Vegetarian

I love cookbooks, especially when they are more than just cookbooks. Veganomicon offers not only 250 vegan recipes, but also menus for different occasions, advice on essential cooking equipment, pantry staples, and basic cooking techniques.

The challenge for May was little bites. We asked for soups and salads that would make for a perfect starter for a meal. Certainly the entries this month stimulated my appetite and I would be delighted to serve each and every dish. Thanks to everyone who found the time to share their creations. We do need to determine a winner, so please vote for your favorite in the comment section or via email. Note that neither my submission nor Jacqueline's is eligible for the vote. Our first entry is this refreshing Japanese Cucumber Salad from Charul of Tadka Masala that would be just perfect on a hot and humid day. No cooking required for this combination of cucumber, lemon juice, a bit of sweetener, wine vinegar and toasted sesame seeds. Cucumber gets elegant here. Preety is up next with this tempting and rejuvenating Skewered Bite Size Appetizer Salad. The possibilities are endless here. Try grapes, mint leaves, red pepper, cucumber and paneer or feta or mozzarella. Good without any dressing at all, but dress it up with some lemon juice, olive oil, seasonings and herbs, or perhaps a combination of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Janet of The Taste Space presents us with a gorgeous Tempeh and Arugula Salad with a Mustard Miso Dressing that is sure to make your table shine. Tempeh is marinated in cider vinegar, tamari, ginger and a bit of oil and then baked. Next arugula, tomatoes and cucumber are topped with the tempeh strips and this goodness is drizzled with a dressing of white miso, Dijon mustard, lemon, oil, garlic and maple syrup. The dressing we are told is especially addictive. The next dish to get the taste buds watering is this beautiful Avocado and Strawberry Salad with Honey Vinaigrette from Jagruti's Cooking Odyssey. I'm more eager than ever for the strawberry season and here they are combined with avocado and baby salad leaves and then tossed with a tangy dressing of honey, fresh lemon or lime juice, olive oil and seasoning. Certainly a sweet way to make a sunny day even sunnier. My contribution this month is this light and earthy Raw Mushroom Soup. A variety of wild mushrooms are whizzed up in a blender with cashews, pine nuts, almond milk, yellow miso, dill, paprika and seasoning. It's incredibly easy to prepare and makes for an elegant starter despite its simplicity or perhaps because of. Ma Niche tries fava beans at home for the first time and experiments with a Fava Yogurt Soup that has my mouth watering. Skinned fava beans are lightly cooked with sauteed onions, garlic, ginger and chives and then pureed with yogurt and some water and served up chilled, garnished with fresh mint. This is a delightful warm weather appetizer soup for a variety of meals. My good friend Jacqueline and co-host of this event shares this stunning Halloumi Salad with Balsamic Tomatoes. Lightly seasoned halloumi is paired here with potatoes, salad greens and herbs, balsamic pan-fried tomatoes and all this goodness is dressed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard and black pepper. This is a hearty salad, but served in small portions, it would make for an exciting appetizer to start your meal. Our final entry is from Sweatha of Tasty Curry Leaf. Served up for our consideration is a delightfully cooling Cucumber Mint Yogurt Soup. Easy to prepare, cucumber is blended with shallots, fresh mint leaves, yogurt and a bit of water. This delicious concoction is then seasoned and garnished with more fresh mint and some olive oil. Sounds like a perfect summer meal starter to me. Jacqueline will be hosting the June 2013 edition of NCR. Check back at the beginning of the month for the theme.© Copyright 2007—2013 Lisa's Kitchen. For personal use only.If you are seeing this post on a site other than foodandspice.blogspot.com, it is being stolen.

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It's been fascinating. Ya writes the 1st vegan pizza cookbook, and people think you're a one-trick pony, that all you can do is make pizza! Kids, I've been cooking and exploring veg'n food in the kitchen for over thirty years....

Congratulations to Amory Fischer from Virginia, who is our second $5,000 college scholarship recipient for 2013! Amory, who will be majoring in environmental policy, said: I have destroyed the myth that vegetarians are short, unhealthy, scrawny individuals, who cannot survive without dietary supplements. I have held my own on a soccer team, lifted weights with football players, and stacked hay in the barn and bags of seed in the storehouse alongside the rest of my coworkers. They may be surprised to find out I am a vegetarian, but they no longer think people like me cannot keep up. As a kindergartener, I would get upset about people eating meat in my presence. I would tell them continually why what they were doing was disgusting and wrong and why I disliked them for it. One could infer then, that I had few people who took me seriously and even few who would hang out with me, especially during lunch. I have learned since that to really get someone to think about the choices they make, one has to first relate to that person…People are willing to listen when they are talked to respectfully… Vegetarianism is an integral aspect of my world view…In my freshman year of high school, I won second place in the state of Virginia forensics competition with a piece devoted to nonviolence and compassion for all life. When I was fifteen, I won sixth place in the State’s Virginia High School League Forensics Original Oratory Competition with a speech on the topic of vegetarianism… I joined the Key Club in freshman year of high school…I approached the club sponsor with the idea of a separate Environmental Committee. She agreed to let me try it out – if I would be in charge… (In one project) I have organized thirty of my peers though my position as Key Club Environmental Committee Chair to help set up and take down tents, tables, and chairs for the Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival. We also help run the festival, manning booths for vendors or educators that need a break, passing around petitions, assisting the many food stands with serving customers, and running errands…I will be graduating this year, so in order to continue this tradition of helping with the Vegetarian Festival and other environmental projects, I have made a fourteen page booklet for my successors on the committee to be able to carry the torch. It is filled with detailed descriptions of all the projects we worked on… One of Amory’s references stated that, “Amory organized Key Club volunteers for the Charlottesville Vegetarian Festivals as well as Charlottesville’s Eco Fair… Without Amory’s support we would have had a difficult time managing the event. However last year’s event was so successful that this year we are doing the event as a zero waste festival. Without Amory and his leadership of the Key Club we would not even consider this additional project.” Amory related, “A friend of my step-father’s asked me about my dream of going into politics…I responded by saying that my path would be based on whatever doors of opportunity opened. I place my future in the Lord’s hands, and day by day I live by two simple goals: to help those suffering today and preserve the earth for future generations. Vegetarianism is the solution to both those goals.” The deadline for the next Vegetarian Resource Group Scholarship is February 20, 2014 for high school seniors. Please see http://www.vrg.org/student/scholar.htm To contribute to VRG scholarships, VRG internships, or to give Vegetarian Journal to scholarship entrants, donate at www.vrg.org/donate Indicate the projects you want to earmark in the comments.

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