Sweet Potato Fries

Background:  I really needed a sweet potato fries recipe after Grant mentioned how much he loves them! Besides, baked sweet potatoes are good, but mine like to leak out of the foil and onto the bottom of the oven.  How annoying! I make these as a side to cheeseburgers or salmon.

Originally from: a website I don't remember...
Serves ~3
Approximate time, from prep to table: ~40 minutes, including 10 minutes of prep

Ingredients:
3 large sweet potatoes
1+ Tbsp of olive oil or melted butter
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
dash of cayenne pepper (I do not eat spicy things, so this is a good "heat" for me, although it would probably be negligible for most people)

Directions:
Combine cumin, salt, paprika, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl.


Preheat oven to 400. Peel sweet potatoes.

After destroying my old peeler on butternut squash, my new peeler is amazing!

Cut into wedges. Dump sweet potato wedges into a large bowl, coat with olive oil or butter, and sprinkle with spices as close to evenly as possible.

If desired, line a large baking sheet with foil.  Place sweet potatoes on the baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes at 400, longer for crispier fries.  I try to remember to turn them over at around 20 minutes, but they are still good if you forget.  Enjoy!

Delish!

Note/Tips:
-Best eaten immediately.
-Does anyone else have a spice concoction for sweet potato fries to share?

Vegetable Soup

Background: I have no idea how my Mom came up with this soup since she directed me to a cookbook that she "got" it from and the ingredients were totally different.  She explains herself by saying that she just uses what she has...  Mmm hmm.  I know better, Mom!  She keeps her secrets well. :) Anyway, I am sharing this amazing, thick, seriously easy, perfection of an autumn soup (stew?) with lucky you.  Enjoy!

Originally from: Mrs. Barr

Serves ~8

Approximate time, from prep to table: ~2:45 hours (2:20 for just simmering, the rest is easy prep)

So easy, right? Love me some Penzey's spices...

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter and/or olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 Cup celery, chopped (~5 stalks)
20 oz veggie stock (love Better than Bouillon vegetable soup base!)
12 oz tomato juice
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp pepper
2 cups carrots, chopped (~2 big carrots)
16 oz bag frozen green beans or 15 oz-ish can
32 oz can diced tomatoes
2 zucchinis, chopped
1 tsp basil
10 oz of frozen spinach, defrosted in microwave (or just 4ish big handfuls of fresh spinach, chopped)
Optional: 2 cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed

Directions:
Sauté onion and celery in butter/olive oil over medium heat in large stock pot.

Yes, only one pot! Score!

Add stock, tomato juice, garlic powder, pepper, carrots, green beans, and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer for about 2 hours.


Add zucchinis and simmer for another 20 minutes.

The deliciousness simply cannot be captured.

Then add basil, spinach, and optional beans. (I don't use beans because I always eat this with some protein. But, if you're vegetarian, add the beans for a protein source.)

Done! You can let it cool and then store it in the refrigerator.

If desired, make pasta in a separate pot.  Perhaps the same pot just before making the soup? (Can you tell I am currently suffering surviving without a dishwasher? That's right, paper plates at every meal, y'all.) Store pasta separately from the soup and add to the soup when ready to enjoy. (If pasta is stored with the soup, it will just soak up the broth.)


Note/Tips: This soup freezes relatively well, although the green beans get slightly rubbery. This is great to pack in an airtight container for lunch. I seriously eat it with lunch and dinner when I make it, which tends to be once a week during the cooler months.

Pasta Salad

Background: I found this recipe in the coupons from my newspaper. I made it last week and this week and it is so glorious with some leftover baked chicken for lunch!

Originally from: Marzetti Dressing Coupon Recipe

Serves ~ 4-8 (depends on whether this is a side or part of a lunch)
Approximate time, from prep to table: ~25 minutes (pasta has to cook)

Ingredients:
8 oz rotini pasta (Barilla Whole Grain is awesome)
1/2 - 3/4 Cup Ranch or Italian dressing (I prefer non-dairy Italian)
1/2 Cup grated Parmesan cheese (non-dairy substitute works well)
Choose from among these vegetables:
1 Cup broccoli florets
1 small can (6-8 oz) artichoke hearts, quartered (look for glass containers in the canned veggies section)
1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise then sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 Cup frozen peas, thawed
1 Cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 Cup asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 Cup carrots, quartered lengthwise then sliced
1/4 Cup pitted and halved kalamata olives (I get mine from the "olive bar" at Meijer)
small can chickpeas

Directions:
Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, cut the broccoli into florets and put into strainer. Prep the rest of the veggies above and toss into a large bowl. Drain cooked pasta over broccoli (this will bring out the nice green color). Run cool water over the pasta and broccoli and drain well. Pour the drained pasta and broccoli into the large bowl. Add Parmesan cheese and dressing. Toss gently to coat. Serve or store covered in fridge until serving time.

