I’ve always loved the sweetness of butternut squash, but never quite found the right recipe to make it frequently. Recently I picked up the Spiced book by America’s Test Kitchen from the library and when Deniz and I realized we had a leftover squash from Halloween (dressed up as Count Squashula) and all the ingredients for the squash recipe in the book, we decided to try it one as a fun late evening activity. Boy was I surprised about the result! The dish was perfectly balanced. The roasting produced a sweet slightly crispy caramel cubes with a soft spicy interior. The sweetness perfectly counterbalanced the slight tanginess. I’d make this again and again.

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Butternut Squash with Spiced Butter

Perfect balance of sweet, savory, and spicy

Ingredients

• 1 medium butternut squash peeled, seeded, and cut in 1/2 inch cubes

Marinade Ingredients

• 3 T extra virgin olive oil
• 1 t salt
• 1 t black pepper
• 1 t cumin, ground
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper

Drizzle Ingredients

• 2 T butter, salted
• 1 T honey
• 1/4 t thyme, dried
• 1 t lemon juice
• 1/4 t salt

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
• Place a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. 
•  Prepare squash as described in the Ingredients list.   
• Combine Marinade ingredients in a large bowl.  Add squash and mix to coat well. 
• Spread the marinated squash evenly onto the parchment paper on the cookie sheet.  Place the cookie sheet in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 30 minutes.  The squash cubes shoudl be browned and slightly crispy on the bottom and soft in the top and middle.
• While the squash is roasting, mix the Drizzle ingredients in a small microwavable bowl.  Melt in the microwave, about 30 seconds. 
• Combine the roasted marinated squash and the drizzle ingredients in the large bowl and mix gently to combine. 
• Serve.

We were trying to decide what to cook one day so we came up with this idea of finding a recipe from a country that hasn’t influenced us with its cuisine. We came across this Polish stuffed cabbage recipe by Chef Billy Parisi, which looked interesting. We were skeptical a bit as we had stuffed cabbage from Turkey before and there was a chance of this dish being too similar. Oh boy were we wrong. We are glad we made it in a batch that’s enough for the whole week because we enjoyed eating this every single day for dinner for the whole week.

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Polish Stuffed Cabbage (Golabki)

Hearty and savory goodness in a pouch with sauce

Ingredients

Filling

• 1/3 c long grain brown rice
• 5 T butter
• 1 yellow onion, medium diced small
• 4 cloves garlic finely minced
• 2 slices large bread diced, crust removed
• 1 lbs Vegetarian beef (Beyond or Impossible)
• 1 lbs Beyond sausage
• 1½ t marjoram
• 1½ t oregano
• ½ t paprika

Wrap & Cooking Stock

• 1 head green cabbage young
• 4 c veggie beef broth (2 vegetarian beef bullion dissolved in 4 c of hot water)
• 2 T tomato paste

Sauce

• 28 oz tomato puree
• 1 bay leaf
• ⅛ t allspice ground
• 2 T butter
• 1 t red wine vinegar
• salt & pepper

Instructions

Filling Prep

• Add the rice to a small saucepot. Pour in the water, gently season with salt, stir, add on a lid, and cook for only 8 minutes. Set the rice to the side to completely cool.
• Prepare the rest of the ingredients as described in the Ingredients list.
• Melt the butter, and saute the diced onions for 5 minutes (or until lightly browned) over medium heat
• Turn the heat down to low, stir for another 10 minutes or until the onions are caramelized.
• Add the minced garlic, stir until fragrant for about 30-45 seconds.
• Mix in the diced bread until it gets coated in butter. Set aside to cool.
• Once the bread-onion-garlic mixture is cool, combine it in a large bowl with plant beef and pork, marjoram, oregano, paprika, salt, and pepper. Mix it, set it aside.

Cabbage Prep

• Carefully cut out and remove the core of the cabbage leaving any lose leaves. Put the entire cabbage covered in a large pot of boiling salty water, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side.
• Let the cabbage sit for 5-6 minutes, until cool enough to touch.
• Carefully remove the leaves without tearing them. You should get 16-18 leaves. Carefully flatten each leaf, and trim the thick vein so it can roll up.

Filling the Leaves

• Take about 2 to 4 ounces of filling, place it in the lower 3rd section of the leaf, fold in the sides then roll it up. Repeate the process until all the filling is gone.

