Meatless Monday - Monday's Post

Main picture on the blog, "Temporary Vegetarian"

Since Meatless Monday is about being a “flexitarian”and eating less meat I thought the blog by the New York Times called “The Temporary Vegetarian” was very appropriate. When I went to the website I thought about what my sister’s boyfriend said when I got my vegetarian cookbook for Christmas, and the cover of it had a picture of a really delicious looking recipe. His reaction was "I could never go vegetarian....  but that looks really good." The cover on the front page of “The Temporary Vegetarian” also looks amazing, and reminds me of why I went vegetarian in the first place. 

Being vegetarian for me is more about enjoying the vegetables as the main substance of my diet, more than it is about cutting meat out. For me though, since I’m so in the habit of thinking, “what’s for dinner?” and pulling out a piece of chicken to cook, I had to cut out meat to break the habit and train myself to think of vegetables when I think of dinner.

Recently I’ve been craving asian food, but having always ordered General Tso’s chicken or chicken wraps I have been wondering what to make. Here’s a recipe for vegetarian lettuce wraps from the blog:

Mushrooms in Lettuce Wraps

Time: 20 minutes

For the Sauce:

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or other vinegar

1 tablespoon red wine or dry sherry

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon cornstarch 

For the filling:

16 medium to large Chinese or Japanese dried mushrooms, about 2 inches in diameter, soaked in warm water until softened, about 45 minutes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 celery stalks, strings removed with a vegetable peeler, finely diced (to make 1 cup)

3 carrots, peeled and finely diced (to make 1 cup)

4 scallions, white and green parts, trimmed and minced (to make 3/4 cup)

2 ounces firm tofu, finely diced

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

2 to 3 tablespoons lightly toasted pine nuts

To serve:

8 to 12 whole bibb, Boston or iceberg lettuce leaves

Hoisin sauce as needed. 

1. For the sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, wine, sugar and pepper. In another small bowl, stir together the cornstarch with 1 tablespoon water. Set bowls aside.

2. For the filling: Drain mushrooms, trim tough stalks and finely dice mushrooms; there should be about 1 1/2 cups. Place a large wok over high heat and add oil. When oil is hot, add mushrooms, celery, carrots and scallions. Stir-fry until celery and carrots are crisp-tender, about 45 seconds. Add soy sauce mixture and stir for 20 seconds. Add cornstarch mixture and stir until thickened, about 30 seconds.

3. Add tofu and toss gently, being careful not to break up tofu. Add sesame oil and toss again. Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with pine nuts.

4. To serve, place bowl of mushroom filling alongside a platter of lettuce leaves and a small bowl of hoisin sauce. Spread about 1/4 teaspoon hoisin sauce in center of each lettuce leaf and add 2 tablespoons of mushroom mixture. Roll up leaf and eat with your fingers.

Yield: 4 servings.

Poke around on the blog – there are soo many good recipes on it!!