Vegetarian Recipes

(Or, How to Trick your family Into Eating Less Meat! ;))

This page was updated on: 02/25/2009

Ok, I haven't gotten around to writing out many of my recipes yet but they will all be recipes I've created with the meat eater in mind. I've worked hard to find easily accessible meat "replacement" products that will give the same texture (and more importantly TASTE) that former meat eaters will recognize, only without harming any animals!

In the meantime here are some of the recipes I'm working on writing up:
"Chicken" and dumplings
"Pork" Green Chili
"Turkey Roast" with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Spicy "Sausage" and potato soup. Great for Fall and Harvest gatherings, I think! :)  (took me a LONG time to rework this recipe because I used to use real sausage. Now it's just the same and maybe better!
"Fungus" and Rice. Diced up Quorn Roast in rice with a creamy mushroom sauce. Made this the other night. Just have to write up the recipe.

Also, be sure to scroll to the bottom to see the vegetarian sushi I've been making at home! It's my new passion!

"Fungus" Tacos

Sort of a Fish Taco replacement. My husband gave me the title of this one because of the Quorn brand nuggets. :)

3 Quorn Brand Chicken Nuggets per taco
Sliced green cabbage
Flour or Corn tortillas according to your preference (I use flour:))
Sauce (made with tartar sauce and a dash of your favorite hot sauce to taste)
Cook nuggets in the oven or, if you have one, a toaster oven for that extra crispiness. It might take several cycles of the toaster oven.
Then put 3 in a tortilla, cover with cabbage and add sauce to taste.

Burrito Casserole

This may seem like a lot of ingredients and a lot of steps but actually it only takes 10 minutes to prepare and 1/2 hr to 45 min to cook.

1 Box Fantastic Meatless Taco Filling
1 3/4 Cup Health Valley Fat Free Vegetable Broth
1 16oz Can Rosarita Vegetarian Refried Beans
1 19oz Can La Victoria Green Chile Enchilada Sauce
1/2 Cup Red Onion
1/2 Cup Soya Kaas-Natural Cheese Alternative (Pepper Jack Mexi-Kass Variety)
1/2 Cup Colby Jack cheese
1/2 Cup Green Onion (1/4 Cup for Garnish)
1/2 Cup Roma tomatoes for Garnish
6 Flour or Corn Tortillas

Prepare taco filling according to package directions except use 1 3/4 C vegetable broth instead of water. (Add any spices or hot sauces to taste at this point because as the taco "meat" fluffs up it will absorb all the sauce or spice. Oh, and if you add a hot sauce, cut back on the amount of broth or the whole thing might be too watery).
Put whole can of refried beans in with the prepared taco meat.
Dice red onion and heat with the taco filling and bean mixture.
Heat whole can of green chile sauce in a separate pan.
Fill 6 tortillas with the bean and taco filling mixture and set aside.
Put any left over filling mixture in with the green chili sauce.
Ladle a small amount of green chile sauce into the bottom of a 9x13" pan so the tortillas don't stick.
Place all filled burritos in the pan and cover with the remaining green chile sauce.
Stick it in the oven at 375 deg for 20 min or until it starts to bubble.
While that's cooking, shred your chosen cheeses and dice your green onions and tomatoes. Probably by the time you're done doing that your burritos will be cooked enough.
Remove the pan from the oven and top with the cheese and 1/4 C green onions. Don't put the tomatoes or the other 1/4 cup of green onions on top yet.
Put back in the oven for another 15 minutes or until the cheese has become as melted as you want it.
Top with the remaining 1/4 C green onions and the diced tomato.

Tortilla Roll ups

This is very simple cold appetizer of rolled up tortillas, cream cheese, green chilies, and olives I got from my father. Although not vegan, if there is a vegan cream cheese or tofu spread, it would probably work just as well. I haven't tried it this way yet.

1 Pack of large flour tortillas - I usually use Mission brand mostly fat free (because they don't use lard). This last time I used the Mission brand Garlic and Herb with really good results
1 8 oz package cream cheese of choice or substitute - softened
2 small cans mild green chilies or 1/2 jar La Victoria Chunky Salsa Verde (or any combination of these to taste. The Salsa Verde is a little spicier)
3/4 large can pitted black olives (or to taste)
Garlic powder to taste

If Cream cheese is just out of the refrigerator, place in microwave until just soft. Don't make it too soft!! It will soften more as you stir in the rest of the ingredients.
Place cream cheese in a large bowl and stir in salsa or green chilies. Coarsely chop olives to about the same size as the chilies and stir them in as well. You'll have to eyeball this. You want a chunky but fairly even mix with no one item over powering the other.
Add garlic powder to taste.
Place tortillas in the microwave and heat till just warm. They will be easier to roll that way without cracking. Don't over heat them or they will turn into bricks when chilled.
Using a spatula or really large spreading knife, spread cream cheese mixture evenly over the tortilla, leaving about 1/2 inch around the edges to prevent the mixture from spilling out when rolled up.
Roll the tortilla up and set on a separate plate.
After all the mixture or tortillas are gone and the rolls have been stacked, refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until thoroughly chilled. (Preferably over night to give all the flavors to mingle)
Using a slightly serrated knife, slice the rolls into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces.
Stack onto a plate and serve.

