Peachy Keen Green

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 Pl...

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 2/3 C lentils, soaked (I like black beluga; vary as you like) 1 C bulgur wheat (great!) or 1/2 C rice (white or brown) 1/2 C quinoa (or can use all rice) Instructions Rinse the lentils and put them in water to soak. Chop the onions, and saute in oil...

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 it's been hard to find nowadays. Cousin Ann Mattson and friend Allen shared their (similar) oil-based pie crust recipes, which were tasty. Then I found this easy vegan pie crust recipe and found that using a food processor in cutting in the butter seemed to yield an easier dough to roll. Ingredients (Makes two 9" crusts) 1 1/4 C white flour  1 1/4 C whole wheat flour  1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp sugar 1/2 tsp baking powder (optional) 1 C vegan butter, cold, cubed (or canola oil) 8 T ice water  Instructions Using a food processor, pulse together dry ingredients. Then pulse in butter (about 8 pulses). Then pulse in ice water slowly until a dough forms. Remove and form disc, and cut in half. Chill half an hour or up to 3 days, or freeze up to 3 month...

Our grape vines are prolific, but the grapes are teeeeeeny. Larry's sister Cyndy mentioned that she loved putting grapes in any sandwich, like tuna or turkey. That reminded me of a nice "fake tuna" salad I made long ago. So I did a quick search and adapted this recipe by adding grapes. Really good! I might add pickles next time - or at least serve them on the side.  Ingredients 1 can (14 oz) garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed Zest of 1 lemon Juice of 1/2 lemon 1/3 C vegan mayo 1/3 C celery, chopped 1/4 C red onion, chopped 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp pepper 1/4 tsp cayenne or chili powder optional: 2 crushed or shopped nori sheets (seaweed) 1 T chia seeds or hemp hearts (for some omega 3) 1/3 C grapes 1/4 C chopped dill pickle (or dill relish) Instructions Mash chickpeas: Drain and rinse chickpeas, place in medium size bowl and roughly mash about 3/4 of the chickpeas with the back of a fork or potato masher, until desired consistency. Assemble salad: Add the rest of th...

The best things I've learned so far from a 2-week  Purple Carrot trial are (1) the surprising fun and beauty of layering items on beds of other items, (2) using a peeler to make zucchini ribbons (delicious tossed in a little lime and salt and used as a raw topping, like for soba), and (3) easy, flavorful cashew cream sauces that pull the dish together. Two (of the six) meals in the trial -- Smoky Portabello Tacos and Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Spicy Cashew Sauce   -- both had really good cashew cream sauces. These two were my favorite meals (partly because of the tasty sauce!) and they were the easiest to make, too. Photos and recipes below! See also How to Make Cashew Cream . Ingredients Jalapeno Cashew Sauce: 1/3 C cashews 2 garlic cloves 1 lime, juiced 1 jalapeno, deseeded and roughly chopped Serve on: Corn tortillas topped with Spanish rice, sliced portabellos sautéed in a little soy sauce and liquid smoke, diced scallion, sliced radish, and shredded purple cabbage Spic...

We had a super fun, impromptu potluck today at Judi and Nick's, featuring soba noodles with Kira's special sauce. So delicious! The amounts below are guesses based on watching Kira mix; no measurements were made. Kira says measure with your heart. Aaaw! p.s.  A week after posting Kira's recipe, I got the ingredients for this tahini-sauce based soba: Panko-Crusted Tempeh with Lemon Zucchini Soba & Avocado  from Purple Carrot. The best part was the zucchini ribbons! Just take off slices with a peeler, toss with a little lemon, and toss on the plate. Easy and yummy. But Kira's overall recipe is better and easier. I'll just toss zucchini ribbons on it next time. Ingredients Sauce: 2 T tahini 1 T white miso 2 tsp sriracha 2 tsp soy sauce 2 tsp rice vinegar 1/2 tsp powdered ginger 1/2 tsp powdered garlic 2 t rice vinegar Toppings: 2-4 Just Egg folded patties 2 Sweet Earth Applewood Smoked Plant-based Ham deli slices 2 diced scallions (optional) 1 zucchini, sliced into...

