Chickpea Salad:

This Is A Mock-Free Zone

My wife was looking for a new recipe to try a few weeks back. She told me she missed tuna salad sandwiches so she did a search for "vegetarian tuna salad". After a little looking around online, she came up with a few recipes for "mock" tuna salad using chickpeas. Most of the recipes she found are very similar to tuna salad recipes. So, at first, we just made them the way we did in the past. Only now, we used chickpeas instead of tuna. It wasn't quite right at first and need just a little tweaking to get the flavor profile and the texture right but eventually we nailed it.   

I'll admit, I was pretty skeptical about this one at first but the more I imagined it my mind, the more it seemed to make sense. So I figured I'd give it a shot. She made me a sandwich and I'll be darned if it wasn't pretty tasty. It's easy to make, it goes together quickly, and it's somewhat versatile. You can eat it all on it's own. Or maybe on a bed of crisp lettuce and topped with some diced tomatoes. You can put a spoonful on a cracker or on a crostini. You can fill a pita pocket with it along with some sprouts, a few tomato slices and few cucumber slices or you can put it between two slices of bread. You could even make a "melt" with it. More about that later.

Although this recipe was found originally by searching for "vegetarian tuna sandwich". It's really not that at all. It's a proper chickpea salad. And it should be regarded as such. So no "mock" salad here. This is chickpea territory. 

Tip: To make the melt, heat a skillet over a medium heat. Butter two slices of bread on one side only. Place a slice of cheese (I recommend provolone) on one side of the bread making sure the butter side is down so it's the side touching the skillet when you cook it. Then spread a layer of the chickpea salad on top on the cheese. If you like a lot of cheese, put another layer of cheese over the chickpea layer then top with the other slice of buttered bread, again butter side out. Place in the skillet and let it cook until the bottom slice is golden and the cheese begins to melt, about 3 minutes. Then flip the sandwich over and allow the other side to get golden and to allow the cheese to fully melt. 

Chickpea Salad

Ingredients: 

• 1 15 oz can of chickpeas, drained
• 3 Tbsp celery, chopped fine
• 2 scallions, chopped fine
• 2 tsp capers minced + 1 tsp of the caper brine
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp vegetarian Worcestershire sauce (in a pinch, use soy sauce - but use the Worcestershire if possible)
• black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup mayonnaise, depending on your preference

For Sandwiches:

• 6 slice bread
• leaves of crispy lettuce (I prefer romaine or iceberg lettuce)
• tomato slices

Preparation:

1. Place the chickpeas into a food processor. Using the metal blade, pulse until the chickpeas are finely chopped but not pureed. It's up to you how chunky you want your salad. I like the chickpeas to be similar in size to rice.   
  

2. Remove the chopped chickpeas to a medium bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix with a spoon until fully incorporated. 

3. You take this recipe from here. Make sandwiches, make a melt, do with it what you will.  

Serves: 3 (if making sandwiches)

  

Vegetarian Chili:

You Don't Need Meat To Have A Good Time (That's What She Said)

I'm sorry about that title.

Chili is one of those American staples that seems to make it's way into every nook and cranny of this country. I counted the recipes online and there are 86.3 trillion of them, all different. FYI: I'm just kidding, I didn't really do that. Let's say there's a butt-load of them.

Growing up, I always loved chili day. I especially loved chili day with cornbread. I think it's the sweetness of the cornbread in contrast to the heat of the chili that appeals to my culinary sense of satiety. As an adult, I have made chili an uncountable amount of times. Every time I made it, it was pretty similar to last time I made it yet it was always completely different, if that makes sense. It's one of those dishes that I never really sat down and hammered out a recipe. Then, when I went veg, I just quit making it. Not for any reason other than the fact that I was making so many other things, it never popped onto my "must-make" list until just recently. 

