Vegetarian Frogmore Stew

I'm from Mississippi. I was raised in Memphis. I feel like understand a good deal about our Southern foodways. I really do have some blind spots, though! The Carolinas in particular remain a culinary enigma to me. I get grits, and fried green tomatoes, and greens, and pimento cheese. I didn't, however, understand how it differed until I sat down with my buddy Ryan Trimm, a terrific chef and owner of Sweetgrass, a Carolina Low Country restaurant here in Memphis.

He explained Frogmore Stew to me, which incidentally doesn't have frogs in it, nor is it really a stew. The version he serves at Sweetgrass is a stew, but it's not typically a stew. Can you see why I would be confused about such cuisine? So, if those are the things that it's not, then what is it? Well, it's basically a shrimp boil with sausage, and the broth is loaded up with Old Bay seasoning. Think of it as a soup that you can eat with your hands. Sounds fun, right?


Traditionally, it's served with cocktail sauce, garlic butter, and rolls. This really is a dish meant to feed a crowd. When it's ready, all of the goodies are picked up out of the flavorful broth and dumped onto a table that has been lined with newspaper. Once it's cool enough to touch, just grab what you like and start dipping the corn into the butter or potatoes into the cocktail sauce. It's all very lively and festive.


So, what's in a vegetarian version of this mythical dish? I chose to throw in some fresh artichoke hearts and stems, which are fun to eat and work well here. I also threw in some  vegetarian sausage, which you don't see me use much, but  it works great for this application.


Vegetarian Frogmore Stew
(serves 4)


1 quart vegetable stock
1 quart water
12 ounces beer (such as Sierra Nevada Pale Ale)
1 lemon
1 1/2 tablespoons Old Bay (more for garnish)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
10 cloves garlic (smashed, divided)
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
salt (to taste)
4 cups red-skin new potatoes (cut in half)
4 ears yellow corn (shucked, cut into quarters)
1 pound vegetarian sausage (such as Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage, cut into quarters)
4 artichokes (trimmed*)
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup organic cocktail sauce
1/4 cup chopped parsley



In a large stock pot over high heat, pour in the stock, water, and beer. Next, cut the lemon in half, squeeze the juice into the pot, then drop the squeezed lemon into the pot as well. This is a rustic dish. Add the Old Bay seasoning, crushed red pepper, 8 cloves of garlic, liquid smoke, black pepper, and sugar. Check for seasoning and adjust the salt to your taste. It may not need any depending on how salty the vegetable stock was to start. Bring that whole mixture up to a boil. Carefully add the potatoes and cook for about 8 minutes. Add the corn, sausage, and artichokes to the mixture. Cook uncovered for another 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Fish a variety of the components out of the broth and into a bowl. Add just a 1/2 cup of the broth for the steam and aroma.


While the stew cools enough to eat, place butter in a microwave-safe dish along with the two reserved garlic cloves. Microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute until the butter is just melted. Serve your Vegetarian Fromgmore Stew garnished with a light sprinkling of Old Bay and a pinch of fresh parsley with garlic butter and cocktail sauce on the side. No need for a fork -- just use your hands.


*For the artichokes: Cut off and discard the top 2/3 of the bulb leaving the whole stem and the bottom 1/3 of the bulb intact. (There is very little meat in the top portion of the vegetable.) Using a spoon, scoop out the choke, the fibrous center part of the vegetable. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the stem to reveal the tender and edible inside part of the stem. Finally, cut a 1/2 inch off the tip of the stem, stand the artichoke up on the bulb-side, and cut into quarters by running your knife through the stem, heart, and remaining leaves. This leaves you with a few leaves to pull off and scrape out when you are eating the stew, but most importantly, it leaves the heart and stem, the most delicious parts.

Sweet Potato Grits + Maple Mushrooms and Fried Egg

I served a version of this tremendous grits dish at Restaurant Iris during our brunch last June. This dish walks a fine line between sweet and savory and can be served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It was definitely one of the crowd favorites at brunch, along with the sweet potato pancakes and pimento cheese stuffed peppers. 

All of this is to say that we are really looking forward to our next culinary event, which will be at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art on March 1st from 6-8 p.m. It's a benefit  called the Farmer Mixer for the Cooper-Young Community Farmer's Market. (Details and ticket info. to come in a couple of weeks. We hope to see y'all there come March!)


Andrew Adams from the Brushmark and Acre and The Chubby Vegetarian team will be putting together a menu of hors d' oeuvres based on farmers'  in-season ingredients. We are so excited to cook with such a talented chef. Rest assured -- there will be plenty of vegetarian options.


