The Pappardelle recipe is from Martha Stewart's "Everyday Food," December, 2008. It's one of my favorite food magazines, and I try to get each one that hits the newstands. This recipe was already vegetarian, but even the ones that aren't are usually adaptable to the vegetarian diet.
Pappardelle with Caramelized Onions
and Parmesan Cheese
1Tbs. olive oil
2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 package (8.8 ounces)pappardelle pasta OR 8 ounces fettuccine
2Tbs. butter
2 ounces Parmesan, shaved with a vegetable peeler
1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and thyme, season with salt and pepper. Cover, and cook, without stirring, until onions have released their liquid, about 5 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring occasionally, until deep golden brown, 25-30 minutes more. When bottom of skillet darkens, add a few tablespoons water, and scrape up browned bits with a wooden spoon.
2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When onions have about 10 minuts left to cook, add pasta to water in pot, and cook until al dente. Reserfe 1/2 cup pasta water, drain pasta, and return to pot.
3. Add onions and butter to pasta in pot, season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine. Gradually add enough pasta water to creat a thin sauce that coats pasta. Serve pasta topped with Parmesan.
Looks like it would be good, doesn't it? Well, it is, I really liked it a lot, even tho...of course, sigh...I had to make some changes. I didn't have any papperdelle or fettucine, so I used rotini, instead. I also don't have the kind of Parmesan that can be shaved, I just have the kind in the shaker jar, and didn't think that would be good. So, I used a mixture of crumbled goat cheese and a couple slices of the Smoked Provolone, and it was great. I love caramelized onions, so this was a hit all the way round for me, and yes, I'll make it again sometime.
Monday I made a sort of stirfry. When I went to Kroger last week, I found some Chinese-style veggies in the freezer, a combination of mushrooms, green beans, garlic, and onions. The first thing I did was dice a medium onion, and put it in a skillet with hot oil and butter, and let it cook a while, enough to soften it some, and to start it turning golden brown. While the onion cooked, I cubed a package of extra-firm tofu. I put the tofu in a bowl, and poured teriyaki sauce all over it, with some goodly sprinkles of garlic powder and dried ginger. Stirred it all up, to coat the tofu with it, and dumped it into the same skillet as the onions. I also had put the Chinese veggies into some boiling water, just long enough to soften them up somewhat, and once they were soft, I drained them, and put them into the same skillet as the onions and other veggies. Probably this should've been served with rice, but I baked a potato. I really enjoyed this dish, and hope that the veggies will be a regular in the Kroger freezer department.
Last night I made soup: carrot, onion, potato, cauliflower, thyme, garlic powder, tarragon, and black pepper. No recipe here, sorry, just throw it all in a pot and use whatever seasonings you like. Oh, I also used two veggie buillion cubes in the water, and used about 12 cups of water. Once everything was in the pan, I brought it to a boil and let it simmer for about 45 minutes, until everything was all done and soft. I used my immersion blender, and that's all there is to making that soup. Took me roughly an hour, I think, and there's enough for supper this evening.
So, until next time, Happy Eating!!!
Showing posts with label Soup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Soup. Show all posts
Friday, September 4, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Two-Bean Vegetable Soup(Vegan); "Beefless" Stew w/Dumplings(probably vegan)
Good morning, beautiful, sunny day here in the metro Atlanta area, and I'm hoping it's a good day where you are, as well. About 30 minutes ago, I called my doctor, and kinda wish I hadn't, sigh. I think I mentioned a while back that I had to have a renal ultrasound, because my creatinine levels are too high, which means my kidneys aren't working right. So, I had the ultrasound, and this morning, Doctor told me that it shows a mass in my right kidney. I am NOT pleased. This is NOT what i wanted to hear, not today, not yesterday, not any day at all, ok? Doctor is going to call my insurance company for me today, and get the referral for either a CT scan or an MRI, and I'll see him tomorrow, as I need my pain med 'script rewritten. Needless to say, I'm scared. Maybe it's just a cyst. Whatever. Please keep me in your prayers. Thanks.
Yesterday was a really good day, one of the best in a long time, as far as feeling good physically goes. It's probably a combination of the thyroid med starting to kick in, and still being quit from smoking. Whatever it is, I'm not hurting as much as I was, and I had quite a bit of energy and accomplished, for me, quite a lot. Swished and swiped the toilet and sink, stripped the bed and washed the linens, washed and dried and put away two loads of laundry, remade the bed, washed the dishes, took out the trash, and vacuumed the living room and bedroom. Had time to read quite a bit, play on the computer, and cooked supper, too. Today all I plan on doing...all that's really needed, in fact...is washing dishes again, and watering my plants.
I love beans and lentils, and I love soups, so I make quite a few bean and lentil soups/stews, even in warm weather. In one of my last few posts I said that I was going to make a bean/barley/vegetable soup, but I didn't, not exactly. It was basically the same as the recipe I've posted for the bean/barley/vegetable soup, but just a couple variations. No real recipe needed here, just as you like it/to taste.
...................................Two-Bean Soup................................................................
One can each pinto beans and cannelini beans
Onions, garlic, bay leaf, thyme...all to taste
Potatoes, celery, carrots...as many or as few as YOU like.
Drain and rinse the beans, set aside. In a large pot, saute the diced onions, celery, carrots, and garlic for about five minutes, or until the onion starts to get tender and is translucent. Add the peeled and diced potatoes, the two types of beans, and about 6-8 cups of water w/veggie buillion cubes or veggie broth or plain water. Season with dried thyme and the bay leaf. Cover and bring to a boil, and allow to simmer until the veggies are tender enough to suit you, probably about 30 minutes or so. I like mine really smooshy, so I let it simmer for closer to an hour. Your choice...I won't know, and it's fine with me. The soup can be left the way it is, or, if you like, and I do, use a potato masher or fork to mash up some of the veggies, which will thicken the soup somewhat. Serve this with a pan of hot, buttered, biscuits. Or cornbread. Or grilled cheese sammiches. Or just saltines or bread and butter. Your choice.
...........................JB's World Famous "Beefless" Stew, this time with dumplings....
Ok, ok, so it's not really world famous, and altho I never once looked at a recipe to come up with this lentil stew, I have no doubt that there are several thousand recipes just like this, or very close to it. There are probably enough variations of lentil soup to make a different one every day for at least three years out there, seriously. The important thing, tho, is that it's good, and even confirmed meat-lovers will ask for seconds, no kidding. Again, no real recipe needed, it's to taste/as you like it, ok?