Another recipe from Munira! After making us a wonderful dinner, she described how to make fried rice from the leftover rice in her Instant Pot, and sent me home with spiced rice that I could fry up with an onion and veggies. So simple, tasty, and pretty. Here's the (rough) recipe (guessing at measurements). Ingredients 6 C cooked rice (in Instant Pot) 2 tsp chili powder 2 tsp turmeric 1-2 tsp salt 3 T canola oil 1 red onion, diced 1 hot pepper, diced (optional) 2 T mustard seed 1 tsp hing 2 C mixed veggies (peas, corn) 1/2 C cashews (optional) Instructions Cook the rice in an Instant Pot and let it cool. Sprinkle chili powder, turmeric, and salt on the rice in the Instant Pot, and mix it up with your hands. You can store it at this point, and continue the rest later, if desired. In oil, saute mustard seed, hing, onion (and hot pepper, if using), cooking until onion is transparent. Add veggies and stir a few minutes. Add spiced rice. Optionally add cashews. Stir often and cook on lo...

Over the holidays, I tried an air fryer to try to get more crispy tofu. The result was pretty good, but the fryer seemed like more of a hassle than benefit (wasn't easy to clean, took up a lot of space), so we returned it. Later, with the help of Munira, I discovered that pressing the tofu to get the water out, then frying it, resulted in really delicious tofu that is firm and absorbs the spicing more readily. And no extra appliances! After a few tries, here's a recipe that made some really delicious tofu. Once you get a tofu press, you won't go back! Ingredients 1 firm tofu, pressed about 20 minutes 1-2 T canola oil 1 tsp black pepper flakes (or to taste) 1/2 tsp black pepper (or to taste) 1 tsp minced garlic 1-2 T soy sauce 1/4 tsp salt garlic salt to grind on top after (optional) Instructions Press the tofu! I really like this extra firm tofu press for that; super fast and easy. A half a cup of water comes out in about 20 minutes. Slice the tofu into 8 rectangles or sma...

For our acappella rehearsal, Harold's wife Chris served this delicious, easy spice cake. The recipe came from her kids elementary class, made vegan so more kids could eat it. Super easy and good! Ingredients Dry: 3 C flour 2 C brown sugar 2 tsp baking soda 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt spices: 2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp allspice 1 tsp ginger 1 tsp cloves Wet: 1/2 C oil 2 T vinegar 2 tsp vanilla 2 C warm water Chocolate version: Use white sugar instead of brown and 1/2 C cocoa in place of spices; everything else the same! Instructions Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix together wet ingredients, then pour over dry. Mix until all dry ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix.  Bake in a greased 9x13" pan for 30-35 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

I've been meaning to try to make a chana masala for awhile, and today I found a nice recipe in Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen that I adapted slightly, using wisdom from Munira, some canned tomatoes since I didn't have enough fresh, and adding cilantro and mushrooms, which I love in masala. It was super good! Ingredients 4 C chickpeas (2 cans, or 2 cups dried, cooked in instant pot) 2 fresh tomatoes 2" knob of ginger 6 garlic cloves 1 hot chili pepper 1 tsp lemon juice 2 T canola oil 1 tsp cumin seeds 1/4 tsp hing 1 red onion, chopped 1 tsp salt 8 oz mushrooms, chopped (optional) 1 can diced tomatoes 1/2 C cilantro, chopped 1/2 tsp turmeric 1/2 tsp chili 2 tsp masala powder or garam masala (or both! I used both, including some of Munira's homemade garam masala mix plus part of a masala packet from an Indian store) 2 1/2 C water Instructions In a blender or grinder (I use the smaller cup that comes with my Ninja blender), combine 1/2 C chickpeas, fresh tomatoes, ginger...