College Vegetarian Cooking_ Feed Yourself and Your Friends - Megan Carle [12]
Serves 4
1 onion
4 zucchini
2 tomatoes
2 tablespoons canola oil
½ cup breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper
2 cups grated mozzarella or Jack cheese
Peel and coarsely chop the onion. Remove and discard the ends of the zucchini. Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise, then cut into ¼-inch-thick slices. Cut the tomatoes in half, remove the seeds by scraping them out of the tomato with a small tool or your finger, and cut into 1-inch pieces.
Place the canola oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and zucchini and cook, stirring occasionally, for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the zucchini starts to soften. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the breadcrumbs and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the cheese over the zucchini, cover, and cook without stirring for 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Serve immediately.
Bargain Shopper:
Cheese can be expensive, but there are ways to lessen the bite. If you’re like me and use a lot of cheese, you can purchase large bags of grated cheese at a warehouse store, or just buy a lot when it’s on sale at the supermarket. Either way, store it in your freezer, and just take out what you need each time. Once the bag is opened, put the cheese in a heavy (freezer style) zip-top bag and squeeze all the air out before you seal it.
Lentil Soup
Who doesn’t like lentil soup? This soup is as easy as cutting up a few vegetables and putting them in the pot. The hard part—if you’re hungry—is waiting for it to cook. This is great on a cold fall day when you need a little something to warm you up. It reheats really well, and you can even freeze it if you have any extra. –M
Serves 4 to 6
1 onion
1 carrot
2 stalks celery
2 cloves garlic
1 pound lentils
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
10 cups water
½ cup frozen chopped spinach or a handful of fresh chopped spinach
Salt and pepper
Peel the onion and carrot and cut into ½-inch pieces. Trim and discard the ends of the celery and dice into ½-inch pieces. Peel and finely chop the garlic or put it through a garlic press. Rinse the lentils in a sieve and pick through them to remove any foreign objects.
Place the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the onion is translucent. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, and Italian seasoning, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the lentils, tomatoes, and water to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 hour.
Just prior to serving, stir in the spinach and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until warm. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Cooking 101:
Don’t let directions telling you to remove any foreign objects from lentils freak you out. It’s not as scary as it sounds. Because the lentil plants grow close to the ground, it’s very common for small stones to get picked up during harvesting. You just need to run your fingers through them as you are rinsing them and take a close look to make sure there aren’t any stones.
Asian Salad
Asian Salad
This recipe was inspired by an amazing salad I had at an organic restaurant near my house. I love all of the fun stuff in it. The sweetness of the pineapple and the crunch of the chow mein noodles and almonds are a fabulous combination. And the dressing is light, so it doesn’t weigh down the salad. It’s a perfect hot weather dish. You can get dried pineapple in the bulk food section of a supermarket, or you can usually find them by the other dried fruits. –J
Serves 4
1 head Chinese (napa) cabbage
3 green onions
¾ cup dried pineapple chunks
2 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon peeled, minced fresh ginger
1½ cups dried chow mein noodles
¾ cup sliced almonds
Rinse the Chinese cabbage, chop it coarsely, and place it in a large bowl. Trim the green onions, discarding the ends, and cut the white and about 1 inch of the green part into thin slices;