Enough dried lentils for your family. Lentils don't need to be soaked, btw. You can just use them right out of the bag. And I don't recommend using canned ones, if there even is such a thing. I don't think I've ever seen canned lentils, just canned lentil soup, and that was just plain nasty. Anyway, I digress........
Put the lentils in a colander, pick them over and take out any little rocks or bad lentils, and rinse them really well. Set aside.
In a large pot, saute onions, carrots, celery if you like(I don't), and garlic. Meanwhile, wash, peel, and dice some potatoes, and then add them to the rest of the veggies. Add the lentils, a bay leaf, and enough water to cover all of it by about three inches or so. If you want to, you can use veggie broth or add veggie buillion cubes to the water. Cover, bring to a boil, and simmer until the carrots are tender, about 30-45 minutes. Lentils will cook that quickly, in case you've never used them before, which is just one of the reasons I like them so well.
Now for the dumplings, and I'll give you a REAL recipe for them, right off the box of biscuit mix. So, this is where it stops being vegan, because the biscuit mix has small amounts of casein and buttermilk listed in its ingredients. Dumplings can be veganized, but you'll have to use your own biscuit recipe for them, as I don't have one. I suppose self-rising flour, shortening, and soy milk would do it, tho, right? Anyway...
2 cups biscuit mix
2/3 cup milk
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 qt. broth
Mix first three ingredients. Drop by teaspoonfuls into boiling broth. Cover and simmer 5-8 minutes. Yield: 16 servings.
I used much smaller portions for myself, and didn't use the poultry seasoning, I just left them plain. And instead of broth, I dropped them, using an infants feeding spoon, on top of the lentil stew.
This was a really good meal. The dumplings were small and good, and just set the stew off to perfection. In fact, when I heat up the leftover two-bean soup, I'm going to make dumplings again, instead of biscuits.
Until next time, Happy Eating.
Yesterday was a really good day, one of the best in a long time, as far as feeling good physically goes. It's probably a combination of the thyroid med starting to kick in, and still being quit from smoking. Whatever it is, I'm not hurting as much as I was, and I had quite a bit of energy and accomplished, for me, quite a lot. Swished and swiped the toilet and sink, stripped the bed and washed the linens, washed and dried and put away two loads of laundry, remade the bed, washed the dishes, took out the trash, and vacuumed the living room and bedroom. Had time to read quite a bit, play on the computer, and cooked supper, too. Today all I plan on doing...all that's really needed, in fact...is washing dishes again, and watering my plants.
I love beans and lentils, and I love soups, so I make quite a few bean and lentil soups/stews, even in warm weather. In one of my last few posts I said that I was going to make a bean/barley/vegetable soup, but I didn't, not exactly. It was basically the same as the recipe I've posted for the bean/barley/vegetable soup, but just a couple variations. No real recipe needed here, just as you like it/to taste.
...................................Two-Bean Soup................................................................
One can each pinto beans and cannelini beans
Onions, garlic, bay leaf, thyme...all to taste
Potatoes, celery, carrots...as many or as few as YOU like.
Drain and rinse the beans, set aside. In a large pot, saute the diced onions, celery, carrots, and garlic for about five minutes, or until the onion starts to get tender and is translucent. Add the peeled and diced potatoes, the two types of beans, and about 6-8 cups of water w/veggie buillion cubes or veggie broth or plain water. Season with dried thyme and the bay leaf. Cover and bring to a boil, and allow to simmer until the veggies are tender enough to suit you, probably about 30 minutes or so. I like mine really smooshy, so I let it simmer for closer to an hour. Your choice...I won't know, and it's fine with me. The soup can be left the way it is, or, if you like, and I do, use a potato masher or fork to mash up some of the veggies, which will thicken the soup somewhat. Serve this with a pan of hot, buttered, biscuits. Or cornbread. Or grilled cheese sammiches. Or just saltines or bread and butter. Your choice.
...........................JB's World Famous "Beefless" Stew, this time with dumplings....
Ok, ok, so it's not really world famous, and altho I never once looked at a recipe to come up with this lentil stew, I have no doubt that there are several thousand recipes just like this, or very close to it. There are probably enough variations of lentil soup to make a different one every day for at least three years out there, seriously. The important thing, tho, is that it's good, and even confirmed meat-lovers will ask for seconds, no kidding. Again, no real recipe needed, it's to taste/as you like it, ok?
Enough dried lentils for your family. Lentils don't need to be soaked, btw. You can just use them right out of the bag. And I don't recommend using canned ones, if there even is such a thing. I don't think I've ever seen canned lentils, just canned lentil soup, and that was just plain nasty. Anyway, I digress........
Put the lentils in a colander, pick them over and take out any little rocks or bad lentils, and rinse them really well. Set aside.
In a large pot, saute onions, carrots, celery if you like(I don't), and garlic. Meanwhile, wash, peel, and dice some potatoes, and then add them to the rest of the veggies. Add the lentils, a bay leaf, and enough water to cover all of it by about three inches or so. If you want to, you can use veggie broth or add veggie buillion cubes to the water. Cover, bring to a boil, and simmer until the carrots are tender, about 30-45 minutes. Lentils will cook that quickly, in case you've never used them before, which is just one of the reasons I like them so well.
Now for the dumplings, and I'll give you a REAL recipe for them, right off the box of biscuit mix. So, this is where it stops being vegan, because the biscuit mix has small amounts of casein and buttermilk listed in its ingredients. Dumplings can be veganized, but you'll have to use your own biscuit recipe for them, as I don't have one. I suppose self-rising flour, shortening, and soy milk would do it, tho, right? Anyway...
2 cups biscuit mix
2/3 cup milk
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 qt. broth
Mix first three ingredients. Drop by teaspoonfuls into boiling broth. Cover and simmer 5-8 minutes. Yield: 16 servings.
I used much smaller portions for myself, and didn't use the poultry seasoning, I just left them plain. And instead of broth, I dropped them, using an infants feeding spoon, on top of the lentil stew.
This was a really good meal. The dumplings were small and good, and just set the stew off to perfection. In fact, when I heat up the leftover two-bean soup, I'm going to make dumplings again, instead of biscuits.
