A vegetarian recipe for people who think vegetarian foods suck.

If you've read my blog lately, you know that I've been eating quasi-vegan for about a month now.  I've come across some fantastic recipes (and some not-so-fantastic, yuck... poor Hubby got a mouthful of overly-lemony tabbouleh), and I'd like to share them with you.  I've changed these just a little bit, so not copyright issues, I hope, ha.  :)

Falafel (inspired by Bette of Allrecipes.com)

1/4 cup minced onion
1 (15 oz) can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 egg beaten
Olive oil

1. Place garbanzo beans, cilantro, garlic, cumin, coriander, salt, and baking soda in a food processor.  Pulse until the mixture is coarsely pureed.  Mix the bean mixture and onion in a large bowl.  Stir in the flour and egg.  Shape into 4 large patties and let sit for 15 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 400 (this takes about 15 minutes in my house, so I turn it on as soon as I'm done forming the patties).

3.  Add olive oil to a large, oven-safe skillet, coating the bottom, and heat over medium high heat.  Gently place patties in the skillet and cook until golden brown on each side, about 3 minutes per side.

4. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake an additional ten minutes.

Serve Wifey-style (with lettuce in a pita), or Hubby-style (as is, with ketchup, or in a hamburger bun with, you guessed it, ketchup).

"Cream" of Asparagus Soup (inspired by "The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook" by Neal Barnard, M.D. and Robin Webb)

3 cups sliced asparagus
2 cups veggie broth
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups plain soy milk
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
Fresh ground pepper to taste

1.  In a large stock pot, add the asparagus, broth, thyme, bay leaf and garlic.  Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. 

2. Throw away the bay leaf, place it all in a blender, cover, and puree until smooth.

3. Heat the soy milk in a large saucepan over medium high heat.  Add the flour and whisk until blended.  Stire in the pureed asparagus mixture and nutmeg.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Stir in the salt, lemon juice, and black pepper, and serve.

All the richness of a creamed soup, with no heavy cream.  To make it non-vegan-friendly, I suppose you could replace the soy milk with cow's milk, but I haven't tried that.

There are my two recent faves.  I hope you get a chance to try them.  And if you have any favorite veggie/vegan recipes, leave me some love with them- I'm always looking for yummy stuff to cook!