I was inspired to make this salad late tonight by a post from closetcooking.com. I just happened to have the two main ingredients and this recipe couldn't be simpler! To make it more plant-strong, I left off the cheese. It really took very little time to prep and bake. 

Ingredients:
1/2 head cauliflower, broken into bite-sized pieces
8 oz. mushrooms, halvedscant olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
Dressing:
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. maple syrup
Method:
1. Toss the cauliflower and mushrooms on a baking sheet with a scant amount of olive oil (or try it without any). Add salt and pepper. Roast in a preheated 400 degree F oven until they start to caramelize, about 20-30 minutes, flipping half way through.
2. Prepare dressing in a separate bowl and pour over vegetables. 
3. Serve over lettuce of your choice or eat as is. Enjoy. 

Easy as pie - although pie is not very easy to make .... Anyway, here is a quick salad topped with plant-based goodness - yams, onions and mushrooms. Although the yams and onions are roasted, the mushrooms are sautéed with water. Yes, you can sauté mushrooms with water and they turn out great. Unless you really like the flavor (and the calories and the health risks) of added oil, use this technique instead! I love this and use it with all the vegetables I sauté. Use plain water or a little broth or add liquid aminos or a little soy sauce. As the liquid goes down, add a little more - easy as that. And, if you think that olive oil is good for you, you might want to read this article, Dispelling the Myths about Olive Oil. Enjoy this hearty salad.

printable recipe
Roasted Yam, Onion and Mushroom Salad
Serves 2
1/2 head of romaine lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces 
2 yam, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 onion, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 8 oz. box os mushrooms sliced
Dressing:
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. jarred mustard
2 tsp. maple syrup

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Place chopped yam and onions on a non-stick cookie sheet and into the preheated oven. Roast for about 20 minutes or until tender.
3. Saute mushrooms in water or broth until tender. 
4. Put lettuce, yams, onions and mushrooms into a large salad bowl.
5. Mix all of the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and pour over the salad ingredients, toss and serve. 

I was inspired to make this dish from our home grown eggplant and peppers after enjoying an eggplant dish recently at the restaurant, P.F. Chang's. This recipe has been floating around my kitchen for many years and is one of my favorites from the cookbook, Make it Easy in Your Kitchen, published in 1982. I've been cooking for quite a while... This version, here, is updated to cut out the oil and has added red peppers and mushrooms. If you're like me, you want your eggplant cooked until soft and this dish does the trick. A delicious and great way to serve eggplant.

printable recipe
Eggplant Szechwan-Style with Peppers & Mushrooms
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant, unpeeled and cut into 1" cubes
1 medium red pepper, cut into 1" cubes
1 pkg mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup veggie stock or water
1 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 1/2 slice ginger, finely minced
2 T. soy sauce
2 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp chili paste
4 tsp. rice vinegar 

Method:
1. In a small bowl, make broth mixture by adding veggie stock or water, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sugar, chili paste and vinegar.
2. In a large skillet, saute eggplant in 1/4 cup water until soften just a bit and then add peppers and mushrooms and continue to sauté for about 3-4 minutes. 
3. Add broth mixture to eggplant, bring to boil and stir. Cook for a few minutes until mixture has reduced a little.
4. Serve over steamed rice. 

I've been on a taco kick - tacos with corn tortillas, tacos for dinner or breakfast. Yes, breakfast. And, they are a great addition if you're trying to loose a few pounds. Corn tortillas have virtually no oil. Trader Joe's brand Ingredients: stone ground corn, water, traces of lime. Can't beat that! So I'm encouraging you to experiment with your taco ingredients. I like to substitute hummus for cheese. It adds the kick and creaminess that you get from a good cheese. It's always fun to top them off with chopped tomatoes, lettuce, a little avocado, and salsa, but a few sprouts works well, too. Here's a basic recipe for veggie tacos. I added crumbled tofu for the breakfast version. Try them, I think you'll really like them. Served with a fruit for breakfast tops off the meal and makes it uber plant-based :) OH, and to heat the corn tortillas, I like to put them into the toaster oven and "toast" them until they are just crispy and still easy to fold in half. 

