Cabbage and Veggie Sausage Skillet

Between Ian and I, most of the month of January was spent with one or both of us pretty sick. So between that, work, and wedding planning, I haven’t had a lot of bandwidth to meal plan for new recipes. In that vein, I found myself this past week without anything to eat for dinner. I had bought a cabbage to make a second batch of cabbage rolls, but never found the time to do it. I also had a spare pack of veggie sausage in the fridge that I had bought on our December vacation (this stuff lasts forever). Armed with those two ingredients, I took to the internet searching for a quick and easy recipe that wouldn’t require a trip to the store and could be ready by dinnertime. I didn’t look for vegetarian recipes, since I figured I could just swap regular sausage for the Apple Fennel Field Roast I had.

Googling “cabbage sausage recipe” produced a number of fairly similar recipes for something called a “sausage cabbage skillet”. I chose this one because it had a lot of positive reviews. The recipe calls for instant brown rice, which I don’t have and don’t eat. I used basmati white rice instead. I tried to estimate the ratio of instant brown to regular basmati, but I think I got the ratio wrong because the resulting dish had way more rice than I think was intended. I used about 1 1/4 cup dry. If I made this again, I’d use just 1 cup dry. Other than that, this recipe was indeed tasty, simple, and fast. It wasn’t anything to write home about, but if you find yourself with these ingredients looking for a quick dinner, try it! I was happy to eat the leftovers for several days after. I do think if I made it again I might use 3/4 a cabbage instead of 1/2, since it seemed a little light on cabbage to me. I might also add some sauteed garlic along with the onions to up the flavor a bit. All in all, not a bad weeknight meal.

https://www.wellplated.com/cabbage-and-sausage-skillet

Spicy Quinoa Salad With Broccoli, Cilantro and Lime

This recipe for a quinoa lentil salad with broccoli, avocado, cilantro, and egg came out of one of those “What do I have in the refrigerator that needs to be used up,” type moments. To my eye, it seemed intriguing, if a bit of a strange mixture of things. But I really wanted to use up the cilantro and broccoli before they went bad and, since I’m trying to increase my protein intake, I liked that the recipe had a lot of protein sources (lentils, quinoa, egg).

This recipe was pretty easy to put together, making it a good weeknight option. I used canned lentils (damn you GOS!) and increased the amount called for to up the protein and use up both cans I had opened. I found I liked it best heated up. While the whole thing got finished, I wasn’t exactly excited to eat it every day for a week. Consistent with my original instinct, the mixture was indeed a bit odd. That said, Ian actually really liked it when I gave it to him one night. Mexican is Ian’s usual go-to for comfort food, which means he craves it way more often than I do and is also way less picky about it. So it’s not a surprise that this combo of flavors spoke to him more than it spoke to me. I don’t think I’d make this again, unless Ian requested it.

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016598-spicy-quinoa-salad-with-broccoli-cilantro-and-lime

Dragon Noodle Salad

Ian and I were doing yard work with Ian over Thanksgiving break, when I was surprised to find a perfectly good cucumber in my neglected summer garden plot. I also had a bunch of lettuce in the fridge from last week’s batch of vegan Caesar salad, which I didn’t finish because of all the Thanksgiving leftovers that took over my meals for several days. It seemed like the perfect time to try the Dragon Noodle Salad recipe from Isa Does It. The recipe is a peanut sauce-based rice noodle salad with sliced veggies and lettuce.

The recipe came together super fast. It’s definitely a great weeknight dinner option. Since the original recipe doesn’t include any protein, I added my favorite oven “fried” tofu, which went really well in the salad. I also added bell pepper, since I had it in the fridge. And I swapped the agave in the sauce for coconut sugar to reduce my fructose intake. I also didn’t have sriracha so I used chili oil instead. I had to add some extra water to the sauce since I had removed several of the liquid ingredients. Once I added the extra water though, the sauce was the right texture and very tasty!

I enjoyed this super easy recipe and would definitely make it again. It’s fresh, flexible, and feels like a bit of a treat while also being pretty healthy.

https://www.foodrepublic.com/recipes/spicy-vegan-dragon-noodle-salad-recipe/

Oven “Fried” Tofu

Whenever I’m craving the texture of restaurant fried tofu, but want a healthier and/or easier option, I make a version in the oven that I’ve affectionately dubbed oven “fried” tofu. The beauty of this recipe is that not only is it low fat, it’s also super easy.