Sweet Potato Grits + Maple Mushrooms and  Fried Egg 
(serves 4)


4 eggs
1 tablespoon butter
Sweet Potato Grits (recipe follows)
Maple Mushrooms (recipe follows)
Parsley + Tomato Topping (recipe follows)
sea salt & cracked black pepper to taste


Melt the butter in a 12-inch frying pan over medium heat. Crack eggs into the pan one at at time. Cover and cook for 5-6 minutes or until the white has set and the yolk is still runny. Divide the grits between 4 bowls. Top each with a fried egg, a sprinkling of the Parsley + Tomato Topping, and finally the bacon-y Maple Mushrooms. Add a touch of cracked black pepper and Maldon sea salt to finish.


Sweet Potato Grits

1 cup baked sweet potato (about 1 medium)
2 cups 2% milk
1/2 cup yellow corn grits
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tablespoon butter
1/4-1/2 cups vegetable stock or water


Bake sweet potato in a 350 degree oven for one hour. Remove and allow to cool. Once cool, the skin should peel right off. Next, slowly bring milk up to a boil in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the grits a little at a time to avoid clumps. Add in the sweet potato and break it up with your whisk. Add the salt, pepper, and butter then lower the heat to medium low. Sir occasionally. Use stock to achieve desired consistency.


Maple Mushrooms


1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon grainy mustard
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
10 ounces crimini mushrooms (sliced)



In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, canola oil, black pepper, mustard, soy sauce, and liquid smoke. Toss in the sliced mushrooms and allow to marinate for 20 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Drain the marinade off off the mushrooms and arrange in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until mushrooms begin to brown and appear dry. Remove from oven and allow to cool.


Parsley + Tomato Topping
1 cup diced tomato (1 medium)
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
cracked black pepper to taste
1/4 cup parsley (chopped)
1/4 minced shallot


Mix tomato, sugar, salt, pepper, parsley, and shallot together in a bowl. Set aside until ready to use.

Vegan Bran Muffins

Oh, the lowly bran muffin: it can be like eating a scrap of kraft paper, or it can make being semi-virtuous really easy and palatable. Adding more bran and using whole wheat pastry flour gave these a deeper, darker depth of flavor than the basic recipes I'm used to following. Put the batter together and store it covered in the fridge overnight; set out your muffin tin, liners, and ice cream scoop before you go to bed, and you can have these warm from the oven on a weekday with very little morningtime effort at all.

Vegan Bran Muffins

1 1/2 cups bran
1 1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour (sifted)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (sifted)

1/2 cup light brown sugar 

2/3 cup vegan cane sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

2/3 cup golden raisins

Topping (optional):

1/2 teaspoon Maldon salt

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

1 tablespoon soy margarine

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine soy milk and bran and let mixture sit for at least 10 minutes. Add vanilla, canola oil, and molasses and stir. In a separate bowl, sift flours, salt, sugars, and baking soda. Combine wet and dry mixtures; add raisins. Stir until just mixed. Use an ice-cream scoop to portion out batter into muffin cups; they can be filled almost to level because they won't rise much. If you want a crunchier top, sprinkle with brown sugar and salt and add a thin slice of margarine to the middle of each muffin before baking. Bake for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into a tester muffin comes out clean with few crumbs. 

BBQ Tofu Pizza

This is one of our favorite dishes here at The Chubby Vegetarian. This pie gets a double hit of smoke from the mozzarella plus the BBQ sauce, both of which make it super-savory and awesome. As a bonus, there's beer in the crust to add even more flavor. 

We make pizza for guests all of the time, mainly because I can't think of anyone on this planet who doesn't like pizza. I do get some funny looks when I tell folks that one of the pizzas on the table is BBQ tofu with cabbage. They are quite doubtful. Once they taste this deliciously weird mash-up of Italian and Southern American cuisine, they can understand why it's one of our favorites.


There are two shortcuts you could take here if you don't want to make all of this from scratch. Use two store-bought pizza crusts, or better yet, some pre-made pizza dough and a bottle of your favorite smoky BBQ sauce in order to cut down on the time you spend in the kitchen on this one.


BBQ Tofu Pizza
(Makes two 12-inch pizzas)

Beer Pizza Crust (divided in half, not thirds)
1 cup tomato sauce (divided)
3 cups shredded smoked mozzarella (about 6 ounces, divided)
Chipotle BBQ Tofu (divided, recipe follows)
2 cups shredded purple cabbage (divided)



With a pizza stone in place, preheat your oven to 550 degrees for at least 40 minutes. This will allow the pizza stone to heat up and really crisp the bottom of your pizza. Roll or toss your crust into a 12-inch round. Line your pizza peel with a piece of parchment paper and place the crust onto the peel. Smear 1/2 cup of tomato sauce over the crust. Top that with 1 1/2 cups smoked mozzarella. Place about a cup of the Chipotle BBQ Tofu over that and finish with a cup of shredded purple cabbage. Slide pizza with the parchment paper onto the stone. Cook for only 5-7 minutes or until the outer crust is brown and the cheese is bubbly. Repeat the process with the remaining ingredients.


