Food goodness

Thanks for all the vegan breakfast suggestions -- we wound up changing plans slightly and cooking dinner instead (rice and beans, tortillas, salsa, tofutti sour cream, delicious) but I did bake some vegan muffins for our guests' return tomorrow. Orange juice and a fair amount of oil seem to be the magic ingredients, and they're actually pretty good. That's the first recipe I'll put here; the second is the one I baked two batches of for me and J. and various others this weekend. It's probably the most perfect no-butter muffin recipe I've ever encountered. If you don't have vegans to feed, I recommend that one. :) Eggless blueberry muffins, from CHG's Food Blog ¾ cup blueberries ½ cup sugar ¼ cup oil 2 tsp baking powder ½ tsp vanilla 1 ¼ cup flour (I did 1 c flour and 1/4 c ground flaxseed) ½ tsp baking soda ½ cup plus 1 tbsp orange juice Preheat oven to 325. Mix the baking powder, baking soda, and flour together. Mix the sugar, vanilla, oil and orange jui...

From: Simply Recipes Two weeks ago I had beets for the first time. I peeled them, cubed and roasted in the oven. They were really good. However, I threw away the beet greens last time because I didn't know you could eat them. Anyway, we got beets again in the CSA this week. I roasted them again, but this week I didn't toss the greens. I used this recipe, and they were really good. I'll probably just eat them as is, but I might also make up a grain salad or pasta and mix it in. You can use the stems, too, if they are not too woody. Chop the stems and cook them for a bit with the onions before you add the greens. 1 pound beet greens 1 strip of thick cut bacon, chopped (or a tablespoon of bacon fat) 1/4 cup chopped onion 1 large garlic clove, minced 3/4 cup of water 1 Tbsp granulated sugar 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I used a little Sriracha instead) 1/6 cup of cider vinegar 1 Wash the greens in a sink filled with cold water. Drain greens and wash a second...

From: Culinary in the Desert This is how I used up the CSA cauliflower this week. I've never been a fan of cauliflower, but this stuff was GOOD. I used Parmesan because I didn't have Asiago. I would definitely make this again. 8 cups 1" thick slices of cauliflower florets 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon dried marjoram (I skipped - didn't have any) 1/4 teaspoon salt fresh ground black pepper to taste 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 1/2 cup fresh grated Asiago cheese Preheat oven to 450 In a large bowl, toss together cauliflower and oil - season with marjoram, salt and pepper, tossing again to coat well. Place a large baking sheet coated with nonstick spray in the oven for about 5 minutes to heat up. Carefully remove the baking sheet and scoop the mixture onto it, spreading to form an even layer. Place in the oven and roast until the cauliflower starts to soften and brown on the bottom, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and drizzle the caulif...

We had dinner with Heidi Friday night and she served this really flavorful salmon. It originally came from a 1950's neighborhood cookbook, but I didn't write down the name of it. As the name says, this was a little sweet, a little spicy. Great flavor. 1/2 C. water 6 Tbsp maple syrup 2 Tbsp minced gingerroot 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 to 1 tsp red pepper flakes 4 (6 oz) salmon filets, 1-inch thick 1/4 tsp kosher salt Combine water, maple syrup, gingerroot, garlic and red pepper flakes in saucepan and mix well. Simmer until reduced by half, stirring frequently. Let stand until cool. Arrange salmon skin-side down on an oiled broiler rack in a broiler pan. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Broil 4 inches from heat source for 5 minutes. Brush with maple syrup mixture. Broil for 6-10 minutes longer or until salmon flakes easily, basting with remaining maple syrup mixture occasionally.

This is a vegan recipe from a back issue of Vegetarian Times that is so good you'd never know it wasn't made with eggs, butter and milk. I made this the first time a couple of years ago and knew it would be the perfect dessert to serve when one of your dinner guests has a dairy allergy. It supposedly serves 6 but I thought that would mean serving rather large slices. Maybe 8 servings would be more appropriate. 5 oz. silken tofu, drained (you can use firm but whizz it around in the food processor first) 2/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup canola oil 1/4 cup vanilla soymilk (you can use plain and add a smidge more vanilla) 2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups cake flour (I used AP) 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 1 T lemon zest Lemon Glaze 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar 1 Tbs. lemon juice Blueberry Compote 2 C blueberries, rinsed 2 T sugar splash of water Preheat oven to 350F. Coat 9x5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Blend tofu, sugar, oil, soymilk and vanilla extr...

