A Veggie Month in Review

Thought I would take an opportunity to showcase some of the delicious vegetarian/vegan meals we have had this month.

We made an awesome vegetable stir fry with just about every vegetable you can think of (broccoli, zucchini, eggplant, celery, carrot, onion, bamboo, corn, etc.) with tofu and a great hoisin sauce.

The sauce is pretty simple, if you have the ingredients laying around.  I realize not every family has a jar of hoisin in the fridge...

Hoisin Stir Fry Sauce

3 tablespoons hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

1 cup water or vegetable broth

2 cloves chopped garlic

1 teaspoon fresh chopped ginger
corn starch to thicken the sauce

Mix all ingredients together in small saucepan and simmer for a few minutes.  You can toss in the sauce when the vegetables and tofu are almost done stir frying, then stir fry for another few minutes to coat the vegetables. The recipe makes a fair amount of sauce, so you may have some left over.

Here's a simple roasted vegetable and pasta dish, made by tossing the vegetables in olive oil, roasting them in the oven, then mixing together with hot pasta and a scoop or two of part-skim ricotta, salt and pepper.

 

We also had roasted beets.  For those of you who think you hate beets, have you ever tried fresh beets instead of canned ones? I will admit that canned beets can be offputting (although I do like those, too), but fresh beets are firm, sweet and delicious. They are also high in iron.

My friend, R, worked hard to create a vegan Thanksgiving dinner (early, I know). 

The meal was complete with mashed yams, mashed potatoes, great stuffing, mushroom gravy, brussel sprouts and vegan sausage. Yes, vegan sausage, and it was pretty darn good.   It's hard to capture these smushy foods on camera, although here is my best shot.  It kind of looks a mess, but it was scrumptious.

There has been so much more, just didn't want to stuff it all into one little post! 

As I mentioned before, we have been really good about our committment this month.  Husband has cheated three times (!), and I cheated once at a baby shower by eating half of a meatball.  (That darn meatball!!  It burns in my mind).  We are going to try to continue with this vegetarian diet.  Husband has experienced fewer stomach problems, although ultimately he will probably have to get the surgery.  However, even after the surgery, since gallstones can come back, a healthy diet is recommended anyway.  We are going to be setting a great example for our Emma and getting her the right start to a healthy lifestyle.