Lentil Loaf & Smashed Root Vegetables

Vegan Lentil Loaf (slightly adapted from Amuse Your Bouche, Serves 6, Total Time: 75 minutes)

Ingredient

• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1 red onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium carrot, finely diced
• ¼ tsp. ground cumin
• ¼ tsp. curry powder
• ¼ tsp. cayenne chili pepper
• ½ tsp. paprika
• ¾ cup red lentils (based on conversion from grams)
• 4 cups vegetable stock (based on conversion from mL)
• Black pepper
• ½ tsp. dried oregano
• ½ tsp. dried thyme
• ½ cup rolled oats (based on conversion from grams
• 3 Tbsp. fresh parsley, roughly chopped

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat; cook the red onion, garlic and carrot for 5-10 minutes, until the onion is soft. Add the next 4 ingredients (the 4 spices), and cook, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes.
2. Add the lentils and stock and season well with black pepper and the dried herbs. Simmer for around 20 minutes, until the lentils are soft. Stir regularly.
3. Add the fresh parsley, and stir in as many oats as you need to bring the mixture to the correct consistency (I actually needed about 1.5 cups of oats). It should be moist, but sturdy enough to hold its shape solidly. Mix well.
4. While the mixture is cooking, preheat the oven to 400°F.
5. Lightly grease a baking dish or loaf tin, and spoon in the lentil mixture. Spread out until smooth.
6. Bake for 30-40 minutes, and then gently turn out onto a baking tray. If needed, grill (broil) for a few minutes to crisp up the top. Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes, before carefully slicing.

This is delicious! I think it is the best loaf that I have made and my husband liked it too!  The only item that I changed to the above list was using 3 tsp. dried parsley in lieu of 3 Tbsp. fresh.  As noted, I did need a lot more oats than was called for and I was scared that the loaf would dry out while cooking, but it didn’t!  Next time I make it, I plan to use 1 or 1.25 cups of red lentils so that I can cut back on the oats.

The loaf is moist and has a crisp top and ends. I thought it would taste a lot like oatmeal, but it didn’t.  The creamy texture has a mixed taste that combines the veggies, lentils, and the oats, with no single spice or item overpowering it.  I definitely plan on making this again (especially since my taste buds are watering again, and I just had leftovers for lunch).

I served this dish with Smashed Root Vegetables.  I made the root vegetable dish while the loaf was in the oven.

Smashed Root Vegetables (slightly adapted from Woman’s Day, Servings: 8, Total Time: 45 minutes)

Ingredients

• ½ pound(s) parsnips, peeled
• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 4 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 ½ pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 -inch pieces
• 1 ½ pounds (1 large) rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• ½ pound (about 4) carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• Kosher salt
• Pepper
• ¼ cup olive oil

Directions

1. Quarter the parsnips lengthwise. Cut out and discard the woody centers. Cut the remaining parsnips into 1-inch pieces. Using a piece of kitchen twine, tie the rosemary and parsley together.
2. Place the parsnips, herbs, garlic, potatoes, rutabaga, and carrots in a large saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Add 1 tsp. salt, reduce heat, and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 12 to 15 minutes.
3. Remove and discard the herbs. Reserve ½ cup cooking liquid, drain the vegetables and return them to the pot. drizzle the oil over the vegetables, season with ½ tsp. each salt and pepper and, using the back of a fork or potato masher, smash the vegetables (adding some of the reserved liquid if the vegetables seem dry). Sprinkle with the chives before serving, if desired.

I did not use the fresh herbs, but rather dried (a few dashes each of rosemary and parsley) and left them in the dish after draining (well, as many as stayed on the root veggies).  I should have cut the carrots smaller because they did not mash well, even when I used my handheld mixer. The rutabaga also didn't  mash completely, so there were some chunks of that in each serving.

The flavor of the dish was kind of flat – not bad, but not a wowser either.  My husband was OK with it, but said that it wasn’t worth the time and effort that it took to make it.  (He would rather I made garlic mashed potatoes.)  I did find that adding some extra pepper to the leftovers helps out the dish.

