Meatless Holiday Recipes

It is hard for me to believe, I have been a non-meat eater for over 20 years.  I became a Pescatarian soon after my divorce.

My reasons were not typical. I wasn’t on an “ethical” kick although I do love animals. The reason I decided to try giving up meat was because I really wasn’t eating or enjoying it anyway.

It made sense to make a change.

Initially, I figured if someone invited me for dinner I would eat meat if it was served, but just not at home. Upon learning of my culinary choices, my dinner invites pretty much disappeared. My friends were just too stressed about what they would cook if I was invited for dinner.

After about 8 years without meat, it sort of became an ethical thing. Why would I eat meat and take a life for it when it was really unnecessary. I was doing just fine without it.

So, here I am 20 years later finding that I am still not the purist that most non meat eaters are. I still eat dairy and fish. I believe it helps me to be a bit more balanced and sociable. Lately though I have been trying to go back to the roots of my food behavior change and eat more non animal product meals.

With the Vegan trend, it has become easier to find some tasty meal choices and recipes sans animal products.  I have been making more vegetarian meals/snacks and have found it positive in terms of my weight, health profile, hunger and energy levels.  This was also true when I initially became a Pescatarian.

My first two experiments with Vegan recipes were inspired by a fitness blog DAMY Health. The author is a trainer and Vegan. 

The two choices I made from the recipe file were excellent. First a chocolate candy made with coconut milk and cocoa then put in the freezer. It made a nice pre or post meal snack. The other was what was termed cashew cheese.  It is made with soaked raw (not really raw but that’s another story) cashews, extra virgin olive oil, sun dried tomatoes, basil and Sriracha chili (love Sriracha) I not only enjoyed this as a snack but also started having it on toast or crackers for breakfast.  It makes a satisfying breakfast that stays with you.

For Thanksgiving, I often make a stuffed acorn squash with soy meat, apples, dried fruit and maple syrup. This year I found a NY Times article listing recipes for a Vegan Christmas. They sounded not only nutritious but tasty too.  I thought I would try them.

I planned to make dinner with my sister. She came to Dallas on Thanksgiving, so we planned to have our Holiday dinner on the weekend.  Time got away from us and we never made the meal. After she left, I made the meal for me myself and I. Loved it.

I made Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms, Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Maple Syrup and toasted Hazelnuts and for dessert, dairy free Spiced Crème Brulee.

I also made myself a non dairy eggnog snack using Almond Milk, Spices and Vanilla Protein powder. A small swig of vanilla rum in it didn’t hurt a bit.

I know to true carnivores, these recipes may sound “different”. The only thing I can say is I recommend these. If you have an open mind, you might find you can enjoy a few meat free meals once in awhile.

The eggnog idea came from this recipe from P90x. http://www.beachbody.com/product/newsletters/nl_516.do?code=EML_P90XNL_138_20121204&ep_mid=114607473&ep_rid=2258079672&LID=R1_Eggnog#recipe

I did not follow the recipe. I used store bought almond milk(6oz maybe), about a ½ scoop of  LEAN Vanilla Protein Shake mix (http://www.waycooldiet.com/lean.html) for the sweetness and Vanilla flavor, about ½ a tablespoon almond butter, a shake of Apple Pie Spice and a good  pinch of allspice.

I whipped this all up in the blender with a few ice cubes until it was nice and frothy than served it with about a tablespoon of Vanilla Rum and freshly grated Nutmeg on top. Yum!

Here are links to the other recipes:

Holiday menu from the NY Times-

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/11/08/health/20101108_thanksgiving.html?ref=health#Harvest-Stuffed_Portobello_Mushrooms

Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/11/08/health/20101108_thanksgiving.html?ref=health#Maple-Roasted_Brussels_Sprouts_With_Toasted_Hazelnuts

Holiday Spiced Vegan Crème Brulee http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/11/08/health/20101108_thanksgiving.html?ref=health#Holiday-Spiced_Vegan_Creme_Brulee

Damy Health recipes

Icy square chocolates-http://www.damyhealth.com/2012/03/homemade-icy-square-chocolates-coconut-oil-chocolates/

Sundried Tomato and Basil Cashew Cheese- http://www.damyhealth.com/2012/08/raw-sundried-tomato-and-basil-cashew-cheese/

Sheila’s Tomato Soup Minestrone

Yesterday, I met with the wife of a Medical Device manager I know. He suggested we get together because she is starting a corporate wellness consulting company.  I met with her and we had a nice conversation.

