White Bean and Collard Soup

This makes about 8-12 servings. Nice on a Fall day.

1 lb of dried navy beans (TO SAVE TIME CAN USE 4-5 CANS OF NAVY BEANS )
1 large onion
1 cup barbecue sauce
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
4 cups of water
4 cups of chicken broth (unless you don't partake--sub veg broth)
pinch of red pepper flakes
2 dashes of chili powder
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
6 cups or more (depending on how you like it) of chopped collard greens
1 tsp Liquid hicory smoke
hot sauce if desired

Rinse and sort dry beans . Place in large pot with 6-8 cups of water. Bring to a boil for one minute and shut off and let sit for 1 hour. (This step is not necessary if you soaked them over night). Drain. Cook beans for 1 and 1/2 hours or until done. Drain.NOTE: TO SAVE TIME YOU CAN SUBSTITUTE CANNED NAVY BEANS--PROBABLY USING 4-5 CANS.

In skillet saute onion. When soft or even a bit brown add to the beans. Add the barbecue sauce, tomato paste, 4 cups of water, 4 cups of broth, pinch of red pepper flakes, 2 dashes of chili powder, 1/2 tsp dried thme, 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper. Simmer for about 45 minutes. Add the chopped collard greens. Cook 15 minutes or until tender (depends on the individual collards--some take less). Add 1/2 to 1 tsp of liquid hicory smoke (tasting to determine what you like.

Individuals can add hot sauce if desired.

Cabbage/noodle poppy seed dish from mymommymakesit

Another yummy recipe from http://mymommymakesit.blogspot.com/ My hubby went back for seconds on this one. We served it with a lentil loaf , and some parsnips and sweet potatoes. We acutally had a cool day here in the 70's with rain!! a nice break. Mymommymakesit has a better picture--I didn't take the time for a good one! Here are her directions with my comments ;-).

Bring enough water to a boil and cook
1/2 a package of standard egg noodles until just done (I used GR fettuccini)

Drain and set aside in a bowl mixing in
1 TBSP of butter (I omitted)

Finely dice
1 small onion

Coarsely chop
4 small tart green apples (I used one large green apple)
1/2 a medium head of green cabbage

Saute your produce for ten minutes in
3 TBSP of butter (I omitted since I used my iron skillet -I let mine cook longer to get the cabbage tender--depends on how small you chop things)
1/2 cup of stock

Mix this in with your noodles

Add to taste
salt
pepper
poppyseeds

Serve into large bowls and garnish with
plenty of high quality sour cream (I omitted, but this would have been good!)
a pinch of paprika

Mexican Quinoa with pinto beans

Found this in my Quinoa booklet. I have pre-washed quinoa so don't need to rinse it. This is a good recipe for Fall! Quinoa is gluten free.

3 cups sliced bell pepper and onions, mixed (I used some red bells too)

3-4 cups cooked pinto beans with about 1/2 cup liquid

2 cups cooked quinoa

2 cups sweet corn

4-6 cloves garlic, minced

2 tab chili powder

1 teas ground cumin

2 teas ground oregano

1 tsp salt

Pour peppers and onions into large skillet and sauté in a small amount of oil. Add herbs and spices, sauté for another minute or two. Add all other ingredients, bring to a simmer, cover loosely and simmer about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand covered for another ten minutes. Serves 4-6

tofu tortillas

I love the above tortillas because they have no preservatives or wheat. Whole Foods sells these in their refrigerator section near the hummus in my store.



I love serving a combo of mushrooms, seasoned broiled tofu, peppers, onions, and garlic for a filling.





Adding the Picante sauce and roll up---a nice treat!


1 block of firm or extra firm tofu (about 14 ounces)
balsamic vinegar
Italian seasoning (Mrs. Dash)

8 ounces of button mushrooms
1 bell pepper (or 1/3 of a green bell, 1/3 of a yellow bell, and 1/3 of a red bell) can use more
1 large onion
1 large rounded teaspoon of minced garlic
spritz of olive oil
salt and pepper

Cut up tofu into little squares or rectangles. Place in large bowl and sprinkle with balsamic vinegar and a generous amount of Italian seasoning adding salt and pepper if desired. Spread on a non-stick cookie sheet or jelly roll pan spritz with a tiny bit of olive oil.and broil 6 minutes, toss them, and broil another 6-8 minutes until they are browned a bit.