Roasted Spring Vegetable Risotto

Roasted Spring Vegetable Risotto (from AllRecipes, Servings: 8, Total Time: 1 hour)

Ingredients

·         1 lb. asparagus, cut into 2-inch lengths

·         2 cups whole baby carrots cut in lengthwise quarters

·         6 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces

·         3 medium assorted peppers (yellow, red, green), cut into 1-inch strips

·         2 medium zucchini or yellow squash, cut into diagonal slices (I used zucchini)

·         1 cup halved fresh medium mushrooms

·         2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary leaves

·         3 ½ cups vegetable broth

·         1 Tbsp. olive oil

·         1 1/3 cups uncooked Arborio rice

·         ½ cup shredded Italian Five Cheese

Directions

1.       Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray 17x11-inch roasting pan with cooking spray.

2.       Mix asparagus, carrots, onions, peppers, squash, mushrooms, rosemary and ¼ cup broth in prepared pan.

3.       Roast 20 minutes or until done, stirring once. Prepare risotto while the vegetables are roasting.

4.       Heat oil in saucepot. Add rice. Cook and stir for 2 minutes.

5.       Add ½ cup broth and cook until broth is absorbed. Add remaining broth, ½ cup at a time, stirring until all broth is absorbed before adding more. (Total cooking time: 25 minutes)

6.       Add vegetables and cheese. Heat through. Serve immediately.

First off, I love this dish! Yum, yum, yum! My husband enjoyed it too.  With that said, I think that the recipe needs to be tweaked slightly.  If you use the size of veggies recommended, you need to roast for more than 20 minutes – maybe even up to 30 minutes.  The next time that I make it, I will probably chop all of the veggies smaller, more of a rough chop.  That is just the size that I would prepare in this risotto dish.  There are a lot of veggies, and I actually only put in about half because I knew that my husband would want more of the rice part.  I used the remainder as a “base” for my risotto!  More veggies for me!

Now, for the taste – even though there is only ½ cup of cheese, this was creamy and I could see the stringy cheese each time I brought a forkful to my mouth.  The rice was cooked through with only a slight crunch to it. The veggies were really crunchy (see above recommendation), a little too much for my husband, but I liked them that way.  Overall assessment – I cannot wait to make this again!

Le Shio - Wilmington, DE

http://www.leshio.com/

Le Shio is a very unassuming restaurant from the outside.  It is in a strip mall in Wilmington, DE, stuffed between a Radio Shack and a Dress Barn.  Even though you could pass right by and not realize it is a restaurant, I strongly urge you not to.  The food is worth a stop at this Asian Fusion restaurant.  The décor has a modern/industrial feel to it, one large room with white walls, a sushi bar at back before kitchen (with some available seats), a bar to the right after you walk in, and a number of booths and tables spread throughout the large room.

I ordered the Vegetarian Sushi Set (a selection of 24 pieces of maki sushi) that came with a cup of miso soup or a house salad.  I opted for the salad and also ordered Edamame as an appetizer.  The edamame was served in a small bowl and was enough for my husband and I to share.  Nothing special about it, just your standard edamame pods.  The salad was in a very small dish and consisted of a bit of lettuce and a tomato slice.  It was served with an aged ginger dressing – which was creamy and delicious, pretty sweet.

My sushi set consisted of three rolls cut into eight pieces each.  Asparagus, Oshinko (a pickled vegetable), and one with Avocado and Carrots.  Each one was rolled in seaweed and covered in rice.  They were tightly rolled and easy to pick up with chopsticks – they also held together well when dipping them in soy sauce.  The sushi was, of course, served with ginger and wasabi.  I added a bit too much wasabi to my soy sauce, but that’s OK.  Nothing too bad happened!  Overall, I really liked the sushi set, the Avocado and Asparagus rolls had a crisp texture because of the fresh vegetables.  Quite enjoyable!  I don’t remember ever having Oshinko before – it was good!  At first I thought it was Yellow Squash, but the texture was a little creamier.  I definitely recommend trying it.

I like Le Shio, though not quite as much as my sushi-loving husband.  If you are looking for vegetarian sushi, I recommend it go to the top of your list.

