ANTIPASTO MARINARA
Artichokes, black and green olives, sun-dried tomatoes, lots of fresh garlic and ginger simmered with nothing better than San Marzano tomatoes! Fat-free, except for a negligible amount found naturally in the olives.
Makes 7 cups
CHRISTMAS CHILI
Obviously this chili is cooked, yet it tastes so fresh. I wonder why? “Very good”, Steve said. “Very French”. Serve by itself or over orecchiette (hat shaped pasta). Over rice too! It’s all good. The “very” categorizes it as special! And yes, it’s even low-fat. It didn’t have to be; that’s just the way it happened. Merry Christmas!
Makes 12 cups
The Japanese hold onto their soy sauce like we do our ketchup. Almost. We don’t put ketchup on everything, just some things. And we have a wider variety of dipping sauces than they do.
I’d like to think that the Japanese don’t require soy sauce with everything, but how would I know? Even living in Hawaii one might think that I would know that, but I don’t. I’m not a big fan of salty, though I do on occasion enjoy it. Shoyu sauce the Japanese say. There are types more robust and complex in flavor than your regular diner table variety soy sauce, but I don’t go out of my way to buy them any more. If there was a market nearby, maybe.
If I need soy sauce in a recipe I’m developing, I use what’s available within walking distance.
So, no there isn’t any soy sauce or anything that can be identified as Japanese on this sandwich, except maybe Japanese cucumber, aka English cucumber or burpless, or seedless.
What makes it Japanese is the look. The look is important. The colors. The textures. All Japanese all the way.
This is my Japanese hot dog that I made for lunch today.
You’ll like it.
Come on… yes you will.
Parmesan cheese on a hot dog with Kalamata olive and that’s Japanese?
Yup.
Can You Follow Instructions?
Use a common hot dog bun that looks and textures a little reminiscent of Chinese steamed buns in texture. Oops. Don’t Japanese make steamed buns too? Yes they do. We’re in the clear here.
Microwave a Lightlife Smart Dog veggie hot dog – no frying for low-fat.
Squirt some prepared yellow mustard in bottom crease of inside of bun.
Place hot dog in center.
Squirt more mustard on insides of bun next to hot dog and on top of hot dog.
Top mustard with beet horseradish.
Chop onion, cucumber, tomato and sprinkle on horseradish.
Chop Kalamata olive and sprinkle over all.
Spoon 1 teaspoon of vegan parmesan shaker cheese over top of everything – like snow.
Eat with pleasure.
AFC SPAGHETTI MUSHROOM ALFREDO for Steve
If someone wants to occasionally indulge in a higher calorie and fat dish, plus they want large or extra-large portions, I’d say take this one, for a sky-high experience!
That was Steve’s Request. Lots of happy sounds were heard while he savored this meal. The Animal-Free Chef at your service! As always.
Serves 8
TOMATO CORN CURRY RICE
Ever wonder what to do with fresh corn-on–the-cob besides eating it straight from the cob? I did, and this tomato corn curry rice is what I came up with. Super simple. Super tasty. Light and refreshing!
Makes 8 cups rice and 6 cups tomato corn
WEIGHT REDUCTION SOUP (WRS)
FAT-FREE CABBAGE SOUP
This is my new favorite soup. I love everything about it. It’s simple, easy, doesn’t cost much and it makes a ton. This will be Steve’s and my lunch for the week. Today, for lunch he had 5 cups. This soup is definitely a keeper! I’m going to reduce my weight by eating this soup and lots of it. I just know it to be true, before I even start my WRS program! Ready? There is no part of any animal nor any fat in this soup!
Makes approx. 45 cups
FAT-FREE ANIMAL-FREE TOMATO SAUCE
Totally fat-free and animal-free? Are you kidding me? Don’t tell anyone. Just serve it. It satisfies like ground meat and feels like there is definitely a fine oil in this fine sauce! Go for it!
Makes about 7 cups
RED AND GREASY
Steve says he wants red and greasy – a favorite of his and mine. Lately we’ve been so low-fat or no-fat that we decided to treat ourselves with more-than-usual-fat. Lighten up. You’re not going to lose all that fat in a day anyway! Have some fun with food! Serve over pasta of choice!
Makes 9-1/2 cups
ANTI-BEEF CRUMBLE CHILI – fat-free (FF)
Red rice is my new Anti-Beef Crumble. It works beautifully, with no suffering imposed. Now, that’s a good day, when I find a better way to prepare traditional food absent the cruelty. Revolutionary is what it is. Right in front of us the whole time. For all you who prefer not to eat soy, this Anti-Beef Crumble is for you!
Makes 9-3/4 cups
AFC 5 SPICE TOMATO BEAN SOUP
Fat-Free and still delicious! Cabbage, celery and carrots combined with Roman beans in a spicy tomato sauce. Salsa and fresh lime give it an extra kick and AFC 5 SPICE ramps up the flavor profile!
Makes 11-1/2 cups
ASIAN BARBECUE BEAN SOUP
Can a barbecue bean soup really be Asian? Tastes like Asian to me. Maybe it’s the sesame oil. Maybe it’s the fresh garlic and ginger. Maybe it’s the barbecue in the beans. Maybe it’s all the ingredients combined. Steve picked out the ingredients and I made the soup per his request. He ate a quart of it over toasted bagel croutons. Guess he liked it. I loved it. I had the last cup this morning for breakfast. That’s when I knew why he ate so much. I would have done the same if there had been more!
Makes 5 cups
SPINACH TOMATO LINGUINI BOWL
Cooked linguini mixed with fresh spinach, tomatoes, sweet onion, Kalamata olives, sweet mini peppers, and carrot ribbons. Tossed with a reduced fat Herb and Spice Vinaigrette! Mostly raw!