She is getting certified by an organization called Integrative Medicine. They support the idea of eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains and non Genetically Modified foods.

I had planned to stop at Central Market for some vegetables to make a Minestrone soup.  I was even more motivated after our discussion.  I made the soup and I really like it.

The recipe was a combination of a recipe for tomato soup I have been making for years. It came from The Frugal Gourmet cookbook by Jeff Smith.

The Frugal Gourmet is no longer on TV. Jeff Smith died many years ago and his reputation died as well. He had been accused of being a pedophile!

Still I love the soup. It is simple and uses fresh tomatoes. I never liked canned tomato soup but I love this one.  I decided to use that as a base for my minestrone. To it I added fresh veggies and beans.  I threw in sprigs of oregano, thyme and rosemary from my patio garden. This one is  a keeper!

The stock base I used is from a company called “Better Than Bouillon”.  I can find it in most groceries. The one I used is called “No Chicken Base”.  When I am looking for a more beefy stock, I use their “Mushroom base”.

 Since these can add a lot of sodium, I only use enough to flavor the stock to my taste. The label says to use ½ tablespoon per quart or 1 teaspoon per 8 oz. If you can use less, great because there is 670mg of sodium per teaspoon. If you want less sodium there are low sodium stocks you can buy or make your own!

I used roasted garlic and some of the oil from roasting it but fresh minced garlic is just as good. I hope you try this and enjoy getting your veggies!

Sheila’s Tomato Soup Minestrone

6 ripe roma tomatoes, chopped (skin, seeds and all!)

11/2 tbl olive oil and 1 tsp butter plus just enough olive oil to sauté the vegetables

3 cups chicken or chicken like stock or vegetable stock

I use 3 cups water and 2 tsp “no chicken” “Better than Bouillon” to make the stock 

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 medium zucchini chopped into cubes

1 medium carrot chopped into cubes

1 handful of green beans cleaned, tips removed and cut in half

5 large leaves of red Swiss chard, cleaned and red stalks cut off (greens only) chopped coarsely

½ potato chopped into cubes

½ can red kidney beans drained and rinsed

Sprigs of rosemary, thyme and fresh oregano

Salt and Fresh Ground pepper to taste

Saute the tomatoes in oil/butter mixture until they are tender. Add the soup stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes. In the meantime, saute the garlic in a little olive oil (I used roasted garlic and the oil I roasted it in). Add carrot, zucchini, green beans and cook until zucchini starts to get soft.

Blend the tomato mixture (a hand blender is fantastic for this) in batches being careful not to overfill and burn yourself. Return to the pan and to the heat. Add the sautéed vegetables, the potato, the herbs and the chard. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add beans and cook covered 5 more minutes.  Season, remove herb sprigs and serve.

Hummus and the Lemon Secret

You might assume since I am a vegetarian that I love hummus. Actually, I don’t always love it. In fact, had I not dated Sam, a Lebanese man, I could have done without hummus for the rest of my life. Garbanzo beans have never floated my boat.

There are some good things about Garbanzo beans, they are high in fiber. The beans are also high in molybdenum, manganese and folate. They have a healthy dose of of tryptophan an amino acid known, among other things,  for making you sleepy. Still, I wasn't much of a fan,

I find them somewhat grainy. In my opinion, there are much better tasting legumes than garbanzo beans

Then I started dating Sam. Both having family roots in the Mediterranean, we shared a love for similar foods, similar but not exactly the same. For instance, I love Kalamata olives. Sam had me try his favorite black olives. All I can say about that experience was, YUK.  I guess you just had to be Lebanese to really appreciate those salty and extremely bitter olives.