Until next time, Happy Eating.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Navy Bean and Greens Soup...Vegan
Happy First Day of Spring to you!!!! I love spring, it's my favorite time of year, seems to be filled with promises of rebirth, renewal of life, and all sorts of new vegetation growing, as well. So, with this being a time of renewal, I am now a non-smoker!!! I smoked my last Salem at 9:30 yesterday evening, Friday the 19th of March, 2009. So this morning was my first morning to wake up and not light a cigarette before heading into the bathroom. It was my first morning that I didn't smoke a cigarette with my coffee. How do I feel about this? Believe it or not, I'm excited, I really am. For about two to three weeks now, I've been psyching myself up to doing this, knowing that when I finished the last of the carton of Salems on my desk I was quitting, so when I smoked the last cigarette last night, that was it. This makes this springtime, this time of renewal, a time of renewal for me, as well, as I'm starting a whole new life here, a life in which my house will smell better, my clothes will smell better, my hair will smell better, I will breathe better, I won't cough as much(altho I honestly don't cough much now), I will feel better, and I will have a LOT more money in my pocket, because I won't be spending close to $200 a month any more, and watching my money literally go up in smoke. I've cleaned and put away two ashtrays, and thrown two others in the trash, so there aren't any ashtrays visible in my home now. I refuse to be enslaved any more, and I'm bustin' out, lol. So, even tho I'm excited about doing this, I do ask that you keep me in your thoughts, sending me good wishes, hopes, and prayers, ok? Thanks, I appreciate you.
I don't have a "real" recipe to post this week, as I didn't do a whole lot of cooking this past week. We were very, very busy at work, I worked six days instead of four or five, and I was just too tired to come home and cook. Either I ate the leftover "Beef" with Guinness Stew, or just sandwiches or toast or cereal. Which reminds me: I didn't tell you that when I made the stew, I did NOT use Guinness, for two reasons. First being that I just didn't want to go to the liquor store and pay for it, and the second being that I knew darned well that if I did get some, I'd drink it, thus ruining my 20+ years of sobriety, and none of it would end up in the stew, lol. So, I used seven cups of water with two veggie buillion cubes, and one cup of Japanese white rice cooking wine. It worked. It was just sooooo good. My wine is gone, I used the last of it last night, so I've got to get some more and make this stew again, it's that good.
Last night's supper was a soup of sorts: Navy Beans and Turnip Greens. I didn't use a recipe, altho there's more than likely one out there. Y'know, tho, once you've made a few soups, you pretty much get the general idea of what to do, and don't always need a recipe to make a soup. There are soups out there that I'd need a recipe for, some of the Thai soups, and of course the different peanut soups, that even tho I can't eat peanuts, I'm going to try one day, but using cashews. Anyway. In the morning, I put about a cup to a cup and a half of navy beans in a large pot with enough water to cover by an inch, brought 'em to a boil, and after boiling for a couple minutes, turned it off and let the beans sit there for about two hours. Then I drained them and rinsed them off. I wiped out the large pot, put it over medium heat with about one tablespoonful of olive oil, and added a small onion, diced, one stalk celery, diced, and one carrot(fairly large), diced, and let them fry in the oil for about five minutes. Then I put the beans on top of the veggies, added one large bay leaf, and poured eight cups of water over all of it, along with two veggie buillion cubes, and about a teaspoonful of tarragon leaves. Brought it all to a boil over high heat, added the last of the wine(about 1/4C, I think), and let it simmer over low heat for hours. And hours, sigh. The beans never really did soften up, altho after about four hours they were just soft enough to chew, sigh. OH! I almost forgot: before I brought it to a boil, before I put the wine in, I added half of a 16oz. bag of turnip greens w/turnips, then to the boil, the wine, etc.
Ok, here's my thoughts on this soup. I used too much tarragon. Either none at all or only about 1/2tsp. would be better. The beans needed to be a whole lot softer. I want my beans to be so soft they're about melting into the soup, lol. Possibly the salt in the buillion cubes had something to do with it, or, the beans may have just been very old, which means it will take more cooking to soften them up...which is what I'm doing right now. I also added some leftover spinach that was in the 'fridge, and it's all sitting on the stove simmering now, for either lunch or supper this evening. Tastewise, it was pretty good, even with too much tarragon, good enough that I'm willing to eat it again, and what I don't eat, I'll freeze. I'd like to try this with spinach, I think...or maybe even broccoli. Seems to me that white beans and broccoli would make a good soup, don't you think?
So, until next time, Happy Eating!!!!
I don't have a "real" recipe to post this week, as I didn't do a whole lot of cooking this past week. We were very, very busy at work, I worked six days instead of four or five, and I was just too tired to come home and cook. Either I ate the leftover "Beef" with Guinness Stew, or just sandwiches or toast or cereal. Which reminds me: I didn't tell you that when I made the stew, I did NOT use Guinness, for two reasons. First being that I just didn't want to go to the liquor store and pay for it, and the second being that I knew darned well that if I did get some, I'd drink it, thus ruining my 20+ years of sobriety, and none of it would end up in the stew, lol. So, I used seven cups of water with two veggie buillion cubes, and one cup of Japanese white rice cooking wine. It worked. It was just sooooo good. My wine is gone, I used the last of it last night, so I've got to get some more and make this stew again, it's that good.
Last night's supper was a soup of sorts: Navy Beans and Turnip Greens. I didn't use a recipe, altho there's more than likely one out there. Y'know, tho, once you've made a few soups, you pretty much get the general idea of what to do, and don't always need a recipe to make a soup. There are soups out there that I'd need a recipe for, some of the Thai soups, and of course the different peanut soups, that even tho I can't eat peanuts, I'm going to try one day, but using cashews. Anyway. In the morning, I put about a cup to a cup and a half of navy beans in a large pot with enough water to cover by an inch, brought 'em to a boil, and after boiling for a couple minutes, turned it off and let the beans sit there for about two hours. Then I drained them and rinsed them off. I wiped out the large pot, put it over medium heat with about one tablespoonful of olive oil, and added a small onion, diced, one stalk celery, diced, and one carrot(fairly large), diced, and let them fry in the oil for about five minutes. Then I put the beans on top of the veggies, added one large bay leaf, and poured eight cups of water over all of it, along with two veggie buillion cubes, and about a teaspoonful of tarragon leaves. Brought it all to a boil over high heat, added the last of the wine(about 1/4C, I think), and let it simmer over low heat for hours. And hours, sigh. The beans never really did soften up, altho after about four hours they were just soft enough to chew, sigh. OH! I almost forgot: before I brought it to a boil, before I put the wine in, I added half of a 16oz. bag of turnip greens w/turnips, then to the boil, the wine, etc.
Ok, here's my thoughts on this soup. I used too much tarragon. Either none at all or only about 1/2tsp. would be better. The beans needed to be a whole lot softer. I want my beans to be so soft they're about melting into the soup, lol. Possibly the salt in the buillion cubes had something to do with it, or, the beans may have just been very old, which means it will take more cooking to soften them up...which is what I'm doing right now. I also added some leftover spinach that was in the 'fridge, and it's all sitting on the stove simmering now, for either lunch or supper this evening. Tastewise, it was pretty good, even with too much tarragon, good enough that I'm willing to eat it again, and what I don't eat, I'll freeze. I'd like to try this with spinach, I think...or maybe even broccoli. Seems to me that white beans and broccoli would make a good soup, don't you think?
