Stuffed Peppers

Another recipe from my sister, discovered deep in the Facebook Messenger archives while looking for the chickpea one. It's titled: Super Delicious (and I hate cooked peppers) Stuffed Peppers. But I hate cooked peppers too, so I haven't tried it.

4 bell peppers
2 cups cooked (1 cup dry) quinoa or rice
1/2 cup grated or crumbled cheese - feta, mozzarella, parmesan...
1 tomato
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp marjoram, oregano, and/or basil
salt and pepper
olive oil

Preheat oven to 450F.
If starting with uncooked quinoa/rice, start cooking as directed. For more flavor, use broth instead of water or add a bullion cube while cooking.
Grease a small square casserole pan with olive oil.
Remove the stems and seeds from the bell peppers but keep the rest of it whole (like cutting the top off of a jack-o-lantern). Sprinkle inside with salt and black pepper. Place standing up in the pan.
Chop tomato well. Combine with cheese, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper. When quinoa/rice is done cooking, add to tomato and mix well.
Pack mixture into peppers with a spoon (it may not all fit).
Bake for 30 minutes.

She adds:
You can also stuff zuccinis with couscous! Or tomatoes with rice and chedder! Little things in big things plus cheese and garlic! Yay!

One-Pot Chickpeas and Rice

My sister sent me this recipe years ago, and I finally made it last night. It is easy and delicious, so of course my toddler won't touch it.

1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can chopped tomatoes, or 6oz fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 can chickpeas, drained
1 1/2 cups white basmati or jasmine rice
1 Tbsp yellow curry powder
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
lots of black pepper
1 1/4 cup water

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan (with a lid!) over medium-high heat. Sauté onion and garlic for 5 minutes. Add curry powder and cook a few minutes more.
Add water, tomatoes with juice, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil.
Add drained chickpeas and rice. Cover and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.
Taste test. If the rice is not done, add another 1/4 cup of water and re-cover to simmer 5 more minutes.

Lentil Loaf

My sister was disappointed by all the "flaxseed and almond flour BS" in the lentil loaf recipes she found on Pinterest, so we went back to Mom's recipe cards to get the "old-fashioned hippie" version.

1 c dry lentils (2 c cooked)
1  13-ounce can evaporated milk
1/4 c oil
2 eggs
2 c oatmeal or extremely dry bread crumbs (we prefer oatmeal)
1/2 to 1 c chopped walnuts
1 minced onion
1 c minced celery
1 c grated carrot
1 tsp sage
Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350F.
Prepare dry lentils by cooking them in 2 cups water over medium heat for 30-40 minutes. Combine cooked lentils with all ingredients and stir together thoroughly.
Divide into two loaf pans or 24 muffin cups.
Bake 1 hour. Serve hot with ketchup or BBQ sauce. Also makes good leftovers or cold sandwich filling.

Berry Trifle

I asked Facebook for a trifle recipe, expecting something involving Jell-O pudding mix. Instead my friend Anna, a former pastry chef, came through with this.

strawberries, blueberries, or other berries
pound cake (she likes Harris Teeter store brand) or ladyfingers
amaretto, triple sec, or simple syrup
whipped cream
pastry custard

Place a layer of berries in trifle dish. Place a layer of pound cake and sprinkle with liqueur/simple syrup to moisten. Then layer with berries, custard, and whipped cream. Repeat pound cake through whipped cream layers to fill the dish.

(photo by Anna Fraser)

Pastry Custard

4 cups milk
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided in half
6 eggs (2 whole & 4 yolks)
7 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons vanilla

Dissolve first half of sugar in milk and heat to boiling. Mix eggs, cornstarch, and other half of sugar together. Temper eggs with hot milk and whisk. Heat on stove until thickened, stirring constantly. As soon as the custard starts thickening, remove from heat. Add butter and vanilla. Chill in fridge.

Antipasto Dip

Here's a dip recipe from my Aunt Robin. I don't think I've ever had it, but it sounds interesting and she loves it. Apparently I was talking about having leftover canned artichokes at some point (probably after the Easter Soup Disaster of '09) and this is a good use for them.

