I am not a vegetarian but would appreciate some good meatless recipes. I use a lot of whole grains and feel better when I don't eat a lot of meat. I've not cooked with tofu but would like to try if I had a recipe that someone said was foolproof...meaning it was something everyone would like. We eat meat about once maybe twice a week. I have been a proponent of "Diet for a Small Planet" for the past 29 years and I have the Moosewood cookbooks and I have a new one Rice Cuisine which has some good recipes and I have all of Rita Bingham's book but the recipes we have enjoyed most are those I have gotten from other people.

-- Artie Ann Karns (rokarns@arkansas.net), January 12, 2001

Answers

Here's an original one that even my husband likes alot. Saute 1 lg onion chopd 4-5garlic cloves chpd and at least a cup of green pepper chpd. Add tofu crumbled, can be marinated or you can add balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar and a little raspberry vinegar as you cook it...Add a cup or two of salsa...add a pint of pre-cooked black beans...salt to taste and of good 2-3 sprinkles of cayenne. I left out the salsa last time and add baby corn and pineapple juice. It was good, too. It's one of my al time favorites. Enjoy!

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), January 12, 2001.

Artie,

Lentil-rice roast with cashew gravy

(it's real good)

1 1/2 c. lentils 1 1/2 c millet

-- Marty (Mrs.Puck@Excite.com), January 12, 2001.

Artie,

Lentil-rice roast with cashew gravy

(it's real good)

1 1/2 c. lentils 1 1/2 c millet 1 1/2 c brown rice

-- Marty (Mrs.Puck@Excite.com), January 12, 2001.

Artie,

LENTIL-RICE ROAST WITH CASHEW GRAVY

1 1/2 c. lentils 1 1/2 c millet 1 1/2 c brown rice 9 c water 1 c bread crumbs 1/2 c rolled oats 1/2 c cashews, finely ground (I use coffee grinder, blender works too) 1/4 c vegetable oil 3 Tbs onion powder 1 1/2 Tbs crumbled sage 1/2 tsp celery seed salt to taste garlic powder (optional)

CASHEW GRAVY 2 c water 1/2 c cashews 2 Tbs cornstarch 2 Tbs onion powder 1/2 tsp salt

Pick over the lentils, then combine in a saucepan with the millet, rice, and water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer until cooked, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil two bread or loaf pans. Add the remaining loaf ingredients and mix well. Transfer mixture to loaf pans and bake for one hour or until lightly brown and the top is dry to the touch. Make gravy. Place ingredients in a blender and liquify. In a medium pan, heat the gravy, stirring constantly, until thick. Add additional water should the gravy become too thick. Keep warm.

(Serves 12 - 16)

-- Marty (Mrs.Puck@Excite.com), January 12, 2001.

Artie: I have found that it is wonderful cut up in small bite sized pieces and added at the last minute to any combination of vegetables stir-fryed. Toss with a good sauce of your choosing after the tofu has been warmed through. We like soy, or a sweet & sour sauce.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 12, 2001.

How about beans? here's a different bean salad.Especially good in summer heat when you don't want to eat something hot.

4 Bean Salad

3 cans assorted beans like kidney,pinto,northern,blackeyepeas,navy beans etc. 1 can lima beans 1 cup vinegar,I like it with finely minced basil. 1 cup olive oil 1 cup sugar 1 small onion, finely chopped,I like sweet. Mix everything together,and refrigerate for an hour or so, to blend flavors.

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), January 12, 2001.

I'm going to try the tofu ones next week, starting Monday. I work every week-end so my work week starts tomorrow and my husband does meals on week-ends. He's not sure he'll like tofu...we'll see. Thanks everyone

-- Artie Ann Karns (rokarns@arkansas.net), January 12, 2001.

TOFU MANICOTTI

1 pound manicotti 2 pounds firm or soft tofu, patted dry and mashed

-- Marty (Mrs.Puck@Excite.com), January 13, 2001.

I am on a mission to get everyone to try Sweet Potato Burritos - sounds iffy but is wonderful and exceedingly nutritious:

Simply mash cooked sweet potatoes equal to the amount of refried beans you have made or bought, although made is better. Spread SP onto "burrito skin" (tortilla, large flour works best), top with beans, garnish with assorted chopped toppings (tomatoes, green onions, whatever) and for the brave, season with brown mole sauce (a spicy tomato/chocolate condiment that's savory with a lovely hint of buttery sweetness) (you can get it in a concentrated form from almost any store that carries Mexican specialty foods in the "different stuff" isle). Mucho yummers, a "can we, can we...please!!" favorite around here.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), January 13, 2001.

I'm not a vegetarian either, but a lot of the dishes I enjoy the most don't have meat in them. I like pizza, but the only 'meat' I like on it is anchovies, otherwise, it's got cheese, black olives, fresh tomatoes if in season, mushrooms, and sometimes artichoke hearts. Don't really need meat with all that.

I also like to have pasta (or gnocchi) with a red sauce but no meat -- same story, black olives, mushrooms, tomatoes, and sprinkle on a little grated parmesan.

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), January 14, 2001.

