Vegan Recipes and Plant Based Cooking

I remember when my grandmother used to make roasted potatoes. She'd cook a whole chicken in a pan in the oven and surround it with cut up potato chunks. Every so often she would spoon some of the chicken ooze over the potatoes. What a flavor. These potatoes use no chicken or any other animals. But they have all the flavor and tenderness still the same. Ingredients 6 idaho potatoes cut into 1/2 inch chunks olive oil salt and pepper Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Roast potatoes with the skin on. The skin is delicious and healthful. Wash potatoes thoroughly. Use cold running water and rub the dirt off with your hands. Arrange cut potatoes in a microwave safe vessel. Microwave on high for 5 minutes. Let cool 2-3 minutes. Arrange potatoes on a baking sheet. Save microwave vessel for later storing potatoes. Sprinkle potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper. When oven is heated add potatoes and set timer for 35 minutes. Turn potatoes at the midway point of cooking. Remove form oven and te...

I do. And here's why. They have these mooing cow and clucking chicken sounds when you're in the dairy department. Ha. Ha. Very cute. As if the cows and chickens that made the milk and eggs are actually happy. Yea right. Totally offensive to someone who has watched the movie Food, Inc. Yet oddly, when one ventures over to the meat section, the moo and cluck sounds mysteriously vanish. Strange. I thought beef comes from cows and chicken from, well, chickens. What, no, oinks in the pork section? But why not? Wouldn't that be truth in advertising? To use the cow's moo and the chicken's cluck in the dairy section while only a few feet away those same animals are ground up and dead in styrofoam and plastic wrap seems unusually callous even for a supermarket. Therefore, I hate Shoprite.

Want to really eliminate obesity from America? There's a very simple solution. Eliminate meat. It's that easy. If we can tax cigarettes to death because they are supposedly bad for people, then we can do the same with meat. No one is going to buy $15 a pound ground beef. In a truly free society, as we claim to be, nothing would be taxed to such excess. Regardless of the health risks. Freedom means, free to choose. Free to choose cancer. Free to choose cirrhosis of the liver. Free to choose to be obese. But we do not live in a free society. America is an autocracy. Governed by the wealthy. By the corporations. By the pharmaceutical industries. And the health care business. Cigarettes are so highly taxed because they assume we are so addicted that we will pay any price. Not an entirely flawed assumption. But nevertheless, anyone who believes politicians pass these taxes to benefit the people is a fool. If our health were their main concern they would heavily tax meat and meat byp...

This a low fat grilled cheese sandwich. But it's not a plain, ordinary grilled cheese. It's packed with protein, iron and layers of flavor. Evenso, it's very easy to make. And simple to make it vegan. Just remove the cheese or replace the cheese with vegan cheese. At any rate, this tasty and easy hot sandwich is easy to make on even just one cup of coffee in the morning. Ingredients 2 slices bread, roll or bagel 1 slice cheese (any vegetarian or vegan kind) handful of beans (your favorite beans) 2-3 raw onion rounds 1/4 garlic pickle spear worth of slices (optional) Place a small frying pan on the stove. Do not turn on the stove yet. Lay one slice of bread in the bottom of the pan. Cover with cheese slice. Then carefully add your beans to cover the inner 90% of the bread. Add a little salt and pepper. Then top with your onion. Reserve your other slice of bread and pickles for later. Heat on med. Heat for approximately 4-5 minutes. Just until the cheese barely...

This recipe removes the shrimp from the shrimp scampi, but keeps all the wonderful flavors intact. Ingredients 1/2 box pasta 1 lemon 6 cloves garlic 1 cup frozen green peas 1/2 cup frozen, sliced multi-color bell peppers 1/2 cup frozen crinkle cut carrots 4-6 tsps olive oil 1/2 cup dry white wine 1 tsp fresh chopped parsley or 1 tsp dry basil (don't use dry parsley). salt and pepper Fill a large, high sides skillet half way with water. Cover and bring to a boil. Add pasta and a few shakes of salt. Cook pasta uncovered according to package directions. When pasta is done drain, either with a colander or using a large slotted spoon. Store in a large heat safe container big enough to hold the entire finished dish. A ten cup Pyrex bowl does the job nicely. Add pan back to burner. Add 2 tsp olive oil and set to med high heat. When oil is hot add carrots. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until carrots are thawed and bright orange. Add peppers and add pasta back to pot...

