Vegetable dish cooking club

I made mine for lunch yesterday :) Didn't have any problems with them falling apart but I used a little more flour so maybe that made them stick together better? They were yummy! I also added salt as they needed it. Had them in a wrap with salad and a little ketchup. Very filling!

Who is coming up with the new recipe?!
 
Yeah maybe it is the flour. That makes sense. Were you able to cook all of them in 2 tbsp of oil?

I'll be having mine for lunch for the rest of the week. I think today i will eat mine in a wrap. They are so yummy hey. I need to buy a new blender though as ours is crap.

Next recipe should be posted on Sunday. First in best dressed, ok? Because of the time delay, (your are so far behind us, I will wait till Sunday night our time.
 
When I was growing up, my mom was pretty insistent (and she still is) that starch heavy "vegetables" don't really counts as vegetables! Things like potatoes, beans, and corn might grow from the ground but all add pretty high to you to carb count for the day. By all means cook with them, but if you're looking to fill up with very low calories... just watch what you eat. Personally I love Falafel, but since it's basically fried beans and tahini, I don't really consider it much of a health food.
 
Sorry monster you are way off track on your idea about felafal. If you read the recipe there is no tahini in it. There is only chickpeas and vegetables. The fat comes from the frying.

As for what you say about carbs. Please don't spout that carbs is bad stuff around here. Its not. Eating them with piles of cheese, sour cream, or cooking them with a lot of oil is the problem.

Complex carbohydrates are good for you. Refined and simple carbohydrates are the problem. That said, potatoes have a bad name too partly because people eat a lot of them and in combination with the high GI status. Monster perhaps you better go do some reading up on the nutrition of things like chickpeas - which are high in protein and nutrients. They are a legume and little in common with either potatoes or cake.

A little tahini is not a bad thing either. Its made from sesame seeds so its no worse than peanut butter. I would use tahini in a recipe such as hummus to make it work but i don't think hummus (if made properly) is a particularly good diet food for we westerners.

In the middle east, they eat it as breakfast. When you diet lacks in protein and or calories hummus is a good food because its also made with olive oil.

In the west, if hummus is just seen as something yummy for people who are already spoiled for choice, its better to keep this for rare occasions and when you get down to your ideal weight. It is a high fat food though nutritious.

I don't know a lot about corn. We don't eat it so much here. I'd say its akin to potatos from what i understand. The occasional corn cob is not bad as is a corn in stir fry.

Now, how come you don't want to join our vegie cooking club? ha?
 
Yeah, falafel is very good for you :) Especially when you take out the frying part and bake them. Baked falafel is delicious! I'm sure the ones in restaurants are covered in dressing and deep fried and covered in bread crumbs and stuff but home-made ones are really not bad for you at all :D Especially in a brown pitta bread with a little low-fat hummus. Deeeelicious :D

Fortyfour, (is it Andrea? I'm Hana *wave*) maybe Jeanette wants to post one this week? I'm at a party sunday night and saturday night so wont be home much to post any recipes..Maybe someone else will join our club and want to post one :D Or you can come up with one!
 
fortyfour said:
As for what you say about carbs. Please don't spout that carbs is bad stuff around here. Its not. Eating them with piles of cheese, sour cream, or cooking them with a lot of oil is the problem.
Click to expand...
You really misread what I wrote.
I did NOT really say they were bad, at least that's not what I meant, just that they have more calories than non starchy vegetables, and that was my whole point.
There are "carb" veggies, like potatoes and such and less - carb veggies......
I'm just pointing out that not all vegetables are created equal, and if you're watching your calories, it's something you'll want to watch out for.
Public Service announcement over.
So.....
:chillpill:;)
 
All the legumes are higher in calories than things like brussel sprouts. There's no surprise there. Beans are incredibly excellent food. Its how you cook them that matters as i said before, and what you put on them. Did you know that beans are considered to lower cholesterol. As someone who eats not much meat, legumes are an important source of protein.
 
#3 Ratatouille

Well its Monday morning over here and i so I think i've given everyone plenty of time to jump in before me.