So, until next time, Happy Eating!!!!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Vegan Soups: Cauli-Potato; "New England Boiled Dinner"
Friday morning, day off, looks nice out there, and according to my neighbor's thermometer on the carport, it's headed for the 60's, not bad at all. Last Sunday, the 1st, we had rain(and also on Saturday, the 28th), and quite a bit of it, too. Then in the early afternoon, we had SNOW! Yep, right here in Georgia, we had beautiful, gorgous, fluffy white stuff, and it came down good, too. Sadly, it only lasted a few hours, but it gave us almost two inches, I guess, and the backyard at the Waffle House looked like a fairyland: the trees were just covered in white, and it was lovely. There's a church sort of catty-cornered across the street from my teeny tiny little house, and the kids played out in the yard all afternoon, laughing, screaming, just having a ball. When I went to work the next morning, I saw that they had built a HUGE snowman, and a smaller one beside it! Don't you know those little kids had a great day?!?!
I went to my doctor this past Wednesday, the 4th, and wish I hadn't gone. The good news is that, finally, my b/p is just about normal: 125/85, and my pap smear was fine, along with my cholesterol and sugar. But. Sigh. Sad news: my urinalysis showed a borderline high for creatin(creatine? creatinine? Not sure...), so Doc has taken me off the diuretic and replaced it with something else, told me to cut way back on my pain meds(I can't. I can't work without them. I can't even stand up straight without them.), and back off the protein. Now, that's just plain ironic, because I'd been afraid I wasn't getting enough! My thyroid level is borderline low, which may have something to do with the fact that I'm so tired most of the time, and also with the fact that I'm overweight. Sure. That's it. My weight has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I eat, and that I eat a LOT, lol. Anyway, I'm to go back in six weeks, and have the thyroid and urinalyisis re-done, so if you're a praying person, please include me in your prayers, ok? If the creatin level isn't normal, it means that my kidneys may be failing, and that's, well, that's kinda scary, y'know. Anyway...this is a food blog, so let's talk about soups, ok?
Both of these soups were cooked without using anybody else's recipe, altho I'm sure there are recipes for cauliflower soup all over the place. In fact, I know for sure that there's one in "Laurel's Kitchen." As for the "New England Boiled Dinner Soup," I don't think I've ever seen a recipe like it before. It came about because I realized that the cabbage in my 'fridge was going to turn bad, so why didn't I fix a New England Boiled Dinner, minus the meat, for dinner? Somewhere along the line I realized I could probably make a wonderful soup with the ingredients, so I did. And here's the "recipe," altho it's mostly one of those "to taste" sort of things.
New England Boiled Dinner Soup
Two or three good-sized potatoes, scrubbed, peeled, and chunked into about 1/2" piece
Roughly a quarter of a medium-sized head of cabbage, diced.
Two or three good-sized carrots, diced very small.
About ten cups of water, with two vegetable buillion cubes and one big bay leaf.
1/2 large onion or 1 small one, diced very small.
As much garlic as you like.
One or two stalks of celery, diced very small.
Good dashes of dried thyme and tarragon, depending on how well you like them.
Salt and black pepper to taste.
Olive oil and margarine(vegans can use Earth Balance, I use Blue Bonnet)
Put about a tablespoon each of the oil and margarine in a large pot. When it has melted, add the diced onion, celery, stir and allow to soften, about five minutes or so. Add the carrots, garlic, and potato, stir to coat with the oil/margarine, and then add the water, buillion cubes, bay leaf, thyme, tarragon, and salt and pepper. Bring to a full rolling boil, turn heat to low, or whatever will keep the soup simmering gently, cover, and walk away. Cook this as long as you want to. For me, about 45 minutes to an hour is good, because I want the carrots to be extremely soft, and the potatoes to sort of "melt" into the liquid. I've read that if the potatoes aren't allowed to cook long enough to be extremely soft, that they have a tendency to make the soup a little "gluey." I don't know, I always cook my 'taters to death. Anyway, once everything is as tender as you want it, you can ladle it out just like it is, you can blend it in a blender...be very careful, don't put it all in the blender at once, and make sure to use a towel to hold the cover of the blender on tightly. You sure don't want to get burned. You can also use an immersion blender, or, like I did, just mash the whole mess with a potato masher. This thickened it up some, but still left some texture. And don't forget to take the bay leaf out and throw it away.
This made enough to feed me for about three days, if I remember correctly. All I had with it was some biscuits...yup, the box mix, lol. The soup was wonderful, and I'll make it again sometime.
By the way, for those of you who aren't from the New England area, and may not know what the Boiled Dinner is, this is for you: The New England Boiled Dinner has either ham or corned beef in it, along with potatoes, carrots, and cabbage. Some cooks add beets to it, too, but I'm not a beet person. All of this is boiled(duh, right?)in one pot, making it one of the easiest meals to fix. The first day, it's served seperately, each person taking as much of each veggie and the meat as they like. The next day, the meat is simply served cold and sliced, but, oh, the veggies!!! The veggies are all turned into what's known as "Red Flannel Hash," which sounds dreadful, I know, but trust me, it's fantastic. I actually like the hash better than the actual first meal from this. Melt some grease in a large skillet(the thrifty New England housewife would no doubt use bacon grease that she had saved), and put all the leftover veggies in the skillet. As they heat up, start cutting them...my grandmother had a small juice can with both ends taken out that she used strictly for this hash...until they are smooshed up together. Let them fry until one side is brown, turn it over, and let the other side brown. Serve it with butter and, believe it or not, cider vinegar. The beets turn the whole thing reddish, hence the name of Red Flannel. Wonderful stuff, and it can be made without the meat, just boil the veggies together, and then hash them up the next day.
Cauli/Potato Soup
One head of cauliflower, washed, and broken into florets(I cheated and used a 1lb.package of frozen cauliflower, so you can, too, if you want to).
Two or three good-sized potatoes, scrubbed, peeled, and diced.
1/2 large onion, or 1 small, diced.
One or two stalks of celery, diced.
One large bay leaf, or two smaller ones.
Thyme and tarragon to taste.
Salt and black pepper to taste.
About 8-10 cups water, and two vegetable buillion cubes.
You probably don't even need directions for this, right? So, I'll try to make this short and sweet.
