Greek lasagna

Finished baking

This dish has many of my favorite things – the tomato sauce and noodles of a traditional lasagna, spinach found in many vegetarian lasagnas, and eggplant found in Greek dishes like moussaka.

Spinach Artichoke Dip (semi-healthy)

Enjoying spinach artichoke dip with a tortilla chip

Spinach artichoke dip is very tasty, but not that healthy, with lots of sour cream and mayonnaise. This recipe is a healthier version. I originally based it off this recipe from the yummy life. I like it with even more spinach and artichokes than they use, but I add a bit of mayonnaise, to make it slightly creamier. This recipe makes a big batch, great for a party. I also recommend trying to find a large container of artichoke hearts. I can get a 4 lb. container at my local store for about $15.

Ratatouille

ratatouille

Ratatouille is a traditional French dish, and comes in many different variations. From my perspective, two ingredients are absolutely critical — eggplant and tomatoes. The dish pictured here is fairly traditional.

Stuffed squash

stuffedSquash

This recipe is largely inspired by a combination of recipes from the Moosewood New Classics and Very Vegetarian cookbooks. It is a bit time intensive, so it is not the kind of dish I prepare often, but it is fun for dinner parties, and most of the preparation can be done the day before.

Whole wheat vegan pizza

pizza

Pizza is a very common food in the United States, and it is difficult to avoid. Many people find it very tasty, but it is also seen as very practical, in that it can be ordered for delivery, is relatively inexpensive, and usually pleases most. As a vegan, I started experimenting with cheeseless pizza. This may seem like heresy to some — pizza without cheese — but I have learned that if it is made with certain parameters, it can be very tasty. For eating pizza out, it is crucial to have ample sauce and tasty toppings. A no topping, $5 pizza from Hungry Howies will not be good. But a $10 pizza with extra sauce and lots of tasty vegetable toppings from Papa John’s can be very tasty. But if you want truly good vegan pizza, you probably need to make it yourself. This recipe aims to be both tasty and healthy, and is actually not that difficult to make. I took the dough recipe from a recipe for calzone dough I found on the Vegan Chef (Sometimes I do put on some cheese. The top picture does have a little mozzarella and feta cheese on it; the extra pictures at the bottom do not).

Macaroni and “Cheese” with Spinach

macaroni and cheese with spinach

This is largely based off of a recipe from Very Vegetarian, but after a couple years of enjoying it, Clare helped me find the missing ingredient — spinach. The downside of mac and cheese is that it is low on the vegetables. I tried broccoli, green beans, and snap peas, but they weren’t that good. Spinach goes very well though. The “cheese” part is actually a nutritional yeast sauce, which doesn’t sound too tasty, but it is. Even my parents liked it!

Note that since I am no longer vegan, I usually use regular milk instead of soymilk, and I sometimes add a little real cheese after mixing the pasta and sauce. I have also found that running the spinach through the food processor is better, especially if you have picky children who don’t want big chunks of spinach. Sometimes I use fresh spinach instead of frozen if I have it, and it is better, though more expensive.

German Potato Salad

potatoSalad

When many Americans (especially Midwesterners) hear “German Potato Salad”, they frequently think of a warm, vinegary potato salad, sometimes including bacon. In fact, this sort of potato salad can even be found in cans in the supermarket. In my numerous trips to Germany, I can’t recall ever eating potato salad of this sort. Most of the potato salad I ate there was more similar to American potato salad, containing mayonnaise, and sometimes boiled eggs. I definitely had quite a few other variants though, and my favorite one was from my friend, Markus Hofbauer. This one is a bit more similar to the Midwestern vision of potato salad, as it contains vinegar, but is usually served cold or at room temperature. I don’t think that Markus put any dill in his version, but I think it makes a nice addition. And, because it’s vegan, you don’t have to worry about anyone getting food poisoning from eating your potato salad that has been sitting out during a hot summer picnic.

Peppernuts

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This recipe comes from my mom’s dad’s mom. It seems that we make more every year around Christmas time, as more and more friends expect their share of the tasty, gingerbread-like cookies that look a lot like dog food. They taste quite a bit like gingerbread, though they have no ginger. The name is also similar to the German Pfeffernüsse, but they do not have anise.

Smoky Three Bean Chili

This recipe is based on one from Almost Vegetarian Entertaining, but over the years I kept tweaking until I got it just how I like it. Depending on my mood, I sometimes use other beans, such as great northern, cannellini, pinto, or adzuki.

Creamy Potato Soup

potato_soup

This is just like my grandma used to make it, except instead of thickening with milk and flour, I use water and cornstarch