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Welcome all veg-heads and meat-heads alike. Whatever you fancy, we’re delighted to be hosting this edition of the vegetarian carnival on behalf of Veggie Chic. Some of you might be surprised: “I thought SmarterFitter was a health and fitness blog, what’s all this vegetarian mumbo jumbo?” Well guess what, vegetables are a huge part of staying fit and living smart, but you already knew that. So enjoy the links and don’t forget to visit the Veggie Chic Carnival to submit an article for the next edition.

My favorite submissions

How to shop at a farmers’ market
by valereee at Cincinnati Locavore
“Every vegetarian needs a farmers’ market!” says valereee. I say every person who eats food needs a farmers’ market. Still, sometimes I find it hard to will myself to battle the crowds. As someone who finds the farmer’s market a challenge, I can definitely vouch for valereee’s suggestions: these are spot on. Especially the ones about going early, expecting to pay more than the supermarket, not expecting the most beautiful food on earth, and of course: bringing a friend. There is safety in numbers.

Baking an omelet in the solar oven
by Esther Garvi
This post has something for everyone: vegetarians, protein-hungry iron-pumpers, sun worshippers, and lovers of nifty inventions. Esther lives in Niger as an upaid volunteer for the Eden Foundation and helps the people of the “least developed area of the least developed country in the world achieve a sustainable life”. Here, she uses an ultra nifty solar oven to make a tasty omelet. It’s not a vegetarian recipe but it does includes a lot of vegetables and protein-hungry people will like it for its inclusion of tuna and lots of eggs. She serves it with solar-cooked millet bread. Reading this and through her other blog posts reminds me that even one of the poorest country in the world can also be the richest in certain respects.

Spinach Paratha
by Manjula Jain at Manjula’s Kitchen
“This is a great anytime meal. Spinach Parathas are whole-wheat Indian flatbread stuffed with a spicy spinach filling,” says Manjula. Parathas are gooood, and Manjula’s video shows you how to make them, kneeding the dough to preparing the filling to cooking them on the stove. Indian bread can be a challenge to make, but her video makes it look easy. It’s inspired me to try my hands at paratha and chapattis. I bet this would taste delicious with the channa masala posted below.

Curried Mushroom Couscous
by Vera Nadine at Vegetarian Frugal Housewife
One of the reasons I liked this post is because I could relate to Vera’s fondness for the type of couscous that comes in a box with a sachet of highly-processed flavor, what Vera calls “the last straw of my (SAD) Standard American Diet”. If you’re like most Americans who grew up on this kind of stuff, it’s hard to forget that these foods at one point tasted really damn good. In fact, some of them still do. But guess what, you can experience the salty goodness of processed foods with all-natural ingredients!! As Vera says, this is “a quick and very yummy homemade version of store-bought flavored couscous. A nice side dish or easy food for picnics and hiking.”

Homemade Tofu
by Jen Carlile at Modern Beet.
Should you ever want to make your own tofu, Jen shows you every step of this somewhat ambitious process. She makes a good case for the effort: “Making tofu from scratch is a fairly involved endeavor, but worth it if you have the urge to know where your food comes from and how it’s made.” Well said, Jen. I think it’s funny that she used a tin of Chicken Noodle Soup to press the curdled soy into firm tofu.

Roasted Parsnip Fries
by Chef Erik.
Erik says: “This has to be one of my favorite recipes. I came up with this recipe for health reasons. Roasting, as we all know, is so much healthier for us than frying.” I say forget the health benefits: parsnips are just damn good. And this recipe is EASY: only 5 ingredients, two of which are salt and peper.

These folks also like to eat their vegetables

As you can see, I had a hard time choosing favorites.

• Randy Powell presents Blue and Purple Food posted at Eating-Veggies.com.
• 
  Allen Holman presents Switching from Vegetarian to Vegan posted at Vegan and Vegetarian Recipes, saying, “Some tips about making the switch from vegetarian to vegan.”
• 
  Eccentric Vegan presents Vegan Bites: Responses To PETA Reward, Vat Meat, & The NY Times posted at Vegan Soapbox.