Cooking the Golabki

• Lay down any unused leaves in the bottom of a large pot. Layer all the stuffed leaves in to the pot.
• Stir the tomato paste into the stock, then pour it in the pot. Bring the mixture to boil over high heat. Then cover and simmer for 50-60 minutes over low heat, until the leaves are tender.

Cooking the Sauce

• Drain the braising liquid into a separate pot. Pour in the puree, add the bay leaf along with all spice and salt. Heat over medium-high while stirring frequently until it is reduced by 25%, for about 15 minutes.
• Finish the sauce with butter, vinegar, salt & pepper.

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’ve never been a big fan of quiche because of the eggy and heavy taste.  But after having brunch at a French eatery, I realized that quiches don’t have to be eggy or fatty.  So Deniz and I created this delicious and easy to make quiche that is lower in fat than normal quiches and not so eggy in taste.  It was so tasty, we documented the recipe and have made it many times since.

Makes 2 quiches.

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Fusion Veggie Quiche with Feta

We created this delicious and easy to make quiche that is lower in fat than normal quiches and not so eggy in taste.

Servings 2 quiches

Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 2 pre-made deep dish pie crusts in a pie tin thawed for 10 minutes and holes poked into it with a fork.
• 3 Morningstar Brand Original Vegetarian Sausage Patties
• 1 small onion diced
• 1 small red pepper diced
• 2 large carrots peeled and diced
• 1 small head of broccoli broken into florets and then diced
• 1 block extra firm tofu
• 1 T cooking oil
• 2 T water
• 5 oz feta cheese crumbled
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 t pepper
• 1/4 t nutmeg
• 4 eggs beaten

Instructions

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Prepare Ingredients as described above in the Ingredients list.
• Bake pre-made crusts in the oven for 11 minutes or per package directions until slightly browned. Also place the veggie sausage patties into the oven at the same time on tin foil and bake for 13 minutes.
• Take crust and veggie patties out of oven and reduce the heat to 350°F.
• Heat cooking oil on medium high heat in large saucepan.  Add diced veggies in the following order:  carrots, onions, pepper, broccoli.  Allow to cook for 2 minutes.  Add water.  Cover and cook on high until steam comes out of the slides of the pan/lid, approximately 7 minutes.  Turn the heat off and let stand for 10 minutes with the cover still on.  Drain any remaining water.   Add 1/2 t salt and mix to combine.  Remove to a large mixing bowl and allow to cool.
• Crumble the extra firm tofu using a fork until it is the consistency of scrambled eggs.  Add to the bowl of veggies and mix to combine.
• Break the sausage patties into pieces using a fork until they are a small ground beef consistency.  Add 1/2 t salt and mix to combine.  Add to the bowl of veggies/tofu and mix to combine.
• Add the pepper, beaten eggs, and 1/4 of the feta cheese to the bowl of veggies and sausage patties.  Mix the bowl ingredients to combine.
• Scoop the veggie-sausage-egg mixture into the baked pie crust. Add the remaining crumbled feta cheese to the top.  Place into the oven and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and quiche is set.

This is a great snack and tea companion. Crunchy puff pastry filled with vegetarian sausage and cheese, baked for perfection. If you like borek, or spanakopita you will love this.

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American Vegetarian Sausage Cheese Swirls

This is a great snack and tea companion. Crunchy puff pastry filled with vegetarian sausage and cheese, baked for perfection. If you like borek, or spanakopita you will love this.

Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 1 box of frozen Puff Pastry Sheets includes 2 ready-to-bake sheets, thawed but still cool
• 1 t olive oil
• 6 oz crimini mushrooms chopped
• 1 onion diced
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 lb vegetarian sausage such as MorningStar Sasuage Patties
• 2 oz cream cheese
• 1/2 c + 4 T cheddar shredded
• 1 egg or egg substitute, beaten

Instructions

Instructions:

• Toast the vegsausage patties for 14 minutes at 400°F.  After they have cooled, cut them in quarters and pulse them in a food processor until they are size and consistency of ground beef.
• Prepare the ingredients as described in the ingredients list.
• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
• Add the mushrooms, onion, and salt.
• Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushroom mixture is very tender, about 6-8 minutes.
• Remove from the heat. Stir in the ground veg sausage, cream cheese, and 1/2 c of cheddar until well blended.
• Heat the oven to 400°F.
• Lay the puff pastry sheets down on a cutting board.  Brush with egg.
• Sprinkle with the remaining 4 T of shredded cheddar.
• Spread the filling mixture on the pastry sheets evenly.
• Roll the sheets into very very loose tubes.
• Cut them into half inch slices with a sharp knife carefully (total of 20 slice).
• Lay slices flat on a greased baking sheet, and spread out into a wide circle to give the puff pastry room to expand.
• Brush with the remaining beaten egg.
• Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the pastry on the inside of the swirl is cooked and the pastry is golden brown.
• Serve warm or at room temperature.

