Best Of Health

Recently my good friend Caroline achieved her certificate in Morphologic Hematology. We had a wonderful dinner to celebrate her success. I happily did the cooking and drew from my fabulous collection of vegetarian recipes. Some of them already appear in this blog but some are new to me and, I must admit, turned out very well. If you should decide to prepare a multi-dish menu for your friends you might want to try this.

3 tablespoons (45 gr) of butter

2 leeks or onions, chopped

4 large cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped

2 cups (500 ml) of diced celery

2 potatoes, peeled and diced

6 cups (1.5 L) of chicken stock

1 pinch of ground nutmeg

In a saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.

Add the leeks or onions. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the chopped apples and celery. Cook for 5 minutes while stirring.

Mix in the potatoes, chicken stock and nutmeg. Add salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes with the lid on. Liquidize in an electric blender.

1 medium onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced (optional)
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 packages ground beef alternative
1/4 cup oatmeal, dry
2 slices bread, crumbled
3 Tbsp. ketchup
2 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. pepper

Coating ingredients:
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

? Saut? the onion and green pepper in the oil over medium heat until soft. Combine in a bowl with the ground beef alternative, oatmeal, bread, ketchup, garlic salt, and pepper. Thoroughly mix with a spoon or your hands.
? Press the mixture into an oiled loaf pan. Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes.
? Meanwhile, mix together the ingredients for the coating and set aside.
? Remove the loaf from the oven and turn it out onto a baking sheet. Spread the coating over the entire loaf. Cook, uncovered, for another 15 minutes.

This is a delightfully tasty treat. Watch closely toward the end the broccoli florettes can over crisp quickly.

1 bunch broccoli cut into florets, stems peeled and sliced or diced

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Toss broccoli florettes with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

Spread out on baking sheet and roast for about 12 to 15 minutes with out stirring or turning. Edges of broccoli should be crispy and the stems crispy and tender. Serve warm.

It was served with a chardonnay and for dessert we had very light gluten free, non dairy cookies. The whole meal was easy on the palate and the digestion.