Dragonfly Fried Rice

2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
3 cups brown rice
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small head of Savoy cabbage, thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, coarsely grated
Soy sauce or tamari, to taste

• Heat the sesame oil in a skillet and sauté the raw rice until it is lightly toasted then cook the rice in any way that you'd like. In a separate pan, sauté the onion in the olive oil before adding the cabbage and carrots. Allow the cabbage and carrots to brown slightly. Add the rice and sauté until everything is hot. Don't try to fry the rice—you've already done that!
• Add soy sauce or tamari, to taste, and serve.

Makes 4-6 servings

Not exactly diet, but it still tastes delicious. I made this last week with some spinach added to the mix. Heaven on my tongue. :)

Don't you think we should get rid of this?

I came across this post by a member of Veggieboards who goes by phi in responce to a previous post:
You are probably going to be less outraged by a murder out of jealousy (which is a more "natural" occurrence) than you would be if someone held millions of women in captivity, had them raped, their newborns taken away and put in a dark box for a few years to lie in their own excrement and eat industrial waste, then had them strapped onto a conveyor belt by one foot, their throats slit (sometimes less than perfectly), dunked them in boiling water and then started cutting their limbs off to sell them to you.

phi then showed me his blog, on which I found an amazing post. And who am I not to show this to you?

Today is the best day of my life: Fresh Air Day! I’m not sure what happened to this planet—the only home I have known—before I was born. None of us have memories of what was before the Dark Age. Before today we did not even refer to it as dark, simply because we had never seen daylight. All we knew was that, for one reason or another, we were growing up in little stalls within a big, dark structure, barely able to move at all. We would eat the same bland food every day and wonder if this had once been a world teeming with lush vegetation producing succulent fruit in abundance and if so, what could have caused the cataclysm that forced us to rely on this gray, mealy guck for sustenance. We had never seen anyone truly healthy, but judging by the purulent lesions on our bodies and the constant visceral pain, it did not take a genius to figure out our diet was less than optimal. There were thousands of us in that building, and our excrement was removed only to the extent necessary to keep the concentration of ammonia in the air at a level that would allow the bulk of us to survive, albeit uncomfortably.

Today is different. Early in the morning, we all had to leave and board a vehicle. There seemed to be a considerable measure of urgency involved. Fortunately I was one of the last ones to enter the cage-like trailer used to transport us and as a result am located near the top. I’m not even sure the ones at the bottom will survive the trip. I saw the sky today for the first time in my life. It is blue, but this world’s sun is so bright it literally hurts our eyes. The true blessing of it all, however, is the air: no ammonia, no methane, less carbon dioxide than we are used to, just a faint hint of hydrocarbons, most likely fuel. I never knew life could be this great! I can’t wait to see our destination and the wonders it may hold for us.

The planet is Earth. The year is A.D. 2010. We are pork. Resistance is futile.

Wow. This seriously hits the hammer on the nail. Don't you think it's about time we try to change this? Sadly, this is the life of a poor pig forced to grow to maturity in today's factory farms. It makes things seem even more horrible when we can put the feelings to them.

If you're thinking of going vegetarian, please visit Go Veg.

Tostada

Ingredients:
16" corn tortilla
1/4 cup fat free refried Black beans
Chopped onion
Taco Bell restaurant sauce
Salad greens

Directions:

Bake tortilla in oven until crisp. This will take about 15-20 minutes at 450 degrees.

Remove tortilla, spread warmed beans over the tortilla.

Add other toppings as desired.

Makes 1, 125 calorie tostada.

French Toast

1 loaf of bread
1 cup nondairy milk
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 tbs. vegan butter
Syrup

Directions:
Cut bread into 1/2 inch slices. In a shallow bowl, mix together milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla with a fork. Set aside.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Dip each slice of bread into milk mixture, then place in hot skillet. Cook until each side is golden brown.

Remove from heat. Drizzle with syrup.

8-9 servings
62 calories each

I'm a French toast fiend, so I obviously love this one.

Potato Salad in Radicchio Cups

Ingredients:
8 medium-sized creamy yello potatoes, quartered (peeling optional)
1/2 cup vegan mayo
4 scallions (white and green parts), finely chopped
2 small-size carrots, peeled and finely chopped
2 tbs. finely chopped fresh parsley
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 small-size red onion, finely chopped
1 tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
Blakc pepper
24 small size radicchio, Boston lettuce, or endive leaves

Directions:
Steam or boil potatoes until tender but not too soft. Drain and cool, and cut into cubes.

In a large-size bowl, combine cooled potatoes with mayo, scallions, carrots, parsley, celery, onion, lemon juice, and salt. Add more mayo, if necessary. Season with pepper and mix well.

To serve, place 2 tablespoons potato salad in each radicchio (or lettuce or endive) leaf.

Makes 24 cups with 44 calories in each.

Vegan "Mayo"

Ingredients:
12 oz firm silken tofu
3 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp salt

Combine the tofu, lemon juice, olive oil, mustard, and salt in a blender and puree until emulsified, about 1 minute.

1 1/2 cups
22 calories per tablespoon

Love it! lol

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:
4 tbs. Water, divided
2 tbs. Minced garlic
1 tbs. Grated or finely minced fresh ginger
1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 package extra-firm tofu
1 tbs. Chili paste
2 tbs. Light brown sugar
2 tsp sesame seeds
10 Boston bibb of butter lettuce leaves, rinsed and patted dry
10 basil leaves
2 small cucumbers, peeled and julienned
2 tbs. Light miso paste

Directions:
Heat 2 tablespoons water in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger, and cook for 2 minutes, until they soften. Add red pepper and carrot, and cook for another minute.

Meanwhile, crumble tofu in a separate bowl until pretty small, resembling breadcrumbs. Add to sauté pan, and cook for 10 minutes, thoroughly combining with vegetables. Add chili paste, and stir to combine.

To make miso sauce, place brown sugar and remaining 2 tablespoons water in a saucepan, and dissolve over low-medium heat. Remove from heat, and stir in miso paste and sesame seeds. Add to tofu mixture and thoroughly combine.

To make wraps, trim edges of lettuce leaves to make them uniform. Add basil and cucumber before adding mix.

Servings: 10
Calories: 72

Yum! I'm addicted to miso lol