• Alison presents Quorn posted at Green Me.

• Vihar Sheth presents Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler posted at Vihar Sheth.

• J.F. presents Ever Consider Dr. McDougall’s Soups? posted at vegoftheweek.

• Lane Wright presents Chana Masala posted at Vegan Bits.

• Lisa presents Greek Scrambled Eggs with Tomato and Feta posted at Lisa’s Vegetarian Kitchen.

• Melanie Rimmer presents Bean Sprouts: Fried Halloumi with Redcurrant Chili Sauce posted at Bean Sprouts.

• VnV presents a luscious strawberry dessert posted at Veggie Monologues.

• kitchenetta presents Vegan Manhattan Clam Chowder posted at got no milk, saying, “One of my all-time favorite soups from one of my all-time favorite restaurants. Although I am not a vegetarian, I love vegetarian cooking, and enjoy it often.”

• Expat Chef presents Honey and Vinegar posted at The Expatriate’s Kitchen, saying, “A light, lemony salad with couscous and vegetables.”

• Jason Isbell presents On the spot dinner posted at Tired Garden, saying, “Create a recipe on the spot and have a good meal.”

• lalaine y. manalo presents Sauteed Bean Sprouts and Tofu posted at thecookmobile.com, saying, “fast, easy and delicious vegetarian tofu recipe.”

That concludes this edition. Got a veg-tastic link of your own to share? Submit your blog article to the next edition of the vegetarian carnival using ourcarnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.

I’ll be hosting the Vegetarian Carnival this week on behalf of Veggie Chic. Do you have a tasty recipe or interesting blog post you’d like to share? Then submit your entry by Monday, May 12th and we’ll consider sharing it with the rest of our hungry readers.

On a side note, Veggie Chic is looking for a new blogger. Interested? Read more about it here.

What’s a blog carnival? Click here to find out.

Jul at Veggie Chic is hosting this month’s vegetarian blog carnival and was kind enough to list our Easy Tempeh Sloppy Joes in her top 5. Thanks to Jul for the link!

For more veggie happiness, including Ten Reasons Soaking Dried Beans Can Change Your Life, check out the carnival!

Link to Vegetarian Carnival #14: yummy winter recipes and more

Some lentils play hard to get. Take the yellow lentil, for instance: even after an hour of cooking she’s still tough on the teeth. But the green lentil, well, she’s a bit of a slut.

Green lentils are fast and easy: they require no soaking, take just 20 minutes to cook, and will go with about any vegetable you throw at it. Better still, they’re high protein, low fat, and full of fiber. Not to mention cheap: according to Cheap Healthy Good, a serving of a similar soup costs just $0.69.

Because they’re so easy to cook, green lentils are ideal for quick soups on cold days. This soup doesn’t really need a recipe: just throw in whatever veggies you have on hand. Carrots and tomato are especially good, as is parsley.

Fast and Easy Lentil Soup

Ingredients

• 250g green lentils
• 1 tin of tomatoes
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 2 ribs of celery, sliced
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• A handful of parsley
• Enough vegetable stock to cover (or more if you desire a soupy soup)
• Ground black pepper

Directions

Put everything together in a pot and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 20 minutes. Optional: At the end, freshen the soup with a splash of vinegar or squeeze of lemon.
Serve with crusty bread.

Serves 4.
Per serving: 282 Calories (kcal); 1g Total Fat; 18g Protein; 51g Carbohydrate

Nutrition information derived from the USDA food database.

Link to other high protein vegan foods

When I made the list of High Protein Vegan Foods, tempeh stood out as most mysterious. I mean, what is it? The dense speckled brick looks more like a diseased internal organ than food. But in fact, tempeh IS food, and a highly nutritious, protein-rich food at that.

