Meat Schmeat

So here I am, starting another blog when I can't even seem to post on my other. Let me defend my choice by saying THIS ONE IS DIFFERENT. This one is all about FOOD. Not just any food, but my food. I like to treat my pantry like a basket on the Food Network show, Chopped. I pride myself in my ability to make food out of random things I have on hand and a little creative inspiration.

Something I want to do that will make this different than a regular "Hey check out my food!" blog, is I am trying to use little to no meat. (Go ahead Wyoming readers, let out that loud gasp you're holding back). I don't like meat. Sorry folks, but I don't. On occasion I will have a bite of something meaty, or throw some in a dish, but for the most part I just want veggies and carbs. I do however, like seafood. SO if I use a protein that isn't meat, beans, or nuts, it will be fish or shrimp. What I am trying to do here is limit my options in order to expand my ability. Make sense?
If anything, this will just be a good way for me to keep track of my made-up recipes so I can make them again.

To start things off, I would like to share with y'all what I made for dinner. Drumroll please....

It is Vegan, it is tasty, it's a curry mouth party I like to call:

Random Indian Bulgar Pile of Yum.

Creative title, right? Here goes:

First I sliced an acorn squash, cleaned out the seeds and guts, sprayed the slices with some Olive Oil Pam, and sprinkled them with some curry powder. In to the oven they went, 375 degrees, for 30-40min. I know my slices aren't uniform, but give me a break, Acorn Squash is hard to freakin cut!

 Next, I prepared some bulgar wheat. I use the cheater 'quick cook' bulgar. That way, I don't have to plan ahead too much if I don't want to. There are a bunch of health benefits to bulgar like low-fat, whole grain, blah blah you know the drill. Anyways, I just follow the package directions for this one. 2C water to 1C wheat. Boil, simmer, and viola!

 OOh, don't forget to season it a little. I used a dash of EVOO (Which by the way I use in pretty much everything) and then a pinch of sea salt.

 This is my EVOO of choice. Don't have a Trader Joe's? Too bad for you, because it is amazing. Seriously. Pretty much everything in this meal was purchased there.

 This is what it looks like when it is all done: a big pot of brown cooked wheat that slightly resembles ground meat.

 Then, into my heated skillet went some more olive oil. Gotta get in all of those monounsaturated fatty acids!!

 Then I looked in my fridge for some stuff. I found Onion, Cabbage, and some Grape Tomatoes. I sweat the onions first with 2 cloves of crushed garlic, then added some Julianned cabbage. In case you don't know what Julianne is, besides a nice name, it looks like this:

 In went the tomatoes and I cooked it down a little.

 I then sprinkled a little curry powder (1t ) and a few generous dashes of Goya hot sauce in my pan of random.

 In went scoops of cooked Bulgar.

 I am going to guesstimate 2 cups. Who needs to measure anyways?

By the time I got all of this done, the squash was nice and tender and starting to brown a little on the edges. I just love oven roasted veggies. All of those natural sugars come out and caramelize and the FLAVOR, OH THE FLAVOR! Mmmmmmm!!

 Now, since I am a fancy pants, I created a nice presentation with a garnish of Cilantro, WHICH by the way, ended up complimenting the curry so I grabbed a few more sprigs while I was eating my plate and threw it in the mix.

 Here is proof that a man can and will eat a meatless, vegan meal, and think it is delicious.

Anyways, I hope that this will be slightly successful and maybe, just maybe, a little inspirational for others.

Coming soon: Gluten-Free Brownies!!