Simple Chipotle BBQ tofu

1 block extra firm tofu
3 tablespoons canola
1 cup BBQ sauce (recipe follows)


Cut tofu into 1/2 inch cubes. Arrange the cubes on a clean dish towel to allow the excess moisture to drain off the surface of the tofu. This will prevent it from sticking to the pan. Heat a 12-inch frying pan over high heat. Once the pan is nice and hot, add the canola oil. When the oil begins to shimmer, carefully add the dried cubes of tofu to the pan. (If you follow this set of instructions, you shouldn't have a problem with the tofu sticking to the pan. It's all about dry tofu and a hot, hot pan.) Cook tofu for three minutes on one side and turn using a spatula. Cook for three minutes on the other side. Turn the heat off and add the BBQ sauce. Move the mixture constantly around the pan so that the sugar in the sauce doesn't scorch. Once the sauce is thick and has adhered to the tofu, set BBQ tofu aside in a medium bowl. Try to save some for the pizza.



Chipotle BBQ Sauce


(This is a bold, spicy, smoky BBQ sauce when you taste it on it's own, but it evens out and is perfect when applied to tofu or mushrooms.)

1 tablespoon butter
2 cups chopped onion ( about 1 medium one)
1/4 cup chopped garlic (about 6 cloves)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons Jack Daniel's whiskey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3-4 ounces chipotle peppers from a can (about 1/2 can)
1/2 cup water
1  24-ounce bottle of organic ketchup
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon vegetarian Worcestershire
1 tablespoon mustard
6-8 dashes liquid smoke


In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter and start to sweat the onion and garlic. Using a wooden spoon, keep the mixture moving so as to not burn the garlic. Once the onion is translucent, add the garlic powder, thyme, and black pepper. Deglaze the pan with the Jack Daniel's, and cook until all liquid has evaporated. Reduce the heat to medium low. Add the brown sugar, vinegar, chipotle peppers, water, ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire, mustard, and liquid smoke. Simmer uncovered for an hour; stir occasionally to keep from scorching. (This will make about six cups of BBQ sauce. You will only need one cup for this recipes, but this recipe freezes well.)

Toasted Hazelnut + Black Pepper Cocktail Cookies

I overdo it, I know. There are SO MANY recipes for cookies on the blog. But I love them! Just humor me and go ahead and put these in a new category: they're cocktail cookies, not too sweet, and they're meant to accompany a drink or maybe a nice glass of Cotes du Rhone.

So, why not treat these like crackers and eat them with cheese? An aged manchego or an aged brie will do the trick. I added some hazelnut oil we had on hand and am liking that kind of savoriness for an extra layer of flavor in baking. (Almond oil has that effect, too.) These are a good mix of salty and sweet. Note that I leave the skins of the hazelnuts on -- they add to the savory effect.

The idea for cocktail cookies, such as my favorite apricot-tarragon ones, seems to have been dreamt up by the lovely Dorie Greenspan. I highly recommend her recipe, which I linked to above. The combination tastes like nothing I've had before, and everyone who's tried them is at first wary but then completely surprised to fall in love with them.

Toasted Hazelnut + Black Pepper Cocktail Cookies
(Makes 2 dozen)

3/4 cup hazelnuts (chopped)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon Maldon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons hazelnut oil
4 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons cream
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup cane sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder

cracked black pepper (about 7 turns of the mill)

+ more Maldon salt for topping

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Toast the hazelnuts for thirty seconds in the microwave. Jiggle them and toast them again for 30 seconds. Repeat more time, and set aside. At this point, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Next, whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together and set aside. Cream the oil, butter, cream, and sugars. Add egg and vanillas and combine. Combine the dry and wet ingredients and mix. Add hazelnuts and stir them into the batter.

Portion cookie dough out into one-inch mounds with a small ice cream scoop or spoon. Place these onto a Silpat-lined baking sheet. Before baking, sprinkle cookies with a pinch of Maldon salt and smash them slightly with the palm of your hand to flatten. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees until they are golden brown.

Black Truffle Oil + White Cheddar Mac

Yes, this is rich, but who wants to eat low fat mac n' cheese? Not me! I'd rather just have a reasonable portion of the good stuff, and this is the good stuff. The brie is creamy while the cheddar adds a bit of texture. The black truffle oil, available at most specialty grocery stores,  is the thing that sends this dish into the atmosphere. Plus, if you serve it with steamed broccoli, you can feel good that you ate your veggies. Right?

