Going Veggie

[JRS]

I am not a vegetarian myself but this sweet and sour peppers recipe is quite good(the original has it served with pork chops but I leave it up to you to invent a veggie replacement for those):

For the sweet and sour peppers:
*Olive oil, for frying
*1 red onion, peeled and sliced
*2 red peppers, deseeded and thinly sliced
*Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
*1 tbsp caster sugar
*3 tbsp red wine vinegar
*1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
*Small bunch of basil, leaves shredded


1. First prepare the peppers. Heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan, then add the onion and peppers. Season with salt and pepper, add the sugar and sauté over a high heat for 4-5 minutes until soft and coloured. (Make sure you can hear the vegetables hissing in the pan. If not, the pan isn’t hot enough and you’re in danger of boiling the vegetables instead of frying them.)


2. Add the vinegar and let it bubble for a minute or two until it has reduced and the peppers are soft. Turn down the heat, add the tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Stir in the shredded basil and continue to cook for 30 seconds, then turn off the heat. Decant into a bowl and set aside to infuse.

Source: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2012-...-gordon-ramsay

[Count Zero]

CorporalClegg wrote:

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You know, I'm surprised Lady CZ hasn't chimed in on this thread yet.

I didn't have access to the board yesterday because I can't log in here on my phone for some reason.


When I saw the thread title I cheered a little, to be honest. Maybe we only had that conversation in my head, J. but I seem to remember me poking you a little for the discrepancy between your love for animals and eating meat. I found myself in a similar contradictory position for years because I did have ethical concerns but kept pushing them away out of convenience and because I believed I could never give up meat because I loved eating it.
But when I tried to cut back on it massively and only eat it when I really felt like it or on special occasions almost ten years ago (holy fuck, time flies) I found it was easy and became vegetarian 'by accident'.
Anyway, I'm always happy to hear about someone taking the same step, especially if it's someone I like.

J. Allen wrote:

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Indeed. I'm finding that my energy levels have been boosted significantly just in the past few days. If this keeps up, I'm going to have to start jogging around the house just to burn some of it off!

Yeah, it was the same for me. I felt so much more energetic almost immediately which made me really regret that I hadn't done it sooner. Unfortunately, you get kind of used to the feeling.
I'm glad to hear that your new diet works so well for your health. That's really great.

CorporalClegg wrote:

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Yeah it's definitely not easy. I admit the one thing I could absolutely not give up was sushi. Granted, I can count on one hand the number of pieces I've had in the last three years, but I could never permanently say "no" to it.

I had some trouble with giving up sushi and seafood, too. I ate it a couple of times after I had become a vegetarian. But I realised very soon that I was capable of giving it up and would do so eventually. It only took me a coule of months longer.

lurok wrote:

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This thread needs more veggie porn


Pomegranate tabbouleh. Yum.

Been seeing quinoa mentioned in lot of recipes. Haven't tried that yet.

I have but I can't remember what it was like. (Don't take that as a verdict about the stuff, though.)
That pomegranate tabbouleh looks really delicious and reminds me that I should really eat healthier. But I'm usually too lazy to cook/prepare something fancy just for myself so I stick with a limited range of meals I like. Oh well.

[Gary7]

Hey, I have a bean question. When you buy dried beans and lentils, it seems like they need to soak for a long time before they're usable. Like 4-6 hours minimum. Is there any maximum? Can I keep a bunch of beans sealed up with water in a jar in my refrigerator, ready to be used at a moment's notice? Or would they deteriorate into a soggy mess before too long?

[teacake]

You don't need to soak lentils at all. Also pinto beans you can just cook, takes a couple hours but it's not dramatically shortened by soaking. Kidney and black beans benefit from soaking and chick peas.. those muthafuckers need to be pressure cooked or something.

Just put the beans in a pot with water the night before. Whenever you want to cook them the next day or evening they will be fine.

Once cooked you can keep them in your fridge in the water they cooked in for about 5 days. I find they last a lot longer in the water than drained. You can also freeze them, very useful to just grab a cup of frozen cooked beans out of the freezer and toss them into a soup. So that might be a good solution for you, make a huge pot and portion them into freezer bags.

[J. Allen]

Count Zero wrote:

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I didn't have access to the board yesterday because I can't log in here on my phone for some reason.

When I saw the thread title I cheered a little, to be honest. Maybe we only had that conversation in my head, J. but I seem to remember me poking you a little for the discrepancy between your love for animals and eating meat. I found myself in a similar contradictory position for years because I did have ethical concerns but kept pushing them away out of convenience and because I believed I could never give up meat because I loved eating it.
But when I tried to cut back on it massively and only eat it when I really felt like it or on special occasions almost ten years ago (holy fuck, time flies) I found it was easy and became vegetarian 'by accident'.
Anyway, I'm always happy to hear about someone taking the same step, especially if it's someone I like.

I seem to vaguely recall that conversation. Yeah, it was only a matter of time before I stopped eating meat entirely. I've never been very big on eating meat, and once I rationalized with myself that eating a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, and grains, and not requiring an animal to become my dinner, just to feed me, I knew I could take the step.

