I was a vegan for 2 years in the early 90's and found some great recipes that I still make today..even after getting back on the "meat wagon" The hardest thing was finding new "comfort" foods. Because I was vegan, Mac n cheese wasn't an option, so I had to make subsitutions that made the same emotional/taste connection. I also worried about not getting enough protein since I wouldn't eat tofu/soy and there were fewer options on the market then. Now, there are tons of options. I was however ok with the protein by adding nuts/legumes and such to my diet. A few great books are Moosewood Cookbook, Vegetarian Epicure and the American Vegitarian Cookbook by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond (their Corn Chowder is KILLER!).If you liked bar-b-qued ribs or chicken and want to be able to eat at family gatherings when everyone else is chomping down off the grill, here's a great recipe for replacement for that.
Bar-B-Que’d Baked Potatoes
Servings based on how many potatoes you use. (I generally make enough to fill a 13 x 9 inch baking dish)
Time to cook: about 2 hours total.
Basic Recipe: Potatoes plus sauce/slow cooked until gooey and messy…just like ribs.
Potatoes for baking: I like any potatoes, but they must be scrubbed within an inch of their lives. I use a Scotchbrite green scouring pad, just for potatoes and scrub until the skin is almost spotless (the meat-like texture of the skins is the best part) After scrubbing, prick with a for and put in a 325-350 degree oven and bake like you would a normal baked potato for about an hour until almost done (can be less time if using red, new or little potatoes). Make the sauce. You’ll be cooking them for almost another hour in the sauce to caramelize them. This is a sticky gooey, Carolina style, bib wearing bar-be-que. *Sauce: I like it super sweet so adjust to your taste. Can get by with 3/1 ratio just fine.
Sauce:2 parts bottled bar-be-que sauce
1 part sweetener (honey, maple syrup, molasses, brown sugar, corn syrup, etc.)
Minced garlic (I like lots of garlic)
Shot of Worcestershire sauce
Mix sauce ingredients together (I use whisk) add fresh ground pepper and salt to taste. I like to microwave it for a few minutes to incorporate the sugar/sweetener better. I also put in a deep bowl so I can dunk the potatoes rather than just spoon it over.
1 large onion sliced.
Assembly. Spray a casserole dish or cake pan with Pam or lightly grease with olive oil (if you don’t do this, you might as well throw the pan away because it will take hours of scraping to clean it). Layer the onions on the bottom (they will be elevating the potatoes a bit. Dunk each cooked warm potato in the sauce and arrange over the bed of onions (or any veggies). Pour any extra sauce over you’d like but you can save some for dipping or pour it all on and save that extra hot sauce for dipping. Using preheated oven (325 degrees) bake uncovered until starts to caramelize (can cover with foil if gets too dark) about an hour. They will be sticky and gooey like ribs on the outside yet fluffy and moist on the inside. Great with some butter, flaked salt and fresh ground pepper with a bit of the sauce drizzled over. Serve with a green salad and/or hot buttered corn on the cob for an old fashioned cook out meal.
Here's a fabulous grain dish that tastes just like stuffing..great for side dish, main dish with some roasted nuts tossed in for protein.
Pungent Wheat-berry Rice serves 6-8
6TBL butter or 1TBL oil w/ 5 TBL water
3 large carrots/peeled then diced
3 large leeks (white only) rinsed then diced or 1 cup diced onion
3 stalks celery, diced
1 clove minced garlic
1 ½ c. long grain white rice *
½ c. hard dried wheat-berries. Rinsed well/drained
2 tsp thyme
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp salt
4 c. strong veggie stock or mild chicken stock
1 TBL dried parsley or ½ c. fresh parsley/minced
· (If you want to use brown rice*, increase veggie stock to 4 ½ to 5 cups & the cooking time to 45-55 minutes.)
· In a heavy deep pot, sauté veggies in the butter or oil and water mix until tender. About 8 minutes.
· Add the rice and wheat-berries, cooking and stirring for 2 minutes (opens the grains and lets the flavors in)
· Add the thyme, parsley, pepper and salt and stir well.
· Add the veggie or chicken stock and stir well.
· Continue to stir until comes to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 25 minutes (before lifting the lid). When you can stand a knife up in it and it’s tender, it’s done.
Makes a wonderful complete meal if served with a salad and some steamed veggies or grilled fish or chicken breast. Has a flavor very similar to stuffing so would make a great filling for game hens or chickens.