Meatless Dish: Hearty Rice Skillet

So by now, most of my friends know about my quest to lower my cholesterol. Because of this, every now and again, people send me recipes that they think I might like.  One friend recently forwarded me this recipe to try. (Thanks Morgan!) 

  One thing that I really like about this recipe is how easy it is.  It's literally things that you most likely already have on hand.  Makes it a good meal to throw together at the last minute or if you are running low on fresh ingredients.  It's a combination of different canned ingredients, frozen veggies and rice.  Totally easy peasy! 

When I made it the first time, I failed to notice that it called for quick cooking rice, so I had to cook it way longer, leaving me with undercooked rice and overcooked veggies.  I don't usually have quick cooking rice on hand, so the next time I just prepared the rice in my rice cooker separately and then added it in near the end.  It seemed to work fine.


The best part is the melted cheese on top.  The cheese is one thing I miss with this new diet.  Oooey goey melty cheese... mmmm.... anyways, I enjoy a meal that still lets me enjoy my cheese.  It's not a large amount of cheese, so it's still pretty good for you, but it just adds enough to make it oh so yummy.

Hot sauce is an optional ingredient according to the recipe, but I don't think it should be optional.   Don't be tempted to skip out on it because you don't like things too hot.  Just add to taste, because the hot sauce is what really gives this dish it's flavor.

It also calls for almonds, but I just skipped those because they didn't seem that necessary.

Try the recipe for youself: Hearty Rice Skillet by Better Homes and Gardens.

Enjoy!

Meatless Dish: Spicy Thai Noodles

Another new yummy meatless dish is this Spicy Thai Noodle dish.  It is supposed to be served cold but we liked it hot.  It felt more like a pasta salad when it was cold.  It has flexiblity that way,  serve it for whichever mood you're in.

Be careful when following the recipe because the pictures show some steps that the recipe card leaves out. 

The recipe calls for sesame oil, and I wasn't sure exactly what they meant.  I had sesame SEED oil on hand which is great for adding flavor to asian food.  I ended up using 1/4 seasame seed oil and 1/4 olive oil instead of what the recipe called for and we thought it was just perfect. 

It suggests 1-2 TBS of red chilli flakes. One was enough if you are going to serve it hot.  If you're going to serve it cold, you could get away with a little bit more because the heat kind of mellows once it's been cooled in the refrigerator.

Here's the link to the recipe:
Spicy Thai Noodles by A Small Snippet

Hope you enjoy!

Meatless Dish: Parmesan Artichoke Pasta

Here is another yummy dish without meat. It had artichokes in it, so I was immediately drawn to it.  It cooked up really easy.  Just a little bit of sauteing and then pour over your noodles, sprinkle with cheese... and done. 

And it has wine.. I mean, what recipe isn't great that has wine in it?    I always pour myself a little glass while I'm cooking.  It kind of makes the whole cooking process more of a relaxing experience.  I always feel a bit fancy.  :)

The recipe called for shallots, but I didn't have any.  I just used onions, and it was still good.  Also I cut down on the cheese from 1/2 cup to between 1/4 and 1/3.  Then I just put the cheese out on the table for anyone who wanted to add a bit more.  I thought it was just right even with the reduced amount. I also used dried parsley instead of fresh.  I'm sure fresh would be better, but I used what I had. 

It had a nice garlic flavor to it, it made you just want to keep eating more and more of it.  Artichokes, garlic, wine, cheese... what could be better?
Go ahead, try it, you'll like it! 

Parmesan Artichoke Pasta by Laa Loosh

Meatless Dish: Black Bean and Corn Pitas

It's hot here in  sunny California, so I'm always trying to find recipes that take little to no cooking.  The less I have to heat my kitchen, the better!  We unfortunately don't have air conditioning, so we try to do our best to keep our house cool.   This recipe fits the bill and is totally yummy too!  I also love recipes which only take a few minutes to make.  I love whipping up a good meal, but after a long hot day that last thing that I want to do is spend an hour in the kitchen.  The meal takes just minutes.  Chop some veggies, toss them in spices and eat up! 

The other perk to this meal is it is also very low in cholesterol.  Mozzarella cheese is a lower cholesterol cheese, but you could leave it off and it would be just as tasty.  


If you would like to try this recipe, go to Champions for Change under their lunch menu.  It's listed as a lunch but it was filling enough for dinner, especially on a hot summer day. 