We have friends coming to visit twice in the coming week (on the way to and from some destination further north), and they are all vegan -- two people our age, their 3-year-old daughter, and on the way back, one of their moms. And we will definitely be making brunch for them Saturday morning. Brunch with no... eggs... milk... cream cheese... uh... Here are my ideas so far: fruit, toast, potatoes. Can you guys help me elaborate?

I know some of you have been getting beets from your CSA...I love beets. We picked about 8 pounds of them a week ago, and I've been eating them like crazy. This recipe is fantastic, and uses both the beets and the greens. This was so crazy good that I was eating it out of the bowl last night, even though I was full. Adapted from Epicurious 6 medium beets with beet greens attached 2 large oranges 1 small sweet onion, cut through root end into thin wedges 1/3 cup red wine vinegar 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel Preheat oven to 400°F. Trim greens from beets. Cut off and discard stems. Coarsely chop leaves and reserve. Wrap each beet in foil. Place beets directly on oven rack and roast until tender when pierced with fork, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Cool. Peel beets, then cut each into 8 wedges. Place beets in medium bowl. Cook beet greens in large saucepan of boiling water just until tender, about 2 minutes. Drain. Cool. Squeeze greens to remove ex...

from: Smitten Kitchen Yum! This is really delicious and beautiful. I couldn't find creme fraiche, so I decided to take a risk and try Greek yogurt instead. It turned out fine. I don't know how different it would be with creme fraiche, but it was really tasty with the yogurt. I was wary about how the yogurt would take to baking, but it was totally fine. It didn't separate.... just kind of baked up firm. I also used a pre-made pie crust from the store, because I loathe making pie crusts. 1/2 recipe All-Butter, Really Flaky Pie Dough, chilled for at least an hour in the fridge (recipe on Smitten Kitchen's blog) Streusel 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar 1/4 teaspoon baking powder Pinch of salt 3 to 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/4 cup cold (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces Filling 1 1/2 pounds ripe (4 to 5 medium) yellow peaches, pitted and quartered 2 to 4 tablespoons granulated sugar Pinch of salt 5 tablespoons crème fraîche* (or Greek yogurt) Prepare pi...

I have been making a lot of meals for a meals-on-wheels type of thing. Sometimes I make the meals at my house and freeze them before they get delivered. Other times I make a big casserole, which I drop off at the church where they portion it out before it gets frozen in the individual containers. Basically, everything will get frozen at some point, and then delivered to people who can't get around real well or leave their houses. All the containers come with instructions as to how to reheat the meals. I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas about what else I can prepare for these meals. When I make the individual dishes at my house, I usually just do whatever we're having for dinner and put the left-overs in the freezer containers. Sometimes I make quiche and divide that up. For the big casseroles I have made several trays of baked ziti, chili with cornbread topper, chicken-broccoli-rice casserole, and tuna noodle casserole. Any other suggestions? Something that do...

Although it seems criminal to mess with the perfection that is Heather's old standby peanut sauce , I was looking for something to cut the peanut butter so that J. could eat it. This sauce is a lot thinner and less peanut buttery -- good in a different way. From GreenChefs . 1 cup snow peas, coarsely chopped [I used more, and sugar snap and snow peas together] 1-2 tbs. fresh ginger, minced 1 chili pepper, crushed [I used some Thai chili garlic sauce instead] 1 onion, chopped 1/2 lb tofu, cubed 1/2 cup peanut butter 1/2 cup coconut milk 1/4 cup soy sauce [I used less than this, and added about 2T of honey] 1/3 cup lime juice 4 tablespoons cilantro or coriander, chopped 8 ounces rice vermicelli 1. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Saute the onion and add the snow peas, ginger, chili pepper, stir-fry for a couple of minutes. 2. Stir in the tofu and stir fry for a couple more minutes. [I used leftover tofu that had been pan-fried separately] 3. Blend the peanut butter, soy sa...

