Jan is still on a blended food diet, so she has been making a lot of smoothies. The blueberries help a lot in disguising the dark green of the kale, so today’s smoothie looked quite presentable and tasty. Jan thought it was delicious.
Category Archives: Vegetarian MD
Jan’s Pomegranate Pond Scum Smoothie
Jan is still on a soft food diet so she has been making smoothies. Last night’s had kale, strawberries and banana, but she does not remember what else she put into it. It looked a bit like chocolate milk. While it tasted nice, you wanted to drink it in the dark. Today’s smoothie looked a bit nicer, but any drink with a lot of ground up kale is going to have presentation issues.
Filed under Main Dishes, Vegetarian MD
Karl’s Green Bean Salad
I am making Greek lamb for Christmas Eve dinner with my sister, Karen. A lettuce salad does not seem like the right side dish. I thought I would do a cold green bean salad.
Filed under Salads, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian MD
Karl’s Mock Georgian Shilaplavi with Mushrooms
Adapted from Djurenko.com and 17recipes.com
Georgian Shilaplavi is a rice dish that is described as being like a risotto. I have some diners who prefer little or no starch. I have learned that cauliflower is a versatile and good substitute. It is filling and can be “manipulated” in a number of ways to imitate some starch ingredients.
Filed under Side Dishes, Vegetables, Vegetarian MD
Karl’s Caprese Salad II
Jan likes caprese salad, which is tomatoes, mozzarella, onion, olives and basil in a light vinaigrette. Usually I go to La Villa, a very good Italian deli in Willow Glen and pay through the nose for a very small portion. While La Villa makes a good salad, I decided that I could make it cheaper and fresher.
Filed under Salads, Vegetarian MD
Karl’s Cauliflower and Spinach with Garlic au Gratin
I am making a pot roast this week, but my son-in-law is still on his Ketogenic diet and my wife Jan is also watching her starch intake. These restrictions means that I cannot add potatoes to the roast as would be the normal accompaniment to the savory meat. Man does not live on meat alone, but I know a few who have tried.
Filed under Side Dishes, Vegetables, Vegetarian MD
Karl’s Pesto Cauliflower
I was wandering the farmer’s market this weekend and I decided that one day this week I would make a vegetarian meal for Jan and Eilene. I had made some pesto to preserve some of the basil that was burgeoning in our garden. I decided that pesto-something would be the main dish.
Filed under Main Dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian MD
Karl’s Tofu and Chinese Broccoli Stir-fry
It is a constant struggle to keep week day meals interesting. My mother, Claudia, was a strict budgeter; with 5 kids to feed she had to be. However, the result of this budgeting was that frequently you could tell what day it was by what was on the table. I had the same problem when I worked off shore, “If it is Tuesday it must be T-bone steaks.” No matter how good the food is, it gets boring if it is predictable.
Filed under Main Dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian MD
Karl’s Vegetarian Lasagna
Adapted from a Cook’s Illustrated recipe
A friend of ours had a reoccurrence of her cancer, an all too familiar event in our lives. She is so sick that it is hard for her to cook, so I am making one of my mitzvah lasagnas. When a person is on chemo they tend not to be concerned with eating. I unfortunately know this from personal experience. This dish is designed to tempt you into eating at least a bite or two to keep body and soul together.
Filed under Main Dishes, Vegetarian MD
Karl’s Tofu, Garlic Stem and Lettuce Stem Stir-fry with Pan-Fried Noodles
Yesterday was Daddy’s Day, so I made beef and beans. Today I am paying the price by making a vegetarian meal for Jan and Eilene. After work, Jan usually goes to the gym to work out and de-stress. Depending on which gym she goes to, the session she is attending, and the traffic she can come home anywhere from 6:45 to 7:15. With a stir-fry you can do all of the prep work and then put the dinner on hold, but ready to go, for easily an hour. A quick 10 minutes of stir-frying and a hot fresh dinner is on the table.
Filed under Main Dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian MD