The other day I encountered a new food in the supermarket. Kitchens of India pouches. They were all vegetarian. There were several styles and flavors, but I got the Chick Peas Curry because I like curry, but don't like to make it myself. It has really simple and wholesome ingredients. Which thrilled me. Chick peas, potatoes, tomatoes, some spices. The ingredient list was only maybe eight things and all of which I'd heard of, could pronouse and were not found in laboratories. The package said authentic india food made in India. Exciting! I made my pouch this evening. I first made some jasmine rice. Then when the rice was nearly done I add my authentic indian chick peas curry to the pot of rice. It had a mild spicy flavor. A wonderful aroma. The only thing that disappointed me was that the packet contents were kinda small. Not too small, but a little skimpy in my opinion. It certainly makes curry easy to make at home. It's vegetarian. Actually, it's vegan. There ...

Baking potatoes is pretty easy. You can't really mess it up. The longer you cook them, the softer they get. Still there is a technique that can yield a fluffier, softer more succulent baked potato in less time than the traditionally accepted cooking methods. Always cook potatoes with the skin on. The skin is full of nutrients. If you like it also eat the skin. Very healthy and tasty too. Wash potatoes thoroughly if you plan on eating the skins. Under cold running water rub the dirt off the potatoes with the friction of your hands. Use Idaho potatoes for best baking results. You can use regular russets, but Idahos tend to bake up best. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. If you have a convection oven use convection bake. Poke each potato 3-4 times with a dinner fork. Place a paper towel on the bottom of your microwave and arrange potatoes evenly on top. Microwave on high for 3 minutes for up to 3 potatoes and 5 minutes for 4-5. Let potatoes rest a few minutes after microwaving. When...

When I first set out to stop eating animals weight loss was the furthest thing from my mind. But it happened anyway. I haven't eaten meat for about a year and have lost around 10 lbs. I don't really exercise. I lead a pretty sedentary life. Wasn't trying to lose weight. It just happened cause I stopped eating meat. Things I've learned from these changes in my eating choices. Meat is bad for weight loss. A vegetarian or vegan diet is healthier. Avoid refined snack foods which contain chemically modified oils. The less sugar you can live on the better. For healthful sources of sugar look to fruits. If you seriously want to lose weight I have to tell you that snacks are the biggest culprit. Chocolate, cookies, cake. These are the things that cause all your efforts to fail. Diet soda is also a factor. Personally I like diet soda. Compared to traditional soda it's great. But only in moderation. Too much causes fat to be stored and weight loss to be stunted. The simplest ...

What really frustrates me is that so many vegetarian products contain eggs. I know that eggs are technically vegetarian. However, from a cruelty free standpoint, they are anything but. You're better off eating tuna (which must be wild caught). or wild caught salmon or scallops or mussels which have no brain at all. Eggs on the other hand we know come from chickens. Chickens which are quite often crammed into disgusting living environments and maltreated all the days of their short miserable lives. One can certainly avoid buying eggs. Easy enough. But a cruelty conscience consumer often looks for eggs in pre-made products. Baked goods. Cookies. Cakes. Even pasta. If one doesn't buy eggs, one doesn't want to buy foods that contains them either. It can be frustrating as so many vegetarian foods just throw eggs in as if no harm is done. If a company is going to market to the vegetarian demographic they must consider our buying points in the process. Clear labelling for ...

Here is an easy vegan salad dressing packed full of nutrients thanks to nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast is one of my favorite food toppings. It goes great with most everything. It has a pungent cheesy type flavor that integrates well with tomato sauces, sandwiches and soups. But my favorite use for it by far is as a salad dressing. Your salad can be any kind of salad. Romaine, cabbage, iceberg, pasta or just a combo of vegetables of any sort. Just sprinkle the yeast generously on top of your salad. Then douse with your favorite vinegar. White wine, red, balsamic. Any will be great. Drizzle with a little olive if you prefer. then a few sprinkles of salt and pepper. Toss or stir and enjoy. The yeast and vinegar combine to make a great vegan dressing that compliments so many different kinds of salads and other dishes as well. Use on rice, risotto, sandwiches. Anywhere you need an extra punch of flavor. Alternatively you can make the dressing in a separate bowl and have other fl...

Have you ever tried SmartLife fake meat products? They're usually available in the produce section near the tofu. Some are vegan, some only veg. Their bologna style cold cut is really good. I just thought it was delicious on a sandwich with some pickles, onion and cheese. It's really good without the cheese too. SmartLife cold cuts are vegan. As are their hot dogs. The faux dogs are also great with some sauerkraut and ketchup. I'm still afraid to try cooking straight up tofu myself. I order it from chinese take out often and love it. Fried bean curd in garlic sauce. Mmmm. But am hesistant to make my own. Also of note is Seapoint Farms dry roasted edamamme. It comes in plain or wasabi flavor and it's just great. Tastes and feels like eating peanuts. Much less fat and way more nutrients. I like the wasabi. Kinda hot, but really good. To look at the size of the package it seems expensive. It's a $1.89 where I live. But even though the volume measure is kinda low,...