Note/Tips: This has kept well in my fridge for 4 days. It tastes yummy and you just feel good after eating it--it is such pure, vegetable goodness! You could probably substitute olive oil and red wine vinegar for the Italian dressing if you wanted to. Experiment with which combination you like best!

Veggie Pot Pie

Background: This is one of Grant's favorite dinners. If I mention we're having this for dinner, I usually get a "sweeeeeet" or "cha-ching." I've modified the recipe slightly to include more protein and more nutritious flour. If you're a meat-eater, I think that chicken would go well in this. Just increase the stock or water or milk to get the correct filling consistency.
Originally from: Skinny Bitch

Serves ~4
Approximate time, from prep to table: ~1:30
Crust Ingredients:1 Cup Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 Cup margarine/butter; sub vegan margarine as needed
2 Tbsp milk; sub unsweetened non-dairy milk as needed

Directions:Blend the flour and salt together in a small bowl. Add the margarine and mix by hand until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add milk and knead until well combined and dough forms. Remove the dough, roll into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour prior to using. Prep below ingredients while dough is in refrigerator.
Filling Ingredients:1 small onion, chopped1 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 celery stalk, chopped (depending on how much you like celery)
1 large carrot, chopped
1 medium potato, finely chopped
1/3 Cup frozen peas
1/2 Cup red lentils
1 1/4 Cup vegetable stock (I use 1 tsp Better Than Bouillon and 1 1/4 Cup water)
1 1/2 tsp Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 Cup milk; sub unsweetened soy milk as needed

Preheat oven to 400F.

Lightly oil a deep dish 10 inch pie plate or an 8x8" baking dish (or even a casserole dish) and set aside.
In a large, deep saucepan over medium heat, saute the onions in oil until translucent. Add the celery and carrots; saute for an additional 2-3 minutes. Add the potatoes, peas, lentil, stock, and spices. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Cover with lid and simmer for 4-8 minutes or until lentils are soft. (You should have a hard time seeing a particular lentil--they blend in rather well when ready. It is sort of like how a dry grain of rice is very defined while cooked rice almost seems out of focus...if that makes any sense at all.)

Stir in the flour and milk and simmer until sauce begins to thicken.

Transfer cooked vegetables to baking dish. Roll out dough and place evenly over top of vegetables and bake for 20 minutes, then broil for 1-3 minutes, until crust is lightly browned.

Note/Tips: I highly recommend the Whole Wheat Pastry Flour from Bob's Red Mill and using Mrs. Dash as a short cut for the below spices. All-Purpose (as in the above photo), Bread, or Whole Grain flour should work just as well. I usually roll the dough out between two pieces of saran wrap (re-using the one it had been wrapped up in) so that I don't have to wash my rolling pin or mess with the dough sticking.

*Can instead use: 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ground black pepper, 1/4 tsp sage, 1/4 tsp thyme, and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper.

