Since my husband and I have been on our quest to consume fewer animal products, my slow cooker has had a little vacation. I was used to making meat-based roasts, stews and curries and it took a little while to find my way into veggie territory. I was determined, though, because you can’t beat the convenience of the slow cooker. I expected to find beans, beans, and nothing but beans! And while slow-cooked beans are indeed delightful, it turns out there is a whole world of delicious vegetarian and vegan slow cooking to play with, and it’s not brown and mushy as one might fear, but colorful and intensely flavored. This tortilla soup will make your whole home smell so smoky, spicy and delicious that you will hardly be able to wait to eat it. Get some really nice multi-grain tortilla chips to serve with it. My husband and I aren’t really vegan, so we had regular low-fat sour cream as a topping, but if you’re keeping it animal-free, just use vegan sour cream or skip it. Continue reading
dinner
baked teriyaki fish with pickled vegetables
In my prior teriyaki adventures, which involved sauteeing, there always seemed to be a lot of splattering. Here, instead of using your stovetop, you bake the fish right in its marinade, which becomes a delightfully sticky teriyaki sauce. Problem solved! The lightly pickled vegetables make a lovely crunchy, sweet and salty accompaniment. Serve over steamed rice for a healthy Asian-inspired comfort food meal. Continue reading
low carb shirataki noodle coconut curry soup
Here’s a zingy, bright low-carb coconut curry noodle soup for a grey and cold winter day (we’ve been having a lot of those lately in New York!). Shirataki noodles are something of a miracle, aren’t they? Somehow they have no carbs and very few calories. You can find them in the refrigerated section of your supermarket – usually they are by the egg roll wrappers and tofu. I find they lend themselves very well to Asian-inspired dishes, but I’d avoid trying them with Italian – they have a slight oceanic tang. I’ve used tofu for protein in this version, but you could use anything you like – shrimp, chicken, thinly sliced beef, or fish. Just make sure it is already cooked. Continue reading
asian pear, cashew, and tofu stir-fry
Asian pears are beautiful this time of year, and add an unexpected sweet-crisp accent to this hearty vegetarian stir-fry. And I’m always looking for new ways to enjoy tofu, since it’s such a blank canvas and it’s fun to try different methods for it. You won’t be disappointed – the stir frying crisps it up so deliciously! Continue reading
spinach lemon pasta with toasted almonds
Want a super easy way to get your greens and whole grains in? This spinach-lemon pasta comes together so quickly, yet is an elegant way to enjoy healthy spinach, almonds, and whole wheat pasta. I really like the Barilla Plus pasta, which not only includes whole grains, but also 17g of protein per serving. And it’s delicious! I have made this vegetarian recipe for years and it even makes my carnivorous mother happy. Continue reading
easy, healthy baked fish with crunchy crumbs
Ah, the New Year. Don’t we all wish for something lighter to eat after all that holiday indulgence? How about lovely flaky white fish fillets topped with crunchy crumbs with a slight hint of garlic and lime? This dish is never heavy like a fried fish dish might be. It’s a favorite adapted from Cooking Light (here’s the original recipe), which I’ve lightened it up even further by leaving off the melted butter and simply spraying the breadcrumbs with cooking spray to get them to crisp up. I highly recommend Japanese panko crumbs for this – they’re sort of pre-crunchy already – but you can use any breadcrumbs you like. Also, this is seriously easy. Five minutes of prep, and 20 minutes later you are enjoying the crispy crunchiness!