Meatless Monday

While I'd never consider myself a vegetarian, I have no problem going days without eating meat.

Really, I don't. Much to the displeasure of my husband, I'm sure.

We've posted some great main dishes that don't require any meat, like Okonomiyaki and Sweet Potato Enchiladas.

There are thousands of vegetarian cookbooks out there, but I don't own a single one. Not. One. Which makes me a "non-expert" of all things vegetarian. However, I've been incorporating at least one meatless dinner every week. Just to mix things up, if you will.

I've mentioned we're fans of Japanese food at our house. Here's another meatless, Japanese recipe for you to try.

JAPANESE TEMPURA

1 cup flour
1/3 cup corn starch
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/4 cups cold club soda

Heat oil to 350° before you begin to mix the batter. In a bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. Add cold club soda and stir with a fork. Batter will be runny and may have lumps, but don't over mix it. When oil is heated to 375° begin frying your batter dipped vegetables.

Use care in not adding too many vegetables to the oil at once, or crowding them, this will cool the oil and make the tempura greasy. Serve hot!

Soy Sauce with Fresh Ginger:
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 Tbs. water
1 Tbs. fresh minced ginger
1 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. hot chile sesame oil or toasted sesame oil
1 green onion sliced
juice of 1/2 a lime