Let me tell you, it is NOT EASY being a vegetarian in the booming metropolis of Baton Rouge, LA. I am generally either at work or on the go, so my diet sadly consists of a lot of processed food- but even vegetarian processed food isn't always easy to come across in Baton Rouge. We recently got a new Trader Joe's here in Baton Rouge, so my work diet consists of their prepackaged salads and frozen Mexican TV dinners. When I'm out eating if I'm lucky I'm stuck with a black bean burger or garden sandwich, but often I'm stuck with ordering items off the side menu- French fries, steamed veggies, and lettuce and a cherry tomato in a condiment bowl, anyone? When I do have time to prepare my food in advance I'm a creature of habit and find myself making the same things almost every time. I make tons of salads topped with olives, corn, tomatoes, sunflower seeds, and anything else you could imagine putting on a salad that didn't previously have eyes. I also make simple black bean salads consisting of a can of rinsed black beans, a can of rinsed corn, a can of drained rotel tomatoes, lime, and whatever seasoning I feel like putting in there. Sometimes I get all fancy and add quinoa or tvp cooked taco filling style, use fresh ingredients in lieu of canned, top with cheese or Greek yogurt (an excellent sour cream substitute, by the way), and add other veggies like chopped bell peppers and purple onions.
The TVP I speak of is super easy to make- I heat two cups of water to boiling and remove from heat, and mix in half a cup of TVP and a packet of taco seasoning. Some people add a tablespoon of soy sauce or Bragg's liquid aminos but I find that to be unnecessary. Wait about 10 minutes and kazam! Taco filling that's much better than the "ground beef substitute" they try to hock in the freezer section. Seriously, who do they think they're trying to fool with that nasty crap? Use it as a burrito filling or put in a taco shell with lettuce, tomatoes and cheese or faux cheese, you're golden.
I also snack on these "real food bars", whatever they mean by that. The brand is called Barre and I love the spirulina and the cinnamon pecan flavors. They're excellent to keep in your purse for when you're stuck on the road with nothing but snickers bars and potato chips in sight.
So that's pretty much my diet in a nutshell. The lack of variety may be unhealthy but it's delicious, so things even out. So what do you other vegetarians/vegans out there exist on? Let's swap recipes, I obviously need to mix it up some.
Lets go have a steak
ReplyDeleteSounds absolutely fabulous. Your treat!
DeleteOk its on the house so no costs to you at all. Esp since i just worked my off day :)
DeleteRatatouille’s Ratatouille
ReplyDeleteAs envisioned by Smitten Kitchen
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1 cup tomato puree (such as Pomi)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small eggplant (my store sells these “Italian Eggplant” that are less than half the size of regular ones; it worked perfectly)
1 smallish zucchini
1 smallish yellow squash
1 longish red bell pepper
Few sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
Few tablespoons soft goat cheese, for serving
(I am not vegan so I eat cheese but i love veggies!!!!! you may knw of a good sub.)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Pour tomato puree into bottom of an oval baking dish, approximately 10 inches across the long way. Drop the sliced garlic cloves and chopped onion into the sauce, stir in one tablespoon of the olive oil and season the sauce generously with salt and pepper.
Trim the ends off the eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash. As carefully as you can, trim the ends off the red pepper and remove the core, leaving the edges intact, like a tube.
On a mandoline, adjustable-blade slicer or with a very sharp knife, cut the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper into very thin slices, approximately 1/16-inch thick.
Atop the tomato sauce, arrange slices of prepared vegetables concentrically from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping so just a smidgen of each flat surface is visible, alternating vegetables. You may have a handful leftover that do not fit.
Drizzle the remaining tablespoon olive oil over the vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs with your fingertips, running them down the stem. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the dish.
Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside. (Tricky, I know, but the hardest thing about this.)
Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, until vegetables have released their liquid and are clearly cooked, but with some structure left so they are not totally limp. They should not be brown at the edges, and you should see that the tomato sauce is bubbling up around them.
Serve with a dab of soft goat cheese(or a substitute you may know of) on top, alone, or with some crusty French bread, atop polenta, couscous, or your choice of grain.
Awesome, I'm definitely Going to have to give this a try- it looks delicious! Thank you!!!
Delete