In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the gravy, stirring constantly, until thick.
Add more water if the gravy becomes too thick.
The high vitamin K content of mustard greens has strong anti-inflammatory properties that improve cardiovascular health. Excessive inflammation in the cardiovascular system has been directly linked to heart disease, so the high vitamin K content makes mustard greens a heart-healthy food. Also, the dietary fiber in mustards has been shown to reduce overall cholesterol levels in those with preexisting high cholesterol, compounding its heart-healthy qualities.
Mustard greens also have extremely high levels of anti-oxidants. Vitamins A, C, E, as well as the mineral manganese, all function as anti-oxidants in the body. Anti-oxidants are proven cancer fighters, keeping free radicals and oxidized cells from damaging neighboring cells. If free radicals go unchecked for long spans of time, they can cause destructive chain reactions between molecules, eventually stressing out cells, which can lead to mutations when they replicate themselves. This is the birthing ground of cancer, and mustard green’s high anti-oxidant properties can help prevent many types of cancer from forming.
Mustard greens also have a plethora of phytonutrients to offer. Phytonutrient is a fancy name for a plant-produced nutrient that is not currently recognized as an essential nutrient (like vitamin A, dietary fiber, etc.). The wide range of phytonutrients in mustard greens also play a role in reducing oxidative stress on cells in the body, furthering its cancer fighting properties.
Mustard green recipes to try:
See also: More vegetable soup recipes
Add beans, vegetable broth, Swiss chard, corn, macaroni pasta and Italian seasoning to the pot, stirring to combine.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to a medium simmer. Heat for 8-10 minutes, until macaroni and chard are both cooked.
Enjoy your white bean and chard soup!
Pasta is a quick and easy stand-by meal, whether you're vegetarian, vegan or not. Visiting family last week, I whopped up this pasta dish with collard greens and mushrooms just because I happened to have everything on hand, and because we were all quite hungry! I happened to have a decent white wine on hand, so I added a spash of that to the simmering mushrooms and greens just for an added depth of flavor. The verdict? We all went back for seconds, and would have had thirds if I had made a double-batch!Need more dinner ideas? When it comes to pasta, the vegetarian options are endless, and just about everyone loves pasta. Some familiar favorites are vegetable marinara, spaghetti with veggie meatballs, macaroni and cheese, and pesto pasta. Load up the veggies or use whole wheat noodles to get the most nutrition out a pasta dish for your vegetarian dinner. Browse through hundreds of meatless pasta recipes here or browse through more vegetarian dinner recipe ideas.
Recipe link: Pasta with collards and mushrooms
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Having recently absolutely fallen in love with Swiss chard, I've been exploring all sorts of ways to try to incorporate it into my diet, and my latest experiment has been in soup. I took a basic vegetable soup, added white beans to make it a fuller meal, and chopped up plenty of Swiss chard to make it nutritious. The result is this simple white bean and Swiss chard soup that absolutely hit the spot. The leftovers were great too.Here's a few more of my favorite ways to prepare chard:
Mash together the potatoes with the remaining ingredients or thoroughly mash with a potato masher. Add additional salt if desired.
me to a NY Times essay contest which is challenging meat eaters to convince their resident ethicist that there's nothing inherently wrong about eating meat.Doris points out that the very nature of the need to search for a convincing argument shows that meat-eaters are grasping at straws ethically. I'm sure the NY Times (and perhaps this blog post) will be bombarded with wisecrackers saying the something like "Meat tastes good!" but while that may be an aesthetic argument in favor of meat eating (one which I happen to disagree with!), it's by no means an ethical argument. So far, many of the commenters seem to dismiss the issue saying it's not an ethical matter. Interesting.
On the contrary, there are numerous reasons not to eat meat. Princeton ethicist Peter Singer's 1975 book Animal Liberation is a good place to start, if you're interested in ethics. It was a seminal force launching the animal rights movement, and, as a college student, it had a profound impact on me personally. On a slightly unrelated note, I also highly recommend his 2009 title, The Life You Can Save (a great review is also online here).
