Spicy Baked Plantain Chips

The sweetest boy in the world happens to enjoy a potato chip here and there. With the mischievous grin as he knowingly opens a bag of chips in front of me raising an eyebrow to see if I complain... and I always do. So in my crusade against the trend of diabetes in his family I try to keep him and myself on a healthier diet. In keeping with that - here is the next attempt I made, my failures, and success. :)

• Green plantains 2/3
• cajun spice
• berbere
• salt & pepper
• evoo

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Prepare baking pans greased with evoo/something lowcal
3. Use a knife to peel the plantain. When I read this direction in multiple recipes I laughed and said - well Ill just peel it like a banana. Giggling at my own naivety I grabbed a small knife and started peeling away after my failed attempt at finger peeling.
4. After you have peeled your plantain getting down to the fruit of it, go ahead and slice it. While I started paper thin I started chunking them up a bit realizing it would need some oomph to get a real crunch, and the thin but thick ones did turn out best in the end, and most like the plantain chips I have bought in a store.
5. After your slices are sliced, throw them in a bowl with a splash og evoo, and spicing to your liking. I tried some with honey and splenda and some with spicy peppers and such. Mix with your hands.
6. Throw the slices on the baking pan. They can touch but make sure they don't overlap.
7. Keep a close eye here. Cook until the edges brown. Can vary but should be about 8-16 minutes depending on the thickness of your slice.
8. Remove and let cool and harden.
9. Serve immediately or throw in a bag, they will save for a couple days.

Spaghetti Squash in Red Sauce

In hopes of finding a healthy alternative to the scores of pasta this italian girl and her family eat every year I turned to spaghetti squash. At a farmers market last week I saw it and instantly knew my husband needed to try this. In the end - I picked an awfully small squash and let my husband eat the concoction while I ate leftovers. So you may want to try to get a larger size squash.

• spaghetti squash (a big one)
• onion
• garlic
• diced tomatoes
• mushrooms
• asparagus
• basil

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Prepare baking pan with a splash of evoo
3. Cut squash into two halves and remove the seeds
4. Place squash open side down on baking pan
5. Place into oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until you can insert a sharp knife through the skin fairly easily
6. Remove squash from oven and let it cool until its easy for you to hold it
7. Sautee vegetables minus tomatoes in evoo on a skillet while you are waiting
8. Scoop the stringy pulp going with the grains from the squash pulling strips out
9. Mix squash pulp with vegetables and add the tomatoes
10. Top with parm if you like and serve :)

VeggieLoaf (MeatLoaf without the Meat)

I am not going to lie. This did not turn out as yummy as I had hoped. Fortunately Bryan loved it anyhow (hes the best) and ate two whole helpings. My problem with it was that it wasn't firm enough. I think next time I will try to find some more ingredients that could firm it up a little, maybe less egg.. or try to dry out the eggplant and tofu more. I will let you know how it turns out next time I give this a whirl. Do you have any ideas for a loaf recipe? share them in the comments!

• eggplant (2)
• 1/2C cashews/peanuts
• 1lb firm tofu
• 8oz mushrooms
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1C wheat germ
• 1C old fashioned oats
• 1T whole wheat flour
• 1T breadcrumbs
• 2 eggwhites
• spices of your choosing (parley/tyme/rosemarry/basil/etc)
• red pepper (or what i put in everything i cook - berbere)

1. preheat oven to 400
2. use the food processor to grind up the nuts, eggplant, tofu, mushrooms, and garlic
3. mix it in a large bowl with the remaining ingredients
   
4. pour it into a loaf pan and bake in oven for 60-75 minutes
   
5. 10 minutes out pour some tomato sauce on top of the loaf and continue baking

Veggie Paella

In hopes of making vegetables more interesting for my husband (and me) the past few weeks I have come up with a few new fun recipes.

One of the most fun for me was the veggie paella. I think I have had paella one other time in my life, my first week of college at University of Florida.

My parents took me out before they left me at the dorm, for my last yummy expensive meal before becoming a poor college student.

