A Very Merry Sandwich

I had a wonderful Christmas, and looking over the pictures I couldn't help but feel blessed. I got to spend Christmas with a man that I love and two kids who make me smile and laugh every day. I can't think of anything that you could put under a tree that would even give me even a fraction of the joy that these people do, they, themselves, are a wonderful gift....but this is a vegetarian food blog right? So back to the vegetarian food...

I cook a big dinner on Christmas eve day, that way I can spend the entire Christmas day enjoying my family, playing games, watching my kids faces light up, and not worry about putting something in the oven or burning something on the stove top. We had acorn squash soup, cooked and served inside an acorn squash, cauliflower gratin, roasted potatoes (such a simple recipe and oh so tasty, I'll have to get around to posting that soon), biscuits, and gravy. Everything was delicious if I may say so, I will definitely be serving cauliflower again in the near future, I had forgotten how much I liked it....maybe in a stew or curry...hmmm. For Christmas breakfast we had cinnamon rolls, fresh fruit, and leftover biscuits and gravy. Lunch was tacos, though they didn't take long to make, and weren't fancy or fussy they were enjoyed by all.

...But you're here for the sandwich right?...ok...I'll get on with it then. This sandwich was oh soooo tasty, but don't take my word for it, you should really make it yourself. It also looked so festive I highly suspect it will show up in our house next December. I think it would even make a great appetizer on a smaller scale to serve at parties, I can almost guarantee you it would go over well with carnivores too.

The sandwich is simply ciabatta bread smeared with garlic aioli, roasted red pepper dressing, and stuffed with chopped hearts of romaine. So good...give it a try...just make sure you have breath mints handy.

I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season.

Roasted Red Pepper and Shallot Dressing/Sauce

I made this yesterday long before dinner time so that when the kids woke up from nap all I had to do was throw dinner together and throw it in the oven....big mistake...it was sooo good. I spread some on a slice of bread to make sure I got the flavors right, then I had another slice....and another...never adjusting the recipe one bit, just some good old fashioned stuffing my face with a savory sauce that was meant to be for dinner.

Now when my husband came home with a jar of roasted red peppers I had no idea what I was going to do with them, but when I saw portabella mushroom caps in the store I was inspired. I cleaned and degilled the mushroom caps then stuck them in a bag with a couple tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, a tablespoon of oil, a little salt, and one tsp of sugar. I let this mixture marinate until dinner. If I'd had, a clove of garlic I would have crushed and tossed that in there as well. When dinner time rolled around I put the mushroom caps in a baking dish and stuffed them with quinoa that I had cooked in veggie broth, and seasoned with salt and pepper. I baked this covered (to keep the quinoa from drying out) at 350 for about 45 minutes. Then I pulled them out and served them with the red pepper sauce over the top. I have a horrifically bad photo of this somewhere on my cell phone, I'll see if I can't get a better one when I make this again*. I'll follow with more serving suggestions after the recipe.

What you need

3 cloves shallots peeled and thinly sliced

oil for sauteing

dash of salt

2/3 cups roasted red pepper strips (don't drain, but try not to get a lot of liquid in the mix)

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp brown sugar

2 tbs coconut milk...or more for a creamier sauce

Heat the oil in a pan over medium low heat, add the shallots and salt and cook until transparent. You could probably caramelize these with tasty results, however I did not this time around.

Put the shallots and the rest of the ingredients in your food processor and process until smooth. Adjust to suit tastes.

This recipe doesn't make a lot of sauce, it was enough to cover our mushrooms (ehem...and a little extra), but if you are thinking of using it on a larger scale...say over a pasta dish, you may have to double the recipe.

Serving suggestions

Try this on a sandwich (tomato and mozzarella maybe? Yum!)

On toasted bread (rubbed with garlic?)

Add more coconut milk to make it into a cream sauce and add to pasta

Over stuffed portabella mushrooms

On top of salad

As a dressing for pasta salad

A dip for raw veggies

Smeared onto puff pastry with some cream cheese and crushed garlic, then rolled up for a pesto pinwheel style appetizer

pour over grilled veggies

*I will be making this again

Aioli Spread Or Dip and Serving Suggestions

Pictured here on sourdough bread next to some baby carrots and a glass of 100% cranberry juice mixed with seltzer water....and I know what you are thinking, why would I trust the tastes of someone who drinks 100% cranberry juice...you probably shouldn't for the most part. However in this case you would be missing out. Over the years I've made this with many types of mayonnaise, real, vegan, canola, olive oil, and some are better than others. My current fave is grape seed vegenaise as it is not too sweet, if the flavor of your mayo is off that will greatly affect the end product. I would not suggest using anything light as it often has a sweet aftertaste, beyond that use what tastes good to you. The only unfortunate thing about this recipe is that I have not yet figured out how to make it soy free so that little man can enjoy it, almost all mayonnaise type spreads use soy in them. I have some ideas though and I will get back to you on those.