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?1 out of 5
Bland, Bland, Bland, Guest slcSD
I should have known before I started. This recipe has no herbs or spices. Salt and pepper would be a good place to start but once the food was cooked, nothing I tried could make it palatable. I ended up throwing it away.
7 out of 8 people found this helpful.
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Rice and dhal - spicy cooked lentils - is a staple of Indian vegetarian food. The lentils are slow cooked with plenty of spices, giving them a rich Indian flavor. Rice and dhal also makes for an economical choice if you're trying to make your food dollar stretch as far as possible! But even better than being cheap, low-fat and healthy is the fabulous smells that will fill your kitchen when you use so many spices. So, heat up some rice and dhal, close your eyes, and imagine you're in India!Easy Vegetarian Dhal (Dal) Recipes:
I'm of the opinion that polenta is an under-appreciated food. It's cheap, filling, is a staple food in many cultures, and trendy enough that it turns up in many gourmet restaurant menus. It's versatile in that it can be grilled, baked and pan-fried, and works for breakfast or for dinner. Oh, and it's vegetarian and vegan, too.This gourmet pan-fried polenta recipe takes full advantage of the power of polenta to meld flavors together. It's made with black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, a generous splash of wine, and balsamic vinegar.
Trust me, you're going to want to make a double batch of this one. Enjoy!
Link: Gourmet pan-fried polenta recipe
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Mash the sweet potatoes to desired consistency and add remaining ingredients.
Whisk together the egg replacer and pumpkin, then add in the cinnamon, vanilla and vegetable oil.
Add the remaining ingredients and stir until just combined.
Bake for 2- to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow to cool and top with vegan cream cheese frosting.
An easy dairy-free, egg-free and vegan recipe for Irish soda bread using an egg replacer and soy milk. Vegan soda bread is also much lower in fat than a traditional Irish soda bread, which uses buttermilk.
Whisk together the egg replacer and water until foamy.
In a small bowl, combine the soy milk and vinegar. This will serve as the buttermilk replacement for your vegan Irish soda bread.
In a separate large bowl, combine 3/4 cup wheat flour, white flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Cut in the vegan margarine and stir to combine.
Slowly combine the egg replacer, and soy milk and vinegar with the dry ingredients.
Gently toss together the 1 tsp of whole wheat flour with the raisins to coat, and add caraway seeds. Add raisins and caraway seeds to dough, stirring to combine.
Pour dough into greased loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes.
Whip eggs until frothy. Mix in remaining ingredients, including potato mix. Scrape down bowl and mix another 20 seconds.
Pour into 9" diameter cake pan.
Bake 35 to 40 minutes.
More gluten-free cake recipes:
Gluten-free German Chocolate Cake Recipe
Gluten-Free Carob Devil's Food Cake
Gluten-free Wheat-free Spice Cake
Gluten-free Pineapple Upside-down Cake
Gluten-free Banana Cake
Last week, I wrote about a forum post from someone wondering what vegetarians and vegans do for Lent, when some Christian faiths ask followers to stop eating meat or other animal foods for a period. An interesting question, I thought, and apparently so did you!Nearly fifty people wrote in with ideas or tips for vegetarians and vegans during Lent, and there's quite a few interesting ideas. Besides the Lent thread, there's been quite a bit of discussion in the forum regarding vegetarian nutrition guides. Browse on over and offer your opinion!
From the forum: What do vegetarians and vegans do for Lent?
Try lightly battered sliced tempeh friesas a high-protein option when you're craving something starchy and fried. Serve them alongside veggie burgers for a healthier alternative to a burger and fries. This tempeh fries recipe suggests pairing them with a curried mayonnaise dip, but you might prefer ketchup, hot sauce or barbecue sauce. This is a good recipe for vegetarian kids!Subscribe to the weekly vegetarian newsletter
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Reprinted with permission from Luscious Chocolate Smoothies by Gabriel Constans.
