Recipe: Spinach Artichoke Dip

At least you’ll never be a vegetable – even artichokes have hearts.   amelie

Choke a guy named Artie once, and nobody ever lets it go. (Just kidding.) Ah the mighty artichoke. What’s not to love? Spiky outer leaves provide a suit of armor, protecting the tender heart within. (Sounds like a metaphor for several of my ex-boyfriends…) During the 16th century, it was considered scandalous for women in the 16th century to partake of the pleasures of artichoke eating. (It was also thought to be a potent aphrodisiac for men.)

A few centuries down the road and into future, it’s obvious the artichoke should be welcomed into all our diets – men and women alike. Research has identified the artichoke as a natural antidote to a host of ailments including heart disease, cancer and birth defects. Among antioxidant-rich foods, artichokes are often overlooked, however a July 2006 study tested the antioxidant levels of more than 1,000 foods and beverages and found that artichoke hearts had the highest level among all vegetables measured. They came in fourth among all foods and beverages analyzed in the study. That means artichokes beat out more commonly referenced antioxidant-rich foods such as blueberries, red wine, chocolate, coffee and tea.

Cynara, the first Myth Artichoke
According to an Aegean legend, the first artichoke was a lovely young girl who lived on the island of Zinari. The god, Zeus was visiting his brother Poseidon one day when, as he emerged from the sea, he caught sight of a beautiful young mortal woman. She did not seem frightened by the presence of a god, and Zeus seized the opportunity to seduce her. He was so pleased with the girl, who’s name was Cynara, that he decided to make her a goddess so that she could be nearer to his home on Olympia. Cynara agreed, and Zeus looked forward to the trysts to come whenever his wife Hera was away. Soon thereafter, Cynara began to miss her mother and grew homesick. She snuck back to the world of mortals for a brief visit. After she returned, Zeus discovered this un-goddesslike behavior. Enraged, he hurled her back to earth and transformed her into the plant we know as the artichoke.

A few tweaks to a favorite spinach dip – and voila! Delicious artichokeness with a low-fat spin.

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SPINACH ARTICHOKE DIP

Ingredients

• 2 cans artichoke hearts, unmarinated
• 1-1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 block chopped spinach, frozen or fresh
• 1 8-oz brick reduced fat cream cheese
• 1/3 cup low fat sour cream
• 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• optional, chopped water chestnuts for added crunch

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix all ingredients in a baking dish, reserving 1/2 cup mozzarella for toping. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle additional 1/2 cup mozzarella and broil until the cheese browns. Serve with tortilla chips, french bread, pita slices or keep the calorie count down and serve with crudites.

 

 

A Case for Christian Vegetarianism

What? It's only an apple!

Fair to say it would have been a slightly different tale (and perhaps a bit nightmare-inducing) if the first chapter of The Bible had been set in the “Slaughterhouse of Eden” rather than the Garden of Eden. Thankfully that is not the case. And while there is plenty of mention about animal sacrifice and frying up fish in Ye Good Book, there’s also evidence that supports a vegetarian diet may have been the original plan before the humans went and f-ed it all up.

GENESIS
The concept and practice of vegetarian has actual scriptural and historical support. According to The Bible, before the fall (ahem, let’s just ignore the fact that was brought on by an animal and a fruit…), human and nonhuman animals (beings that have or are an ānima, Latin for soul) were completely vegetarian, and “it was very good.”

So says the King James version…

Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.* 

p.s. Call your mother, she misses you. 

Love,
God, *Genesis 1:29

Some people are so convinced that God’s original intention for humankind included adhering to a vegetarian diet, they actually practice something called “The Edenic Diet.” The Edenic Diet was strongly advocated by Reverend Sylvester Graham (1794–1851) who proposed a “diet without meat—especially pork, shellfish, fatty sauces, spices, salt, sugar, coffee, tea, condiments and alcohol.”

Alas, wine is one of those biblical foodstuffs I’d really like to hold onto. And if you want to take it away from me, you’ll have to pry it from my kung-fu death grip. I’m Catholic. What can I say? Sorry, Edenic Diet.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Remember that little line stuffed somewhere between “listen to your parents” and “no adultery?” What was it again? Oh, yeah. Thou shalt not kill – with no specification differentiating the slaughter of animals as better or worse than the slaughter of humans.

