Foo - QUICK! I need a recipe!!!

My wifes bday is today. I shoulda thought about this earlier than this morning, but I'm gonna cook something for dinner for her, something out of the ordinary that we usually do.

I can't spend hours on it, as I have to work till about 5. I'm expecting I need to go to the grocery store after work to pick up stuff.

Here's what I'm wanting:

Vegetarian meal

No more than 1/2 hour cooking

No crazy ingredients that you need to travel internationally to find

No crazy prep times, or over-night prep things.

Ok... go!

BTW, I'm kitchen/cooking challenged. My best kitchen moments are baking breads, heating things up in a pot, cooking meats, sauteing veggies. Once you start to throw in a bunch of ingredients, slicing, dicing, whatevering, I start to get antsy.

Do you eat fish?

Do you eat fish?

I do, wife doesn't.

Avocado Soup:

It's really quite good and easy to make. You can bake some tortillas till they are crisp and have those on the side.

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon wheat flour
4 1/3 cups vegetable stock
2-3 avocado mashed
1 pinch cayenne
1/2 cup light cream or half and half
Salt to taste
1/2 yellow bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 teaspoon paprika

PREPARATION
1. Gently fry the onion in a Dutch oven with the oil. Sprinkle with the flour and stir-fry until the onion is well coated. Continue to stir, and slowly add the stock.

2. Bring to a boil, add the avocado and the cayenne pepper, and gently simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Sir in the almond milk or cream, season, and serve garnished with red and yellow bell peppers and paprika.

lentil salad.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/mediterranean-lentil-salad/

http://simplyrecipes.com/

http://www.eatingwell.com/

http://www.cooks.com/

http://www.bonappetit.com/

http://www.veganchef.com/home.htm

At the store things to buy;
Salad makings
Package of good fresh pasta size for two
mushrooms
onion
bell pepper
jar of alfredo sauce ( I know, but you only have a half hour)
olive oil
a nice loaf of chibata bread
bottle of Pinot Noir

Slice onion and mushrooms and chop the bell pepper.
Saute the onion, mushrooms and pepper in a sauce pan with olive oil.
When mushrooms are cooked to just soft, add jar of alfredo sauce and let simmer.
Make two nice salads
Slice the bread, brush with olive oil and put in toaster oven to crisp.
Cook the pasta, drain and plate with mushroom alfredo sauce.
Pour the Pinot, light the candles and serve the birthday girl.

A half hour takes you from zero to hero, enjoy!

Sorry, all my recipes involve meat. :p I called my cousin the Vegan, though and she suggested this

Spicy Tofu Rice Pilaf



Ingredients:



1 1/4 c long grain brown or white bhasmati rice
1 Tbsp cooking oil
1 lb firm tofu, drained
2 Tbsp Braggs liquid aminos or soy sauce
1 stalk celery, chopped small
1 small zucchini, cubed
1/2 red or green pepper, diced
1 or 2 ripe tomatoes, chopped or 1/2 c tomatoe puree
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black mustard seed
1 tsp dried basil leaves


1/2 tsp dried marjoram leaves
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 - 2 Tbsp minced jalapeno pepper, halved and seeded, or 1/8 - 1/4 tsp cayenne
1 - 2 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced, or 1/2 - 1 tsp dried
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 bay leaf
1/2 cinnamon stick
4 green cardamom pods
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 c cashew pieces, toasted in a dry pan or with a little oil
2 1/4 c. water
1/4 c. minced cilantro or parsley

Directions:



If using brown bhasmati rice, soak 4 - 6 hours, or 1 hour in boiling water
Drain (your plants will love the soaking water), rinse 3 times, set aside
If using white bhasmati rice, rinse and drain until the water is clear
Drain and cut tofu into smallish cubes or slices
Marinate in Braggs or soy sauce 15 min - 1 hr


Heat 1 Tbsp oil or ghee in a non stick frypan, and lightly brown tofu pieces on 2 sides and set aside (leave this until last for slow cooker or crockpot cooking)
Prep veggies
Sauté* veggies, (including jalapeno & fresh ginger if you're using) in oil 5- 10 minutes
Add remaining spices and herbs, except cilantro, and sauté another two minutes
Add rinsed, drained rice, sauté another 2 minutes
Add salt, water & tomato puree if using
Slow Cooker or Crockpot: Place all in preheated crockpot, cook on low for 1 hour, or 2 hours for brown rice. For the slow cooker, it's better to marinate the tofu ahead, then fry just before before adding to the cooked rice and veg
Stove Top: Bring to a boil, cover & simmer 30 min for brown rice, 10 - 15 min for white
Remove the bay leaf and cardamom pods, which will be floating on top
Gently stir in the tofu, cashews and cilantro or parsley, and cook for 5 - 10 more minutes




Cooking Tips:

Either white or brown long grain bhasmati rice works well. For more heat use the larger amount of jalapeno, ginger and cayenne.
Although white rice is faster cooking and lighter, the brown rice adds taste, texture and substance that is truly satisfying.
We reduced the fat content and cooking time, varied the vegetables, and added cashews. This dish is lovely served with a green salad. The original Indian vegetarian version, with zucchini, ghee and panir, is also delicious.
*'Sauté' means fry on med-high heat, stirring constantly. It's different from stir fry, which uses more heat, and is the end step in cooking. Usually after sautéing, the contents are subjected to another step, like steaming or adding to a soup or stew.

Tofu is best prepared by getting the water completely out of it. Cut the block into 1cm thick pieces and put them on a non stick pan. Heat up and press the water out browning slightly. Let it cool down then cut into smaller pieces and marinate it and all that water removed will suck the marinade right back into it like a sponge.

Disaster

Take one well marinated jsharr, mix with gunpowder and gasoline, stir well until explody.

Dude... order something, serve it in the "good china", get rid of the evidence. Add some candles and have some good music ready in case the situation escalates.

Quiche is probably the easiest elegant thing to make. Eggs, cream, pie crust, some cheese, some fillin's. 20 minutes, easy cleanup, thankful wife.

Rice noodles with whatever you want to load them up with. Sauté everything together after soaking the noodles for a while in warm water. If you use heavier vegetables, cook them for a while first.

My usual mixes are:
Thin rice noodles
cabbage
crushed red pepper
black pepper
lemon juice
touch of lime juice
eggs, fried in small pieces (you'll probably omit this)
carrots, peas, sugar snaps, or other veggies i have on hand.
Other things that strike me as a good idea.

Just keep adding things until you're satisfied or out of ingredients.

Thanks everyone... I should be able to figure something out :-) What did we ever do before the internet!?

Just take her to a Riverman game and get her Nachos and cheese.

Just buy a bag of carrots

Just buy a bag of carrots

:lol:

Frozen cheese pizza and a salad.

if you had the time, indian cuisine is highly meat free and tasty.
palak paneer and curry for instance.


down side is your body will reek like the stuff you ate.

So what was served? Who was served?

Can I offer a recipe for PB&J?

Ended up servin' up a chips & cheese sauce salsa for appetizer, then made a black bean and pepper jack cheese quesadilla, and some rice a roni mexican rice - the kind where you add the water and seasoning to rice, boil for about 25 minutes. Actually turned out pretty good! Yeah, not truly vegetarian, but, to some degree it was :-)