Growing up vegetarian in an age where vegetarian was not particularly common, I ate an awful lot of vegetarian chili during potlucks. They were always quite sour for my taste, so I thought that chili was just something that I would never like. When I got much older, I tried on a whim a chili recipe from The New Laurel’s Kitchen by Laurel Robertson, Carol Flinders, and Brian Ruppenthal, and was floored by how great it tasted. Wonderful depth of flavor without the offputting tartness of canned tomatoes. Below is a modification to that base recipe that I’ve made to add veggie faux meat and even more depth of flavor.

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Bean Chili with VegBeef and Corn

Ingredients

• 2 Beyond Meat beef patties defrosted
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 clove garlic crushed and minced
• 1 T cooking oil split into 1 T + 1 T
• 1 green pepper diced
• 2 c pinto or kidney beans canned or cooked, do not drain, keep the liquid
• 2 c water
• 1 t oregano
• 1 bullion cube
• 1 c canned sweet corn
• 1.5 t salt

Spices

• 2 t chili powder
• 1 t cumin powder
• 2 T tomato paste

Instructions

• Prepare the ingredients as described above.
• Fry the defrosted Beyond meat patties in 1 T of oil on medium high heat. Break up in to tiny ground meat chunks with a spatula while cooking. Remove from the pan and set aside.
• Mash 1.5 c of the beans and set aside.
• Saute the chopped onions and minced garlic in the remaining 1 T of oil on medium high heat until onion is soft and slightly golden.
• Add the diced green peppers and Spices and stirfry for 1 minute
• Add the mashed and unmashed beans with can/cooking liquid, oregano, bullion cube, and water. Cook for 10 minutes
• Add corn and fried Beyond Beef crumbles. Cook for 5 minutes.

I love carrot cake. After being diagnosed with diabetes, it became a mission of mine to find a healthy recipe that also tastes great. This recipe uses whole wheat flour, applesauce to reduce oil, (reduced) honey instead of sugar, and sugar free white chocolate chips. It’s the perfect balance of fluffy muffin texture, fall spice, crunchy nuttiness, with the right amount of sweetness. And I found that cake pop sized balls of carrot cake are perfect to get maximum enjoyment without overindulging. Deniz and Kelin love the recipe and the muffin balls disappear quickly in our house. Despite the reduced sugar, we all find it perfect for dessert.

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
•  1 t baking soda
•  1 t ground cinnamon
•  1/4 t ground nutmeg
•  1/4 t ground ginger
•  1/2 t salt

Wet Ingredients:

•  2 T butter, melted, or olive oil
•  1/3 c honey or sugar
•  1 egg, lightly beaten
•  1 t pure vanilla extract
•  1 c unsweetened applesauce, if using sugar instead of honey, add 3 T applesauce

Add-ins:

• 1 c shredded carrots (about 2-3 medium carrots). You can also use shredded zucchini for a less sweet zucchini muffin alternative.
• 1/4 c no-sugar white chocolate chips (we like Lily’s White Chocolate Style Baking Chips that are Stevia sweetened)
• 3 T coconut flakes
• 1/2 c chopped walnuts, toasted

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Put the walnuts in a quart-sized ziplock bag and break into 1/5th sized chunks with a rolling pin. Place the crushed walnuts on a cookie tray lined with parchment paper. While the oven is preheating, toast the walnuts, approximately 5 minutes. Watch carefully to ensure the walnuts do not burn.
• Spray cake pop tray cups with cooking spray and brush so that the entire indentation has oil.
• In a large bowl whisk together the Dry Ingredients.
• Beat the egg lightly in a small bowl.
• Make a small well in the center of the Dry Ingredients and add the Wet Ingredients.
• Stir ingredients together until just combined and there are still some spots of flour remaining.
• Fold in the Add-Ins just until combined (don’t overmix or the balls will be dense).
• Distribute the batter evenly among the cake pop tray. I use a melon baller to scoop even amounts of batter and to reduce mess. Bake for 17 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cake pop comes out clean.
• Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. These cake pops can be frozen. They can also keep covered at room temperature for 2-3 days.

My sister Vicky developed a simple and incredibly tasty recipe for air-fried kale.  Comes out perfectly crispy every time, and is an incredibly delicious way to eat kale!  Sharing on this site for all to enjoy!

