Oh wait -- that's already vegetarian! Part 1

This weekend, we enjoyed some unnaturally cool weather. Eerily cool. So what's a girl to do? Well, I actually went to brunch at Melt again and tried a new dish (too bad I didn't bring my camera! I had the Hashville Plate, with tempeh hash and okra garnish!)

Correct answer: Turn on the oven!

We made two dishes that are normally reserved for wintertime when the hour-long bake doesn't turn the house into a furnace. Up first? Lasagna!



Mmm... doesn't that look tasty? This dish is so quick and easy to make that it feels almost silly to write out directions, but I'll tell you how I make mine.

I make lasagna quick and easy by using jarred sauce and no-bake noodles. I do cook the veggies on the stove and drain any excess liquid. I'll toss in whatever sounds good: eggplant, spinach, mushrooms, carrots, squash, you name it.

First: heat 2 cloves garlic in a teeny bit of olive oil. Add a bag of baby spinach and cook until wilted. Salt lightly and place in strainer; press out liquid.

Second: cook other veggies. Tonight I used eggplant, sliced lengthwise, and mushrooms. This is key: strain the veggies! If you don't, your lasagna will be watery.

Third: beat 1 egg in ricotta cheese. I also add salt, pepper, and dried oregano.

Now it's time to build a lasagna! I use a loaf pan. Start with a generous amount of sauce in the bottom, then layer a piece of pasta, the veggies, some of the ricotta mix, and mozzarella, then start over! I get 2 layers into my loaf pan, so it's easy to measure out using half the veggies at a time.

Bake at 375F for 50-60 minutes, or according to your package directions.

Salt of the Earth

Over the weekend we stopped for lunch at one of those places that isn't quite like anything else, Salt of the Earth, on Red Bank Road in Cincinnati. They don't have a website that I could find, and in searching saw a review on Yelp that mentioned that the vibe was a little "off". I can't decide whether I agree. Generally the staff is helpful and friendly, but the first time I was there I remember waiting around for help and not being sure what to do. It's part deli with cold food to go, part grocery with gourmet foods to take home if you cook, and has a small menu of sandwiches and salads. The wooden tables, ceiling fans, plants, and pantry/ wine selection make for a nice atmosphere, though, and it's certainly a nice surprise in contrast to the office park surroundings.

I almost always order the veggie sandwich. It's delicious, if not healthy, and comes with a choice of side. My husband generally gets the bleu slaw, a coleslaw with bleu cheese, but I find it too reliant on the mayonnaise. I usually opt for whatever looks good in the deli case, sometimes a bean salad, couscous, or even fruit.


Served on a plastic plate, you've got fried eggplant, roasted red pepper, fresh spinach, a Cincinnati-large portion of tangy goat cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette sandwiched between sweet bellagio bread. This is a super sandwich.

Black Beans & Rice

When I was a kid we used to eat red beans and rice with some sort of red sausage in it. Surprisingly, this recipe does not have fake meat in it, although now I think I might need to try some red beans and rice with soyrizo. Hmm...


Instead, I have some really good seasoned Cuban black beans from a recipe my aunt passed along via Food & Wine Magazine, and I add in all sorts of good veggies and some cheese. The recipe starts with dry black beans, bell pepper, onion, garlic, salt, oregano, and bay leaf, and finishes with red wine vinegar and white wine. These beans were very, very tasty. If you're in a hurry (don't be!) you can use canned black beans, rinsed and drained. This was what I always used prior to my recipe enlightenment.

Besides the beans, the part of this dish that is most time consuming is the rice itself. I rinse my rice, then boil for 12 minutes, then let sit covered for 30 minutes.

For veggies I usually use a green bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, and frozen corn. This time I used a red bell pepper because it was on sale. The mushrooms and corn are my favorite part of this dish. I saute the veggies until the desired doneness -- I don't like mushy or overcooked bell pepper -- and then mix everything together along with some shredded white cheese. Yum!

F.B.L.T.

What's that stand for?


Fake Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato

Yet another attempt to turn meat-eater items into a yummy veggie lunch. The sandwich was really, really good. We picked up some perfect homegrown tomatoes at Findlay Market and sliced them thick, letting some of the juice run off and capture the rest with a generous salting. I put on mayonnaise, iceberg lettuce, and a few slices of Morningstar Farms veggie bacon. All between two pieces of soft white bread.

Honestly, I couldn't taste the bacon and wouldn't have missed it. We did this because we bought a package out of curiosity and had a bunch left over. The sandwich was good because I was digging those old school pleasures -- the white bread, iceburg, and mayo. The tomato was the star.

