Pineapple /toss salad

A bunch of Romain lettuce--torn
fresh pineapple--cut into bite sized pieces
slivers of carrot
sunflower seeds

combine as desired. Top with a raspberry vinaigrette. Or whatever dressing you desire. Coconut sprinkled in this would be good too!

2. Another salad that is good:

Cabbage slaw

Carrot matchsticks 

Apples chopped

Pecans 

And for the dressing mix a bit of Dijon mustard, about 2x the amount of honey, a splash of white rice vinegar and some water-/ do it to taste.

Another dressing:

3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds 

2 tablespoons maple syrup 

2 tablespoons low sodium gf tamari 

Bit of water

I also like an Asian dressing that Mcdougal has:

but I like honey added to it

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup soy sauce — I like way more

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup water

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp garlic, minced

Me- add honey and or maple syrup to taste 

1/4 tsp ginger, minced

DIRECTIONS

Combine all ingredients in a blender jar and process until smooth.sesame seeds are good as well 

Mexicali Salad and Dressing

This was another recipe I found in a book called Hallelujah Holiday recipes--lots of good ones in this book. I didn't add as much oil and I had no parsley and only put a bit of cilantro because of my hubby's likes. Parsley would be a good addition. I just sprinkled some cumin and garlic powder and squeezed some lemon juice and sprinkle a bit of oil on--I didn't have the apricot stuff, but I am sure it would be good!

Stuffed Eggplant

This was delicious. I used white rice (basamati spelling?) instead of the brown. In following the directions if you want to eat the sides of the eggplant with skin you may need more cooking. The bottom was tender. You could just serve it in the eggplant and just eat the filling. Next time I will precook the eggplant holder a bit.This was from a book called Hallelujah Holiday Recipes--it is really worth the purchase!

**Another change I did: I only used 2 cooked cups of white rice! I couldn't have fit all the rice the recipe calls for below!

roast lamb

I know this is NOT VEGAN!! This was for Easter.
This picture was taken before it had browned up. It said it was leg of lamb but it was boneless, thus the string! This one was about 7 pounds. we cooked it on low with loose foil while at church (2 hours at around 300) than upped it to 425 and 450 and it actually took another hour to reach 145. The middle was more like 135--so we had rare and medium. The problem doing it this was is that the potatoes, and I added carrots were a bit hard---still good, however.

This was from the Barefoot Contessa


Ingredients
12 large unpeeled garlic cloves, divided
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 (6-pound) boneless leg of lamb, trimmed and tied
4 to 5 pounds small unpeeled potatoes (16 to 20 potatoes) I added carrots too
2 tablespoons good olive oil
Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place the oven rack in the lower third of the oven so the lamb will sit in the middle of the oven.

Peel 6 of the cloves of garlic and place them in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the rosemary, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, and butter. Process until the garlic and rosemary are finely minced. Thoroughly coat the top and sides of the lamb with the rosemary mixture. Allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Toss the potatoes and remaining unpeeled garlic in a bowl with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place in the bottom of a large roasting pan. Place the lamb on top of the potatoes and roast for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the internal temperature of the lamb is 135 degrees (rare) or 145 degrees (medium). Remove from the oven and put the lamb on a platter; cover tightly with aluminum foil. Allow the lamb to rest for about 20 minutes. Slice and serve with the potatoes.

Cajun beans and rice

This can be served as shown or in a wrap

2 cups cooked of rice (any kind)
1 1-pound can of diced tomatoes
1 onion, diced
1/2 cup bell pepper, seeded and diced or whole!
1 1 pound can red beans
1 tsp garlic powder or fresh garlic
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper OR I like less and use some salsa instead
frozen corn --as much as desired

lime juice

For topping: avocado, green onions, tomatoes, cilantro, salsa, green olives and spritz with lime juice!

Cook onion, pepper and garlic and corn in stir fry fashion. Add to cooked rice with the rest of the the ingredients.

Coconut Curry Tofu

I found this somewhere on line. I love LOVE this dish. Serve with rice or noodles

ingredients

• 2 bunches green onions
• 1 (14 ounce) can light coconut milk
• 1/4 cup soy sauce, divided (I used GF Bragg liquid aminos)
• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons chile paste (I used 1 tsp of chili powder, could use more)
• 1 pound firm tofu, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
• 4 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped
• 1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 4 ounces fresh mushrooms, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 4 cups chopped bok choy
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Remove white parts of green onions, and finely chop. Chop greens into 2 inch pieces.
2. In a large heavy skillet over medium heat, mix coconut milk, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, brown sugar, curry powder, ginger, and chile paste. Bring to a boil.
3. Stir tofu, tomatoes, yellow pepper, mushrooms, and finely chopped green onions into the skillet. Cover, and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix in basil and bok choy. Season with salt and remaining soy sauce. Continue cooking 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender but crisp. Garnish with remaining green onion.

serve over rice or noodles

Eggplant and pasta salad

Sorry about the above pic--didn't mix the broccoli yet!

I found this from a Hallelujah Holiday Recipes book. I like this better COLD with a little of the above salad dressing on it.I love the eggplant just as cooked here for a snack!

Ingredients:

1 good sized eggplant
1 small jar of pinenuts (I just used some from a package)
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded, chopped
1 red bell pepper seeded, chopped (I used green--out of red)
Broccoli floretts
roma tomatoes or other
sun-dried or dehydrated tomatoes (optional (I didn't have)
1 can small pitted black olives sliced
Italian seasoning to taste
garlic powder to taste
Celtic Sea Salt optional
1 12-16 ounces flavored spirals or rotini

Preheat oven to 400. Take a eggplant and halve it lengthwise and slice into thin pieces leaving skin on it. Brush some olive oil (or spray with pam) on both sides. Sprinkle with garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Brown on both sides and let peel become a little leathery. This may take 30 minutes or so.

While eggplant cooks, wash and slice the peppers. Also take the broccoli and steam the florets until just tender--don't over cook. Add peppers to the steamer and cook just a bit more.

Boil the pasta while the above is cooking. Slice some fresh tomatoes. Get the black olives and pine nuts ready.

Drain pasta. Add a bit of olive oil if desired (this adds nice flavor , but if you don't want the oil or are using salad dressing for a cold salad you can omit). Fold in the steamed veggies, and mix gently. Fold in eggplant, pine nuts, tomatoes and olives. Season with more garlic powder and Italian seasoning.

If serving cold --chill and add dressing

Quick Black Bean soup from McDougall

This is a quick easy recipe from The McDougall quick and easy cookbook. I happened to have a can of black bean soup and used this and a can of black beans and added the rest of the recipe below minus the additional black beans and minus the WATER. I also added a bit of SALSA to the recipe.




You can also add Taco chips and avacados. Salsa added to the recipe is good--I used that instead of the Tabasco.