Got this delicious recipe from anne on our Thanksgiving 2019 visit to Turkey.  So healthy and flavorful at the same time.  The slight sweetness of the carrot combined with the zing of the garlic and the coolness of the yogurt compliment each other so well.  Can be eaten by itself or used as a dip.  Either way, it’s delicious!

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Turkish Carrot Yogurt Dip (Yoğurtlu Havuç Meze)

This tasty dish can be eaten by itself or used as a dip. The slight sweetness of the carrot combined with the zing of the garlic and the coolness of the yogurt compliment each other so well. 

Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 4 medium carrots shredded
• 1 T cooking oil
• 2 c yogurt
• 2 garlic cloves crushed into a paste
• salt

Instructions

• Heat cooking oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add the shredded carrots and stir-fry for 4 minutes.  Add 2 Tbsp of water and cover the pan.  Cook for an additional 3 minutes.
• Remove the carrots from the pan and cool until room temperature.
• After cool, add the yogurt and garlic paste.  Salt to taste.

We decided to take a long overdue trip to Chinatown last weekend.  It was great to find some hard to find items, including pickled mustard green.  Here’s an incredibly addictive Sichuan recipe from Wei-Chuan’s Chinese Cooking cookbook, modified to be vegetarian.  The ginger and pickled mustard green are the stars in this recipe, and pair perfectly with the fake meat and vegetables.

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Sichuan Stirfried Vegetarian Pork with Veggies and Pickled Mustard Green

Here's an incredibly addictive Sichuan recipe from Wei-Chuan's Chinese Cooking cookbook, modified to be vegetarian.  The ginger and pickled mustard green are the stars in this recipe, and pair perfectly with the fake meat and vegetables.

Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 6 oz Morningstar Vegetarian Sausage Patties
• vegetable oil

Marinade:

• 1/2 salt
• 1 t rice wine
• 2 T water
• 1/2 T cornstarch

Spices:

• 1/2 bunch green onions sliced on an angle in one inch lengths
• 1 T ginger root shredded
• 1 T hot red pepper shredded
• 1 small green pepper shredded

Vegetables:

• 1/2 c Sichuan pickled mustard green shredded
• 4 oz can bamboo shoots shredded (can be substituted with lo mein noodles for a different taste if you don't like bamboo shoots)
• 4 carrots julienned

Sauce:

• 1 t salt
• 1/2 t MSG
• 1/2 t black pepper
• 1/2 t sesame oil

Instructions

Instructions:

• Prepare the ingredients as described in the above Ingredients list.  Place the Marinade ingredients into a large bowl, the Spices ingredients in a medium bowl, and the Sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
• Toast the patties for 12 minutes at 350ºF.  After they cool, slice them width-wise, in half diameter-wise, and then into thin strips.
• Toss the patty strips in the Marinade. Let them sit, marinating for 5 minutes.  Drain and set aside.
• Boil 6 cups of water in a pot.  Add the julienned carrots, return to boil, and cook for 1 minute.  Drain and set aside.
• Heat 2 T of vegetable oil on high heat in a wok.  Add the drained, marinated patty strips to the wok and stir-fry for 1 minute, constantly stir-frying to keep the strips from sticking to the wok.  Remove from the wok and set aside.
• Heat another 2 T of vegetable oil on high heat  in the wok.  Add the Spices and stir-fry for 1 minute.   Add the Veggies and the stir-fried patty strips and stir-fry for 1 minute.  Add the Sauce and stir-fry for 1 minute.

Deniz and I love indian food and palak paneer is one of those great flavorful and healthy dishes.  We had a lot of extra ong choi in the garden and figured, why not try it with water spinach instead?  We took Dassan’s Palak Paneer recipe and modified it slightly to make it our own.  Here is our fusion recipe, we couldn’t be more pleased with the results.  So flavorful, bursting with Indian spice and with the smoothness of ong choi.  Enjoy!