14oz can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
7oz can sliced mushrooms, drained and chopped
7oz jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
1 c pimento-stuffed olives, drained and chopped
1/2 c chopped green pepper
1/2 c chopped celery
1/2 c finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c olive or vegetable oil
2/3 c white vinegar
2 1/2 t Italian seasoning
1 t seasoned salt
1 t sugar
1/2 t freshly ground pepper

Try to chop all the vegetables to about the same size. Combine artichoke hearts, mushrooms, red peppers, olives, green peppers, and celery in a large bowl and set aside. Sauté garlic and onion in oil about 3 minutes until onion is tender. Add vinegar and spices. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and pour over the vegetables. Cover and chill for 8 hours. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to serving dish. Serve with crackers or with toasted bread as bruschetta.

Broccoli-Chicken Braid, round 2

I decided to get creative tonight and make a Broccoli-Chicken Braid into single serving pastries. I used:

1 tube of Pillsbury "Big & Buttery" crescent rolls
1 cup chopped broccoli
2 Morningstar chikn patties
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup mayo
less than one egg white
maybe a tablespoon of slivered almonds
I didn't have any dill or red peppers, but I don't like those much anyway so I was fine with that.

First I separated the crescent rolls and laid them on a cookie sheet. I mixed everything up and divided it into more-or-less even dollops at the big end of each crescent roll. I folded up the corners, brushed with egg whites, and sprinkled with almonds. They baked for 20 minutes at 375.

Success!

Next time, I would do it with more broccoli, less chikn, less mayo, and a shorter cooking time - maybe 15-18 minutes. The extra-large crescent rolls definitely helped.

Better Butter

This spread stays soft in the refrigerator and has lower saturated fat than the same amount of butter, so it's better (than) butter!

2 T water
1/2 t salt
1/4 t lecithin
2 T dry skim milk powder
2 sticks softened butter
1 cup safflower/soy/corn/etc. oil

Put water and salt in blender first to dissolve salt. Then add the rest and blend until smooth. Pour into containers and  refrigerate. It will be a soft solid when cold, but turns back to liquid if left at room temp.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
1 1/4 cup mashed banana
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 - 1/2 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg. In another bowl, sift together flours, baking soda, and salt. In a third bowl, mix together banana and yogurt. Alternate adding dry and banana to the butter mix. Stir just enough to combine well. Fold in walnuts. Bake 50-60 minutes in a bread pan. Makes 1 loaf.

Whole Wheat Bread

When I was little, my mom baked our bread. True story.

A while back one of my friends was looking for a bread recipe, and I sent her this one, and now she uses it to make her own bread too! I've included Mom's side notes from those instructions. This makes 3 or 4 loaves, depending how you divide the dough.

2 T yeast (regular, not rapid-rise)

3 c warm water or milk

1/2 c vegetable oil

1/2 c honey

2 t salt

1 egg

9 c whole wheat flour

Combine yeast and warm water. (Baby-bottle warm is the standard.) Add oil, honey, salt, and egg, and blend. Add 4 cups flour and beat. Gradually add another 4 cups flour, stirring with a sturdy wooden spoon. (Gluten strands will form and dough will begin to form into a ball, separating from the sides of the bowl.) Using about 1 cup of flour, knead the dough. (Kneading bread is like kneading clay: push firmly with the heels of your hands; fold dough  in half; give a quarter turn; repeat for a long time. You are aligning the gluten strands that will make the bread rise well. It's ready when you have a nicely formed ball and it springs back when you poke a finger into it.)

Oil a LARGE clean bowl.  Turn the dough over in the oil to get a thin coating on it. Raise dough once in bowl, one hour (covered in a warm, draft-free place). Punch down, knead very briefly. Divide into three or four loaves and shape. Make a few shallow cuts on the top of each loaf. Raise in oiled or buttered bread pans, until 1/2-1 inch above rim of pan. Bake 15 minutes at 400 degrees and then turn down the oven to 350 for another 15 minutes. Cool 10 minutes or so in the pans, then remove to cooling racks.

