Meganr’s Cucumber Salad

The BEST kind of cucumbers for this recipe are Armenian.  The next best are those long English style hot house cucumbers. The worst are the squishy regular ones and in fact don't bother if that's all you have. Get a great cucumber and make a great salad!

English Hot House Cucumber

Meganr’s Cucumber Salad

nutrition facts

Ingredients:

4 big cucumbers

½ Sweet Onion (such as Vidalia or Walla Walla)

1 red bell pepper

2 T rice vinegar

1 t thyme

Optional: red pepper flakes to taste

Directions:

Peel and thinly slice rounds of cucumber.  You can cut them in half if you want so you have smaller half-moon pieces. 

Thinly slice the onion - as thin as you can get it.

Thinly slice the red bell pepper into rounds and then cut the rounds in half.

Place the veggies in a bowl and add the rice vinegar – Meganr does not measure this. She just adds 3-4 hearty splashes.

Add the thyme OR if you prefer some perkiness, red pepper flakes. 

Toss gently and serve.

Meganr’s Guinness Cake

It’s fine to enjoy a special high calorie treat every now and then. The great thing is to know the calories and serve a measured amount. Most 8 inch cakes serve 8, so with calorie counters in mind, I've set the nutrition facts for 10 servings. If you make the icing in the photo, you will need to adjust your calories way up! The nutrition facts for this awesome cake were made at Calorie Count!

With icing instead of confectioners sugar

 Meganr’s Guinness Cake

Ingredients:

¾ cup Guinness (or other stout)

10 tablespoons butter (1 stick plus 2 tbsp)

½ cup cocoa powder

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/3 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 large whole egg plus 1 yolk

2/3 cup sour cream

confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Butter 8 inch round cake pan.  Line with parchment or wax paper, then butter paper.

Bring stout and 10 T butter to a simmer in heavy saucepan over medium heat.  Add cocoa; whisk until smooth.  Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar baking soda and salt in large bowl and mix well; set aside.

Beat egg, yolk and sour cream with electric mixer in another large bowl. 

Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture, and beat to combine.

Add flour mixture and beat 30 seconds on slowest speed. 

Fold batter using rubber spatula until completely combined; pour into prepared pan.

Bake about 50 to 55 minutes or until tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean.  Leave the cake in the pan, but place it on a rack to cool 10 minutes.  Run small sharp knife around edge of cake to loosen and turn cake out onto rack; cool completely.

Sift confectioners’ sugar over top, transfer to platter and serve.

Meganr's Black Bean Chili with Tempeh and Dark Ale

Meganr created this using a 2009 Vegetarian Times recipe as a starter. The nutrition facts for this outstanding chili were made at Calorie Count!

Black Bean Chili with Dark Ale

Ingredients:

(Makes 4 servings)

2 tbsp olive oil

2 chipotle chilis in adobo sauce

2 tbsp cumin

1 1/2 cups onion, chopped fine

1 medium red bell pepper, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups black beans, cooked or from can

1 1/2 pints dark ale

1 1/2 cups tomatoes, chopped

1 cup corn

4 ounces tempeh, diced

Directions:

Heat oil in 3-qt pot over medium heat.

Add chipotles and cumin. Cook 1 minutes, or until fragrant.

Stir in onion, bell pepper, and garlic and sauté 5 to 7 minutes, or until vegetables are soft.

Stir in beans, beer, tomatoes and corn and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered 45 minutes or until thick.

Serve

Meganr’s Yellow Squash and Tomato Chutney Frittata

Frittata recipes are a little loosy goosy. Mix and match seasonings based on your preference for that day. Meganr says the cast-iron skillet is necessary for a perfect frittata and an investment that is worth every penny. The nutrition facts were made at Calorie Count.

Meganr’s Yellow Squash and Tomato Chutney Frittata

four servings

Ingredients:

6  eggs (at room temperature)

¼ cup  water
½ cup tomato chutney

½ tsp oregano, dried

½ tsp basil, dried

½ tsp thyme

Pepper to taste

3 garlic cloves, minced

6 tbsp Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp olive oil 

2 cups yellow squash, diced

½ cup onions, minced (or 2 green onions)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 500 F.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the eggs, chutney, water, herbs, and garlic. Add the Parmesan and mix well.

In a large cast-iron skillet, sauté the yellow squash and onions in the olive oil for 3 - 5 minutes, or until tender.

Before adding the egg mixture to the pan, make sure the sauté mixture is evenly spread across the bottom of the skillet. Then add the egg mixture, but do NOT mix or scramble, and cook for about 6 - 9 minutes or until the edges of the frittata are starting to separate from the sides of the pan.

