Meatless Mondays » Living Lou

Roasted Red Pepper Dressing

I go through phases, you could even say obsessions with certain things. Sometimes it’s a movie, or a song, maybe it’s a band or a photographer, perhaps an ingredient or a food is grabbing my attention, but there’s always something. For instance, I’ve had a long time love affair with the films of Wes Anderson and roasted red peppers. Recently, I’ve become obsessed with The Devil Wears Prada.

I caught it on TV the other night, and let’s just say that I watched it at 9:30 and then again at 12. Yep. Officially obsessed, and I want to watch it again tonight. I feel like my film teachers would shake their heads in disgust if I said that I was obsessed with this movie. And my fellow classmates, I don’t even want to know what they would think. I don’t care though because I love it. The best part is that a couple of months ago I was lucky enough to attend a Q&A session with director David Frankel, and perhaps hearing him talk about the process of making The Devil Wears Prada (among his many other films) just made me fall even more in love with the film. Whatever the reason, I’m obsessed. You can’t deny that Meryl’s delivery of Miranda Priestly is just perfect, how she remembers all those lines and delivers them so quickly and with such a frosty demeanor. Love Meryl. Have I mentioned that before?

This salad dressing is packed with flavor. The roasted red pepper adds a nice sweetness and makes the dressing creamy without adding any sour cream or yogurt. I feel like Miranda Priestly would approve of this salad dressing, at least I hope she would!

Roasted Red Pepper Dressing (makes 2/3 cup)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

1 roasted red pepper
1/2 clove garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp basil

Directions

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until combined.

Now that is a delicious salad dressing that is perfect for Meatless Mondays.

Do you think Miranda Priestly would approve?

- Lou

Lentil Soup

Well hello there 2012! I feel like many people will agree with me in saying that there’s something special about the beginning of a new year. It’s like a fresh start, a blank slate of sorts. It’s a new year and we can become whoever we want to be. Let’s all take 2012 into our own hands and really live; let’s make it count.

People all over the blogging world have been coming up with goals, words and resolutions for the new year. If you read my blogs over at The Kit you know how much I believe in goal setting, so of course I have goals. Currently I have a list of 16 goals, but I’m adding to it each day. Some goals are big, like exclusively posting recipes I’ve created on the blog and some are smaller, like drinking green tea every day. Of course, along with thousands of other people, one of my goals for 2012 is to eat healthily and exercise regularly. Within this health goal is the idea of eating more vegetarian and vegan meals, which is something I have wanted to do ever since watching Forks over Knives back in June.

This Lentil Soup recipe is a flavorful, healthy and comforting soup. It’s vegan, but loaded with protein and fibre from the lentils. I think it’s the cumin and coriander which really make this soup, but it’s also the velvety texture from the olive oil and the slight crunch of the lentils that make this a well balanced meal. It’s definitely a winning and simple soup recipe.

Lentil Soup (serves 6)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups lentils
3 cups water
1/4 cup olive oil + 2 tbsp for sauteing vegetables
3 carrots, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 bay leaves
8 cups vegetable broth (or water)
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups olive oil
1 tsp red chili flakes (optional)
2 tsp lemon juice (fresh lemon)
1/2 tsp wine vinegar
Pinch salt and pepper

Directions

Cover the lentils with 3 cups of water and soak for 1/2 an hour. After soaked, drain and rinse the lentils.

In a large soup pot, heat 1/2 cup of the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped vegetables and sauté for 3 minutes.

Add the cumin, coriander, and garlic to the pot and sauté for another 2 minutes, (add more oil if needed).

Next, add the lentils, water, and bay leaves to the pot. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes.

After 25 minutes, pour in the crushed tomatoes, remaining olive oil, red pepper flakes (optional), and the lemon juice to the pot. Cover and simmer for another 25 minutes.

Add vinegar and a pinch of salt and pepper to the soup, stir and serve.

Happy Meatless Monday everyone.

- Lou

[I've entered this recipe in the Lentils Recipe Revelations Contest, check out their Facebook page and vote for me!]

Herbed Pasta with Garlic and Walnuts

I’m usually more of a saucy and cheesy pasta kind of girl. You know, that pasta, the quintessential pasta, the one where the pasta sauce that is simmered for hours before being mixed with pasta, then its thrown in a casserole and covered with cheese and baked in the oven until it’s all melted and bubbly. That’s usually the type of pasta I go for, and this dish, well surprise folks, it’s not that. So, why am I sharing it you ask?

Because it’s pretty much perfect, it’s delicious, and flavorful and best of all EASY. It’s ready in the amount of time it takes to cook pasta, about 8-10 minutes.

