Veggie club :)

[dramasnot6]

Wow! Look at all these WONDERFUL veggie recipes! THank you so much you guys! I am really ashamed to say you have all reduced me to drooling Let me go look for some of my favorite ones! Thanks for reccomending it Logos!

[dramasnot6]

Broccoli salad:

4 stalks raw broccoli, cut into small bite size florets/pieces (I peel the stalks and use them too) so that you have about 6 cups total
4 medium sized carrots _thinly_ sliced
½ cup red onion, minced
1 green onion, finely sliced
½ cup red pepper, diced
½ cup dried cranberries or raisins
½ cup sunflower seeds and or sesame seeds
½ cup parsley, roughly chopped

Dressing:
2 tablespoons balsamic/rice wine/apple cider/red wine vinegar (I prefer apple cider because it is sweeter and seems to lend itself best to this combination YMMV)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 cup of feta cheese, crumbled (beef or goat)
1 cup cottage or ricotta cheese

Mix dressing in separate bowl first, then combine it with the broccoli etc. Chill in fridge for a few hours before eating

YUMMY! I have all those ingredients in my house today too! Perhaps I will make it for my mom for lunch and tell you how it turns out Thanks!

[dramasnot6]

I like barley and when it is cold out this is nice soup:

From Vegetarian Times...


*edit*
No moralizing intended but a diet high in saturated fat and cholesterol (which meat has, although some cuts are leaner than others) does shorten the life span, and a diet high in fiber/vitamin rich foods (vegetables, fruits, legumes) has been shown to lessen the incidence of certain types of cancers and is more heart healthy. This is not to say that the only way to be healthy is to cut out all meat, it is just to say that one can have a high quality healthy diet without it.

Thank you very much Kathy! I wholeheartedly agree. As most of my friends are teenage girls, they are constantly obsessing over their weight and diet and ask me what to reccomend them. I always like to explain the more ideal, traditional "mediterranean" diet that is much less extreme then veganism or the like but considered very healthy is done in a balanced way. It concentrates on olive oil, lean meats like poultry and seafood(they are not so bad, it is really the red stuff that will be bad for your heart and arteries), lean dairy like feta, lots of fruit, whole grains, and lots of veggies. I am vegan for a large set of reasons and discovered long ago that it is morally wrong to try to change someone's diet for another person. If someone is to make a change in such an important area(you ARE what you eat ) they should be totally comfortable with it.

[dramasnot6]

anyways, there's no need to feel offended by vegetarians. I know that lots of them go around preaching and trying to convert people, but I'm sure that's not what drama intended. If you like meat, go ahead and eat as much of it as you want. (of course, you could try organic meat. NOT because it's a noble thing to do but because organic meat happens to taste much better and our Uncle Virgil deserves it )

Thank you sleepy! And you are right, that was not my intention at all and I apologize if the OP came off that way. I too support organic/free range meat! Cuts down on animal cruelty and is much healthier.

[dramasnot6]

From a great site, but edited it a little to how i find it tastes best, http://www.veganchef.com/


1 cup Gala apples, unpeeled, cored, and diced
1 cup orange, cut into segments
1 T. orange juice
1 cup mung bean sprouts
1/3 cup celery, finely diced
3 T. green onion, thinly sliced
3 T. almonds, roughly chopped
1/3 - 1/2 cup French dressing( I usually skip on this because it has sugar in it and substitute a vinegar mix), divided
1 1/2 cups spinach, triple washed, patted dry, and roughly chopped
4 - 6-inch pita breads, split


In a glass bowl, place the apples and oranges, drizzle the orange juice over the top, and toss gently to combine. Add the mung bean sprouts, celery, green onions, and almonds, and toss gently with the apple-orange mixture. Drizzle 1/4 cup of the Dijon French Dressing(or vinegar ) over the top and toss gently. Add the chopped spinach and enough additional Dijon French Dressing to moisten the mixture, and toss well to combine. Fill each pita bread half with 1/2 cup of the mixture and serve 2 pita bread halves per person.

Serves 4

[SleepyWitch]

Palak Paneer

Ingredients:

Spinach (Palak)
cheese pieces (Paneer) I searched and I found that it is 'acid-set fresh mozzarella' without salt
garlic
onions
oil
salt
green chillies / red chillies

Preparation:

1. Boil the Spinach
2. Mash it, and make a paste of it.
3. fry the cheese pieces until golden brown and keep aside.
4. In a frying pan, heat the oil
5. Fry the chopped onions (you can also fry its paste instead)
6. Put garlic and chillies, and fry some more.
7. Now put the spinach paste and simmer, and let it cook for some time. Add salt at this point.
8. Add the cheese pieces and let it simmer again.