Put some oil and margarine(vegans use Earth Balance or all oil, your choice)in your soup pot, get it hot, toss in the onions and celery, let them soften, add the cauliflower and potatoes, and then the water and buillion cubes. Cover the pot, bring to a boil, turn the heat down and let it simmer until everything is as tender as you want it. For me, that's about 45-60 minutes. Take the bay leaf out and throw it away, and then do what you want with the soup: blender, immersion blender, leave it the way it is, or mash with a potato masher, which is what I did with this soup, just like the last one. And that's all there is to that!!!
Good soup, and I know I'll make it again, because I've made it before...it's one of my favorites.
I've been doing some hunting for vegan/vegetarian St. Patrick's Day recipes, and hope to have some for you before the 17th, St. Patrick's Day. What I've found so far is Irish Soda Bread, which I made last night. It didn't turn out too well, so I'm going to have to try it again...whenever I get around to buying more flour. I also found a vegetarian recipe for "Beef and Guiness Stew," which is a challange for me, as I'm a teetotaller, which means I'd have to substitute something for the Guiness. Apple cider? Vegetable broth? Don't know yet. To go with it, of course I found Colcannon(cabbage and 'tatties together), which I actually cook for myself sometimes, and a Pease Porridge, which is green split peas. I'd prefer the yellow ones, but can't find any around here. And of course, Irish Coffee, which I won't make, and some kind of dessert, but I've forgotten what it was, lol.
Oh, well, right? So, until next time, Happy Eating!!!
I went to my doctor this past Wednesday, the 4th, and wish I hadn't gone. The good news is that, finally, my b/p is just about normal: 125/85, and my pap smear was fine, along with my cholesterol and sugar. But. Sigh. Sad news: my urinalysis showed a borderline high for creatin(creatine? creatinine? Not sure...), so Doc has taken me off the diuretic and replaced it with something else, told me to cut way back on my pain meds(I can't. I can't work without them. I can't even stand up straight without them.), and back off the protein. Now, that's just plain ironic, because I'd been afraid I wasn't getting enough! My thyroid level is borderline low, which may have something to do with the fact that I'm so tired most of the time, and also with the fact that I'm overweight. Sure. That's it. My weight has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I eat, and that I eat a LOT, lol. Anyway, I'm to go back in six weeks, and have the thyroid and urinalyisis re-done, so if you're a praying person, please include me in your prayers, ok? If the creatin level isn't normal, it means that my kidneys may be failing, and that's, well, that's kinda scary, y'know. Anyway...this is a food blog, so let's talk about soups, ok?
Both of these soups were cooked without using anybody else's recipe, altho I'm sure there are recipes for cauliflower soup all over the place. In fact, I know for sure that there's one in "Laurel's Kitchen." As for the "New England Boiled Dinner Soup," I don't think I've ever seen a recipe like it before. It came about because I realized that the cabbage in my 'fridge was going to turn bad, so why didn't I fix a New England Boiled Dinner, minus the meat, for dinner? Somewhere along the line I realized I could probably make a wonderful soup with the ingredients, so I did. And here's the "recipe," altho it's mostly one of those "to taste" sort of things.
New England Boiled Dinner Soup
Two or three good-sized potatoes, scrubbed, peeled, and chunked into about 1/2" piece
Roughly a quarter of a medium-sized head of cabbage, diced.
Two or three good-sized carrots, diced very small.
About ten cups of water, with two vegetable buillion cubes and one big bay leaf.
1/2 large onion or 1 small one, diced very small.
As much garlic as you like.
One or two stalks of celery, diced very small.
Good dashes of dried thyme and tarragon, depending on how well you like them.
Salt and black pepper to taste.
Olive oil and margarine(vegans can use Earth Balance, I use Blue Bonnet)
Put about a tablespoon each of the oil and margarine in a large pot. When it has melted, add the diced onion, celery, stir and allow to soften, about five minutes or so. Add the carrots, garlic, and potato, stir to coat with the oil/margarine, and then add the water, buillion cubes, bay leaf, thyme, tarragon, and salt and pepper. Bring to a full rolling boil, turn heat to low, or whatever will keep the soup simmering gently, cover, and walk away. Cook this as long as you want to. For me, about 45 minutes to an hour is good, because I want the carrots to be extremely soft, and the potatoes to sort of "melt" into the liquid. I've read that if the potatoes aren't allowed to cook long enough to be extremely soft, that they have a tendency to make the soup a little "gluey." I don't know, I always cook my 'taters to death. Anyway, once everything is as tender as you want it, you can ladle it out just like it is, you can blend it in a blender...be very careful, don't put it all in the blender at once, and make sure to use a towel to hold the cover of the blender on tightly. You sure don't want to get burned. You can also use an immersion blender, or, like I did, just mash the whole mess with a potato masher. This thickened it up some, but still left some texture. And don't forget to take the bay leaf out and throw it away.
This made enough to feed me for about three days, if I remember correctly. All I had with it was some biscuits...yup, the box mix, lol. The soup was wonderful, and I'll make it again sometime.
By the way, for those of you who aren't from the New England area, and may not know what the Boiled Dinner is, this is for you: The New England Boiled Dinner has either ham or corned beef in it, along with potatoes, carrots, and cabbage. Some cooks add beets to it, too, but I'm not a beet person. All of this is boiled(duh, right?)in one pot, making it one of the easiest meals to fix. The first day, it's served seperately, each person taking as much of each veggie and the meat as they like. The next day, the meat is simply served cold and sliced, but, oh, the veggies!!! The veggies are all turned into what's known as "Red Flannel Hash," which sounds dreadful, I know, but trust me, it's fantastic. I actually like the hash better than the actual first meal from this. Melt some grease in a large skillet(the thrifty New England housewife would no doubt use bacon grease that she had saved), and put all the leftover veggies in the skillet. As they heat up, start cutting them...my grandmother had a small juice can with both ends taken out that she used strictly for this hash...until they are smooshed up together. Let them fry until one side is brown, turn it over, and let the other side brown. Serve it with butter and, believe it or not, cider vinegar. The beets turn the whole thing reddish, hence the name of Red Flannel. Wonderful stuff, and it can be made without the meat, just boil the veggies together, and then hash them up the next day.
Cauli/Potato Soup
One head of cauliflower, washed, and broken into florets(I cheated and used a 1lb.package of frozen cauliflower, so you can, too, if you want to).
Two or three good-sized potatoes, scrubbed, peeled, and diced.
1/2 large onion, or 1 small, diced.
One or two stalks of celery, diced.
One large bay leaf, or two smaller ones.
Thyme and tarragon to taste.
Salt and black pepper to taste.
