Peachy Keen Green

When we visit Robert and Judy, we often get to sample Robert's latest delicious homemade bread.  Robert shared with me the NYTimes recipe he follows for no-knead bread . He uses this recipe (also below) with all whole-wheat flour, but suggested that I use some white flour the first time. I bought a 6 qt enamel dutch this week for this purpose, using it for the first time yesterday to make a yummy mushroom white bean gratin . Today I'm giving the bread a go. The dough is resting now... Stay tuned! Ingredients 3 C all-purpose or bread flour (I started with 2 C whole wheat, 1 C white) 1/4 tsp instant yeast 1 1/4 tsp salt 1 5/8 C water Cornmeal or wheat bran for dusting Instructions In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about  18 hours , at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees. ( Let time do the work - longer is bette

Elsa made this dish for a dinner party a couple of times, served with a salad. It was so good; I loved the rich flavor from the white beans and veggies and crusty bread -- so much that I bought a 6-qt cast iron dutch oven largely so I could try this out (and also try making bread; more on that soon).  Note: for oil, the recipe called for olive, but I tend to use canola for high-heat cooking (reserving olive for room-temperature tasting).  Ingredients 1/4 C oil 10 oz mushrooms, sliced 1 leek (or onion), finely chopped 3 large carrots, cut in 3/4" pieces (could add potato or other root veggies, too) 4-5 cloves garlic, minced 1 T flour 1 C water 3/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 1 T tomato paste 1/2 tsp thyme 1/2 C dry sherry 30 oz white beans (cooked dry, or use two 15 oz cans), undrained 4-5 slices country bread, cut in 1/2" cubes 1/4 C oil (olive or canola) 1/4 C minced parsley Instructions Chop and dice the veggies. Whisk together the flour and water.  Saute onion (with salt) on

I've been looking for more good soup recipes, and got this yummy recipe from Shelley Million. It's very easy to make, and has an earthy, yummy taste from the cumin and turmeric. The version below is just slightly adapted, including adding a small bit of onion. Ingredients 2 T oil 1 T cumin seed 1 head cabbage, chopped 1/2 small onion, chopped 2-4 cloves garlic, diced 2 tsp turmeric 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp black pepper 4 C vegetable broth 1/4 C coconut milk (or could use cashew cream) Instructions Saute cumin seed and onion in oil for a couple of minutes. Add chopped cabbage and saute for 10 minutes until the cabbage is soft. Add garlic, turmeric, salt, and pepper, and saute a couple more minutes. Add broth. Boil, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off heat and add coconut milk. Use an immersion blender to blend until smooth. Serve! 

Judy and Robert made a variation of this delicious NYTimes recipe for Za’atar Roasted Tofu With Chickpeas, Tomatoes and Lemony Tahini for lunch before we enjoyed a beautiful hike through redwoods at Robert's Regional Recreation Area . Below is a variation close to what they made, and I want to replicate! Ingredients 14 oz firm tofu, drained 1 can chickpeas, drained, rinsed and patted dry 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes (can also try butternut squash) 1 (8-ounce) bag leafy greens, such as baby spinach, baby kale, arugula, or mixed greens Salt and pepper Marinade: 3 garlic cloves, diced 2 lemons 2T oil 1 1/2 T za’atar dry spice mix  1 tsp dried oregano or marjoram 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley 2 T soy sauce (for 2nd half of marinade, used on tofu) Dressing: 1/4 C tahini 1 T honey 2T water Farro, barley, wild rice medley, or other grain, for serving Instructions Heat oven to 425 degrees. Cut the drained tofu into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Combine the chickpeas and tomatoes on a half

A simple, delicious dish, created by Munira. Who'da thought corn and tofu would be so good together? You might be tempted to add other ingredients; feel free. But it really is delicious in its simplicity. Ingredients 1 block tofu, drained 2 cups frozen corn, thawed garlic, diced pepper, diced oil salt to taste Instructions Press the tofu to drain some of the water. Cut into chunks. In a pan, saute diced garlic and pepper in oil. Add the tofu and saute until browned. Add the corn and saute a few more minutes. Salt to taste. Serve with rice or roti.

Judi shared her easy marinated and baked tofu recipe, yay! I've tried other marinades and not been so happy with them; they've been too liquidy, and didn't turn out better than frying. This one was easy and the marinade really stuck to the tofu because it was thick from the cornstarch and nutritional yeast. Serve on salad or in a stir fry. Ingredients 1 tsp rice vinegar 1 T soy sauce 1 T oil 2 tsp sesame oil onion pwd to taste garlic pwd to taste 1 T cornstarch 2 T nutritional yeast  (try other spices as desired; maybe hot pepper?) Instructions Drain and press a block of tofu, and cut into chunks. Mix the marinade. Put both into a covered container and turn to toss gently. Bake on a silicon sheet in the oven at 350 for 20-ish minutes.