I"m posting this ratatouille recipes which is one of my favourite vegetable dishes. Its so good for you and so easy. Its a french recipe from Provence.

1 good sized eggplant, diced in large chunkes or sliced
1 zucchini, thick slices
1 red capsicum, diced in 1 inch square or more sized pieces
1 green capsium, diced as above
2 or 3 large tomatoes, coursely diced
3 cloves of garlic, finely diced
1 large onion, finely diced
1 tsp of dried thyme or other dried herb such as oregano.
4tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Actually i think this recipe will still be ok with 2tbsp oil.
A little salt
Black pepper
a bit of red chilli (optional)

Saute the onion and garlic in the oil until soft. Put all the vegetables in either a large saucepan and stew for say 45 minutes, or for less time in a pressure cooker. Or put it all in an oven dish, mix it well and bake it for 1.5 hours or until well stewed.

You can also cook it in the oven with the lid off. It will be drier but not dry. Just less stewy.

Whatever way you cook it, the vegetables should be very soft and the aubergine should be creamy.

Don't be put off this recipe if you don't like aubergine. Just use a smaller one. I find a lot of people don't like aubergine because they haven't had it cooked properly. There's no worse vegetable than undercooked aubergine.

Serving size - 1 cup

Serving suggestions:
*You can eat this hot or cold.
*Hot, its yummy on toast without butter.
*YOu can serve it with a fried egg. If you bake this in an oven dish without the lid on, you can put an egg on top and bake it that way.
*Put it through a food processor and use it as a soup base or soup in itself.
* with pasta
*if you like you can put a dob of yoghurt on top. Especially yoghurt with garlic in it - ie tzatziki.

A cup of this vegetable isn't really enough on its own to make a meal as you need some bulking carbs (or meat) to make it a satisfying meal but it certainly gives you a good supply of vegetable nutrients and its delicious.
 
44, that sounds delicious. Sorry I've only just seen this. Will actually make this tonight--I have most of the ingredients. Will use a smaller aubergine though..I'm never sure I like the flavour.

Thanks for posting. I'll have a look for a recipe for me to post. Does anyone else apart from me and 44 have a yummy veggie recipe we can use for next week?
 
I've been so busy this week that i haven't done my cooking yet. I've also got tons of leftovers in the fridge. I only just finished the aloo gobi last night (i did make a double size recipe though) . But i hope to make this ratatouille soon. I am hanging out for it.
 
I made it last night :D Was deeeelicious. Had it with some pasta. Only used one pepper as I'm not a huge fan of it and also didn't use the chilli. It was really nice!
 
Hey good on you Hana for trying this recipe even though you don't like aubergine and you are not a fan of capsicums (peppers). We should be open to new foods and retesting our own tastes from time to time to widen our healthy choices. I never used to like aubergines, mushrooms, corn or peas. Now i can eat all of them. I've gone off broccoli in recent times. And i don't like brussel spouts and i'm not a big fan of sweet potato either.

I just made mine this morning. I am looking forward to eating it but that will be tonight. I had some beans i had to use up so i put them in too.

The main thing is to use vegetables with a fairly high water content (which beans don't have think) like all those in the dish.

Maybe next you could try doing something similar but with the vegetables you do like. I'd just say be careful about what vegetables you leave out and put in. Try only one or two variations at a time to avoid making something that really doesn't work.

I would think that cauliflower could be a good one. Carrots. Peas. I know some people do it with mushrooms. Pumpkin maybe. But that said, i am not sure what a good combo would be without experimenting myself. A radical change of vegetables just might not work.
 
ratatouille

So i've just finished dinner and i had the ratatouille with spaghetti. It was delicious - as always. I had to put a bit of extra salt on so don't forget the salt. It was good even with the beans.

This was a less liquidy version than i normally make and i think that improves it. I kept the lid off on the last half hour.

Anyhow, i will be eating this all week as i've got a huge bowlful.

re Next recipe - I'd like a good one for green beans, something inspired by what they do in the middle east or mediterranean. But i'm open to anything so long as is it fits in with our criteria of low fat and no meat, no cheese. Soups are fine. A good vegie soup would be welcome.
 