If covered with plastic wrap these will keep for about a week in the fridge. I make them the day before because I think they are better the next day. They will get a little "gummier" as time goes by and the moisture gets into the tortillas.
I'm sure you can substitute any of the ingredients for something else. These are very good and very adaptable roll ups. I make them every Thanksgiving.

Here are a couple of Vegan recipes from my good friend Dottie. I haven't tried them yet but they sound so good that I figured I would add them now.

Tofu Smoothies

Soft Mori-Nu silken tofu.
Any fruit you like

Put 1/4 or more of the pkg. in your blender. Add any fruit you like. If I use canned pears then I use the liquid from the can in place of orange juice. I add a banana to make it creamy.

Vegan Spinach Dip

1 envelope Knorr or Lipton Veg. soup mix
1 container Rice sour cream
1 cup vegenaise (egg free mayo) Taste better than real mayo
1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach thawed and squeezed dry
1 can (8oz.) water chestnuts, drained and chopped

Combine everything and chill for 2 hrs.

Everything But the Kitchen Sink Soup (vegetable "beef" soup)

At any given time most people have a veggie drawer full of vegetables just waiting to go bad as soon as you close the refrigerator door. This is a soup I created to use up "most" of the leftovers in the fridge so it'll probably be a little different every time. In any case, I haven't found any bad combinations of vegetables to use. It's basically a "no brainer" recipe.
Oh! Be advised that the amounts I used make a HUGE amount, 12-15 servings, I think. I usually make a very large batch and then freeze the rest. So, even though the amounts are not exact, feel free to change or lower the amounts of any or all of the ingredients to fit your needs.
For the soup I made last night I used:

1/2 head of green cabbage (I had some red cabbage too but if you use this, your soup will be a very interesting blue color!!)
2   yellow squash
1   can diced tomatoes with juice (I used the kind with celery, onions and basil) but any sort will do.
1/2 bunch celery chopped to your desired thickness
6   fingerling potatoes or red potatoes
3   large carrots chopped to desired thickness
2   large peppers (I used a combination of green and yellow)
3   tbsp. herbs de provence (it's basically a combination of thyme, rosemary, basil, tarragon, winter savory and lavender flowers all in one bottle. If you can't find that, I find that the basil, thyme and rosemary are important herbs to have.)
1   32 oz. container of Health Valley fat free vegetable broth (I find this one more tasty than the rest I've tried)
1/2 package of Morning Star Farms Griller crumbles and Sausage crumbles (or one whole bag of either according to your taste)
2-3 cloves of garlic minced.

The short and easy version of this is: Chop all veggies up, put in LARGE POT, cover with water, boil till veggies start to get tender (check for the carrots. They will be the last to get tender), Don't cover at this point. You want the water from the vegetables to start to cook out. The evaporated water will tell you how much broth to use. As the water gets lower, add broth. This helps get the most out of the vegetables.
When most of the veggies get tender turn heat down to a simmer, cover and add more vegetable broth to cover.
 

Chop all veggies to your preferred thickness. Here is where the recipe gets interesting. I had made stuffed peppers a couple of days back. They were stuffed with spanish rice. I chopped up those leftover peppers as a part of the 2 peppers part of the recipe. I normally don't use rice in this soup but it turned out really good so use a vegetarian Rice a Roni or instant rice if you'd like. Cook this separately from the soup if you're going to use it. The amount that actually wound up in my soup was equal to 1/3-1/2 a prepared Rice a Roni box.
Ok, so after all your veggies are chopped, place them ALL in a large pot and cover with just enough water to barely cover the vegetables. Boil for a good 15 min to 1/2 hr., stirring every 10 minutes or so.
Lower to a high simmer and add the herb de provence or basil, rosemary and thyme. Note that it's not 3 tbsp of each! 3 tbsp combined. Or to your taste of course.
I prefer to wait until the veggies have cooked down for at least an hour before adding salt and pepper because all depending on the vegetables you use and the way the spices cook down, there is a possibility of the soup being too salty.


Several Vegetarian Maki Sushi Rolls!

My newest love and passion has been making sushi at home. I have loved every single step of the process from the research to find out what I need to.....the research finding out the translation of what I need! LOL  Hunting down the right ingredients, to cooking and cooling the rice. (It's said that this is a difficult process but I've had nothing but great results from day one).
There are many recipes and techniques on the internet but I have found some of the best techniques at http://www.sushifaq.com
I don't pretend to make a lot of authentic sushi combinations since I don't eat fish. However I have used Lightlife's veggie chicken strips and Quorn Naked Cutlets cut into strips with great success in place of the fish. I'm going to try some nigiri sushi next using Naked Cutlets but for now here are 3 of the Maki Rolls I made for lunch today.