Marina shared a recipe for Cauliflower Salad Sandwiches from the New York Times; delicious! If you make sandwiches, a roll handy to keep everything in place, since it's a bit chunky. Alternately,  serve on top of a lettuce salad (yum!), or as a side salad by itself. Ingredients Head of cauliflower, cut into 1-inch slices 6 T canola oil 5 tsp curry powder 1/4 C walnuts, chopped 1/3 C golden raisins 1 apple, chopped 1 lemon, zested and juiced 1/2 C vegan mayo 1/2 C plain yogurt (optional; I didn't have/need) 1/2 C cilantro leaves Salt and black pepper to taste Whole wheat rolls or lettuce salad (optional) Instructions Preheat oven to 450. Toss cauliflower with 3 T oil, 3 tsp curry powder, and large pinch of salt. Spread on baking sheet at bake for 20 minutes. While the cauliflower roasts, toast the walnuts in a small pain with remaining oil and a pinch of salt for about 5 minutes or until lightly browned. In a large bowl, stir together the apple, lemon zest and juice, 2 tsp curr

Rick and Lauren brought over an AMAZING upside down cake, made using Eric and Marilyn's frozen kumquats (which had thawed out during our 2.5 day power outage). Omg, it was one of the best cakes I've had. Rick did a mashup of this non-vegan kumquat upside down cake and this vegan pineapple upside down cake . Definitely use a cast iron skillet if you have one; I think it makes a difference (and I bought a 10" skillet just for this recipe!) If you don't have kumquats, try with pineapple or another citrus-y fruit! Ingredients Topping: 2 T vegan butter (original was 4; reduced) 2 T brown sugar, packed 6 slices of pineapple (1/4" thick) OR 20 kumquats (seed removed), sliced 1/4" thick, OR mix of mango and pineapple chunks Dry mix: 1 3/4 C flour 3/4 C sugar (original was 1 C; reduced) 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt Wet: 1 pineapple ring or 6 kumquats (seeds removed), diced finely 3/4 C non-dairy milk (almond or oat) 1/4 C pineapple juice (or kumquat juice) 2 tsp va

Laurie made an out-of-this-world granola when we visited last week. It's all nuts, plus coconut.  (Larry exclaimed, "What, granola without oats?!") This version is very keto, but of course you could add oats if you like. I might play with in the future. Serve as cereal or on yogurt! Ingredients Toss: 2 C shredded unsweetened coconut 1 C sliced almonds 1 C raw sunflower seeds 1/2 C raw pumpkin seeds 1/2 C walnuts Stir: 1/2 C melted coconut oil 2 T maple syrup (to replace 10 drops stevia; we don't like artificial sweeteners) 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp nutmeg Instructions Preheat oven to 325. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, toss together coconut and nuts and seeds. In a small bowl, stir together the oil, sweetener, and spices. Pour the oil mixture into the large bowl and use your hands to mix together until the nuts are very well coated.  Transfer mixture to baking sheets and spread out evenly. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown, stirring at th

Cyndy made this delish salad for us when we visited a few days ago, along with her wild rice salad . This recipe is super fast if you buy pre-cooked beats, which we get at Trader Joes. Trader Joes also carries a good vegan feta, but of course you could use real feta if you prefer.  Ingredients 6 medium roasted beets, chopped 1 C dry quinoa + 2 C water 1 cup fresh spinach leaves, ribboned 3 scallions (green onions), chopped 3 oz feta (vegan, from Trader Joes), crumbled on top 1/4 C pine nuts (best!) or pumpkin seeds, roasted Dressing: 3 T olive oil Juice from 1 lemon or lime juice Salt and pepper to taste Instructions Cook the quinoa: Rinse, add water, cook in the microwave on high 5 minutes, let cool a minute, stir, and cook 2 more minutes. (Or cook in a pot, if you prefer.)  While that's cooking, chop the beets, spinach, and scallions. (To "ribbon" spinach, put a few leaves together, roll, and cut in the short direction.) Toast the pine nuts on a tray in the oven for a f

Visiting Munira in Dallas, we made our favorite homemade pizza using  Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Pita  Bread. They make a nice crispy crust, and it's a super easy way to make tasty personal size pizzas (no slicing required). Use your favorite veggies, and optionally top with sauteed tofu, our new favorite addition (recommended by brother Jeff -- thank you!). Note that you can use pesto in place of tomato sauce as a base for some of them if you want more variety, and let people make/top their own pizzas for some fun. Ingredients TJ's Whole Wheat Pita Bread 1 jar tomato sauce (we use Rao) 1 package firm tofu (drained/pressed) 2 T oil 3 cloves garlic, diced 1 C fresh basil leaves 1 T dried oregano or italian spice mix 2 tsp red pepper flakes 1 small can olives, sliced  Your favorite mix of chopped vegetables, like: Onion (1 large or 2 small), sliced Mushrooms, sliced Bell pepper, sliced Squash or eggplant, sliced in half moons Spinach leaves Tomatos, sliced Instructions Plac

