Muffaletta Sandwiches

According to the recipe notes "Muffaletta Sandwiches" (page 116), are classic New Orleans sandwiches that traditionally includes sliced ham and cheese, and you are invited to include vegan versions of these here if you wish. (I did not.) The flavor of the olive salad that makes up the filling is plenty flavorful and stands on its own. The base mix consists of kalamata olives, green olives, pepperocini, roasted red peppers, capers, onions, tomatoes, and fresh parsley, along with some dried herbs. The recipe also calls for ¼ olive oil, and vinegar; I left both of these out with outstanding results. I felt no need to replace them with anything - the salad was moist enough, so no problem there, especially since it was going onto a sandwich roll; the olives are plenty oily enough by themselves; and the olives, capers, and pepperocini added enough piquant flavors that additional vinegar seemed over the top. I did include lettuce and avocado slices to tuck into the crusty sandwich rolls. I think any other condiments, such as sliced onions or tomatoes, shredded carrots, etc, would also be nice additions. These hearty and delicious sandwiches are practically a meal unto themselves!  

 

Keeping it "McDougall Friendly" checklist:

 

ü  Omit the olive oil altogether. No replacement is needed, as the filling is already very rich and moist.

ü  Use whole-wheat oil-free sandwich rolls.

Roasted Vegetable Frittata

Even though the "Roasted Vegetable Frittata" (page 509) is found in the Breakfast and Brunch chapter of this book, I cooked it one night for dinner, served alongside a tossed green salad. In my opinion, there are many dishes that are not totally meal-specific, which can be easily interchanged. This is one of those dishes, especially since there are several steps involved in the preparation, and I find I don't like to spend that much time making breakfast. The first step is roasting the vegetables - yellow onion, Yukon Gold potato, yellow bell pepper (see the golden theme here?), and mushrooms. This step takes about 30 minutes and then you are ready to start assembling the frittata itself. In order to omit the olive oil required for the traditional roasting method, I placed the prepared veggies in the baking dish with a couple tablespoons of water, and then covered the pan with parchment paper and foil. This works well and you end up with baked rather than roasted vegetables, but to me, there really isn't that much difference, and it allows me to omit the oil completely. Blended tofu and seasonings are combined with the roasted veggies, and everything is put back in the oven for another 30-minute bake, with a 10-minute rest before serving. To my delight, I found the leftovers to be the perfect food for breakfast the following morning! J

 

Keeping it "McDougall Friendly" checklist:

 

ü Omit the oil when "roasting" the vegetables. Instead, use 2-3 Tablespoons of water, and cover the baking dish with parchment paper and foil. Bake until tender, about 20 minutes.

Zucchini Walnut Fritters

"Zucchini Walnut Fritters" (page 385) combines freshly grated zucchini, potato, and onion with finely ground walnuts, and just a sprinkling of herbs and spices into a batter that you cook in a skillet like pancakes. I've made fritters of one kind or another many times over the years, yet I am always surprised that the seemingly loose batter actually comes together, coalesces, once you start cooking the fritters in a hot skillet. If you use a good non-stick skillet you will not need to use any oil at all to "fry" the fritters. The natural oil in the walnuts allows them to brown up nicely on their own. These would be delicious along side mashed potatoes and gravy and steamed veggies.

 

Keeping it "McDougall Friendly" checklist:

 

ü  Omit the oil when "frying" the fritters. Use a good non-stick skillet with no added oil. If you don't have a nonstick skillet, you will have to add a very thin layer of oil to your skillet - put about a teaspoon of oil in the hot skillet, swirl it around, then carefully wipe out any excess with a paper towel.

 

ü  Use whole wheat pastry flour in the batter, as opposed to all-purpose (white) flour.