You say that it’s not as comforting? I say that it’s pretty comforting knowing that it’s not going straight to my hips, or my thighs, or both. Don’t knock in ’til you try it folks, coming from someone who loves her pasta sauce (ahem, my favourite sauce is a loaded and flavorful bolognese sauce.) this is now one of my favourite pasta dishes. Seriously guys, it’s the best.

Herbed Pasta with Garlic and Walnuts (serves 1-2)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp hot chili flakes
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 walnuts
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
190 grams/7ish oz of whole wheat linguine
lots of freshly cracked pepper and Parmesan cheese (omit cheese for vegan)

Directions

In a pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta according to directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of cooking water.

In a frying pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute garlic and chili flakes until fragrants, 2-3 minutes. Add the parsley and walnuts, stirring to cook. The parsley should wilt and the walnuts will become golden and toasted.

Drain cooked pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of cooking water. Add pasta and reserved water to pan, stirring to coat. At the last minute, add the basil. Serve.

Enjoy this simple pasta dish, packed with flavour and ready in 10 minutes!

-Lou

Mexican Rice

One of my favourite things about being a food blogger are all of the opportunities we have to be creative. As a food blogger, I have the opportunity to create, create and create. Whether it’s through creating a new recipe, or adapting one to suit my tastes, writing posts or staging and photographing my dish in the perfect light with the perfect exposure, running a food blog is a highly creative process. I think that running any blog for that matter is extremely creative.

I was lucky this month when I was assigned Making Memories… as my blog for The Secret Recipe Club. First of all, I have to point out that her URL is “makingmemorieswithyourkids”, um hello fun mom! I have to say, after falling head over heels with her url, looking through Erin’s blog gives every creative person exactly what they crave – inspiration. Her creative ideas and activities she does with her two adorable children just make me smile. Especially in a time when lots of kids are spending so much time on computers, TVs and video games, it’s nice to see someone who is inspiring and shaping their creative minds. And of course, there are recipes – we cannot forget the recipes! So many recipes for yummy treats and sweets. Cinnamon Roll Pancakes anyone?

I love Mexican food so when I stumbled upon her recipe for Taco Rice and Beans, I decided to put my creative mind to use and put a bit of a Living Lou spin on Erin’s delicious sounding recipe. I knew that our posting date was a Monday so I Meatless Monday-fied this recipe, it’s now a hearty and filling vegetarian meal.

Mexican Rice
Adapted from: Making Memories…

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 green pepper, diced
2 tbsp taco seasoning
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp Sriracha (Hot chili sauce) or any favourite hot sauce such as Franks
1 cup uncooked rice
2 cups water
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1 bayleaf
1/2 19oz can black beans

Directions

In a pan, heat olive oil and saute onion for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or until fragrant. Add in the diced green peppers, taco seasoning and cumin and cook for another 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk together the tomato paste with the sriracha or hot sauce.

Once green peppers have started to soften, stir in the tomato paste/sriracha or hot sauce mixture into the pan. Add the rice and stir to coat. Add in 2 cups of water and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 18 minutes or until rice is cooked and no liquid remains.

Once rice is cooked, remove bayleaf and stir in cheese and black beans.

I hope you enjoy my take on Erin’s Taco Rice, what’s everyone else having for Meatless Monday?

- Lou

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers are probably one of my favourite things to eat. They are so flavorful and the peppers gets so sweet and tender – they’re perfect. They also make the ideal vegetarian meal for Meatless Monday. You can stuff peppers in a variety of ways with all sorts of different flavors, you can stuff them with meat such as ground beef or ground turkey, or you can stuff them with vegetables and different types of rice such as arborio rice or brown rice.

I remember when I was little, my Mom would always order stuffed tomatoes or stuffed peppers at little tavernas while we were vacationing over the summer in Greece. The smells and the colours were beautiful and I would always ask to try a little bit. It’s interesting how a first experience with a type of food can really shape the way we feel about it. When I think of Stuffed Peppers I think of little tavernas on the beach and the stray cats that would tickle my legs under the table as I was eating the delicious food and taking in all the sights, sounds and smells.

These stuffed peppers I’m sharing today seem to be more Mexican inspired than Greek inspired, but soon enough I’ll be sharing a recipe for Greek Stuffed Peppers.

Stuffed Peppers (serves 4)
Recipe Source: The Fresh Fridge

Ingredients

4 bell peppers
1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 19 oz can Black Beans, drained and rinse
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup salsa
1/4 cup hot sauce
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Wash bell peppers and cut off the tops, removing the membrane and seeds.

For the filling, in a large bowl, mix all remaining ingredients together. Spoon the filling into the bell peppers and place on a baking dish. Put the tops of the peppers back on and cook for 30-35 minutes or until filling is cooked and rice is soft.

I hope you enjoy these stuffed pepper as much as my whole family did! Have a great Meatless Monday everyone.

- Lou