Black Truffle Oil + White Cheddar Mac
(serves 4-6)


4 quarts water
1/8 cup salt
1/2 pound rigatoni
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 cups whole milk
6 ounces white cheddar (shredded, divided)
4 ounces brie (rind removed, cubed)
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons course bread crumbs (I used cornbread)
1 tablespoon truffle oil
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (about 4 sprigs)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Bring 4 quarts of water and 1/8 cup salt up to a boil in a large soup pot. Add the rigatoni and cook according to package instructions. While the pasta is cooking, melt butter in a 12-inch pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil, flour, nutmeg, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, and black pepper, and then whisk it constantly, cooking until nutty and fragrant (about 3 minutes). Slowly add the milk as you whisk to work out any lumps. Turn up the heat to medium-high while continuing to whisk until milk comes to a low boil and begins to thicken slightly (this could take about eight minutes). Reduce heat and slowly add 4 ounces of the cheddar and the brie to the milk mixture. Whisk until all of the cheese has melted into the sauce. Add the lemon zest. Temper the egg yolks by whisking two tablespoons of the cheese sauce into them then add the egg yolks to the mixture.


Using a slotted spoon or spider, remove pasta from the water directly into the pan with the cheese sauce. Gently fold the noodles into the sauce as not to break them. Pour pasta mixture into a seven-inch soufflé dish, top with the remaining cheddar, and bake for 10 minutes. Add the bread crumbs and drizzle the truffle oil over the top of the whole thing. Bake another ten to fifteen minutes or until the breadcrumbs are golden. Garnish with thyme leaves. Serve with steamed broccoli to make it a meal.

Collard Greens (Or Any Greens!) + Honey, Shallots, & Mushrooms

I love it when people share cooking tips that they use every day in their own kitchens. I find myself compelled to try it myself every time. 


When we lived in the crazy apartment building in Midtown, Vicky, the usual checker at the grocery store next door, shared this tip with us: whenever you are making greens, drizzle a little local honey in the pot. It'll take away any lingering bitterness. It worked perfectly the very first time. Now we've been making greens with a little drizzle of honey for more than 10 years.

This recipe calls for collard greens, but you could use any hearty greens you want. In fact, I think I like using a mix of kale, mustard, and collards best. Unlike many Southerners, we don't cook our greens until they are mush. This way they are vibrant, tasty, and healthy for you.


4 quarts water
1/4 cup salt
2 bunches collards (cleaned)
1 1/2 tablespoons canola
1 1/2 cups sliced button mushrooms
1 cup sliced shallot
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon smoked salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon honey



In a large soup pot, bring the water and salt up to a boil. Using a paring knife, trim the leaves of the greens away from the tough stems. Simply run your knife along the stem. Roll leaves and trim into half-inch ribbons. It should yield 6-8 cups of leaves once the greens are trimmed and sliced. Blanch leaves in salt water for one to two minutes or until the leaves turn bright green. Remove leaves from water and place into a colander to drain. Carefully discard water down the drain; run a little cold water while you pour the hot water out so you don't tax or even damage your plumbing.


Return the pot to the burner. Over high heat, add the canola oil and then the mushrooms in a single layer in the bottom of the pan. Allow the mushrooms to cook undisturbed for 2-3 minutes or until they get some color on them. Turn the heat to low. Add the shallot, pepper, smoked salt, and garlic powder. Sauté until fragrant (about a minute). Add the collard greens and a drizzle of honey. Toss greens with tongs to incorporate all ingredients. Cover and keep warm over very low heat until they're ready to serve.

Super-Moist Banana Muffins

I wanted a banana muffin recipe that was really far away from dry and fairly basic to put together. The center of these muffins resembles bread pudding partly because of the higher ratio of banana used. I kept the recipe pretty plain and simple, but of course, then had to think of some ways to complicate the issue (see below for tips) next time.

Happy 2012, y'all! We hope you have time for a leisurely breakfast today as well as some rose-float-watching tomorrow.

Super-Moist Banana Muffins
(Makes 6 large muffins)

3 ripe bananas (mashed well)
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 egg
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup cane sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons vanilla

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the wet ingredients well. Separately, whisk the dry ingredients. Fold wet into dry carefully so the batter is just mixed. Pour batter into a muffin tin lined with something like these
If You Care unbleached baking cups. Bake muffins for 30-40 minutes until tops are crisp and lightly browned. Be sure to let them cool for at least 15 minutes before you eat them because they are actually better that way.

To make things a little more complicated:
- Add espresso powder.
- Add chopped chocolate-covered pecans.
- Mix finely chopped walnuts, brown sugar, and a little sea salt for a crunchy topping.
- Before baking, top with a little butter for a crispy top.
- Reserve 1/3 of the batter, add 1/4 cup cocoa powder to it, and marbleize by adding it on top of the regular batter and running a knife around it to swirl.
- Top with shaved coconut and add a teaspoon of coconut extract to the batter.
- Add 1/3 cup peanut butter to the batter and whisk a little warm peanut butter, powdered sugar, and cream for a glaze for finished bread or muffins.
- Add 1/2 cup almond butter to the batter and mix sliced almonds, brown sugar, and smoked salt for a topping.