Spinach Manicotti with White Walnut Sauce

If you are looking for a novel presentation for manicotti, you will want to try the "Spinach Manicotti with White Walnut Sauce" (page 228). The filling ingredients may be quite familiar, a tofu-based ricotta cheese mixed with spinach and shallots. But what makes this recipe different is the unique sauce, consisting of ground walnuts, more tofu, nutritional yeast, and soymilk. The closest I can come to describing this is to compare it to an Alfredo style sauce, but really, it is quite unique and stands on its own. Once the manicotti are cooked, stuffed, and covered with the sauce and breadcrumbs, they are baked in the oven until hot and lightly browned. This dish is quite rich, and you might find one or two manicotti per serving is enough to satisfy.

 

Keeping it "McDougall Friendly" checklist:

 

ü  Omit the olive oil when sautéing the shallots. Instead, use a non-stick pan and/or water, sherry, or light broth as a sauté liquid.

Butterhead Lettuce & Walnut Salad with Raspberry-Walnut Vinaigrette

"Butterhead Lettuce & Walnut Salad with Raspberry-Walnut Vinaigrette" (page 50) is a wonderful starter salad for any meal, especially when both butterhead lettuce and raspberries are at peak freshness. The list of ingredients is short: lettuce, walnuts, onion, and raspberries, topped with a vinaigrette of blended raspberry jam, vinegar, and walnut oil. (I substituted ¼ cup water for the oil, and in order to thicken the dressing up a little, I added 1/8 teaspoon of guar gum as well.) There is the theme of twos going on here - two kinds of raspberry (fresh and jam), and two kinds of walnuts (fresh and oil). I love how so many of these recipes use a food in its various stages and this salad is an example of that concept.

 

Keeping it "McDougall Friendly" checklist:

 

ü   Omit the ¼ cup of walnut oil in the vinaigrette and use water instead.  Thicken with a bit of guar gum if desired.

Chocoloate Sauce

Not every dessert has to include white flour and/or some sort of fat. Point in case: "Chocolate Sauce" (page 497).  A simple sauce consisting of liquid sweetener, cocoa powder, soymilk, and vanilla extract, warmed and stirred together to dissolve all the ingredients. However, the question still remains, what will this most delicious sauce be used on? That's where you might have to be careful! The first time I made this sauce, I used it to improve the taste of some rather tart strawberries, so all-in-all, not too rich for a dessert. The recipe notes suggest putting the sauce in a plastic squeeze bottle and using it garnish plated desserts for a fancy presentation. I liked the squeeze bottle idea, and it worked superbly for decorating my strawberries!

 

Keeping it "McDougall Friendly" checklist:

 ü     No changes necessary!  J

Pesto Presto

This cookbook is full of pesto recipes, and I am thoroughly enjoying trying them all! There are nine  recipes in the Pasta and Noodles chapter, and six more in the Sauces, Relishes, and Condiments chapter. I found the "Pesto Presto" in the Sauces chapter (page 565), and it was, as promised, a very quick pesto to prepare. This is a basic pesto recipe consisting of garlic, pine nuts, basil, and in this case, miso (for non-miso fans, salt can be used instead). As with all pesto recipes, this one calls for a hefty amount of olive oil (1/3 cup). Instead of oil, I used about ¼ cup very light vegetable broth with excellent results. Per the recipe notes, this pesto is good on pasta, in salad dressings, soups, and stews. I used it on cooked fettuccini. Delicious!

 

Keeping it "McDougall Friendly" checklist:

 

ü Omit the 1/3 cup of olive oil and use a light veggie broth instead.

Fettuccine with Puttanesca Pesto

Before trying some of the numerous pesto recipes in this book, I never realized how easy it is to make! I am now beginning to look at pesto-tossed pasta as an option for those times I need to throw a quick meal together. The "Fettuccine with Puttanesca Pesto" (page 202) puts a slight spin on the traditional basil, pine nuts, and garlic combo by adding tomatoes, green olives, and capers (that's the Puttanesca part) to the blend. As far as I'm concerned, this combination was a stroke of genius by the author, who needed to come up with a way to use her bumper crop of basil. The complex flavors are deeply satisfying, and I’ll be making this unique version of pesto often. I completely left out the 1/3 cup of olive oil (and the accompanying 71 grams of fat!) by using a bit of light veggie broth to thin down the pesto. I found I didn't need much, maybe only a couple of tablespoons, as the tomatoes added a lot of liquid. I also didn't need to add any additional cooking water from the pasta (as the recipes calls for) to the pesto, since it was already the right consistency. The recipe calls for cooking a pound of fettuccine; I only used half that much (8 ounces), as I prefer a smaller ratio of pasta to sauce than most recipes call for. This seemed to be the perfect amount.

