Lahmajoon

Lahmajoon, also known as Armenian pizza, is one of our favorite Armenian meals. I haven't found many Armenian meals turned vegan. I was thrilled to find this recipe. It's typically made with lamb. I haven't found any faux lamb, so I used faux ground beef crumbles from Boca.

I made it for my son's immigration project. My family loved it and my son said his classmates said it was delicious and wished they had more.

Preparing this meal is fast, cooking it takes a long time, simply because you can only fit one or two pizzas in the oven at a time. My great grandmother used to prepare the pizzas and my great grandfather would sit in front of the oven. His job was to take the done pizzas out, and put the new pizzas in.

Enjoy!

Melissa

Italian-Style Brown Rice Salad

This recipe comes from The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen.

Makes 4-6 Main-Course or 8 Side-Dish Servings

3 1/3 cups vegetable broth, low sodium

1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice

1 cup thawed frozen baby green peas

1 (7 1/4 ounce) jar roasted red bell peppers, drained and chopped

1 (6-ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and thinly sliced

1 bunch scallions (6 to 8), white and green parts, thinly sliced

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

1/2 cup green Italian-style olives, pitted and chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley and/or basil

2 TBSP drained capers

2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

1 TBSP white wine vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Pine nuts or slivered almonds, toasted (optional)

Combine the vegetable broth and rice in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to the heat to low, cover, and cook until all of the broth has been absorbed, 30-35 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let stand uncovered, for about 5 minutes.

Combine the rest of the ingredients, minus the nuts in a large salad bowl. Add the warm rice and toss well to combine. Sprinkle with the nuts. Serve warm or room temperature.

Melissa

Baked BBQ Black Eyed Peas

My husband got me a new cookbook for Christmas, Vegan Soul Kitchen. Since Black Eyed Peas bring good luck for the New Year, I decided to make this recipe.

We had veggie burgers and french fries with the beans. It was such a good dinner and very kid friendly. My kids loved the burgers. My husband said they were really good and reminded him of the burgers they served at his elementary school cafeteria. He swears this is a compliment, but I'm not so sure.

The beans took time, but the recipe was easy. I will make this again for sure. It would be a wonderful potluck contribution as well.

The next day, I was reheating some beans and my husband and older son were in the room. They both stared at my plate and said, "those beans were so good!". My three year olds thoughts, "Mama! You know I don't like beans! Why'd you put these on my plate!?!?". Oh well, maybe next year he'll like beans. No good luck for him in 2011.

Melissa