Our Favorite Recipes of 2011

2011 was a really fun year here at The Chubby Vegetarian blog. We created some great recipes, got to appear on the Food Network, and (with a lot of help from Kelly and his staff) pulled off an all-vegetarian brunch for 100 people at Restaurant Iris. All of this and we also signed a contract with Thomas Nelson to publish our first cookbook, which will hit the shelves in March of 2013. 

We feel very fortunate for all of this, and it's all because of the support of friends like you. So, we'd just like to end this year by saying thank you to everyone who reads the blog, supports what we do, and especially to those of you who inspire us to be creative. We love y'all, and we look forward to a great new year.

Below is a list of some of our favorite recipes from 2011. Enjoy! Here's to a happy, healthy 2012 as well. 

• Ratatouille Napoleon
• Caprese Salad in a Jar
• Faux Gras + Blue Cheese & Chives (a.k.a. Savory Seared Pears)
• Nannie's Pound Cake
• The Lime Truck's Corn Cake with BBQ Slaw
• Fried Green Tomato Po' Boy
• Vegetarian Kimchi + Korean BBQ Sliders
• Chilaquiles + Ancho-Roasted Sweet Potatoes
• A French Toast Pancake
• Strawberry-Basil Shortcake Sliders
• Indian Nachos with Mint Raita and Black Mustard Seed
• Portobello Mushroom + Spinach Croque Madame with Goat Cheese Bechamel
• Sliced Avocado on Toast
• Triple-Ginger Apple Crisp
• Spicy & Smoky Lentil Taco 'Meat'
• BBQ Tofu Nachos a la Hawkins
• Roast Beet Sandwich
• Chicken-Fried Portobello + Mushroom & Shallot Gravy
• Peach + Tarragon Pesto Pizza
• Smoked Shiitake Bacon over Sweet Potato Grits

Lime Zest Cookies with White Chocolate + Cashews

Sometimes a cookie idea hits me, and I'll act on it even if I'm not really in the mood for cookies at the moment. Even when I am, I usually bake 10 or so cookies on one sheet and wrap up the rest in waxed paper and string, label the roll with the basics, and stick it in the freezer for another time. It's good to have a few different options around whenever a craving hits.

Recently, a family member was telling me about a big bucket of cookie dough that she bought from some sort of door-to-door saleskid this season. It's been a handy resource for her when she wants to make a few cookies at a time; of course, now I'm thinking she just might need a few mini rolls of our cookies this Christmas.

This particular lime zest cookie recipe was one that I had been thinking about for a while as a way to make a margarita-inspired sweet. Adding either cardamom or coriander was considered for these, but neither seemed quite right for what I had in mind; I just threw in the white chocolate chunks I had on hand and also some cashews because they needed some frills.

Lime Zest Cookies with White Chocolate + Cashews

2/3 cup olive oil margarine
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup cane sugar
zest of 4 limes
juice of one lime
1 egg (beaten)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon Maldon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground vanilla bean powder
1/4 cup cream
1/2 cup white chocolate chunks
1/2 cup cashews (chopped)

Cream the margarine and sugars. Add lime zest, juice, egg, and vanilla. Whisk the next 5 dry ingredients from flour to vanilla powder. Combine. Add cream by the tablespoon and stir until dough comes together. Add white chocolate and cashews and mix. Chill in fridge for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Scoop out cookies dough with a spoon or a small ice cream scooper and place one-inch-sized scoops on a Silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes (a little longer for a crunchier cookie).

Vegetarian Meatloaf + Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Click HERE to order our new cookbook, The Chubby Vegetarian: 100 Inspired Vegetable Recipes for the Modern Table (Susan Schadt Press, November 2016)









One of my favorite restaurants in Memphis, Fuel Café, serves a vegetarian meatloaf that is so good that I have to get it every time I go. I just love a fresh update to old-fashioned comfort food like that. So, I decided to take a stab at making my own version of this 1980's-time-capsule treat.


As some of you could've guessed, my meatloaf features mushrooms. I just can't get enough of their meaty texture and savory flavor. But I didn't stop there -- I also added tempeh and walnuts for their flavor and hearty texture. This loaf is tender and delicious, especially served over my garlic mashed potatoes and topped with a parsley and tomato salad.


This can easily feed a crowd, so it might be something good to make for Christmas dinner. In the unlikely event of leftovers, there's nothing better than a few slices of vegetarian meatloaf dressed with mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese between two slices of sourdough bread.


(Okay, I know the following looks like a long list of ingredients, but it actually comes together very quickly if you use a food processor to do all the chopping.)


