meatless mondays Archives - The Midnight Baker

Vegan Peanut Noodles: Meatless Monday

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 15 Sep 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Vegan Peanut Noodles

Delightful and filling dinner that is totally vegan! What a great way to celebrate Meatless Mondays!

This Meatless Monday entry is totally vegan! And guess what? It’s filling, satisfying and good for you too!

Udon noodles have a “chew” factor involved so you really feel you’ve eaten something substantial. Instead of creamy peanut butter, I used chunky…which I like better anyway.

You won’t feel you’re meat deprived with this one, promise!!! I ordered mine from Amazon since it works out way cheaper and I like to buy these in bulk. Use them a lot. They’re very convenient because they’re already cooked and have been improved so much because they separate much easier now than they did years ago.

Vegan Peanut Noodles

1 pkg (14.3 oz) Kame® Udon Noodles
1/2 cup sliced bok choi
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced grape tomatoes
2 tbs chopped red onion
10 snow peas
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbs oil for frying
Sauce:
2 tbs chunky peanut butter
1 tbs soy sauce
2 tsp rice vinegar
1/4 cup coconut milk
2-3 drops dark sesame oil
1/2 tsp Sriracha hot sauce

Mix all sauce ingredients. Sauce may be thinned with additional coconut milk, if desired.

Heat oil over high heat in a wok or large, deep skillet. Add bok choi, mushrooms, and garlic. Stir fry to 2 minutes.

Add the udon noodles and stir fry, separating gently ( a couple of tablespoons of water might help).

Add the sauce and blend well. Add the grape tomatoes, the snow peas and the red onion. Stir fry for one minute.

Serve immediately. Serves 2.

Vegan Peanut Noodles

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Quickie Kit Kat Bars: Meatless Mondays

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 11 Aug 2013 22:00:00 +0000

Quickie Kit Kat Bars

Here’s this week’s Meatless Monday entry–Quickie Kit Kat Bars. Yes, I know it’s candy…but it IS meatless, and it’s by a special fan request

This is an easy snack and I had small amounts of caramel sauce, graham crackers and chocolate chips and some coarse-grained white sea salt, so why not?

Ready in a jif

I had originally planned a peanut noodle bowl for this week, however, when my fans saw this and I said I’d probably post it Friday….well, that’s a LONG time, so I hold off the noodle bowl to NEXT week and publish these homemade candy bars. LOL!

Anyway, I did tell dessert and baking bloggers that as long as it was meatless (and this sure qualifies) it can be posted on my “roundup” here….

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Quickie Kit Kat Bars

These homemade Kit Kat bars are a delicious combination of graham crackers with sea salt, caramel and chocolate.

Prep Time5

Cook Time2

Total Time7

Course: desserts

Cuisine: American

Keyword: candy recipe, caramel, chocolate, graham crackers, kit kat bars

Servings: 10 -12

Calories: 200kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

8 sheets graham crackers
1/2 cup caramel sauce
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tbs butter
1 tbs coarse sea salt

Instructions

Line an 8 x 8-inch or 9 x 9-inch pan with aluminum foil.
Lay out a layer of graham crackers along the bottom. Fill in spaces with pieces of graham crackers so the bottom is totally covered.
Microwave caramel sauce on HI for 20 seconds, or until it's thinner pourable consistency. Pour over graham crackers, and spread in an even layer.
Top with the rest of the graham crackers, repeating as in the first layer, with all the spaces filled.
Microwave chocolate chips and butter on HI for 1 minute. Remove and stir until very smooth. Spread chocolate over top. Chill.
Top with coarse salt and cut into pieces of desired size

Nutrition

Quickie Kit Kat Bars

Quicke Kit Kat Bars

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Cheesy Cauliflower Casserole: Meatless Monday

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 04 Aug 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Cheesy Cauliflower Casserole

Here we go with our premier entry for Meatless Mondays! They’ll be coming back for more with this one, and will NEVER miss the meat.

With ever-increasing food prices, we are ALL trying to save whatever we can. One way of doing this is to eat meatless meals once or twice a week. Meat prices have become outrageous lately, and there’s no let up that I’ve seen.

