The Amateur Gourmet

I just finished reading an Advanced reader's copy of The Amateur Gourmet: How to Shop, Chop, and Table Hop Like a Pro (Almost) and I enjoyed it. It was by no means the best written book about food ever but I have read much worse. The author visits such topics as knives and knife skills, eating out, shopping, and cooking for family. Every chapter includes recipes that relate to one of the recipes he talked about in that chapter.
The author runs the Amateur Gourmet blog and the writing does reflect that blog style of writing. . .quick, witty, and occasionally without substance but that is okay because the flaws in the book are outweighed with the positives. I would recommend this book to anyone who is just getting into the whole cooking and creating better food life (like me). There is a lot in there that is relatable but it would have been better without some of the overblown food descriptions.

Why Vegetarian?

One of the girls I work with asked me why I eat a lot of vegetarian food. It was a very good question so I thought I would share my reasons.
1)I am dating a vegetarian so if I am cooking I might as well cook things we both can eat. Besides, he was a junk food vegetarian. Before I moved in there were no fresh fruits or veggies in the house.
2)Economics. Eating vegetarian is actually cheaper than eating an animal based diet. As long as you avoid the gimmicky pre-made faux burgers or fake chicken eating a plant based diet can definitely stretch the dollars.
3)Environmental. I gave up eating beef awhile ago because cows are a leading factor of global warming. Granted I still drink milk but at least I am doing a small part.
4)Health. Vegetarian men have lower rates of prostate cancer. Nuff said!

Warm Balsamic Potato Salad

On Thanksgiving I made this dish instead of the traditional mashed potatoes and I'm glad I did. This was amazing!

Ingredients:
2 lbs redskin potatoes (not peeled)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 small red onion chopped fine
2 Tbs chopped black olives
6 capers chopped
8 sun dried tomatoes drained and chopped
5 Tbs chopped parsley
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Roast potatoes in oven for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Be sure to oil them and lightly salt before putting in the oven. Turn the potatoes occasionally during cooking.
2. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and let sit at room temperature while potatoes cook
3. Remove potatoes from oven and lightly smash with a fork then cut in quarters. Toss the warm potatoes with the dressing and serve.

Simple, easy, and really freaking delicious

Sexy Vegetarian

Today's sexy vegetarian is Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam fame

Veggie Blog

I found another great vegetarian blog. Vegetarian Foodie has some great recipes. I particularly like the Edamame and Beet Zing Salad. Stop by and check out some of her other great recipes.

YUCK!

Not all of my experiments turn out well. As a matter of fact today's was horrid! I tried to make a fried butternut squash patty that had parsley, feta cheese, and pine nuts in it and it was utterly horrid. In fact, my dinner companion was quite convinced I was trying to poison him. That's the price he pays for living with an avid food experimenter. I haven't heard him complain when it all turns out well though.

Easy Cabbage Soup

I love this recipe for easy cabbage soup. It doesn't take long to make and it tastes fantastic!

Ingredients:
1 small savoy cabbage (or kale)shredded
3 Tbs olive oil
3 carrots
2 15oz cans veggie stock
1/2 cup short grain rice
2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
croûtons (for garnish)


Heat oil and garlic in large pot then add cabbage and carrots stirring to coat. Next stir in the broth 3 cups of water, cayenne pepper, and then salt and pepper to taste. Boil then bring down to a simmer for about 15 minutes.

Stir in the rice and simmer covered for another 15 minutes.

That's it! Simple, cheap, and tasty. Garnish with croûtons and serve it up.

Vegetarian Sandwich

One of my favorite, easy meals to make is a veggie sandwich. I toast up some whole wheat bread and spread whatever savory cream cheese I have at the time on it then I pile on the veggies. I usually put sliced cucumber, tomato, and mushrooms on with some bean sprouts added. To add a bit of a bite to it I'll sometimes pop some mustard or radish greens on. Quick, cheap, and easy.

Vegan Replacements: Milk

I was eavesdropping on a conversation at work when I heard a one of the girls complaining that it was so difficult to find good vegan recipes and that all she could find were vegetarian recipes. That shouldn't be a problem because there are all sorts of different things you can use to replace non-vegan ingredients. There are other variations besides the old standby of soy milk that can be substituted in recipes calling for milk. Soy milk is a very strong tasting liquid so in desserts you can substitute any sort of nut milk (such as almond milk). Nut milks also do well in soups. Rice and oat milk are both very neutral tasting but rice milk is so watery that oat milk should be the choice for most recipes unless you actually want a thinner consistency. It is fun to play around with the various other options out there to see what flavors they add to recipes. I am not a vegan but it is fun to try the almond, rice, and sometimes even coconut milks to get a different taste and texture.

How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

I bought the best cook book EVER today. Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food (How to Cook Everything). Wow, I should be writing but I can't put this book down. It covers almost everything from how to buy your produce to how to clean and cook it along with fantastic recipes. He gives you tips on what are the essentials of a vegetarian kitchen and what are the basic, and not so basic, essentials for a kitchen. It sounds stupid but I just can't put this darn book down. It is a rare cook book that truly lives up to its full retail value and this is definitely one of them.

Meatless Meals For Working People

A great resource that I found for quick and easy vegetarian meals is the book Meatless Meals For Working People: Quick And Easy Vegetarian Recipes (Meatless Meals for Working People). I actually picked up a copy on sale at the Book Loft and I love it. All the recipes are centered around the fact that people lead busy lives and don't always have the time (or the money) to create fancy feasts like you see in a lot of cookbooks. There are even sections on creating a quick, easy, vegan diet using convenience foods (prepackaged foods). The author even broke it up to age ranges and genders to make sure each part of the population got a balanced diet and the nutrition they need. There is also a little section in the book detailing what fast food places are veg friendly.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

I just came across a great recipe for toasted pumpkin seeds. We still have a huge bag of seeds in the fridge from when we carved pumpkins on Sunday so tonight I'm going to try something a bit different. Instead of just toasting them for 20 minutes with salt on a pan I'm going to lightly coat the pan with olive oil then toss the seeds with equal parts of salt and cinnamon. You are supposed to turn the seeds every 5 minutes for 20 minutes. The total amount of seasoning to be used is about 1 tsp salt mixed with 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Every time you turn the seeds sprinkle in more of the cinnamon and salt mixture to get some on all the seeds.