Now that it's made the list, there is an elephant in the room when it comes to vegetarian chili that must be dealt with. Shall we talk about it? Majority vote (me) says yes. I don't quite understand where it was written that once you remove the meat, you had to add corn, zucchini, five different types of beans including garbanzos, etc, etc,   etc. Where in the hell did that translation come from?

To me, chili is going to be simple. Primarily beans, meat, or a combo of the two. Simple. All that extra stuff simply isn't necessary. Prior to going vegetarian, I was always a beans/meat combo fan. Obviously this recipe will have no meat so it's gonna be....umm....beancentric. However, I'm going to add finely chopped mushrooms here to give it that hearty flavor that a good chili needs. I know you don't typically see mushrooms in a chili but if you're gonna take the meat out, you kinda gotta replace it with a little sumpin' sumpin' to help fill in that gap. I'm not ashamed to say, I've become a bit of a mushroom whore over the last few years (please pardon my French). They have managed to take a stronghold in my kitchen. And they reign supreme with the exception their one and only arch-enemy, my wife. 

I know I'm reaching off topic here, but as I write this post, I am reminded of this weird little chick who peddles organic mushrooms at the local farmers markets. I say she's weird because she really is. I calls 'em as I sees 'em. She won't make eye contact with you but she will rattle on, all the while looking at your feet, about how the mushrooms are grown, spewing little factoids about mushrooms that the lay person would not even know about or even care about, for that matter. I think she's the 'Shroom Whisperer. It amazes me how engrossed I am by this person who won't look at me. I reckon it's because I have a strong sense of her passion. She is truly in love with her mushrooms and I can't do anything but admire that. Let it be known, I'm her fan and I'll buy her mushrooms any day of the week. If you can find someone who has such passion about mushrooms, my advice would be to keep them as near to you as you possibly can.  

Vegetarian Chili

Ingredients: 

• 4 Tbsp oil, divided (I used peanut oil)
• 4 oz. mushrooms, finely diced (I used Portobellos but you can use cremini or baby bellas)
• 1/2 cup celery, finely diced
• 1/2 cup green bell pepper, finely diced
• 1/2 cup white or yellow onion, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (15 oz) can of tomato sauce
• 2 cups vegetable broth (you can also use 2 cups water with one Knorr vegetable bouillon cube)
• 2 Tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsps salt (or to taste)
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
• 2 bay leaves
• 1-2 jalapenos, finely diced (optional)
• 3 (15 oz) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• chopped onion (for garnish)
• chopped cilantro (for garnish)

Preparation:

1. Heat 2 Tbsp of the oil in a large pot over a medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and saute until they begin to brown, approximately 4 minutes. Remove mushrooms to a bowl and set aside. 

2. Add remaining 2 Tbsp to the same pot over a medium high heat and add the celery, bell pepper and onion. Saute for about 4 minutes until they are soft. Then add the garlic and saute for another 1-2 minutes until veggies begin to brown. 

3. Add the mushrooms back to the pot. Then add the next 10 ingredients up to and including the beans. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer.  

4. Simmer, stirring occasionally for 30 - 40 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken. If it gets to thick, just add water to your desired consistency.

5. Serve with onion and cilantro sprinkled on top. Preferably with a nice corn bread on the side. 


Serves: 4 (at my house, it serves 3)

  

Portobello Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches:

Not From Philly, Contains No Steak

Here's another prime example of a dish that doesn't seem like it would be good without the "steak". Not only is it good, it's fantastic. So in the spirit of just "going for it", here we go again.

I have never been one to really embrace the fake meats that are available out there so I tend to avoid them like the plague. My philosophy is that if you're going to be a vegetarian, just own it, man! Don't try to fill your plate with fake steak, chicken, fish, sausage, etc. That, to me, just means you can't let go of the meat. My humble advise, should you care to accept it, is to simply let go. The best revelation I've ever had in my life as a consumer of edible substances is that you must embrace the sheer kick-assity of vegetables. For me, they were always the side note. An afterthought. I never truly gave them a chance. They were the proverbial "red headed stepchild" of the dinner plate. 