My brother Jeff turned me on to this, and it's my new favorite thing! Delicious, high fiber, and lots of ways to mix it up. Oats are so good for you, as is wheat germ, berries, and nuts. This has replaced morning yogurt for us; it's healthier (more fiber, less sugar), cheaper, and super easy to make. Years ago, I also made an overnight chia pudding that we often had for breakfast and dessert. That's also really tasty, and you can add more chia to this if you like, or a little maple syrup if you want something sweeter.  Ingredients For a small pint jar (more or less; I don't measure): 1 cup oats (regular, not quick cook; sometimes I also mix in some steel cut, but those need to be quick cook) 2 T flax meal 2 T wheat germ 2 T chia 1-2 C vanilla soy milk (to fill the jar) Optional additions for different flavoring: 2-3 tsp cocoa 1-2 T nut butter (almond, peanut) 1 scoop dehydrated strawberry powder Toppings: Fruit (always berries! sometimes bananas) Walnuts Instructions M

We discovered mujadara at a middle eastern cafe, Zadna , as the tasty base for a hearty mediterranean veggie falafel bowl. Essentially, mujadara is cooked grains + lentils + onion with spices, making it a high protein grain base that's pairs nicely with Indian vegetable dishes and veggie stir fries. It's also super easy to make. Below is a variation with more Indian spicing; I also like mixing quinoa and rice as the grain for some extra protein and variation. Ingredients 1 T canola oil 1-2 onions, chopped (yes, that much!) Spices; I like these, but be creative: 2 tsp cumin seed 2 tsp nigella (black cumin; good for you!) 1 tsp chili pwd or dried hot pepper (break in half) 3 cloves garlic, diced (sometimes :) 1 tsp salt 2 1/2 C water 1/2 C rice (white or brown) 1/2 C quinoa (or can use all rice) 2/3 C lentils, soaked (I like black beluga; vary as you like) Instructions Rinse the lentils and put them in water to soak. Chop the onions, and saute in oil with spices in the Instant P

Munira is visiting from Texas, yay! We biked over with some fig banana bread , and she treated us to an impromptu, delicious dinner of her lentil dosa and  secret gobi . I thought dosa was super hard to make, but she showed me how -- and it wasn't so hard! I'm very excited because besides their delicate deliciousness, her lentil dosas are high protein, super healthy, and a wonderful pairing with indian veggies. She also cooked up some bhindi masala for her IT guy (Larry) and sent it home with us, along with leftover dosa batter and a (loaner) dosa pan so I could practice my dosa-making skills again tomorrow.  Sweet! She recommended serving with lettuce, tomato, and chopped onion, and filling the center and rolling up into a "stuffed" wrap. Lots of possibilities! Rough measurements for ingredients follow (of course no actual measuring was done :) Ingredients A mix of dry lentils, such as: 1/2 C red lentils 1/2 C green lentils 2/3 C urad dal 2/3 C channa dal 1 tsp salt

Larry is harvesting figs by the gallon. In the past I've made fig pie, compote, and jam , and even dried figs . Yesterday I tried a f ig banana bread with a few tweaks: whole wheat flour, less sugar, oil instead of butter, and added pecans. I had put just a few sliced figs on top, but then Larry layered on the figs so that every slice got some -- good call; that made it beautiful! Ingredients Dry: 3 C flour (I used whole wheat) 2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp salt 1 C chopped pecans or walnuts Wet: 2 bananas, mashed 3 C figs, chopped 3 flax eggs (3 T flax, 9 T warm water, mixed) 1 C oil 1 tsp vanilla 2/3 C sugar (I used half brown, half white) Sliced figs for topping (maybe 5-7 figs, sliced) Instructions Preheat oven to 350. Make the flax eggs in a bowl; set aside. Mix dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredients and mix.  Pour into buttered loaf pans and top with sliced figs. For mini loaf pans, bake 30 minutes and check. Larger pans may need up to 50 minutes. Large loaves

I like making pies, including  tofu quiche   and   fruit pie and  pumpkin pie .   Good pie crust is hard to make, though. I buy  Wholly Wholesome rolled pie dough  when we can find it. But sometimes it's hard to find it -- or any vegan crust). Cousin Ann Mattson and friend Allen came to the rescue by sharing their (similar) oil-based pie crust recipes.  It would be nice to do all whole wheat, but using more than half  just makes it too crumbly.  Ingredients (Makes two 9" crusts) 1 1/2 C white flour  1 1/2 C whole wheat flour  1 tsp salt 1 T sugar 3/4 C canola oil  6 T soy milk or ice water  Instructions Mix the flour and salt with a fork. Add in the oil and water and mix well. If it doesn't hold together, add a little more oil. (I often have to add more!) Roll out on silicon pastry sheet on waxed parchment paper on the counter. Sometimes I put a second sheet on top of the dough, but don't always need it. Roll into a 12" circle. Peel the top layer off of the wax