About 8-10 cups water, and two vegetable buillion cubes.
You probably don't even need directions for this, right? So, I'll try to make this short and sweet.
Put some oil and margarine(vegans use Earth Balance or all oil, your choice)in your soup pot, get it hot, toss in the onions and celery, let them soften, add the cauliflower and potatoes, and then the water and buillion cubes. Cover the pot, bring to a boil, turn the heat down and let it simmer until everything is as tender as you want it. For me, that's about 45-60 minutes. Take the bay leaf out and throw it away, and then do what you want with the soup: blender, immersion blender, leave it the way it is, or mash with a potato masher, which is what I did with this soup, just like the last one. And that's all there is to that!!!
Good soup, and I know I'll make it again, because I've made it before...it's one of my favorites.
I've been doing some hunting for vegan/vegetarian St. Patrick's Day recipes, and hope to have some for you before the 17th, St. Patrick's Day. What I've found so far is Irish Soda Bread, which I made last night. It didn't turn out too well, so I'm going to have to try it again...whenever I get around to buying more flour. I also found a vegetarian recipe for "Beef and Guiness Stew," which is a challange for me, as I'm a teetotaller, which means I'd have to substitute something for the Guiness. Apple cider? Vegetable broth? Don't know yet. To go with it, of course I found Colcannon(cabbage and 'tatties together), which I actually cook for myself sometimes, and a Pease Porridge, which is green split peas. I'd prefer the yellow ones, but can't find any around here. And of course, Irish Coffee, which I won't make, and some kind of dessert, but I've forgotten what it was, lol.
Oh, well, right? So, until next time, Happy Eating!!!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Pumpkin "Cheesecake;" Mushroom/Pumpkin/Leftovers Soup
My day off is almost over, back to work in the morning, which means I have to set my alarm when I go to bed tonight. I'll be up at 4:45AM, but these last two days I have slept until a little past seven. Sure was nice!!
I made the Pumpkin "Cheesecake" I mentioned earlier, and am very pleased, very. The recipe came from a vegetarian starter kit I ordered, free, from ChooseVeg.com, I think. It was free...um, sorry, I already said that...and had recipes in it, which is why I sent for it. So, here's the cheesecake recipe:
Pumpkin Patch "Cheesecake"
12-oz. firm silken tofu, pureed
8-oz. nondairy cream cheese(try Tofutti brand)
1C canned pumpkin
1C granulated sugar
3Tbs. flour
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2tsp. cinnamon
1/2tsp. salt
1/4tsp. baking soda
1 prepared graham cracker crust
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Puree all the ingredients(except the crust...duh, right?)in food processor. Pour the filling into the graham cracker crust and bake for 50 minutes.
Allow to cool for 30 minutes, cover with plastic wrap or the top of the pie container and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight before eating.
Now, did I wait 6 hours?!?!? Hell, no, I didn't, I started munching as soon as it came out of the oven, of course. And don't tell me that you wouldn't have, ok? I actually followed this recipe exactly, except for one minor detail: I forgot to buy a pie crust this week, so I made my own graham cracker crust. No big deal, and it was good. Will I make this again? Probably. Most likely, in fact, it's really good.
The best part of it was that there was quite a lot of the batter left in the blender top, so I ate a lot of that, right out of the blender, lol. Yum! When there was about a quarter cup left, I did something strange, an experiment, if you will, that fortunately turned out good.
In the 'fridge, I had a little bit of Zandra's Veggie Noodle Soup, a little bit of the Mushroom and Buttermilk Stroganoff from the other night, about a tablespoonful of the mushroom mixture from last night's burrito, and about four little Brussels sprouts. Figured out where I'm going with this? Are you saying, "Eeeeuuuuuw, yuck," yet? LOL! Yup, I did, I really did...all those little bits of leftovers went right into the blender with the pumpkin mixture. Not only that, but there was half a can of the pumpkin left, so I threw that in there, too, and pureed away! Poured all that into a saucepan, stirred in some soy milk, and heated it in the top of a homemade double boiler, because it was so thick I was afraid I'd scorch it. It was excellent, so good that I've frozen the leftover soup for another time. With it I had saltines with margarine and/or chevre goat cheese. The earthy, tart flavor of the chevre was wonderful with the sweetish soup, too. Would I make it again? Well, I would if I should ever happen to have those exact leftovers in the 'fridge, lol.
Until next time, Happy Eating!
I made the Pumpkin "Cheesecake" I mentioned earlier, and am very pleased, very. The recipe came from a vegetarian starter kit I ordered, free, from ChooseVeg.com, I think. It was free...um, sorry, I already said that...and had recipes in it, which is why I sent for it. So, here's the cheesecake recipe:
Pumpkin Patch "Cheesecake"
12-oz. firm silken tofu, pureed
8-oz. nondairy cream cheese(try Tofutti brand)
1C canned pumpkin
1C granulated sugar
3Tbs. flour
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2tsp. cinnamon
1/2tsp. salt
1/4tsp. baking soda
1 prepared graham cracker crust
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Puree all the ingredients(except the crust...duh, right?)in food processor. Pour the filling into the graham cracker crust and bake for 50 minutes.
Allow to cool for 30 minutes, cover with plastic wrap or the top of the pie container and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight before eating.
Now, did I wait 6 hours?!?!? Hell, no, I didn't, I started munching as soon as it came out of the oven, of course. And don't tell me that you wouldn't have, ok? I actually followed this recipe exactly, except for one minor detail: I forgot to buy a pie crust this week, so I made my own graham cracker crust. No big deal, and it was good. Will I make this again? Probably. Most likely, in fact, it's really good.
The best part of it was that there was quite a lot of the batter left in the blender top, so I ate a lot of that, right out of the blender, lol. Yum! When there was about a quarter cup left, I did something strange, an experiment, if you will, that fortunately turned out good.
In the 'fridge, I had a little bit of Zandra's Veggie Noodle Soup, a little bit of the Mushroom and Buttermilk Stroganoff from the other night, about a tablespoonful of the mushroom mixture from last night's burrito, and about four little Brussels sprouts. Figured out where I'm going with this? Are you saying, "Eeeeuuuuuw, yuck," yet? LOL! Yup, I did, I really did...all those little bits of leftovers went right into the blender with the pumpkin mixture. Not only that, but there was half a can of the pumpkin left, so I threw that in there, too, and pureed away! Poured all that into a saucepan, stirred in some soy milk, and heated it in the top of a homemade double boiler, because it was so thick I was afraid I'd scorch it. It was excellent, so good that I've frozen the leftover soup for another time. With it I had saltines with margarine and/or chevre goat cheese. The earthy, tart flavor of the chevre was wonderful with the sweetish soup, too. Would I make it again? Well, I would if I should ever happen to have those exact leftovers in the 'fridge, lol.
