Vegetarian Foodie

Gazpacho

Gazpacho is simply delicious...

5 Ripe Tomatoes Skins Removed (See Note) and Chopped
1 Red Bell Chopped
1 Cucumber Chopped
Juice of 1 Lemon
2 Garlic Cloves
Small Handful of Cilantro
A Couple glugs of Olive Oil
Salt to Taste

Place all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and process to the consistency you like. Add a bit of water if you prefer a diluted gazpacho.

For Garnish:
1 Ear of Corn
Parmesan shavings

To skin the ripe tomatoes: make X's as shown below. Cover with boiling water for half a minute and peel back the skins.

Homemade Nachos

There are 3 reasons why I love homemade nachos:

Homemade Nachos are...Delicious, Look festive and inviting to eat, and they are really easy to make

Layer your chosen ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is melted. Top with more delicious toppings and Eat!

Layer 1: Beans
Layer 2: Chips
Layer 3: Cheese
Top Layer: Spring onions, sour cream, cilantro, tomatoes (I always add avocado but I ran out on this particular moment)

Good Bread in Olive Oil and...

One of my favorite things-unexpected guests. Drop in to my house with a bottle of wine and this is what you very well could be served...

• Olive Oil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Ground Pepper
• Sliced Garlic

Vegetarian Tacos

Both the husband and I agree, our favorite dinner meal while growing up was taco night. We both have fond memories of sticking our fingers into various sized bowls offering colorful ingredients and building what we considered was the dream taco.

The final step of any taco builder includes the crooked head with open mouth and high hopes that the contents don't escape onto the plate.

There was something delightfully fun about building our own taco-there still is. This is another dish with a creative license. Boca make phony burger crumbles that go great in tacos. I particularly like green beans, corn and red bell in my tacos.

Here is our taco spread:

 

Barbecue Pizza

Please see previous post Pizza Dough to construct the crust.

This pizza maybe isn't the sexiest pizza around to look at but it does taste great. Spread your favorite BBQ sauce all over the dough. Top with pineapple and cooked sausage. Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Corn Salad

Chop and Mix:

• Red Bell
• Avocado
• Corn
• Feta
• Celery
• Parsley
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Mango Quesadilla

The name really says it all-just add mango to your everyday quesadilla.

Dinner Music

There is a great scene in the film American Beauty in which Kevin Spacey sits down to join his family for dinner. The table is set nicely and the family members exchange a couple how-do-you-dos but overall they dine in silence aside from the dinner music. After a few plastic smiles, Annette Bening and Spacey begin to argue over the dinner music. I'll stop there because I don't want to give it away but if you have not seen this scene you simply must.

So the question is, what is your favorite dinner music?

Here are a few reliables that we and our guests never seem disappointed with:

Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles

Music By Cavelight by Blockhead

Smokers Delight by Nightmares On Wax

Anthology by Nina Simone

Caicheto by Orlando Caicheto Lopez

How to Make Coleslaw

Or, how not to make coleslaw... I have not decided. You decide.

Did you ever set out to try a new recipe by the book and realize that you overlooked several key ingredients? And by overlooked I mean, you have returned from the grocery store. This happened to me the other day. I set out with my list and upon reaching home realized that I was missing several key pieces to the concoction. Now being me, I didn't set it aside for another time but rather decided to wing it and make it my own.

So here you have it: A Cabbage Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing (originally inspired by a coleslaw recipe)

In a Dish:

• A handful of red and green Cabbage each shredded
• A handful of shredded carrots
• half of a handful of Chopped Parsley

Dressing:

• 1 Cup of Mayo
• Crumbled Blue Cheese
• 2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Whisk!
• Add the dressing to the dish and toss.

Was it good? Of course you just had to ask... It was delicious and strong and although I dubbed it a side, it acted as if that was an insult and ultimately was hardly content to be a side.   

Easy Egg Roll with Peanut Butter Salsa

While peanut butter salsa can be served with just about anything, it is particularly nice beside an egg roll. I stuff my egg rolls with shredded carrot and green cabbage then fry them in a veg oil. Wrapping the egg roll is the most fun and the daughter always likes to join in. My local grocery stocks the egg roll wrappers that include instructions and I believe most do so I won't detail that experience aside from I like to have a small dish of water handy to seal the sides.

As for the salsa, mix a huge tablespoon of peanut butter with your favorite salsa until the consistency is creamy as shown below. Add a dash of cayenne if you like it spicy and lime on the side. 

Serve as is or decorate with chopped cilantro.