So I had been wanting to try to make a vegetarian fish for over a decade.  I kept procrastinating because of the level of effort and lack of necessary ingredients.  This weekend I had neither excuse and embarked upon a fun adventure.  We had just visited Chinatown the weekend before and stocked up, and Deniz was willing to help me with the labor.  And the results turned out great.  Even Deniz said it was worth the effort.  The flavors are mild, so we’ll have to keep testing to see if we can bring a more sea flavor, but the look and texture are great.  Below is a recipe from Wei-Chuan’s Vegetarian Cooking cookbook that we modified and used:

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Vegetarian Fish

Is it even possible? Well, we even made the skin! If you have a good egg substitute you can even make this vegan.

Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 2 fresh or frozen bean curd skins if frozen, defrost
• 2 nori sheets

Filling:

• 6 oz dried bean curd skin broken into small pieces
• 8 oz can enoki minced
• 4 oz can water chestnuts chopped (Optional. This will give the fish a crunch, which will make the texture different from real fish, but nice in a different way)
• 1 block firm tofu drained, crumbled, and as much water squeezed out of it, as possible
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 T nori komi seaweed sesame seed furikake
• 1 T sea salt
• 1 t pepper

Paste:

• 1 T flour
• 1 T water

Instructions

Instructions:

• Prepare the ingredients as described in the Ingredients list above.
• Rehydrate the dried bean curd skin by soaking in boiling water for 1 hour.
• Drain and chop into smaller pieces, approximately 1 square inch in size
• Mix the Filling ingredients (including the rehydrated bean curd skin and squeezed tofu) together in a large bowl until well blended.  Mix the Paste in a small bowl.
• Place the fresh or defrosted bean curd skin on a large cutting board.
• Place the nori on top of it and cut it into the shape of a fish.
• Place the mixed Filling on top of the nori.
• Cut excess bean curd skin away as needed to fold the skin over without having to wrap it around the back.
• Wrap the remaining bean curd skin around the fish like a Christmas present.  Seal tightly with the Paste.
• Steam the fish for 30 minutes.  Allow to cool.
• Make diagonal slashes at 1 cm intervals halfway into the fish.
• Deep fry the fish until golden brown (pan frying it in a lot of oil and flipping it works too, that's what we did.  just be careful about splattering hot oil).

One important aspect of visiting other countries is to buy different spices and food helpers that you cannot buy back at home. In our recent trip to Turkey we bought several different spice mixes one of which happened to be a helper for one of my favorite meatball dishes: Inegol Kofte. The original plan was to make the meatballs using this mix and the soy meat, but then we saw something more mouthwatering on the package, which brings us to this recipe. Please note that it might be hard to find this mix since Knorr only makes this in Turkey. There are other brands that can be purchased online, but we can never be sure if the results are going to to the same. We apologize for any inconvenience in advance.

Ingredients:

Meatballs:

• 1 lbs of Morningstar original vegetarian sausage patties
• ½ pack of Knorr Inegol Meatball Mix  (if not available, you can try Basak brand which seems to be more accessible in some regions)
• ½ c of boiling water
• ½ Knorr vegetable bouillon cube
• 1 egg
• 4 T butter
• cooking oil

Veggie Roast:

• 4 T butter
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 2 medium onion, chopped in cubes
• 4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped in cubes
• 2 small potato, peeled and chopped in cubes
• 4 medium tomatoes, sliced in thin circles
• 1 can of tomato paste (6 oz)

Garnish:

• 1 cup of shredded Kasseri cheese or similar (e.g. provolone)

Instructions:

Toast the sausage patties for 14 minutes at 400°F.  Pulse the toasted patties a food processor (or chop manually) to a ground beef consistency.

Melt the 4 T of butter (in a small bowl about 30 seconds on high in the microwave) and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Scramble the egg in a small bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the boiled water with the bouillon cube and stir until it is dissolved.  Add the meatball mix continue stirring until well combined.  Add the toasted ground veggie patties, scrambled egg, and cooled melted butter.  Stir / kneed for about 5 minutes until it is mixed well. Make it long, round meatballs in shape of very short (2″ long) hot dogs, but little bit flatter. While making the meatballs, try not to squish them too much.  You want the meatballs to stay as fluffy as possible.  Put the raw meatballs on a greased cookie sheet in the fridge for at least half an hour.

