Vegetarian

Dried beans cooked from scratch have a more uniform texture than most canned beans (some of which tend to get mushed in the can). Also, you can control what gets added to the beans (particularly salt). And they cost much less than canned beans. A 16-ounce bag of dried beans yields roughly 5 or 6 cups of cooked beans, while a 15-ounce can of cooked beans yields roughly 1½ cups. Finally, homemade beans freeze beautifully, so why not make a big batch on the weekend and use it in recipes later in the week?

But there are a few things to keep in mind regarding dried beans.

This recipe is healthy comfort food made with simple ingredients that you probably already have on hand. Vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, just everything.

Stop right there. Ummm what is this? Sweet potato noodles? CASHEW SAUCE?  First of all, y-u-m. Secondly, it’s true. I’m going fake-vegan-rogue on you today.

Cooking healthy (and tasty) meals can be easy, even for a first-year student. Check out Bonnie Stern's recipe for this rice bowl with grilled tofu, sweet potatoes and peanut sauce. 

Sometimes the simplest recipes get overcomplicated as more and more versions are made. For this carrot-ginger soup, we decided to go back to the basics. With a combination of cooked carrots and carrot juice, we were able to get well-rounded, fresh carrot flavor. Using a mixture of ginger products, we were able to get bright, refreshing ginger flavor with a moderate kick of heat. Finally, for a smooth texture without the fuss of straining, we added a touch of baking soda to help break down the carrots and ginger, producing a silken creamy result. 

 

Butternut squash makes a wonderful substitute for pasta thanks to its structure. This simple dish allows the squash noodles to shine in a Sage Brown Butter sauce. Ready in less than 30 minutes, this makes a wonderful cool weather side or main dish.

Butternut squash is great for spiralizing. It produces firm noodles which can be roasted and added to most any sauce as one would prepare pasta. It roasts in about 5-7 minutes and once combined with a sauce is ready within 10 minutes.

Homemade Sweet Potato Curly Fries with Chipotle Lime Aioli are a healthier spin off the classic sweet potato fry. Crispy, sweet, spicy and irresistible!

Making a pretty good veggie burger is easy. Making a great one is a lot harder.

The downfall of many a recipe is the mush factor. Most of the elements that often go into a homemade veggie burger (vegetables, beans and tofu) are high in moisture, which can lead to a soggy patty that’s unpleasant to eat and nearly impossible to flip on the grill without it falling apart. Getting a veggie burger with great flavor and the right texture is challenging. 

This Tunisian grilled vegetable salad can turn out soggy if the vegetables are grilled whole. To eliminate moisture, we cut them in half before grilling—allowing moisture to evaporate without creating too many pieces to tend to on the grill. A Tunisian spice blend called tabil provides exotic flavor, while lemon and a trio of herbs contribute freshness.

Italy’s ciambotta is a ratatouille-like stew chock-full of veggies that makes for a hearty one-bowl meal with nary a trace of meat. We wanted to avoid the ill fate of most recipes, which end in mushy vegetables drowning in a weak broth. In order to optimize the texture of the zucchini and peppers, we employed the dry heat of a skillet. To address the broth, we embraced eggplant’s natural tendency to fall apart and cooked it until it completely assimilated into a thickened tomato-enriched sauce.

Yep. I'm making that claim and I'm sticking with it. This IS the BEST cauliflower pizza crust you will ever make. I've worked out the kinks from my previous cauliflower crust and from all other cauliflower crust posts I've read, and I'm confident that this pizza, this very one here, with a crust made out of a vegetable, is so damn delicious that you won't even think twice about the whole crust being made out of a vegetable thing. And yes, you can slice it and pick it up like a real piece of pizza.