And as far as fake meats are concerned, don't get me wrong, early on in my culinary quest into vegetarianism, I ran through them to see if they might be at least somewhat acceptable. What I found is that I was repeatedly repulsed by their flavor. For example, there is a little somethin'-somethin' about the taste of seitan that is unmistakable. A certain je ne sais quoi, as it were. And there is no amount of spices, herbs, or any other flavor enhancers that can mask it. As I sit here typing this, I just had one those "ew, gross" shivers. 

That being said, I typically don't eat those products whether they are store bought or homemade. Instead, I opened my mind a bit and came to discover that the redheaded stepchild is actually a pretty cool kid. 

In the case of this recipe, I looked at several different versions online, both containing meat and no meat. I always focus on studying the meat-centric recipes because I found that many of the vegetarian recipes are so far moved from the originals, that they take on a totally different form, life, appearance, etc. They add too many ingredients and change too many things around. Before you know it, the outcome is nothing like what you set out to accomplish in the first place. Stop! You don't usually have to do that. It doesn't have to be that difficult. The fact is, many times, just a few tweaks here and there are all you need to get a vegetarian version of a dish that is very similar and just as satisfying as the meat version.    

Based on what I found with other "authentic" Philly Cheesesteak recipes, these sandwiches are generally pretty simple and straightforward. There's nothing too complicated about making them and that's the beauty of this dish. It's simple in that it doesn't contain too many ingredients, it's not complicated to make and the outcome is over the top. I mean really, what more could you ask for? 

This recipe was inspired by this one here. While the ingredient list didn't change, I did make changes to ingredient amounts to fit my personal preferences. 

Vegetarian Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches


Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 3 large portabello mushrooms (5" - 6" caps), stems and gills removed, 1/4 inch sliced
• 3 Tbsp red wine
• 1/2 large bell pepper, thinly sliced 
• 1/2 large onion, thinly slice
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 - 6 slices provolone cheese
• 2 hoagie rolls (approx. 7" each)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 250°F.

2. In a large skillet, heat 2 Tbsp of the olive oil over a medium high heat. Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook until they are softened and brown, approximately 4 minutes.

3. Remove the mushrooms from the skillet, place into a bowl and set aside. Wipe the skillet clean with a paper towel and place back over the medium-high heat.

4. Add the remaining 1 Tbsp of oil to the skillet and add your bell peppers and onions. Saute them for approximately 5-8 minutes until they are also softened and brown.

5. Now reduce the heat to medium low and add the mushrooms back to the pan. Stir to combine all veggies. Season with salt and pepper to your liking. 

6. In the pan, divide the veggies into two piles roughly matching the length and width of your hoagies rolls. Place two or three slices of cheese on top of each pile. Allow the cheese to melt. It doesn't have to be completely melted as you are going cook further in the oven but it should at least be more than halfway there. This should take 2-3 minutes.  

7. Slice your rolls in half but not all the way though in "butterfly" fashion. Fill your rolls with the veggie/cheese filling. 

8. Roll each sandwich in a 15" sheet of aluminum foil. Place both foil wrapped sandwiches in the oven directly on the rack and let cook for 15 minutes.   

Servings: 2

Red Beans and Rice:

I Could Eat A Plate Twice 

Yes, I can certainly eat a plate twice. In fact, I did that today. That title comes from a Michael Franti & Spearhead tune. I really wish you could hear it because it's dope. YouTube it.  

One of things I've come to realize about myself when it comes to making vegetarian dishes after being a meat-eater most of my life is that I tend to shy away from certain dishes, thinking to myself that there's no way that dish can be good without the meat. And, consistently, I have eventually just went for it and, consistently, it has turned out amazing. Then I think to myself: self, why the hell didn't you do this earlier?