Ingredients:
6 corn tortillas
1/2 red onion, diced
4 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1 tomato, diced
3 leaves romaine lettuce, diced
1 avocado, diced
1/3 cup hummus recipe (see here)
salsa
salt & pepper
Tofu scramble: 1/2 block of tofu, crumbled in a town with a fork.
1/2 tsp. turmeric for color
Optinional: use broccoli sprouts as a topping or mango chutney as a "salsa"

Method:
1. Add red onion, mushrooms and bell pepper to a sauté pan with a little water. Saute until tender.
2. Toast corn tortillas in toaster oven until crisp but pliable.
3. Smear a tablespoon or so of hummus on one side of the corn tortilla. Fill the bottom with the veggie mixture. 
4. Top with the tomatoes, lettuce, avocado and salsa. 

For Tofu Scrambled tacos:
5. Add crumbled tofu to the veggies in the sauté pan along with the turmeric. Stir to combine. Fill taco shell and top with remaining ingredients.

Ingredients:
24 oz white and baby portbellos mixed mushrooms, sliced
1 red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, finely chopped in a blender or food processor
2 T. Worchestershire sauce
4 green onions, chopped
1 cup red wine
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
store-bought pre-made polenta or 3 cups potenta, prepared:

Method:
1. Saute onion in water until softened. Add garlic and mushrooms and continue to cook until mushrooms are tender and most of the moisture has evaporated.
2. Add tomatoes, Worchestershire sauce, green onions and wine. Continue to cook until reduced by about half.
3. Soften pre-made polenta by warming in the microwave. Add about 1 cup milk or stock and stir to combine until it's about the consistency of mashed potatoes.
4. Add chopped parsley at the last minute. 
5. Serve mushrooms with sauce over softened polenta.

Since I had quite a few peppers on hand in the frig, I decided to stuff them. Cook up some rice or quinoa and add what you have in the frig. In my case, it was mushrooms, swiss chard and sun dried tomatoes... Don't be afraid to experiment. As a side, I cooked up the rest of the swiss chard with a yam that I also had on hand for this recipe. Voila... dinner is served. Plant-based ingredients: yams, swiss chard, peppers, mushrooms, onions and tomatoes. It looks colorful, too...

Ingredients:
Serves 4-6
1 1/2 cup cooked rice
3 red peppers, cut in half lenghwise and seeds removed
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
8 oz. mushroom, sliced
8 sun dried tomatoes, soaked in hot water and roughly chopped
2-3 large leaves swiss chard, roughly chopped
1-2 cup spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce
1/3 cup finely chopped raw cashews

Method:
1. Parboil the peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain. *Tip: you can skip this step, but it'll take twice the time to cook in the oven. Allow 40 minutes if you skip this.
2. Saute the onions in a large sauté pan with a little water. Add garlic and mushrooms and continue to cook until they're almost done. Add the chard and cook until wilted. Add the sun dried tomatoes, the sauce and 1 1/2 cups rice. Stir to combine.
3. Fill the peppers "cups" until full and top with chopped cashes.
4. Cook covered with foil for 20-25 minutes until heated through. Remove foil and brown cashews for another 5-10 minutes.

You may have already heard about this incredible vegan lasagna that Rip Esselstyn offers over at Engine2diet.com. He is most definitely plant-based! This lasagna is worth the effort. I prepared it for Father's Day for our meat eating friends and everybody loved it. I doubled the recipe to make one for the freezer. It's filling and you don't miss the cheese. I did adjust it a little by leaving out the corn, carrots, and the red pepper. There's still plenty of plant-based goodness.

Sweet Potato Veggie Lasagna

Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
1 large onion, chopped
1 small head of garlic, chopped
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1 head broccoli, chopped
1 package tofu
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. rosemary
2 jars pasta sauce
2 boxes whole grain lasagna noodles
16 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and drained
2 sweet potatoes (or yams), cooked and mashed *
6 roma tomatoes, sliced thin
1 cup raw cashews, ground
Salt and pepper to taste
* Tip: peel and cut up the potatoes into 1/2" pieces and steam until soft. Use the same pan to steam the broccoli.

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Saute onion and garlic on high heat for 3 minutes in a nonstick pan without oil or water. Add the mushrooms and cook until the onions are limp and the mushrooms give up their liquid. Remove them to a large bowl.
2. Steam the broccoli in the same pan as the potatoes until soft crisp and put into the same bowl as the mushroom mixture.
3. Drain the tofu and break it up with your hands into the vegetable bow. Add the spices to the bowl and combine.
To Assemble: (you'll have 4 layers of noodles)
1. Cover the bottom of a 9 x 10" casserole with a layer of sauce. Add a layer of uncooked noodles. Cover the noodles with sauce. 
2. Spread 1/2 of the vegetable mixture over the sauced noodles and cover with a layer of noodles and another of sauce.
3. Add the rest of the vegetable mixture and top with sauce and another layer of noodles.
4. top the noodles with the mashed yams, and spread the spinach over (using your hands is the easiest). Top with more sauce and a final layer of noodles.
5. Top the noodles with the final layer of sauce and cover with thinly sliced tomatoes. 
6. Cover with foil and bake in the over for 45 minutes. Remove the foil, sprinkle with the cashews, and return to the over for 15 minutes. Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.

