Fajitas, a dish after my own heart

Well a few more days have passed than I planned on, but I'm just as excited to share how I made the great fajitas I mentioned in the It's not all good post. For a change, and to try out some veggie protein options from Trader Joe's, I based this one off of their beef-less strips. (By the way, it's a private label product, and I have to wonder if these strips are indeed Gardein.)

Great side ideas for this dish are pinto beans, black beans, rice, chips with guacamole and/or salsa. We had guacamole and slow cooker pinto beans.  It was lots of yummy food that was easy to prepare--and totally helped encourage Trying Veggie for my entire family (we were soured by a few too many lack-luster meals).


Anyway, it was a glorious meal, though I have just one regret. I should have marinated the strips before I cooked them. Next time. Here's what I did:

Fajitas
Ingredients:

• ~1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 red peppers, sliced into strips
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• ~1/2 teaspoon cumin
• dash of red pepper flakes
• dash of ground coriander (if you have it)
• salt and pepper
• 1 package Trader Joe's Beef-Less Strips  
• splash of water
  
• cilantro and fresh lime (for serving)
• tortillas (flour or corn)
  

Preparation:
Warm about 2/3 of the oil over medium-high heat and cut the beef-less strips into thinner slices, about the size of the onion and pepper. 

Once the pan is hot, add the pepper and onion. When the onion is turning translucent, add the garlic, cumin, pepper flakes, coriander, salt and pepper. Mix well and let cook a few minutes, until the onion is starting to lightly brown.

Push veggies to the edges of the pan, add the remaining oil to the middle, and saute the beef-less strips--turning when they start to brown. Once both sides have color, mix the strips and veggies together.

When the veggies are done to your liking, add a splash of water to the pan to deglaze it (I used liquid from the beans I was cooking). Mix it all well to evenly coat all ingredients with the seasonings from the pan. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl.

Serve in warm tortillas with cilantro and a squeeze of lime. 

(TIP--Warm flour tortillas in the microwave by placing between wet paper towels for ~30-60 seconds, depending on how many you are heating. Warm corn tortillas dry--they are more delicate and will hold up better without adding moisture.)

Enjoy!

It's not all good.

Wondering how it's going? Well, since I started this endeavor I haven't eaten a piece of meat (even though I thought I'd be doing that for a little while longer)--but it's not easy. It took years to get where I was at, an experienced chef (of my own kitchen). All of a sudden I've changed the game dramatically and I'm faced with a learning curve of sorts.

Don't try this at home

No more firing up the grill and throwing something on at the last minute for dinner just a few minutes away. Becoming a vegetarian means I need to plan things out, find new ingredients, and figure out how the heck to work with them. Sometimes this goes well, but sometimes it doesn't. Case in point--two nights ago I cooked a meal I thought I'd be posting recipes for, but it was a bomb.

I served a homemade veggie burger that recycled those frozen mixed veggies I mentioned in an earlier post. It seemed like a great idea because I love veggie burgers that have good chunks of identifiable items--like a pea, corn kernel, cubed carrot and green bean. It was lack-luster at best.

It looked promising

For our grains, I made a modified version of this recipe, Wheat Berry Barley and Tomato Salad, which sounded awesome to me. But the vinegar overpowered the dish and overall it tasted like something was lacking. My daughter ate a PBJ for dinner that night and my husband took chicken for lunch the next day. The leftovers of both dishes are crowding my fridge and I wonder when I'll give in and pitch them.

Certainly I am not giving up though. Last night was a much better meal--"beefless" fajitas with slow cooker beans and guacamole. I love Mexican food and it's what I've always gravitated toward cooking, so it felt awesome to make and eat a meal that felt so familiar to me. I'll post my recipes soon, since this one worked. Also on the horizon--vegetable lasagna and pad thai with tofu. So stay tuned (and cross your fingers ;-)

Crispy tenders, asparagus risotto (and hummus)

Before going into any meal info, I have to recap. I started Trying Veggie on Monday and I have to say I might just continue veggie... one night during these past few days I reheated ziti that had a meat sauce--but it was chunky meat (like mini meatballs), so I easily ate the pasta and discarded the meat. Certainly not 100% vegetarian, but my point is that perhaps it's easier to avoid the meat than I originally thought it would be.

Onto the focus of the post, the meal for which this entry is titled. 
So, this meal was the first one I let a veggie product--Gardein's seven grain crispy tenders--play the main role without any input from me. I thought I would make a sauce or use the chicken in something else (like a burrito or sandwich) when I first bought the bag, but it was so good on its own, that we just ate it as is with the other fun sides. It could easily be used that way or atop a big salad, but it definitely stands its own ground.


Asparagus risotto
Ingredients:

• ~1/2 an onion finely diced
• 2 tbsp olive oil and/or butter (I usually use 1 tbsp each)
• 1 1/2 cups risotto (arborio rice)
• ~3.5 cups veggie broth (or water and a little salt)
• ~1 bunch of asparagus cut into ~1.5" pieces
• grated parmesan or asiago cheese for serving 

Preparation:
I cook risotto in my rice cooker--so this method will apply to using this great tool. If you don't have one, you can absolutely still make risotto--but I don't have the expertise to tell you how to do it. Leave me a comment if you can share your on-the-stovetop method and maybe I'll edit this post (giving you credit of course!)

