A good cook gets a feel for the right measurement. It's both a gift and a curse- a problem when wanting to share the recipes. I know, that's me. At some point I will measure everything to write it down.

When I looked at this thread, I thought it said Vegitable anurisim. Sorry, but that's what I thought. I'm like "what the......"


Wow, I need some sleep.......

So true !! Also the problem is that you always experiment, throwing in extra spices and ingredients along the way, and when a dish turns out particularly delicious, you can never remember exactly what you put in.

I've taken to jotting down any extra additions in case I want to duplicate it again.

I didn't mention it because I have no sense of smell. Born without it. lol!
:D

Here is the exact recipe I wanted to post:

WILD RICE SALAD

1/2 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
6 cups chicken stock
11/2 cup wild rice
1 carrot, cut into 1/2-inch long matchsticks
3 tablespoons dried cranberries
1 Roma tomato, finely diced
4-5 scallions, finely chopped
3 bunches watercress

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the pine nuts and pumpkin seeds in a small baking pan. Toast
them in the oven for 10 minutes until they are golden brown. Let
cool.

Combine the chicken stock and wild rice in a stockpot. Bring to a
boil, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 45-55 minutes until
the grains are opened up and tender.

Spread the hot rice on a baking sheet and let cool.

When rice is cool, scrape it into a large bowl and add carrots, dried
cranberries, diced tomato, toasted pine nut pumpkin seed mixture and
scallions.

Toss all ingredients together with vinaigrette, refrigerate for at
least one hour and serve over watercress.

Serves 4-6.

Source: Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe, Smithsonian's National Museum of
the American Indian

(Thank you to Jim Horn again.) :)

Mmm...loving all these recipes. I'm feeling so great since going near vegan. Yesterday I went shopping and lots of pants one size down from normal fit me! The ones I bought were my same size, but with the cut they probably would have been snug before. I'm avoiding the scale like the plague because I'm mainly doing this for health and I don't want a slow down in weight loss to discourage me.

Last night we got lazy and decided to just be vegetarian for the night and got a cheese pizza. Big mistake. This morning I woke up feeling like crap. I think it's the freedom from cheese that has me feeling so much better and has sped up weight loss. That and I mostly quit refined sugar. It's been much easier this time as my fruit intake isn't restricted. I barely miss the sugar most of the time.

What do you vegetarians eat as staples? I like to cook new things on the weekends when I have lots of time, but during the week I need things that are quick and tasty.

Beans. Corn and bean and cilantro salad, for which I'll post a recipe when I start actually posting my recipes here. Tofu stir fry. Steamed vegetables with rice. Pasta (but not too much of it.)

I'm curious what it is about protein that Tom can't have. Is it the amino acids, or does he have to take an amino acid supplement to make up for no protein?

I have discovered the joys of tofu in a way I never thought possible. I hate how it sticks to my stainless steel pan though. I need to get a good cast iron skillet.

There's one amino acid (phenylalanine) that he can't have, so he takes 140 capsules a day that give him the rest of the amino acids.

Yeah, we use an iron skillet for my tofu, and that works pretty well. There are some really yummy indian sauces available that are vegetarian, and I really like those with tofu.

Stir-fry with steamed rice is about as quick and staple-ish as it can get. If you have a rice cooker just throw that on when you get home and then the stir fry wont take more than 10 minutes once you are ready to eat. Experiment with sauce combinations to find something you like and it will provide many an easy meal.

Invest in a decent small wok.

Also, if you can enjoy just eating a sald, play with those as they are easy. In the tofu section you will find options beyond just plain white tofu. For salads I really like smoked tofu (has the consistency of a semi-soft cheese) cubed and tossed.

You guys are making me want to give tofu another try. Maybe if I want to badly enough, I'll be able to digest it better? Hmmm.

Staples . . . for me, decidedly NOT vegan. I eat eggs (have been craving the extra protein these last couple days), and I don't think I could ever give up cheese (and yes, I know it would do me much good to cut back). I usually have organic yogurt for lunch. Pasta, stiry-fry, veggie pizzas. I was buying those Amy's Indian dinners, but after getting used to the real Indian restaurant, I can't eat them anymore.

It's been too long since I've been out for Indian food. I think I'm going to have to fix that.