Then place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for another 5 minutes or so, until the center of the frittata is fully cooked. Remove from the oven, let set a few minutes, slice and serve.

Meganr’s Italian Chickpea Soup

The nutrition facts for this simple and delicious soup can be found at Calorie Count!

Italian Chickpea Soup

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

4 cups vegetable broth

3 cloves garlic

1 bay leaf

1 tsp dried thyme

½ tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp cayenne

3 cups garbanzo beans

1 large sweet potato, diced small

1 stalk celery

1 tbsp mustard

1/2 cup parsley, chopped

Black pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat oil in a heavy stockpot and sauté the onion for 5 minutes.

Add broth, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, oregano, cayenne and bring to a boil in the stockpot over medium heat. Simmer 5 minutes.

Add chickpeas, sweet potatoes, celery and mustard and simmer 20 minutes more or until vegetables are very soft.

Mash vegetables and chickpeas to a chunky puree with potato masher or spoon. (Chickpeas will remain mostly whole.)

Stir in parsley, and season with pepper.

Megnar's Black Bean Casserole

The nutrition facts for this delicious vegetarian casserole can be found at Calorie Count!

Black Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

6  corn tortillas

1 ½ cups  black beans

10  tomatillos

3  zucchinis, chopped

3  tomatoes, chopped

2 cup  onion, chopped

3 cloves  garlic, minced

1 tbsp  olive oil

1 cup  red bell pepper, chopped

¼  cup nutritional yeast

3 tsp  Mexican seasoning

Directions:

Peel off the tomatillo skins.

Fill a large sauce pan with water and set to boil. When boiling drop in the peeled tomatillos and cook for 5 - 7 minutes until they start to soften. Drain the tomatillos.

Add the tomatillos, 1 garlic clove and 1/2 cup of the chopped onion into a blender and liquefy.

Chop all the remaining vegetables. Heat up the oil and sauté the onion and red bell pepper 5 minutes. Add the zucchinis and sauté till just tender. Add the black beans (drain and rinse if they are canned), chopped tomatoes and the nutritional yeast and sauté another few minutes.

Put about 1/4 of the tomatillo sauce into the bottom of a lightly greased baking dish. Layer half of the corn tortillas on top of the sauce. Put in the sautéed veggies. Layer the rest of the corn tortillas and the remainder of the sauce.

Stick in 425 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until hot.

Meganr's Breakfast Thingies

These delicious grab and go breakfast treats are made with peanut flour.  Peanut flour is actually just defatted peanuts that are ground into something resembling flour.  It is very high protein and there are a few different types.  I get the 12% light version, which has 12 gram of protein for 100 calories and does not have much of a peanutty taste, which supposedly the dark version does.  The web site would have you think that this stuff can be mixed with water and then eaten like peanut butter - don't believe it, it's disgusting that way.  But it's super good in these baked numbers.

The nutrition facts can be found at Calorie Count. 

Breakfast Thingies 

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Waffle Mix (Bob's Red Mill 10-Grain Pancake and Waffle Mix)

1 cup 12% light peanut flour

1 large sliced peach (this time of year, it's thawed frozen peaches, a half bag)

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

3/4 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

4 eggs

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F

Put peaches in a food processer until well mashed up and liquefy.

Add everything else into the food processor and mix well.

Pour into individual baking dishes and put into oven. The baking dishes that Meangr uses are bigger than muffin tins. They hold about 2 cups of product, but should only be 2/3 filled before baking.

Bake for 24 -27 minutes until center is done, not jiggly or soft.

Since I warm these into the microwave before I eat them in the morning, I'm probably underbaking a bit, and the microwave finishes them up.  You'll want to adjust for your desired moistness. So test with a toothpick or use any of your favorite techniques to tell when your baked bready product is done.

More notes on peanut flour:

I also will put 1/4 cup or so into chilis and stews sometimes;  I did that last night with my sweet potato chili and it was ever so good.

More notes on the use of peaches:

Also, I use peaches for the "sweetener".  I've tried a bunch of different things, but these seems to mush up really well.  Berries taste good, but the seeds I found a little annoying.  Probably applesauce would work too, but I haven't tried it.

Meganr's Vegetarian Sloppy Joe with Tempeh

A delicious twist on a sandwich usually associated with meat. So easy to make you can do this on a work night! The nutrition facts are at Calorie Count.

