Guest Post Series – Week 3
Green Blossoms Guest Chef – Jennifer Carson
She calls herself a “recovering fast food addict” who’s now a vegetarian in training. This week, Jennifer, also known on Twitter as @Groovyflor, shares her yummy Lentil Cacciatore and talks about her journey as a new vegetarian.
As a relatively new vegetarian, I understand the struggles that come with not eating meat. I understand the difficulty of having to avoid favorite foods. How hard it is to plan meals when before it used to be so simple. There are things that people who eat meatless have to think about that never cause omnivores to think twice.
On the flip side, I am new enough to remember what it felt like to eat meat and what it feels like now to be a veg. Physically, I notice a few differences. I feel healthier. I’ve lost a few pounds, though not as much as you might expect. I have more energy. It’s the external things that really surprised me though. I have learned better ways to prepare vegetables (I would happily replace French fries with roasted broccoli any day). Because of my new diet, I branched out and joined a Community Supported Agriculture program that delivered me a box of farm fresh produce every week. I learned that kohlrabi is fantastic.
Finally, I have learned that you can have your cake and eat it too once you learn to make a few adjustments. All your favorite foods are still accessible; you just need to think outside the box. Take one of my favorite meals, chicken cacciatore. My mother in law is Italian, and this is one of her specialties. It is just so hearty and comforting. However, when I started abstaining from chicken, I thought I would have to give up cacciatore entirely. But with one small change, I managed to keep it in my life, make it better for the environment, and cruelty free.
Lentil Cacciatore
Ingredients
1 package lentils, rinsed
1 onion, chopped
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 tsp oregano
2 cups water
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Add lentils, sauce, water, onions, and oregano into a 13×9 baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes.
3. Remove from onion and add remaining ingredients. Stir, then bake for another 45 minutes.
4. Serve (top with mozzarella for added flavor).
Download this recipe!
About the chef: Jennifer Carson is a vegetarian in training and a recovering fast food addict. She grew up loving processed unhealthy foods, but now she wants to be a healthy person and wants to spread this love of being healthy to the people around her. She lives with her husband S and son Spud. Jen is into yoga, cooking, reading (particularly about religion) and science. Her work as a Quality Control Analytical Chemist for a cancer Radiation treatment company is what keeps her busy and she’s happy to be doing something that makes a difference.
Monday, February 15th, 2010 at 4:00 amand is filed under GB Guest Supertips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.