Fresh & Fast Vegetarian_ Recipes That Make a Meal - Marie Simmons [20]
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Make a Meal
Serve with Twice-Cooked Broccoli Rabe with Red Pepper and Garlic Oil ([>]).
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EASY BASIC VEGETABLE BROTH Vegan
Quick, easy and great to have on hand in the freezer, this vegetable broth is far better than the boxed broths on supermarket shelves. It's based on staple aromatic vegetables—onions, carrots, celery, and garlic—but if I have shiitake mushrooms or Swiss chard stems in the freezer, a few green beans, a chunk of parsnip, a piece of zucchini or other unassertive-tasting vegetables, I add them to the pot. Avoid strongly flavored vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower or turnips. Often I save bits and pieces of vegetables in a zip-top plastic freezer bag and add those too. Sometimes I rescue the vegetables and give them another life in a second soup (see Vegetable, Black-Eyed Pea and Orzo Soup, [>]).
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Makes 8 cups
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
2 celery stalks, cut into ¼-inch slices
2 medium carrots, cut into ¼-inch slices
2 leafy sprigs fresh Italian parsley
3 garlic cloves, grated
½ cup chopped fresh or canned tomatoes with juices or 1 tablespoon tomato paste (optional)
¼–½ cup shiitake mushroom stems or sliced cremini mushrooms (optional)
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon coarse salt
¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
Heat the oil in a soup pot until it is hot enough to sizzle a piece of onion. Add the onions and cook, stirring, over medium-low heat until the onions are golden, about 10 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, parsley and garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
Add 9 cups water, the tomatoes (if using), shiitake stems or mushrooms (if using), bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low so that the broth maintains a slow boil and cook, uncovered, for about 30 minutes.
Cool the broth. Place a strainer over a big bowl and carefully pour the broth through the strainer. Reserve the vegetables (see headnote). Divide the broth among freezer containers, label and freeze for 2 to 3 months or until needed.
Main and Side-Dish Salads
Main-Dish Salads
Red Rice Salad with Edamame, Tamari Walnuts and Ginger [>]
Black Rice, Mango and Sugar Snap Pea Salad [>]
Tomatoes and Potatoes with Avocado-Dill Dressing [>]
Toasted Bulgur, Tomato and Feta Salad [>]
Soba Noodle Salad with Snow Peas [>]
Toasted Quinoa, Corn and Avocado Salad [>]
Middle Eastern Bread Salad [>]
Side-Dish Salads
Green Bean, Corn, Tomato and Cucumber Salad [>]
Warm Green Bean and Tomato Salad with Mint [>]
Spinach, Avocado and Chopped-Egg Salad [>]
Shredded Tuscan Kale, Tomato and Avocado Salad [>]
Shredded Tuscan Kale Salad with Tamari and Sesame [>]
Summer Tomato and Olive Bread Salad [>]
Cabbage, Pineapple and Peanut Salad [>]
Curried Quinoa and Apple Salad with Dried Cranberries [>]
Salad Dressings
Basic Vinaigrette [>]
Japanese Rice Vinaigrette with Ginger [>]
Vegetarian salads offer, in one bold, often brilliant stroke, all the elements that any good meal requires: crisp texture, bright color, juiciness and contrasting sweet and acid notes. Add to that the zing of a tangy dressing, a hint of salt and the comforting crunch of nuts or seeds, and you have all sorts of possibilities.
Keep in mind that the base of your salad—lettuce, spinach and other leafy greens—is primarily comprised of water. That moisture begins to evaporate once the greens are picked and continues as they are transported from the field, to the warehouse, to the market and, finally, to your vegetable bin. But you can reverse the dehydration at least partially by giving the greens a good soaking in cold water. The result is the starting point for a fresh,