Admittedly, my tastes have changed as I’ve gotten older. I’ve heard this from a couple of friends too. One friend told me she and her husband go meatless at least once a week. The reason is their tastes before budgetary reasons. They aren’t even toying with the idea of becoming vegetarians or vegans either. It’s just what they prefer. I find the same thing has happened with me.

Eliminating meat or fish doesn’t mean a dish can’t be satisfying and filling. Macaroni and Cheese is the absolute GRANDADDY of meatless meals, and that’s been satisfying families at mealtimes almost forever!

I’ve always loved cauliflower and any casserole it has been in. Mine has cheese, but not the usual cheese–I substituted the usual cheddar or Swiss with Asiago. However, you can take this recipe and substitute the cheese of your choice.

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Cheesy Cauliflower Casserole

This cauliflower casserole makes a great side dish OR a fantastic meatless main dish.

Prep Time20

Cook Time35

Total Time55

Course: side dishes

Cuisine: American

Keyword: casserole recipe, cauliflower casserole, meatless casserole recipes

Servings: 6 -8

Calories: 308kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower * 2 lbs fresh cauliflower
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2 tbsp chopped onion
4 tbsp butter divided
1/3 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 cups milk
1 cup shredded Asiago cheese divided
3-4 cups croutons plain
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Separate cauliflower into individual florets–try to keep them uniform in size, approximately 1-2 inches across at the head.
Place florets in a large pot, cover with water and add 1 tsp kosher salt. Bring to boil, cover and cook 5-10 minutes. I cooked mine for about 8 minutes till they were crisp/tender. Remember they will have additional cooking in the oven.
Spray an 11 x 7-inch casserole with non-stick spray. Place cauliflower in prepared baking dish, making an even layer across the bottom. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt 3 tbs butter. Add the peppers, onion and mushrooms to pan and saute until tender.
Add flour to pan with vegetables and blend well. Add the milk gradually, stirring constantly until well blended and there are no lumps. Add salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until sauce begins to thicken. Add 3/4 cup of the cheese to the sauce. Stir until cheese melts.
Pour cheese/vegetable sauce over cauliflower, distributing the sauce evenly over the cauliflower. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.
Melt the remaining 1 tbsp of butter.
Remove the casserole from the oven, uncover and distribute croutons evenly over the top. Drizzle with melted butter. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup of the cheese then sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top.
Return to oven and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and croutons are golden brown.
Serves 6-8 as a SIDE or 4-6 as a MAIN.

Notes

**Frozen cauliflower of equal measure may be substituted for fresh. Cook until crisp/tender, about 3 minutes**

Nutrition

Cheesy Cauliflower Casserole

The post Cheesy Cauliflower Casserole: Meatless Monday appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

Get Ready For Meatless Mondays!

Judith Hannemann — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 22:41:00 +0000

Starting this Monday, August 5th, each Monday’s post or at least one post, will be dedicated to a meatless meal.

Going meatless a couple of days a week has become a big trend. It’s also a great budget saver! Many many satisfying meals can be made without meat.

The recipes will be either vegetarian (those that eat dairy and eggs) or totally vegan. This will be a “linky party” where other blogs may participate, so each Monday post will have several recipes to choose from.

FOR ALL BLOGGERS –All bloggers are welcome to participate and leave your link and a thumbnail of the recipe on each Meatless Monday post. Just a reminder, that “NAME” is the name of the recipe. That one always confused me LOL, but if you make a mistake, you can delete your entry yourself and re-do it. Also, make sure to leave your “button” or “logo” and a link to the *homepage* of your blog on the “Participating Blogs” page. Just click on the “Participating Blogs” graphic in the sidebar to reach the page. And invite as many bloggers as you want to participate. Only rule is there can be no meat or meat stock, etc. in the dish. Desserts and sweets are just fine!!

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Scalloped Eggplant Strata

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 27 Jul 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Scalloped Eggplant Strata

Here’s something deliciously different to do with eggplant! A side dish that doubles as a vegetarian main.

This wonderful recipe came my way from good friend and fellow food blogger, Lillian R. from My Recipe Journey. Lillian has tried and tested so MANY recipes, it will make your head spin, and when she puts her stamp of approval on something, you are sure it not only works but tastes great as well!!!

