Dear Cath,
I know you saw the flurry of emails about me receiving a bottle of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce and thought whaaaa? Well, I got my lovely bottle in the mail* and then proceeded to get busy thinking of recipes.
We didn’t really grow up using any sort of Worcestershire sauce did we? I really believe the main deterrent was the name had too many syllables (and certainly a Cajun mom and a Chinese dad had no clue how to say it properly). “War-chester-shire-sauce” or “wooorr-stershire sauce.” I think the last one was dad’s — just deleting those pesky syllables willy nilly. Which apparently was the right idea.
———
So, no longer deterred by pesky pronunciation, I got to experimenting. As Matt and I still don’t eat much meat and I figured most people use worchestorshire sauce for such things, wouldn’t it be nice to find something vegetarian and a wee bit healthier to use the sauce for?
I love a bloody marry and baked egg dish as much as the next person (see the video below), but what about our veggie-eating friends or for anyone watching their svelte-selves or doing a meatless Monday plan?
So here’s what I came up with:
Roasted and sautéed veg with Lea & Perrins!
It’s easy-peasy-lemon-squeezey, just:
• caramelize some onions and then stirfry with some zucchini/corgette
• give your carmelized onion/ zucchini mix a healthy couple of splashes of Worchestershire sauce
• whilst your veggies are stirfrying, slice up your sweet potato, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and pop it in the oven for about 20 minutes or until slices are nice and soft and smelling devine
• boil a bit of quinoa or brown rice, slice up some cherry tomatoes
• pile all of the goodness together (I did quinoa, then roasted sweet potato slices, then my Worchestershired-onions and zucchini, sprinkled with sliced cherry tomatoes)
• EAT
Like I said, easy-peasy-worchester-splooshy.
And just a note to you (Cath and readers), Lea & Perrins Worchestershire sauce is not vegan (it’s got anchovies in) nor gluten-free (it’s a bit like soy sauce that way), so even though this above recipe does not include wheat or dairy or meat, it’s neither gluten-free nor strictly vegan. It’s still healthy, tasty and quick. Let me know if you give it a go.
Also, I did a little bit of reading and it turns out the recipe for the Lea & Perrins sauce in the States is a wee bit different. Instead of malted vinegar, they use white vinegar and it comes wrapped in paper, whereas the British/Canadian version doesn’t. Also the US version had high fructose corn syrup in it until 2011, so if you have an old bottle in storage, you might want to chuck it out for a new version that just has sugar rather than the scary HFCS.
If you want a few more classic uses for the sauce check out Lea & Perrins videos below:
* Disclaimer: Lea & Perrins sent me a free bottle of Lea & Perrins to try out, but this post isn’t sponsored by them, so all my thoughts, recipes, ramblings are my own. I thought it would be nice to start doing a few more recipe posts on the blog as eating healthy has been a big part of my life these past few years and I’m always struggling to come up fuss-free healthy options.
Cath, do you and Troy ever use Worchestorshire sauce? I know it’s probably not at all paleo. Why are the tasty things in life never on any diet. Curses.
Love you like onions love Worchestershire sauce!
Lar
Oh my god, I love Worcestershire sauce! Use it for so many things. My family heritage is Brit/Irish though, so it’s probably in my blood ;-). I add a splash to my tomato sauce, some to my rice or quinoa while it’s cooking, most dishes with dark meat in it, but it also is lovely with fish, marinades, soups and various sauces. I use it for both meat, fish and vegetarian dishes (it’s fab with lentils for instance), it just adds so much flavour. Kind of like fish, soy or oyster sauce does in so many asian cuisines.
Will have to give your recipe a try, sounds yum!
MichelleK, you are a genius! I will definitely have to try it with lentils and just add it to soups and rice and quinoa. Genius, I say!
I think Cath and I just had a very slow introduction to the stuff and now I’m a huge fan.
xoxox,
Lar
I’m pretty sure I put a dash of this stuff in when I make steamed ribs with garlic and black bean, but I can’t remember because there are about a dozen ingredients in that marinade.
Ooohhh my gorsh, Lisa. That sounds amazing!
Yeah, I think generally Worchestorshire sauce is used in dashes in lots of dishes (ha!). I think I’ll just start adding it to everything and seeing what sticks.
xoxo, Lar
Yes, I cannot pronounce it.
But contrary to your post it was a staple in our pantry. In the good ole days of meatloaf and “devil may care” eating, nothing, but nothing, created a more wonderful topping for meatloaf than catsup mixed with Lea & Perrins after a quick moment under the broiler.
Yay worchesterrrrrrrrr.
Ooooo my goodness, Bunkie! I totally thought that was just ketchup. I know nothing! Nothing!
I remember just being confused by the whole thing when I was little: the name, the uses, the paper wrapper.
Thinking about the days of careless eating seems so strange now amongst the Alice Water-fication of everything. I love the new way of eating, but sometimes I miss mayonnaise and bologna sandwiches and meatloaf!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo,
Lar
Hahaha, I didn’t realize mom used it either – although of course I remember the ketchup meatloaf topping.
I’m so impressed that you whipped up such a healthy yummy recipe, Larbar. Seriously, you’re much more talented in the kitchen than me. In fact, I’m pretty sure Troy and I eat Worchesssttterrrr sauce a fair bit, but since he’s the one who does the cooking, I have no idea – ha!
Lovely, lovely photos too, Larbar. How do you get everything to look so good? I also love the Lea & Perrins bottle design.
I’m going to pick up a bottle and copy your recipe this weekend. I might even be able to make it edible – somehow I always mess up recipes. Not sure if I’ll be able to convince Troy to eat my cooking, but I’ll try 🙂
Love you xoxoxo, Cath
You so sweet, Kitcath!
Oh and it’s not me — it’s totally the camera that takes the good pics. Though I did make a uber-lazy reflector out of tin foil for the final recipe because it was such a dark, grey day here. It’s hard to get good pics even when the sun is out because usually it’s hiding behind some building. The nerve!
Oh and you could totally make this recipe with your eyes closed. And I’ll have you know, every time I’ve eaten something you’ve made, it’s been deeeelicious! Seriously– everything you made me when I was home was so good. Though, that said, we do come from a dad that likes peanut butter with his mushrooms (last week’s invention), so
xoxoxoxoxo, Lar