You may notice something different about our menus. Our son, Chris, has decided to go vegetarian…again. He has done this several times, starting at age 5 when he realized that the cows at Nana’s and Papa’s were the source of the hamburger on his plate. I’ve always indulged him in this, and also the time Lisa gave up meat for Lent. We aren’t huge meat eaters anyway, and even David is not one of those men who expects a big hunk of meat with every dinner. Chris is nearly 26 years old and capable of feeding himself so I don’t feel obligated to completely change our eating habits for him but I will try to accommodate him within reason.
I’ve been watching the documentary, Food, Inc. this past week so I was already primed to give up any meat that isn’t raised in a healthy, humane fashion. Until I make a trip to the nearest city, I don’t have any options for this sort of meat here in our little town. That means this week will be meatless. That’s okay, though. I have a decent collection of tasty vegetarian dishes and will be searching out some more (if you have any favorites that don’t include mushrooms or soy, please pass them along!). The other night I improvised my recipe for chicken enchiladas and made them without chicken or cream of chicken soup. All three of us agreed that they were better than the original recipe.
So, here’s my plan for the week:
Monday:
- pasta casserole (leftover spaghetti sauce, veggies, pasta, cheese)
- salad
- homemade breadsticks
Tuesday:
- Spanish Rice and Bean Pie*
- cornbread
- fresh veggies from the CSA box I will pick up that morning
Wednesday:
- lentil rice casserole*
- tortillas, grated cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, hot sauce
- fresh fruit
Thursday:
- large baked potatoes
- chili beans, cheese, sour cream as toppings
- candied carrots
- salad
Friday:
- French toast or pancakes
- scrambled eggs
- fruit smoothies
Saturday:
- will probably go out to eat with friends
Spanish Rice and Bean Pie
2 cans beans (pinto, red, black, whatever)
1 tsp. cumin
1 1/2 c. water
1 chicken bouillon cube (or veggie bouillon)
3/4 c. uncooked rice
3/4 c. chopped onion
3/4 c. chopped green or red pepper
1 Tbsp. butter
2 beaten eggs
1 1/2 c. cottage cheese
1/2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
Drain beans, place in large bowl and add cumin. Stir to coat all beans with cumin. Set aside.
Bring water and bouillon cube to a boil. Add rice and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.
Sauté green pepper and onion in butter until onion is tender. Add onion mixture and eggs to cooked rice. Oil a 9-inch pie pan and press rice mixture with spoon to form crust. Spread cottage cheese over crust and top with beans. Put shredded cheese on top. Bake at 325 degrees for 1/2 hour. Let it sit before cutting. Serve with hot sauce.
Note: This is the original recipe as given to me by a friend. I will substitute my homemade chicken broth from the freezer for the bouillon and water. Chris is okay with me using homemade chicken broth for now as I have quite a bit in the freezer. I will be making some vegetable broth soon, though.
Lentil Rice Casserole (A Sue Gregg Recipe):
1/4 garlic powder
Mix dry ingredients all together in a casserole dish, pour water/broth over it, cover tightly, and bake at 300 degrees for 2-2.5 hours, until water is absorbed. Remove cover for last 10 minutes and add shredded cheese to the top, if desired, to allow top to color a bit.
Note: Again, I will be using my homemade chicken broth in this. We like to serve this in heated, flour tortillas with cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream and salsa or hot sauce. It smells wonderful when it is cooking!
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this is my lasagna recipe:
about one quart of sauce. This can be homemade or in a jar. Use one you love, it's best if it it not very chunky. 10 lasagna noodles uncooked. Don't use the ones that are make to used uncooked, they are weird and don't work as well. Cottage cheese, one pint. 12-16 oz mozzarella cheese, grated. For filling, you can use ground turkey, turkey sausage or a nice mix of veggies. Tonight I used spinach, onion and grated carrot.
to make: In a 9×13 glass pan, poor about 1 cup of the sauce. Spread it around to the whole bottom of the pan is covered. Next, cover the sauce with uncooked noodles. I use 4 across, breaking off the corners so they fit and one broken piece across the end. Spoon half of the cottage cheese over the noodles. Try to spread it evenly. Then spread one half of the grated cheese all over the cottage cheese. Next use a cup – 1.5 cups of sauce, covering all as well as you can. Now it's time for the filling. This time I sauteed the veggies before, then spread them over the sauce. Use it all, this is when you would add the meat if you were using it. Now it's time for one more layer of noodles. Do it as described earlier. Next spread the last of the cottage cheese. The next layer is the rest of the sauce and finish it up with the last of the cheese.
Cover the dish with foil, being careful to touch the foil onto the cheese as little as possible. Bake for one hour at 350. At the end of the hour, remove the foil and bake for about 10 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
I probably could have written this in a shorter way, maybe with a list. But it's really easy and flexible. I rarely use meat in it, but it can be done that way for meat lovers.
I do use regular white wheat noodles. I know they are processed, but I simply can't deal with whole wheat noodles. And yes, I have tried. I didn't write the word organic on each organic ingredient. In my case they were all organically grown, but for people who use conventionally grown food, that works too.
I hope your family likes it, if you try it!
Sharon
Thanks, Sharon. That's essentially how I make my lasagna, too, although I use ricotta rather than cottage cheese. Fortunately, casserole-dishes like this are usually still really good minus the meat. Oh, and I agree with you about the whole wheat noodles. They are just too heavy for my taste.
oh yea, I meant to say you could use ricotta in place of the cottage cheese. For almost every ingredient in this recipe there are alternative choices.
Basically, if you use a good tasting sauce, it'll be good.
Sharon
That's one of the nice things about casserole-type dishes. They are usually very versatile.
Deanna – reading your post made me hungry! I'm a vegetarian so I love that you're doing all vegetarian and included a couple of recipes. I'm looking forward to the launch of your new cooking/recipe blog.
Cherie, do you have any favorite vegetarian recipes to share? When I get my new food blog up and running, I'll include a category for vegetarian recipes. Even those who do eat meat don't need to include it in every meal. It can be a money saver to include a few meatless, or "less meat" meals per week.