Not doing too bad this last week

I’ve had more wins than losses this past week. Several new recipes have helped keep things interesting. Fried avocado tacos are incredible! I’ll be reblogging that recipe here to share.

Veggie and Mushroom bourguignon saved me on a day that I was really craving beef stew. Don’t let the name fool you, this is actually fairly easy to make and puts that leftover red wine to good use.

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Since I had the fryer out for avocado tacos I made falafal the next night. Probably not the healthiest choice to have fried food two nights in a row, but both are loaded with fresh veggies so I gave myself a pass.

Rounded out the week with some homemade hot Maple Whisky Pickles and Dilly Beans. Still perfecting that recipe. They weren’t bad and had good heat, but the maple and whisky didn’t come through as strong as I had hoped. More experimentation needed there.

Jackfruit – delicious but not exactly portable

I first tried jackfuit a couple of years ago in a taco. It was delicious, simmered in a chipotle sauce, with pickled onions and some fresh pico de gallo. At the time the stuff was impossible to find in Ohio with the exception of some vegetarian restaurants in “the city”. Farm country folks were SOL unless they ordered it in cans from Amazon or elsewhere on the internet. Then magically about a year ago I started to see some pre-packaged options in the vegetarian/vegan set in my local grocery. I added it to my rotation as it has a unique meat like texture and a mild flavor that holds a sauce well.

Today I ran across whole jackfruit in in the produce section. These things are bigger than a bowling ball. The small one in the picture weighed in at just over 15 pounds (I checked). At $2.48/lb that totals up to about $38 for one jackfruit. I had to pass. That is a little out of my normal produce spend, and I don’t know how I could eat 15 pounds of the stuff by myself.

My journey of unwilling vegetarianism continues, albeit without a whole jackfruit.

I would be lost without heat and eat Indian meals

One of the ways I survive in a meat eaters world is prepackaged heat and eat Indian meals. I keep them in my drawer at work for lunch. I keep them in the cupboard at home for a quick option when everyone else wants fast food and I don’t feel like cooking.

They are not gourmet, but they beat a salad in my book. It helps to add some chutney or hot sauce.

I used to only them find them at Indian grocery stores. Now days you can find them all over the place. I found some at Big Lots of all places the other day. Add some minute rice and you have a meat free 5 minute meal solution.

How could I resist?

Becca, our youngest, loves bourbon chicken at the mall food court. I have been working for months to duplicate that recipe so I can make it at home (mostly so I don’t have to drive to the mall so often just to buy dinner). Tonight, I finally nailed it. Then I fell off the wagon and had a heaping helping because it really is delicious.

I was actually doing pretty well for the first half of the day. A spoonful of peanut butter for breakfast, followed by a grilled cheese with mushrooms for lunch with a side of apples. If you have never tried mushrooms on a grilled cheese I highly recommend it.

If you are not a full time vegetarian feel free to try the copycat bourbon chicken recipe. I posted it on my cooking blog “Old Guy In The Kitchen at https://oldguykitchen.com/2019/01/16/food-court-bourbon-chicken-copycat-recipe/

Did I mention there is a pork shoulder in the instant pot because today was the use by date? The house smells amazing, and I fear tomorrow’s temptation is already upon me…..

Vegetarian grade for today: C+
Nutritional grade for today: B
Outlook for tomorrow: not good

Veggies on Wheels

A recent conversation on Reddit with a budding young vegetarian (yes, there is actually some useful stuff on Reddit) inspired me to write this post. A plant based diet has its difficulties. Take that diet on the road and things get really interesting, at least in the USA. Most fast food/quick serve restaurants are a little light on vegetables unless they are putting them on top of a 1/4 pound burger.

The good news is there are options out there if you know where to look and more options are being added every day. I’m not just talking about salads since most of those are covered in meat anyway. If you find yourself in need of sustenance on the road here are some options that have worked for me:

Taco Bell. This is not fine dining, but they are cheap and reasonably fast. There are several tacos and burritos on the menu that feature potatoes, rice and or beans instead of meat. If you order online they have a whole tab of vegetarian options laid out, but you can go even further. When ordering almost anything online you can customize your order including the protein. Simply change the protein to beans and viola, anything you like is meat free.

Chipotle. The quality of the food is much better, but the price ends up in the $10 plus range for a basic meal. The ala carte ordering system lets you pick your protein for any style of burrito, bowl, etc. Go with the sofritas. Yes, it is tofu, but it is done very well and honestly you can’t really tell it is tofu especially after you pile on some additional toppings.

Panera. They generally have two or more vegan friendly soup options on the menu, and the Modern Caprese or Mediterranean Veggie sandwiches are pretty good. Better yet you can get a cup of soup and half a sandwich and get the best of both worlds. Who wants to eat burritos every single day?

Wendy’s. A burger joint, really!? Skip the meat loaded entree salads, order a baked potato. They have them for lunch or dinner, and you can get plain, sour cream & chive, or cheddar & broccoli. It is a carb heavy option, but more filling and tastes better than just eating plain fries. They do offer meat free Caeser or Garden side salads.

