Meatless Monday

I have been trying to plan ahead our weekly menu. To help I have deemed Monday as Meatless Monday. Last week I made falafel with this soft wrap bread my sister showed me and dinner was truly delicious and healthy.

For the falafel recipe, I used a recipe found on Allrecipes.com and slightly adapted it to my tastes and needs.

Jeanie's Falafel

1 (19 oz) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup red pepper, chopped (added because I believe in vegetables and had it on hand)

1 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

1 tsp dried parsley

2 tsp ground cumin

1/8 tsp ground turmeric (didn't include because I don't have this fancy spice)

1/2 tsp baking powder (forgot this)

1 cup fine dry bread crumbs

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 quart vegetable oil for frying (I just sprayed mine with Pam and essentially grilled them)

My Directions: Put ingredients (except for oil and bread crumbs) in food processor and grind together. Shape mixture into small patties. Spray with Pam and cook over medium heat.

For the bread, I used this Soft Wrap Bread recipe which my sister introduced to me. It is delicious with soups and perfect for pita bread. Don't you love the blogging world... this came to me from my sister who found it off of "Your Home Based Mom" and the recipe is from "My Kitchen Cafe." Not to mention that when I searched to find the recipe my sister used, several variations came up, the blogging world too has it's trends. Anyway, my sister showed me a different (which we thought was easier) way to make these, so on to the recipe...

Soft Wrap Bread

1 tsp instant yeast dissolved in 1/4 cup water

3 cups flour

1 1/2 cups boiling water

1/2 cup potato pearls or flakes

1 1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Put the potato pearls and 1 cup flour in the kitchen aid mixer. add boiling water and combine until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for about 30 minutes until it has cooled a little.

Dissolve 1 tsp yeast into 1/4 cup water until the yeast has been activated.

Whisk 1 1/4 tsp salt into 2 cups flour. Add the vegetable oil to the yeast mixture and add the liquid to the potato mixture in the mixer. Using a dough hook, turn on the mixer and gradually add the flour until the mixture until a soft dough has formed. If the dough is sticky, add a little more flour. Remove mixture and place in a greased bowl and let rise for about 2 hours.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces (each about the size of a handball, around 3 ounces), cover, and let rest for 15 to 30 minutes. Roll each piece into a 7-to 8-inch circle, and dry-fry them (fry without oil) on a griddle or frying pan over medium heat for about 2 minutes per side, until they are puffed and flecked with brown spots. Adjust the heat if they seem to be cooking either too quickly or too slowly. Cooking too quickly means they may be raw in the center, while too slowly will dry them out. Transfer the cooked breads to a wire rack, stacking them to keep them soft. Serve immediately, or cool slightly before storing in a plastic bag.

Creamy Vegetable Soup

I made a vegetable soup similar to the Tomato Basil Parmesan soup and it was quite delicious.

Creamy Vegetable Soup

4 carrots

4-6 stalks celery

1 medium onion

1/2 red pepper

1-2 stalks of broccoli

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp flour

oregano, basil

1 (16 oz) can chicken broth

1/3 c half and half, warmed

1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes (my can had basil and garlic added)

1/4 c Parmesan cheese

1/4 c cheddar cheese

1/2 c spinach

Dice all vegetables. Place carrots and celery in pot with butter, let cook until almost completely done. Add the rest of the vegetables and let cook. Once cooked add the flour, basil and oregano, until all flour is mixed in. Add the chicken broth and let warm, then add the diced tomatoes and the half and half. Add cheeses until melted. Using an immersion blender, blend soup but do not puree. Add spinach before serving.

My quantities are not exact as I did not measure before, but should be close enough to work. At least this is the recipe I will follow to make the soup again. We served with grilled cheese sandwiches, but warm bread would be just as good.

Vegetarian Meals...

ISBN for any who are interested: 9781588165169

We have now tried five recipes from this cookbook and have enjoyed them all (although, some we have enjoyed more than others and we have made some adjustments). Last night for dinner I made the phyllo pizza and it was delicious. I did use mozzarella cheese instead of goat cheese, added some red peppers and now have a note in the book to cook it for 10 minutes not the 12-15 it suggested.