Vegetarian Meatloaf
(serves 6)

2 tablespoons butter
2 cups finely chopped onion (about 1 medium onion)
1/2 cup finely chopped celery (about 2 ribs)
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot (about 2 medium carrots)
2 vegetarian bouillon cubes
8 ounces mushroom (finely chopped)
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1 block tempeh (crumbled)
1 cup smoked sun-dried tomatoes (finely chopped)
1 cup walnuts (finely chopped)
1/4 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon mustard (English, like Colman's)
1 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs (beaten)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup half and half
Ketchup Glaze*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrot to the pan and stir. Cook until onion is translucent and beginning to brown (about 10 minutes). Add the bouillon cubes and stir into the vegetable mixture until incorporated. 


Place mixture into a large mixing bowl. Add the mushroom, bell pepper, tempeh, sun-dried tomatoes, walnuts, ketchup, mustard, bread crumbs, eggs, garlic powder, red pepper, thyme, paprika, and half and half. Work the mixture together with your hands until everything is well incorporated. Allow mixture to rest in the fridge for 10 minutes. 


On a silpat-lined, rimmed baking sheet, place the mixture in the center. Using your hands, form a loaf that is about 12 inches long, 6 inches wide, and about 2 1/2 inches tall. The loaf should be smooth and have rounded edges. This will help the loaf stay together when serving. Place loaf in the oven for 25 minutes. Brush with the ketchup glaze and return loaf to the oven for another 10 minutes, brush another coat of glaze on top, and bake for a final 10 minutes.


Ketchup Glaze*

1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon soy sauce
6 dashes Tabasco
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon sorghum

Mix ketchup, soy, tabasco, black pepper, and sorghum until well incorporated.


Parsley and Tomato Salad


1 1/2 cups diced tomato
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup diced shallot
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon champagne vinegar


Toss tomato, parsley, shallot, salt, pepper, sugar, and vinegar together in a small bowl.




Garlic Mashed Potatoes
 
5 cups peeled, diced potatoes
2 cups diced cauliflower
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 cup half & half
8 cloves garlic (chopped)

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup sour cream


Place potatoes, cauliflower, butter, half and half, garlic, salt, and pepper in a covered, microwave-safe dish. Microwave on high for 12 minutes. Mash with a potato masher and then add the sour cream. 

Triple Tomato Soup + Toasted White Cheddar Crouton

Why let French onion soup have all the fun? So many soups are good served with that same crunchy, gooey crouton up on top. Here, boring old tomato soup gets a serious upgrade. The deep flavor of this soup comes from three tomato sources: the smokiness of roasted Roma tomatoes, the complexity of sun-dried tomatoes, and the sweetness of tomato paste. 


One of my favorite meals as a kid was grilled cheese and tomato soup. I'd dunk the grilled cheese into the soup, but I'd save the last bit of the sandwich to mop up the bowl. This is like a grown-up grilled cheese and tomato soup with the 'dunk' built right in. This is one dish we'll be making again soon. It was that surprising and good!


Triple Tomato Soup + Toasted White Cheddar Crouton
(Serves two as a meal or four as a starter)

5 large Roma tomatoes (peeled)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon butter (divided)
1 sweet onion (thinly sliced, about 2 cups)
2 tablespoon brandy
1 tablespoon vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (sliced into 1/4-inch strips)
2 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup water
3 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon fresh thyme (4 sprigs)
4 slices whole-grain bread
1 cup shredded white cheddar


Turn broiler on high. Slice peeled tomatoes lengthwise and place face-down on a rimmed baking sheet. Brush each tomato with the olive oil and place under the broiler until the tomatoes start to blacken. (This should take eight to ten minutes; keep your eye on them.) Once they are done, set the baking sheet aside and allow the tomatoes to cool.


In a Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat one tablespoon of butter over medium-low heat. Once butter has melted, add the sliced onion. Allow the onion to sweat down and start to brown. This should take about 15 minutes. Add the brandy and the Worcestershire sauce to the pot and raise the heat to medium. Allow most of the liquid to evaporate, and then add the sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, water, broth, and the roasted Roma tomatoes. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce to low. Allow soup to simmer for at least twenty minutes. Add fresh thyme just before serving.

To serve, slather toasted bread with melted butter. Turn your oven broiler on medium. Divide soup between two bowls, float slices of bread on top of the soup, and cover toast with the white cheddar. Place bowls under the broiler for two to three minutes or until cheese is bubbling. Serve immediately.

Classic Christmas Cookies

In our family, it just isn't Christmastime until we make and decorate cookies. The recipe we've used for years from this 1960's cookbook is called Many Way Butter Cookies. Follow the recipe above and sub in soy margarine if you wish. Next, you just chill the dough in the fridge for an hour. Roll it out onto a floured surface to about 1/4-inch thicknes, and then deploy your cookie cutters. We liked bells, birds, and trees this time around.

