More meatless recipes to share

You'd have to be hiding with your head in the sand to not know what's going on with our economy crumbling, and more and more people are trying to shave what they can from their budgets.

My post two weeks ago on meatless meals got a lot of response, and readers on and offline asked me for other ideas. So, here are a few other recipes to try. I'd like to state for the record that the 3 year old ate them all, so they are kid-friendly!

Gougere
Otherwise known as "cheesy bread," this is great to make late at night to have on hand for breakfast. Warning: It takes a half-hour to prep and an hour to bake, but we think it's worth it.

I'm including the "base recipe," but you can tweak it by adding such things as Italian herbs, cheeses, bacon, green onions or whatever sparks your interest.

1 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons flour
4 large eggs, at room temperature (set out 2 hrs. early)
1 cup parmesan, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 375. Grease 9-inch cake pan.

Cook milk, butter, salt and pepper in large saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently, until full boil. Take pan off heat. Dump flour in at once, stir. Return to heat. Stir vigorously until mixture comes away from the sides of the pan. Remove from heat.

Beat eggs one at a time into dough, stirring vigorously until eggs is completely incorporated. Add parmesan. Pour dough into pan; bake 50 min. Make a few cuts with a sharp knife; bake 10 additional minutes. Serve hot or cold.


Pita Salad
Loosely adapted from Every Day with Rachel Ray Magazine, September 2008, this was a great way to use up some odds and ends from my CSA share.

3 pitas, cut into bite-size pieces
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 clove garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1 head romaine lettuce, torn into pieces

Preheat the oven to 350°. Transfer the pitas to a baking sheet; bake until crisp, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Stir in the cucumbers, tomatoes, bell pepper, scallions, parsley, mint and pitas. Add the lettuce and toss.

Vegetable Low Mein

We'd planned to make another recipe, but our bok choy in the box was no good. ("Mush," my husband described it as.) So we tweaked the original recipe as follows.

12 ounces vermicelli, uncooked
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1/2 cup coarsely shredded carrot
1/2 cup mushrooms

Cook pasta according to package. Drain and set aside. Coat a wok or large nonstick skillet cooking spray and 1 teaspoon sesame oil. Heat at medium-high temp. (375 degrees) until hot. Stir-fry garlic for 2 minutes. Add onions; stir-fry for 5 minutes. Add broth, soy sauce and red pepper. Stir fry for 1 minute. Add carrots and mushrooms corn. Stir-fry for approximately 2 minutes. Add cooked pasta; toss gently.


[The name of this organic CSA was deleted from this post on January 28, 2009. I have been falsely accused of libel by this CSA and will no longer promote them by using the name of the organization. I only hope that their representatives learn to appreciate the beauty of the First Amendment that we have achieved in this country. As I am open to all opinions and discussions on my site, I maintained their comments even though I disagreed with them.]
[Edited Jan. 30, 2009, to remove link to my former CSA's blog, where the other low mein recipe was posted. Sorry if you wanted a different low mein recipe, but there are plenty online!]