After a while when you see that all is mixed and cooked well, its ready to be served.

It will look something like this :

wow, that sounds delicious. i think i've had it at a restaurant once.

all your recipes sound great! too bad i only have a small stove. but my bf and me will move to a different flat together soon, so I'll have a big kitchen! then I'll try all your recipes

[dramasnot6]

Who here never had to be told to eat their veggies when they were a kid?

[Adudaewen]

I have to interject my small little opinion. As I said before, I am a failed veggie; my love of meat is too much. However, that being said, I love cows and chickens and sheep alive and I sincerely believe that any creature of God should be treated with respect regardless of its ultimate use. So if an animal is to be eaten I believe it should be treated humanely from birth to the slaughter house. And I refuse to eat veal. I think its cruel what they do to the claves for veal. And Americans eat too damned much meat. I totally agree. I think that you should eat meat at MOST twice a day and it should be 3 oz. per serving. Not like my family who eat meat I swear like 5 times a day and 12 oz per serving. *shiver* I weep for their arteries.

[Schokokeks]

I'm a vegetarian, too.
I have stopped eating meat 5 years ago, and after 3 years I also stopped discussing it with people. You can find statistics for both views, arguing back and forth that this way is healthier and that way is more natural. I think eating habits are a very personal thing, where no rational arguments can justifiably apply, unless you want to convince someone (and obviously there are veggie preachers and meat preachers, each provoked by the presence of the other).

Palak Paneer

Ingredients:

Spinach (Palak)
cheese pieces (Paneer) I searched and I found that it is 'acid-set fresh mozzarella' without salt
garlic
onions
oil
salt
green chillies / red chillies

Maddiiiiiiie !!! That's my absolute favourite recipe !!!
There's a Pakistani restaurant in the street next to my university building, and every Friday I'm taking Palak Paneer there for lunch. It so totally delicious! I always think of you and Pensive when eating it . The waiter is a very friendly guy, he's even teaching me the right accent to say "palak paneer" (I'm doing badly, I'm afraid ).
Thank you so much for the recipe, though I don't think I'll dare to cook it at home, since I might spoil the good memory of it .

[Adudaewen]

hmmmmm, all you guys can come over and cook for me anytime!

[dramasnot6]

I have to interject my small little opinion. As I said before, I am a failed veggie; my love of meat is too much. However, that being said, I love cows and chickens and sheep alive and I sincerely believe that any creature of God should be treated with respect regardless of its ultimate use. So if an animal is to be eaten I believe it should be treated humanely from birth to the slaughter house. And I refuse to eat veal. I think its cruel what they do to the claves for veal. And Americans eat too damned much meat. I totally agree. I think that you should eat meat at MOST twice a day and it should be 3 oz. per serving. Not like my family who eat meat I swear like 5 times a day and 12 oz per serving. *shiver* I weep for their arteries.

most agreed Adu! If everyone who ate meat ate free range, organic meat I would be a much happier person, and they would all be healthier to boot.

[dramasnot6]

hmmmmm, all you guys can come over and cook for me anytime!

I would love to cook for everyone! We ought to have one big ol' LitNet feast where we can all read excerpt from our favorite Lit during the meal

[Logos]

So if an animal is to be eaten I believe it should be treated humanely from birth to the slaughter house. And I refuse to eat veal. I think its cruel what they do to the claves for veal.

I don't want to get into a debate about animal treatment, but I don't see the confinement of veal calves any more cruel than the confinement of poultry in cages and/or hundreds of them in very small spaces, and cattle in feedlots/dairy barns. Most of the meat production industry prospers on the smallest use of space for the max. amount of meat produced.

I am very grateful that within a 20km radius of where I live there are free-range steroid-free organic farms where I can get eggs/poultry/beef.

dramas, let me if/when you try the salad. When I serve it to guests they look incredulously at it like they just don't know what to think, that it's an odd combination of things, but they always seem to like it

[Logos]

Palak Paneer

Ah ok! so they are the same. I've tried different cheeses, mozzarella like in your recipe, Bocconcini, and mild cheddar, or you can use tofu too I find it helps if you dredge the cheese and/or tofu in flour before frying to get a slightly crispy coating, plus lots of basmati on the side

[LPRox015]

Thank you Mira for inviting me to participate in your Veggie Club thread. This was a great idea. It's nice to meet some people who are also vegetarian, like myself. All my friends here at home aren't vegetarian so the support is nice. THank you very much!

Everyone must try the Palak Paneer if they haven't already. Thanks Mad for posting the recipe. It's really yummy!