Vegetarian Recipes

For the sisters. And those of you who are trying to eat more vegetarian, these are a few that we really like. I'm going out of town Wed - Fri so this week i am making both of these since we will have plentiful left overs. Landon will be set for dinner for the rest of the week. And the best thing about eating these two for left-overs is that they're just as good a second time!

Both of these recipes are from my favorite cook book, The Sugar Solution Cookbook by "Prevention" (this link will actually take you to the entire cookbook on "Prevention"'s website. definitely go there.) I also included the link to each individual recipe which you can access by clicking on the name of the dish.

Spicy Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, coarsely choppped
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 t ground cumin
• 1/4 t dried oregano
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2" chunks
• 1 pkg. frozen corn (10 oz)
• 4 cups [free range] chicken broth
• 1/2 C salsa
• 1/2 ripe avocado, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

In a Dutch oven, warm the oil over medium-low heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, salt and black pepper. Cover and cook, stirring often, for 1- minutes, or until tender. Stir in the cumin and oregano.

Add the sweet potato, corn, and broth. Cover, increase the heat, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 12 minutes, or until the sweet potato is tender. Stir in the salsa and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes longer.

Ladle into bowls and top each with some of the avocado, cilantro, and extra salsa, if you want to.

Makes 8 first course servings (or 4 -5 main dish servings)
prep time is 20 minutes, cook time is 27 minutes.

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna
This is a standing staple recipe for our family in the winter. I make it probably every three weeks. Some of the ingredients are a little pricey (ricotta AND mozzarella AND parmesan - oh my!) but it makes so much that i usually think of it as buying ingredients for 2 or 3 meals instead of just one.

• 3 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2' thick lengthwise slices
• 2 large red bell peppers, cut into 1' wide strips
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 box (8oz) sliced mushrooms
• 4 medium carrotts, coarsely shredded (i grate mine)
• 1 pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (10 oz)
• 1 container (15oz) reduced fat ricotta cheese
• 1/2 C grated parmesan cheese
• 1 large egg
• 1 jar (26oz) spaghetti sauce
• 9 no boil lasagna noodles
• 1 1/2 cups shredded reduced fat mozzarella cheese

Preheat the over to 450 F. Coat bottoms and sides of 2 baking sheets with cooking spray. Arrange the zucchini and peppers on the baking sheets. Coat with cooking spray. Roast for 15-20 minutes or until tender, moving the sheets to the opposite over racks once. Remove sheets and reduce the over temp to 350F

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, for 4 minutes, or until lightly browned. Stir in the carrots and cook for 1 minute longer. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir the spinach, ricotta, parmesan, and egg until blended.

Spread 1/2 cup of the spaghetti sauce over the bottom of a 13x9x2 baking dish. Top with 3 of the noodles, overlapping if necessary. Spoon on on-half of the ricotta mizture, spreading to cover the noodles. Top with one-half of the roasted veggies and one-half of the mushroom mixture. Spoon 1/2 C of the sauce over the veggies and sprinkle with 1/2C of the mozzarella. Repeat the layering. Top with the remaining 3 noodles. Spread the remaining sauce over the noodles. Cover the dish with foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 C mozzarella. Bake for 20 -25 minutes longer, or until hot and bubbly. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Makes 8 servings
prep time: 35 minutes, cook 1 hour and 10 minutes.

this one is a bit tedious as far as the prep work goes. but it's worth it. we love this.