One of my favorite cookbooks...

is a vegetarian cookbook. They really are delicious recipes, like the one below:

Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew

3 medium sweet potatoes
1 Tbsp oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

2 cans garbanzo beans (drain and rinse)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can vegetable broth

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup loosely packed chopped cilantro


Cut sweet potatoes into 1/2" cubes and microwave for 8 1/2 minutes. Meanwhile, put oil in stock pot and warm on medium heat. Add oil, garlic, cumin, cinnamon and salt.

Add garbanzo beans and tomatoes and veg broth. Mix and then add peanut butter. Once all mixed and sweet potatoes are done, add and stir in with cilantro.

*My sweet potatoes were not done from microwaving so I just cooked them longer in the stew- which I think next time (because there will be a next time because it is so delicious) I would try to cook the sweet potatoes completely in the stew.

Chickpea Falafel Burgers

Chickpea Falafel Burgers


1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 green onions, chopped
3/4 cup diced fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup diced green pepper (I added this)

3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (15.5 ounce) can garbanzo beans, with liquid

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 -3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
2 egg whites

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, or as needed to cook the falafel in

1. Heat oil and add green onions, mushrooms and green peppers. Cook until tender.
2. Blend garlic and garbanzo beans. I kept about half of the liquid in.
3. Mix all ingredients together except for the 2 tbsp veg oil.
4. Roll into either hamburger-sized balls or falafel-sized balls

* I know the recipe is for hamburgers, but I made into smaller balls and we ate them in pitas, with some lettuce, cheese, tzatziki sauce, veggies (cucumbers a must!)... the works.
* I did not have curry powder or fresh cilantro, instead I used some oregano, parsley, salt and cumin.

Both picture and recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/

Another veggie delight... sandwich style

My sandwich at lunch today consisted of mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers, bean sprouts, red onions and a slice of cheddar cheese sandwiched together by a fluffy roll with pesto cream cheese. Seriously delicious... the pesto cream cheese was genius.

There is no picture as I am eating this at my desk at work....

Tortellini Soup

I think I may have found a perfect dish for St. Patrick's Day...

Tortellini Soup

3 cans chicken broth

1 can cream of chicken

4-6 cups water

1 medium zucchini

1/2 yellow onion

broccoli

1/2 bag of spinach

1 20 oz pckg of tortellini

basil

oregano

s & p

Heat chicken broth, cream of chicken and water and bring to a boil. Add spices, zucchini, onion and broccoli. Let cook until almost tender. Add tortellini and cook for about 5-7 minutes or until done. Add spinach just before tortellini is cooked.

Ratatouille

I never imagined a vegetarian dish could be so delish. This recipe is really good and healthy! I found this off my friend Jessica's blog and figured it was probably tasty if she made it. She found the recipe off the Smitten Kitchen's site. I served my dish over couscous and a drop of goat cheese.

The only alteration I made was I put a little bit of a can of diced tomatoes on top of the tomato puree and added a little sugar to get rid of the acidity.

Za Za Za Zucchini

This recipe is sure to jazz up your zucchini, it is fabulous. I will definitely make this again!

Italian Zucchini Saute

1/2 c olive oil

1 small white onion, sliced into thin wedges

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with juice

2 zucchinis, sliced

1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning

1 tbsp salt

1 tsp sugar

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion and cook until tender. Mix in tomatoes with juice and zucchini. Season with Italian seasoning and salt. Cook and stir until zucchini is tender. Mix in sugar and adjust seasonings to taste.

*Allrecipes.com.... but I changed a few things: First, I am a yellow onion girl, it is my onion of choice. Second, I thought a tbsp of salt was ridiculous. My husband wrote the recipe down for me and I thought maybe he switched the salt and sugar and I started to react that way. By the time he assured me he wrote it correctly, the deed was done... and it was a little sweeter than necessary. But I still wouldn't put that much salt in. I also put a dash of cumin in, just for fun.