Day 354 Cauliflower Casserole

Cauliflower Casserole

1 Head Cauliflower, cut into flowerets
11 Ounces Creamy Mushroom Soup
8 Ounces Vegan Sour Cream
2 Tablespoons Earth Balance, melted
1/4 Cup Whole Wheat Bread Crumbs
Pepper to taste
1/4 Cup Pistachios, ground

Cooked cauliflower

1.  Cook cauliflower in water about 10 minutes or until crisp tender.  Drain well and place in greased oven proof dish.

casserole sauce

2.  Combine soup, sour cream, breadcrumbs and pepper. Mix well. Pour over cauliflower.

Pistachio topping

3.  Combine melted Earth Balance and pistachios.  Sprinkle over the casserole.  Bake at 350 for 20 - 25 minutes until bubbly.

Goes well with rice and lentils and asparagus artichoke casserole.

Soundtrack Brett Eldredge - Glow

Day 352 Carrot Casserole

Carrot Casserole

5 1/2 Cups Carrots, peeled and sliced
Water for boiling
1 Veggie Bouillon cube
1 Bunch Green Onions, chopped
2 Tablespoons Earth Balance
4 Ounces Soft Spreadable Vegan Cheese
8 Ounces Vegan Sour Cream
1/4 Cup Soy Milk
1/4 Cup Pistachios, ground
1/4 Cup Parsley, Chopped

Ingredients

1.  Combine carrots, water and bouillon in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil and cook 15 - 20 minutes until carrots are crisp tender.  Drain.

Cooked carrots

2.  Melt Earth Balance in a skillet over medium heat.  Add green onions and saute.  Mix in sour cream, vegan cheese and soy milk.  Ix well and heat until well combined and saucy.

Sour cream sauce

3. Add carrots to a 2 quart casserole dish..  Pour sour cream mixture over the carrots and mix well.  Top with the parsley, then the pistachios.  Bake  at 350 F for 20 minutes.

Goes well with Roasted Pepper Broccoli and lentils.

Pairs well with a 2006 Turkish Red Wine

Soundtrack Spotify's Latin Christmas Playlist.

Day 350 Asparagus Artichoke Casserole

Asparagus Artichoke Casserole

1 Green Pepper, chopped
1 Pound Asparagus, sliced
1 Tablespoon Earth Balance
10 Ounces Mushroom Soup
1 Can Artichoke Hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 Cup Nicoise Olives
4 Ounces Dried Mushrooms
2 5 Ounce Cans Water Chestnuts, chopped
1/2 Cup Dry Croutons
1 1/2 Cups Daiya Cheddar Cheese Shreds
Salt to taste

Ingredients

1.  Cover the dried mushrooms with hot water and let sit for 1 hour.  Chop the mushrooms and reserve the stock.

Reconstituted mushrooms

2.  Saute pepper and asparagus in a skillet with the Earth Balance.

Asparagus and pepper sauteing

3.  Mix the artichoke, olives, mushrooms and water chestnuts with the asparagus mix.  Pour into a casserole dish.

Casserole ready to cook

4.  Mix the mushroom soup with 1/4 cup of the mushroom water.  Pour over the vegetables.  Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

5.  Remove from the oven and add the croutons.  Mix well.  Top with the cheese.  Cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Goes well with Red Pepper Broccoli

Pairs well with 2013 Domaine Pichot Vouvray

Soundtrack Spotify's Rock Christmas Playlist.

Day 225 Ratatoiulle Casserole

Ratatoiulle Casserole

1 Carrot, cut in chunks
1 Eggplant, cut in chunks
1 Zucchini, cut in chunks
1 Yellow Squash, cut in chunks
2 Tomatoes, cut in chunks
1 Onion, cut in chunks
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Can Kidney Beans
1 Cup Total Basil, Parsley, and Oregano, chopped
2 Cups Veggie Stock
2 Large Sweet Potatoes, baked and skin removed
2 Ounces Ground Flax Seeds
Salt and Pepper to taste

Potato layer

1.  Preheat over to 375 F.  Slice the potatoes lengthwise and line the bottom of a lasagna pan.  Top with the veggie chunks.

Veggie Layer

2.  Mix the garlic and herbs with the beans.  Layer on top of the veggies.  Pour the stock over the mix.   Sprinkle the flax seeds and salt and pepper over the beans.