Vegetarian Sloppy Joe with Tempeh

Ingredients:

(Makes 2 servings)

1 tbsp olive oil

½ cup onions, chopped

½ cup red bell pepper, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup mushrooms, chopped

2 zucchinis, chopped

½ cup catsup

2/3 cup water

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp mustard

1 tsp celery seeds

½ tsp chili powder

4 ounces tempeh, chopped

Directions:

Heat olive oil in medium saucepan. Saute onion, bell pepper until tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Add garlic, saute 1 minute.

Stir in mushrooms, zucchini, catsup, water, brown sugar, mustard, celery seeds and chili powder. Heat to bubbling.

Stir in tempeh, reduce heat and simmer, covered, 10 minutes.

Spoon mixture onto your choice of bread or buns.

Meganr's Beet Salad with Pomegranate Seeds

Roasted beets are nutritious, the latest foodie craze, and delightful in this salad from Meganr. The nutrition facts can be found at Calorie Count!

Beet Salad with Pomegranate Seeds

Serves four

Ingredients:

7  beets

¼ cup  pistachios, roughly chopped

½ cup  red onion, thinly sliced

¼ cup  red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon  grated orange peel

1 cup anils (pomegranate seeds)

 2 ounces  feta cheese

Directions:

Using your preferred method, cook the beets. You can either steam or roast them until fork tender. Let the beets cool, then peel and dice into 1/2 inch cubes.

Saute the onion on medium heat for 3 minutes, then add the vinegar and orange peel. Stirring often, let simmer until liquid is reduced to 2 tablespoons, 5 to 7 minutes. Let the mixture cool to room temperature before adding to the beets. You can prepare this a day ahead of time, chilling in the refrigerator until ready.

Stir the vinegar reduction into the beets and add the pomegranate seeds and pistachios. You can serve as is or serve on top of salad greens. Lightly sprinkle with the feta cheese before serving.

Meganr's Frittata with Broccoli and Mushrooms

The nutrition facts for this wonderful frittata that can be served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner can be found at Calorie Count!

Frittata with Broccoli and Mushrooms

four servings

Ingredients:

6  eggs (at room temperature)

¼ cup  water

¼ cup  mustard (a spicy brown type or Dijon)

½ tsp  oregano, dried

½ tsp  basil, dried

3  garlic cloves, minced

6 tbsp  Parmesan cheese

½ cup  tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil

2 cups  broccoli, cut into small pieces

¾ cup  mushrooms, sliced

½ cup  onions, minced (or 2 green onions)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 500 F.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the eggs, water, mustard, herbs and garlic. Add the Parmesan and tomatoes and mix well.

In a large oven proof skillet (cast-iron is great), saute the broccoli and onions in the olive oil for 3 - 5 minutes, until mostly tender. Add the mushrooms and saute for another 3 minutes.

Before adding the egg mixture to the pan, make sure the saute mixture is evenly spread out. Then add the egg mixture, but do NOT mix or scramble, and cook for about 6 - 9 minutes or until the edges of the frittata are starting to separate from the sides of the pan.

At that point, put the pan directly into the oven and bake for another 5 minutes or so, until the center of the frittata is fully cooked. Remove from the oven.

Cut into four wedges.

Meganr's Tart Apple and Celery Salad with Walnuts

The nutrition facts for this refreshing salad can be found at Calorie Count!

Tart Apple and Celery Salad with Walnuts

Serves four

Ingredients:

1 large  tart apple, peeled and thinly sliced (Granny Smith variety is great with this)

3 stalks  celery, very thinly sliced

1/3 cup  walnuts, roughly chopped

1 tbsp  champagne vinegar

2 tbsp  lemon juice, about 1 lemon

1 ½ tbsp  mustard, Dijon style

1 tsp  honey

1 tbsp  extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp  freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Make sure to keep the celery leaves as you begin to prepare the celery, as they are added to the salad. Slice the celery in half lengthwise, and then very thinly slice into half moons.

Peel the apple, cut into eights and then create very thin slices.

Roughly chop the walnuts.

Chop the celery leaves and mix the celery and apple in a bowl. If you are preparing the salad ahead of time, put the celery and apple into a cold water bath and refrigerate until a few minutes before serving time, at which point you can drain the water, pat the celery and apple mostly dry, then add the vinaigrette and the walnuts.

In a separate small mixing bowl or cruet, combine the vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, honey, olive oil and pepper and mix well.

When ready to serve, add the vinaigrette and walnuts to the celery and apples and toss well.

Meganr's Chickpeas with Tempeh and Zucchini

The nutrition facts for Meganr's delicious vegetarian dish are at Calorie Count!