I made this a few weeks ago (along with cherry chocolate almond biscotti , thai basil with eggplant , stir-fried tofu with spicy orange sauce , and what was supposed to be pumpkin quinoa muffins that I made with an over-ripe banana and some applesauce) and have been too busy to post until now. This recipe was featured in C00k's Illus. and was absolutely delicious. It also contains a helpful tip for prepping the eggplant because if you've ever made an eggplant dish you know it takes a while to cook and then brown and it soaks up a lot of oil in the process. If you love eggplant this recipe is for you. 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 lb eggplant (globe eggplant or similar weight of Asian or Japanese) kosher salt 4 med. garlic cloves, minced 2 anchovy filets or 1 generous tsp of anchovy paste (don't skip this ingredient--trust me) 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes 1 lb penne or rigatoni 6 Tbs chopped fresh basil 1 Tbs olive oil 3 oz ricotta (I skipped this and used gr...

I just wanted to post again, now that I actually made this recipe. I don't usually post recipes before I try them, but I did with this recipe. Anyway, I made it tonight. YUM!!!! I can't quite figure out why this is so good.... it doesn't have a lot of the usual deliciousness-inducing ingredients, like butter, cream or bacon. :) It's sort of like a quiche, but with more filling and less eggs. The eggs really just work to hold the other ingredients together. It's definitely different from a quiche. At any rate, delish. I would totally make this if I had vegetarian guests over. It's filling and delicious and you could alter to suite what you had on hand. I will admit that I added a bit of leftover spiral ham that I had in the freezer.... it was not enough for a meal, so I've been waiting to use it as a filling addition for something. But I don't think the ham is what made this recipe delicious. Just saying.

From: Serious Eats I made this cherry sauce today, which we will use later in the week with pork chops for dinner. I get home pretty late many days, so it's just easier to prep as much as I can on Sunday, and then Todd can throw things together and reheat or assemble as needed during the week. Plus, I love coming home to dinner already made. :) I'm sure you could use this with whatever your regular pork chop method is. We usually just cook them in a skillet on the stove top. I'll put the whole recipe here, but I was mainly posting it for the cherry sauce. I tried it straight out of the pan, and it was delicious. Not as sweet as many store-bought sauces and other recipes I have tried. The red wine gives it a great flavor, and I love the honey. Yum! I should have made a double-batch, I think. ** This serves 2 ** 1 cup cherries, pitted 3 tablespoons water 1/4 cup dry red wine 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 3 tablespoons honey 1 teaspoon thyme leaves, chopped 1/2 te...

I haven't actually made this yet, but it has good reviews at the FoodNetwork . I thought I would post it now since everyone seems to have chard on hand right now. I'm on my second batch of this chickpea/cous cous/chard recipe , but as soon as I finish that off I'm going to try this tart. I'll report back. 2 pounds Swiss chard, washed and spun dry 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 Spanish onion, thinly sliced 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 1/4 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped to yield 1/8 cup 3 large eggs Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano 1 cup bread crumbs (some reviewers added sausage to the dish) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bring 8 quarts water to a rolling boil and add 2 tablespoons salt. Roughly chop the Swiss chard, discarding the rough stems. Add the Swiss chard to the boiling water and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain thoroughly and set aside. In a 12-inch saucepan, heat 3 tablespoo...

Aaaaaand more chard. This was the end of it, and also incredibly good. Kelly, I know your pizza-making ways -- I think this may finally convince you re: chard. And Shannon, I bet this is a good way to get kids to eat green leafy vegetables. From one of my new favorite bloggers, Eggs on Sunday . Ingredients pizza dough [I got storebought, but Eggs on Sunday has a recipe listed] 2 big handfuls of kale [chard!], sauteed in some olive oil until tender, then chopped cloves from about half a head of roasted garlic, thickly sliced 3 cups of grated cheese, a mix of fontina, asiago, provolone and mozzarella Directions Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F with a baking stone inside (I place my baking stone on a rack, and place the rack on the lowest slot in the oven.) Generously dust a pizza peel (or the back of a sheet pan) with coarse cornmeal or flour. Roll or stretch your pizza dough out to a 12 to 14 inch circle directly on the peel (or pan.) Top the crust with half the grated cheese, then ha...