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Fusion Indian-Chinese Pani Palak Paneer / Pureed Ong Choi with Tofu

We were skeptical with our Palak Paneer using Ong Choi and Tofu first but we couldn't be more pleased with the results.  This fusion creation is so flavorful, bursting with Indian spice and with the smoothness of ong choi.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

Ingredients:

• Ong Choi Puree
• 1½ lbs fresh ong choi washed well and large stems removed
• 1 anaheim chilli chopped
• 2 t garlic
• 1 t ginger
• 3/4 c water for the puree
• 6 c water boiling
• 6 c water frigid with ice cubes

Tofu Sauce:

• 4 T oil
• 1 t cumin seeds
• 2 bay leaves
• medium onions diced in a food processor
• 2½ T garlic minced
• small tomatoes chopped
• ½ t turmeric powderi
• 1 t chili powder
• 1 t garam masala
• 2 t vegeta
• salt to taste
• 1 block approx 1 lb of extra firm tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 t kasuri methi leaves/dry fenugreek leaves crumbled
• ½ c half and half

Instructions

Instructions:

Ong Choi Puree:

• Boil 6 cups water in a pot and with 1 tsp salt. Add the ong choi leaves and thin stems into the boiling water. Cover and cook for 2 minutes.
• Strain the leaves and then immediately place the strained leaves into 6 cups of cold water with ice cubes to cool it down.  Drain again.
• Blend the cooled cooked ong choi in a blender with the ginger, garlic, and 3/4 c of water until smooth.

Tofu Sauce:

• Heat the cooking oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and let them splutter.
• Add the bay leaves and diced onions and saute till the onions  become golden.
• Add the minced garlic. Saute it without browning it.
• Add the chopped tomatoes, stirring until they soften, about 1 minute.
• Stir in the turmeric powder and chili powder.
• Stir in the ong choi puree. Simmer for 6-7 minutes or more till the ong choi is cooked, adding water as needed to keep it a smooth creamy consistency.
• Stir in the vegeta, salt to taste, garam masala, and tofu cubes. Simmer for 2 minutes.
• Stir in the crumbled dry fenugreek leaves.
• Stir in the cream.

This is a light and healthy Turkish Salad that Gülevren taught us.  In Taiwanese cuisine, green mung beans are always sweetened and used in dessert.  It was cool to discover a way to make them into a salad.  The diversity of vegetables in this refreshing dish makes it not only healthy, but also deep in flavor and textures.

Ingredients:

• 1 c green mung beans
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• ½ bunch parsley leaves, chopped
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 t apple cider vinegar
• ¼ c olive oil
• 2 dill pickles, diced
• salt to taste

Instructions:

Soak the mung beans in water overnight.  Boil with water in a medium pot over medium heat for 15-20 minutes (or 30-40 min if beans are not soaked overnight).  The cooked beans should be soft, but not mushy.  Cool the beans to room temperature.

Prepare the rest of the ingredients as described in the ingredients list.

Combine and mix all the ingredients in a large bowl.  Serve.

I’ve always wondered why there aren’t many savory pancake offerings.  I love the texture of pancakes, but don’t much like sweet in the morning, especially cloying syrupy sweetness.  I’d always wished pancakes were salty instead of sweet.  So when I found Lail Hossain’s Bangladeshi Chapri recipe, I decided to try making it using pancake batter.  The results were so delicious, we’ve made it many times, and also tried other savory pancake concoctions.

Ingredients:

• 3 c Krusteaz Light and Fluffy Buttermilk Pancake mix
• 2 c water
• ½ T garlic, chopped
• ½ t ginger paste
• ½ T cumin
• 2 c cilantro, chopped
• 1 c onion, chopped
• 1 Anaheim chili, chopped
• 2 dashes cayenne powder

Instructions:

Prepare the ingredients as described above

Blend together the pancake mix and water until there are little to no lumps.

Add the remaining ingredients into the batter and mix to combine well.

Heat a large griddle/frying pan on medium high heat.  Spray or brush oil it.  Sprinkle a little salt on the oil.

Pour about ¼ c of batter onto the griddle.  Sprinkle a little salt on the top of the pancake.  Once bubbles appear throughout the pancake and the bottom is golden brown (about 1 min 15 seconds), flip the pancake and cook the other side until the other side is golden brown.

Deniz loves these bean sprouts, we’ve made them more than any other recipe on this blog.  I’ve never been a big fan of bean sprouts, and even I like them.  They’re simple to make, full of flavor, and very nutritious.  This recipe is taken from Wei-Chuan’s Chinese Cuisine cookbook, with the seasoning amplified for our tastes.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs bean sprouts
• ½ green pepper, thinly sliced
• 2 t Sichuan peppercorn, ground

Seasoning:

• 2 t salt
• 2 t sugar
• 2 t MSG
• 2 T rice vinegar

Instructions:

Prepare the ingredients per the instructions above.  Combine the Seasoning ingredients in a small bowl.

