Meat-Free Living!

We have now finished our third week of eating a meat-free diet and couldn’t be happier!  After watching Forks over Knives during our Christmas visit to Arizona, we made a decision to give it a try it.  I basically just live on cheese, so for me, it’s pretty easy. Nick on the other hand LOVES meat, so I thought it was going to be difficult for him to stick with it, but we are both finding that we don’t miss it AT ALL.  We have been eating some fish (maybe once or twice a week) and eggs on Saturday, but other than that, it is plant-heavy. Yum yum! Since we aren't eating meat, lots of people have been asking us what we eat, so I thought I would share some of our favorite dishes:

Mint & Chile Brussels Sprouts:

I actually made these for this past Thanksgiving and they were the star of the meal!  Very surprising, because people normally think they don’t like Brussels sprouts, but this is an EASY, no-fail recipe from Epicurious.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and cut in half
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
• 1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and sliced lengthwise 1/4 inch thick (I just cut mine in half – which is better)
• 1/3 cup water (or less)
• 1 teaspoon fresh mint

1) Heat oil with red pepper flakes in a 12-inch heavy skillet (preferably straight-sided) over medium-high heat until it shimmers.

2) Sauté Brussels sprouts with 1/2 teaspoon salt until crisp-tender, about 6 minutes.

3) Add beans and continue to sauté several minutes.

4) Add water and boil until evaporated and vegetables are just tender, about 2 minutes.

5) Remove from heat and stir in mint. Season with salt (optional).

Veggie Stir Fry:

Luckily I have a husband that loves to cook (and I love to just make stuff up), so we colaborate well in the kitchen together.  This receipe is really just a bunch of veggies chopped/sliced and thrown into a hot skillet with some organic hoisin sauce from Whole Foods, then served over brown rice noodles.  Easy!

Ingredients:

• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 small head of broccoli - florets only
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms of your choice
• 1 package Annie Chuns Maifun Brown Rice Noodle
• 3 stalks of celery
• Organic Hoisin Sauce to taste (Whole Foods 365 is good and low on sodium)  

1. After chopping and slicing all of the veggies, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a sautee pan until quite hot and then add all veggies.

2. Begin to soak the brown rice noodles in warm water (per the directions).

3. Once vegetables are tender, add noodles and desired amount of hoisin sauce. Toss together in the pan for a minute and serve.

 

Broccoli Soup:

Nick pulled this recipe from Gordon Ramsay.  It’s simple and amazing!  Most of the time we just eat it by itself, as it’s quite filling, but occasionally I will make a sharp cheddar and fresh basil grilled cheese to dip in it.  Talk about a humble, cozy dinner! 

Ingredients:

• 1 large head of broccoli  (as fresh as possible)
• Salt (we use Pink  Himalayan, but sea salt would work well, too)
• Fresh ground black pepper
• Water
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil  (try to use a good-quality EVOO, you’re going to taste it   when drizzled on the top!)

1. Bring water to a boil in a large stock pot. Add a large pinch of salt (1 – 1 1/2 Tbsp.). Add broccoli and boil rapidly.

2. Your broccoli is finished cooking when you can pierce it with little or no effort. Remove the stock pan from the stove burner. DO NOT POUR THE WATER OUT! Use a slotted spoon to add broccoli to a blender.

3. Pour enough of the water left over from cooking the broccoli to fill the blender half way. Add a pinch (or more) of salt. Use several pulses on your blender to break the broccoli up and then puree for several seconds.

4. Pour soup into shallow bowl. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and serve at once! Delicious!

Vegetable Curry:

Being English, Nick loves all things curried.  And me simply loving food, I love curry, too!  We recently went to some friends' house for Sunday dinner, who also eat meat-free, and they made a delicious veggie curry from Martha Stewart.  It was fantastic!

picture from marthastewart.com

  Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced small
• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon red curry paste
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (from a 13.5-ounce can)
• 1 sweet potato (about 3/4 pound), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 small cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 can (15.5 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• fresh cilantro, for serving

1. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high. Add mustard seeds and half the onion and cook, stirring often, until onion is soft, 3 minutes. Add rice and stir to combine. Add 1 1/2 cups water, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer; cook until water is absorbed and rice is tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.

2. Meanwhile, in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat 2 teaspoons oil over medium-high. Add remaining onion and cook, stirring often, until soft, 3 minutes. Add curry paste and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in coconut milk and 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Add sweet potato and cauliflower and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer until vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Stir chickpeas into curry and increase heat to high. Simmer rapidly until liquid reduces slightly, 2 minutes. Serve curry over rice with cilantro.