Meanwhile cut up the veggies and saute in large skillet adding the garlic near the end. Let them cook and when about done add the tofu and toss to mix---add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Baked peaches (quick)

This is an easy fast dessert and yummy

Cut up some peaches leaving the skins on them (1 peach per person). Add sugar and cinnamon and a bit of vanilla. Stir it all up and place at 350 F in the oven in a covered dish. Cook until nice and tender and the juices are running. I cooked 2 peaches and used 1-2 tab of sugar--a sprinkling of cinnamon and a tiny amount of vanilla. Mine took about 25 or 30 minutes.

Quinoa Salad with Grapes and Roasted Cashews

This was light and delightful...almost dessert like! I used the natural vinegar pictured below

3 tab raspberry vinegar
2 tab cooking sherry or mirin (I used the sherry--found near vinegars etc in Foodlion
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 teaspoons fresh dill weed (or 1 teaspoon dried dill)
1 stalk of celery sliced
1/2 cup (or more!) red seedless grapes, sliced in half (I left whole)
2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled
1/3 cup roasted cashews (I actually left these out--good either way)

In one bowl, mix the ingredients in order except the cashews. Let sit at least 1 hour to chill. Add nuts before serving. Serves 3-4.

PS. Some brands of Quinoa have to be rinsed before cooking and others are prewashed so check the directions on the package!

ps. I found this from a booklet that came with the quinoa a while back

Lentil Croquettes from 1000 vegetarian recipes

These may look a bit strange , but I love them and I love their flavor! I found them in 1000 vegetarian recipes (a book).

Ingredients:

1 cup split red lentils (I only had the brown ones)
1 green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped (I used about 2/3 of a large one)
2 garlic cloves, crushed (I used minced)
1 tsp garam masala (McCormick makes this)
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cummin
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp chopped unsalted peanuts (don't leave this out--really adds to flavor)
2 & 1/2 cups water
1 egg, beaten
3 tbsp all-purpose flour (I used Gluten free)
1 tsp ground tumeric
1 tsp chili powder
4 tbsp vegetable oil (if cooking in skillet--I broiled mine and used less)
salt and pepper
salad greens and herbs, to serve
I needed a bit of extra flour and I used rice flour

1. Put the lentils in a large pan with the bell pepper, onion, garlic, garam masala, 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp ground cumin, lemon juice and peanuts. Add water and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently , stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes for the red lentils OR until all the liquid has been absorbed. My brown lentils take more like 45 minutes, but it may depend on the brand you use. You want the WATER TO BE ABSORBED and lentils tender.

2..Remove mixture from heat and let cool for a while. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Beat in the egg. Then let cool completely or until it can be handled with hands.

3. With floured hands, form the mixture into ovals. (I had to add some rice flour here because mine was too loose).

4. Combine all purpose flour, turmeric, and chili powder on a small plate. Roll the croquettes in the spiced flour mixture to coat thoroughly. (I actually just mixed this all in the lentil batter since I was going to broil mine and it needed the thickening and as I said I also added some extra rice flour).

5. Heat the oil in a large skillet (or preheat the broiler if broiling). Add the croquettes, in batches and cook turning once, for about ten minutes until crisp on both sides. (I put mine on a non stick cookie sheet and then sprayed a bit of olive oil on each patty. Then I put it a few inches under the broiler and cooked about 5-6 minutes on one side, flipped them and cooked another 5-6 minutes or so until they were turning brown and bit crisp.

Serve in any way you desire and you can use a dipping sauce as well.

Bean Burgers from 1000 vegetarian recipes

I liked these. I like them in a sandwich or also just in with a bunch of finely chopped lettuce with avacado and tomatoes and salsa.

1 tbs oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped (I used minced)
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
5 oz/115g white mushrooms, finely chopped
1&1/2 cups canned red pinto or red kidney beans , drained and rinsed (I used pinto)
2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
all purpose flour for dusting (I used rice flour)
salt and ground black pepper
burger buns and salad to serve (or whatever)

1. Heat oil in heavy skillet. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, until soft. Add garlic, coriander, cumin and cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute more. Add the mushrooms and continue to cook, stirring constantly, for 4-5 minutes until all the liquid has evaporated. Transfer the mixture to a bowl.