This was my first roll of the day. The innards are cucumber, avocado and cream cheese. You can tell it's my first roll of the day by my crappy rolling job. Well...it's not so much my rolling being bad as that I tried cutting the Nori (seaweed) in half like I saw demonstrated on a couple other websites. As you can see, it's not the best rolling job. Too much rice I guess. Still very tasty, though!!
It is served with a good dark soy sauce (Tamari), wasabi and pickled Daikon. I got so addicted to pickled Daikon after my first piece at my local sushi bar.

This was the second roll I made. Inside is Naked Cutlet strips, red onion, mushroom and a spicy chili sauce. I know this is FAR away from anything traditional but I really liked this combination. However, I really did like the Lightlife chicken strips better in this. The cutlets are really too bland for the rest of the bold flavors. They don't lend anything to the texture, really either. It is good for the extra protein, though. Probably my favorite original roll!

This roll was the last one of the day.....so far! For this one, the insides are Naked Cutlets, green onion and cucumber with a chili mayo on top. (I forgot to put it inside the roll like I wanted). The chili mayo was a combination of the same chili sauce as in the second roll but with miracle whip added to it. I was all I had. LOL  It didn't taste very good on it's own and I almost didn't add it but it tasted pretty good on the roll. Sure surprised me! LOL 
Once again, I would use lightly cooked Lightlife strips instead of Naked Cutlets for this.

I'm sure sushi will get it's own page on here because I have lots of other great combinations in mind and I certainly want to share all I learn about making sushi at home.

Work In Progress - Green Chili

I am simmering a green chili sauce as I write this. I have had a hard time with this because it is my favorite topping or filling for just about everything and I always used chicken stock and pork in my pre veg. days. So, coming up with a good vegetarian version has been hit and miss.

I have used all sorts of spices to try to make this work but I think that this one is a keeper. As usual, I don't usually measure anything specifically so it's a pinch and dash thing. However, I think this is going to be my most successful attempt yet.

1 Onion
3-4 cloves garlic
1 bunch various peppers (I used a combination of already roasted green chiles, jalepenos, thai peppers, cerranos, and the long skinny hot peppers...don't remember what they were called, they look like green beans. I got them all from the farmers market).
3 cups water
1 tbsp faux chicken consommé
Several dashes Braggs Liquid Aminos 
1 tsp red chili flakes
1 tsp basil
1 tomato diced

Process the onion and garlic in the food processor to desired consistency. Sweat the onions and garlic in a bit of olive oil till you can smell the garlic getting "nutty". Meanwhile, chop the peppers. I don't take out the ribs or the seeds but if you want it less hot you might want to do that.
Put the peppers into the processor and blend the heck out of them. If you want to roast any of them first that is fine. Some of these peppers do have a thick skin but I just choose to blend them to death, except for the already roasted and skinned peppers, they don't need anything done to them, of course.
Put in the spices and Braggs.
Place the pulverized peppers into the onion/garlic mix and add the water. Bring to a boil.
Add the Faux chicken consommé and reduce to a simmer
Dice the tomato and add that at this point.
Simmer for 4-6 hours to blend flavors.
Add a tsp-tbsp of flower to 1 Cup water if you want to thicken it up more at the end. I wouldn't do this early or, as it simmers, the flour could break down. Be sure not to add too much flour! It might not look like much but once it's in the fridge and cools down, it could turn into paste pretty quick. Start small.
Re-season after flour is added if necessary.

I'm not saying this is the perfect recipe but it's the best one I came up with so far. I found that my previous attempts were all made with either Jalepenos or Jalepenos and cerranos and that is fine BUT I was left with a chili that I could only consider as.....airy. Because there isn't any meat in it, it lacks a certain depth of flavor. I credit the combination of peppers for the great flavor so far in this recipe.
I haven't added the flour or re-seasoned yet so I will mention what I did once it's done. I just wanted to write it down before I forgot what I did! :)

'Split Pea Soup

3 Carrots chopped or shredded
4 Ribs celery chopped
4 Cloves garlic peeled
1 Small onion quartered or chopped

Sautee all of these in a little butter or olive oil until soft, adding the carrot first since it will take the longest to cook. Then add:

4 Cups green split peas (HA! What I didn't realize, since this was my first time using split peas was that they are like pasta. They soak up the liquid. So, I didn't think to add the amount of water I used. I'm thinking it is double, so 8 cups. However, all depending on the consistency you want you might want to add more).

So, then add 8 cups water as mentioned above. Add water as needed as it simmers and thickens up to your desired consistency.

Since there is no ham or bacon in this the seasoning is as follows:

6-8 dashes liquid smoke
Imitation bacon bits to taste
Thyme to taste
Rosemary (I had fresh but dried would work) to taste
Osem Faux Chicken Consommé to taste

I simmer this on low for 2-4 hours. You'd really never know there wasn't ham or bacon in there. You might need to need a little more "chicken" consommé if you need to add more water.

I took out half of the soup and smoothed it out in the food processor and then added it back so there was a smooth texture and a more chunky one.

A friend of ours ate 4 or 5 bowls of this! Tastes even better the next day, as most soups do.