 

Keeping it "McDougall Friendly" checklist:

 

ü     Omit the 1/3 cup of olive oil and use a light veggie broth instead, as needed.

Golden Sunshine Roasted Veg Spread

There truly is no end to the different ingredients you can combine to make vegetable based spreads, and the "Golden Sunshine Roasted Veg Spread" (page 17) is a perfect example of that. One might never consider blending roasted sweet potatoes, carrots, bell pepper and onion to make a creamy spread for crackers, toast, or bagels, but once you make this you'll wonder why not! There is definitely a golden theme to this spread, with the deep orange yams and carrots, and yellow bell pepper and onion. The roasted vegetables come together into creamy perfection with the addition of tahini, giving it slight overtones of hummus. The spread is quite sweet, as you might expect with the vegetables being used, and I thought it needed some contrasting zest to perk things up, so I added a clove of garlic and a dash of cayenne to the vegetables when blending them in the food processor. Instead of roasting the veggies in the oven, my husband put them in a grilling basket and cooked them on the barbeque. I thought this added a more complex flavor to the end product as well.

 

Keeping it "McDougall Friendly" checklist:

 

üOmit the oil when roasting the vegetables; use a small amount of vegetable broth instead.

Barley & Winter Vegetable Stew

The "Barley & Winter Vegetable Stew" (page 275) is elemental, earthy and immensely satisfying. With simple ingredients such as onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms, potatoes, and barely, it is a stick-to-your-ribs, warming stew perfect for a cold winter's night. The key to success for this stew is a flavorful and substantial broth; it can be a bit bland otherwise. I used a mixture of vegetable broth and mushroom based dark soy sauce. As the recipe states, the flavor improves a day or two after you make the stew, so plan ahead if you can and make it in advance.

 

Keeping it "McDougall Friendly" checklist:

 

üOmit the olive oil when sautéing the veggies; instead use a nonstick pan and/or replace the oil with water, sherry, or veggie broth.  

Roasted Baby Potatoes with Spinach, Olives, & Grape Tomatoes

As you might know if you're a regular visitor to my blog, my husband and I live and travel full time in our 5th wheel trailer. Turning on the oven in such a tiny space can quickly heat up the entire house. This can be a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on the weather! When I decided to make the "Roasted Baby Potatoes with Spinach, Olives, & Grape Tomatoes" (page 376), we were staying in Yuma, Arizona in March, with temperatures outside usually running in the 80s to 90s. Not an oven day! I figured this dish would probably be just as tasty if we roasted the potatoes outside on the grill, instead of inside in the oven, so that is what my husband did. I prepared foil packets containing the potatoes, savory, salt, and pepper, and my husband cooked them on the grill. In the meantime, I finished with the rest of the recipe preparations inside: sautéing the spinach and olives just long enough to wilt the spinach, and adding the grape tomatoes after everything else was done so they wouldn't overcook and disappear. When the potatoes were done, I tossed everything together in the skillet and the dish was ready to serve. If I were to cook the potatoes inside, I would leave out the 3 tablespoons of olive oil and coat the potato chunks with a bit of veggie broth instead so the spices would stick; I would then cover the cooking pan with foil for the "roasting" process. It's true you won't get a "browned and roasted" end product this way, but you will get deliciously cooked and creamy potatoes that are completely oil free. (You also eliminate about 40 grams of fat by leaving out the olive oil). If you are concerned about using aluminum foil, use a layer of parchment paper between the potatoes and the foil. This also helps prevent sticking. The is a very delicious preparation, and the leftovers make a great breakfast!