She adapted this recipe from one she found on Group Recipes.com. Lillian made several changes to the original and also increased the recipe to serve her hungry family of four! Her adaptation appears here on her blog.

My adaptations sort of combines Lillian’s and Dugger’s (the original) versions. I think it would taste better preparing the eggplant Lillian’s way, but I chose to do the stovetop method from the original recipes since it was hot and I avoid using my oven for too long. I also found I needed Lillian’s amounts for the custard even though I had mostly 1/2 the amount of everything else.

I added tomatoes for more flavor and color, and instead of plain white bread, used day-old hoagie rolls–which I think would taste and look better.

In any case, you have 3 slightly different versions to choose from here….but you can always run with this and make your own version. That’s the beauty of recipes like this.

For more great family approved down-to-earth meals, make sure to visit Lillian at My Recipe Journey regularly!

Like the casserole dish? It’s my Revol Froisses pie dish in aubergine (which is French for “eggplant!”). Below is the flan dish (which is a tad shallower), but according to Revol, the pie dish will be available shortly.

Scalloped Eggplant Strata

1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut in 1/2-inch cubes
3 medium hoagie rolls, cut in 1-inch cubes
1/4 cup sliced cherry or grape tomatoes
1 tbs dehydrated onion
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs
2 tbs butter, melted
extra cheese for topping

Place eggplant in a large saucepan. Add water to cover and 1 tsp of salt. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In a small bowl, beat milk and eggs with the kosher salt, pepper, dehydrated onion and garlic powder. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray or grease a 1.5 quart oven-proof baking dish.

Casserole is assembled in layers which begin and end with the bread cubes. Proceed as follows~~

Place 1/3 of the bread cubes on the bottom of the baking dish. Top with half of the cubed eggplant then top this with half the cheese and half the sliced tomatoes. Repeat, making the final layer, which is the top, all bread cubes.

Drizzle melted butter over the top of the casserole. Pour in the egg/milk mixture. Top with additional cheese (maybe 1/4 cup or so).

Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-60 minutes or until set and topping is crusty and golden brown.

Serves 4 as a main dish and 8 as a side dish.

Scalloped Eggplant Strata

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Pâte Avec Champignons et Basilic

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 30 Jun 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Pasta with Basil & Mushrooms

Real fancy, huh? Well it’s only mushroom & basil pasta–but boy is it ever GOOD!!! And here’s to Meatless Mondays!

Figured the French would get everyone LOL. I was gonna make the title Italian, however, mushroom in Italian is “funghi” and that’s not too appetizing if you don’t speak Italian!!!!Anyway, I had some mushrooms I wanted to use before they went bad and/or I forgot about them. I also have a literal TON of basil I’m growing…from plants and seed so I have a constant supply…plus a huge hunk of Asiago I bought in Sam’s Club a while ago.

The result was this. You will never miss meat, I promise you. And it can be made totally vegan if you leave out the butter and the cheese (the cheese is optional anyway, I just like cheese!). I put a small amount of butter in for flavor, but using all olive oil–a good EVOO–you won’t lack for taste either, so the butter won’t be missed.

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Pâte Avec Champignons et Basilic

Real fancy, huh? Well it’s only mushroom & basil pasta–but boy is it ever GOOD!!! And here’s to Meatless Mondays!

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: pasta, skillet dinners, vegetarian dishes

Cuisine: French

Keyword: meatless casserole recipes, meatless pasta dinnners

Servings: 2

Calories: 793kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

8 oz spaghetti cooked to package directions
2 cups quartered mushrooms
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic large ones, minced
2 tbsp fresh basil chiffonade (shredded)
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1-2 oz Asiago thickly shredded
salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Cook spaghetti as per package directions. Drain and set aside.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and the olive oil. When butter is melted and begins to bubble, add the garlic and the mushrooms. Saute, stirring frequently, until mushrooms begin to sear. Remove from heat.
Add cooked pasta and basil to the skillet and toss to coat with the olive oil butter mixture and the mushrooms.
Top with Asiago cheese. Serve immediately.

Nutrition

Pasta with Mushrooms & Basil

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