Heat 3 T of cooking oil in a wok over high heat.  Add the ground Sichuan peppercorn and stir-fry for 10 seconds.  Add the bean sprouts, sliced green pepper, and Seasoning, and continue to stir-fry until until the bean sprouts are thoroughly cooked.

Got this recipe from a reddit VegRecipes post 3 years ago and have made it countless times since.  It’s addictive.  Makes about 6 cups of salsa that gets gobbled down in less than a day every time.  The beans give it a heartiness, the corn gives it a sweetness, and the apple cider vinegar gives it a fresh tangy taste.  With tortilla chips, it feels like a full meal.

Ingredients:

• 1 c frozen corn
• ½ can black beans, drained and washed
• 2 large tomatoes, diced
• ½ large onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, seeded and diced
• ½ jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 1/4 c or more chopped cilantro
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 T apple cider vinegar
• 1½ t salt
• 1 t cumin
• hot sauce to taste

Instructions:

Boil the frozen corn according to package instructions.  Drain and cool.

Prepare other ingredients as described in the Ingredients list.

Combine all prepared ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix to combine.

I’ve made this delicious soup in various versions over the years, thanks to Wei-Chuan’s cookbook guidance.  It’s got that perfect balance of sour and savory with a tinge of heat.  I don’t miss the meat at all in this vegetarian version.  Here’s our most recent variation, chock full of veggie goodness.  Most of the veggies are optional, feel free to add or subtract as your pantry allows.

Ingredients:

Stir-Fry Veggies:

• ½ of a 14-oz can of bamboo shoots, shredded
• 1 carrot, peeled and julienned
• ½ oz dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes
• 4 wood ears, chopped
• 3-inch strip of dried turnip, chopped (optional)
• ½ bunch of enoki mushrooms

Additional Soup Ingredients:

• ½ c frozen peas
• ½ c water chestnuts, sliced and halved
• 1 block silken tofu, cut into ½ inch cubes

Soup Stock:

• 5 c broth (2.5 Knorr vegetable bouillons dissolved in 5 c of hot water)
• 2 T black vinegar
• 1½ T rice vinegar
• 2 t ginger, minced
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1 t garlic chili paste
• ½ t salt
• ½ t sugar
• 1 t pepper
• 1 T corn starch

Garnish:

• 1 egg, beaten (optional)
• 1 T sesame oil
• 2 t green onion, chopped

Directions:

Prepare the Veggies and Additional Soup Ingredients as described in the ingredients list.  Heat 2 T vegetable oil in a very large skillet on medium high.  Stif-fry the Veggies for 2 minutes.

Add the Soup Stock ingredients to the skillet, making sure the corn starch is fully dissolved in the broth prior to addition (otherwise the corn starch will turn into gelatinous lumps).  Cook on high until the soup is boiling.

Add the Additional Soup Ingredients and continue cooking for 5 minutes.

Turn off the heat, add the Garnish, stirring the soup during addition to create egg strands.

Deniz and I have always loved lentil soup.  Before we met, each of us made it in our own way, me with Taiwanese seasoning (soy sauce and vegetables), Deniz with Turkish seasoning (tomato paste and onions).  When we started cooking together, we found a way to marry our two recipes, and the result was better than either of our original recipes.  It’s now become one of our old standby easy recipes if we don’t know what to cook.  We had a little extra lentil this week and decided to make it again.  This time we spiced it up with chipotle and it turned out dynamite.  We’re adding it to this website so we don’t forget to add the chipolte again next time!

Ingredients:

• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 2 T tomato paste
• 3 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
• 3 carrots, finely chopped
• 2 t garlic, minced
• 1½ c dried lentils
• 1 large chipolte from a can marinading in adobo sauce, chopped
• 10 c vegetable broth
• ¼ c orzo
• olive oil for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Prepare the ingredients as described on the ingredients list.

Heat 2 T of cooking oil in a large non-stick pot.  Stir fry the chopped onions in the oil for 3 minutes.  Add the tomato paste and continue stir-frying for another minute.  Add the chopped celery, carrots, and garlic and continue stir-frying for 2 minutes.  Add the lentils, chipotle and vegetable broth.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.  Add the orzo and continue simmering covered for another 10 minutes.  Garnish with (optional) olive oil.