Category: Vegetarian

Blueberry-Banana Pancakes

Recipe here.

These were absolutely fantastic.  Seriously; you MUST try these.  You can’t have more than about three on the griddle at any one time, just because the bananas have to be pressed into the batter fairly quickly after getting the batter down and you have to move fast, but they’re wonderful.  They’re a little more labor-intensive than your average pancake recipe, but well worth it.  The tart blueberries are the perfect foil for the banana, which gets even sweeter as it cooks.

I didn’t want to have to worry about cutting the banana to fit the pancake and what to do with the leftover banana stumps, so I just made the pancakes large enough to accommodate a quarter of a banana each (the same length as half a banana, just split lengthwise, as well.)

Pumpkin Walnut Cranberry Quickbread

Recipe here.

This was a fantastic recipe.  It makes two loaves, so we nibbled on one for a couple of days and then sliced and froze the other, so that we could pull it out, as needed.  I wrapped the frozen slices individually, so that they kids could pull them out and take them to school (they thaw by snacktime.)

I used pecans, instead, because we prefer them to walnuts.

I’ll definitely be making this again.

Sweet Potato and Gruyere turnovers

Recipe here.

These were tasty and surprisingly easy.  There was a lot of chopping onions and shredding sweet potatoes and washing chard, but once the filling was made (which can easily be done a day ahead,)  the turnovers came together very quickly.  I made the “big batch” as was specified in the recipe, so that I could prepare some for the freezer, but the pre-made pie crust that I bought had lard in it (oops!), which Vegetarian Girl eschewed, so I made some with butter pie crust for her (recipe here.)

Pizza Pancakes & Greek-style Lima beans

Pizza pancakes recipe here.  I left the pepperoni out and made a few “veggie” pancakes for Vegetarian Girl first, and then added the chopped pepperoni, for the rest of us.

Lima beans recipe here.

I’ve been making some weird things with pancakes lately, and this recipe is definitely weird, but it was quick and easy and very tasty.  We all really liked them.

The lima beans were even better.  They were outstanding.  I would NEVER have guessed that frozen lima beans would be so good, but they were fantastic and buttery.  I used a larger bag than the recipe called for and didn’t add the final tablespoonful of olive oil that the recipe called for, and I believe it was an improvement.  They would have been WAY too oily if prepared exactly according to the recipe.

Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Sage Brown Butter

Recipe here.

This recipe (served with a simple, small salad and some chicken that was sprinkled with seasoning and grilled) was tasty, but I’ve made a version of this dish before and VASTLY preferred the other recipe.  The other recipe used sweet potato instead of the butternut and also contained some ricotta.  The dough for that version was MUCH easier to work with and the finished gnocchi cooked MUCH faster.  The flavors are good here, but they’re pretty much identical to the other one, which was much easier to execute.  I’ll be sticking with this version in the future.

Veggie Stuffed Pancakes

Recipe here.

Another winner from Giada.  This is one of the weirdest things that I’ve ever made, but it was really easy and we all loved it.  The leftovers even kept OK, which was surprising to me.  I was afraid that the pancakes would get all soggy, but they didn’t.

Mine didn’t turn out looking as pretty as Giada’s (my pancakes were too thick and tended to crack as I tried to roll them,) but the flavor was awesome.  I’ll thin the batter a little next time, to try to make a less cakey pancake.

Flexitarian Tacos with Spinach, Corn, Black Beans and Goat Cheese (with optional Adobo Chicken)

These were delicious and VERY quick and easy.  They were inspired by this recipe.  If you don’t already have some adobo seasoning on hand, I highly recommend mixing up a batch.  It’s great to season lots of things, but is perfect for spicing up chicken to add to tacos, tostadas, enchiladas, salads, etc.  The flavor is wonderful.

Flexitarian Tacos

1 Tbsp canola oil

2 cups frozen corn, thawed and drained of any residual moisture

1 5-ounce package baby spinach

1 can (or about 1 and one-half cups) cooked black beans, rinsed and drained

8 small flour tortillas

3/4 cup crumbled fresh goat cheese (3 ounces)

3/4 cup store-bought refrigerated salsa

(the ONLY acceptable store-bought salsa, if you live in Central Texas, is Rose’s Just Right Fresh salsa…there are no words)

a few teaspoons adobo seasoning (scroll down for recipe), to taste

2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Sprinkle chicken thighs liberally with adobo seasoning on both sides and then grill them, either outside on a grill pan.  Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large, wide saute pan over VERY high heat.  Add the corn and cook, stirring occasionally, until corn has started to brown slightly around the edges.  Lower the heat in the pan to medium and add the spinach.  Stir occasionally until the spinach has wilted.  Add the beans to the pan and continue cooking until warmed through.  Remove from heat.

Cut chicken into thin strips.

Fill tortillas with some of the veggie mixture and then top with cheese and salsa, as desired.  The carnivores can add a bit of chicken to their tacos, as well.

I’ve marked this recipe as gluten-free, because you could easily substitute corn tortillas for the wheat.

Warm Farro Salad with Braised Radishes

Recipe here.

This was quite delicious.  Unusual, and not like anything I’ve had before, but light and very flavorful.  The braised radishes were pleasantly both sweet and tangy.  I sauteed the pancetta in a separate pan and then cooked the radishes in olive oil, rather than the bacon pan, so that Vegetarian Girl could have hers with the pancetta.  We just sprinkled the cooked, chopped pancetta on top of ours at the very end.  I served this with some roasted brussel sprouts (also adapted for Vegetarian Girl, but with pancetta added for us.)  Yes, we went a bit crazy with the pancetta this meal…I would probably pick a different green veggie to serve with this next time, but we all love roasted sprouts, so I just went for it!