Mushroom Spinich Quiche with Tofu

I tried this recipe for the first time last night. Needless to say this is going to be on my menu from now on. I did not use eggs or milk (not counting what was already in the pie crust) HOWEVER, I did add a little real cheese cuz a quiche needs cheese and I hate vegan cheese. This recipe is extremely healthy and good for you. Low in calories and super tasty. The one thing that I should have done was bake the pie pastery BEFORE putting the filling in it. The crust on the bottom was soft so I will do that next time.

If you want to eat healthier this recipe is a must!! So here goes....

Crust
I used a frozen pie crust. Making crusts by hand is just too time consuming.

Filling
NOTE: adjust incredients to your liking. You may want less mushrooms and more onions. It's up to you!

8 oz fresh spinach, washed and shredded
4 Tbs vegetable oil or olive oil (I used extra virgin olive oil). You may want to add more oil depending on how much onion, garlic and mushrooms you use.
1 onion chopped
3 teaspoons minced garlic (I buy minced from Publix-it's easier)
12 oz mushrooms -I used baby Portobella cuz they are meatier than white ones
12 oz firm tofu, pressed to remove excess water
1/2 to 3/4 cup cheddar cheese
Fresh parsley, chopped
Salt & Pepper to taste

1. TOFU - the best to buy is organic because it is more nutritious. Open the pack, drain the water and rinse. Slice tofu in half long ways. This will "thin" the tofu for easier pressing. Fold 4 or paper towels and place the 2 slices on the towels. Fold another 2 or 3 towels and place on top. Put a thick cookbook on top to gently press out water. This takes about 15 minutes or so.

2. Boil or steam (steaming is the preferred way because less nutrients are lost) gently just until soft.

3. Add oil to pan and heat over medium heat. Add onion and garlic to saute until it begins to soften. Add mushrooms, salt & pepper and cook until mushrooms begin to soften.

4. Mash tofu well then add plenty of parsley, the cheese and mix well. Add mushroom mixture and mix well. Then add spinich and mix that well. Pour into browned pie crust.

5. Bake at 375 for about half an hour or until pastry is browned.

Serve hot. Serves 4.

ENJOY!!

Grilled Portobello Mushroom Burger

Yes, it is a mushroom. But it was so good the only thing we kept saying while eating was "yummmm".... Serves 4 4 large portobello mushroom caps 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar 1/2 cup water 1 TBS sugar 1 garlic clove, minced 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, optional 2 TBS olive oil 4 whole-wheat buns, toasted Sliced tomatoes Slices of onion Lettuce leaves Clean mushrooms with a damp cloth and remove stems. Place in a glass dish, stem (gill) side up. To prepare the marinade: In a small bowl wisk together the vinegar, water, sugar, garlic, cayenne pepper and olive oil. Drizzle the marinade over the mushrooms. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for about 1 hour, turning mushrooms once. Prepare a hot fire in the grill (charcoal or gas - you can even use the oven broiler). Away from the heat source lightly coat the grill rack/broiler pan with cooking spray. Position the cooking rack 4 to 26 inches from the heat source. Grill/broil the mushrooms on medium heat, turning often, until tender, about 5 minutes on each side. Baste with marinade to keep from drying out. Using tongs, transfer the mushroom to a plate. Garnish as you wish on a bun and ENJOY!! I used just a dash of the cayenne pepper and Light Extra Virgin Olive Oil. If you saute mushrooms you will be able to tell when the portobellos are done. If not you want it soft, but not mushy. This is a dish we will now have all the time!!!

Pizza - a new recipe

I tried a new recipe for Pizza and all Karen says is "yum"... This is one I will make again! Here is what I did...... Super thin pizza crust (ready made from Publix) Homemade pizza sauce Brocolli Onion Black Olives Fresh tomatoes Gardine chicken (tofu) Mozzerella Butter I brushed the bottome of the pizza with a very thin layer of butter to help brown it. Spread a thin layer of pizza sauce. Added all the other ingredients and bakes for 12 minutes at 450. The curst was crispy and the taste was awesome! This is one we will have alot!!!