Let it be heard today and now that I will no longer put off "going for it". Because, while I may not always succeed, the times that I do succeed truly make it worth the risk of failure. While I suppose you can apply this overly cheesy little philosophy to any aspect of life, in this instance, I'm going to apply it food. 

One such recipe I have deprived myself of over the last few years has been red beans & rice. This dish is usually laden with tasso (smoked pork shoulder) or some sort of sausage, typically andouille. With such a flavorful component suddenly eliminated, how could it be right? Well, there is an answer for that. 

To make up for the missing sausage, I asked myself what would the dish be missing flavor-wise if the sausage was taken out. I came up with two pretty obvious answers: smokiness from the fact that both andouille and tasso are a smoked meat and the pure fact that both add a "meaty" aspect to the dish. 

It didn't take a genius to do what I did. What I did was simple. But damn if it didn't work well. For the smokiness I quite simply added some liquid smoke. For the meatiness, or in this case umami, I added some soy sauce. 

So I took my newly created version of this dish to a friend of mine and fellow food lover, who is not a vegetarian I might add, for her to try and her response (via instant messenger) was "omg, omg, omg!!". I'll take that as a win. 

This one is a little spicy. But it's creole dish and, damn it, so it should be. I wouldn't call it a butt-burner myself but, in my experience, spiciness is relative. It is based upon a recipe I used for years as my go-to but is now happily vegetarian, and in fact, vegan. Enjoy. 

New Orleans Style Red Beans and Rice


Ingredients: 

• 1 pound dried small red beans, picked over
• 1 large onion, yellow or white, chopped
• 2 pale-green inner celery ribs (with leaves), chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp hickory liquid smoke
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 Tbsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon Louisiana hot pepper sauce ( I like Red Rooster but Tabasco will work too)
• 3/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (don't leave this out!)
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp salt, or to taste

Accompaniment: 

• white rice 

Preparation: 

1. In a large bowl, cover beans in water by two inches and soak overnight. Once soaked, drain beans.

2. In a large pot or Dutch oven, combine all ingredients. 

3. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Stirring occasionally to ensure beans don't stick to the bottom of the pot. 

4. Remove lid and continue to simmer for an additional hour, again stirring occasionally. If the mixture becomes to thick, add water. 

5. Remove 1 cup of the mixture and mash to a paste. Alternatively, you can puree it in a blender or food processor. 

6. Add mash / pureed beans back to mixture and stir to thicken. Serve over rice. 

Servings: 6

The Wedge Salad:

Simple Bliss 

Since having this salad for the first time about two months ago, I have come close to dying of hyper-wedge-salad-poisoning. Yes, I've had my life's share in a short period of time. I don't know what it is about this thing that has had such a profound effect on me, but it has. I love it when something so simple-stupid is the best thing you've had in ages. It keeps you on your toes and makes you remember that simplicity is sometimes divine.   

I'm sure it has something to do with the subtle (or maybe not so subtle) decadence of it. I'm mean this one has just the right combo of ingredients that I find appealing. You get the crunchiness of the iceberg lettuce, which is my favorite lettuce, by the way. And I don't care if it's throwback 70's or whatever. I love it. The meatiness of the shiitake mushrooms makes the salad feel more like a meal than starter. In fact, when I make it, it is a meal. I usually don't have anything with it but that's not to say a nice bean or veggie soup wouldn't go good along side. Then there is the crunchy-salty-tastiness of the fried onions that top this salad. I almost want to say they are the icing on the cake but we still haven't gotten to the dressing. The richness of the buttermilk ranch coupled with the sharpness of the blue cheese definitely pulls everything together.  

The last few blog entries here have been sort of leading up this post. They make up three of the components you'll find in this salad. You can probably buy a few of the them, such as the dressing and the fried onions, pre-made. But I can only suggest you don't do it. Make these from scratch. They are so much more fresh and flavorful. It's more effort, yes, but the payoff is truly incomparable. 

