Vegetarian Delights

Check out our collection of delicious meat-free dishes, PLUS find out about 6 vegetarian cookbooks we love.

Originally published March, 2007

Photography by Edward Pond

When Lidia Kemeny's 10-year-old daughter, Laura, came home from school one day and challenged the entire family to go vegetarian for the month her mom thought, "Wow, this is going to be hard." But instead Kemeny and her family discovered a new eating lifestyle. The one month challenge is long behind them now, but they have continued to maintain their vegetarian eating habits.

Cookbook picks
To help other families to go vegetarian or at least to add some meat-free dishes into their weekly diet Kemeny shares some of her favourite cookbooks:

• The Vegetarian Family Cookbook, by Nava Atlas (Broadway, 2004)

• Rebar: Modern Food Cookbook, by Audrey Alsterburg and Wanda Urbanowicz (Big Ideas Publishing, 2001)

• Quick Vegetarian Pleasures, by Jeanne Lemlin (HarperCollins Canada, 1992)

• Simple Vegetarian Pleasures, by Jeanne Lemlin (HarperCollins Canada, 2000)

• Main-Course Vegetarian Pleasures, by Jeanne Lemlin (HarperCollins Canada, 1995)

• Becoming Vegetarian, by Vesanto Melina (Wiley, 2003)

Kemeny also shares her favourite family-tested vegetarian recipe:

Broccoli and Cheddar-Stuffed Potatoes
This is a great main dish for tweens. For an easy meal, serve with a tossed salad and whole wheat bread.

Ingredients:
4 large baking potatoes
1/4 cup low-fat milk, rice milk or soymilk
2 cups finely chopped broccoli florets, steamed
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions:
Bake or microwave the potatoes until done but still firm. When cool enough to handle, cut each in half lengthwise. Scoop out the inside of each potato half, leaving a sturdy shell. Transfer the scooped-out potato to a mixing bowl and mash coarsely. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Stuff the mixture back into the potato shells. Heat in microwave or in a preheated 400 degree oven. Note: You can substitute almost any vegetable your child enjoys for the broccoli.

PLUS meat-free recipes from Canadian Family:
Curried Lentils with Raisins
Speedy Summer Pizza
Greek Garden Couscous
Moroccan Vegetable Stew with Feta
Grill Eggplant-Pesto Sandwiches
Fresh Herb Salad with Asian Vinaigrette
“Create Your Own” Pasta Salad
Chili-Bean Potatoes
Tex-Mex Cowboy Pancakes
Tomato-Feta Puff Tarts
Roasted Vegetable Couscous with Yogurt Mint Sauce
Roasted Vegetable Stuffed Baguette
Quick Mediterranean Pizza
Neon Beet Soup
Easy Presto Pasta