 

Dinner: Vegetarian Pasta Salad

Penne + tomatoes + kalamata olives + chickpeas + cucumbers + goat cheese crumbles …drizzled in lemon juice and olive oil. Toss and serve.

Recipe: Tart on Tart Pie

There are two kinds of people I simply don’t trust in life: 1) People who don’t like dogs. 2) People who choose cake over pie.

If you fall into either of those categories, stop reading this post now and seek immediate treatment. Assuming you like dogs and pie (or at least pie) continue reading.

In the world of fruit pies an eternal struggle has been going on for centuries: cherry vs apple. It’s fair to say this epic battle has not only resulted in the dissolution of friendships and marriages, it has lead to some disappointing dinners as well.

In order to settle the debate once and for all, I have devised a solution. I like to think of it as a little “Tart on Tart” action. So with no further ado, I give you Tart-on-Tart Apple Cherry Pie.

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Tart-on-Tart Apple Cherry Pie

INGREDIENTS

CRUST
1 pre-made frozen crust. I simply can’t bring myself to battle homemade crust. If you are a masochist, a quick google should provide plenty of crust recipes. And maybe after you master that impossible skill, you can teach me how to fold a fitted sheet, too.

FILLING
1-2 cans tart cherries, drained
3 tart apples, peeled and sliced (I use granny smiths, but you can mix it up)
1/2 cup sugar
2 T. flour
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves

TOPPING
3/4 cup oatmeal
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup flour
6 T. butter, chilled and cubed
3 t. cinnamon

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 F. Combine cherries, apples and dry filling ingredients in a bowl. Stir and spoon into crust.

In another bowl, mix together topping flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter cubes using your hands to blend the butter into the dry mixture. If the mixture is excessively greasy, add more flour. If mixture is too dry, cut in more butter. Lightly pack topping over the filling and place pie on a baking sheet covered with tin foil. Bake pie until topping is golden (approximately 35 minutes. Cover crust edges with foil to prevent over-browning. Reduce oven temperature to 350F. Continue baking until apples in center of pie are tender when pierced with a fork and filling is bubbly and thick at pie edges (approximately 25-35 minutes.) Cool and serve.

Mmmmmm pie filling.

 

FOLLOW REVEG OF THE NERD ON FACEBOOK BY —> CLICKING HERE <— (works just like a magical teleportation machine, no?)

“Everybody in the F’n Pot!” Soup (aka Taco Soup)

Everybody in the pot!

I should preface this post with kudos to the dear friend from whence it came. I should also state the recipe was given to me with explicit instructions not to deviate from the instructions whatsoever. Of course I, being me, immediately deviated in every conceivable way. And it was awesome. My apologies, old friend. And now…with no further ado, I give you “EVERYBODY IN THE F’N POT!” SOUP*. (*Commonly referred to as “Taco Soup” in less dramatic circles…) 

Once in awhile a girl comes across a recipe so good, she finds herself thinking absurd things – and I am not talking your run-of-the-mill “makes me want to run out into a field and twirl” fantasy. I am talking more like “With this soup I am pretty certain I could snag a ruggedly handsome lumberjack husband with Midwestern values and a high IQ who will build us a house with his own two hands where together we will raise three strong, smart, talented children and spend our weekends roasting marshmallows over a backyard fire pit whilst throwing sticks for our retriever named “Blue.” (Because, you know, it only makes sense if I’m hypothetically marrying a lumberjack named Paul Buyon.)

Oh wait. I fear I’ve said too much.

But what I am really trying to say is this soup f’n rocks. And I’m not the kind of girl who throws the f-word around like a hot potato at lunch. Actually, it’s more of a chili than a soup, and although the original recipe includes meat, even during my omnivorous days I never really found the meat necessary. Instead, I beef it up (pardon the pun) the beans, which makes it plenty hearty. The exclusion of ground beef also makes it a VEGAN chili, which should merit some sort of additional bonus points in veggie world if you ask me. Or at least some extra good karma.

