Daily protein in your diet has to be addressed with proper nutritious meals and not many vegetables are rich in protein . This gets a bit tricky especially when you’re diet is typically powered by rice. You can tap into textured vegetable protein but, meh … it takes a pretty tasty dish to disguise that weird texture and flavour . I’ve tried quite a few dishes made with TVP, and I must say I’ve enjoyed them. However, after a while … every dish cooked with it tastes exactly the same.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my vegetables. I just wish I could eat more of them in a day and incorporate them in my daily diet. I am not much of a meat eater so, I don’t really miss steaks or burgers. If there is one way I enjoy vegetables in my regular meals, this would be in a sandwich. I love how they taste grilled in a Panini, a ciabata or foccacia and drizzled with good dressing.
I might just swear off on a the mayo now and find ways to make healthier sandwiches as I am a serious sandwich monster. Again, this involves research effort and your basic trial and error. But who’s to complain about testing out recipes? I don’t. So check out the recipe below and maybe you’ll find yourself in the same boat on a quest to find great veggie sandwiches.

California Grilled Veggie Sandwich

Ingredients

1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 cup olive oil
1 cup sliced red bell peppers
1 small zucchini, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
1 small yellow squash, sliced
2 (4-x6-inch) focaccia bread pieces, split horizontally
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Instructions
1.In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise, minced garlic, and lemon juice. Set aside in the refrigerator.
2.Preheat the grill for high heat.
3.Brush vegetables with olive oil on each side. Brush grate with oil. Place bell peppers and zucchini closest to the middle of the grill, and set onion and squash pieces around them. Cook for about 3 minutes, turn, and cook for another 3 minutes. The peppers may take a bit longer. Remove from grill, and set aside.
4.Spread some of the mayonnaise mixture on the cut sides of the bread, and sprinkle each one with feta cheese. Place on the grill cheese side up, and cover with lid for 2 to 3 minutes. This will warm the bread, and slightly melt the cheese. Watch carefully so the bottoms don’t burn. Remove from grill, and layer with the vegetables. Enjoy as open faced grilled sandwiches.

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Instant pudding is fine by me, but why stop at that? Since I’ve already gone down that road of no turning back, might as well go all the way to making the calories worthy enough to feel guilty about. There are many ways to make pudding. I guess rich choccy pudding always calls for tempered eggs and not many are keen on that part. Some have taken it a step further with a total vegan recipe using avocados, bananas and yes even tofu. That’s a thumbs up for a healthy alternative and I wish I had it in me to go along that line of healthy eating.

I’ll probably take it easy at some point, but right now I’m starting to hear voices in my head calling me to make some of that velvet smooth chocolate indulgence. Here are three recipes you can choose to dive into. I want you to enjoy this simple dessert and still have an escape route to eating healthy.

SILKY TOFU CHOCOLATE PUDDING

Ingredients

• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 (12 ounce) package silken tofu, drained
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp crème de cacao ( optional)
• ½ cup vanilla soy milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Melt the chocolate with water in a heavy saucepan or double boiler.
2. In an electric blender or food processor, combine tofu with the melted chocolate, milk, and vanilla extract. Process until the mixture is smooth. Chill for 24 hours as this helps hide the tofu taste.

NO-COOK CHOCOLATE BANANA PUDDING

Ingredients

• 1 avocado – peeled, pitted, and cut into chunks
• 1 banana, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 cup unsweetened soy milk
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut (optional)
• 2 tbsp peanut butter

Directions

1. Combine avocado, banana, soy milk, cocoa powder, honey, vanilla, lemon juice, and coconut into a blender. Cover, and puree until it reaches a smooth consistency. Divide into small serving bowls, and chill in the refrigerator at least 4 hours.

CHOCOLATE DREAM PUDDING

Ingredients

• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 2.5 oz squares of unsweetened chocolate, grated
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir in milk and grated chocolate. Cook, while stirring constantly, until chocolate melts and mixture thickens. Remove from heat. Pour a bit of the chocolate mixture into egg yolks and mix together and then stir it back into the sauce pan with the rest of the chocolate pudding mix. Return to heat and cook 2 minutes more. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Chill before serving.

Photo Credit: llsimon53

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Thing is, I usually end up making too much of everything and I have to eat it all week! Uggh… and that kills my craving for about 2 to 3 months. I have yet to learn how to cook in smaller portions so I don’t go on a craving overkill.  On top of that, I also have to consider several other factors when cooking for my family. Boy, I can go on a full rant about this obstacle course I deal with every single day cooking for just 3 people in my home.  Never have I imagined cooking for 3 people, including myself could be so complicated.  My 10 yr old son is still a little fussy with food, so I have to be rather reasonable with my choices and my 78 year old mom has the longest list of restricted food, it’s not even funny.

So here’s my little dilemma. I wanted to make spring rolls. My son likes them, but only if it’s stuffed with meat and if it’s fried. My mom on the other hand, has to stay away from fried rolls because they soak up so much oil. On top of that, she prefers veggie rolls over meat.  I can eat them any which way but, now you see where I’m coming from.

Fortunately, I’ve come across these wonderful fresh Vietnamese spring rolls while dining out with some friends. I instantly fell in love with it! Now I can make a batch of fried meat stuffed shanghai rolls for my son and a batch of fresh veggie Vietnamese rolls for my mom! As for myself, aren’t I just a lucky gal that I get to enjoy the best of both!

Give these fresh rolls from allrecipes.com a try and I’m pretty sure you’re going to wrap and roll with a smile!

Vietnamese Fresh Veggie Rolls

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces rice vermicelli
• 8 rice wrappers (8.5 inch diameter)
• 8 large cooked shrimp – peeled, deveined and cut in half
• 1 1/3 tablespoons chopped fresh Thai basil
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 leaves lettuce, chopped
• 4 teaspoons fish sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic chili sauce
• 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped peanuts

Instructions:

1. Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Boil rice vermicelli 3 to 5 minutes, or until al dente, and drain.
2. Fill a large bowl with warm water. Dip one wrapper into the hot water for 1 second to soften. Lay wrapper flat. In a row across the center, place 2 shrimp halves, a handful of vermicelli, basil, mint, cilantro and lettuce, leaving about 2 inches uncovered on each side. Fold uncovered sides inward, and then tightly roll the wrapper, beginning at the end with the lettuce. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
3. In a small bowl, mix the fish sauce, water, lime juice, garlic, sugar and chili sauce.
4. In another small bowl, mix the hoisin sauce and peanuts.
5. Serve rolled spring rolls with the fish sauce and hoisin sauce mixtures.

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The husband and I are back doing low-carb, which means that our vegetable bin is full of cauliflower again. When rice is so much a part of your culture, as it is with us, finding a good rice substitute when you’re low-carbing is essential. And cauliflower, which is perfectly creamy and bland, contains only 14 grams of carbs for a medium-sized head.

I’ve made it like couscous, grating raw cauliflower then lightly sauteing it, but lately it’s been far too hot to spend time in front of a stove, so we’ve been oven-roasting our cauliflower. Here’s how:

Oven Baked Cauliflower

1 medium head of cauliflower
3 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and minced
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Squeeze of fresh lemon
Salt & Pepper
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375F. Bring some water to a boil.

Prepare cauliflower by cutting into florets, blanching for 5 minutes in boiling water, and straining.

Lay cauliflower in a baking dish. In the dish, add garlic, lemon juice, and about 2 tablespoons olive oil. Toss together, and sprinkle with salt and pepper and parmesan cheese.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until very light brown.

Delicious with roast chicken or pork chops- or any other low-carb dish of your choice.