Just three ingredients go into this vegetarian appetizer:

Olive oil, about three tablespoons
Lightlife Gimme Lean/ Ground Sausage Style
Asian Style Cheriyaki Marinade

Put olive oil into a frying pan over medium heat. Meanwhile, roll small portions of the Gimme Lean into balls, and then fry in the olive oil. Stir periodically until fully browned. Once they are cooked, add a half container of the marinade, then simmer for about 10 minutes on low heat. Serve on a platter with toothpicks. Makes about two dozen.

   

This was a tasty meal, and it was fun to make. I had a pint-sized helper in my five-year-old son. I took one package of Organic Food Merchants Polenta, basil garlic flavor. I cut it into slices, then my son used a cookie cutter to make heart shapes. I fried the polenta hearts in olive oil. In a saucepan, I warmed up one can of diced tomatoes. I put the warm, drained tomatoes on plates, added the fried polenta hearts, then sprinkled crumbled goat cheese and rosemary on each dish. (You'll have extra polenta after cutting out the heart-shapes, cut that up into small chunks and fry it in the olive oil after the decorative hearts are done for a later meal.) This was ready in about 15 minutes!
     

My latest issue of Vegetarian Times had an interesting article on "Amazing Grains." Interested in trying something new, I decided to pick up one of the grains it mentioned, amaranth, on my trip to the grocery store today. It was a little hard to find - I mentioned "amaranth" to two store employees, who said they hadn't heard of it. But I eventually found something close - "Ancient Grains - Nature's Earthly Choice, Heritage Grain Blend" at Stop & Shop in the International Grain aisle, top row. The package included amaranth and several other grains. The magazine has several recipes to go with the article, and used eggplant, tomatoes and mozzarella with amaranth. 

In preparing our similar dinner, (I didn't have all the ingredients) I prepared the grains according to the package directions - and it was ready in 20 minutes. I then sauteed tomatoes and mushrooms in olive oil. I mixed the prepared grains with half a jar of basil pesto. In a baking pan, I put the tomatoes and mushrooms, then covered them with the pesto/grain mixture. I put sliced mozzarella balls on top, sprinkled it with parsley and baked the whole thing at 350 degrees for about ten minutes. Dinner was ready in about half an hour.
My husband was a bit skeptical at first;  he looked at the Ancient Grains bag and declared that it looked like "bird seed." But he polished off the dish I made, and even had seconds. I liked it too, and will be making it again.
Check out the Vegetarian Times web site here. Check out the Nature's Earthly Choice's web site here.
What grains do you recommend?
        

Ingredients:
Firm tofu, cubed
Indian curry sauce
marinated garlic cloves
Tomatoes
3 Eggs

Cut the tofu into cubes and dice five garlic cloves. Fry in a pan in olive oil over medium heat until browned, about 10 minutes. Add chopped grape or cherry tomatoes. Stir in half a jar of curry sauce and simmer. Lower the heat and create spaces in the sauce mixture for the eggs. Crack three raw eggs into the spaces. Cover with a lid so the steam cooks the eggs. Once the egg whites are fully cooked, sprinkle with pepper or spices and serve. Serves three.

Vegetarian Pumpkin Butternut Soup
You will need:
1 can, 15 oz. pumpkin
1 box organic vegetable stock
1 large onion, diced
olive oil
20 oz. pre-peeled butternut squash, cut in squares
1 tbsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 cups water
1 garlic clove
dash nutmeg

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Boil squash cubes until tender. Drain and set aside. In a pan, saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until tender. Stir in brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir in the water, vegetable broth, drained squash and canned pumpkin. Boil mixture. Reduce heat and simmer. Process half of the soup in a blender, and return it to the soup. Sprinkle each bowl of soup with nutmeg before serving.