This part of the recipe is the easiest. It's the part where all the goodies come together as one. My suggestion is to include all the parts of this salad listed. It's the combo of them all that really sets this one off. 

Wedge Salad


Ingredients: 

• 1 head iceberg lettuce
• buttermilk ranch dressing
• 2-3 Roma (plum) tomatoes, cored and diced
• shiitake bacon
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
• crispy fried onions
• 4 tsp fresh chives, chopped

Preparation: 

1. Cut your lettuce head in half. Remove the core from each side. Then cut the halves in half again to form 4 equal wedges. I actually like to cut the quarters in half again and place two wedges on each plate. So basically, you cut the head into eight wedges and each serving gets two wedges. I find this helps the toppings to stay put and not just roll off the top of the wedge and onto the plate. 

2. Top each serving of lettuce with ranch dressing. 

3. Then add your remaining toppings to your own taste. The order of ingredients above is the order I prefer to add them but it's up you. I find it keeps all the components visible and therefore aesthetically pleasing. It doesn't really matter, just make sure to get them all!

Servings: 4

Shiitake Bacon:

Don't Believe Me? Try it. 

Oh mushrooms. What can I say to you that I haven't said a million times over? I love you unconditionally. You are one of my dearest culinary friends. We go back a long time. A very long time. But you've been keeping a secret from me and, while I'm a little disappointed that you haven't been completely honest with me, I am still truly delighted that you have surprised me in such a wonderful way.      

At first I was in complete disbelief. Denial, if you will. I said "no...no way that can be true". But then, out of sheer curiosity, I followed the recipe and I'll be damned if you didn't taste like bacon. You never cease to amaze me, my dear, dear friend. 

Everywhere I turn, it's bacon this and bacon that. While I don't really miss it that much, it does have it's merits, flavorwise. I made these for two reasons. A: I didn't believe it. B: I wanted to top a salad I was making that called for bacon bits. I even got my wife, who HATES mushrooms to try one. It took a lot of coaxing but I eventually got her to take a nibble. Actually it was closer to a lick because she definitely didn't want to commit. But then she kinda perked up a bit and said: "Holy crap, it does taste like bacon". Then she did the unthinkable. Something I never thought I'd see in my lifetime. She sprinkled a few on her own salad. What?!!! Score one for the mushrooms!!!

This is a fun one to make but you have to be very careful with it. The mushrooms that are readily available in my area seem to be pretty small. And the trick to getting this recipe to go right is to have uniformity in your cuts. You want all the slices to be basically the same size. If you don't have that uniformity, they simply won't cook evenly. Some will be under cooked and they don't take on that bacon flavor while others will be over cooked and taste like burnt bacon. Some people like that burnt taste but I don't.

After I've cut my mushrooms, they would be roughly the size of a quarter that was cut in half. Then, after they are cooked, they will reduce to maybe the size of a dime that was cut in half.

The video to the original recipe that I found can be viewed here. 

Tip: Uniformly cut slices are a must. I cannot emphasize that enough. 

Tip: Watch these very closely while they are roasting. Make sure to stir every ten minutes and don't allow them to pile on top of each other. My experience with the "half quarter" sized cut is that they take roughly 30 minutes. Larger cuts obviously will take longer. And taste them each time you stir them. You want them a little crisp. 

Shiitake Bacon


Ingredients: 

• 3 oz. fresh shiitake mushrooms. Cut uniformly in size to about half the size of a quarter.
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt 

Preparation: 

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. 

2. Place your sliced mushrooms in a bowl.

3. Drizzle with olive oil and then add the salt. Stir with a spoon until the oil and salt evenly coats the mushrooms. 

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the mushrooms onto the baking sheet making sure they are in one even layer and not piled on top of each other. 

3. Roast in the oven for approximately 30 minutes. You must stir them every 10 minutes. Roasting time will vary depending on the size of the cut. If you cut the mushrooms to the "half quarter" size, they will take approximately 30 minutes. However that cook time will be longer if the mushrooms are cut larger. Make sure you don't over cook the mushrooms because they will taste like burnt bacon. If you get that far, you gotta start again so be careful! 