Meatless loaf

I've already written about my view of meat substitutes. They're helpful in bridging the veggie/ non-veggie gap. So why would I make an entree out of this stuff? It's pretty good.

I was looking for a new recipe a while back and stumbled across this on Allrecipes. Since that first time I made it, we've made a few modifications. I should also add that this stuff is really good as leftovers. Maybe the next modification will be preparing it ahead of time.

This really turned into a meat and potatoes meal, again, although I did use fresh green beans. With a little oil, some salt, and some vegetable broth powder they were quite tasty!


Meatless Loaf

1 package Lightlife ground beef style
1 package Morningstar crumbles
1 onion, diced
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons vegetarian Worcestershire, if you have it
Bread crumbs, or Ritz crackers
Ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar

Mix these ingredients together with your hands. I recommend leaving everything out on the counter for a while so you don't freeze your fingers with the frozen crumbles and cold ground stuff. I don't have measurements for the ketchup or crackers, I just like to make sure that everything binds together pretty well.

Press into a loaf pan and top with a sauce made from ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar. Microwave this to melt the sugar and pour on top. I usually use about 1/2 cup ketchup, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and a generous squirt of mustard, probably just over one tablespoon.

Bake at 350F for 45-60 minutes. I usually turn off the oven after 45 minutes and let it sit in the hot oven for the last 15 minutes.

You can probably see all the onions in my photo. We both like onions, plus it breaks up the veggie product, but you can certainly use less. The original recipe calls for 1/2 of the Lightlife ground, but I started using the whole thing because the other half was always going to waste. It's pretty tasty. I also omit the milk the original calls for and instead squirt in enough ketchup to moisten everything. The orignal recipe also calls for seasoning with salt, pepper, and sage, which I never do. I find the veggie products salty already and I just don't have sage. I know it's traditional for meatloaf, but --surprise!-- I never enjoyed meatloaf.

Summer Corn Soup

I found this recipe on a "healthy cooking" calendar at work. We've been eating a good bit of fresh corn this summer and I was excited to try this recipe. Once I got the corn off the cobs, it was pretty easy, and we both really liked it. I think I'd do it again!


1 sweet onion, finely diced
10 ears of corn, kernels removed
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cups vegetable broth
1-2 teaspoons cumin

Saute the onion in the oil for a few minutes to get it started cooking. Add all the corn and saute for another 5 minutes. Add the broth and cumin and simmer for 15 minutes.

There are two places where the way I cooked this varied from the recipe. First, the recipe called for chipotle added with the broth. I think that might have been good; I just didn't have any. Second, the recipe says to put the soup in the blender and strain before serving. I put about half in the blender and left the rest un-pureed. I liked having some whole corn kernels in the soup. With this method, I do recommend dicing the onions finely.

The soup was really sweet and of course had a strong corn flavor. It was just interesting enough to not be too corny.

Success at last! Crostini and toppings

Part of tonight's dinner includes two recipes I found online. First, I wanted to use some fresh tomatoes to make my own bruschetta. I found this recipe and followed it practically verbatim except I let the tomatoes cool after the parboil. Second, I made a spinach and bean dip I saw on Everyday Italian. It was good, and my husband loved it, but it wasn't as great as I was expecting it to be.

I served both toppings on crostini, which I made in a very simple way. I cut a baguette into 1/2-inch slices, dipped one side into olive oil, places the slices oil side down on a tray, and baked at 450F for 5 minutes and turned off the oven.

Fresh tomato and basil bruschetta:

Ingredients: about a pound of plum or Roma tomatoes; 2-3 cloves garlic; handful of fresh basil leaves; 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil; 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar; salt

I used four large Kentucky plum tomatoes I found at the grocery store and was really pleased with how it tasted. This was also the first time I'd used a lot of the basil I've been growing in a pot in the back yard.

1. Bring a pot of water to boil, then turn it off. Put in the tomatoes and leave them for one minute. Drain. Peel the tomatoes, remove the watery pulp, and dice them finely. This was really easy to do, even removing the skins, after the parboil. 2. Mince the garlic cloves and chop the basil and add to the diced tomato. Salt the tomatoes generously. You can add some pepper too if you like. 3. Add the vinegar and oil and mix everything together. Serve with crostini.

I'm not going to recreate the spinach dip recipe here because I included the link to the recipe. I think the dip was better when it was still warm, and afterward just tasted a little weird. I was really expecting to like it because I love cannellini beans and I usually can't find too many uses for them. Maybe it's just that I'm not used to eating spinach at room temperature unless it's in a creamy spinach dip. I did like pulling out the food processor to make it! In its defense, it was on the "healthy" show, and it was super easy to make. I would consider making it for a group, so if you're ever invited over -- watch out!