Like tofu, tempeh is made from soybeans. However, unlike tofu, which is made from soy milk, tempeh is made from whole soybeans, fermented through a natural culturing process that binds the beans into a cake. Because tempeh retains the whole bean, it is higher in protein and fiber than tofu.

My easy tempeh recipe is an evolution of my Auntie Jo’s sloppy joes, a quintessential American food for sure, traditionally made with ground beef, onions, tomato sauce, and bbq seasoning, then slopped on a bun and eaten with lots of napkins. You don’t need to make this with tempeh - my mom makes hers with MorningStar Farms soy crumbles. I tend to prefer cooking with unadulterated whole ingredients and the tempeh does a nice job of crumbling into the sauce and soaking in the flavors.

The hardest part about this recipe is finding vegan bbq sauce; many sauces contain Worchestershire sauce (i.e. anchovies), honey, and dubious processed ingredients. The only bottled vegan bbq sauce I’m aware of is Annie’s Naturals BBQ Sauce. Of course, you can always make your own, which would make this recipe less easy, but probably much tastier!

Tempeh Sloppy Joes

serves 4

200g tempeh, roughly crumbled
100g bbq sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 can of stewed tomatoes
A dash or two of liquid smoke
salt to taste

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan
2. Add the onion, celery and green pepper and sauté until tender
3. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes or more (the longer the better, the tempeh will crumble more as it cooks)
4. Serve on hamburger buns with lettuce, tomato and sliced onion (if desired). Or, for a tidier sandwich, stuff it in a pita, or wrap it in a tortilla!

Per serving: 200 Calories (kcal); 9g Total Fat; 11g Protein; 22g Carbohydrate
Per serving (with whole grain bun): 310 Calories; 12g Total Fat; 15g Protein; 41g Carbohydrates

Approximate total cost of preparation, including buns: £6.30 (£1.60 per serving)

Nutrition information derived from the USDA food database.

• Link to all High protein vegan foods
• The Flickr photos tagged with “tempeh” are lookin’ mighty tasty
• Lots of information at Tempeh.info

If so, you’re not the only one. The article “I Love You, but You Love Meat” in today’s New York Times illustrates how fundamental food is to our relationships. We want to have our cake, and eat it, too, and share in the enjoyment of that cake with the people we love. If a couple can’t share a meal, the relationship suffers:

“I went out with one guy who said I seemed really great but he liked bread too much to date me,” said Ms. James, 41, a writer in Seattle who cannot eat gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye.

In our household, Tim’s an omnivore while I’m a vegetarian. I don’t mind him cooking meat while I’m around, but he doesn’t because it means we can’t share in the enjoyment of the same food. I appreciate this. He has meat fests when I’m not around, much like Ms. Benson, whose husband is vegetarian:

She cooks vegetarian dinners and makes lunches for herself and her daughter that include meat. She and her daughter have “meat parties” when Mr. Benson goes out of town.

I was warmed by the quote from omnivorous chef, Daniel Ahern, who considers his is gluten-averse wife a “professional challenge”:

“As a chef, it has given me the opportunity to experiment with new ingredients to create things she can eat,” said Mr. Ahern, 39, who works at Impromptu Wine Bar Cafe in Seattle. Ms. James said she fell in love with him after he made her a gluten-free salad of frisée, poached egg and bacon. They married in September.

The article focussed on couples whose dietary needs were dictated by religious or philosophical beliefs. But what about people trying to lose weight? Or training for a marathon? It’s here where I find dietary restrictions can be most taxing, though I struggle to articulate why. If I say to someone “I’m vegetarian”, there’s no question that I won’t be ordering steak for dinner. But if “I’m training for a 10k”, my motivation to avoid high fat foods and alcohol seems somehow less strict in comparison. I know a competitive marathon runner who says his wife gets very frustrated when he’s training because he’s far less social (i.e. he sleeps more and drinks less). This must be quite a difficult situation for his wife, who wants to be supportive but also wants to have fun with her husband.Happy valentines day, everyone!Link to I Love You, But You Love Meat