In spite of the olive experience, I agreed to try Sam’s hummus. He told me the secret was the lemon in it. Secret or not, it was delicious.  I dated Sam many years ago and since that time, I have tried a lot of hummus, but none that compares to his. Ziziki's in Dallas had some good hummus but the best part of it was the grilled and garlic buttered pita bread.

My mother and I stopped in a Greek restaurant in  Royal Palm Beach after shopping one day. With our meals, they served hummus as a starter and there it was, a hummus as good as Sam’s.

Now, let me mention that I have made more than a few attempts to make a hummus like Sam’s without much luck. One reason was that the hummus was never smooth, always grainy. Then there was the garlic. It was always too strong.

Since I tried the hummus at It’s Greek to Me, I have gone there many times with my sister. We both love the hummus. Interesting enough, when talking to the owner, he mentioned his secret was the lemon. There it was again, lemon!

I really wanted to make my own hummus that was as good as those I have liked. I spent a lot of time looking at other recipes, trying to find “the secret” to a smooth hummus.  I found a recipe that stated that when it was made from fresh cooked garbanzo beans rather than canned, the hummus was much smoother. I printed the recipe and tried it myself.

Now, as always, I didn’t really follow the recipe exactly. I only made a small batch of hummus and used the recipe as a template. I really loved it.  I didn’t use fresh garlic, but I did want some garlic flavor, so I added powdered garlic to taste.  The Himalayan salt is not really required. I happened to have some Pink salt, so I used it, but normal salt or kosher should work just fine.  Oh and one other change, I didn’t use paprika because I didn’t have any. What I did have was smoked paprika. It is very strong and smoky flavored so I just used a little bit. If you can find it, it does add some depth to the flavor of the hummus but I am sure the paprika will be fine too.

I bought some nice flat bread, chopped up some radish, grated some carrot, cut a few slices of avocado and sliced some romaine. I topped the flatbread with the veggies and hummus folded it over and thoroughly enjoyed eating it. Of course, had I had some Kalamata olives, I would have probably sliced some up and put them on the sandwich as well.

The garbanzo beans were not really hard to make after they were soaked. Rather than sit around for 2 hours watching the beans cook, I brought them to a boil in a saucepan with water, then dumped the whole batch into a small Crockpot and let it cook on low for hours until they were cooked.

Here is the original recipe. It costs very little to make and you will have a tasty healthy food and it’s lemony! I hope you will get the chance to try it. I am not sure where the recipe came from, so I am unable to give credit to the author.

Classic Hummus Recipe using Dried Beans

Hummus is one of the easiest snacks, appetizers, dips, or spreads to make. Just throw all your ingredients in a food processor and blend.  I love hummus and I make it using both canned garbanzos and dried garbanzo beans. However, if I have the forethought I always use dried because the hummus turns out smoother, fluffier and tastes better. It’s really not much more work than using a can, it just takes a little more preparation and advanced planning since you have to soak the beans overnight and boil them. Plus there isn’t any added sodium or preservatives when you used dried beans. The recipe has just a hint of spiciness and no garlic because I don’t like to have garlic breath, of course if you want garlic or more spice go ahead and add. Here’s the recipe:

6 oz organic dried garbanzo beans soaked overnight

1/4 cup organic cold pressed olive oil extra virgin

1/4 cup organic tahini (no salt added)

1 Tbsp organic ground cumin

1/2 Tbsp organic ground paprika

1/4 tsp organic cayenne pepper

3/4 tsp himalayan crystal salt

1 – 2 Tbsp fresh organic  lemon juice (~1/2 a lemon)

1/4 cup of water + more if needed

After you soak your beans overnight, bring them to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Simmer for about 2 to 2.5 hours or until the beans are soft and tender (which is whenever I remember that they’re sitting on the stove). Turn heat off and cool slightly. Add beans to food processor with slotted spoon, add all other ingredients, blend until smooth. Add more water if needed. Serve however you see fit.