Vegetarian Eggplant Bolognese

Yield: 4 servings

Oil for saute

1 eggplant, diced

Sweet onion, diced (use as much/little as you like)

1 zucchini cut in strips

1 leek, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

coarse salt and ground pepper to taste

 1 C Boca Meatless Crumbles

1 tomato

1 can tomato paste

 Italian seasoning, to taste (about 1 T)

2 C whole wheat pasta

1. Bring water to near boil with eggplant; cover When it begins to get translucent, turn off heat and keep covered.

2. In a skillet, warm oil and add onions, garlic, leek and zucchini. Cook several minutes until the veggies begin to soften. Add salt and pepper to taste, if you like.

3. Add tomato, tomato paste Boca crumbles and Italian seasonings, to taste.

4. Drain the eggplant and save the liquid as a veggie stock.

5. Boil some of the eggplant water as well as plain water; add pasta. (You can add salt to the water but I didn't.) Cook for about 7-8 minutes for al dente.

6. Meanwhile, add eggplant to the skillet. Stir and continue to cook for about 5 minutes.

7. When the pasta has cooked, add it to the veggies and serve. Enjoy with shredded hard cheese (i.e. Romano/Parmasean), if you like.

Nutritional information:
220 calories
363 mg sodium
285.5 mg potassium
46g carbs
  9g fiber
  10g sugar
11g protein

Adaptation: Vegetarian 'brownies'

http://happyherbivore.com/recipe/vegan-blackbean-brownies/

The link is to the original vegan recipe. This is from the Happy Herbivore cookbook. Follow her on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/HappyHerbivoreBlog or Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/happyherbivore

I will be making another batch of these soon and will add pictures.
Yield: 12 brownies

I used the ingredients in the link, except I used honey instead of agave nectar.

I would also recommend allowing them to cool before cutting. I didn't and the first one was quite mushy.

Nutritional Information:

85 calories
.8 g fat
126.25 mg Na
64.5 mg K
19.8 g carbs
  3.45 g fiber
  9.78 g sugar
2.8 g protein

Brown Rice Paella

I modified a book recipe to make it work with what I like/have/prefer. Use your own imagination to make this recipe fit for you and yours!

1.25 C brown rice
onion, to taste (I used about 1/4 Vadelia)
4 cloves garlic
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
10 oz peas
8 oz white button mushrooms
1 can artichoke hearts
14 oz asparagus (I used canned out of convenience; fresh will bring a different flavor/texture)
liquid from artichokes/asparagus
2 tsp turmeric
pinch saffron

In one pan, bring water to a boil and begin to cook the rice.

In another pan, using the oil of your choice (I prefer canola), saute the mushrooms. Cook until tender and then set aside.

In the same pan, saute the onions and 2 cloves of garlic. Add the peas shorly after the onion and garlic have cooked. Cook together for several minutes, until peas are thawed and soft throughout.

 At this point, add the rice, its water, some of the veggie liquids, turmeric and saffron to the onion/garlic/pea pan. (You'll want enough liquid for the rice to finish cooking, so add water if you feel there's a need.)

Let this all cook with reduced heat. I added a lid after a while and turned the heat off to allow the flavors to mix.

In a separate pan, begin to cook the zucchini and squash.

After they have softened, add the asparagus (and a little of its juice, if necessary). After about a minute, add the artichokes. Cook together until desired softness is obtained.

Combine the ingredients and top with cracked black pepper, to taste. Enjoy!! A healthy serving of protein and fiber, complete with vitamins and nutrients. (I was able to get 6 portions, each at about 300 calories. If you want a more specific breakdown of the nutritional information, please email me.)