Vegan Recipes and Plant Based Cooking

Everyone knows and loves those cheddar bay biscuits from the Red Lobster. So much so that there's now a mix specifically to make them. They are quite delicious. You'll get no argument from me. Which is what inspired this variation. For an accompaniment to an Italian entree they can be modified pretty easily. We'll switch out the cheddar for Parmesan. Instead of old bay seasoning we'll just use garlic powder and basil. We'll also use some freshly minced garlic. You'll need half a small box of bisquick. Or 2 1/4 cups. About 1 1/2 cups milk. Almond milk or soy milk works. Or 1 percent cow's milk. Just be prepared. You may need more milk than that. This mixture can be tricky. You want to add enough milk to achieve a fairly loose dough. Depending on your add ins that can vary. Always start with the minimum and gradually add more as needed. But try to stir the mixture as little as you can. A tender, flaky biscuit is one least stirred. I like to add my Bisqui

Here's an interesting convenience food combo which many will probably enjoy. I wanted pasta, but was not in the mood for pasta with tomato sauce. I did have a can of vegetarian lentil soup that sounded really good to me. Lentils and spinach in a salty, oniony brine. Mmmm. So I thought to myself, why not combine them. Use the lentil soup as a pasta sauce. And so I did. Boiled the pasta to al dente according to the package. Drain. Leave a little starchy water behind in the pasta. Add soup. Continued to simmer the pasta in the soup liquid for about 3 minutes more. Added 1 tbl margarine and 1/4 cup nutritional yeast. The margarine helps give body and richness to the sauce. It also adds some thickening properties as the margarine is solid at lower temps. But I'm a firm adherant to the notion that a little bit of fat goes a long way in any given dish. So just 1 tbl. No more. The yeast also gives thickness and contributes a strong depth of flavor with its cheesy/nutty nuances.

Here's an easy way to make a simple vegetarian curry. I buy those cans of Hormel vegetarian chili when they're one sale. Unfortunately they're not very tasty. They're kinda bland. But they do feature tomatoes, beans, soy protein and a little bit of chile pepper. So They can easily be turned into a curry without much effort. Ingredients 1 can Hormel vegetarian chili 3/4 cup dry rice curry powder 1 cup frozen cauliflower or broccoli 5 cloves garlic almond milk leftover asparagus ends hot sauce 1/4 cup monteray jack or cheddar cheese diced or shredded bottled balsmaic vinaigrette black beans cumin, coriander, cilantro, paprika and fresh ground black pepper First prepare some rice. 3/4 cup dry should do. Bring it to a boil with 2/3 water for dry rice. When it has come to a boil, lower the heat, add 1 tbl of your favorite curry powder and the aspargus ends. When I buy asparagus I snap off the hard ends and quickly saute the spears. I reserve the ends for la

Here's something really easy that I like to do that also delivers a lot of flavor. Saffron rice is really great. I don't buy saffron. Too expensive. Carolina rice brand sells yellow saffron rice in 5 ounce packets for $0.95 I believe the brand is Riviana if you're on the west coast or shopping at Amazon. Same food, different name. If you want it to be vegetarian it needs to be the regular yellow rice. The spicy flavor has some animal stuff in it. Anyway, saffron flavor is so great and so powerful that the taste in this little packet can be applied to more than just the rice with which it came. Plus, since this particular prepackaged rice still takes 25 minutes to cook it's ideal for adding in lentils. I discovered lentils because of the show 'Good Eats'. Alton Brown did a show all about lentils and thoroughly convinced me they were a great food and I had to try them. Turns out he was right. While the soybean is the only complete protein that's not meat,

So I made my 'smashed potatoes' steeped in onion broth. I was really pleased with the results. I first made the broth using onion skins, garlic skins and scallion ends. Added a pinch of salt. Simmered in 1 cup water for 15 minutes. Strained, reserving the liquid to add back to the pot. Added peeled and diced russet potatoes. And boiled them for 15 minutes more. You can fry the leftover peels for a crisp granish. You can also toss them with olive oil, salt and vinegar and bake them for a different method of crunchy potato skins. Removed potatoes to a large stainless steel bowl with a slotted spoon. Allowing some of the cooking liquid to remain. Reserved the rest in case it was needed. Gently mashed with a fork. Very gently and lightly. Aas too much mashing makes potatoes gluey and sticky. Added 4 bls butter, 2 tbls nutritional yeast, 2 tbls jarred minced garlic in water and their liquid, some garlic powder and a little thyme. 6 stalks fresh scallions sliced. Fresh gr

I have this idea to do a stock with onion skins and garlic skins. Then add peeled potatoes. and finish with some scallions and minced garlic cloves. Was watching chopped and really took to heart how in one particular episode they utilized stuff we normally would discard. I've made onion stock a few times and it's realy great. An easy way to impart lots of flavor to rice. I looked into it and garlic skins can be utilized in the same fashion. Who knew all these years we wer throwing away so much great taste. Some kind of smashed potato like creation is what I'm hoping to accomplish. And I just really love scallions. They taste great and hae a beautiful bright green color. Those Idahoan packets of garlic mashes potatoes are really good, but I'd like to come up with something similar tasting yet much healthier. With far less sodium, but just as much punch. I'd also like to use the potato skins instead of discarding them. I'm thinking roast them in the oven