 

Keeping it "McDougall Friendly" checklist:

 

ü     Omit the olive oil, and follow the cooking instructions outlined above.

Pan-Seared Seitan with Artichokes & Olives

"Pan-Seared Seitan with Artichokes & Olives" (page 309) is labeled with the "f" symbol, for "Fast Recipes", meaning it can be ready to serve in 30 minutes or less. For this recipe, that is true only if you have premade seitan (purchased or homemade) and Tofu Feta on hand. Otherwise, this takes a bit of advanced planning to have all the components ready to assemble. Browned seitan is combined with sautéed garlic, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives, and capers, and topped off with fresh parsley and (optional) Tofu Feta. I used the feta, since I had some in the fridge, and I thought it added a nice flavor layer to the dish. This recipe is another example of how versatile seitan is. This preparation offers pleasing textures and flavors, and is delicious served over brown rice.

 

Keeping it "McDougall Friendly" checklist:

 

ü Omit the oil when browning the seitan and veggies; instead use a nonstick skillet and/or use water, broth, or sherry as a sauté liquid.

ü     Use oil-free seitan.

Gnocchi with Red Wine-Tomato Sauce

At first the thought of preparing homemade gnocchi might seem daunting, but really, they are quite easy to create, and in my opinion, make the best little dumpling that can be used in a variety of dishes. Most people think of topping gnocchi with a red sauce of some sort, as is the case with "Gnocchi With Red Wine-Tomato Sauce" (page 232). And they are indeed delicious in this recipe! The gnocchi themselves are nothing more than cooked potato and flour, mashed thoroughly together, with a little parsley, salt and pepper thrown in for good measure. What was different for me this time around (I have made gnocchi in the past) was using baked potatoes, rather than boiled, and using them still warm from the oven. I do believe this made a positive difference in the texture of the finished dumpling. The prepared dough is shaped into rolls, and cut up into small pieces, which are added to boiling water to cook until done (which happens when the dumpling, the gnocchi, floats to the top of the pot.) The red-wine tomato sauce was a perfect Italian style topping for these, made from crushed tomatoes, dry red wine, basil, oregano, and garlic. You might want to add a pinch of crushed red peppers like I did to give it a little zip! Top with some vegan parmesan at the table. Truly comfort food!

 

Keeping it "McDougall Friendly" checklist:

 

ü  Omit the oil when sautéing the sauce ingredients. Instead, put all the ingredients into the sauce pan at the same time, and simmer per the recipe directions.

ü  Use whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose (white) flour for a heartier dumpling.

Ginger-Spice Brownies

The recipe for "Ginger Spice Brownies" (page 437) is definitely a different approach to traditional brownies, but I found the deep and warm flavors of ginger (both fresh and powdered), cinnamon, and allspice combining wonderfully with the chocolate cake base. The chocolate comes from both cocoa powder and chocolate chips. The sweetener is from both molasses and sugar. And if all this wasn't enough, chopped walnuts provide additional richness and texture. This is a complex and sophisticated dessert, and with every bite I found myself focusing on a new dimension of flavor, texture, or aroma. I actually thought the finished product resembled a cake more than brownies, but that might have been because I completely omitted the oil, using puréed prunes instead. The brownies were exquisite still warm out of the oven, but actually seemed to improve upon sitting once they had cooled down, tasting best on the second or third day. This seems to be the case with most no-oil added baked goods - that is, they improve after a day or two. I opted to sprinkle individual servings with powdered sugar, but the recipe suggests poached fruit or a scoop of vegan vanilla ice-cream as possible toppings.

 

Keeping it "McDougall Friendly" checklist:

 

ü  Use whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose (white) flour.

ü  Omit the oil and use an equal amount of puréed prunes (or a jar of baby food prunes), or applesauce.