Current Obsession: Baked Vegetables

I've always (ALWAYS) been a stove top person. Stir fry, stir fry, stir fry, or raw.

I've recently started to bake vegetables and am I in LOVE! Perhaps it's just different from my usual but they taste better (sweeter), and are way easier (don't need a consistently watchful eye).

(lonely pepper with the dirty dishes....) 

I've honestly baked about every vegetable in my fridge. And I (always) follow these three steps: 

1. Slice/Chop/Dice - you pick!

2. Brush on some oil, sprinkle some rock salt, and crack some fresh pepper

3. Bake at 375 (degress C.) for twenty minutes

(the lonely pepper now baked with carrots, tomatoes, and cauliflower)

And voila! You are done. Squeeze the juice of a fresh lemon on top or drizzle on some good balsamic vinegar.

Out now! 

A Vegetarian's Dinner Dilemma

I always have such a difficult time figuring out what to make for dinner. Recently I have been keen about getting enough protein, this past week I've immersed my self in piles and piles of nutrition books and I found out I was seriously protein deficient. I guess it has to do with that fact that I am a vegetarian, I give us vegetarians a bad rep. I can never manage to get enough dairy, iron, or protein so with this research I ll be attempting to fix my laziness and figure out how to.

Its interesting, being raised in an area where vegetarianism isn't so hot really cuts down your options and makes you hunt hard for all the possible solutions. I was in Seattle last year and by the looks of it, it seems as though quite a bit of the population truly love their animals, alive that is, I found a nutritious vegetarian option everywhere that didn't consist of only white bread, butter and a shred of ice-burg lettuce. In fact a little building near where we were staying, opened up a brand new Vegan Cafe, Chaco Canyon Cafe, everything from the drinks, soups, to baked goods were vegan and mind you terribly delicious. As a bonus most of the food was organic and the sitting layout, although minimalist, was very warm with all the earth tone colors covering the cafe's walls.

Unfortunately I can't afford a round trip to Seattle every day for dinner so I have to suck it up and make something. Last night, I made, don't kill me, Kraft mac and cheese sharp cheddar, a dark greens salad and soy chunks in text mex seasoning. For a teenager, a super easy meal! And tasty, I wouldn't advise eating the entire box of mac and cheese, so split it with a sibling or friend. The salad came straight out of the box and I had it plain, if you can't stand dressingless salad the cleanest and healthiest way to go would be lemon juice. The soy chunks in text mex came pre-made, so it was pretty pre-packaged dinner, starkly diffrent to the soup and biscuits I made from scratch. I must admit, the latter was much more satisfying.

And lastly, I do have a confession to make. I am not really a whole VEGETARIAN, and some people would love to argue me to death that I am not one at all. I prefer to call myself a semi-vegetarian, or as my cooking teacher four years ago called me a lacto-ovo-pouv-vegetarian. I do in fact eat chicken, but I observe religious days 4 days a week were I am a 'complete' vegetarian, that means no chicken on those 4 days.

And yes for the record I’ve never consumed beef or pork or anything that falls under those meat umbrellas..............intentionally.

-POw