Saturday, July 07, 2007
Recipe of the Day
* Fast & Easy
* Less than five ingredients
* Vegan
VEGAN RICE PILAF invented by my dear husband
Ingredients:
- Your choice of canned vegetable soup, with a vegetable broth base.
- Brown Rice
- Water
- Extra spices to season to taste (i.e. chili powder, or curry powder, etc.) [optional]
Directions:
-Count canned vegetable soup as slightly less than one cup of liquid (I'd say about 3/4 cup).
-Dump rice, soup, and enough water in to saucepan to make the ratio 2-to-1 liquid-to-rice.
- Cook, covered, on medium heat until rice is fully cooked. [Check periodically to make sure there is enough water in saucepan. In the end, the rice should have swallowed up all the liquid in the pan and be soft and chewy.]
So, for example, if using one cup of rice, add one can of soup and slightly over one cup (1 1/4 cup, perhaps?) of water. Cook until done.
- Season with extra spices, as desired and to taste.
Serve.
Merits: Easy, fast, uses ingredients that can be stored in the pantry (so can be used when there's "nothing in the house.") Very filling. Uses only one dish. Practically makes itself.
Tips/Suggestions/Downfalls: I recommend seasoning, as the cheapest canned veggie soup can be fairly flavorless. Maybe throw some crushed garlic or onion in to the bottom of the pan, and saute in oil before adding the brown rice and soup. Downfall: Heavy on carbs, not good for one of my parents. That said, the brown rice is a fairly good carb.
Also, we had baked sweet potato with cinnamon sprinkled on top as a side. This was a nice addition!
Explanation for this post:
Several years ago our extended family started falling, one by one, into a vegan lifestyle, mostly for health reasons. Now, both our fathers are (essentially) vegan, both because their lives depend on it. We've taken the hint, and taking action before we fall victim to their ailments. (Their ailments are hereditary.) S has agreed to "become vegan insomuch as we can find yummy vegan food. But I'm not going to sacrifice my enjoyment of food for the cause." We have now found enough recipes that we enjoy, adding them to our meal rotation, that we no longer think to buy meat. We are NOT vegans yet, we may never get there (Steve loves his milk) but we are wavering on being vegetarians, and really only eat meat when out at friends' houses.
Since we've been discovering so much, we thought we'd share some of our recipes with you. This isn't the yummiest we've come up with, but it sure is convenient.
* Fast & Easy
* Less than five ingredients
* Vegan
VEGAN RICE PILAF invented by my dear husband
Ingredients:
- Your choice of canned vegetable soup, with a vegetable broth base.
- Brown Rice
- Water
- Extra spices to season to taste (i.e. chili powder, or curry powder, etc.) [optional]
Directions:
-Count canned vegetable soup as slightly less than one cup of liquid (I'd say about 3/4 cup).
-Dump rice, soup, and enough water in to saucepan to make the ratio 2-to-1 liquid-to-rice.
- Cook, covered, on medium heat until rice is fully cooked. [Check periodically to make sure there is enough water in saucepan. In the end, the rice should have swallowed up all the liquid in the pan and be soft and chewy.]
So, for example, if using one cup of rice, add one can of soup and slightly over one cup (1 1/4 cup, perhaps?) of water. Cook until done.
- Season with extra spices, as desired and to taste.
Serve.
Merits: Easy, fast, uses ingredients that can be stored in the pantry (so can be used when there's "nothing in the house.") Very filling. Uses only one dish. Practically makes itself.
Tips/Suggestions/Downfalls: I recommend seasoning, as the cheapest canned veggie soup can be fairly flavorless. Maybe throw some crushed garlic or onion in to the bottom of the pan, and saute in oil before adding the brown rice and soup. Downfall: Heavy on carbs, not good for one of my parents. That said, the brown rice is a fairly good carb.
Also, we had baked sweet potato with cinnamon sprinkled on top as a side. This was a nice addition!
Explanation for this post:
Several years ago our extended family started falling, one by one, into a vegan lifestyle, mostly for health reasons. Now, both our fathers are (essentially) vegan, both because their lives depend on it. We've taken the hint, and taking action before we fall victim to their ailments. (Their ailments are hereditary.) S has agreed to "become vegan insomuch as we can find yummy vegan food. But I'm not going to sacrifice my enjoyment of food for the cause." We have now found enough recipes that we enjoy, adding them to our meal rotation, that we no longer think to buy meat. We are NOT vegans yet, we may never get there (Steve loves his milk) but we are wavering on being vegetarians, and really only eat meat when out at friends' houses.
Since we've been discovering so much, we thought we'd share some of our recipes with you. This isn't the yummiest we've come up with, but it sure is convenient.
Labels: Vegan
Comments:
I'm drifting in that direction too, guys, but my motivation is slightly different: Being a vegetarian is cheaper when buying groceries. Meat and dairy is expensive! But I might still occasionally have eggs. And sometimes milk. :-)
~Katie
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~Katie
# posted by 
: 7/08/2007 8:23 AM
: 7/08/2007 8:23 AM