheet in oven for 2 minutes.  Remove, coat with cooking spray then quickly put egg rolls on it.  Spray rolls and return to hot oven.

Bake 10 minutes, flip rolls and bake 10 minutes more, or until golden brown.  Serve with mustard sauce (below).

Hot Mustard Sauce

• 2 T. powdered yellow mustard
• 1 T. water
• 1 t. honey or rice syrup
• 1 t. rice vinegar

 Whisk all ingredients in bowl to blend.  Transfer to dipping bowls.

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 is a fun little fruit salad, perfect for the 4th of July.

Layered Fruit Flag Salad
16 oz. pineapple tidbits in juice
2 med. bananas sliced
6 cups fresh strawberries
2 cups vanilla yogurt
1 1/2 c. frozen whipped topping or whipped cream
3 T. powdered sugar (optional)
4 c. cubed cantaloupe, well drained
3 c. blueberries

Drain pineapple, reserving juice in small bowl. Pat pineapple dry with paper towels to remove any excess liquid. Toss banana slices in pineapple liquid; drain well. Reserve 18 to 20 strawberries for flag stripes; cut remaining strawberries into quarters.

In medium bowl, mix yogurt, whipped cream and powdered sugar until smooth.

In ungreased 13×9 glass baking dish, layer cantaloupe and quartered strawberries. Reserve 50 blueberries for flag stars. Layer remaining blueberries over strawberries. Top with bananas and pineapple. Press fruit lightly to make a smooth top. Spread yogurt mixture evenly over fruit. If desired, at this point, salad can be covered and refrigerated up to 4 hours.

Up to 1 hour before serving, complete the salad. Sprinkle reserved blueberries in corner to resemble stars on flag. Cut reserved strawberries into quarters. Arrange strawberries in rows to resemble stripes of flag.

(Note: I don’t worry about layering the fruit. I just dump it all in the bowl. It’s going to be covered with the topping, anyway, so no one can really see any effort you put into layering. Also, it works without adding the yogurt to the whipped cream, but it’s a little harder to spread.)

Low carb and vegetarian? That’s impossible, right? Well, if you’re talking strictly Atkins, or something along those lines, it would be pretty difficult, but my husband and I have had some degree of success with the South Beach Diet. Actually, the only reason we haven’t been more successful is because at some point we’ve returned to eating sugar and other junk.

Generally, the idea of unrefined carbs, including whole grains, beans, vegetables and, even, some fruits is entirely compatible with a vegetarian diet. In fact, isn’t that really how we should all be eating?

So, since my husband and I are returning to “The Beach”, I thought that I’d spend some time posting what we eat when we’re eating a healthy carb lifestyle. Feel free to adapt these meals, as you see fit.

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?)

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.

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.

The first Sunday in February is “the Big Game”. Traditionally, snacks are meat-laden and unhealthy, but there’s no reason it needs to be that way. Vegetarians can enjoy great snacks (even meat-eaters will like these snacks). So, over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to post my recommendations for the top ten vegetarian Super Bowl snacks.

This blog is pretty self-explanatory. Visit often for a new vegetarian recipe every day. Recipes will be vegetarian (no meat, fish, etc.) but not necessarily vegan. Some recipes will include cheese and eggs. If possible (and if I remember) I’ll try to remember to include vegan substitutions. If you know of a substitution that I don’t mention, feel free to leave it in the comment section. Also, feel free to leave feedback about what you like or didn’t like about a given recipe and any changes that you’ve attempted. I hope you enjoy the recipes. May you all live healthy, delicious lives.