Cheese pizza?

I was just at Henrys' and I think they had the 'chicken' like we've had at Sipz, that comes in an orange chicken bowl. It was in the freezer section by the gourmet frozen pizzas.

What we've used, I am pretty sure, is the 'Smart' 'meat'. It is a 'ground beef' type and you can cook it up like ground beef; we've had enchiladas, spaghetti, and really, if there are a 100 ways to make groundbeef, then, I would figure the same for this stuff.

We also stock up on 'Smart' lunch meats for the kids who are Vegan.

BTD, good point about the cholesterol. I need to go and read the boxes, check the sodium, etc. Even the 'Veganaise', I wonder if that is really better or just Vegan? Hmm....

I actually prefer to cook vegetarian meals (and salads are especially fun for me). I have gobs of great vegetarian cookbooks - all of the "Greens", all of the "Moosewoods" and, for the past few weeks I've returned to making veggie meals (or meals that omitting meat would not be a problem). I tend to make a lot of what I call "Hippie Hash" which gets made in a iron skillet so it cleans up easy too. It's different each night and it all depends on what combination of ingredients I use. But, the general ingredients are:

• lots of garlic
• Variety of veggies sauteed
• some sort of legume or grain or starch (rice, lentils, quiona, beans, couscous, pasta)
• spices
• maybe cheese - depending on the flavor combination
• If I add meat, it is usually marinated or spiced in some way.

I think that is what brad is getting tonight. He can report back.

We eat vegetarian food probably 4 nights out of the week. It isn't a conscious choice; it just happens.

My favorite is a beautiful baby lettuce salad with dried blueberries and/or cranberries, a little high-quality grated parm, all tossed with vinaigrette. On top, you put a couple of rounds per person of warm, breaded goat cheese (rolled in panko bread crumbs, either browned in the pan or the oven). Add a slice of bread and you're done.

NA, that "Hippie Hash" sounds divine.

I dearly love grilled veggies (except eggplant), but I don't always get time to go outside and cook 'em. Sounds like I need to get more into sauteing them.

Just the cautionary note that one can become quite the Buddha on vegetarian cooking if you don't mind the amounts of white rice, pasta, oils, etc. The last two vegetarian restaurants I've been to up here have been good, but they've had absolutely sick portions--like they're apologizing for something.

I don't do a lot of grilled veggies because of the oil that makes them so good. I will use a tiny bit of good oil to saute the garlic, but I'll add water or broth instead of oil for the veggies.

I had a really good one the other day at a friend's house.

There was basmati rice cooked in vegetable broth. Place that in a baking dish and cover with what I think was Swiss chard that has been steamed in a pot on the stove, then cooked with a little fresh garlic and olive oil. Pour over that a sauce made from lemon juice, sour cream, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Bake in an oven. I think that's it. There wasn't a recipe so I'm not sure about amounts, or temperature etc. It tasted really yummy though. Sorry for being vague.

Actually, I do not use much olive oil at all when I roast veggies in the oven. Not quite the same as grilling them if you are talking over a flame. Tossing well with herbs a scant tablespoon of oil will do and a good 375 oven. All you really need to do is make sure the veggies are in one layer.

Fire roasting eggplant and peppers on the stove is painless and grease free, as well. Just a bit of stove mess to clean up. I just made babghanouji last night, tres yummers.

I concur with NA, Moosewood and the Mollie Katzen cookbooks are lovely. But almost any cookbook you pick up will have good veggie receipes or ones that are easily adaptable to veggie cooking (except probably, Emeril or Paula Deen, ew). I do have some nice Indian cookbooks and I still swear by my first veggie cookbook, Madhur Jaffery's original world of the east vegtarian cooking. There are so many yummy recipes in this cookbook I think you could cook a different one every day for at leat a year or two and not duplicate. It certainly helped me develop a taste for many ethnic cuisines (not always a good thing judging by my current weight).

It's only 6:30 and now I want some ratatouille :(

I was about to suggest roasting, too (before I got to SF's post) if you like grilled but don't always want to use a grill.

We (obviously) have lots and lots and lots and lots of great recipes that are vegan, tasty, and healthy. When you have some time and would like some company, we would love to have you over and cook for you, and have a recipe-sharing night.

There are some pretty simple switches you can make to some heart-healthy products without noticing too much after the adjustment. Soybean-oil margarine (we use Earth Balance brand) has no cholesterol and I think it's really, really tasty. If you like mayonnaise (or things like potato salad) we've been extremely impressed with Veganaise.