Power up your rice cooker and add the oil and/or butter. Once hot/melted, add the onion and saute in the rice cooker bowl until a bit tender and translucent (just a couple of minutes). 

Add the risotto to the oil/butter and mix (careful if you have a non-stick bowl!) to coat the grains and toast them up a bit. Shortly after doing this you will notice the outer part of the grain turns translucent--only the inner part remains white. I wait a bit longer after this occurs, then shut off the rice cooker.

Add the remaining ingredients except the cheese, mix and start the rice cooker--mine has a porridge setting that works well for this, but you can use "regular" if you don't have that program. (You can mix several times throughout the cooking process to help get the good creaminess you expect out of a good risotto.) 

My porridge cycle lasts about 45 minutes, but I like the consistency better if I pull it somewhere between 35-40 minutes. If you would rather not bother with mixing and tasting throughout the process, you can set a timer for 40 minutes. Do a quick taste and so long as it's cooked enough for your liking, you're set.  
 
Serve with parmesan for a good salty cheese flavor, or asiago for a sweeter, nuttier taste (or your favorite.)  Enjoy! 

What about that other bowl on the table, next to those fresh veggies (from my Mom's garden!)?
That's the hummus I make. I'll be sure to share that recipe too (I've been working on perfecting it, and got it just right this time)--but not today.
Stay tuned.

Beefless skewers with tomato basil couscous

Uncooked Gardein beefless tip skewers

I was sad I missed taking pics of the lentil burgers I made before we gobbled them all up, but I learned my lesson and captured some of the beauty of my next veggie meal.

Before the recipes though, a bit on my experience so far. Part of the reason I couldn't deal with meat anymore was how dangerous it felt working with it in the kitchen. I was being so careful not to cross-contaminate. Prep meat, then move it safely away. Get utensils and cutting boards in the sink, wash them off, load them in the dishwasher. Wash hands, disinfect counter, disinfect sink--oh great, chemicals! Don't get me started...

So my first two veggie meals have felt glorious to make. Working with my hands on the all-veggie patties and skewers was a delight (and how cool that I could taste the raw ingredients of the burger and adjust the seasonings as I was mixing it!)

My second meal was even better than the first. I have to thank my mom for sharing the bounty of her beautiful, thriving garden. She expressed us a box of veggies from Long Island to Cali! and I jumped at the chance to center our meal around them.

Gardein beefless tip skewers 
Great product to cook with--my 3-yr-old knew it was a veggie meal, but at first bite asked "is this meat!?"

Ingredients:

• 1 bag Gardein beefless tip skewers
• 3 red bell peppers, cut into large squares
• 2 large onion, cut into skewer-able sections
• 1 pack of mushrooms, cut in half if large
• A1 sauce
• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
• black pepper
• (and wooden skewers)

Preparation:

One hour prior to grilling, marinate the Gardein tips in a gallon size bag with the garlic, black pepper and A1 (enough to cover the tips well) and soak the skewers in water.

After marinating, skewer the pepper, tips, onion and mushroom. I found it was helpful to put the pepper, then the tip--so it has something to anchor it.

Cook on a medium-low grill (too high will blacken the outside of the veggies and leave the insides raw). Gardein says to cook the tips to a 165 internal temp,  which will easily be achieved by the time the veggies are ready.

Tomato basil couscous
Ingredients:

• 2 cups couscous
• 2 cups water (and/or vegetable stock)
• 4 tbsp of olive oil, divided in half
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
• ~10 grape tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
• ~1/2 bunch of basil, cut into thin slices
• salt

Preparation:
Cook couscous according to package directions (2 cups of couscous, 2 cups of liquid, plus 2 tbsp of olive oil). OR- if you have a rice cooker, add the couscous, liquid and oil to the pot and cook on the regular cycle.

Once done, turn off heat, fluff and mix in the balsamic, remaining olive oil and plum tomatoes. Recover and let sit at least 5 minutes--or until you are ready to serve the meal.

When ready to serve, salt to taste and top with the grape tomatoes and basil. We also had some Trader Joe's pitted kalamata olives with evoo. Great on the plate with this fantastic meal.


PS--this makes a ton of couscous. I enjoy lots of leftovers, but if you don't, just 1/2 everything except the tomatoes and basil.

Lentil burgers with carrot, onion and cilantro

Ingredients:

• 1/2 a med onion (~1/4 cup finely chopped onion)
• 1 med carrot (~1/4 cup grated carrots)
• 3 cups cooked lentils, pulsed to a mash in food processor (mashed)
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 3/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1 tbsp ground flax
• dash of chili powder
• pinch of cumin
• 1-2 tsp pinskey's shallot pepper
• salt to taste
• oil to saute veggies and patties

Preparation:

Put carrot and onion into food processor and pulse until finely chopped.  (No food processor?  Give your arm a good work out--finely chop the onion and grate the carrot.)

Saute onion and carrot in oil over med high heat until tender and caramelizing, about ten minutes. Add a splash of water or veggie stock to get up any golden bits.

Combine the onion carrot mixture with the rest of the ingredients (no oil).

Take large handfuls of the mixture at a time and form into patties.  Cook in a lightly oiled frying pan until nicely browned on both sides (and heated through) ~ten minutes.

Enjoy with your choice of toppings and bread!