Preheat the oven to 375F

Cut a block (or two) of tofu into 1/3 inch thick matchsticks, squares, or triangles

Spread 1 tsp – 1 tbsp of neutral oil onto a cookie sheet

Spread the tofu out on the cookie sheet so that no piece is touching another. Roll each piece so that each side touches the oily pan

Cook in the oven for 30-45 minutes, flipping after about 25 minutes. Make sure to use a metal spatula to flip and remove the tofu so that you don’t leave the crispy part on the sheet.

Enjoy!

Keftaji (Tunisian Sauteed Vegetables)

Amazingly, in November, I found one GIANT zucchini in my abandoned summer garden. I decided to use it to make this recipe for simple sauteed vegetables in a spiced tomato sauce with fried eggs on page 304 of Olive Trees and Honey. The recipe is really easy. You just boil the potatoes, saute each of the sliced vegetables ( zucchini, onion, and pepper) separately, make the sauce, and then top each bowl with a fried egg. Unfortunately, while the recipe gets major points for ease, I just didn’t like it that much. I had to force myself to eat it and the potatoes were so bland (maybe they were not great potatoes?) that I ended up just eating the other veggies. Other than the bland potatoes, this wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. The tomato sauce had an interesting flavor, but I found myself tiring of it really quickly. I wouldn’t make this again. However, I did look at some alternative recipes online, which instructed you to saute the potatoes instead of boiling them. I think that would have improved the dish.

Healthy(er) Vegetarian Caesar Dressing

I was craving this vegan quinoa Caesar salad recipe from Isa Does It. However, the dressing in that recipe has a cashew base, and I’m still not eating cashews (curse you GOS!). I successfully made a version of the recipe once before with a mayonnaise based vegetarian dressing that was a huge hit for a potluck. But I’m trying to make healthy recipes, so I decided I’d look for a no mayo recipe to try. I landed on this recipe for vegetarian Caesar dressing, which has a Greek yogurt base in place of the mayo. I picked it because I was intrigued by the yogurt base and because it uses capers to mimic the anchovy flavor, something I love in the original Isa Does It recipe.

Alas, this dressing was okay, but not great. It was too soupy and not all that flavorful. Maybe I’ll play around with a yogurt mayo combo and make my own recipe leaning on the flavor combinations of the Isa Does It recipe. Onward and upwards toward the perfect semi-healthy low-GOS vegetarian Caesar dressing recipe!

https://www.heynutritionlady.com/vegetarian-caesar-dressing/

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is my semi-original recipe for semi-healthy gluten free cookies. I wanted to make cookies one day and had no flour or sugar in the house. I found this recipe for flourless peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. The first batch was really good. I’ve since done some tweaking to make the perfect, semi-healthy gluten free peanut butter chocolate chip cookie. These cookies have no added cane sugar (except what is in the chocolate chips), no added fat (just peanut butter fat), and no gluten. They’re super easy to make and a big hit at potlucks and parties. This recipe makes about 18 cookies.

• 1 cup gluten free rolled oats
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2/3 cup packed coconut sugar
• 1 cup natural creamy peanut butter
• 2/3 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

1. Oil a baking sheet or line with parchment paper
2. In a small mixing bowl, mix together the oats and baking soda
3. In a separate bowl combine the coconut sugar, peanut butter, vanilla extract, and eggs
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and gently stir to combine
5. Preheat the oven to 350 F
6. Fold in the chocolate chips
7. Make the cookies by scooping out about 1 1/2 tbsp per cookie and gently rolling in your palms
8. Once you’ve placed the cookie dough on the baking sheet, press each ball gently with a fork
9. Cook for 8-10 minutes

Kale and Beet Salad with Tahini Dressing

I threw this recipe together based on a few different things I saw online. It was really delicious and super easy:

2 large beets or 4 medium

Half a large bunch of kale or 1 small bunch

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium red union, quartered and sliced as thinly as possible.