Food

I LOVE food. Almost any kind. Sushi...yuck. But with our new choice of meals I am really liking it. Healthier. That is the main purpose of this. Learning how to cook with stuff I have never used before is a challenge but rewarding. Monday starts a new option of eating raw foods twice a day for 2 weeks. It will be interesting but most of the same group that went Vegan for 28 days has joined into this next venture. Food. Did I mention I LOVE food. This will be interesting. hummmmmmm......I love new options and choices. We will see how this works out!

Sublime

For anyone that lives in South Florida I would suggest going to Sublime. It is a healthy option for eating. There are vegan items and vegetarian. All food is organic and fresh. The taste is absolutely awesome! It is a bit pricy but since we never go out to eat much it was really nice. We plan on going again. If you go make sure you get the calliflower appatizer....it is the bomb! I loved it so much I got the cookbook just to make it at home! mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm~~~~

Vegan Diet

Well today is the "official" end of our groups vegan diet. I really dont like using the word diet so I am going to call it lifestyle change. Karen and I are going to continue with this new way of eating because to be frank with you it is not that bad. We feel better. We really dont want to go back to our "old" ways but slapping butter on top of just about everything we eat. When we had steaks I would find the biggest one I could. Not now. I am learning how to cook with Tofu and learning a lot of wonderful dishes using different spices. We like our food spicy (not hot spicy, spicy for flavor) and I've adjusting recipies we like more to our taste. I use meatless crumbles for chili, tacos, nachos and spaghetti. I found a recipe in my Thursday Sun Sentinel called "Tofu veggie nuggets". They are actually really good! I put them in pasta for meatballs or they are good by themselves. I'm going to get with a friend to learn how to cook Tofu for stir fry and other meals. I haven't been successful with figuring it out on my own so I need a little help. All in all this past month has been very eye opening~! Most people think we're nuts but we like what we are doing and plan to stick with it. Who knows....maybe one day I'll have my own cooking show...LOL .... I WISH~~

Hamburger

Last night I cooked a Boca burger (it was mushroom flavored) and placed sauted mushrooms on top. The bun was whole wheat and toasted. It was good! This will be a def on the menu.

Taco Pizza

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.........used a ultra thin pizza crust, brished a tad of olive oil, salsa, boca crumbles cooked in taco seasoning, tofu mozzerela cheese, fresh tomato slices and sliced black olives. Cooked at 425 for about 12 minutes until crust was crisp. It was GREAT.

I know most people would think this is gross but it was really not that bad. We're eating healthier and as a "side effect" either loosing weight or inches. It is good.

Not saying we will never eat meat again but now we have some other options in our diet.....

YES~

Vegan Pizza

Pizza. We LOVE pizza. Thin crust, lots of veggies. I've done a whole wheat crust and a gluten free crust. Both were good. The first time I baked the pizza I didn't leave it in the oven long enough. The crust was too soft. Now I make sure the edges are crispie before I take it out of the oven. A bump in the road but I've learned a lot.

I take the ready made crust add some tomato sauce (thinly). Throw some soy mozzo cheese next, then mushrooms, brocolli, olives, onions, tomatoes and garlic. We love it. It's not grandma's but it's still good. I've got a few ideas about changing the recipe while keeping it vegan. I can throw fake meat on it, maybe make it a "taco" pizza and top it with soy sour cream. Yeah....that sounds good!

Vegan Diet

Yep, been on a vegan diet since March 1. It's been interesting. A lot of things I've made have been good. Some have not. But overall things are going well. Now I'll share some of the good and bad.

The good:

1. Pizza.
2. Tacos and Nachos
3. Spaghetti
4. Boca Burgers
5. Vegan (soy) Ice Cream

The bad:
1. Ratatoulle with Tofu

Overall we have had a LOT more good than bad. We're feeling better and are thinking about continuing this once March ends. It doesn't mean we can't or won't eat meat again but we will eat it a lot less of it. This has been a fun journey so far because we know we are eating healthier. That was the main purpose of doing it.