RE Green Beans

hey that site looks good Hana. What about we each pick a recipe we think we'd like - since neither of us would have done it before - and then we can try each others either the week after or some time down the track. Or even the same week if its not a big recipe.

Does that sound ok?
Are we agreed on green beans?

I'll probably post something shortly cause i'm motivated but i can always rub it out if some better idea turns up.
 
Greek Potatoes and Green Beans

According to my Greek friend Karen this is the way her mother would present this dish, but she says that she would consider adding some garlic and oregano to jazz it up a bit.

Ingredients

3 lbs. Baking Potatoes
1-1/2 lbs. Green Beans, French cut
1 Onion, medium size, diced
1 cup Parsley, fresh, finely chopped
1-6 oz. can of Tomato Paste

Preparation

Wash and peel the potatoes and cut into 1/2" to 3/4" cubes and place in a covered baking dish. If the Green Beans are fresh, wash and cut of the stem ends and split lengthwise, and add to the baking dish. If the Green Beans are frozen, just add to the baking dish. Add the Onions and Parsley. Add the Tomato Paste and rinse the can out with a little water (1/4 can) and add to the baking dish. Cook in a microwave on high or in a regular oven at 350 degrees F. Mix the ingredients every 10 to 15 minutes. When the onions become semi translucent and the potatoes are soft remove from the oven. Total cooking time should be about 45 minutes.

Serves 6
Click to expand...


Well this is my choice for this week. I might try a half size version as I have to eat it all myself. Do you know how many tbsp in 6 ounces?

I found a few recipes i'd like to try there. I was curious to see the fried green beans. I am gonna try ti sometime. The french provencal beans salad sounds delicious. It has anchovies and I don't want to buy any of those just yet as I am heading off soon and I already have a fridge full of food i've got to eat up. Thanks for sharing that site. Its going to be fun exploring and trying all those recipes.

Now what green bean recipe are you going to do? I can't wait to see your choice.
 
That sounds lovely--I have all the ingredients apart from the beans so might wait and cook it next week. Not sure about tbsp in 6 ounces..I usually just chuck in a small amount and then taste and add more and stuff as following it exactly involves too much work ;)

I found this one:

One of our favorite things is trying new ways to cook fresh green beans. Since one of our favorite foods is Thai Cuisine we thought this recipe from Cooking Light Magazine (1990) was a perfect match. It's another way to enjoy cooking fresh green beans. It's a vegetable side dish that's easy to make that will add a definite punch of flavor to your next meal.


Thai Green Beans (Cooking Light Magazine)

1/2 pound fresh green beans
Vegetable cooking spray
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons cold water
1 1/2 teaspoons corn starch
2 green onions, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Wash beans; trim ends and remove strings. Cut beans in half, set aside.

Coat a skillet with cooking spray. Add oil; place over high heat until hot. Add mushrooms and garlic; saute 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium. Add beans, and cook 3 minutes or until tender crisp.

Combine water and corn starch; stir well. Add corn starch mixture, green onions, soy sauce and pepper to beans; cook 2 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat; sprinkle with peanuts and cilantro. Serve warm,

Yield: 4 servings (approx. 72 calories per 1/2 cup serving)
Click to expand...

Not sure how you are with nuts? Maybe you could half the amount or replace with toasted sesame seeds or something if you don't fancy nuts. I seem to remember you saying in another post that you try and avoid them as you can't just have a few, you have to have more and more!
 
That's ok about the nuts. I've got those ones in my freezer. I will use those. I think putting them in a recipe is a good way to consume nuts on a diet. Cause then you are unlikely to eat too many.

Since this is a side dish, can you tell me what else i should eat this with. When you've done your dinner, let me know what you at this dish with.

I think by green onions, she means shallots or what we mostly in Australia call shallots. There's not much bulb.

That should turn out to be an interesting meal. I'm looking forward to seeing how you go. I'm looking forward to both these things cause they are both really new ideas for me. Yum! I hope. :D
 
I think I'll try that one this week. I might have to substitute the mushrooms, though. Yuck! Lol
I think it would be good with wild rice and chicken breast.

"Plaudite, amici, comedia finita est."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top