Chickpeas with Tempeh and Zucchini 

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil, divided use

4 oz tempeh

3 T lemon juice

1 T lemon zest

1 C onion, minced

1 ½ C chickpeas, cooked

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 zucchinis, chopped

1 C fresh spinach, chopped

Directions:

Cut up the tempeh into one inch slices and put into a bowl. Add the lemon juice and zest. Marinate for at least ½ hour.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add 1 T oil, chickpeas, and onions and stir until the chickpeas are golden and crusty. This will take about 10 minutes. When the chickpeas just start to get crusty, add the garlic and continue to sauté and stir for about a minute. Bits of the garlic will start to stick to the pan – this is a good thing! Make sure to scrape up the crusty bits and keep it in the sauté.

Remove the chickpea mix from the pan to a covered bowl, then heat the remaining oil in the pan and sauté the zucchini for three minutes. Add the chickpea mix back to the pan and stir in the tempeh. Cook until the tempeh is heated through – about two minutes.

Stir in the spinach and cook for one minute.

Put the mix into a serving bowl.

Notes:

Meganr sometimes adds red chili flakes for a bit of bite and chopped almonds for extra crunch.

Meganr's Orzo with Grilled Asparagus and Feta

This quick and easy vegetarian dish will soon become one of your standard meals. Try it tonight!

The nutrition facts for this delicious meal can be found at Calorie Count! 

Orzo with Grilled Asparagus and Feta 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

3 cups asparagus, washed and well drained with woody ends trimmed and cut into 1 ½ inch lengths

6 oz feta cheese

2 T olive oil

1 T mustard, preferably spicy brown

6 cloves garlic

2 T lemon juice, freshly squeezed

2 t lemon zest

5 cups orzo pasta equivalent to one 12 oz package

Directions:

Prepare the grill for the asparagus.

Start water for the orzo so that it comes to a boil when the grill is ready.

Make the marinade for the asparagus by putting the lemon zest and garlic in a mini-blender and chop until fine. Add mustard and lemon juice and blend again. Add the olive oil and blend well. Add the marinade to the asparagus in a zip lock bag or tightly covered bowl making sure all pieces are well coated and set aside.

Add orzo to the boiling water and set the timer so you can test for al dente-ness.

Put the asparagus on the grill, turn and stir so it doesn’t burn. Depending upon how fast your grill cooks, it should be done shortly before the orzo is done. Take the asparagus off the grill and cover to keep warm.

When the orzo is al dente, drain well. Place orzo in a big bowl, add the feta, asparagus, and mix it all up.

Meganr's White Bean Dip

Dip your veggies into something a little different and give Meganr's White Bean Dip a try. It has a nice lemony tang and the heat can be adjusted to your preference by adding more or less cayenne.

The nutrition facts for this simple and delicious dip can be found at Calorie Count! 

White Bean Dip

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup cooked white beans (canned or prepared from dry beans)
1 T tomato paste
4 cloves garlic
1 T olive oil
1 lemon - juiced
1/4 t cayenne 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Peel the garlic and place the whole cloves in a piece of tin foil. Roast the garlic for around 20 - 25 minutes or until soft.

Once the garlic has roasted, put everything into a food processor and smush it up until smooth.

Meganr's Lentils with Red Bell Pepper and Feta

Decided to join our good friends at Olways for a delicious Meatless Monday! Give this satisfying and quick to prepare recipe a try - it's perfect after a hard day at work - and each of the four delicious servings has only 281 calories!

The nutrition facts can be found at Calorie Count!

Lentils with Red Bell Pepper and Feta

Ingredients:

1 C raw lentils, brown or green – (do not use red or black lentils)

1 red bell pepper, diced

½ C onion, red, minced

4 ounces feta cheese, roughly chopped into chunks

4 T balsamic vinegar

2 T lemon juice

1 T mustard

3 cloves garlic

Directions:

Cook the lentils in boiling water until just tender, about 15-20 minutes. Test to make sure they do not get mushy.

Finely dice the red bell pepper and onion and place in a medium to large bowl.

Finely mince the garlic or put through a press. Prepare a vinaigrette with the lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, mustard, and garlic and mix well.

When the lentils are tender, drain them well. Add them to the prepared veggies with half the vinaigrette and mix. Allow the lentils to cool for about five minutes. Add the rest of the vinaigrette and feta cheese.

If you can do the extra calories, add a splash of extra virgin olive oil to the vinaigrette. Olive oil has 40 per teaspoon so adding a tablespoon to the vinaigrette only adds 30 calories per serving.