Curried Carrot Salad

Curried Carrot Salad (slightly adapted from Kraft Foods, Servings: 6-8, Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 lb. shredded carrots

·         ½ cup raisins

·         1/3 cup sliced green onions (green and white parts)

·         ½ cup Light Mayonnaise

·         1 ½ tsp. curry powder

·         1 Tbsp. white vinegar

·         1 Tbsp. honey

·         ¼ tsp. salt

Directions

1.      Toss carrots with raisins and onions in large bowl; set aside.

2.      Mix all remaining ingredients with wire whisk until well blended. Add to carrot mixture; toss to coat. Cover.

3.      Refrigerate 1 hour or until ready to serve.

My neighborhood is having a Progressive Dinner and I am on the food committee.  We had a tasting of various Asian dishes (our theme) and I was assigned Indian.  I made a few curries, so I picked this out as a potential veggie side dish, even though I am really not a fan of raisins.  I think it is a bit high in calories, even when using Light or Reduced Fat mayo, so you have to be careful with portion size.  For the taste, well, I’m not a fan.  There is no sweetness from the honey – it just kind of tastes like yellow mayo.  Paired with the raisins, it just wasn’t a dish for me.  I will say that the bites I had with green onion were tastier.  They, and the carrots, added a nice crunch factor.  Needless to say, I will not be making this again (I vetoed it from the Dinner).

Veggie Burgers

Veggie Burgers (slightly adapted from AllRecipes, 8 servings, 1.5 hours)

Ingredients

·         2 tsp. olive oil

·         ½ small onion, grated

·         2 cloves crushed garlic

·         1 cup shredded carrots

·         1 small summer squash, shredded

·         1 small zucchini, shredded

·         1 ½ cups rolled oats

·         ¼ cup shredded Cheddar cheese

·         1 egg, beaten

·         1 tablespoon soy sauce

Directions

1.      Heat the olive oil in a skillet over low heat, and cook the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes, until tender.

2.      Mix in the carrots, squash, and zucchini. Continue to cook and stir for 2 minutes.

3.      Remove pan from heat, and mix in oats, cheese, and egg. Stir in soy sauce, transfer the mixture to a bowl, and refrigerate 1 hour.

4.      If grilling, preheat the grill for high heat.

5.      (from Original recipe) Place the flour on a large plate. Form the vegetable mixture into eight 3 inch round patties. Drop each patty into the flour, lightly coating both sides.

6.      If grilling, oil the grill grate, and grill patties 5 minutes on each side, or until heated through and nicely browned.

a.       If cooking stovetop, lightly oil a sauté pan and cook patties for about 4-5 minutes on each side over medium-high heat.

I tired these two ways – one with coating in flour and one without.  I liked the ones without flour better – they had a better flavor.  I used my food processor to shred the vegetables, it made things much easier.  I also cut up the carrots into smaller pieces so that they wouldn’t overwhelm the burger mix.  They browned nicely on the outside and stayed soft and tender on the inside.  I thought that they tasted OK, but I have had better homemade burgers.  I wanted to try one without beans, but the ones with are tastier (in fact, this was really light on any taste whatsoever).  They were good with ketchup!  (My husband liked them, though, which is odd.)

Italian Veggie Rolls

Italian Veggie Rolls (slightly adapted from AllRecipes, Servings: 6, Total Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 cup chopped mushrooms

·         ½ onion, diced

·         1 cup shredded carrots

·         1 cup green peas

·         1 cup chopped broccoli

·         2 cloves garlic, minced

·         ¼ cup dry red wine

·         2 cups shredded Italian pizza cheese

·         1 egg

·         2 Tbsp olive oil

·         ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

·         1 (16 oz.) package lasagna noodles – I only used about ½ to ¾ of the noodles in the package

·         1 (26 oz.) jar spaghetti sauce

Directions

1.      Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2.      Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling water until al dente. Rinse, drain, set aside.

3.      Heat oil in a medium sauté pan. Add mushrooms, onions, carrots, peas, and broccoli; sauté over medium heat until tender. Add wine and garlic; cook five minutes, or until wine has just about evaporated. Remove from heat, and cool for ten minutes.

4.      In a medium bowl combine vegetable mixture, Italian cheese, 2 Tbsp. Parmesan, and egg. Mix well.

5.      Pour ¼ of the sauce into the bottom of a 13x9x2 inch baking pan. Spread 1/3 cup vegetable mixture over each lasagna noodle then carefully roll up the noodle. Place seam side down in dish. When finished placing all the noodles in the pan, pour remaining pasta sauce evenly over noodles. Cover with aluminum foil.

6.      Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

7.      Uncover, and sprinkle remaining Parmesan cheese over noodles. Bake, uncovered, 5 more minutes.

My husband and I both enjoyed this dish very much.  It did take some time to assemble the rolls and some of the filling fell out when I was making them, but I think that it was worth it.  The mixture was tasty and I would not make any additional changes to it (though the original calls for mozzarella and I used Italian pizza cheese – I just think it has more flavor).  This is a great way to mix vegetables into a pasta dish.