Here is the direct link to the recipe:  Black Bean and Corn Pitas

Meatless Dish: Fish Tacos

So technically the title of this post is inaccurate.  I know that fish is meat, but for my purposes it is not meat.  I recently have been trying to change my diet to lower my cholesterol.  My doctor told me to reduce my animal products and my dairy.  He also indicated that fish is good for me so I should replace some of my other meat with fish hence why to me it is not meat.  Does that make any sense?

I have never really liked eating fish before but I am trying to find ways I like it.  I always hated it because I didn't like the real fishy taste and I thought it was gross that the whole house smelled like fish.  Well, come to find out the fresher the fish, the less fishy... who knew?  And as for having your house smell, well, it depends on how you cook it.

So this recipe I found as I was glancing through one of my cookbooks one day searching for new and yummy recipes.  A couple of summers ago, I helped pass out food at my local food bank and they were giving away these cookbooks to help people eat healthier.

I love how pretty the filling is... so colorful and vibrant.  The other appeal that this recipe has is that it has very little cooking.  Just chop up some veggies, and you cook up the fish in under ten minutes.  Nice and cool for summer.

So I've never really eaten fish tacos before, but my husband tells me that normally the fish is fried.  These aren't the traditional fish tacos, but yummy all the same.  The recipe calls for sour cream, I just put a dallop of plain yogurt which seemed to work just as well.  What also made them especially delicious was that we served them with hot sauce. It made them just perfect. 

If you want to check it out go to  Champions for Change and you'll find a whole list of recipes.  The actual recipe is called Simple Fish Tacos .

 

Meatless Dish: Black Pepper Tofu and Green Beans

So in my quest to lower my cholesterol I have been searching for yummy recipes that don't have meat or cheese in them.  I don't mind having tofu in a dish, but I don't like to pretend it's meat.  I remember when I was a child almost being fooled that Tofu was eggs, but whenever you bite into something expecting the taste of something else it's always disappointing.  Why not just call it what it is?  Don't try and pretend that the tofu is a burger... because it'll never taste the same. 

So this leaves a whole world of cultural foods to try because they seem to be more up front about calling it what it is. We've tried different Thai, Indian, Chinese recipes and often times they are quite delicious. 

My sister in law was going through Sunset magazine and thought of me when she saw a whole section on tofu.  She ripped out the pages and they've been sitting waiting for me to try.  I recently cooked one of them up and was quite suprised by how good it tasted. 

Black Pepper Tofu and Green Beans

I think it will definately go into our regular rotation.  It had a very nice kick to it, and the way you cook up the tofu leads to a nice texture.  Not soggy at all, and a very nice flavor.  The tofu was browned with brown sugar and then the whole dish flavored with a black pepper mix.. a little sweet with the hot.  Quite good... I recommend you give it a try!

Meatless Dish: Pasta and Roasted Mushrooms

I had a dish at a pub once which was a pasta with cream sauce and portabella mushrooms.  It was so good, and I really liked that fact that it had no meat but the mushrooms were so hearty they made me feel like I was eating steak. 

Since then I have been looking for a recipe for something similiar so I could make it at home. I searched and no luck.  Then one day last month I saw a giveaway from Prudent Baby for a cookbook from The Pioneer Woman .  All you had to do was take a look around and post in the comments a dish that sounded yummy. And there it was:  a recipe that sounded like what I ate... and to top it off it had whiskey and white wine it.  What sounds better then that?



Pasta with Whiskey, Wine and Mushrooms by The Pioneer Womam

I forgot to take a picture of my attempt at it.. my presentation didn't look as good as the original, so it's probably best.  I halved the recipe and it was still plenty of food for two of us with leftovers.  I also don't know if I bought the right kind of cream.  I ended up buying half and half and it called for heavy cream.  I wasn't sure if heavy whipping cream was the same.  I usually don't cook with cream especially now since that I am trying to lower my cholesterol.  It didn't quite thicken as it was supposed to at first, so I added a bit more cream and some cornstarch.  One of those did the trick.  Next time I am going to try it with lowfat yogurt to attempt to make it low cholesterol.

Overall the dish was quite delicious.  The cream sauce was alright, but the part that was really good was the roasted mushrooms.  They were very flavorful, rich and full.  (I kept thinking about them later.. how yummy they were. It made me want to find lots more recipes with roasted mushrooms. )  Next time I would still half the recipe but keep the amount of mushrooms the same as the original so that every bite would have at least one heavenly mushroom in it.