Our vegetarian and vegan friends are often hard-pressed at the Thanksgiving table. Since holiday meals are so much about connecting with family and friends, we look to be as inclusive as possible. So we want to offer everyone a main dish besides green bean casserole and mashed potatoes. We offer here some of the standout Thanksgiving ideas from the Serious Foodie chefs as well as other resources. These dishes are so delicious, we’re sure that they will also appeal to the carnivores among us. PASTA While many people are watching their carbs, Thanksgiving is one of those holidays when you have to take a break from the diet. There are many possibilities, including a lot of gluten-free versions. We published this lovely Sicilian pasta recipe which uses tri-colored cauliflower, but can easily be made with standard cauliflower, broccoli, broccoli rabe, or various combinations. Click HERE to read the recipe. Gnocchi is a perfect fall dish – hardy, filling, and very versatile. This recipe comes from the Salt and Wind website (click HERE for their recipe), and there are plenty of others to try. We like trying different veggie versions – spinach, kale, and even a great red beet gnocchi recipe. We […]
Tag: Vegetarian
Diet with Paleo or Veggie?
Paleo or vegetarian? It’s a hard choice when trying to lose some weight, and wanting to maintain a healthy diet (we’re not going to be making any value judgments on meat versus vegetables here). We tried a strict vegetarian diet – and lost hardly any weight. Too many legumes and grains drove our carb load up. It’s not impossible, just hard. But we’re not knocking the veggie/vegan trend at all, but we just need to lose a few pounds. And many of us do like our meat. Here’s our compromise: 3 days vegetarian, 3 days paleo. We leave one day for “cheating”, adding maybe a bit of carb. So far, so good. After a few weeks, we’re down a few pounds. When we do our vegetarian thing, we absolutely need and want flavor. But without adding much in the way of calories. So here’s a few tricks: • Use sauces. Lots of flavor packed into a small amount of calories. Our favorites are Serious Foodie Korean sauce and sriracha (the natural, organic stuff if you can find it). • Flavored oils and vinegars. If you like mushroom, then drizzle a bit of truffle oil over anything. Not cheap stuff, but […]
Slaw Is Not Just Cabbage
Roasted Vegetable Salad with Blood Orange/Aji Panca Sauce
Easy Gourmet for Holiday Meals: Side Dish Recipes
Holiday meals are so much about connecting with family and friends. Everyone has their favorite dish, from green bean casserole to mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. We offer here some of the standout sides from the Serious Foodie chefs, as well as from other experts – old standards, along with a number of dishes inspired from our favorite international regional cuisines. These dishes can also serve as vegetarian main dishes. The Serious Foodie Peruvian Blood Orange Sauce is a great complement to most any vegetable dish, but especially butternut squash (click HERE) and roasted vegetables (click HERE). It might be too cold in some areas to grill, but you can simply broil vegetables on a skewer, and finish with some seasoning salt (for instance, try one of the Serious Foodie spice rubs, such as Asian Fusion or TexMex rub on any vegetable dish – click HERE). We provide a full recipe on grilled vegetables HERE. We love green leafy vegetables – especially kale and Swiss chard. Here are two very simple recipes for delicious healthy side dishes. Pan roasted kale and veggies Braised Swiss Chard We came across a series of Moroccan carrot recipes, which can be served warm […]
Pump Up Your Butternut Squash with Peruvian Blood Orange Sauce
Butternut squash might be fall’s most versatile, but potentially the most boring, vegetable. While you can put it in soups, salads, and pasta (and even dessert), it has a danger of being bland it left on its own. We have a simple way to up your game with butternut squash – add some flavorful, slightly exotic Serious Foodie Peruvian Blood Orange sauce to the mix (click HERE to purchase, or find it at a store near you). In this recipe, we’re serving the squash mashed – mashed squash makes a versatile side dish throughout the fall and winter, since it goes with just about everything. It’s perfect with roasted meats like duck, chicken or pork loin – or as a hearty side with a vegetarian meal. Don’t mash too much though — leave it on the chunky side. Alternatively, you can just roast the squash, then pour a bit of the Blood Orange Sauce over the top when serving. Mashed Butternut Squash with Peruvian Blood Orange Sauce Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 1 hour 10 mins Serves: Serves 4-6 This recipe also works well with sweet potatoes or yams. Ingredients 2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, […]
Turn the Beet Around: Simple, Tasty, Healthy Quinoa Salad with Beets & Oranges
For the Love of Carrots – Moroccan Carrot Salads
Spicy Moroccan Carrot Salad: picture Tal Ronnen There is a wonderful Israeli restaurant in Philadelphia called Zahav – and we had the pleasure to sample many wonderful dishes with associate Serious Foodies Lisa and Randy. There were many outstanding dishes, many of which were vegetarian – but the standout was their spicy carrot salad (see last recipe below). We came across a few recipes this weekend, and wanted to share with our readers – they are simple and elegant, the type of dish you want to do for a party or your significant other. We are reprinting our favorites, and we hope that you’ll be intrigued enough to try a few. Spicy Moroccan Carrot Salad Recipe Type: Vegetarian Cuisine: Moroccan Author: Tal Ronnen Prep time: 1 hour Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 1 hour 10 mins Serves: Serves 4 This recipe was found at the Joy of Kosher website (click HERE for the original version). Recipe reprinted from Crossroads by Tal Ronnen. Ingredients 1 ½ pounds small rainbow carrots (about 24), tops trimmed 8 dried red chilies, such as guajillo, stems removed ½ cup red wine vinegar 3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped 1 teaspoon ground cumin ½ teaspoon […]
Strata & Romesco Sauce: Fancy Egg Casserole by Another Name
[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text] Whether you spell it strata or stratta or simply egg casserole, you find this savory egg bread pudding throughout Europe – and anywhere else where you have leftover bread. You always start with bread, eggs, and cheese – then you decide what else you’d like. You can keep it strictly vegetarian with an array of possibilities – or you can go in the carnivorous direction by adding various meats. Think quiche when constructing the ingredients for your strata. We did a survey of on-line recipes, and found quite a few that we liked (the best were on Martha Stewart, of course), and tried a few in our test kitchen. Some failed because of lack of taste or texture – so here we will give you a fool-proof version, then add some real class with the Serious Foodie Romesco Sauce. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_separator color=”grey” align=”align_center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text] The keys to a good strata are few but all important: Find the best ingredients. If you see some wonderful in-season vegetable at the store or farmer’s market, grab it (asparagus is quite brilliant right now). You must start with dried out bread – either stale, or toasted. We preferred toasted bread for our […]
Risotto-Style Pasta
[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text] Strange as it might sound, you can easily adapt risotto-making techniques to cook spaghetti. Just think about the parallels: most people boil or steam rice, but the risotto technique toasts the grain in fat before adding liquid. Likewise, spaghetti can be toasted first before adding liquid, instead of boiling (it’s important that the pasta is relatively thin to cook properly). This technique gives the added benefit of inducing more flavor into the pasta via the cooking liquid, as we do with risotto (see our Risotto Primer for the general cooking technique: click HERE). This is not a new application of the risotto technique. In fact, it brings us back to the Rice-a-Roni product – rice and small pieces of pasta – that was first sauteed in butter, then cooking liquid was added. The great Spanish chef, Ferran Adrià, created a well-known dish of toasted pasta with clams (click HERE to see the recipe on FoodandWine.com). We have been using a version of this recipe for several years, utilizing whole grain pasta for a healthier choice. There are many options for whole grain spaghetti, including those made from quinoa or spelt. In the Serious Foodie version, we show you […]
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