1/3 cup roughly chopped walnuts

Dressing:

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup tahini

juice from 1 medium lemon

salt to taste (1/2 – 1 tsp sea salt)

pepper to taste

Parmesan or other cheese (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 450
2. Cut beats into quarters, put on baking sheet
3. Roast beets until soft (45 min – 1 hr)
4. While beets are roasting, prep the kale:
5. Tear kale into bit size pieces
6. Add olive oil and a couple pinches of salt to kale, massage for a couple minutes, set aside.
7. Blend together all of the dressing ingredients.
8. If you haven’t already, chop the walnuts.
9. When the beets come out of the oven let them cool, then chop into 1/2 inch cubes
10. Mix beets, kale, onions, and dressing together. Let sit for at least an hour before eating (better if it sits for a day or so). Make sure to stir a couple times while it’s sitting, so everything gets coated in the dressing, which will drop to the bottom.
11. Add the walnuts right before eating.
12. If you like, shave some Parmesan or other cheese on top before serving (optional).

Vegetarian Moussaka

I developed this recipe ad hok after getting frustrated with the vegetarian moussaka recipes I was finding online. I used some elements of a vegetarian recipe and some elements of a traditional greek recipe, swapping beef for lentils. It came out really well. Both Ian and I loved it. It wasn’t super creamy or cheesy like traditional moussaka, which I was happy with, since I’ve found other Moussaka dishes to be too creamy/cheesy. Here’s the recipe (with a few tweaks to account for things I want to change next time).

2 russet potatoes, peeled and sliced in thin rounds

1 red onion, chopped

1 tbsp olive olive1

1 can lentils

1 tomato, chopped

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 eggplant thinly sliced lengthwise (or in thin rounds)

2 zucchini

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

1/4 cup half and half or unsweetened unflavored vegan creamer

1 tbsp butter, softened

1 tsp salt

Pepper to taste

2 eggs

1/4 cup hard cheese (I used parmesan)

1. Preheat oven to 400 F
2. Brush oil onto potato slices and sprinkle with paprika (1/2 tsp?) and sea salt (1/2 tsp)?, lay out on cookie sheet
3. Bake potatoes for 30 min
4. While potatoes are cooking, make the lentil mixture. Start by heating oil in a pan on medium heat
5. Once oil is heated, add onions, cook for 3 minutes or until onions are starting to get translucent
6. Add lentils and chopped tomatoes with 1 tsp paprika and 1 tsp salt, cook until tomatoes are breaking down. Set aside.
7. Once this is done, mix 2 tsp oil with 1 tbsp paprika, chopped parsley, 1 tsp seat salt, and pepper to taste
8. Mix the eggplant with half of the oil mixture
9. By now your potatoes should be done. Transfer the potatoes to a 3 inch thick baking dish, creating an even layer in the bottom of the dish.
10. Next layer half of the eggplant in a single layer over the potatoes.
11. Put the baking dish with the potatoes and eggplant in the oven for 15 minutes
12. While the veggies are baking, slice the zucchini thinly lengthwise
13. Mix the zucchini with the remaining half of the oil mixture (do not combine with the remaining eggplant
14. Once the veggies are done baking, take them out and turn the oven up to 450 F
15. Now layer in the zucchini, followed by the lentil mixture, and a top layer of the remaining eggplant
16. Whisk the half and half, eggs, and butter. Add the 1 tsp of salt and pepper to taste.
17. Pour the bechemel over the baking dish.
18. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes.
19. After 30 minutes, take out and cover with the cheese. Put back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

Fennel Frond Scramble with Kale

I pulled up a huge overgrown fennel plant last week. I got only a small amount of fennel bulb from it, but a ton of fronds. I went to the internet to figure out what to do with them. I created this super simple recipe inspired by some I found on the web:

1.5 tbsp neutral oil

1 cup copped fennel fronds

4 eggs, whisked with 2 tbsp almond milk and salt/pepper to taste

2 cups chopped kale

1. Heat the oil in a pan on medium
2. Add the kale, saute for 3 minutes
3. Add the fronds, saute for another minute
4. Push the veggies to one side, add the eggs
5. Ones the eggs are semi-solid, mix the veggies in, separating egg into pieces as needed and stirring/scraping so the eggs don’t stick to the pan. Turn the heat off once the eggs are just solid.

This was super simple to make, and surprisingly good. I enjoyed it for several days after.