Below you will find my standard version of Taco Soup, but more often than not, this dish becomes an excuse to clean the pantry. I pretty much toss in any array of beans, veggies or anything else I have on-hand. Fresh cilantro? In  the pot. Jalepenos? In the pot! I am fairly convinced you cannot screw it up. Also, it makes a TON, so assuming you would like to win friends and influence people (or just maintain existing friendships so you always have someone to drive you to the airport at 5 am) , this is a great way to do just that.

Side note: For some reason when I make this dish, I always imagine the beans are listening to Barry Harris’ “Dive in the Pool.” Not sure why I associate soup with legume raves, but there you have it. And once they’re down the hatch? Well, that’s when the party really begins.

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BASIC INGREDIENTS
2 cups diced onions
Several cans of beans (pinto, kidney, red, black, navy, great northern – the sky is the limit!)
1 (15 1/4-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can tomatoes with chiles
2 (4 1/2-ounce) cans diced green chiles
1 (1 1/4-ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 (1-ounce) package ranch salad dressing mix

OPTIONAL ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS
Small can chopped jalepenos

Fresh cilantro

Corn chips and shredded cheese for serving

DIRECTIONS | Brown the onions in a large skillet; then transfer to a large slow cooker or a stockpot. Add all remaining ingredients and cook in a slow cooker on low for 6 to 8 hours or simmer over low heat for about 1 hour in a pot on the stove. While you wait, check out this bean-friendly history lesson on BEANFEAST.

To serve, place a few corn chips in each bowl and ladle soup over them. Top with corn chips and cheese if desired.

Voila! You are master (or mistress) of the crock pot! There is nothing you can’t do now. (Except maybe fold a fitted sheet.)

They like us. They really LIKE us. No seriously…LIKE us.

Not sure if it’s love? There’s always LIKE.

If reading full blog posts requires a level of commitment that leaves you feeling like we’re moving a little too fast – there’s always LIKE.

Yeehaw, ReVeg is on Facebook. Profess your LIKE by LIKING* us.

What’s in it for you? I’m glad you asked. Upon liking ye shall receive…

• Access to brief blips and burps of foodie-releavant information
• Zero calorie, zero carb, 100% delicious images of food and foodstuffs
• Insta-connection to fun people who love food and drink (not necessarily in that order)
• Another way to look busy at work when you’re really just killing time until 5 (ahem)
• A free workout for your fingers (clicking uses energy!)
• Miscellaneous other things I cannot think of at this moment**
• Good karma points

Convinced? Click here to get your LIKE on. 

Not convinced? Here is a photo of a goddess stacking pigs. Now you are convinced. Because who can argue with that?

*I had to carefully review this post to make sure I didn’t transpose “lick” for “like” – which would be a WHOLE other kind of internet love connection…

**But will undoubtedly be awesome.

Reveg Review: Buffalo Wild Wings

Try the...oh wait, you can't eat anything here.

Last night I accompanied a group of friends to Wednesday night trivia at Buffalo Wild Wings. We lost, but I did learn that the frog was the first land animal to develop vocal cords. And Rosanna Arquette is older than Paula Abdul.

But I digress…

THE BACK STORY
My first week as a born-again vegetarian had been going quite smoothly. At least until last night. In the spirit of full disclosure, I LOVE buffalo sauce. As far as I am concerned, it should be its own food group. The condiment to end all condiments. A state of perfection. And if you can’t stand the heat? Well…that’s how we weed out the weak from the strong.

In the past, BWW has posed a problem for me that had nothing to do with meat. It had to do with beer. BWW is an establishment that specializes in beer, beer and more beer. And when you’ve had your fill of beer – there are plenty of sports! (Something else I could care less about.) As a non-beer drinker, that is an issue. This is not to say there are not “non-beer” options at BWs. They have wine: two reds and two whites (all four truly terrible) as well as an array of “fun” drinks (margaritas, mojitos, electric lemonade) which I dare not touch as each has the potential to instantly transport me to back to a time in life (college) when my social circle happily drank from plastic party cups. I’m older, wiser and snobbier now, and that means I like my cocktails like I like my men – smooth and straight-up.