And I had the yummiest concoction of goodness called Paella. This week I attempted a veggie paella and hope to perfect it in days to come. If you have a fun paella recipe link/post it in the comments.

• evoo
• vegetarian sausage
• tofu
• garlic
• artichoke hearts, quartered
• 1C squash
• 1 C zucchini
• 1/2 C carrots
• 1 Bunch asparagus
• 1C frozen peas
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• paprika
• bay leaves
• parsley
• black pepper
• 2C cooked brown rice
• 1/2C veggie broth

1. Sautee proteins in evoo with garlic
2. add veggies and continue to sautee and spice
3. add diced tomatoes and simmer until the liquid dissipates, spicing to taste
4. add rice and broth and continue to simmer until the liquid is absorbed
5. remove from heat and serve :)

Veggie Pot Pie

I happen to be married to the sweetest boy in the world. The sweetest boy in the world, despite being a carnivore, happens to delight in my meatfree cooking.

However, his favorite all-time meal happens to be chicken pot pie. I decided to take it on last week and make him a veggie pot pie.

Not only did he love it, and eat way too much way too quickly, he is begging for an encore. Join me in this yummy delight. I am going to try adding other meat alternatives next time. Tell me in the comments how you make your potpie.

• spray butter
• 1 sweet onion
• 1 cup of carrots chopped
• 1 container of mini-bella mushrooms
• 1/2 sweet potato
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup skim organic milk
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup green bell peppers chopped
• chives
• parsley
• 1T vinegar
• 1T egg white
• 1 pastry dough
• vegetarian protein (i used boca sausage but plan to try again with tofu, chicken strips, boca crumbles)

1. preheat oven to 400
2. sautee protein and vegetables in spraybutter.
3. after about 10 minutes they should be soft, sprinkle with flour and spices 
4. cook for about 5 more minutes or until coating is no longer white
   
5. insert cream of mushroom and milk slowly, bringing heat down to medium
6. remove from heat and add vinegar, herbs, and pepper, turn mixture into baking dish
   
7. whisk egg, 2t water and a punch of salt in a bowl
8. cut dough to fit over baking dish, folding into the dish
   
9. brush egg wash over dough and cut slits in the top to vent
10. bake until crust is golden brown about 30 minutes
11. remove from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes
12. Serve and Enjoy :)

Vegetarian Coconut Chicken

I have been looking for some newer recipes lately and seeing how I can convert something interesting into a vegetarian option. So I ventured into the chicken section of my south beach book last week and gave this a whirl. As you can see I added too much coconut milk - and MAN was it spicy - but I totally dug it. Next time I will add less than a pound of my cajun spice to it :) For bryan's sake of course!

• fake chicken pieces (they have this in frozen food in a couple brands next to boca and garden etc)
• 1T evoo
• 1/2 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• dash of cilantro
• squirt of ginger paste
• squire of lemon
• dash of cumin
• dash of turmeric
• 1/2C light coconut milk
• 1T nuts (we used peanuts but it calls for macadamia - cashews also a good option)
• dash of splenda
• splash of red pepper spicing

1. defrost your "chicken" in the microwave
2. heat evoo in skillet
3. heat up your chick on stove and then remove and put on a plate
4. heat garlic, onion, and then spices in skillet
5. Add lemon, nuts, coconut milk and splenda to your concoction, perhaps a little veggie broth if its handy. at this point you can spice the mixture to your taste - if you see something in your spicerack that might give it a kick or too - throw it in :) Poor bryan was cooling his mouth off for hours
6. Add chicken back to skillet and cook until boiled to thickness
7. Serve and Enjoy!

Fried Green Tomatoes - South Beach Style

I have seen friends making these in pictures on facebook recently and wanted to join in on the fun. Besides - who doesn't love the movie - "TOWANDAAAAAA" hehe

• green tomatoes
• finely chopped pecans
• whole wheat flour
• finely ground black pepper
• red pepper
• evoo

1. Slice tomatoes into 1/2" slices
2. Mix flour, pepper, and pecans into shallow bowl
3. Coat each side of tomato
4. Sautee in evoo
5. Serve & Enjoy