A Child's Portion: "Tuna" Noodle Casserole

Another childhood favourite for my husband is tuna noodle casserole.  I found this recipe in my Vegetarian Family Cookbook and thought I would try it out.  With a few adaptions it turned out pretty good!  The kids really liked it and I managed to forget about the fact that I had used mushrooms in it.  It's kind of a running joke that I'm the worst vegetarian in the world because I don't like mushrooms or eggplant and when you request a vegetarian meal it is almost ALWAYS a combination of those two things.  I served this dish with scalloped broccoli and some steamed carrots.  This picture is of my oldest daughter's plate because she thought it was only fair that I shared her meal for once :)

"Tuna" Noodle Casserole

1 box pasta (I only had bowtie), boiled to al dente

 1 package baked tofu*-finely diced

2 tbsp butter

1 chopped onion

4 stalks chopped celery

1 cup minced mushrooms

2 cups milk

3 tbsp flour

salt and pepper

2-3 sliced scallions 

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup shredded cheese

wheat germ

*I didn't buy pre-baked tofu, I just pressed a block of firm tofu and sliced it into 4, marinated it in braggs and nutritional yeast and baked it for 30 minutes.

*Heat the butter in a saucepan, and saute onion until soft

*Add celery and cook for 4 minutes, add mushrooms and cook for 5 more minutes

*Pour 1 1/2 cups of milk into saucepan and bring to a simmer.

*Combine flour and remaining milk, and add slowly to saucepan, stirring constantly until thickened

*In a large bowl combine pasta, peas, tofu, scallions and milk mixture

*Pour into a well oiled 9x13 casserole dish.  Cover with wheat germ and cheese.

*Bake at 350 for 40 minutes

Lentil Tacos!

I have had a life-long love affair with tacos; it's the only thing I can remember loving as a meat eater.  I've tried a lot of different ways to make vegetarian tacos and most have turned out okay but today I think I have officially perfected it!  The only thing is that this was not nearly enough for our family.  Everyone wanted seconds (and thirds) but only 1 person was able to do that....and that someone ate it in the pantry so nobody would know ;)  I served the tacos with leftover tomato soup and some raw broccoli and carrots.

Lentil Tacos

3 cups cooked lentils

2 tbsp olive oil

1 chopped onion

3 cloves minced garlic

2 tsp fresh grated ginger

3 tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp chili powder

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

1/8 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp paprika

2 tsp cumin

salt and pepper

*Place half of the lentils in a food processor and pulse several times with 1 tbsp olive oil

*Saute onion, garlic and ginger in remaining olive oil until soft.

*Add both whole lentils and pureed lentils along with spices and tomato paste and cook for 8-10 minutes on low.

*Warm taco shells in oven at 350 for 5 minutes.

*Spoon lentils and whatever toppings you like into shells and enjoy!

Casserole Sunday

My friend Shannon and I recently had a talk about how neurotic we were for designating certain days of the week to a certain way to cook food or to certain foods. For example, our family has Slow Cooker Tuesday and Pizza Fridays. What is quickly become another of those designated days is Casserole Sunday. My husband has been pining for the "meal of his childhood" for a little while now, that meal being Chicken Fried Rice Casserole. We all have those specials meals that we remember as adults, the ones we loved as kids. So, I took on the task and tonight we had (Veggie) Chicken Fried Rice Casserole. I've had this phyllo pastry in my freezer for a little bit and decided to make Veggie Spring Rolls as a side along with steamed brocolli. All in all, it was a great success! 

(Veggie) Chicken Fried Rice Casserole

3 cups cooked brown rice

1 cup water

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup soya sauce

4 tsp vegetable bouillon

1 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp celery salt

1 chopped onion

2 stalks chopped celery

1 chopped red pepper

1 recipe of this mock chicken, or one package of pre-made stuff

*Mix all ingredients together and cook in covered casserole dish for 1 hour @ 350

Vegetarian Spring Rolls

1 cup bean sprouts

Handful cabbage (julienne)

3 carrots (julienne)

1 red pepper (diced)

1 inch ginger (grated)

3 garlic cloves (diced)

3 green onion (julienne)

1 tbsp soya sauce

juice from one lemon

cilantro (to taste)

12 phyllo pastry sheets

*Mix all ingredients together (minus the phyllo sheets of course!)

*Saute in oil for just a couple minutes

*Lay one phyllo sheet out and spray with olive oil, cover with one more sheet and repeat.

*Cut sheets in 4 lengthwise

*Spoon 1-2 tbsp filling on each section and roll

*Place rolls on baking sheet, seam down, and spray again with olive oil

*Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes or until slightly crispy

We rarely have dessert in our house.  Mostly because I am a sugar FIEND and would eat it all.  Casserole Sundays though, I mean... that calls for a desert, right??  Tonight I made Angel Food Cupcakes with fresh whip cream and sliced strawberries.  There isn't even a crumb leftover, seriously.  

 

Angel Food Cupcakes  taken from here

3/4 cup sugar (divided)

1/2 cup flour

5 large egg whites (room temperature)

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup whipping cream

 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp sugar

strawberries

*Sift together the flour and 1/4 cup of sugar in small bowl

*In larger bowl beat eggs until frothy

*add cream of tartar, rest of sugar and salt and beat until soft peak forms, add vanilla

*Fold in Flour mixture

*Spoon into muffin tin and bake @ 350 for 16-18 minutes

*Whip together cream, vanilla and sugar until soft peak forms

*Top cupcakes with cream mixture and sliced berries!

Veggie Tortiere (meat pie)

The other day I asked my husband for something he'd like on our weekly menu. He thought about it for a moment, then he told me he wanted meat pie, something he loved before going vegetarian. I like trying to make new things but didn't have anything like that in my cookbooks, but I did find this recipe. It looked promising but also made me a bit nervous. A meat pie made from cauliflower and walnuts? Despite reservations, I plunged right in. Tonight was the night and my veggie tortiere was a bit hit, especially with my husband.  I would only change a few things.  One, I would bake the "meat" less, it was a little overcooked at 1 hour.  And two, no liqud smoke... I didn't appreciate that taste much, but my husband did.  I served it with some mashed potatoes with vegetarian gravy and steamed broccoli and carrots.