Meatless Monday is a nonprofit initiative whose aim is to encourage people to go meatless one day a week, for their health and the health of the environment. Click here to find out all about it and to pledge to go meatless on Mondays. When you sign up, you’ll receive a weekly email of delicious meatless recipes.
Today I’m going to share one of my favorite winter meatless meals. It comes from the Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen, and when you’re looking for vegetarian comfort food, this recipe fits the bill. I recently made it for a friend’s birthday with our fresh CSA vegetables, and it was even more delicious than the original recipe.
Old Country Pie
serves 4
1 unbaked 9- or 10-inch pie crust
1 Tbsp. butter or oil
1 1/2 cups minced onion
1 tsp. caraway seeds
1 tsp. salt
1/2 lb. mushroom, chopped or sliced
1 1/2 cups shredded cabbage
1 medium stalk broccoli, chopped
1 medium carrot, thinly sliced
2 tsp. dill
lots of black pepper
3 medium cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 cup cottage cheese (lowfat ok)
2 eggs
2 medium scallions, finely minced
optional: 3/4 cup sour cream or yogurt; paprika
1) Prepare pie crust. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Melt butter (or heat oil) in a medium-sized skillet. Add onion, caraway, and salt, and saute over medium heat until the onions begin to brown (10 to 15 minutes).
3) Add mushrooms, cabbage, broccoli, carrot, and dill, and saute until everything is just tender- about 8 more minutes.
4) Stir in black pepper, garlic, and flour, and cook, stirring, for just a few minutes more. Remove from heat.
5) Beat together cottage cheese and eggs. Add this to the saute along with the scallions and mix well.
6) Spread into the unbaked crust and, if desired, top with a layer of sour cream or yogurt. Sprinkle with paprika, and bake for 40 minutes or until set. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.
This last time I used what I had from the CSA, so I left out the mushrooms and cabbage, and used 3 carrots, 2 stalks of broccoli, and about half a bunch of kale. The colors were gorgeous and the flavor was fantastic. I covered the top with a light layer of sour cream and sprinkled with paprika. I think you could use just about any vegetables you like, but don’t leave out the caraway seeds or the dill, they’re what give the dish its distinctive taste.
What are your favorite meatless comfort foods? Please leave your ideas in the Comments section and I’ll include them in the next Meatless Monday post.
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