Vegetarian Food

Other than vegetarian chicken and veggie burgers, another popular mock meat you can find in most grocery stores are "steak strips" or vegetarian ground beef crumbles. You won't believe how meaty some of these can taste (and look!). Just check out this picture! Here's a few ways to "beef up" a vegetarian meal with some steak strips (can you believe that pun?):

Vegetarian "steak" fajitas (pictured)

Grilled tandoori seitan

Vegetarian meatballs

Marinated "beef" skewers

If you've got a favorite, share some tips with this forum reader who wants to know which fake meats are the best.

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Miss meat? Some vegetarians do, some vegetarians don't. If you're one of the former, no need to fret - there's so many great ways to mimic the flavors and textures of your former favorite meaty dishes, using homemade seitan or store-bought substitutes. The next few blog posts will highlight a few meat substitutes and ways to use them, starting with chicken.

Whether it's southern fried or baked into a pot pie, there's a vegetarian way to prepare just about every chicken dish you might be craving. Gardein is one store-bought meat substitute that's been popular lately (Oprah featured it on her show last year, and Whole Foods uses it in their deli). Here's a few ways to try gardein and other chicken substitutes:

Lemon grilled "chicken" (pictured above, left)

Cajun-ribbed grilled scaloppini

Chipotle "chicken" kebabs (pictured above, right)

12 ways to prepare vegetarian chicken

More vegetarian meats

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When you think you're getting bored of eating meat-free meals, it's time to mix it up and try something new! Go to a new restaurant, or, go to one of your old favorite places, but order something completely different off the menu that you've never tried. When trying new places, I like to ask the waitstaff what's popular or what most people enjoy, even if I end up not taking their advice!

Looking for some inspiring home-cooked meals? Here's a few brand-new vegetarian and vegan recipes that I've been eating and publishing lately:

Egg scramble with avocado (pictured)

Summer mango and pear crumble

Quick and easy vegetarian jambalaya

Simple Israeli tomato salad

Hemp oil honey mustard salad dressing

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I don't often do cookbook reviews, but I do love that there's so many out there to choose from these days. Despite the huge market, I often find myself turning to a few old classics, time and time again, The Farm Vegetarian, for example will forever be a favorite, as well as the first vegan cookbook I ever had, Robin Robertson's Vegan Planet. Teen Cuisine New Vegetarian by Matthew Locricchio will likely be one of those books for some people.

If you're a novice chef or you often find yourself baffled by cooking lingo, then this is the book for you. Chef Matthew gives clear and concise instructions for every single recipe step. The book is ostensibly for teen cooks, and I'm sure they'll love it, but grown-ups who need the extra instructions will love it too. Don't get me wrong, the recipes are easy, but rather than being basic and simple, they're nourishing and creative twists on classic dishes. A snippet: tempeh burgers, strawberry lassis, curried vegetable stir-fry, three cheese polenta and, of course, many more.

Here's a few sample recipes from Teen Cuisine to try:

Smart oatmeal breakfast bars (pictured above, right)

Whole wheat pasta salad with fresh basil

Tempeh and onion chile

See also: Teen Cuisine New Vegetarian by Matthew Locricchio

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If you want to learn about cooking with tofu, these are the videos for you. Every time I hear someone say, "I just don't know what to do with tofu," or, "I tried tofu once and didn't like it," I just wish I could download (upload?) all of my love of tofu directly into their brains. In lieu of that, videos make it easy to learn lots of techniques quickly and correctly.

Here's a few tofu videos to browse and share for the tofu-naive in your life:

Tips for baking with tofu

Tofu: Basic cooking techniques

How to press tofu

Five ways to use tofu in desserts

Types of tofu

Easy tofu stir-fry

Plenty of people are interested in learning to cook with tofu, it seems, since these are the most popular cooking videos amongst the dozens of vegetarian cooking videos on About.com.

See also: More vegetarian cooking videos
Pictured: Easy orange-glazed tofu "chicken" recipe

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Eggplant Parmesan is a vegetarian Italian dish that makes a great meal any night. It does take several steps, but the end result is absolutely worth it! Learn how to make eggplant Parmesan by watching this quick video. This eggplant Parmesan recipe uses a breading out of cornflake crumbs, but you could also use any breadcrumbs that you have on hand.

Video link: How to Make Eggplant Parmesan
More eggplant recipes:

• Cheeseless Eggplant Lasagna
• Spicy Baked Eggplant Entree
• Vegetarian Eggplant Ratatouille
• Spicy Thai Basil Eggplant
• Indian Stir-Fried Eggplant

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All of meat-free internet land is talking about this issue, so I thought I'd weigh in too.

If you haven't already heard, a swath of whole foods stores in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Maine sold real chicken labeled as vegan chicken in their prepared food bar for two days this week before anyone noticed an error.

I don't think it needs to be reiterated how obviously not ok this is, but there might be a few things the dozens of news articles are missing. Not to be too Pollyanna-ish, but consider the underlying implications:

1. There's so much fake chicken in the world these days!
2. Lots of omnivores ate fake chicken and didn't even notice, proving that most people really can't taste the difference.
3. The recall is big news because lots of people care about eating vegan.

Read More...

Like guacamole? Like olive tapenade? Sure you do! Besides just everybody's favorite, guacamole, there's plenty of ways to use avocados, and, if you can't get enough of them when they're in season (like me!), you're going to love this avocado and olive dip recipe. It combines olives, avocados, chili peppers, green onions and fresh basil. Delightful!

Link: Olive avocado dip

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There are many reasons to use canned beans in a recipe: they are quick, cheap, and can be bought just about anywhere. But, have you thought about the advantages of using dried beans that you cook yourself? They are more flavorful, fresher, have no additives, and are even cheaper and easier to keep on hand at home.

Watch this video to find out what you need to know about how to prepare dried beans - it's easier than you might think. You can also easily substitute an equivalent amount of fresh prepared beans in any recipe that calls for canned beans.

Link: Video: How to prepare dried beans

Related Recipes:

Frijoles Negros (Mexican Black Beans)

Crockpot Refried Beans

Vegetarian Bean and Barley Soup

Three Bean Pasta with Creamy Spinach Sauce

Carribbean Red Beans and Rice

Vegetarian Black Bean Chili

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I love vegetarian sushi, but I have to admit, I almost never make it at home. When it comes to Japanese food, I'm much more likely to boil some edamame to snack on, and whip up some soba noodles. But there's really no reason not to make your own sushi at home. Once you get the hang of it, it's not as hard as it seems, and besides, it's FUN! Prep all the ingredients and try a roll-your-own sushi dinner party or family meal.

Here's my list of eight easy meatfree Japanese recipes that are simple enough to try at home, including a noodle bowl, vegan tempura and step-by-step simple sushi. Enjoy!

Link: Vegetarian Japanese recipe ideas
Easy cooking video: How to make vegetarian sushi

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