| Three years ago I decided to go "meatless." | | | | 1/2 cup quorn grounds thawed |
| It wasn't a difficult decision as I wasn't a | | | | |
| voracious carnivore to begin with, however | | | | 2 tbsp. dried mint (or 1/4 cup fresh mint |
| there were a few dishes that I missed that | | | | chopped fine) |
| contained meat and wondered how I was going | | | | |
| to live without these favorites.Rather than | | | | 1 tbsp. dried parsely (or 1/4 cup fresh |
| resign myself to the notion that these dishes | | | | parsely chopped fine) |
| could never be converted over to a meatless | | | | |
| status, I decided to pull myself up by my | | | | 1 tsp dried oregano (or 1/8 cup fresh |
| vegetarian bootstrings (cotton, of course), | | | | oregano chopped fine) |
| and see if I could find a way to convert | | | | |
| these meat-ies to meatless.The first was my | | | | 1 tsp. sea salt |
| Grammy's recipe for American Chop Suey, | | | | |
| actually, almost everyone's Grammy made this | | | | 2 tsp pepper |
| or some variation of it. I tried different | | | | |
| ways but this one comes the closest:Meatless | | | | 1 small can tomato pasteJuice of 2 |
| American Chop Suey1 vidalia onion chopped | | | | lemonsRemove the grape leaves from the jar, |
| | | | rinse and unfold carefully and rinse again. |
| 1-2 tbsp. butter | | | | Lay paper towels and pat dry. Gently remove |
| | | | any stems that are still on the leaves.In a |
| 1/2 pkg Quorn (brandname) veggie grounds | | | | large bowl mix the filling ingredients |
| frozen | | | | together till they are well |
| | | | incorporated.Carefully separate a few of the |
| 2 cans Campbells Tomato Soup | | | | leaves and line the bottom of a 1-2 gallon |
| | | | stock pot.To roll take a leaf, place 1 |
| 1 tblsp. catsup (yes catsup, you can't | | | | heaping tsp of filling in the center of the |
| really taste it, it just adds a rich color to | | | | leaf about 1/2 inch up from the bottom edge. |
| the sauce) | | | | Fold 1/2 inch up over the filling, fold each |
| | | | side toward the middle, then beginning at the |
| sea salt and pepper to taste1 lb of your | | | | bottom again roll the whole package up till |
| favorite fancy pasta in its rigati form, that | | | | you have a 1-2" "log.Continue with the |
| means with lines, or something like like | | | | rolling process till you use up all the |
| gemelli or rotiniMelt butter in a medium | | | | filling.Line the rolled leaves up in a |
| sized skillet over low heat. Add vidalia | | | | circular pattern in the stock pot till all |
| onion and gently saute until translucent. | | | | are in. Pour the juice of both lemons gently |
| Add frozen Quorn grounds and heat till | | | | over the rolled leaves. Place a dinner plate |
| thawed. Add 2 cans soup and cook over low | | | | on top with a stone in the middle to keep in |
| heat for 5-7 minutes. Add catsup salt and | | | | place. Gradually add cold water till it just |
| pepper and cook an additional 102 | | | | covers the leaves.Bring contents to a boil |
| minutes.Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. | | | | then reduce and simmer for abount 1/2 hour |
| Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain | | | | till tender. Drain water by holding on to |
| thoroughly and add sauce to pasta. Stir to | | | | stone to keep plate in place and gently pour |
| incorporate completely. Serve. Serves | | | | out cooking water. Leave plate on till |
| 4-6 people as a side.This next one is an | | | | almost cool.Remove plate and serve with plain |
| adaptation of a Greek-Middle-Eastern recipe | | | | yogurt, yummy.These can be frozen in 1-2 |
| for Dolma. I loved this dish as a youngster | | | | serving sizes for later. I like to do it |
| summering on Cape Cod. A wonderful Lebanese | | | | this way then microwave them for a minute and |
| family "turned me on" to this dish and I | | | | a half for a quickie meal.Cathy O is a |
| have finally found a way to make it meatless | | | | successful author who provides information on |
| and spectacular!Veggie Dolmas1 jar of | | | | gourmet gift baskets, gourmet food, and |
| Grapeleaves in brineFilling: | | | | gourmet recipes. "In addition to being a |
| | | | freelance writer, I also dabble in |
| 2 cup basmati rice cooked | | | | Aromatherapy, Herbalism and painting when I |
| | | | am so inspired. Living in the Lake region of |
| 1/2 cup currants | | | | Western Maine has been of tremendous |
| | | | inspiration to me and I am proud and happy to |
| 1/2 cup of pine nuts ground | | | | call it home. |
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