Aioli is traditionally a blend of garlic, olive oil, eggs, and lemon juice, and it is fantastic. Mostly in america you will find that the process is shortened by using mayonnaise, this makes it super simple to veganize. Here is my version, it isn't really revolutionary, you will probably find similar recipes elsewhere on the interwebs, but if you have never tried it you simply must! It takes three ingredients to make this....are you ready?? It's super simple, why not give it a go?

1 cup mayonnaise (of your preference)

5-8 cloves of garlic peeled and pressed (I think I used 7 this time....we REALLY like garlic)

2 tsp lemon juice

Stir everything together and chill.

This is fantastic spread thinly over GOOD sourdough bread. It also works very well as a dip for veggies, and pretzels. My husbands favorite pasta salad is simply pasta tossed with aioli, and he will tell you it is one of the dishes that made him decide he wanted to marry me (yes, we both love garlic that much).

This is also the spread that I use on my famous summer wraps and for some of my favorite sandwiches. For the summer wraps I spread it onto a large tortilla (usually spinach) add roma tomatoes, spinach, and thinly sliced basil leaves, so simple....soooooo tasty. Sometimes shredded cucumber and carrots work their way into the mix. Or a hunk of aged parmesean cheese. For a fantastic portabella veggie burger experience cook a portabella mushroom burger according to directions and instead of placing on a bun slather some ciabatta bread with aioli and add spinach and roma tomatoes. Another super simple, but tasty favorite of mine is an aioli and avocado sandwich......which is just what it sounds like....aioli and slices of avocado...yum!

Indian Spiced Potatoes and Peas

This is a lovely side dish, not really spicy hot, but very tasty. You may add cayenne or hot pepper if you desire a spicy dish. And yes I totally pan fried these potatoes....in oil...then I wrapped the whole lovely mess in rice paper...and I fried it some more. So clearly this is not an every day food. Really tasty, and full of healthy veg, but I am willing to wager it's not low calorie. I am ok with that. I would have loved to add some more protein to this and have made it into a full meal. Chickpeas would be nice, or perhaps some diced firm tofu? Let me know if you try it out.

What you need

2 tbs oil
2 sweet potatoes (washed, peeled, diced)
1 regular potato (washed, peeled, diced)
1/4 tsp of salt

1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt

4 cloves of pressed garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
1 cup frozen peas

Heat the oil over medium heat and add the diced potatoes and 1/4 tsp of salt. Cook for five minutes on medium.

Add the rest of the spices and salt (from turmeric to salt) stir them in, and cook for another five minutes. At this point my potatoes were fully cooked, if yours are not then cook them a bit longer.

Add the garlic, ginger, and frozen peas. Cook for five minutes more, stirring and lowering heat if necessary to avoid burning the garlic.



I've divided the ingredients up into groups by when you add them. Let me know if this makes it easier or more confusing. I love the feedback, and I am also in total shock that people are actually following my recipes. :) It makes me super happy, but also makes me want to make it a little easier on you, the reader.....because I love you the reader. :)

Here are the potatoes and peas being used as an appetizer of sorts, rolled in rice paper, fried, and served with a dipping sauce. The sauce is a mixture of yogurt, vinegar, sugar, salt, and cilantro leaves. Not very pretty, but very tasty.

Fillo cups two ways (sweet and savory)

Remember these beans? Remember when I said they would be back. Well here they are on whole wheat tomato and feta sourdough bread. This was not what I had in mind, it was just a happy accident that I needed to use my starter, and I happened to have these beans. So good! I had to take a picture and share, these beans are quite versatile.

Back to the filo cups though. I thought it would be fun on a hot day such as today to feast on cold appetizers and have a game night. We ate these garlic bean filled fillo cups as well as the "yummy pink cups" as my daughter dubbed them, along side some homemade salsa and chips. Everything went over really well. Both children were hesitant to eat the cups at first, because I've told them that cups aren't for eating.

I am marking these as make ahead, even though in the strictest sense they are not. You can make the filling ahead of time, but I would recommend filling them right before eating as they might get soggy otherwise.

The "pink yummy cups" are really an adaptation of learning to live egg free. I used to fill fillo cups with a combination of lemon curd and yogurt, and top them with fresh raspberries (YUM!). No longer an option in our household. This new recipe was not only a hit, but a suitable substitute. If I ever figure out how to make an egg free, soy free, lemon curd I'll post it on here.


Garlic Basil Bean and Roma Tomato Fillo Cups

1 recipe garlic basil beans
2 diced roma tomatoes
1 tsp vinegar (balsamic or otherwise, I used raspberry basil vinegar)
30 mini fillo shells (2 boxes)
shredded cheese (optional)

Thaw filo cups according to directions on box. Mix together the garlic basil beans, roma tomatoes and vinegar. Distribute evenly into the filo cups. Sprinkle cheese on top if desired. You could heat these if you like the bubbly cheese element. They were very tasty cold though, especially on a hot day.


Pink Yummy Cups

1 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup organic vanilla yogurt
2 tbs fruit preserves (I used this)
15 mini fillo shells

Thaw mini fillo cups according to directions. Soften the cream cheese in a bowl. Stir in yogurt and preserves. Distribute evenly (about a tsp to each) into fillo cups. Chill and serve.