Now, I mentioned it before, but I don't have a problem with other folks eating meat, just that for me it's not wanted (just in case someone thinks I'm judging them for what they eat).

Yeah, it was the same for me. I felt so much more energetic almost immediately which made me really regret that I hadn't done it sooner. Unfortunately, you get kind of used to the feeling.
I'm glad to hear that your new diet works so well for your health. That's really great.

Thanks, CZ.

I have but I can't remember what it was like. (Don't take that as a verdict about the stuff, though.)
That pomegranate tabbouleh looks really delicious and reminds me that I should really eat healthier. But I'm usually too lazy to cook/prepare something fancy just for myself so I stick with a limited range of meals I like. Oh well.

I know what you mean. I have two favorite dishes right now. The first is a salad of dark kidney beans, romaine lettuce, minced onion, pepper. The second is grilled roma tomatoes with black pepper, sea salt, and parmesan cheese melted on top, over a bed of lettuce.

Gary7 wrote:

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Hey, I have a bean question. When you buy dried beans and lentils, it seems like they need to soak for a long time before they're usable. Like 4-6 hours minimum. Is there any maximum? Can I keep a bunch of beans sealed up with water in a jar in my refrigerator, ready to be used at a moment's notice? Or would they deteriorate into a soggy mess before too long?

From what my mom tells me (she's a bean queen), you can store them in salt water for a day or two (she recommends soaking in salt water anyway as it prevents the beans from splitting open while you cook), but if you wait too long, they'll start to go bad. You have to keep beans dry for proper storage, as moisture will make them rot.

[teacake]

I've never had them split open unless I wanted them to split open, ie over cooked them. You can cook them to aldente or cook them to mush depending on what you are doing. You do not need to cook anything in salt water ever, though the older generation apparently cooked everything that way.

My pot of beans which I have in the fridge at all times is there for 5 to 7 days, depending on the bean. Black beans seem to last forever.

Oh and LOL on the complete protein debunking, I was raised on that one. It was like one of the ten commandments in my house.

[J. Allen]

teacake wrote:

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I've never had them split open unless I wanted them to split open, ie over cooked them. You can cook them to aldente or cook them to mush depending on what you are doing. You do not need to cook anything in salt water ever, though the older generation apparently cooked everything that way.

My pot of beans which I have in the fridge at all times is there for 5 to 7 days, depending on the bean. Black beans seem to last forever.

Oh and LOL on the complete protein debunking, I was raised on that one. It was like one of the ten commandments in my house.

Mmm... I need to make black bean soup now. Though I had this for dinner:
Grilled Romas with black pepper, sea salt, and parmesan. This came out better than the tomato attempt from the other day.

[Count Zero]

Thanks for the lentils and beans advice. They have some interesting lentil and bean varieties at the super markets but I never bought them because I didn't know how to prepare them and thought it was complicated.

[teacake]

You can always google it, but really it's not an exact science.

Very nice looking J.!

Now here's something dull.. though I actually love it. No fat greek style yogurt (the real stuff, not that shit diet stuff full of fillers) and 3/4 of a cup of All Bran. I'm often a sparse and/or erratic eater and eating this every day ensures I get some calcium and a good dose of fiber. For some reason this always makes me feel fantastic. I guess most people would put muesli or All Bran with fruits in it but I am not big on sweets and the fiber in the plain All Bran is impressively high.

[trampledamage]

That actually sounds really nice, teacake - I shall have to try that combination. Something nice and simple for breakfast.

[lurok]

All Bran makes great muffins but tastes like motherfrakking cardboard on its own. Almost as bad as Grape Nuts. Though I will eat both.

Also...v confused about lentils as I buy mine dry and it says if you do not soak overnight YOU WILL DIE! Or something.

[teacake]

Lentils do not need to be soaked at all. If you did soak them I'd imagine you could just eat them without cooking.

I love french lentils, those tiny dark ones. There's a great salad with french lentils, feta cheese, red peppers, red onion, olive oil and balsamic and cracked pepper. There, that's the whole recipe, LOL.

[lurok]

So I've had to buy new pack and looked at packaging. Natco Green Lentils.

Instructions: Soak for 12 hrs or overnight.
blah, blah.
Caution. Do not eat raw or YOU WILL DIE!

Do they lie?

Are those French ones you like puy lentils? (duh). I think they're the best but far too good to waste in soup.

A farming friend once made me a divine broad bean soup that used their big furry pods.

[Emher]

Made tsq's chili, with a small mod: added some beef and subtracted some beans (stills beans in it though). here it is in different stages:








And it was delicious it really was...but next time I'll go easier on the chilies and chili seasoning. Didn't think I added that much (certainly not above what was in the recipe), but it turned out very spicy! To the point that we had to get some bread and sour cream to keep eating it. Either ingredients here and in the US are different, or tsq is more of a man then I

[thestrangequark]

^ With chili you live and learn! Each time you make it you'll be able to hone it more to your personal tastes. And I DO like it spicy!