CampusIntel

Alright, so it’s time for another addition of how to be vegetarian! So this week was Valentines and this year I celebrated it with my boyfriend by cooking together, more specifically, by making a HUGE friggin delicious meal of salad, bruschetta, garlic bread, tofu manicotti and wine! It was so good in fact that I wanted to share it with you all (how lucky do you feel?). So, here it is:

Ingredients for manicotti:

-1/3 package of tofu
-Manicotti noodles
-2 cloves of garlic
-2 table spoons of lemon juice
-1 table spoon of sugar
-frozen chopped spinach
-1 container of ricotta cheese
-a pinch of garlic salt, black pepper, and parsley
-pasta sauce

Directions:

-Heat your oven to about 350 degrees.

-Butter a deep dish to place the manicotti in and then spread a layer of pasta sauce on the bottom to lay them on.

-Bring a pot of water with some salt to a light boil and place about 6-8 manicotti (you do not have to cook them all at once as they may crack or stick together in smaller pots. Cook them until tender (do not overcook as this may make them too soft and difficult to stuff) or as the box directs.

-Mash up 1/3 of tofu, place in a large bowl, add minced garlic cloves, lemon juice, sugar and ricotta cheese. Thaw out your spinach and then add this along with the above mentioned spices. Mix this together well.

-Once cooked and cooled for a few minutes, begin to stuff your manicotti noodles with the tofu mixture.

-As you finish stuffing each noodle, place it on top of the layer of pasta sauce in your pan.

-Once all of your noodles are stuffed, cover noodles with more pasta sauce (and sprinkle with grated cheese and parsley if you’d like).

-Place manicotti in oven for about 30 minutes.

 **A great complement with this meal was the garlic bread and bruschetta.

For bruschetta you will need:

-1 baguette
-1 small tomato
-balsamic vinaigrette
-olive oil
-basil
-paprika
-grated cheese

Directions:

-Cut the baguette into slices and place on a cooking sheet.

-Dice tomato and place in a small bowl

-Add equal parts balsamic vinaigrette and olive oil. Sprinkle in some basil and paprika and mix this together.

-Spoon out a small amount on each slice of baguette.

-Sprinkle some grated cheese on top of each piece.

-Place in oven with manicotti for the last 5 or so minutes (keep an eye on it, if it browns or the cheese starts to bubble, remove from oven).

 For garlic bread you will need:

-1 baguette
-butter
-garlic salt
-parmesan cheese
-paprika
-basil
-grated cheese

Directions:

-Cut baguette in half (cutting the top part off of the bottom half).

-Butter each half and then sprinkle with garlic salt and parmesan cheese.

-Sprinkle a pinch of paprika and basil on top

-load with grated cheese (as much as you desire!)

-Place this in with the manicotti and bruschetta for the last 5 or so minutes as well, keeping an eye on it.

            Hello again, and welcome to another addition of vegetarian recipe’s from Allison’s cue cards! Alright, so I figure that the last recipe I posted might be a bit tricky for some, so if you read it and though…woah, not for me! Than you’re in luck! I found another and VERY simple (vegetarian) recipe for Sheppard’s Pie (Mmm)! So get on your cooking pants!

             Ingredients: 
            -One package of (Yves) veggie ground round (again, found in most grocery stores in the vegetable section).
           -Some onion
            -Potatoes
            -One small can of vegetable soup (with a tomato soup base)
            -One small can of tomato soup

-Chop up some onion and throw into a large pan (add some oil so it doesn’t stick) and fry up the package of veggie ground round with this on medium heat (keep stirring intermittently).

-While that is cooking, boil potatoes.

-Once veggie ground round is cooked (basically 5 or 10 minutes) add the can of vegetable and tomato soup.

-Cook this mixture together until a good amount of the moisture is gone (but don’t let it get too dry).

-In a greased casserole dish, add the mixture and smooth out. Place the mashed potatoes on top and smooth out, then brush the top with a bit of butter (and sprinkle with cheese if you’d like).

-Bake at about 350 degrees for about 25 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

             And there you have it! The easiest vegetarian recipe I have! I’ve had a lot of complements on it (from non-vegetarians mostly) and it’s really simple and a great meal for students/the student lifestyle, so I hope you enjoy!