Cheddar Vegetable Lasagna

Cheddar Vegetable Lasagna (Servings: 8-10, Total Time: 1 hour – 1 hour, 15 min.)

(adapted from KraftRecipes.com)

Not your typical lasagna dish, but good flavors and a mix of texture make it a good meal.  I would like to see a little more protein, but that is easily fixed by adding some faux sausage or burger crumbles.  The original recipe does not tell you where to add the cheddar cheese, so I added it in two places!

Ingredients

½ lb. mushrooms, diced

¼ cup margarine, divided

3-3 ½ cups shredded carrots

½ cup chopped onion

¼ cup flour

½ tsp. salt

Dash of pepper

2 ½ cups milk

1 container (16 oz.) Cottage Cheese

1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained

9 lasagna noodles

2 cups Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

½ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1.)    Preheat oven to 350°F.

2.)    Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions.

3.)    Cook and stir mushrooms in 1 Tbsp. margarine in a large skillet on medium-high heat until tender. Remove from skillet; set aside.

4.)    Add remaining margarine, then carrots and onions to skillet. Cook and stir 5 min. or until carrots are tender. Reduce heat to medium.

5.)    Blend in flour and seasonings. Gradually add milk; cook, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. Stir in mushrooms and 1 cup cheddar cheese.

6.)    Combine cottage cheese, spinach, and 1 cup cheddar cheese.

7.)    Place 3 of the noodles on bottom of greased 13x9-inch baking dish; top with one-third each of the cottage cheese and the carrot mixtures. Cover with 3 more noodles and one-third each of the cottage cheese and carrot mixtures. Top with the remaining 3 noodles and remaining cottage cheese and carrot mixtures. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

8.)    Bake 30 min. or until heated through. Sprinkle with parsley. Let stand a few minutes before cutting to serve.

The carrots and onion add a little crunch to the texture, but the lasagna is otherwise a very soft consistency.  The original recipe called for 4 cups of carrots, but that seemed like way too much.  I recommend 3-3 ½ cups in my adapted version, but that is all up to you and what you and your family like. 

I didn’t have 9 lasagna noodles, so I only used 6 and layered half and half of the mixtures.  The dish came out bubbly and cheesy-looking.  The fat content is high because of the shredded cheddar, but if you use 2%, that can eliminate some unnecessary fat and calories from this dish without affecting the taste.  Also, I found that you don’t necessarily need the butter to cook the mushrooms or carrots.  I actually didn’t add any additional butter to the cook the carrots and they turned out just fine.  This dish is a great way to sneak in some vegetables because of the cheesy goodness that encases them.  Enjoy!

Broccoli and Carrot Lasagna

Creamy, tasty and made way too much for us to eat - about half is currently in the freezer.  When I tasted it right out of the oven, I didn't really like it, but after a night in the refrigerator, the flavors really had a change to mesh and it tasted pretty good.  I'd give it maybe 4 stars out of 5 - might need a bit more flavor for some people (garlic and basil are two that come to my mind right away).

I followed the recipe very closely, though I did cut the mozzarella cheese - instead of measuring it out, I just sprinkled it on.  I like how the broccoli and carrots gave the lasagna a bit of texture, a little more full and crunchy than a "regular" lasagna.  Overall, tasty and a keeper (though I'll probably make some changes next time).


http://allrecipes.com/recipe/broccoli-and-carrot-lasagna/detail.aspx

Carrot Burgers with Fries

I’ll tell you a secret – I’ve never made my own veggie burgers, even though I’ve been a vegetarian for 14 years!  I finally decided to try and this Carrot Burger recipe looked really interesting.  The only changes I made was using 2 cups unseasoned breadcrumbs instead of cornflakes and adding 1 egg.  I will definitely either use less breadcrumbs next time or another egg – they were a little dry.  Despite the dryness, though, they were tasty – not as carroty as you would expect.  Pretty low on protein, though, but once in awhile, that’s OK.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/carrot-burgers-2/detail.aspx

Of course, to go along with burgers, you need fries.  I wanted to do something a little healthy, so I just tossed Russet potato wedges with salt, pepper, and cooking spray.  I baked them for 12 minutes (each side) at 425 degrees – next time, I’ll bake them longer or at a higher temp, they were slightly underdone.  Still tasty with Heinz ketchup though!