2. Place the beans in a small bowl and mash with a potato masher or fork. Stir beans into the mushroom mixture with the parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Dust with flour. Divide the mixture into 4 portions and shape each into a flat round patty. Brush with oil and cook under a preheated broiler for 4 to 5 minutes on EACH side. Serve.

Kim's Quinoa Super Salad from Quinoa recipe favorites

This was easy and very very tasty! I am loving the ingredients. I found this from a booklet that came with my quinoa and the Kim in the name is not I.I ADJUSTED MINE FOR LESS BUT I WILL PUT THE FULL RECIPE HERE. Tastes good warm too.

5 cups quinoa, cooked (I just used 3 cups for the two of us which is 1 cup uncooked)
1 cup carrots, chopped
3/4 cup parsley, minced
1 cup sunflower seeds
4 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce (I used la choy for gluten free)
1/2 cup lemon juice (fresh)
tomates
black olives
(manderine orange might be good in this too, but I haven't tried it)

Cook quinoa; let cool. Add carrots, parsley, sunflower seeds and garlic to quinoa. Mix thoroughly. Combine liquids, pour over quinoa nd toss well. Garnish with tomato wedges and olives. Serves 6-8

Spinach and pine nut pasta from 1000 vegetarian recipes

I liked the combo of flavors in this dish! Pictured here are gluten free penne--but you can use whatever pasta and pasta shape you want. Quick dish to make too!


Ingredients:

2 cups dried pasta shapes
1/2 cup olive oil (NOTE--I ONLY USED A FEW SQUIRTS OF OIL ON MINE)
2 garlic cloves, crushed (I used minced)
1 onion, chopped
3 large flat mushrooms , sliced (I USED REGULAR MUSHROOMS ABOUT 8 OUNCES)
1/2 LB fresh spinach---I used 6 ounces, but it would have been nice to have 8
2 tBsp pine nuts (found in cooking Isle at Walmart)
5-6 tbsp dry white wine
salt and pepper
parmesan shavings, to garnish (I OMITTED)

1. Bring water to boil and add pasta and cook until tender and still firm to the bite. drain.

2. MEANWHILE: heat oil in large pan. Add garlic and onion and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for 1 minute. (I prefer cooking onion at a medium heat for a few minutes, then turning down and cooking garlic with for a bit).

3. Add the sliced mushrooms to the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. (I cook longer than this)

4. Lower the heat, add the spinach, anc cook, stirring occasionally, for about 4-5 minutes or until the spinach has just wilted.

5. Stir in the pine nuts and wine, season to taste with salt and pepper, and cook for 1 minute.

6. Transfer the pasta to a warm serving bowl and toss the sauce into it, mixing well. Garnish with shavings of parmesan cheese (if using) and serve immediately. NOTE--I JUST ADDED THE PASTA TO MY IRON SKILLET SINCE MINE IS BIG AND IT MIXED EASILY!

Coconut Curry Quinoa Stew

This may look strange, but I so loved it. Nice flavors too!
I found this very tasty--makes a very nice lunch! I found this recipe from a booklet that came with some quinoa. Some quinoa says to rinse and others don't so it may depend on who processes it.


2 Tab olive oil (me -just squirts)
1 small onion
1 small zucchini, winter squash or carrots (I used one zucchini)
2 celery stalks
1/2 small yellow pepper
2 teaspoons curry
2 teaspoons cumin
1/3 cup uncooked quinoa (rinsed in a screen type device)
2 cups water (I used 1 cup water with 1 cup broth)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cinnamon stick
2/3 cup kidney beans (I used more)
1/2 cup light coconut milk
Fresh parsley or cilantro if desired

I served this on some rice.

Cut vegetables for a stew into medium to large pieces. Heat a heavy bottom soup or caserole pot. (I just used my Large iron skillet). Add the oil and onion. When the onion is softened, begin adding the rest of the veggies. Mix ground spices into the vegetables. Mix the quinoa with the vegetables, and then add water, salt, cinnamon, beans, and coconut milk. Cover and simmer until quinoa drinks up the liquid and vegetables are soft. Remove the cinnamon, garnish with chopped cilantro or parsley. Serves 4.