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.

Fruited Grain Salad

This is a neat salad from Moosewood, originally introduced to us by one of the Liberal Luncheon crew.

1 c raw wheat berries
1 c pearl barley
1 c short grain brown rice
3 T balsamic vinegar
1 T lemon juice
3 T light oil
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 c golden raisins
3/4 c minced chives or scallions
6-7 large mint leaves, minced
4-5 ripe plums, sliced (or grapes, peaches, etc.)
1-2 tart apples, diced

Soak wheat berries about 30 minutes. Wash barley several times, then cook with rice and 4 1/4 c water (boil, cover, simmer 35 minutes). Drain wheat berries, then cook with 2 1/2 c water (boil, cover, simmer 1 hour - 1:15). Combine warm grains. Add everything except fruit. Cover and chill. Add fruit just before serving.

Pasta Salad

10 oz tri-color pasta twists
1 bottle Italian salad dressing
1 small bottle McCormick's Salad Supreme Seasoning
1 tomato, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 can sliced black olives
1 can sliced mushrooms

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain, rinse in cold water to cool. Combine everything. Chill overnight, stirring occasionally.

Pumpkin Roll

My recipe card says it came from my aunt Robin, which almost certainly means it came from Bettie originally. Pumpkin roll is nice and moist, and depending on which way you roll it, you either get about 12 big slices that we usually end up cutting in half for serving, or about 25 little slices.

 img via: Very Best Baking

Batter:
3 eggs
1 c sugar
3/4 c flour
2/3 c canned pumpkin
1 t baking soda
1/2 t cinnamon

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese
1 c powdered sugar
2 T butter
1/2 c chopped walnuts

Plus about 1/4 c powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease 10x15 inch jelly roll sheet. Line w/ waxed or parchment paper and grease again. Mix batter ingredients & pour into pan evenly. Bake 15 minutes. Mix filling ingredients. After baking, sprinkle liberally with extra powdered sugar. Invert onto a clean dishtowel. Peel off waxed paper and spread filling evenly. Roll up and store wrapped in towel in refrigerator. Slice and serve.

Cranberry-Orange Salad

This is an simplified version of a rather complicated salad that I made for Thanksgiving one year. Now I make this one for everything.

img via: pinch my salt

2 oranges or several clementines
6oz baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup (or more) dried cranberries
4oz chopped pecans

Toast the pecans about 5 minutes at 350 degrees, then set aside to cool. Peel and separate the oranges and cut them into 1/2 inch pieces. Baby spinach usually comes well washed, but rinse if you want to. Toss everything together. Serve with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Easy Freezy Pumpkin Pie

I think this recipe must have arrived to our house in a cookbook one of us made at school, because the girl who works at the video store knew exactly what we were talking about.

img via: food.com

2 graham cracker pie crusts
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 t salt
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 t cinnamon
4 cups (1 quart) vanilla ice cream

Set the ice cream out to soften a bit. In a bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Add the ice cream and combine until thoroughly mixed. Divide evenly between the two crusts. Freeze until serving.

Best Guacamole Ever

It's true. More yummy goodness from Ms. Julie Jordan.

img via: 30 Pounds of Apples

1 ripe avocado
1/4 medium tomato
1/4 small onion
1 T sour cream or ricotta cheese
1/2 t ground cumin
1-2 cloves garlic
1/2 t salt (or less)
a little lemon or lime juice

Finely chop the tomato and mince the onion. Press or mince the garlic. Mash everything together, then beat until fluffy.

Spinach Salad

This recipe is from our friend Lee Erikson. She's part of our group who gets together every month or so for the "Liberal Vegan Luncheon." Anyway, good simple salad, don't add the dressing til you're ready to serve it or the spinach shrivels and the apricots reinflate and it's just not the same..

2 10-oz. bags baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup cashews
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
2 apples

Rinse the spinach, chop up the apples, throw everything in a bowl. Ta-da, there's your salad!

3 T sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup garlic salt
1/4 cup celery salt

Mix everything together til the sugar and salts dissolve. Ta-da, there's your dressing!

Party Spinach Dip

Apparently from a Jenny Craig cookbook, this dip is my mom's trademark dish and everyone's favorite at potlucks. Best part is, it's even pretty healthy.

12 oz. 1% cottage cheese
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach
8 oz. can chopped water chestnuts
1/2 cup low fat sour cream
1/4 cup dry vegetable soup mix (Knorr)
2 t onion, grated or finely minced
1 t lemon juice

Thaw and squeeze the spinach dry. Drain and chop the water chestnuts some more. Blend the cottage cheese in the food processor until smooth. Put everything together in a bowl and mix well. Cover and chill at least 3 hours before serving.

Serving ideas: party rye and pumpernickle slices, water crackers, melba rounds, hollowed bread bowl with cubed bread, Fritos (seriously, they are kinda perfect)

1 T has aprox: 9 calories, .3 gram fat

Szechuan Cold Sesame Noodles

My sister's graduation party tomorrow, so while we've got party food on the brain, here's some of our favorites. This is an excellent noodle/sauce recipe from the book "One Pot Vegetarian Dishes". It's really good & easy, and we usually make it in a double batch.

img via: foodzings

1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
3 T hot water
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 T soy sauce (tamari)
2 T sesame oil
1 t vegetable oil
1 t chili oil
2 t sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
8 oz. sesame noodles or spaghetti
2 medium carrots, shredded
2 scallions, thinly sliced

Start boiling water for the noodles. In a large bowl, whisk together peanut butter and water until well blended. Gradually whisk in vinegar, soy sauce, oils, sugar, and garlic. Cook the noodles as directed, drain and rinse. Add the noodles to the sauce, toss to mix well, and serve cold with carrots and scallions as garnish.

Marinated Tomato Sauce

Only make this in the summer when you've got really good, ripe tomatoes and fresh basil avaliable.

4 large ripe tomatoes
12-15 large basil leaves
1 large clove garlic, pressed
3 T olive oil
1/2 t salt
6 oz. mozzarella cheese
freshly ground black pepper

Cut tomato and cheese into 1 inch cubes. Mince basil. Combine all and let stand 1 hour at room temperature. Serve over pasta.

4 servings: 687 calories, 23.5 grams fat
6 servings: 458 calories, 15.6 grams fat
8 servings: 343 calories, 12 grams fat

Hummus

We love this stuff, it's from Julie Jordan's first cookbook, Wings of Life. Eat hummus with pita bread, carrots, celery, cucumbers, crackers, whatever makes you happy!

15 oz. can chick peas (drain, but reserve liquid)
2 cloves garlic (or more)
1/2 t salt
1 T tahini
juice of 1 lemon (or more)
2-6 T chick pea canning liquid
optional: chopped parsley, shredded carrot

Put everything in the food processor and grind until smooth. Add more canning liquid if necessary to unthicken and anything else to taste. Let sit to blend flavors before serving.

Serves 4. Aprox 121 calories, 3.5 grams fat per serving.

Gazpacho

An easy summer soup. Served cold, it's great for parties or picnics! (Vegan note - contains honey.)

4 cups V8 juice
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups diced tomatoes
1 cup minced green pepper
1 t honey
1 clove garlic
1 diced cucumber
2 chopped scallions
juice of 1/2 lemon
juice of 1 lime
2 T wine vinegar
1 T olive oil
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 t tarragon
1 t basil
salt and pepper
dash tabasco

Combine all. Blend half of bulk and recombine. Chill.

Serves 8. Aprox 100 calories, 2 grams fat per serving.