Good Vegan and Vegetarian Food

“Luo Han Zhai” (Luo Han means arhat in Buddhism) has become a regular vegetable dish on every Guangzhou family’s dinner table since it served as the “food for monks” in Song dynasty. Not only does it carry the delicate fragrance of Buddhism, but also has the joy of the mortal world.

Guangzhou’s Luo Han Zhai is known by the “Eighteen Disciples of Buddha Zhai”, or the “18 Luo Han Zhai”. It wins the reputation from people being fastidious about the rich ingredients, but this dish is rarely seen today. It is too luxurious and does not carry on any spirit of Buddhism, and it simply cannot stand well with the intense competitions under the current Chinese market economic principles.

The cooking methods of any ordinary Luo Han Zhai are approximately the same among Guangzhou’s several large vegetable restaurants, and there are also not much differences comparing the nation’s main cuisines. But in the folk, people cook the dish in their own ways and the procedures can be very different. Rich families, of course, will always have “three mushrooms & six ears (wood ears)” (the phrase implies “rich” in China), and everything else needed. But it is also called “Luo Han Zhai” if cooked with just three or five main ingredients in low income families. Such spirit comes from the Buddhist for sure.

Ingredients:

1/2 turnip
1 carrot
1 bunch broccoli
soup stock
salt
3 bamboo shoots
2 dried mushrooms (soaked)
5 champignons
20 gingko nuts
4 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup (100cc) soup stock
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon cooking wine
dash of monosodium glutamate
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Method:

1. Cut turnip and carrot into 2.5cm (1″) pieces and scoop into balls with baller. Boil in soup till tender. Drain.
2. Boil broccoli in soup with salt added till tender.
3. Drain and cut broccoli into pieces. Slice mushrooms and bamboo shoots. Shell gingko nuts and boil in salted water.
4. Heat oil. Add and sauté in this order: mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and champignons. Add soup, turnip, carrot and seasonings.
5. Sauté and mix well. Thicken with starch mixed with water.
6. Add broccoli. Server while hot.

Cooking Time: 50 minutes

Nutritional information:
Yield: 4 servings
Each serving provides:
Calories: 197
Protein: 7.3g

Note: You may freely republish this recipe as long as author bio and active hyperlinks are kept intact. Thank you.

About the Author

Jacklyn Chen - Webmaster of news-blogs.com. She is a full time mom who works very hard to make living with multiple web sites. For holiday and gift shopping, visit http://holidays.news-blogs.com

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Balsamic Roasted Carrots

Ingredients:

12 lg Carrots (about 2 lb)
1/4 c Balsamic vinegar
2 ts Olive oil
1/4 ts Salt
1/4 ts Pepper

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cut carrots in half lengthwise. Cut diagonally into 1″ pieces to equal 5 cups. Combine carrots and next 4 ingredients in a bowl. Stir well. Spoon carrot mixture onto a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Bake for 40 minutes or until carrots are soft and browned, stirring every 15 minutes.

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Think of the word pumpkin and images of jack-o-lanterns and whipped cream covered Thanksgiving pies will probably pop into your mind. Pumpkin is traditionally considered a holiday food and is a staple in our kitchen pantries and freezers during that festive time of the year. However, did you know that pumpkin now heralded as one of the ‘Super Foods?’

According to Dr. Steven Pratt, author of SuperFoods Rx: Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life, “Well, pumpkin is one of the most nutritionally valuable foods known to man. Moreover, it’s inexpensive, available year round in canned form, incredibly easy to incorporate into recipes, high in fiber, low in calories, and packs an abundance of disease fighting nutrients.”

What exactly makes pumpkin so super? The powerful antioxidants known as carotenoids give this food its super status. Carotenoids have the ability to ward off the risk of various types of cancer and heart disease, along with, cataracts and macular degeneration. Dr. Pratt mentions many other disease fighting super foods in his book as well, but we are most interested in pumpkin because of the year-round availability and ease of use in canned form.

How can we add this wonder food to our diets through out the year? Take advantage of the benefits and great taste of pumpkin with the following delicious Pumpkin Recipes.

Any day Pumpkin Pancakes

2-1/2 cups flour
1 cup of buttermilk
1 tsp. salt
2-1/4 tsp. soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup of pumpkin

Measure flour into bowl and add dry ingredients. Stir in buttermilk and add pumpkin. Mix Well. Cook on hot griddle or skillet until golden brown.

Pumpkin Spiced Muffins

1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin
1/4 cup milk
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl cream butter with brown sugar. Beat in eggs, then pumpkin and milk. In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, spices, salt and baking soda. Add to the creamed mixture. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

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About the author: Sherry Frewerd publishes ‘Family Crock Pot Recipes’ and ‘Recipes to Live By’, both sites offer free and delicious recipes that your family will love. Visit today at: http://familycrockpotrecipes.com and http://theres-more-to-life-than-food.typepad.com/recipes_to_live_by

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