Servings: As a salad topping, serves 4-5.

Crispy Fried Onions:

Or Whatever They're Called

If you search for fried onions online, a bunch of recipes come up with different names. After sifting through several of them, I came to the realization that they are essentially all the same thing. Fried onions, crispy fried onions, french fried onions, onion strings, deep fried onions......and the list goes on. Call them what you will. I call them delicious.   

The great thing about these little delights is that they can be used for a number of different things. You can use them to top a green bean casserole, on top of a wedge salad, or just to eat all by themselves with some ranch dressing or ketchup. 

My inspiration for wanting to make these came rather recently. Lately, I've been on about this wedge salad I had that I fell in love with. But I've made these to go as a side with a nice fresh veggie sandwich. I love a good cold and crisp veggie sandwich on toasted bread. Think BLT without the B. But instead maybe some avocado and cucumber. Put that on a plate with some of these and you, my friend, are good to go!  

This recipe is basically the same as this one but with some minor changes. It comes The Pioneer Woman. I dig her recipes. 

Crispy Fried Onions


Ingredients: 

• 1 white or yellow onion
• 1-2 cups buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
• 1 quart peanut oil (or other veggie oil, I just prefer peanut oil)

Preparation: 

1. Peel and slice the onion into 1/4 inch rings. 

2. Place onion rings into a bowl and cover with buttermilk. Let set in the butter milk for 1 hour.

3. In another bowl, add the flour, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Stir with a fork to combine. 

4. In a pot, add the oil and, using a candy thermometer, bring to a temperature of 375°. Be careful not to go much higher than that. You'll burn your oil and burn your onions. 

5. Working in batches, use tongs to pull some of the onion rings (about 1/4 of them) from the buttermilk and shake off the excess buttermilk. Add them to the flour mixture and coat. Shake off the excess flour and drop them into your oil. Use your tongs to move the rings around in the oil to keep them from sticking together. 

6. Once golden brown, remove from the oil and place on a paper towel lined plate to drain excess oil. Continue with your remaining batches. 

Servings: Depends on your use. As a side, serves 2. If topping salads, serves 10.   

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing:

Simple and Delicious

I never was one to dip fries into ranch dressing. After all, I'm a card carrying ketchup fan (although that is slowly dying in me and for that I mourn). But there is a restaurant chain that I frequent that pretty much just brings ranch dressing with your fries and I gotta say, it's grown on me. And it's not like the kind you find in the bottle, which is fine I suppose, but the bottled ranch dressing never really grabbed me either. In fact, there isn't a bottled dressing out there that I truly love. I seem to have better luck making my own. 

With my new found love of fries dipped into ranch, I embarked on a mission to find a good ranch dressing recipe that would rival the ones I find in restaurants. And I did find one a while back that is really good, but in it's own "very tasty but not really authentic" kinda way. I do like it and I've used that recipe for a while now but it's more complicated than I think is necessary and it wasn't what I really wanted.  

Then a few weeks ago, my wife were out for a bit of lunch and the place we were eating at had a wedge salad on the menu. Now I know these things have been around for a while but some reason, I've never had one before. Why? I don't know, I just never did. I'm slow sometimes. Hell, I only realized three years ago that Led Zeppelin was a kickass band . So I ordered one of these things and I was instantly hooked.

I came home and searched online for recipes to make my own. Don't laugh. I get that it's pretty self explanatory by just looking at the thing but I looked anyway. I'm weird that way. But I'm glad I did because it inadvertently lead me to the inspiration for this recipe. 

I'm sure I don't have tell you that sometimes, simple is better, less is more, etc. And that is certainly the case here. This recipe is easy and quick and delicious.

This recipe was inspired by this one here.

