Just to be nice to all the vegetarians who decided to come to our BBQ, I decided to make lentil veggie burgers. I recently went to a local restaurant that cooks with all local and organic produce…They make the best veggie burger I’ve ever had and I’m pretty sure there were no lentils or beans. It just tasted so fresh and veggie-licious! So the ultimate goal is to find a recipe like that but for now I’ll stick with this one, which did turn out pretty tasty. Vegetarian and Carnivore approved!

Read more for the recipe…

A nice hearty and healthy dish to serve alongside pretty much anything for the main course...or a filling snack!

Ingredients (serves 6 - 8 people)
3 lbs potatoes, cooked and mashed
1 lb kale, deribbed and chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

• Cook potatoes and mash.
• In a separate pan, saute onion in oil, then add kale and steam, covered, until kale is soft (but not dead).
• Remove from heat and mix with potatoes and seasonings. Put in casserole dish and bake at 350F until warmed through (we baked for about 15 - 20 minutes)
  

Yep! It's Vegan! Homemade vegetable stock and tofu matzah balls (no, tofu is not technically kosher, but if you're vegan you have to cheat a little tiny bit...)

Broth
Ingredients
8 dried shittake mushrooms
3 cups boiling water
5 medium carrots, sliced + 2 carrots, sliced
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1 parsnip, coarsely chopped
3 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup water + 10 cups water
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 bunches green onions, trimmed
1 potato, coarsely chopped (you can leave it unpeeled if you like)
1" piece of ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, sliced
Salt, pepper, thyme, & marjoram to taste
Onion powder (optional)

Go on, you know you're curious...

I once again did my own Passover Seder this year and incorporated things from last year into new things from this year! Passover food does not have to be bland and boring and it doesn't have to be deadly in fat either...Sure, some of the stuff I made is heavy and bad for you (but delicious), but there's also a lot of lighter stuff, like these Vegetarian Mock Gefilte Fish (which also save your friends from a potentially unpleasant taste experience...Gefilte fish are definitely an acquired taste.) So enjoy all of these recipes! Also, sorry there are no photos, I was going going going Monday night and didn't have time to snap some shots...

Ingredients
3 medium potatoes, peeled
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 large eggplant
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Vegetable oil for cooking (double check the ingredients...Canola oil is kosher but some veggie oils are not!)
Matzah meal (optional)
Sea salt, freshly ground pepper, paprika

Intrigued? Read on for the rest of the recipe...

EDIT 1/25/2010: Here are the beautiful purple potatoes.

Going back in time a bit...(I haven't been cooking much since Conor's home and the boys have been experimenting in the kitchen!): I made a Potato Leek Soup in December for a few reasons..
1. It reminds me of my momma
2. It's a Julia Child recipe
3. It's cold and soup is the best remedy
4. I had beautiful potatoes and leeks to use from our Thanksgiving share!

I found the recipe here, on AverageBetty.com, but I found that I made some changes to it. The first and most important being that my potatoes turned out to be purple!! I wish I had a picture of the lovely lilac color the whole soup turned. It was surprisingly appetizing = )

Finally! Using up one of the three (3!!) Butternut Squash that came in our enormous Thanksgiving Farm Share. (This year Bard had a connection with one of the local farms, called Hearty Roots, and we were able to get a HUGE, and I mean HUUUUUGE, amount of vegetables for $45. They have lasted for ages, obviously, but it was a struggle and a challenge to figure out to do with some of the things, i.e. celeriac, daikon, etc...). I've been meaning to make Butternut Squash Risotto for quite some time and was finalyl able to last night. I used a recipe I found through Tastespotting (shocking, I know). This recipe was posted by Pink Parsley, and the photo credit goes to them as well.

Butternut Squash Risotto
(To see the original recipe, click here. This one includes my changes and comments!)
Serves 6 as a main course (trust me, we had 2 main course servings and there's a LOT left!), 8 - 10 as a side

Thank you to Big Girls, Small Kitchen: A Guide to Quarter-life Cookingfor this recipe! Felt like trying out something light, healthy, vegetarian, and spicy and this was exactly what the doctor ordered.
I didn't have all the exact ingredients so here's their original recipe with my changes:
(Photo credit goes to the Big Girls as well!)

Chana Bateta(Click for complete original recipe) Serves 2, literally
NOTE: This tastes best made ahead, so if you have time, cool it, then transfer to the fridge until ready to eat. Then reheat until piping hot, add the vinegar, stir to distribute, and serve, garnished with fresh cilantro.