Almost went out to dinner tonight, but instead used up some tempeh that had been in my fridge for some time. I've been looking over some older Vegetarian Times and this is where this recipe came from, with the addition of asparagus. I served it with quinoa instead of potatoes (March, 2009). Deceptively easy to make with big flavor. "It tastes like it's been simmered for hours instead of just 20 minutes." Find the original recipe here. Serve with baked pears, also from the same magazine.

Ingredients:
Serve 4
1 7-oz pkg. tempeh, cut into 1/2" cubes
1 T. soy sauce
10 oz. cremini mushrooms. sliced
1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1" pieces
2 T. flour
2 1/2 cups lager, such as Samuel Adams
2 T. Dijon mustard
2 green onions, white and free finely sliced

Method:
1. Cook tempeh cubes along with the mushroom for 7-10 minutes, or until browned. Add soy sauce and cook two minutes. Transfer tempeh and mushrooms to plate.
2. Add asparagus along with 1/4 cup water and cover. Cook until crisp tender and remove to plate.
3. Add 2 T. flour to a small container with 2-4 T water, cover and shake. Add to the skillet and stir. Cook 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Increase heat and add beer and mustard, and bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until sauce is thickened. Stir in tempeh, asparagus and mushrooms. 
4. Serve over quinoa, rice or mashed potatoes, sprinkled with green onions.

Roasted vegetables can be so versatile. Use them in sandwiches, on salads, as a side. Their natural sweetness comes out with roasting and always satisfies. 

Ingredients:
2 medium sized eggplants cut into 1/2 slices
3-4 portobello mushrooms cut in 1/2 slices
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3 chopped garlic cloves
6-7 basil leaves, chopped (optional)

Method:
1. Layer eggplant and mushroom in a large baking dish and top each piece with a little of the marinade. Make sure all sides are covered. Marinate for 30 minutes or longer.
2. Preheat broiler and place vegetables on cookie sheets, sprayed with a little oil. so that they are in one layer. 
3. Place cookie sheets 6-7" from the broiler. Broil for 5-6 minutes, then flip and broil another 5-6 minutes, watching carefully so as not to burn. 
4. Sprinkler basil leaves over if using.
5. For a sandwich, pile mushrooms and eggplant on your bread or bun with your favorite condiments and top with onions, tomato, avocado, lettuce. 

I had been craving a beef hamburger, but since it was on my no-no list, I opted to experiment with a black bean burger. I new that mushrooms would lend a "beefy" flavor and I remembered an episode of America's Test Kitchen that talked about this quality in other foods. With inispiration from browneyedbaker.com, I created these burgers with the addition of some of these "beefy" quality foods - mushrooms, soy sauce, red wine, and sun dried tomatoes. These burgers can be crumbly, but some recipes call for an egg to bind them together. I'll try that next time...

Ingredients:
Serves 4
1/4 cup water
1 cup copped onions
8 oz, mushrooms, roughly chopped
1/2 cup red wine
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
½ teaspoon cumin
3 slices whole wheat sandwich bread, lightly toasted
15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
Salt and pepper to taste

Method: Preheat over to 375 degrees.
1. Heat water over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add onion and cook until golden, about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in mushrooms, garlic, cumin and cook until mushrooms have released their juices, about 4 to 6 minutes. Add red wine and soy sauce and cook to reduce in half. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
2. Tear toasted bread into pieces and place in food processor. Process until broken down into crumbs. Pour the crumbs into a medium bowl. Add the mushroom mixture and beans to the food processor along with the sun dried tomatoes; pulse until combined, but not smooth. Leave some chunky bits. Scoop mixture into the bowl with the bread crumbs; season with salt and pepper.
3. Mix ingredients together and divide into 4 equal portions. With dampened hands, shape each portion into four thick patties. Place burgers on a cookies sheet lightly coated with cooking spray and brown burgers on one side, about 5 minutes. Flip to brown on the other side and heat through. 
4. Enjoy with all of the burger fixins'.