The menu offerings were pretty sparse. If you’re just wanting an appetizer, there are three options — the spinach artichoke dip, the cheese sticks and these crazy cheese-loaded potato chip things. Other than that, there were no specifically meat-free dishes on the menu.

We got the cheese sticks appetizer. They were just okay — nothing particularly special about them. Aaron ordered a chicken salad, minus the chicken. It had strawberries and other things in it. They let him substitute a side of french fries for the chicken — at the same price. I ordered a side salad and onion rings for my “meal”.

First of all, I have to say — the side salad I ordered was $3.99 and contained nothing more than iceberg lettuce, a few shavings of cabbage, grated cheese, two cucumbers and two roma tomato slices. The onion rings were right around $3 because they consider them a “premium” side — but that included about half a dozen grease-soaked battered onion rings. The onions they used were pretty tasteless too. They tasted like deep-fried batter, nothing more. I should have gotten the baked potato. I would have spent a dollar less and gotten more food. Total, my “meal” was around $14 with a soft drink and a piece of key lime pie for dessert. With the appetizer, Aaron’s salad and drink and my dinner, drink and dessert, plus the tip and tax — our bill was around $40 for lunch. Aaron says he tipped 12% (the service was less than stellar).

It was a terrible value and crappy dining experience, honestly. I would not recommend this restaurant.

I wish the chain restaurants would realize that vegetarians do not want to sit down and order side dishes as meals. Nor do we want to pick and choose through salads. Nor do we want to pay the price for meat we ask to leave off our dishes. Offering one or two vegetarian options on a menu as vast as O’Charley’s doesn’t seem like that much to ask for — but apparently it is. Even though Aaron didn’t get chicken on his salad, he still paid $10 for it. I spent nearly as much for two tasteless sides. I can’t even recommend the appetizer we ordered because it just wasn’t very good (Gallo’s cheese sticks are about the same size and much tastier).

The key lime pie was pretty good.

The service was bad to mediocre. I know we’re not reviewing service, but I feel compelled to mention that. There are a few restaurants in town where I feel like excellent service is part of the dining experience, but this is not one of them.

So if you’re looking for veg*n options in Wayne County, don’t even bother with this restaurant. Nothing about eating here will leave a good taste in your mouth.

Happy Valentine’s Day! This is one of my all-time favorite dishes. 

Back when I would eat meat, I used to love it when my mom would make Sloppy Joe’s (we called them “Barbecue”), which generally involved a pound or two of ground beef, some spices, and other goodies.

Fortunately, this is one of the entrees that has a terrific homologue in the domain of vegetarianism. The recipe we use is from the New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook, a book Mel picked up either at a library book sale or through paperbackswap.com. The recipe goes like this:

Ingredients

• 1 large onion (diced)
• 1 – 2 medium green peppers
• 3 Tbsp. oil (vegetable, canola, or olive)
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• 2 1/2 cups (~1 can) tomato sauce
• 1 – 2 Tbsp. Chili powder
• pinch of pepper
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbsp. Mustard
• 1 Tbsp. Sugar
• 1 1/2 cups dry TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein)

In a large skillet, saute the onion and peppers in the oil. Once the onions are slightly translucent, add the remaining ingredients, in the order listed, and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve on sandwich buns, just like you would with Sloppy Joes! (makes approx. 8 sandwiches)

When we make this recipe, we typically go a little bit light on the TVP and only use 1 cup. (1 cup goes a LONG way) We typically scale back the recipe just a little bit, using a little bit less tomato sauce (1 can), TVP (1 cup), and Green Peppers (just 1). This makes enough for Mel, myself, and our son to eat for dinner AND for lunch the next day! (about 6 sandwiches)

Textured Vegetable Protein can be purchased from the Clear Creek Co-Op in bulk, for just around $2 / pound. A single pound of TVP will last you for a while – 1 pound is right around 5 cups of TVP, which is enough for 5 meals! Compare that to 3 – 5 lbs of ground beef (90% lean costs $2 – $3 per pound!)

What’s really great about this dish is that the texture is so close to that of traditional meat-based sloppy joes, you will barely notice the difference. It has a delicious combination of flavors, and while I don’t have the nutritional facts in front of me, I’ll wager that it’s healthier than the meat version. 

If you’re looking to start out with some truly vegetarian meals, then we heartily recommend trying this one.

While I’m in class in the evenings, I have to trust my husband to feed the spawn. Usually he does pretty good — with a little pre-planning on my part. Aaron isn’t a cook. He has a very utilitarian approach to eating. If it’s edible, he’ll probably eat it; while I’d prefer to cultivate a more civilized dining aesthetic for our son.

Tonight they’re having tacos. In our house, tacos is anything ranging from refried beans and cheese smothered on a tortilla to full-blown enchiladas. Mexican cuisine is easily adaptable to a vegetarian diet — and it’s yummy! One point to remember when you’re buying cans of refried beans in the grocery (you can also make it yourself from pintos) is to find those specifically marked “Vegetarian”.

As a compliment to any “taco” meal we have, I like Spanish rice. I use Elise’s recipe — modified for vegetarians (and for our family of 2.5). It’s so much better than Spanish Rice you find in boxes at the store. This is my version:

Ingredients
Olive oil for sauteing
1/2 yellow or white onion, chopped finely
1 clove minced garlic
1 cup of rice
2 cups of vegetable stock or water*
1 Tbsp tomato paste OR 1/2 can diced tomatoes or some amount (a handful to 3/4 a cup) of fresh diced tomatoes
pinch of oregano
pinch of salt (use less if you’re using veggie stock — more if you’re using water — to taste)
dash of lemon juice

*Check the cooking directions on the rice you use to find out how the correct liquid to rice ratio.

Put the veggie stock in a medium saucepan and turn the heat on high. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a separate skillet. Add the uncooked rice to the skillet and saute until it’s nice and brown, stirring frequently. Don’t walk away else you might burn it. When the rice turns a nice golden brown, add the onion and garlic and cook till the onions are soft and translucent (3-4 minutes). Transfer the rice/onion/garlic to the boiling veggie stock in the saucepan.

Add tomato, oregano and salt and lower heat to simmer. Cover and let cook another 15-25 minutes, until rice is fluffy and done. Squeeze a little lemon juice over it before serving.

Aaron’s mission tonight is to make this recipe and see if it’s just as easy as I’ve promised. He can update this entry later with his thoughts and suggestions.

The Turnout (by Aaron)

The rice (pictured above) turned out really well. I’m not quite as inept in the kitchen as Mel lets on (I make a mean batch of pancakes!), I just have a higher threshold for eating food failures.

I’ve had conventional spanish rice (the kind you make from the box) — and also some more traditional spanish rice served at El Rodeo or the kind my HS best friends’ mom used to make. This isn’t exactly like that — the acid content, as well as the spice level, is a bit lower; this rice is more mild. I tend to get acid reflux, so I happen to like this.

If you like living on the edge, you may want to chop up some jalapenos and maybe add a little Cumin powder — the former will give it edge, the latter that more “traditional” flavor. (Cumin is potent though, don’t go overboard!).

We served this rice on flour tortillas with vegetarian refried beans ($0.74 / can at Kroger’s), lettuce, mild salsa, and shredded cheese. Sour cream optional.