Ready to bake

3.  Bake for 1 hour.

Baked

Soundtrack Slamjamz Records Presents: The Power - Various Artists

Ready to eat

Day 134 Brown Rice Casserole

Brown Rice Casserole

4 Cups of Cooked Brown Rice (Day 133, you will need to double the recipe)
8 Ounces Extra Firm Tofu, cubed
1 Onion, chopped
2 Carrots, peeled and chopped
1 Green Bell Pepper, chopped
1 Zucchini, chopped
1 Summer Squash, chopped
6 Ounces Mushrooms, sliced
1 or 2 Collard Greens Leaves, sliced
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Earth Balance
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon Nutritional Yeast
1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds, ground
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Stock
6 Ounces Vegan Cheese, shredded
Pepper to taste
Oregano and Rosemary to taste

1.  Preheat the oven to 350F. Heat the olive oil and Earth Balance, and fry the onion over medium heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic, yeast, salt and cumin.  Stir until blended and cook one minute.  Add the carrots, and green pepper.  Add 1/2 cup of stock, cover the pan and braise the vegetables for 5 minutes, or until soft.  Add the squashes, collards and mushrooms and cook another 10 minutes.  Add the remaining liquid.

2.  Combine the vegetables with the rice and cheese.  Season with salt and pepper.  Mix in the tofu.  Add the herbs.  Cover the dish and bake for 45 minutes.

Works well as a breakfast dish when camping.  Just reheat in an oiled skillet.

Pairs well with a mimosa (Day 124)

Soundtrack Woody Lissauer - A Guest in the House of the Wind

Addicted to Results 4/25

Breakfast was cereal, apple and vanilla yogurt with a little drizzle of maple syrup on top.  I use the So Delicious almond milk yogurt.  I used the Greek style which is really thick.

Lunch was a hot dog and salad. The salad was a type of slaw made with green and purple cabbage, carrot, and celery.  The dressing was vegan mayo and lemon juice which gave it a nice twang. I like the slaw, but I think adding an apple would make it much better.

For the hot dog, I used the Field Roast brand.  It has a list of all natural ingredients so it forgoes the chemical taste.  I wrapped a corn tortilla spread with ranch dress around the hot dog and squirted on some ketchup.

Dinner was a shepherd's pie and salad.  The salad was a simple spring mix with some avocado and the lemon vinaigrette.  The Shepherd's Pie was made in three parts.  First was a mushroom gravy.  The gravy started with a Earth Balance and flour roux.  I added veggie stock and rice milk for the liquid part.  After it was heated through, I added 3 portabella mushrooms, canned tomatoes, shallot, red bell peppers, parsley, thyme and garlic. I let this cook on low for 45 minutes.  The topping was mashed potatoes with Earth Balance, salt, pepper, and rice milk.  The base was saute onion, veggie crumbles and frozen peas and carrots.  The mushroom gravy was added to the base. Then the mixture was topped with the mashed potatoes.  The potatoes were a bit heavy and sunk into the base.

We had some sparkling wine with acorn squash bread before dinner and a Chianti with the meal.

Shepard's Pie

Green salad

Addicted to Results 4/16

xper

Tea of the Day

I drink a lot of tea and this is one of my favorites.  Matcha is a finely milled green tea that is dissolved directly in the water.  It is also very expensive so mixing it with regular green tea leaves in a bag gives you a taste of both at a lesser price.  It is also nice to start off with a picture of something other than another smoothie.

Green Mango Smoothie

Of course, I still started the day with a smoothie.  This is a Green Mango Smoothie. It is a blend of kale, mango and soy milk. Yes, I drink kale in smoothies.  Simple and good before a personal training time at the gym

For lunch, I topped some whole wheat spaghetti with the Sausage and Pepper Sauce that was left over from last night.  I sprinkled some nutritional yeast on top.

Chilaquiles Casserole

After my second gym trip, I made a Chilaquiles Casserole for dinner.  For this, onion, pinto beans, roasted tomatoes, corn, mock hamburger meat, and my cayenne spice mix were heated in a sauce pan.  Next, I layered corn tortillas, the bean mix and vegan pepper jack.  I repeated the layer and covered with more tortillas.  On the top, I added some roasted tomatoes, kale salsa, and pepper jack.  Then the dish was baked to heat it through.

After dinner we had another dessert wine.  These are nice because the bottles are about one quarter the size of a regular bottle of wine and low in alcohol percent.  This is one we picked up at the Reif Estate Winery at Niagara on the Lake in Ontario ten years ago.  It has been aging in our cellar and had the look of scotch when poured in a glass.

You know you wanted a dog picture.