Amongst the many things that have been going on lately, one of the biggest to note is I have switched my diet to vegetarian. Kind of out of the clear blue. It just hit me one day. And there's no going back now. It's been amazing to have next to no indigestion any more!
My diet before was mostly chicken breasts, with the occasional hamburger or steak. I had basically stopped eating cheese, but find now that I am eating no meat, cheese sits much better and I enjoy it more. I also used to eat a LOT of starch (loved my pasta) though at this point, it doesn't taste all that good to me. I'm not enjoying potatoes any more either.
The magic to eating a fulfilling vegetarian diet comes in the form of quinoa, the perfect protein. It's delicious. Flavored simply with onion powder, salt, pepper, and garlic, mixed with a can of black beans is a really excellent lunch. :D We had it flavored like a faux sausage on a pizza one night. Fantastic. Last night it served as a replacement to ground beef in a tamale pie. Wonderful. I'm looking forward to these leftovers for dinner tonight. Though I can't wait to try out the roasted lemon asparagus recipe I found online. (The minimalist baker - most excellent blog for finding recipes!)
I am still exploring how to cook this way. So many delightful options, and I love LOVE not having to deal with raw meat, having to be concerned about making sure it is cooked all the way through, the clean up required, etc. So while meals now might require the same amount of time or steps to cook, it seems so much easier.
My favorite meals made thus far are:
Black bean burgers. Cook onions till soft, throw in the beans. Let them cook until all the liquid is gone. Season with garlic, salt, pepper, onion powder. Mix 1 cup of cooked quinoa. Mash. Stir in 1/4 c flour and 1/4 c masa. (Hooked on masa right now.) Taste and adjust seasoning if need be. Then cook on a skillet 2-3 minutes per side. Done! See how easy that was?
3 bean chilli with pureed chick peas. OMG. So good. A mix of navy, black, and red beans, tomato sauce, peppers, onion - both red and yellow, green chillis, and seasoning. Eat topped with an avocado pico de gallo, and spinach. Eat the leftovers on handmade masa tortillas with guac. To die for.
Tamale pie. Seasoned quinoa, a mix of vegetarian canned refried beans and whole black beans. I stirred in some cottage cheese, but think next I will puree this with yogurt. Masa dough goes on the bottom and top. Tope with chipotle guac, spinach, tomato, salsa, presto! Yumminess. I am thinking about fixing a verde sauce to go with it. Might try that tonight!
I doubt I'll really do much talking about recipes and such on here as this is really not a cooking blog, but I might occasional post recipes in detail, for my own reference. I mean, really, who actually uses recipe cards any more? :P