Adding vegetarianism to the mix added a whole new layer of complication. Naturally, I did not expect a restaurant that had soared to power on the backs (wings) of chickens to have a plethora of veg-friendly options. But I did expect at least a FEW things. Prior to heading out for the eve, a quick google search revealed this wasn’t going to be as easy as I had planned.

In one blog post, there was mention of “boca burger” (which I didn’t even see listed on our local menu) but as it turns out the veggie patty is fried in beef tallow oil. Apparently ESSENTIALLY NOTHING on the BWW menu is vegetarian. Darn near everything heated up at Bw3 is fried in beef tallow oil, thus not veggie-friendly. And according to a 2010 response from BWW corporate, it doesn’t appear they have plans to change that anytime soon…

We do have a few options that would fit a vegetarian life style. Boca Burger,  Flat Breads minus the Chicken, Garden and Side salad.  We do fry all our products in a beef tallow oil which we understand would not be an option.

A comment from a BWW employee on I Married an Omnivore claims “The fries, onion rings, tortilla chips – everything fried is fried in beef tallow. It is unfortunate because the only veg side option is a side salad.” I opted for the nachos sans-chili, assuming that was a safe bet. After reading that even the chips are fried in animal lard, I have earned my first badge as a FAILitarian. In retrospect, it would appear the only additional veggie-friendly options at our local BWW are the side salad, “veggie boat” (celery and carrot sticks with ranch dressing) – and possibly the spinach-artichoke dip with pita (assuming the pita isn’t also lard fried.)

Looks like it may be time to retire my bottle o’ buffalo. Le sigh.

VEGGIE FRIENDLINESS RATING: 1/5

mmmushrooms: they’re what’s for dinner.

Tiki hut surrounded by black sand beach or a portobello mushroom? You be the judge.

There was once a time in my life when the thought of eating a mushroom sounded about as appealing to me as eating the styrofoam container in which the mushrooms were sold. I can only assume my fungi-phobia must have been attributed to something I had heard as a child, which forever linked the term “mushrooms” with expressions like “thrives on manure heaps.”

Though I don’t remember how or when, somewhere along the way I decided to give mushrooms another try, and a culinary love affair was born. Even prior to my veg conversion, I would have put a good portobello burger up against a beef patty any day of the week.

In celebration of my first official night of born-again vegetarianism, I decided to hitch myself back on the wagon by way of homemade portobello burger. Dinner consisted of…

• Portobello burger with a slice of tomato and red onion, baby spinach, goat cheese and an easy aioli on a whole-wheat bun
• Red potato rosemary fries pan roasted in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt
• Vegetarian baked beans from a can (Because…why not? It’s not like I carved them open with a pocket knife hobo-style.)

If you have never attempted to cook your own portobello burger, it is only slightly more complicated than rudimentary culinary tasks such as juicing lemons and trying to insert the straw into a Capri Sun. You can do it!

[recipe after the jump]

Blame it on Bourdain: How the Notorious Anti-Veg Inspired me to Reconsider my Carnivorous Habit

I like Anthony Bourdain. In many ways I think of him as the Bukowski of the foodie world. A gifted wordsmith, cigarette in one hand, a cocktail in the other – an innate ability to hold up a cultural mirror that somehow makes the places we’ve never been to feel intimately familiar while reintroducing us to the places we’ve come to call home. Bourdain has lifted stones, dusted-off history books and drawn back the curtain to give us new perspective on the food we eat. He has invited us into a world where grittiness is a new form holiness, and stains on whites, tale-telling badges of honor. A world dichotomized by both humility and bravado, simplicity and complexity, tradition and innovation. Bourdain has reintroduced us to our culinary heritage – from earth to farm to plate. But more than that, he has introduced us to the people and passion behind the craft.

To put it bluntly, I admire the man. He ranks near the top of the top of my hypothetical “Who would you invite – dead or alive?” dinner party guest wish list. And, given my respect for the author, the chef and the fact that Mr. Bourdain has long been associated with phrases such as “hates vegetarians,” I must now apologize for what I’m about to say.

It is with mixed emotion that I am blogging today to inform you of my intent to give up meat. And I blame it all on Anthony Bourdain.

Read on…