Sweet Potato Cauliflower Soup, round 2

I made this again for a party at work yesterday. I added some chili powder to the garam masala and oil - maybe 3 little shakes - and it didn't make any noticeable difference, but I think a little spice would be nice to counter the sweetness.
I also added carrots - about 20 baby carrots cut into thirds - and boiled them with the potato. I would not recommend it, they didn't get as soft and I ended up having to fish them out to make sure they went in the blender, or smashing them individually with the spoon. Maybe if they were shredded it would go better? They didn't make much noticeable difference either, though.

Sweet Potato Cauliflower Soup

I can take zero credit for this soup, it is from Manifest Vegan. I saw it on Pinterest today and the description was intriguing: "this soup has only five ingredients: cauliflower, sweet potatoes, onion, garlic, and water!" I said to myself, I can do that - I already have three of those!

I made it for dinner tonight and it's really tasty. It's sweet and has a creamy texture from being blendered, but the surprise chunks of roasted cauliflower are yummy (duh). I'm going to list the directions as I did/wish I had done them, so it's slightly different than Allyson's.

img via: Manifest Vegan

1 head of cauliflower
3 sweet potatoes
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
7 cups water
garam masala
olive oil

Preheat oven to 400F. Chop the garlic and onion. Heat olive oil and some garam masala in a large saucepan. Saute garlic and onion on med-low heat. Peel and cube the sweet potatoes. When onions are soft, add potatoes and water. Boil until potatoes are soft. Meanwhile, chop cauliflower into bite-size pieces. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with garam masala and drizzle with olive oil. Bake 20-30 minutes, then add to potatoes. Carefully blend half, then recombine.

Minestrone

2 T olive oil
1 1/2 c chopped onion
5 cloves garlic
1 c diced celery
1 c cubed carrot
2 t salt
4 t black pepper
2 t oregano
1 t basil
1 c chopped green pepper
3 1/2 c stock
2 c tomato puree
2 c chick peas
1 c chopped zucchini
3 T red wine
1 c chopped tomato
1/2 c dry pasta
3/4 c parsley

In stock pot, saute onion and garlic in oil until onions are translucent. Mix in celery, carrot, and 1 t salt. Add pepper, oregano, and basil and cook covered 5-8 minutes. Add green pepper, stock, tomato puree, chick peas, red wine, and zucchini, and simmer covered 15 minutes. Add tomato and 1 t salt, and keep on low heat. 10 minutes before serving, add pasta and bring to a boil until soft. Serve topped with parsley. Optional: top with parmesan cheese.

Sour Cream Cheesecake

This is my dad's favorite kind of "cake" :)

Crust:
2 c graham cracker crumbs
6 T melted butter
1 t cinnamon

Mix together. Press into deep pie pan. Chill.

Layer 1:
2 eggs
3/4 lb soft cream cheese
1/4 honey
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t salt

Preheat oven to 375F. Beat eggs well, then combine all. Pour into crust. Bake 20 minutes. Dust top with cinnamon. Cool to room temperature.

Layer 2:
1 1/2 c thick sour cream
2T honey
1/2 t vanilla

Heat oven to 425F. Combine all. Pour over cake. Bake 5-10 minutes to glaze. Cool to room temperature, then chill at least 6 hours.

Date or Raisin Filled Cookies

These cookies are good but kind of labor intensive, so I've only made them once or twice. You end up with a little (ok kinda big for a cookie) pocket full of raisin jam, like a sweet pirogi or something.

img via: Epicurious Runner

Filling:
1/2 c water
2 c dates or raisins
1/2 c sugar
1 T vanilla

Dough:
2 1/2 c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 c butter
1 c sugar
1 egg
1/2 c sour milk

Preheat oven to 350F.
Grind water and dates/raisins. Add sugar and vanilla. Optional: add walnuts. Cook 5-10 minutes until thick as jam. Remove from heat, keep covered. 
Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Combine butter, sugar, egg, and milk. Alternate adding wet and dry to form soft dough. Roll dough thin. For each cookie, cut two large circles. Spoon jam into center of one circle and cover with second. Seal edges, slit top. Bake 15 minutes.