Until next time, Happy Eating!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Noodles w/Sour Cream and Applesauce
The holidays are over, and I'm totally relieved. We have been wicked busy at work all week, and I'm just plain exhausted. Today is my one day off, and I'm back in there at 7am in the morning, sigh. I just hope the tips will be as good this weekend as they were the past few days, lol.
The Noodles and Sour Cream, etc., is from "1000 Vegetarian Recipes," by Carol Gelles. I'd been thinking about making it for quite a while, and this afternoon, I did. It's excellent, rich, creamy, sweet but not too sweet. So here it is:
Noodles with Sour Cream and Applesauce
8-oz. broad noodles
One 8-oz. container sour cream(3/4 C.)....I used the soy-based Tofutti brand
3/4 C. chunky applesauce....I bought the smooth kind but it works fine
2Tbs. sugar
1/2C golden or dark raisins
1/2tsp. salt, or to taste
1. Cook noodles according to package directions, drain.
2. Return noodles to pot and stir in the rest of the ingredients. Cook, stirring, until heated thru.
Variation: Stir in 1/2tsp. ground cinnamon....I didn't use the cinnamon.
Like I said, this stuff is wonderful, and I will definitely make it again sometime. And next time I'll remember to buy the chunky applesauce, lol.
Yesterday I went grocery shopping, and bought some salsa and tortillas. Today I cooked a pot of pinto beans, and plan on making refried beans from them, and then making a bean burrito, using my soy sour cream, and some goat cheese crumbles I found yesterday. And one of these days, I might even make myself a breakfast burrito, who knows? When I make either of these, I'll let you know how they turn out.
My other fantastic find at the store was a tub of miso paste. I honestly don't know if Kroger has carried this all along and I never looked in the right spot for it(it was in the refrigerated section of the health food department), or if they've just started carrying it. Either way, I'm delighted to have found it, and can see miso soups in my future. Again, I'll post about those when I finally get around to making one of them.
Basically I haven't cooked much lately, I've just been too tired. I made some cashew butter, so have had a few cb&j sammiches...the other night I fried some vegetarian hotdogs, heated up some green beans, and baked a potato...and, last week, I used the frozen leftover squash/beans/red pepper mixture to make a soup, like Sherrie suggested. First I sauteed some onion and garlic, then added water and a veggie buillion cube, the squash mix, and about two small potatoes, peeled and diced. When the 'taters were good and soft and falling apart, I used the immersion blender to puree it. Turned out great, and hopefully I'll be able to make it again sometime. I love soups.
Until next time, happy eating.
The Noodles and Sour Cream, etc., is from "1000 Vegetarian Recipes," by Carol Gelles. I'd been thinking about making it for quite a while, and this afternoon, I did. It's excellent, rich, creamy, sweet but not too sweet. So here it is:
Noodles with Sour Cream and Applesauce
8-oz. broad noodles
One 8-oz. container sour cream(3/4 C.)....I used the soy-based Tofutti brand
3/4 C. chunky applesauce....I bought the smooth kind but it works fine
2Tbs. sugar
1/2C golden or dark raisins
1/2tsp. salt, or to taste
1. Cook noodles according to package directions, drain.
2. Return noodles to pot and stir in the rest of the ingredients. Cook, stirring, until heated thru.
Variation: Stir in 1/2tsp. ground cinnamon....I didn't use the cinnamon.
Like I said, this stuff is wonderful, and I will definitely make it again sometime. And next time I'll remember to buy the chunky applesauce, lol.
Yesterday I went grocery shopping, and bought some salsa and tortillas. Today I cooked a pot of pinto beans, and plan on making refried beans from them, and then making a bean burrito, using my soy sour cream, and some goat cheese crumbles I found yesterday. And one of these days, I might even make myself a breakfast burrito, who knows? When I make either of these, I'll let you know how they turn out.
My other fantastic find at the store was a tub of miso paste. I honestly don't know if Kroger has carried this all along and I never looked in the right spot for it(it was in the refrigerated section of the health food department), or if they've just started carrying it. Either way, I'm delighted to have found it, and can see miso soups in my future. Again, I'll post about those when I finally get around to making one of them.
Basically I haven't cooked much lately, I've just been too tired. I made some cashew butter, so have had a few cb&j sammiches...the other night I fried some vegetarian hotdogs, heated up some green beans, and baked a potato...and, last week, I used the frozen leftover squash/beans/red pepper mixture to make a soup, like Sherrie suggested. First I sauteed some onion and garlic, then added water and a veggie buillion cube, the squash mix, and about two small potatoes, peeled and diced. When the 'taters were good and soft and falling apart, I used the immersion blender to puree it. Turned out great, and hopefully I'll be able to make it again sometime. I love soups.
Until next time, happy eating.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Crunchy Granola
According to an email from foodieblogroll today, the widget is on my blog, but I'll be darned if I can see it, lol. I went over to their site and sure enough, found my blog listed with the others. Right now I don't understand, but I'm sure not going to complain, and am going to get in touch with Sherrie(http://adollopofcream.blogspot.com) and ask her to help me...Sherrie, I saw your comment, so thank you, I appreciate you. A LOT!!!
Yesterday I kinda went crazy in the kitchen, but since it was chilly, grey, very, very rainy(which was wonderful and we still need lots more rain), it was a perfect day to do that. I made a batch of homemade granola, another tofu eggnog cheesecake, and then for dinner, a pot of Cauliflower/Potato Soup. There's enough soup left for dinner(do you say dinner or supper, btw? I used to say supper, but now it's dinner...don't know why.)tonight, plus enough to freeze for another time, a time when I won't want to cook.
The granola is from "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian," by Mark Bittman, one of the books on my wish list. So, without further ado, here's his recipe:
Crunchy Granola
6C rolled oats(not instant or quick-cooking)
2C mixed nuts and seeds, like sunflower seeds, chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews, and sesame seeds
1C shredded coconut 1tsp.ground cinnamon, or to taste Dash salt
1/2 to 1C honey or maple syrup, or to taste
1C.raisins or chopped dried fruit.
1. Preheat the oven to 300ºF.
2. Put a 9X13-inch roasting pan over medium-low heat(put the pan over 2 burners if it's convenient). Add the oats and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to change color and become fragrant, 3-5 minutes.
3. Add the nuts and seeds and continue to cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Add the coconut and cook, stirring for 2 minutes more. Add the cinnamon, salt, and sweetener, stir, and put in the oven. Bakde for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice.