The (memorized) glossy icing recipe is 1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar (sifted), 1/2 cup organic shortening, a splash of vanilla, and a few teaspoons or so of half-and-half to get it to come together. We divide that into 5 bowls and add a scant drop of coloring to 4 of them and leave one white. Anyone who has tried one of these cookies calls the next day for the recipe, so we wanted to share it with you.

We try to use really good ingredients so that brick-stomach, I-shouldn't-have-eaten-that feeling one gets after consuming some familiar holiday treats doesn't happen; this year, we went a step further and attempted to use healthy sprinkles, which looked like a pack of sad, colorless seeds once we removed them from the package. Sometimes, there's no replacing the classics.

This cookie-making-and-decorating tradition has been going on so long now, and I love it. It made for a great afternoon today, actually. Time spent cooking, joking, bickering, eating, and just plain hanging out with the family during the holidays is always the best. We hope you get to enjoy a bunch of it, too, this week as we head toward the big day.

Vegetarian Roasted Red Pepper + Olive Muffuletta

I've visited New Orleans more than any other city. I really love that place! Every time I go, I have to grab a muffuletta (or three). Many people argue over who makes the best one --Central Grocery? Frank's? -- but really, they are all delicious. What's not to love: light bread, meaty olive dressing, spicy creole mustard, and melty cheese...

You can find spicy olives on the olive bar at almost any specialty store. It's best to get a mix of olives, which will add to the complexity of the dish. Be sure to grab plenty from the spicy bin to give your olive dressing some kick. The bread may be tough to find outside of the South. If muffuletta bread is not available from your local deli, use a light focaccia bread instead. The effect will be somewhat the same.


I like to use fresh cauliflower and carrots in place of pickled ones. This cuts down on the salt in the dish and makes it more enjoyable, in my opinion. This is a great dish to make for a party.






Vegetarian Roasted Red Pepper + Olive Muffuletta
(serves 8)


3 cups spicy, pitted olives (green, black, kalamta)
2 stalks celery (about 1 cup, sliced)
2 cups cauliflower
1 large carrot (about 1 cup, sliced)
2 teaspoons good Italian seasoning mix
4 cloves garlic (crushed)
1 cup olive oil
1 cup white vinegar
2 10-inch muffeletta breads
2 tablespoon mayo
4 tablespoons creole mustard
4 roasted red peppers
14 ounces sliced cheese (provolone, Swiss)
Sliced tomatoes and chopped romaine lettuce (optional)
12 peperoncini peppers 

Using the slicer blade on your food processor, slice the olives, celery, cauliflower, and carrots. Place sliced vegetables into a 2-quart container; add the Italian seasoning mix, crushed garlic, olive oil, and vinegar. Allow mixture to marinate and the flavors to meld for a day or so. Seriously, the longer you leave it, the better it will be.


Next, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Slice muffuletta breads in half. On the bottom half of each, spread half of the olive dressing. On the top slices, spread one tablespoon of mayo and two tablespoons of  creole mustard and then add half the cheese on each in an even layer.


Place dressed bread open faced on a baking sheet in the oven for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Remove and add roasted red peppers, lettuce, and tomatoes to each sandwich. Place the top on each sandwich. Slice into quarters. Serve immediately.

Tofu Almondine in a White Wine-Butter Sauce

I recently spearheaded a very informal survey in which I asked my readers if they liked tofu or not. Overwhelmingly, the answer was that it really depended on how it is prepared. I can assure you that this recipe would pass the test. I mean, the tofu is accompanied by sweet, toasted almonds and a buttery white wine sauce. What could be better than this vegetarian take on a New Orleans classic?


The sauce is the key to the deliciousness of this dish. I try to be calorically frugal, so I used it sparingly. However, the pan with the sauce in it found its way to the dinner table where it was further drizzled with abandon.


Vegans, try this recipe with Earth Balance and coconut milk. I'd love to hear how it turns out.


Tofu Almondine
(serves two)


1/2 cup almonds (toasted in a dry pan until lightly browned)

1 block extra firm tofu
1/4 teaspoon each: sea salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, paprika
1/4 cup flour
1/8 cup canola oil 

1 tablespoon butter

White Wine-Butter Sauce (recipe follows)

1 tablespoon chopped parsley (to garnish)


Cut the tofu into six 'filets' that are thicker on one side than the other, i.e., they come to a point in a way. Season both sides of the tofu with sea salt, black paper, red pepper flakes, and paprika. 


Place 1/4 cup of flour on a large dinner plate. Dredge each filet on both sides and shake off any excess flour. Heat a 12-inch skillet to medium heat and add the canola and butter. Once the butter has melted, gently lay seasoned, dreaded tofu filet into the pan; this is best done in batches of three. Cook tofu for 4-5 minutes on the first side of until golden brown. Flip each piece and repeat the same cooking process for the other side. Removed cooked tofu filet to a cookie sheet and keep warm in a 300 degree oven until ready to serve.