Makes 16 cups
BAKED VEG CHEESE AND VEAL CANNELLONI
We use the other white plant meat for this fine American-Italian casserole. Veg veal! I think I’ve had veal once or twice aside from a luncheon sandwich meat called veal loaf back in the long ago days. I recall it not having much flavor – not the loaf that tasted more like bologna, but the fresh pounded cutlets.
Mild in flavor, soft when ground, which is what we did here. We, meaning me. I figured I must have had some divine or other intervention help on this one, since I nailed it first time. On my birthday too! Had no idea I’d be cooking today. Must be that Alpha Lipoid Acid I’m taking that fixes fatigue. It works.
What a treat. OMGod does this have meat in it? And the sauce!! All so rich, all so wonderful!
Makes 14 stuffed cannelloni
FAT-FREE BAKED BEAN & ROASTED TOMATO SOUP
Bush’s Beans proves that you don’t need fat nor oil to enjoy good tasting baked beans, and you don’t need it in a soup either!
Makes 7-1/2 cups
GINGER GARLIC TOMATO REBOOT
Fat-free medicine. It’s super hot from the garlic and ginger, so you need the bread or some other carbohydrate to chew it with. Any bread will do. I also like it with Russian black bread. Do not serve this to guests. It’s personal.
Makes 3-1/2 cups
SHARON’S MANICOTTI
This has been a long time in the planning and waiting stages – mainly to get the filling right absent any animal products. It’s a success I waited three decades to achieve.
Makes 11 stuffed pasta and 5-1/4 cups sauce
SWEET CARROT MARINARA
A wonderful fat-free marinara sauce with a sweet red pepper and carrot base – neither discernible but necessary to the enjoyment of the sauce!
Makes 6-1/2 cups
RED VELVET SOUP
Wow. Nice. Nice. Nice. Restaurant friendly! Mostly fat-free! Who would of thought that lima beans and beets could taste so good?
Makes 4-1/4 cups
GIMME LEAN SAUSAGE AND TOMATO
A plant meat and veggie saute. Tastier and more satisfying than the animal counterpart! No leap needed here. Low-fat too!
Makes 6-1/2 cups
TOMATO SANDWICH FOR STEVE
Steve’s losing weight, but he’s not going the fat-free route. He still wants a little veggie mayo on his tomato sandwich.
So this is what we do. We still spread one half of the bread with Tomato Onion Salad Dressing – that is essentially fat-free, and it adds great flavors to the sandwich, then we spread only one half of the bread with the veg mayo, and not much either.
It worked out perfectly. I did one sandwich on toasted French baguette (that was his breakfast) then the other on toasted pretzel sub roll (that was his lunch).
A little fresh grind black pepper finished it off with style. So simple. So delicious!
Is this the most perfect tomato or what? All summer I waited for a tomato like this and at the end of summer I finally got it.
TOMATO TAPENADE
Sun-dried tomatoes and Kalamata olives processed with garlic, green peppercorn and capers in a Tomato Onion Salad Dressing! Perfect texture, perfect flavors. Low fat, but you wouldn’t know it! So easy to make. Serve on toasted or broiled baguette slices as an hors d’oeuvre!
Makes 1-1/2 cups
TOMATO BRUSCHETTA
Nobody is going to miss the oil on these appetizers. Just don’t tell anybody it’s fat-free. If you say that, they won’t want to eat it. Just serve it and they’ll love it. Good quality ingredients – remember that! It’s mostly fat-free – just a teeny bit in the tomato spread.
Makes as many as you want
TOMATO ONION SALAD DRESSING
Just a tiny bit of oil brings the pureed solids to a happy place for the palate! The olive juice, ground fennel and liquid smoke help bring out the richness of the tomato, while the onion and garlic create a surprisingly fresh flavor quality, making one think it’s a fresh tomato dressing! Use over green salads.
Makes 1-3/4 cups
MARINATED TOMATOES AND FRESH HERBS
Even when cooking with oils, fresh herbs rarely flavor a sauce as much as we think they should. Dried herbs are always needed in addition to the fresh. We usually add the fresh right at the end of cooking time for best result, but even then, the flavor effect is minimal – from the fresh herbs.
Now that we’re not using oils, I’m looking for new ways to flavor sauces – especially tomato sauces. Instead of doing the ‘add at end of cooking time’ thing, I decided to marinate the tomatoes that I would be using in the sauce with the fresh herbs and let them sit in the refrigerator for a day or two or three.
I added .75 oz. each of fresh oregano and fresh basil, washed well, to a quart jar with 2, 28 oz. cans of San Marzano Tomatoes.
When first tasted after marinating, I didn’t taste anything that resembled an herb. When I heated the tomatoes and herbs in a saucepan, that’s when the flavors emerged and stayed prominent throughout the cooking of the sauce.
In the past, when making a soup and before adding the oils I would notice that the flavors after adding the oils became markedly muted. So, I’m wondering if the same would have happened with the tomato sauce had I added oil (which I didn’t). It just seemed that the herbs were especially prominent.
I’m beginning to think that the amount of flavor additives needed in an oiled sauce are greater than a non oiled sauce – or soup. The oil keeps the herbs and/or veggies from exhibiting their natural scents and flavors to their full potential.
If you like fresh herbs, try marinating them with the tomatoes before adding both to your sauce. See if you like it. I know I did. I didn’t need dried herbs with the sauce I made from these marinated tomatoes and fresh herbs. That’s a first – for me.
VEG DOG AND KRAUT BURRITO
Cooked Jumbo veg dog, raw whiskey sauerkraut, chopped tomato, dill relish, chopped red onion and fresh cilantro rolled in a spinach flatbread drizzled with mustard. See? Fat-free CAN taste good!
Makes 1