Coconut Bean Soup

Background: I met my friend Morgan in high school, where we pretty much had all the same science classes. Our friendship continued as we both decided to go to Michigan, do the whole pre-med thing, and major in Cell and Molecular Biology. We bonded over more than just science, though. We both enjoyed all things 80's, which lead to many great 80's parties (and once even an Early 90's party), sitting in coffee shops, procrastinating and food. Once, sometime during senior year, we decided that we were going to find one weird-sounding recipe to make per week, and turn the project into a cookbook. Our first recipe was for a Garbanzo Cake. We had to take the thin little skins off of about 1,000 garbanzos, and the cake wasn't really that good, but hey, it sounded weird. We printed the recipe, and even drew a picture of the cake decorated with pineapple slices, using Morgan's fat Crayola markers. Though clearly we were destined for greatness in cookbookery, this is where our project ended. We graduated, and my would-be coauthor went off to Kenya to be a Peace Corps Volunteer before going on to med school. In the meantime, I went to grad school, got married, and adopted a baby. When Morgan came back from Kenya about a year and a half ago, Jeff and I invited her over for dinner. Not only was I excited to see her again, but we also wanted to hear all about her post-Peace Corps travels around Ethiopia, since we would soon be travelling there ourselves. The night she came over was just a couple weeks before our trip, so it was a ridiculously busy time. Though I would never ask a dinner guest to bring the main course (my mother taught me better than that!), I quickly accepted Morgan's offer to bring over one of her favorite Kenyan dishes, Coconut Bean Soup. It sounds weird, and would have definitely make the cut for our cookbook. However, unlike the Garbanzo Cake, it is delicious. It's rich, hearty and nice and coconutty. Morgan described how to make it, and from her verbal instructions, after a few tries, I have a working recipe. Morgan adapted the recipe for American kitchens and ingredients, which basically means that we're allowed to use coconut milk instead of fresh coconut. This is good, because the one time I bought a fresh coconut, which had a blue ribbon tied around it proudly proclaiming "E-Z Open" or some such thing, was a disaster. It was far from easy to crack open. About an hour and a few dozen tools and kitchen utensils after I started working on it, I had shards of coconut covered in little bits of brown peel from the outside...totally not worth it. Despite her two years in Kenya, Morgan never mastered the coconut either. Whenever she wanted to eat coconut, or make coconut bean soup, she would take her coconut over to the neighbors' house, where their 7-year old daughter would deftly split open the coconut for her with a machete. Canned coconut milk is a wonderful thing. Due to our last-minute dinner plans (did I mention that Morgan and I are great procrastinators?), Morgan made this for us using canned beans, but when she gave me the recipe, she highly suggested that I use dried beans instead...it takes longer, but she was right, the results are definitely worth it. The beans actually cook in the coconut, which adds to the complexity of the dish and just makes the whole thing a lot more interesting. And perfect for nights like this, when the weather is far from Kenyan.

Originally from: Morgan's Kenyan friends

Serves ~4
Approximate time, from prep to table: ~1 day plus 2 1/2 hours (you need to soak the dried beans overnight)

Ingredients:
1 pound dried red kidney beans
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 Tablespoon curry powder
8 cups water
1 can coconut milk
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
The day before you're going to make the soup, rinse the beans and pick out any stones. Place beans in a large bowl, cover with cold water, and let soak overnight.

When you are ready to cook, drain the beans. Heat olive oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper and carrot, and cook until they begin to soften, about 5-7 minutes. Add chopped tomato and curry powder, and stir for about a minute. Add beans, 8 cups of water, and half the coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. At this point, the beans should be tender. Add the rest of the coconut milk, and salt and pepper. Using a potato masher or fork, mash about half the beans in the pot, to thicken up the soup. Simmer for another 1/2 hour, stirring occasionally.

Note/Tips:
-I usually serve this over rice, but it's also great with a good crusty bread.
-To make the shortcut canned bean version, just cook the vegetables as directed, then add a couple cans of beans, a can of coconut milk, and as much water as you need to get the consistency you want. Mash some of the beans, bring to a boil, and serve. I really recommend making this with dried beans at least once though...it's definitely worth it.
-This makes great leftovers...the flavors meld together more the longer they sit.
-I once did a google search the suggests that this recipe is actually originally Tanzanian. Not surprising that it would have found its way across the border into Kenya. I'm going to keep thinking of it as Kenyan, since that's where Morgan learned it, but feel free to call it Tanzanian, which may or may not be more accurate.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