Giant Macaroons

I always thought that macaroons were one of Grandma's cookies, but apparently not. They are still really good. The bottom gets all gooey-melty-carmelized, the coconut on top gets a little crispy at the ends, and the middle stays soft. Topping them with melted chocolate just adds to the goodness.

Apparently the real origin of this is, my mom bought some macaroons at a bake sale at the grocery store one day, and when she went back the next day they were all sold out. She asked the person running the table, who told the lady who had made them, who wrote my mom a letter with the recipe. She had two sons and I was in the grade between them, but this was back before I was in preschool even. I'd never seen it before, but I found while going through my mom's recipes on Mother's Day and I think it's totally cute.

14 oz shredded coconut
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
dash salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 2 cookie sheets. Combine all ingredients until well blended. Drop onto cookie sheets with an ice cream scoop or large spoon. Bake 15-20 minutes until golden at edges. Remove and cool on wire racks. Optional: While baking, melt chocolate chips in a double boiler. Dip the top of cooled macaroons into the chocolate.

Instant Cocoa

2 cups dry milk
dash salt
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup non-dairy creamer powder

Combine well. To prep, add 4 T to 1 cup hot water and mix to dissolve.

Zucchini Crab Cakes

I have two versions of this, one is Bettie's and one is my mom's. Both are basically zucchini shaped into a platform for transporting Old Bay to your mouth. Here are the ingredient lists exactly as written.

Grandma's ingredients:
2 eggs
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 T mayo
2 tsp Old Bay seasoning
flour
vegetable oil

Mom's ingredients:
2 1/2 cups zucchini (grated, salted & squeezed)
1 egg
2 T melted butter
1 1/8 c dry bread crumbs
1/4 c minced onion
2 tsp Old Bay seasoning
flour
vegetable oil

Combine everything except flour and oil. Form into 6 patties. Coat with flour and fry in oil.
Formed patties can be frozen before cooking.

Pie Crust

Bettie labeled this "Perfect Pie Crusts" but I can't really promise that, because my mom never quite got them to work and I've never tried, so I can't tell you what the secret is. Good luck!

2 c flour

1 1/2 t sugar

1 t salt

1 scant cup Crisco

1 1/2 t vinegar

1 egg

1/2 c water

Mix flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl with fork. Add Crisco and mix with fork until crumbly. In a small bowl, beat together water, egg, and vinegar until foamy. Combine with the dry ingredients, stirring with fork until it forms a ball. Break in half and wrap each ball in plastic. Chill for 30 minutes, then roll out. Makes 2 crusts. Double batch makes 5 crusts.

Falafel

These are tasty! From Laurel's Kitchen.

1 medium potato, cooked & mashed
1 medium-large onion, finely chopped
1 large bunch parsley or coriander
2 T oil
4 c (2 cans) ground chick peas
1/4 c sesame seed meal
1 T yogurt
1/8 t garlic powder
1/4 t cayenne
1 t paprika
juice of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350F. Sauté onions in oil until soft. Stir in parsley/coriander and cook briefly. Add to ground chick peas. Mix well with potato, sesame seed meal, yogurt, spices, and lemon juice. Form into balls or patties using 2T each. Bake on greased cookie sheet for 10 minutes on each side.

Makes 30. 65 cal & <2 g fat each.

Taco Bake

1 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 c shredded lettuce
1 1/2 c chopped tomatoes
1 3/4 all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rise or dry yeast
1 T sugar
2 t finely chopped onion
3/4 t salt
1/3 c warm water (120-130F)
2 T oil
1/2 c crushed corn chips
 Mexican Beans (replaces 1 lb taco-seasoned ground beef)

Preheat oven to 375F. In medium bowl, combine 1 cup flour, yeast, sugar, onion, and salt. Mix well. Add warm water and oil. Mix by hand until almost smooth. Stir in corn chips and enough remaining flour to make a stiff batter. Spread in well-greased 10-inch pie dish, forming a ridge around the edge. Cover, let rise in a warm place 10 minutes for quick-rise yeast or 20 minutes for active dry yeast. Spread beans over dough. Bake 30 to 35 minutes until edges of dough are crisp and light golden brown. Sprinkle with cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. Serve immediately.