4. Add the dried fruit, stir,cool on a rack, continuing to stir once in a while until the granola reaches room temperature. Transfer to a sealed container and store in the refrigerator; it will keep indefinitely.
A couple of his variations: use 1/2C coconut milk with 1/4 or more honey; add 2 Tbs. vanilla extract to the sweeteners. Omit the coconut if you like.
So, there's the recipe, and here's how I ended up making it. I didn't have any shredded coconut, so I added the 1/2C coconut milk to the honey, for a total of 1C. I also added the two Tbs. vanilla...I love vanilla. I used cashews for the nuts, they were all I had, and I used two snack-size boxes of raisins, as that was all I had, also. My 9X13 pan turned out to be too flimsy to heat over the burners, even on very low heat, and started to scorch the oats, so they didn't really get toasted the way they should've been. Next time I will use a heavy skillet. I will also leave the granola in the oven longer than 20 minutes, as it didn't come out dry and crispy, just sort of damp and chewy. But, it's still good, and since I had everything already here, it didn't cost me anything, and I have a lot of cereal now. Oh, I will also buy some shredded coconut when I make this again, and then will only use the honey for the sweetener.
As for the soup, I didn't use a recipe, just cooked it by gosh and by gorry, lol. I finely diced one large carrot, half a good-sized onion, and one large stalk of celery. While these cooked gently in about two tbs. of evoo and margarine, I peeled and diced three medium potatoes, and added those to the mix, along with a good tsp. of minced garlic. Then I added a 16-oz. bag of frozen cauliflower, and a 32-oz.carton of low-sodium vegetable broth, let it come to a boil, and simmered it until everything was very soft, about 30 minutes. When the veggies were all soft, I used my immersion blender to puree it, and there ya are: soup. Thick, good, nice and hot, and perfect for a rainy, chilly evening.
Another thing I've prepared this week is Cashew Butter. As much as I love peanut butter, it hates me with a passion, so when I get the urge for a PB&J, I make cashew butter. It's really easy, too. All I do is dump a can of cashew pieces into my blender, and start off with about 4Tbs. of vegetable oil, in this case, I used safflower. I use the pulse button for a few turns, to chop the nuts, and then change to blend. The hardest part about this is having to continuously scrape down the sides of the blender, as the blender will reach a point where it's just spinning, all the nuts and oil have been slung onto the sides. So, that's the time to start adding more oil, a tbs. at a time, until it reaches the consistency you'd like. Mine was very crunchy, as I like it that way. And I enjoyed several cashew butter and strawberry jam sammiches!!! CB&J's, lol.
Until next time, Happy Eating!
Yesterday I kinda went crazy in the kitchen, but since it was chilly, grey, very, very rainy(which was wonderful and we still need lots more rain), it was a perfect day to do that. I made a batch of homemade granola, another tofu eggnog cheesecake, and then for dinner, a pot of Cauliflower/Potato Soup. There's enough soup left for dinner(do you say dinner or supper, btw? I used to say supper, but now it's dinner...don't know why.)tonight, plus enough to freeze for another time, a time when I won't want to cook.
The granola is from "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian," by Mark Bittman, one of the books on my wish list. So, without further ado, here's his recipe:
Crunchy Granola
6C rolled oats(not instant or quick-cooking)
2C mixed nuts and seeds, like sunflower seeds, chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews, and sesame seeds
1C shredded coconut 1tsp.ground cinnamon, or to taste Dash salt
1/2 to 1C honey or maple syrup, or to taste
1C.raisins or chopped dried fruit.
1. Preheat the oven to 300ºF.
2. Put a 9X13-inch roasting pan over medium-low heat(put the pan over 2 burners if it's convenient). Add the oats and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to change color and become fragrant, 3-5 minutes.
3. Add the nuts and seeds and continue to cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Add the coconut and cook, stirring for 2 minutes more. Add the cinnamon, salt, and sweetener, stir, and put in the oven. Bakde for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice.
4. Add the dried fruit, stir,cool on a rack, continuing to stir once in a while until the granola reaches room temperature. Transfer to a sealed container and store in the refrigerator; it will keep indefinitely.
A couple of his variations: use 1/2C coconut milk with 1/4 or more honey; add 2 Tbs. vanilla extract to the sweeteners. Omit the coconut if you like.
So, there's the recipe, and here's how I ended up making it. I didn't have any shredded coconut, so I added the 1/2C coconut milk to the honey, for a total of 1C. I also added the two Tbs. vanilla...I love vanilla. I used cashews for the nuts, they were all I had, and I used two snack-size boxes of raisins, as that was all I had, also. My 9X13 pan turned out to be too flimsy to heat over the burners, even on very low heat, and started to scorch the oats, so they didn't really get toasted the way they should've been. Next time I will use a heavy skillet. I will also leave the granola in the oven longer than 20 minutes, as it didn't come out dry and crispy, just sort of damp and chewy. But, it's still good, and since I had everything already here, it didn't cost me anything, and I have a lot of cereal now. Oh, I will also buy some shredded coconut when I make this again, and then will only use the honey for the sweetener.
As for the soup, I didn't use a recipe, just cooked it by gosh and by gorry, lol. I finely diced one large carrot, half a good-sized onion, and one large stalk of celery. While these cooked gently in about two tbs. of evoo and margarine, I peeled and diced three medium potatoes, and added those to the mix, along with a good tsp. of minced garlic. Then I added a 16-oz. bag of frozen cauliflower, and a 32-oz.carton of low-sodium vegetable broth, let it come to a boil, and simmered it until everything was very soft, about 30 minutes. When the veggies were all soft, I used my immersion blender to puree it, and there ya are: soup. Thick, good, nice and hot, and perfect for a rainy, chilly evening.
Another thing I've prepared this week is Cashew Butter. As much as I love peanut butter, it hates me with a passion, so when I get the urge for a PB&J, I make cashew butter. It's really easy, too. All I do is dump a can of cashew pieces into my blender, and start off with about 4Tbs. of vegetable oil, in this case, I used safflower. I use the pulse button for a few turns, to chop the nuts, and then change to blend. The hardest part about this is having to continuously scrape down the sides of the blender, as the blender will reach a point where it's just spinning, all the nuts and oil have been slung onto the sides. So, that's the time to start adding more oil, a tbs. at a time, until it reaches the consistency you'd like. Mine was very crunchy, as I like it that way. And I enjoyed several cashew butter and strawberry jam sammiches!!! CB&J's, lol.
Until next time, Happy Eating!
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