Background: I realize this is not a picture of pizza dough. But Karen requested that I post my pizza dough recipe, and that means writing a post that covers not only pizza dough, but also loaves of bread, baguettes, pita bread, naan, rolls, and all kinds of wonderful things. Because they all come from the same place, at least in my kitchen. To back up a little, we've had some culinary changes in our house over the last year or so. We had always eaten a relatively healthy diet, not a whole lot of processed foods, lots of veggies, etc. But then we had a revelation. We read "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan, and were in complete agreement with what he said (it also helped that my UM SPH Alumni Magazine released an issue stating the same things not long after)...which is that basically, for our physical health and for the environment, it is best to eat food (real food, because as he says, a lot of stuff in our grocery stores is not actually food, but rather edible foodlike substances), not too much of it (decrease portion sizes), and mostly plants. His rules for how to buy food include things like, "Don't buy things your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food", "Don't buy foods with more than five ingredients on the label", "Don't buy foods that contain ingredients you can't pronounce", etc. We're not total nazis about this: we do have some items in our fridge, like ketchup, which definitely don't fit into the rules. But for the most part, we try to stick to this plan. For us, this meant that we cut our meat consumption to one portion per week, started buying more from local farms, getting our milk from a local dairy, etc. It also meant making a lot more things from scratch, like bread. See, bread is supposed to have approximately four ingredients: water, flour, yeast and salt. Some breads, like challah, have eggs and some form of sugar. And then of course you can add all kinds of things like cheese and chocolate and raisins to your basic loaf. Most breads in grocery stores though, don't stop there. Even the "healthy" breads that say things like "12-grain" and taste like cardboard tend to have a lot of extras added in to make the loaf last a long time without molding or drying out. At first, we tried buying bread from the bakery. Plum Market, right down the street from us, sells all their leftover baguettes (Zingerman's!) for $1.25 after 8pm. This seemed like a good deal, but it didn't take us long to figure out that a baguette is just way to much for the three of us to eat before it gets too hard. So we started baking. We got a nice book from the libarary with pretty pictures and made some great breads. Not soft squishy breadmaker type breads, but pretty free-form loaves with great crackly crusts. Every weekend, during one of Juan Pablo's naps, Jeff and I would knead the dough, let it rise, shape it into loaves, and turn out a nice supply of bread for the coming week. We would have one loaf with dinner/breakfast the next day, and freeze the extras. However, this also got kind of old pretty quickly. It's a lot of work. And that's when I discovered "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day", by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. It caught my eye when I walked through the cookbook section at Border's one day, so I skimmed it, and then immediately placed it on hold at the library. It was everything I dreamed it would be. The process is simple: You mix together your ingredients (no kneading!), let them rise a couple hours, then store the dough in the fridge for up to two weeks, until you're ready to use it. When you're ready to bake, you pull off a piece of dough, shape it into a loaf, and let it rise about 40 minutes. Then you bake it for about 25 minutes, and you have fresh bread to eat. If you're making something flat like pita or naan, it's even faster. There are a few basic doughs that you can use to make a variety of different breads. The dough I use the most is the whole wheat dough...I use it for regular loaves and pizza dough mostly, but I've also used it to make baguettes, naan, pita, and cinnamon raisin bread in the past. The other great thing about this is that you can choose how big to make your loaves, so if you're making dinner for two, you can just make a little loaf or a couple of rolls, but if you're making dinner for a crowd, you can make a big loaf. Or lots of loaves. And today seems like an especially appropriate day for this post, because the authors' new book "Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day" comes out today. It has more recipes using whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and I can't wait to get a copy.

Originally from: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois

Makes~4 pounds of dough, so enough for either four pizza crusts, or four loaves of bread, or a combination, but you can easily halve the recipe if this is too much to use up in two weeks

Approximate time, from prep to table: ~To get the pizza dough ready to use, it takes about 2 hours and 1 minute...but two hours of that, the dough is just rising.

Ingredients:
3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a large container or bowl. Just mix, with a spoon, until they're blended...no need to knead. It should take about a minute or so.

Cover with a clean, dry towel, and let rise at room temperature for about two hours, until doubled. At this point, you can either use the dough, or store it, covered, in the refridgerator for up to two weeks. I just cover mine with plastic wrap...you don't want the cover to be air tight, or it could explode.

When you're ready to make a pizza, just pull off a one pound piece of dough from the mass in the bowl, and shape it into a ball (one pound of dough ends up being about the size of a grapefruit). Roll out the dough on a floured surface, top with the toppings of your choice, and bake as directed in your pizza recipe.

Note/Tips:

-If the dough is hard to roll out or keeps springing back, just let it sit for a few minutes to let the glutens relax.

-As I've mentioned, this dough can be used to make all kinds of great breads. See the book, or artisanbreadinfive.com for more information. I really recommend getting the book (I just checked it out from the library), because there's a lot of great stuff in there. I usually use this dough for pizza because it's what I typically have in the fridge, but the Olive Oil Dough make a more traditional pizza dough. Definitely worth checking out! And I promise the authors are not paying me to say all this great stuff about their book...though perhaps they should...

Lentil and Rice Casserole

Background: I really enjoy this casserole--it is so yummy! When people are over for dinner and I've told them that I'm making a lentil and rice casserole, they pretend to be interested while secretly wishing they had stopped at McDonalds on their way over. Then they eat it and want the recipe. :) It is great for when dinner is still a while away and I don't want to spend a lot of time making it! I always keep the ingredients around so that I can make it without running to the store. This is my go-to, lazy dinner.

Originally from: La Dolce Vegan? I changed it slightly to increase the protein.

