Tahini Salad

I don't remember where I originally found this recipe, but I do know it is absolutely delicious! I've made it several times and it's a great vegetarian dish that's quite healthy. This is also a very easy thing to make, considering it is a salad and salads are the type of thing anyone can make.


INGREDIENTS

Dressing:

• 1/2 avocado (I usually skip the avocado completely)
• 1 1/2 tbsp Manitoba Harvest Hemp oil
• 1 tbsp stone ground mustard
• 3 tbsp chickpea reserve water
• 2 tsp tahini
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp herbamare

Salad:

• 4 cups romaine mix
• 1 cup chickpeas – reserve liquid for dressing
• 1 cucumber
• 1 yellow pepper (Really, any color will be fine, I just like the color the yellow adds to the salad)
• 1 small bag of baby carrots, chopped 
• 1celery stalk, chopped

DIRECTIONS
For the dressing, combine all of the ingredients. Whisk all ingredients until they are blended thoroughly. For the salad, well, make a salad. When you have the base for your salad ready, add the dressing.

Enjoy!

Wild Mushroom Risotto

I love to cook. I love to cook for other people. And, if I do say so myself, I'm a pretty amazing chef. I like to work with a recipe I'm given and tweak it a little and make it a little different, something new. So I've decided to start posting a few of these recipes for you all to try out. Yes, these will be vegetarian. And yes, they will be delicious. My first recipe will be a risotto. Because I love risotto.

Wild Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients:

• 3 14 1/2-ounce cans vegetable broth
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 pound assorted wild mushrooms (such as oyster, crimini and stemmed shiitake), sliced
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary 

Dried herbs to have on hand:

• Thyme
• Red pepper
• Basil
• Herbs de Provence

The Process:

In a saucepan, pour all cans of vegetable broth. Bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat and cover. We will be using this later but it does need to stay hot.

In a large skillet, melt the butter and add the diced shallot and garlic over medium heat. Saute this for (approximately) one minute. Add you mushrooms to the mix, saute until they are tender and you can see that their juices have been released. This will take anywhere from 5-10 minutes depending on how small you cut your mushrooms. Add your rice, stir to coat it in the mushroom/shallot/garlic. Increase the heat to medium high and add 1/2 cup of the vegetable broth. Let this simmer until it is completely  absorbed then add another 1/2 cup of broth. Stirring frequently, continue the process of adding 1/2 cup of broth and letting the rice fully absorb it until the rice is tender. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and fresh thyme. Stir in the dried herbs to taste (I never actually measure this, but I would guess I use approximately one teaspoon of each). Remove from heat, add the sprig of rosemary, do not stir in as this will be removed before serving. Let it sit for ten minutes.

Serve warm and with wine. Enjoy!

Day 21: A recipe

One of my favorite things about the colder weather is that it is a chance to make a lot of wonderful stews and soups. Sadly, being a vegetarian, there aren't as many recipes out there that I can enjoy. This is one of my favorite crockpot recipes:

Slow Cooker Vegetarian Irish Stew
1 – pkg favorite brand of “crumbles,” or your favorite meat substitute, up to two pounds
2 cups onion, chopped
2 cups potatos, chopped
2 cups celery, chopped
2 cups carrots, chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
3 cups tomato juice/sauce
2 cups canned or frozen peas

Cut up all the veggies (except for the peas) into 2-inch chunks and add to crock pot. Open “crumbles” package and pour on top of veggies in slow cooker. Add the salt, pepper, sugar and tomato sauce. Cook on low for 6-9 hours (I let it go for the full 9 hours because I usually cook this while I’m at work). About 15-30 minutes before you’re ready to eat, add the peas into the slow cooker and let cook for those last 15-30 minutes. Although I always make this in my crock pot, it also can be cooked it in a 250 degree oven for 6 hours.