Heat 4 T of butter in the empty large skillet. Add the onions, carrots, potatoes, garlic, tomato paste (in this order). Stir-fry until soft. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Set the vegetables aside.

Heat oven to 350°F.

Heat 2 T of vegetable oil on high heat in a large skillet.  Add the meatballs and sear them for one minute each side.  The meatballs should be browned on each side but not burnt.  You may have to do a few batches depending on how large your pan is.  Set the meatballs aside.

Grease the bottom of a deep baking dish.  Lay the tomato slices to cover the bottom. Spread half of the cooked vegetables on top, then add the meatballs side by side, and then add the rest of the vegetables on top.  Bake it covered for 40 minutes in center rack. Take it out, sprinkle the shredded cheese on top. Broil it until the cheese on top is melted and slightly brown (about  5 minutes).

We were blesssed to get a private cooking lesson from Gülevren last night.  It was a unique treat watching superwoman.  She cook 5 dishes for a 10 person dinner, while teaching us and watching the kids.  Here’s her Ali Nazik Kebab dish, with its bold tangy meaty topping and cool, smooth eggplant base.

Ingredients:

Yogurt Eggplant base:

• 4 medium Italian eggplants
• 1 T salt
• 3 T olive oil
• 2 c thick yogurt

Kebab topping:

• 8 Morningstar Vegetarian Sausage Patties
• 2 small red peppers, seeded and diced
• 2 T olive oil
• 4 T tomato paste
• 1/2 t salt

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Slice each eggplant in half.  Poke holes in the eggplant with a fork.  Brush olive oil onto the cut side of each eggplant.  Place cut side down on a cookie sheet.  Bake the eggplant for 40 minutes.  Allow to cool, peel the eggplants.

At the same time, bake the sausage patties on a greased cookie sheet for 12 minutes.  Allow to cool, then pulse the patties to a ground beef consistency in the food processor.

Pulse the eggplant in a food processor until it is mushy but still a little chunky.  Heat the remaining 3 T of olive oil in a medium non-stick pan on medium high heat.  Add the eggplant and 2 t salt.  Stir-fry for 2 minutes.  Remove to a bowl, and cool to room temperature.  Mix in the yogurt.

Heat 2 T of olive oil in a medium non-stick pan on medium high heat.  Add the diced red peppers and tomato paste and stir-fry for 4 minutes.  Add the ground sausage patties and 1/2 t salt and continue to stirfry for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Place the eggplant-yogurt mixture on the bottom of the serving bowl.  Add the veggie meat-pepper mixture on top.  Serve with bread.

Doro Wat is the national dish of Ethiopia.  It’s impossible to get a vegetarian version of it, so naturally Deniz and I had to vegetarianize the dish.  We started with Marcus Samuelsson’s Doro Wett recipe, modified it for our vegetarian diet and taste, and simplified it for easier cooking.  Below is our adapted version.  It has a delicious earthy and savory flavor, perfect for pairing with Gardein’s mild Chick’n.

Ingredients:

• 42 oz Gardein Meatless Crispy Chick’n or Beyond Chicken
• 2 medium red onions, diced
• 1 ½ cups water
• 1 Knorr vegetarian vegetable bullion cube
• ¼ cup dry red wine
• 2 hard-boiled eggs

Spiced Butter:

• 4 T unsalted butter
• 2 T medium red onion, chopped
• 1/8 t garlic, minced
• ½ T ginger, pureed
• 1/8 t fenugreek seeds
• 1/4 t ground cumin
• 1/2 t ground cardamom
• 1/4 t dried oregano
• 1/8 t turmeric, ground
• ¼ t black pepper, ground
• 3 cloves
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon Berbere or chili powder
• ½ t salt

Instructions:

Bake the meatless chick’n according to package instructions.  Slice each nugget in half and set aside.

Combine the Spiced Butter ingredients in a small bowl.

Heat a medium sauce pan over medium high heat.  Add the onions and the Spiced Butter to the pan.   Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are golden, about 10 minutes. Add the water, bullion cube, and wine.  Simmer for 15 minutes.  Add the eggs and simmer for another 5 minutes. The sauce will be loose and soupy. Season with salt to taste.  Add the sliced baked meatless chick’n and stir to coat before serving.

