This salad is very easy to make, uses easy to find ingredients and allows you to choose your preference of canned or dried lentils.  It is also an easy way to get a bit of extra protein into a meal.

Greek Lentil Salad
(adapted from Vegetarian Times, June 2011)

1 can lentils, rinsed and drained OR 1 cup dried French green lentils, rinsed and drained
2 bay leaves (if using dried lentils only)
1 large shallot, finely chopped
2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 small cucumber, diced (about 1 cup)
½ red bell pepper diced (about 1 cup)
¼ cup chopped fresh mint
1 tbsp. olive oil
¼ cup crumbled feta cheese

If using dried lentils: Place lentils, bay leaves, and 6 cups water in a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 25-30 minutes or until lentils are tender.  Drain, remove bay leaves and cool.

In a medium bowl, stir together shallot, lemon juice, cucumber, red pepper, mint and oil.  Add lentils and gently combine.  Season with salt and pepper, if desired.  Top with crumbled feta.  Ideally, it is nice to chill this salad for an hour before serving (especially if cooking your own lentils), however, serving it right away is fine too.

I remember really enjoying store bought meat pies as a child.  This recipe reminds me of those but makes pies that are vegetarian and of good quality.  These do require a fair bit of prep and cooking time so I find it worth my time to double the batch and freeze half for another time. 

Vegetable Pot Pies
(made in individual portion sizes)
(adapted from Vegetarian Times, June 2011)

The original recipe calls for ½ tsp. poultry seasoning instead of the cumin, coriander and tumeric.  If you prefer a more traditional version, you may want to substitute.  The three spices I used gave the pot pie a very mild flavour.  You may wish to increase the amounts for a bolder flavour.

These pot pies are made in individual portion sizes.  I have a large collection of glass pyrex dishes for leftovers so I used 5 of the 2-cup size bowls.  Smaller oven-safe ramekins or mini-loaf pans would also work.  You can always just use one casserole dish instead and put the dough over the whole thing if you prefer.

Dough:
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup whole-wheat flour
¼ tsp. salt
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Filling:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium leek, white and green parts chopped (about 1 ½ cups)
½ cups chopped celery
2 large carrots, diced (about 1 cup)
1 cup button mushrooms sliced (or substitute portabellos)
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ cups peeled and chopped red-skinned potatoes
2 ¼ cups vegetable broth
6 asparagus spears, tough end discarded and the rest cut or broken into 1-inch pieces
½ cup frozen or fresh peas
½ cup frozen or fresh corn
¾ tbsp. cumin
¾ tbsp. coriander
¼ tbsp. tumeric

To make the dough: Whisk together flours and salt in a bowl.  Cut or rub butter into the flour mixture until no large pieces remain.  Stir in 3 – 4 tbsp. cold water until a smooth dough forms.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate while making the filling.

To make the filling:  Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the leek, celery, carrots and mushrooms and sauté for 5-7 minutes or until tender.  Stir in the flour, garlic and spices and cook for 1 minutes more.  Add the potatoes and broth.  Cover the pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 more minutes.  Remove from heat and add the asparagus, peas, and corn.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness.  Cut out dough pieces the correct shape and just slightly larger than the top of the containers you are using.

Divide the filling among the baking dishes.  Place a dough piece on top of each one and gently press the edges to the dish.  Using a sharp knife, cut some slits in the dough to allow steam to escape.  Put the pot pies on a baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes, or until tops are golden brown.

This recipe does take some time to make.  I doubled it and made a second set of pot pies to freeze.

I must admit that I hardly ever cook pasta.  I love it but I find that I get a lot of carbs and not as many servings of veggies and protein as I like.  That being said, there is a time and place for pasta and this recipe is really great this time of year.  It is light and easy to prepare.

Penne with Zucchini, Fresh Herbs and Lemon Zest
(adapted from Fine Cooking No. 99, p. 33)

Serves 4.

¾ lb. whole wheat penne or other short pasta
1/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium zucchini, cut in half lengthwise and then sliced crosswise into ¼-inch-thick half moons
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest (lime zest works too)
freshly ground pepper
¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
3 tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh mint
3 tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh basil
3 tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
salt

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Add the penne and cook according to package directions until al dente.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the zucchini and cook, stirring occasionally, until barely tender and just starting to brown, about 3 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is soft and fragrant, an additional 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Stir in the lemon zest, ¾ tsp. salt, and ¼ tsp. pepper.

Reserve ½ cup pasta cooking water and drain the pasta.  Add the pasta to the zucchini mixture along with the parmesan, mint, basil and parsley.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Toss to combine, adding some of the reserved water if necessary to moisten the pasta, and serve immediately.

There are many many vegetarian chili recipes available.  Some involve a lot of preparation time chopping veggies and doing prep work.  Those chilis taste great but sometimes a quicker chili recipe is required.  This chili is quick to make and still has a lot of protein and tastes great.

Vegetarian Black Bean Chili

Serves 4.

¼ cup olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 2/3 cups coarsely chopped red bell peppers (about 2 peppers)
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tbsp. ground cumin
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
2 15-ounce cans black beans, drained, ½ cup liquid reserved
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
chopped fresh cilantro

Optional: Serve with sour cream, grated Monterey jack cheese and chopped green onions, if desired.