Serves ~4-6
Approximate time, from prep to table: ~1:50 (for 1:30 of this, the casserole is in the oven--just stay within hearing distance of your oven's timer for stirring)

Ingredients:
1 Cup dried red lentils
1 Cup uncooked brown rice
1 large or 2 small onions, chopped
1 Tbsp Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base
4 Cups water (or just substitute 4 cups of desired stock for the Base and water)
1 14-oz can crushed tomatoes, not drained (or diced--whatever is in your pantry will work)
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
3/4 Cup cheese (any kind will do--I like cheddar; substitute soy cheese as needed), grated

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees even before getting ingredients lined up.

In a large casserole dish or 9x13 pan (did I mention that this recipe is very laid back?), combine the lentils, rice, onions, stock, tomatoes, basil, and oregano. Cover with lid (or not) and bake for 1 1/2 hours, stirring every half hour. After the hour and a half, remove lid, sprinkle cheese on top of casserole, and broil for 1-3 minutes, until cheese has melted. (Keep an eye on it so that it doesn't burn!)

Note/Tips: I like to serve this with a side of green beans and baked sweet potatoes. I bake the sweet potatoes in my toaster oven while the casserole is taking up the oven. Just scrub and poke all over with a fork after putting the casserole in. Put them in the toaster oven and wait until the first stirring of the casserole. Then set it to 450F and bake for about an hour, until fork tender. Too good!

Semi-Butter Chick'n

Background: Another recipe from my quest for good, home-made Indian food! This is definitely not the butter chicken that is in restaurants, but it's good. I'm still searching for the correct butter chicken recipe...
Originally from: ???
Serves ~4
Approximate time, from prep to table: ~30 minutes

Ingredients:6 Tbsp margarine (or vegan margarine)
2 onions, diced1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 cloves garlic, minced4 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp turmeric2 tsp paprika or Aleppo
2 tsp chili powder2 Tbsp ground coriander
One of the following:-4 cups of chicken, cooked and diced
-4 cups chicken-flavored seitan, diced
-4 cups of chick'n strips, diced -4 cups of cubed tofu (frozen, thawed, and drained well)Optional: 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
30 oz can petite diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Cup sour cream or plain yogurt (or vegan versions)
Directions:
Melt margarine in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cinnamon and saute until soft:Blend turmeric, paprika, chili powder, and ground coriander in a small bowl. Add garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute. Add spice mixture to saucepan. Cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes until fragrant:Add the chicken or chicken substitute, (optional peanut butter), diced tomatoes, and tomato paste. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes:Add the sour cream or yogurt and heat through:I like to let it simmer on the lowest setting for a few more minutes to really blend the flavors while I finish the rice or sidedish, or set the table. Serve over basmati or other rice with naan, chapati, or pita bread.

Note/Tips: This is even better the next day because the spices blend so well over night.

Pumpkin & Potato Curry

Originally from: Skinny Bitch, which has other strictly vegan recipes

Serves ~6
Approximate time, from prep to table: ~1 hour

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp refined coconut oil
1 onion, diced into 3/4" chunks
2 cloves garlic, minced
14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes, undrained
1 C water
1 tsp Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 pound red potatoes, chopped
3 Cups pumpkin (or butternut squash), chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp chopped cilantro or parsley

Directions:
Heat the coconut oil in large saucepan over medium high. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add the tomatoes, water, vegetable base, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, and remaining 1/2 tsp of salt. Bring to a boil and add the potatoes and pumpkin. Return to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potato and pumpkin are tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

Serve over rice sprinkled with cilantro/parsley. Best when served with naan or chapati.

Note/Tips: Awesome for leftovers--the spices blend even better over night. I like to serve this with Aloo Dal, Naan or Chapati, and Basmati rice.

Aloo Dal

Background: I received this recipe from one of my old coworkers. It is one of my husband's favorites--he has even requested it for his birthday dinner.

Serves ~4
Approximate time, from prep to table: ~30 minutes

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp oil
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 hot red pepper (or 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, more if you like spicy food; I usually use aleppo pepper for less spice)
1 bay leaf
1 Cup red lentils
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 Cups warm water
2 Cups zucchini, shredded and water squeezed out

Directions:
Heat oil in large saucepan. Add onion, turmeric, cumin, red pepper, and bay leaf. Fry for 1-2 minutes.

Add lentils, salt, sugar, and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 7-15 minutes (less for more tender lentils).

Add zucchini and stir to mix. Return to a boil and cook, covered and stirring occasionally, until water is absorbed and lentils and zucchini are tender. Serve hot over rice, preferably with naan or chapati.

Note/Tips: This recipe re-heats well for leftovers! I like to serve it with the Potato-Pumpkin curry, chapati or naan, and basmati rice.