KFC. No, chicken did not suddenly become vegetarian. Thanks to their southern roots KFC offers some excellent vegetarian friendly side items like corn, green beans, mashed potatoes, slaw, etc. Two or three sides with a biscuit start to feel like a real meal – no meat.

If you find yourself at a slightly nicer sit-down type restaurant, do not fear. Soup and salad may give you hope but they almost always have meat in them. I have more luck with starters/appetizers and side dishes. Most days they don’t even give me a second look when I order an appetizer and two sides as my meal. If you have any say at all in where you go aim for a Mexican or Italian restaurant, they tend to have more vegetable friendly options as entrees.

Is it really cheating?

In my struggle to not eat meat I find myself making small compromises. Things that would make a die-hard vegetarian cringe. Case in point, I love real Nawlin’s red beans and rice. I made my first pilgrimage to the big easy 25 years ago, and have made many trips back over the years. The food is simply amazing. French, Spanish and Southern cooking all smashed together into something entirely different and delicious.

Here’s my problem. Red beans and rice is slow simmered with meat. Sometimes it Andouille sausage. Sometimes it’s ham, or ham hocks. A big part of the flavor comes from simmering in that broth. I’ve tried making it without the meat and it just isn’t anything close to what it is supposed to taste like.

I’ve settled on a compromise that will cause most vegetarians to cry foul – I use a ham bone when I’m cooking them. The bone is removed after cooking, and no “meat” is left behind. I skip the sausage even though it pains me. The net result is a slightly meat flavored meat free pot of red beans. Add some rice and hot sauce and it is a decent meal.

I won’t win any vegetarian awards, but it gets me my fix without big chunks of ham or sausage so I put it in the win column.

Vegetarian grade for today: B+
Nutritional grade for today: A-

Broccoli Salad

Substitute bacon bits (the Kosher ones not actually made from bacon) and this is a great vegetarian snack or side dish.

Old Guy In The Kitchen

Broccoli is one of those vegetables you can find year round. (It is important to use fresh broccoli for this recipe, the frozen stuff just doesn’t work). This a great side or snack year round. It is also considerably cheaper (and tastes better) to make it yourself. In my local grocery this stuff costs around $6 for a tiny little bowl. You can make a giant bowl full for about the same money if you do it yourself, and you can tweak the recipe to your liking.

Ingredients:

• 2 heads of broccoli (or 4-6 large stalks)
• 3-5 strips of bacon (or real bacon bits)
• 1/2 cup of dried cranberries (Craisins)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 5 green onions
• 1 Cup Mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsps. Sugar
• 2 Tbsps. White Vinegar

Directions:

1. Wash the broccoli and cut off just the florets. I usually cut the larger florets in half or quarters. The goal…

View original post 216 more words

Cold Pasta Salad

Easy vegetarian dish that keeps well in the fridge for several days. Great if you pack your lunch or need emergency snack options.

Old Guy In The Kitchen

If you can boil water, you can make this cold pasta salad. It is incredibly flexible so you can adjust to include/omit ingredients based on your personal preferences or just what you have on hand. It holds well for several days in the fridge (I think it gets better) so you can make it well in advance.

Ingredients

• 1 box (12-16oz) pasta. I like to use the tri-colored rotini (spirals) or farfalle (bow tie), but any smaller shaped pasta works. I would avoid the long noodles like spaghetti or fettuccine.
• 1 Cup cherry or grape tomatoes, cut into quarters
• 8 oz mini mozzarella cheese balls
• Small (2.25 oz) can of sliced black olives, drained
• 1 red/orange bell pepper, stem and seeds removed and diced
• 1 Cup of Italian salad dressing
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
• Olive oil for drizzling
• You can also use – summer salami diced into small pieces…

View original post 179 more words

Today was not my day

If you read the “about” page then you know I freely admit I’m a terrible vegetarian. Today didn’t start out too bad. I had eggs and toast for breakfast (I allow myself eggs on the weekends), and I managed to resist the bacon I fried for Stacey before she left for work. The smell was amazing, but I held out.

Lunch was a big slice of pumpkin cheesecake (no meat, but in no way nutritionally sound). I added one of those gas station packs of “heat” peanuts as a snack.

I fell off the wagon for dinner. I should have seen it coming. I was working on stuff and didn’t realize how hungry I was getting. Then I ran to the grocery for a “quick” fill up trip. By the time I got home I was starving. Then I remembered there was spiral cut ham in the fridge. I started thinking about how good that would taste grilled with some Swiss cheese, spicy mustard and some big slices of dill pickle. I broke. It was delicious, and the guilt did not even slow me down as I ate it.

Vegetarian grade for today : F
Nutritional grade for today : C-

Tomorrow I will do better. I’m going to make some broccoli salad and roasted veggies before I get too hungry. As always, I’ll be on the hunt for new delicious vegetarian recipes.