Pour into tall cups, serve and do the samba or tango with your love.
Reprinted from Luscious Chocolate Smoothies - An Irresistible Collection of Healthy Cocoa Delights (Libertary). A delicious collection of recipes that combines the rich, intoxicating taste and benefits of dark chocolate, with a tantalizing balance of fruits, nuts, tofu, cocoa, liquor, juices and other unique combinations to create cool, refreshing, mouth watering drinks for all ages.
Vegetarian breakfast burritos make for a fun breakfast if you're bored of the usual cereal or pancakes, and kids love them too. This vegetarian breakfast burrito recipe with eggs, salsa and cheese is very basic, so you can always add extra spices or vegetables or whatever you want. This recipe is just for one vegetarian breakfast burrito, so double the amounts if you need to make more.
Heat the oil or butter in a skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat. Carefully add the eggs. Cook, mixing frequently, until you have scrambled eggs of the desired consistency.
Warm the flour tortilla in the microwave for a few seconds just until warm and soft. Place the scambled eggs in the center of the flour tortilla, and top with cheese and salsa.
Wrap and enjoy your vegetarian breakfast burrito!
Scroll down for more vegetarian breakfast burrito recipes to try.
Looking for a healthy snack that fills you up? Try whipping up a batch of homemade granola. It's so easy! Watch it done with this quick video showing you the simple steps you need to make healthy, low-fat granola. It takes just 15 minutes, and, the best thing about making your own homemade granola is that you can tailor it to your personal tastes. Add your favorite dried fruits and nuts, or even chocolate chips. Yum!Link: How to make homemade granola
See also: Chocolate-covered granola recipe
Raw buckwheat granola recipe
Peanut butter granola breakfast wrap
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"fasting". But if you already eat vegetarian or vegan year round, then continuing to do so during Lent just doesn't carry the same meaning. So what do you do? One forum user wants to know. He asks:I have to admit, I'm a bit curious too. If you're a vegetarian or vegan who observes lent and wouldn't mind sharing, please respond in the vegetarian forums here.Lots of people give up meat or only eat meat once a week or something for Lent, which just started a couple days ago. But what do you give up if you're already vegetarian or vegan? Chocolate? Sugar? What? I'm open to hearing any and all ideas and suggestions.
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Vegetarian baked beans are an excellent choice when cooking for a large group of people as its very easy and inexpensive to make a large batch of baked beans, especially crockpot baked beans. Vegetarian baked beans are low in fat, cholesterol-free and high in healthy fiber and protein! This vegetarian baked beans recipe is very easy to prepare in your crockpot or slow cooker.
In a small bowl, whisk together the molasses with the remaining ingredients.
In a crock pot or slow cooker, combine the beans, molasses and ketchup mixture, and the cooking water from the beans.
Cover, and cook on low setting for 6-8 hours, or until beans are soft.
Enjoy your vegetarian baked beans!
Perfectly golden tempeh fries make a high-protein alternative to regular French fries. Perfect for vegetarians, vegans, and growing kids!
Recipe and photo courtesy of Lightlife foods.
In a large skillet, bring about an inch of water or vegetable broth to a boil. Working in batches if needed simmer tempeh, covered, for 10 minutes, then drain well.
Combine cornmeal and salt. While tempeh is still moist, roll it in cornmeal mixture.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches as needed, saute tempeh for 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
Whisk together the mayonnaise and curry powder in a small bowl, and dip your tempeh fries in this curried mayonnaise dip. Enjoy!
Not a fan of curried mayonnaise? Try dipping your tempeh fries in ketchup, a bit of hot sauce, barbecue sauce maybe even homemade hummus.
With bell peppers, corn, carrots, zucchini and of course beans and tomatoes, you're well on your way to getting your "five a day" servings of vegetables right in one meal. And of course, the best thing about this recipe, is that since it's made in the crockpot, all you have to do it turn on your slow cooker and walk away. Enjoy!Link: Crockpot Vegetable Chili
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