Heat oil in a heavy large pot over medium-high heat.  Add onions, bell peppers, and garlic and sauté until onions soften, about 10 minutes.  Mix in chili powder, oregano, cumin, and cayenne and stir for 2 minutes.  Mix in beans, chickpeas, tomatoes (with juice), and reserved bean liquid.  Bring chili to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until flavours blend and chili thickens, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

This vegetable cobbler is a great substitute for a meat stew with dumplings.  The cobbler reheats well as leftovers and the biscuit crust does not get soggy.  The vegetable part is very forgiving and you can add or substitute other vegetables that you have around the kitchen.  The original recipe calls for 1 cup peeled and diced rutabaga but you could add parsnips, sweet potato or anything else you think might taste good.

Vegetable Cobbler

Cobbler:
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 cup sliced button mushrooms or portabellos
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. all purpose flour
3 cups vegetable stock
½ tsp. dried thyme
¼ tsp. each salt and pepper
2 potatoes, peeled and diced (medium dice)
3 carrots, diced (medium dice)
2 stalks celery, diced (medium dice)
2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley or ½ tbsp. dried
1 can lentils

Biscuit crust:
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup shredder Cheddar cheese
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 tbsp. butter, melted (or oil)
½ cup plain yogurt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large saucepan, heat 1 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat.  Cook the onion, mushrooms and garlic, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes or until softened.

Sprinkle with flour.  Cook, stirring for 1 minute.  Gradually stir in the stock, thyme and salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until boiling and thickened.

Add the potatoes, carrots, and celery.  Cover and simmer, stirring often for 15 minutes or until tender crisp.  Stir in lentils and parsley.  Spoon into a 2L casserole dish.

Biscuit crust:
Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the whole wheat and all-purpose flours, cheese, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Stir butter into yogurt and then stir the mixture into the flour mixture until just combined.  Drop by large spoonfuls over vegetables.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the biscuit crust is golden.  Let stand for 2 minutes before serving.

Here is a quick pizza recipe that is much lower in fat and calories than traditional pizza recipes that call for a lot of grated mozzarella.  Using a thin crust and goat cheese, this pizza is much better for you than many but still has great flavour.  I made my own pizza sauce when I made this pizza but, in all honesty, store-bought sauce would have been just as good and much quicker.

Zucchini and Goat Cheese Pizza
(adapted from Vegetarian Times, June 2011 p. 62)

Makes 1 10-inch pizza.

2 tbsp. olive oil, divided
8 ounces prepared pizza dough
4 ounces goat cheese, thinly sliced or roughly chopped
1 zucchini, peeled lengthwise into very thin strips (strips look like ribbons)
1 red bell pepper, cut into rings or strips
1 can of your favourite pizza sauce

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Brush a large baking sheet or pizza pan with 1 tbsp. oil.  Spread the pizza dough in the prepared pan.

Spread the sauce on top of the dough.  Top with half of the goat cheese.  Spread the zucchini strips over the goat cheese, top with the red pepper rings and then the remaining goat cheese.  Drizzle with the remaining 1 tbsp. oil.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.  Cool 10 minutes before serving. 

This recipe is very easy to prepare, requires only a BBQ for cooking and requires little prep time.  This is a good option for those nights when you are in a hurry.  The original recipe calls for grilled beets instead of sweet potato and chopped beet greens instead of spinach.  I don't like beets but you could substitute if you prefer. 

I was able to make two thin crust pizzas with this recipe.  We ate one for dinner one night and reheated the second in the oven for 10 minutes the next night.  It reheated really well.

Here is a picture of some of the ingredients in case you aren't familiar with them.

Grilled Goat Cheese Pizza with Figs, Sweet Potato and Spinach
(adapted from Fine Cooking No. 111, p. 41)

Serves 4.

1 large sweet potato, peeled and sliced into ¼ inch rounds
3-4 cups tightly packed spinach or baby spinach, washed and cut into thin strips
4 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
4 ounces goat cheese
1/3 cup chopped dried figs, about 4 whole figs (I found whole dried figs in the bulk section at the Superstore)
4 thin slices provolone cheese, broken into pieces
pizza crust (I used two President’s Choice thin crust pizzas but 4 pocketless pitas or 1 lb. of pizza dough rolled out would also work)

Preheat grill to medium.

In a medium bowl, toss the sweet potato rounds with 2 tsp. oil and salt and pepper.

In a second medium bowl, toss the strips of spinach with the remaining 2 tsp. oil and salt and pepper.

Grill the sweet potato rounds directly on the grill, turning once, until they are spotty brown on both sides, approx. 8-10 minutes.  Return to the bowl and set aside when done.

Reduce grill heat to medium low.  Grill one side of the pizza crusts until grill marks are very visible, 2-4 minutes.  DO NOT grill second side yet.  Put crusts on a pan, grilled side up. 

Spread each crust with goat cheese (this will melt and spread easily on the warm crusts) and top with spinach strips, grilled sweet potato rounds and chopped figs.  Top with provolone pieces.

Return the pizzas to the grill and cook until the bottoms are spotty brown, the spinach is wilted and the cheese is melted, 2-3 minutes or longer.

Cut into pieces and serve.

The original recipe calls for grilled beets.  I don’t like beets but you could substitute if you do.