Easy Vegetarian Recipes

March Madness is all around us and I came across this very timely article that from the Chicago Vegetarian Examiner that’s got a couple of tasty easy vegetarian recipes that your pals will love to snack on. You know how important it is for me to be able to throw some of this stuff together quickly especially because entertaining for me is so time consuming with having to scrub my entire house before I let the first guest walk over my threshold!

This is a yummy mix of ingredients that is I will definitely categorize under the ‘easy vegetarian recipes’ section.

Louisville Cardinals Red Roasted Tomato Dip

Ingredients:
1/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic, minced
hot pepper sauce to taste
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup fresh basil

Directions:
In a food processor, mix the sun-dried tomatoes, cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, garlic, hot pepper sauce, salt, and pepper. Process until well blended. Add basil, and continue processing until smooth. Chill at least 1 hour in the refrigerator before serving with UConn pita chips and fresh cut veggies.

And of course you can’t have dip without some chips to dig it up with! Here’s an easy vegetarian recipe for homemade pita chips.

University of Connecticut Huskies Homemade Pita Chips

Ingredients:
3 Pita Bread Slices
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
Pepper to taste
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp Dried Rosemary Powder
1/4 cup dried parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:
Place aluminum foil on a cookie sheet and then apply a light coat of olive oil on top of the foil. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the slices of pocket pita bread into small triangles and arrange them on the sheet. Make sure that the inner portion of pita triangles is facing up. Mix olive oil, garlic powder, pepper and kosher salt in a small bowl. Apply a thin layer of the mixture on the upper portion of each triangle with a small pastry brush. Sprinkle the rosemary and parmesan cheese over the pita slices. Bake the pita triangles in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes. You may increase the baking time, depending on the thickness of the pita bread. Take the pita triangles out of the oven when they have been evenly baked from inside and are golden-brown in color and crispy. Let the chips cool down to room temperature before serving.

This combo will be the hit of your party and you won’t have to slave away for hours either.

Click here for the original story and for more of the Chicago Vegetarian Examiner.