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| Pea and Asparagus Salad with Vegetarian Cumberland Sausages |
I’m still helping Patrick with his blog while he is working flat out. His intention with this blog was to show what we eat every day as he was always being asked what we eat. It is a well meaning question but it is surprising that people have no idea how to prepare a meatless meal. He started recording our meals and recipes.
Since I’ve been working on Patrick’s blog, I have been showing my attempts to make reduced carb versions of everyday foods. The problem with being vegetarian is that you end up with a lot of carb rich foods – think pastas, risottos, bruschettas – and not enough protein. It’s all good and well to remove the meat from a meal but vegetarians still need protein – just like everybody else. Read more here.
I try to replace white flour with whole grains, ground nuts, gluten, eggs and other protein and fibre rich ingredients. I also try to reduce the amount of fat where possible. Each week I will update the blog with meal ideas and recipes until Patrick is able to take over the blog. We also update the recipe gallery about once a month. You can see past meals and recipes by clicking on – this link.
On to this weeks meal. I’m not going to write out a recipe for the sausages or they are so dead easy to knock together. But I will give a recipe for the salad dressing. You can just see the dressing to the right of the plate in the photo.
The sausages are commercially made – see here. Some vegetarians have an issue with meat substitutes – considering them processed food. Which they are. But for convenience and a low fat source of protein you can’t beat them. I put them in the microwave for a minute or two instead of frying them. They still taste good without the greasy preparation.
The salad is a bog standard mix of torn lettuce leaves, sliced cherry tomatoes and cucumber slices. I took a cup of frozen peas and microwaved them for a few mins until they were al dente. Then I put them in a colander and allowed them to cool.
I simmered the asparagus for a few minutes in hot water in a pan until they were also al dente. I added them to the colander and allowed them to cool. I mixed the peas and asparagus with the salad.
We never, ever buy salad dressing. It’s so easy to make. Take an old screw top jar – the sort that you buy peanut butter in. Add 1/3 oil – in this case Olive Oil and add 2/3 acid – here I used Cider Vinegar. Add a heaped teaspoon of mustard. Place the lid on the jar and shake well. Voila!