Tikil Gomen is another must when ordering an Ethiopian Vegetarian Combo.  It’s slightly sweet, and provides a nice vegetable texture that pairs well with the smoother yellow pea and red lentil stews.  Below is a slightly modified version of a recipe we got from the Toronto Star to suit our tastes, including the addition the of bullion.  Also, the dish is usually served with the vegetables cut in very large chunks, but we like them a little smaller so they fully absorb the flavors of the dish.

Ingredients:

Kik Alicha is perfect balance for every Ethiopian Vegetarian combo.  It’s slightly sweet and nuanced, unlike its bolder companions.  And it’s not hot… helps to relieve the heat from other stews in the combo.  Below is a slightly modified version of a recipe we got from the Toronto Star.  It was dynamite, better than I remember this dish every being.  And I’ve eaten Kik Alicha at a lot of Ethiopian Restaurants…

Ingredients:

•  2 c dried yellow split peas
• 6 T butter
• 2 medium yellow onions, minced
• 2 T garlic, chopped
• 1 T ginger, chopped
• ½ t turmeric
• 3 c water
• 4 Knorr vegetable bullions
• ½ t salt, or to taste

Ingredients:

• 2 c red lentils, rinsed
• 6 T butter (or clarified butter if you have it)
• 2 yellow onions, finely chopped
• 2 T garlic, finely chopped
• 2 T berbere (ethiopian spice mix)
• 4 Knorr vegetarian bullion cubes
• 2 tomato, chopped
• 4 c water
• 1/4 t salt or to taste
  

Instructions:

Prepare the ingredients as described above.

Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the lentils, the berbere, tomato, bullion cubes, and water to the saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer covered, and stirring occasionally to keep the lentils from burning on the bottom, until thick and the lentils are tender, approximately 40 minutes.

Add additional water as needed to keep the lentils moist.

Stir in the remaining 1/4 t salt.

Serve with injera.

Note:  If cooking in an instant pot, cook as described above, in the instant pot, except when cooking the lentils, cook on high pressure for 13 minutes instead of cooking 40 minutes on the stove.

Deniz loves meatloaf.  There’s something so wholesome and American about it.  We’ve made it a couple of times using different recipes and have found this one to be the best (so far).  It’s modified from Michael Chiarello’s Italian Meatloaf recipe, and adapted for our vegetarian diet and taste.  We really like the combination of the Morningstar fake meat and lentils.  Provides a great hearty texture that holds together well, and fantastic flavor.

Ingredients:

• 16 Morningstar Original Vegetarian Sausage Patties (2 packages)

Lentil mix:

• 1 c lentils
• 2 c veggie broth (1 Knorr vegetarian bullion cube dissolved in 2 c boiling water)

Veggie mix (may be diced together in a food processor for ease of preparation):

• 1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 t garlic, chopped
• 2 medium onions, finely diced
• 2 red peppers, seeded, finely diced
• 1 stalk celery, finely diced

Meatloaf mix:

• ½ c basil leaves, chopped
• 2 T parsley leaves, chopped
• 1 t salt
• ½ t black pepper
• 2 c Parmesan, grated
• 1½ c breadcrumbs
• 2 T Worcestershire sauce
• 2 T balsamic vinegar
• 4 eggs, beaten

Topping:

• 1 c marinara sauce

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare the ingredients as described above.

Toast the veggie sausage patties in the oven for 14 minutes on 400°F. Pulse the toasted patties a food processor (or chop manually) to a ground beef consistency. 

Boil the Lentil Mix ingredients in a covered medium pot on medium-high heat for 20 minutes.  Lentils should still be firm, not mushy.  Remove the lentils from the heat and strain any remaining liquid. Pulse the boiled lentils 2 or 3 times in a food processor so that the lentils are no longer whole, but also are not mushy.

Heat the olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat.  Stir-fry the Veggie Mix ingredients until just soft. Let cool.

Mix the ground patties, boiled lentils, stir-fried Veggie Mix, and the remaining Meatloaf Mix ingredients together in a large bowl.  Combine well to ensure the liquids, especially the egg, are evenly distributed throughout the mixture.

Spoon the mixture into an greased loaf pan.  If you do not have a loaf pan, form the mixture into a loaf shape on an greased oven tray or baking dish.  Do not pack the mixture down.   Top with the marinara sauce, making sure to spread evenly over the top.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve.