Vegan Lasagna!

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2666

Ingredients
Natural cooking spray
1 (14-ounce) package firm tofu, drained
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon garlic granules
Salt and pepper to taste
2 (25-ounce) jars vegan marinara sauce
3 bell peppers, cored, seeded and chopped
12 no-boil dried lasagna noodles

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a (9- x 13-inch) baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.

Wrap tofu in 3 or 4 layers of paper towels and gently press out as much water as possible, changing the paper towels once or twice as needed. Transfer tofu to a large bowl and add yeast, garlic, salt and pepper and mash with a fork. Set tofu mixture aside. Put marinara sauce into a medium pot and bring to a simmer. Add peppers and continue simmering until tender, about 10 minutes.

Spoon enough marinara sauce into prepared dish to cover the bottom and then arrange 4 noodles on top. Spread one-third of the tofu mixture over the noodles and then spoon more sauce over the tofu. Repeat the process 2 more times, ending with sauce. Cover with foil and bake until noodles are tender, 45 to 60 minutes. Set aside to let rest for 10 minutes and then serve.

Note for future: use more veggies in lasagna!! Squash, zucchini, eggplant, olives, spinach, etc!

I used vegan cheese on the majority of it and Britney put some of her provolone cheese on her section. I was proud of how much I made so we were able to eat leftovers of it for about a week!!

Sweet Potatoes, Sauteed Greens and Barley

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2770

Ingredients
3 sweet potatoes (about 21/2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
1/2 cup raisins*
1/2 cup unsweetened flaked or shredded coconut
11/2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 cup unsweetened soymilk*
1/2 cup orange juice

Method
Preheat oven to 375°F. Layer sweet potatoes, raisins, coconut and nutmeg in a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish and then drizzle all over with soymilk and juice. Cover with foil and bake until almost tender, about 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until tender and coconut is golden brown, about 10 minutes more.

I started cooking this meal a bit later than is ideal so we got hungry by 8PM. We decided to eat in courses, starting with the pesto barley and sauteed greens before digging into the sweet potatoes. The barley I cooked and felt was a bit boring, so I decided to spice it up with my homemade pesto--which was a FANTASTIC idea if I do say so myself. Then I used some left over undressed salad from our Family Night at school to create some sauteed greens. It included mixed greens, some button mushrooms, carrots and little tomatoes. Then the final part of the meal was the sweet potatoes. They were SO GOOD, kind of like the sweet Thanksgiving sweet potatoes, but instead of marshmellows and syrup, I used coconut, raisins, orange juice and soy milk. They were delicioso and I was happy to have made 2 pans worth. I decided to bring it to school to share with my coworkers, but unfortunately David despises coconut so it was all for me! Next time I would make it in a bigger pan so I could stir the seasonings together and make sure they're all equally cooked. Yummy nevertheless!! And healthy, always a good thing!

Cooking toys!

Man do I love cooking toys! My newest one I purchased last week, thanks to Oma, which as you can see is a fantastic food processor. If you can't tell based on my other posts, I have already put it to great use and am SO excited to keep exploring with it!

Ratatouille

Ratatouille, just like the movie! It needs to be eaten with a grain of some sort, but it is a rainbow of flavors and nutrients so what else could you ask for? Maybe a mouse---sike!!

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2724

Ingredients
3 bell peppers, assorted colors, seeded, cored and cut into thick wedges
1 large eggplant, cut into 3/4-inch slices
2 medium yellow squash, cut lengthwise into 3/4-inch slices
2 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise into 3/4-inch slices
1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth or water
1/2 cup pitted Niçoise or other black olives
5 large tomatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds), seeded and chopped
1 large onion, chopped
7 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons chopped marjoram or oregano
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, or to taste

Method
Preheat oven to 425°F. Have ready 2 large nonstick baking sheets or regular baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Place peppers and eggplant on one sheet, squash and zucchini on second sheet. Roast vegetables, turning them once halfway through cooking and switching trays top to bottom and front to back, until browned, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool vegetables slightly, then coarsely chop.

Meanwhile, combine broth and olives in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a heavy pot and add tomatoes, onion, garlic and pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover, and simmer until tomatoes are very soft, about 20 minutes.

Add roasted vegetables and marjoram to pot; cover and simmer, stirring once or twice, until flavors blend, about 10 minutes. Stir in parsley and vinegar; cook 5 minutes more.





Don't these look like plastic veggie toys? Nature is so colorfully beautiful!

Pesto, Peanut Butter and Hummus! AND Grapes!!

Vegan Pesto:
http://veganspoonful.com/2007/10/10/vegan-pesto-sauce/

Ingredients:

1 large bunch of basil (about 3 cups, loosely packed)
2-3 large cloves garlic
6 Tbsp raw pine nuts or walnuts (or a combination of the two)*
3/4 – 1 tsp salt, or to taste
6 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (optional)**

Preparation:

Place all ingredients except the olive oil and nutritional yeast into a food processor. Process to a finely ground consistency. Add olive oil and process again, until smooth and creamy. If desired, add nutritional yeast and process again until creamy. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.


Purple basil pesto! Looks funky but it is darn tasty.


Pesto is a messy thing to make for sure.

Homemade Peanut Butter:
http://www.allthingsfrugal.com/p_butter.htm

Ingredients

Peanuts
Oil
Use approximately 2 Tablespoons of Oil for every Cup of Peanuts. You can also add 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Peanuts do have a lot of oil already in them. If you use a peanut with a lot of oil, like Spanish peanuts, you do not have to add as much additional oil.
A good blend that requires no additional oil is 1 Cup of Spanish peanuts and 1 Cup of Virginia Peanuts.
Procedure
To make the peanut butter, all you have to do is put your peanuts and oil in the blender and whip them together.
If you want your peanut butter chunky, remove about 1/4 Cup of the peanuts before your begin blending the peanuts and oil. When the mixture is almost blended, add the nuts. Puree it a few more times, to break up the nuts and finish the blending.

Dry roasted peanuts: $2.49
Sam's Peanut Butter: $2.54
But I still have a cup or more of peanuts and an entire jar of peanut butter, making homemade peanut butter even more of an economically smart decision!


Peanuts in food processor, check.


Peanuts pulverized in food processor, check.


Peanuts in peanut butter jar, check!


Now I forget, is this the jar I bought at the store or is this my homemade peanut butter? Hard to tell, right? Actually it may even be impossible...so tricky!


Eating my homemade peanut butter on some cabbage, what a yummy snack.

Hummus: (without Tahini because I forgot and am poor)
http://www.ehow.com/how_2001371_make-hummus.html (most important recipe I used)
http://askville.amazon.com/make-hummus-tahini/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=6968258

Things You'll Need:
Food Processor
1 cup dried chickpeas
3 cloves raw garlic
1/3 cup sesame tahini--didn't use
Juice from 1 large lemon (about 3 Tablespoons)
1 tsp cumin
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp black pepper
1 bulb roasted garlic (optional)--didn't use
1 roasted red pepper (optional)--didn't use

Process
1
Soak the dried chickpeas in cold water for 6 hours. Drain and rinse. Put in medium saucepan with 1 quart of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover, cook until tender, about 1 1/2 hours.

2
Drain chickpeas, saving out some of the cooking water. Place chickpeas and all other ingredients into a food processor. Blend until smooth. Add as much of the chickpea cooking water as you need to create the desired consistency.

3
Add any of the optional ingredients to create a variety of flavors.

4
Place in covered container and chill in the refrigerator. Serve with additional olive oil drizzled over the top. Enjoy!


Drained my re-hydrated garbanzo beans that soaked over night and then boiled for 1.5 hours, getting ready for hummus!


It's so easy even a cavewoman could do it, I think...I don't know if they had food processors, but still.


I made way too much. Luckily I can freeze it, but we'll see how it turns out after being frozen.


Black Bean Hummus:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Black-Bean-Hummus-5237
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/black-bean-hummus/Detail.aspx--this website suggested mixing garbanzo beans and black beans, which is exactly what I wanted to do because I only had 1/2 cup of black beans!

Ingredients
2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed, drained
3/4 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)*
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup (packed) chopped fresh cilantro
4 green onions, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Pita bread rounds, cut into triangles--didn't use

Preparation
Combine first 9 ingredients in processor until smooth. Season hummus to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon hummus into bowl. Serve with pita triangles.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Black-Bean-Hummus-5237#ixzz11o1BXZdl


Black bean hummus, coming up.


Close up of the black bean hummus in case you are interested in details.


A huge container of black bean hummus too! I'm ready in case there is a sudden shortage of garbanzo beans or hummus, come to my house I can share :)

One other thing I did today was use my green grapes, finally! A lot of them are clean and frozen, good snack to go. Another batch I used by heating them, straining them and making some grape-juice like liquid and some misty looking substance I think I'll use for oatmeal. Weird stuff but experiments nonetheless!


The little bit of grape juice I made, surprisingly sweet with no added sugar!


I told you it's nasty looking but it is thicker grape juice type thing. It worked great as the base for my morning oatmeal this AM!


My beautiful new pot that was a fantastic surprise from someone who knew I needed a larger pot!!

Quinoa Loaf and Cakes

Quinoa Cakes!


Quinoa cakes burger style with avocado and mustard on a thin bun.


http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2672

Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup rolled oats
2 cups cooked quinoa ( Learn to Cook: Quinoa)
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley and/or 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
10 sundried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and chopped
1 cup (about 1 onion) chopped red onion

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch loaf pan with oil; set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, put beans, oats and 1/2 cup water into a food processor and pulse until almost smooth. In a large bowl, combine mushrooms, bean mixture, quinoa, peas, parsley, tomatoes, onion, salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to prepared loaf pan, gently pressing down and mounding it in the middle. Bake until firm and golden brown, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Set aside to let rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

I made a quinoa loaf using my new food processor, thanks Oma!, but didn't realize I would need to bake it for 1 hour! When I got home at about 8 I was starving. So as I put a loaf into the oven, I used the remaining amount to make quinoa cakes/burgers that ended up being fabulous. I toasted thin buns, used some spicy mustard and avocado to top it off. The one issue I had was that I made the mixture in the morning and then put it in the fridge. By the time I was ready to bake it, it was too cold to stir properly and I hadn't seasoned it thoroughly so when we ate it we had to add extra salt and pepper.


Here's the loaf, after Britney and I dug into it.


It was best with extra salt and pepper and a little spicy mustard squirted on top.

Brown Style Salad

http://www.eatgrub.org/materials/WildStyleSalad.pdf

F O R T H E S A L A D
1 cup wild rice, rinsed and soaked overnight
in the refrigerator
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1/4 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions
1/2 cup cashews, toasted and chopped


F O R T H E D R E S S I N G
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon fi ne sea salt
Freshly ground white pepper to taste
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil


F O R T H E S A L A D
• In a medium saucepan over high heat,
combine the rice with 3 cups of water
and bring to a boil. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt,
reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for
30 minutes.
• Remove from heat, transfer to a strainer
or sieve, and rinse under cold water for a
few minutes, or until the rice is completely
cool.
• In a large bowl, combine the cooked rice,
bell pepper, carrots, celery, raisins, scallions,
and cashews with clean hands.

F O R T H E D R E S S I N G
• In a small mixing bowl, combine the apple
cider vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, maple
syrup, garlic, parsley, and sea salt. Mix
well. Whisk in the oil while pouring slowly.
• Pour the dressing over the rice and toss well
with clean hands. Cover and refrigerate for 1
hour to allow fl avors to marry.
• Remove rice from the refrigerator 30
minutes before serving.


Instead of wild rice I used brown rice because the wild rice at Whole Foods was WAY too expensive in comparison to the other varieties. My favorite part was the homemade dressing with maple syrup, brown mustard, vinegar, oil, garlic, cilantro (instead of parsley which I don't like) and lemon juice. Britney liked the raisins in it because they were nice and sweet in comparison to the savory veggies!