To serve, place one tofu filet on a bed of wilted greens or potato hash, drizzle a teaspoon of sauce over it, and then add a few toasted almonds. Repeat by stacking the filets three high. To finish, drizzle the sauce around the plate and garnish with a little chopped parsley.

White Wine-Butter Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter (divided)
1/2 cup shallot (diced)
1 lemon
2 tablespoons Worcestershire (vegetarian)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 dried bay leaves
1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 cup of half and half

In a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, melt one tablespoon of butter and sauté the shallot in butter until shallot appears translucent -- this should take about two minutes. Cut lemon in half and add the juice from the lemon and also the rind to the pan. (Don't worry about seeds; you will strain this sauce later.) Add the worcestershire sauce, sugar, bay leaves, pepper and wine to the pan. Allow mixture to reduce by half or until it begins to look syrupy. 


Add the half and half to the mixture, and then strain the whole thing through a fine-mesh strainer. Rinse the pan of any debris and then return the strained sauce to the pan. Keep warm until ready to serve. Just before serving, whisk in the remaining tablespoon of butter. This process is known as mounting a sauce with butter, and it results in a very rich and flavorful sauce.

White Gold

Using the best ingredients in what I've decided to call White Gold this holiday season is ridiculously and senselessly fancy, and that's what makes this holiday snack mix taste better than any other version I've sampled before now. I figure the classics are classics for a reason, but elevate them, and they're even more impressive. This isn't something to make in big batches and give away with abandon, so make a small batch and share it with a few deserving people who will understand the wink to tradition.

White Gold

3 cups organic multigrain square cereal

2/3 cup organic pretzels (broken)

1/2 cup roasted and salted peanuts

 2/3 cup Justin's honey peanut butter

1/3 cup olive oil soy margarine

1/3 cup Valrhona dark chocolate block

3/4 cup organic powdered sugar

Mix cereal, pretzels, and peanuts into a big bowl. Melt peanut butter, soy margarine, and chocolate in the microwave at 30 seconds at a time stirring in-between so that the chocolate doesn't scorch. Pour it over the dry mix and stir until it's all coated completely. Sift powdered sugar into a large container and then pour in the chocolate-peanut butter mix. Shake until it's all coated white. Lay out your precious White Gold in a thin layer on two plates to cool and set. Serve it in small cups at a party or hide it away in a jar.

Potato Blinis + Beluga Lentils & Créme Fraiche

Like the Oyster Mushroom Rockefeller, I thought it would be fun to continue the play on words. Here beluga lentils stand in for beluga caviar in this classic Russian dish. My blini are tender and light, so they make a great canvas for the other flavors. 

The beluga lentils are flavored with kombu, which is dried seaweed. It seems like a strange ingredient, but it's available at Whole Foods. It tastes like the sea. That along with the sea salt is fairly convincing. 


This is a great dish for your holiday party -- or just serve it along with a salad for a light meal.


Potato Blinis + Beluga Lentils & Créme Fraiche:


 2 dozen Potato Blini (recipe follows)
1/2 cup créme fraiche
Beluga lentils (recipe follows)
fresh dill for garnish
black pepper


To assemble the dish, top each blini with about a teaspoon of créme fraiche followed by the same amount of beluga lentils. Garnish each with fresh dill and black pepper.

Potato Blini:
(makes two dozen blini)

1 1/2 cups roughly chopped potato (about 1 medium one)
1 teaspoon water
1 tablespoon butter
1/2  cup all-purpose flour
1 pkg rapid-rise yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk

canola oil

Cover the mixture and set aside for thirty minutes to allow it to rise. Adjust the thickness as needed using up to 1/4 cup of water. You want it to be as thick as, well, pancake batter.

Place potato, water, and butter in a covered, microwave-safe dish and microwave on high for six minutes. In the meantime, mix flour, yeast, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Also in a small mixing bowl, mix the egg and buttermilk. Run the potato through a ricer and into the large mixing bowl with the flour. Now, using a whisk, mix the wet ingredients with the dry. 

In a 12-inch skillet over medium heat, heat one tablespoon of oil. Once the oil starts to shimmer, add batter a tablespoon at a time to form small pancakes. (You will fit about five pancakes in the pan at a time.) Allow blini to cook for 2 minutes per side. Cook in batches, adding a tablespoon of oil to the pan if it looks dry.

Beluga lentils:

2 cups water
2 pieces kombu (dried seaweed)
1/2 cup black beluga lentils
tablespoon of sea salt
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

Add water, kombu, lentils, and salt to a saucepan. Bring it up to a boil, and then allow it to simmer, covered, for 20-25 minutes or until tender. Allow the lentils to cool in the liquid. Remove kombu and discard. Drain lentils and then add the olive oil. Serve at room temperature.