Here is one of our favorites. Serve over jasmine rice. Yum. Parsonage Style Lentils 1 28 oz can tomatoes cut up 1 cup dry lentils 1/2 cup chopped onion 1/2 tsp curry powder 1/8 tsp ground mace 1 bay leaf 2 cups water 1 tsp salt pepper to taste Combine ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Bring to boil. Simmer covered until lentils are done, about 40 minutes. In the meantime cook rice. To serve, spoon lentil mixture over rice in bowls. Makes 4-5 servings

-- Trisha - MN (tank@linkup.net), January 14, 2001.

Oops, hit submit before giving credits... Better Homes & Gardens Heritage Cook Book

-- Trisha - MN (tank@linkup.net), January 14, 2001.

Green corn pudding -- 4 ears corn, 3 egg yolks, 2 T. melted butter, 2 T. sugar, 1 teasp. salt, 2 cups milk, 3 stiffly beaten egg whites. With a sharp knive, make cuts down center of kernels on each row. Scrape cob with a spoon, removing 'meat and milk' of each kernel. Measure 1 3/4 c. corn. Beat egg yolks til thick. Stir in corn, butter, sugar, and salt. Slowly beat in milk. Fold in egg whites. Back in 8x8x2 backing dish at 350F for 45-50 minutes. Serves 6 to 8 (or less....this is really delicious)

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), January 16, 2001.

Pizza is great w/o meat, as is spagetti with sauce and a lot of chunky veggies--mushrooms, onions, green peppers. Spagetti is also good with just some olive oil and parmesan cheese. I have a great recipe for veggie chili that I will forward to you as I don't care to re-type it again. It's made with zucchini. If anybody else would care for it, e-mail me and I'll forward it.

-- Sandy Davis (smd2@netzero.net), January 18, 2001.

Instead of finding meatless recipes I just substitute tvp and/or beans for the meat. Tvp is very easy to use, cheap, keeps well and in casseroles works great. I had the most success with the small stuff and not the big chunks. Let me know if you need more info on the subject.

-- Kathy (davidwh6@juno.com), January 19, 2001.

Kathy....where do you get your TVP?

-- Lynette Hudson (fear_the_bear@webtv.net), January 19, 2001.

Lentil Burgers 2 cups cooked lentils 1 cup ww bread crumbs 1/2 cup wheat germ 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 onion grated 1/2 tsp celery seeds ww flour 3 tbs oil

mash lentils...add rest...make 8 patties...coat w/flour...fry (or bake I guess)

hints about this: mixing works best in food processor...first bread crumbs, then onion & other stuff, then lentils......patties tend to soak up a good bit of oil so watch out for that.

My dh is not the sort to eat a lot of vegetarian food. However, he ate these burgers on buns with all the usually fixins and liked them. I don't remember what book I got this out of. It has been on an index card for a long time.

This next recipe is a variation of one from the Vegetarian Times cookbook....

tofu..cut in cubes mushrooms..your choice onion...chopped, diced, or sliced...however you'd like it ground cumin and/or whatever flavor you'd like it to have

stirfry/cook up onion, mushrooms, and seasonings in a bit of oil, add tofu and heat through allowing time for seasonings to get to the tofu too. Serve over angel hair pasta. If it is too dry for you, drizzle olive oil over the whole thing or add basil pesto or fresh tomato sauce. Dh ate this too. ****************************** Suggestion: A good place to find veg. recipes is in a Seventh Day Adventist cookbook. We have "Homemade Health" by Raymond and Dorothy Moore. I don't know if they are SDA or not but they discuss the Weimar Clinic in CA which is an SDA heart disease reversal center using nutrition, diet changes, and exercise.

SDA's also have a recipe for a nut-based sauce that is used as "cheese" on pizzas and in other recipes. It really is neat how it cooks up on pizzas.

From "Home Made Health" "Cheese" 1 c Water 1/3 c flour 1 t onion powder 1/4 c food yeast flakes 1/2 c pimiento or cooked dreained tomatoes 1/4 t turmeric 2/3 c cashews or sunflower seeds 2 T lemon juice 1/4 t garlic powder 1 t salt

(A first note: I did not put the pimiento/tomatoe or tumeric in when I made this and I forgot to put in the lemon juice. It still seemed to work fine. According to my dh, it was too garlicy. I probably got carried away with that. He threatened to sleep on the couch. Also I boiled the sunflowers before blending them because I thought they would blend better. I think they did.)

Now...blend all ingredients together until creamy, EXCEPT the FLOUR. Without the flour it may be used as a spread for bread, sauce for baked macaroni, or dressing on salad or vegetables.

When you stir in the flour, it is ready to use on pizza or baked spaghetti, in Mexican food or in layers of lassagna. For cheese toast spread on slices of bread and bake at 400 degrees F until browned. If you cook it until thick and refregerate it in a square container, it may be sliced. Or if it is frozen after cooking, it can be grated while frozen.

(When I did this, the sauce looked a little grey....after cooking, it looked whiter...like mozzarella almost. Just drizzle it around on the pizza.) **********************

One more thing....about tofu....when cut in small cubes and added to spaghetti sauce it tastes like cheese raviolli. You could still serve it over any sort of pasta you like or mix it with pasta and bake it like a casserole. Sort of like "inside-out raviolli".

Have fun experimenting.

-- heather (heathergorden@hotmail.com), January 19, 2001.