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing


Ingredients: 

• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 5 Tbsp sour cream
• 6 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp chives, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• a few dashes of hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation: 

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until well combined. 

Makes about 1 1/2 cups  

Vegetable A La King:

Save A Chicken, Eat a Vegetable

The other day my wife said she wished I could make a vegetarian Chicken a la King. A little light went on in my head and I thought to myself: Challenge accepted!

"Blank" a la King is one the ultimate comfort foods. Served over noodles, rice or a variety of bread types, it's a creamy and savory delight with chunks of whatever kind of goodness you can imagine mixed in. In this case, those chunks of goodness are veggies. 

My wife and I used to eat one we'd buy out of the can years ago. I want to say it was from Swanson's or Campbell's or something like that. Back when we first met, we were still very young and would eat pretty much anything. It didn't matter if it came from a can or out of box. If it was tasty and cheap, we ate it. Looking back to those days of yore, I have to smile in the warm memory of our younger more carefree days and then immediately shudder in disgust that we actually ate that shit.

As I've grown older, I've come to realize a few things. First of all, it's no secret that canned and boxed foods are usually highly processed and will kill you. In fact, according to a recent study, even breathing causes cancer. So if any of you hope to live until tomorrow, you need to quit breathing posthaste!! 

Secondly, I love to cook, especially from scratch. I don't always have the time to it but I do it as much as I can. Standing in a kitchen on my day off with groceries spread around, a 10" Henckel in my hand, and something simmering on the stovetop is one of the most relaxing places I can think of. I can just let my mind flow in a "Let go Luke, use the Force" kinda way to create something wonderful. Then when it's all done, you get to eat it. And if you're truly lucky, you have the sheer pleasure of sharing it with friends and family. You get to hear them tell you how awesome it was. And then your ego can get all super big because none of them can cook as good as you. And then you can stand on your pedestal and look down at all the lame little people who don't posses and never will posses your brilliant culinary chops. Whoa!! That got a little out of hand. But anyone who's ever worked in a professional kitchen is probably chuckling right now because that really happens.

Taking those two realizations and putting them together actually works out quite well. I can still eat some of my favorite foods and not have to get it from a can thereby avoiding most of the unnecessary chemical-based gobbledy-gook that comes mixed in with our alleged "food".

Am I saying this recipe is the ultimate in healthy just because I make it from scratch? Nope. It's still fattening. But as I said before, it's a comfort food. And even though it's still fattening, it's healthier and definitely tastier than the canned version. Trust me, you'll thank me from the top of your pedestal. Enjoy!! 

Vegetable a la King

Ingredients: 

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter (one and a half sticks), divided
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cup heavy cream
• 1 vegetable bouillon cube
• 6 sprigs flat-leaf parsley 
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 2 cups cauliflower florets
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 1 medium bell pepper, chopped
• 1-2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 shallot, sliced
• 2 cups peas
• 4 oz. jar pimentos
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• Your choice of starch: rice, egg noodles, biscuits, puff pastry shells, toast points. 

Preparation: 

1. In a dutch oven or heavy pot, melt 1/2 cup (one stick) of the butter over a medium high heat. Once melted, add the flour and stir constantly for about 2 minutes.  

2. Add in 1 cup one the vegetable broth and whisk to combine all together. Once combined, add in the remaining broth and the cream. Now add the bouillon, parsley sprigs, and the thyme sprigs and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. 

3. While the sauce is simmering, melt the remaining 1/4 cup (half stick) of butter in a large skillet over a medium-high heat. Once melted, add the carrots, cauliflower and celery and saute for 5 minutes. Now add in the bell pepper and the shallot and continue to saute for another 5-10 minutes until veggies begin to soften. 

4. Using tongs or a spider, remove the parsley and thyme sprigs from the sauce and discard. 

5. Add the sauteed veggies to the sauce along with the salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg and continue to cook until veggies reach the desired doneness. 

6. Serve over your choice of starch. 


Makes: 6-8 servings