Baton Rouge Sweet Potato Casserole

I'm sure everyone west of the Mississippi has a sweet potato casserole recipe, but this one is my favorite.  It comes from my mother's family in Baton Rouge. This is the original recipe below, with my comments added in blue.  

8 med. sweet potatoes

1 stick butter (I use the Earth Balance buttery sticks)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar (I use evaporated cane juice)

2 eggs (E-n-rge egg replacer works well too)

1 tsp Vanilla

1/2 to 1 cup pecans ( 1 cup is too much for me), pre-roasted for 3-5 min.

Peel and boil sweet potatoes until soft. Use a mixer to blend cooked sweet potatoes, butter and sugars. Add 2 eggs and mix well. Add Vanilla and mix. Add pecans.

Spoon into buttered casserole dish. (It can be frozen at this point). (This is classic my mom and aunt--giving directions for freezing.  I guess this is why they never seemed stressed at the holidays!)

The day of the event, bake thawed casserole for 30 min on 350 degrees. Prior to serving put large marshmallows on top and bake until soft and browned on 400 degrees.

Homemade Broth

This may be one of the easiest things to cook, even if you have no idea what you are doing.  In addition to saving money, homemade broth tastes so much better than store-bought broth.  You will never go back.  You will become a prisoner to your broth.

     First, get a few gallon sized freezer-safe ziplock bags.  If you are a meat eating person, label one "meat," and label the other "veg scraps."  All week long, save all your veggie scraps in that bag and keep it in the freezer.  Examples of veggie scraps are: carrot skin peelings, tops/bottoms of onions, tops of leeks, broccoli stumps, greens, lettuce hearts, mushroom stems, celery leaves...I mean all of it.  Any leftover raw vegetable or it's parts.  It's ok if it looks gross.  It will look gross.
     Do the same with your meats.  Some folks like to separate their meat into different bags (chicken/beef/pork), while others like to mix them.  Keep all scraps, fat, bones, skin, etc in your bag in the freezer.
     On the weekend, throw all your scraps into a very large cooking pot.  Cover the whole thing with water.  Bring to the boil, reduce heat, cover, simmer.  Now simmer that pot as long as you can--at least 1 hour.  If you can, put it on the lowest heat and cook it for 2-3 hours.
     After cooking, you will need to strain it.  I find this to be a 2 person job usually.  Put another large pot in the sink, and cover it with a colander.  Pour your soup through the colander, letting all the big funky wilted weird cooked veggies (and meat) catch in the colander while the liquid pours into the pot.  Discard the solids.  I usually like to get a mesh sieve and run the liquid through it, as some fine veggie funk is present.  You want to get rid of that.  Here is where you may choose to add salt and pepper to your beautiful broth.
     The broth will freeze like a champ.  I freeze my in 2 or 4 cup portions so they are recipe friendly.
Cheers.

Broccoli Soup

It's Fall, which means it is time for soup to be back on the menu here in Pennsylvania.  I made a nice broccoli soup over the weekend--really one of the best I've ever made, so I figured I better write it down.  Don't worry about the quantities being exact for the ingredients--I really just threw things into the pot, and tasted as I cooked.  You should adjust your soups to fit your tastes, and experiment with different blends of herbs and spices.

Ingredient list:
garlic, onion, broth, biggest head of broccoli you can find (or 2 smaller ones), raw cashews, salt, pepper.
optional: olive oil, nutritional yeast
note: if possible, soak 1/2 cup of raw cashews in water for 3-4 hours prior to starting the recipe below.

     Chop up 1 small onion and 1 clove of garlic, and saute in a few glugs of olive oil (or broth) on medium heat.  You want to cook them till the onions are transparent, but try not to let them turn brown. (note: if you are adding any herbs, do it here)
While this is cooking, roughly cut up a very large head of broccoli.  It doesn't need to look pretty, just hack it up--the pieces do not need to be small.
     Throw the broccoli pieces into the pot, turn up the heat, and give it a sprinkle of salt.  Using a large spoon, try and move the pieces around a bit, coating the broccoli pieces in the oil/onion/garlic as much as you can.  Do this for about 1-2 minutes.
     Add 4-5 cups broth.  Of course I like homemade broth the best--you just can't duplicate that flavor from a can or box, but if you must use boxed, you must.  Another option would be to use soup base + water or cubes + water.
     Bring to the boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer.  I usually cook it about 15 minutes--just make sure the broccoli is almost-falling-apart cooked.  Turn off the heat and let it sit there.  Taste and adjust your seasonings (remember that a little teaspoon of red wine vinegar or lemon juice can brighten up a soup a lot).
     Let's pause here and contemplate our cashews.  Did you remember to soak them?  If you did, good for you--you can move to the next step.  If you forgot, you will need to do this first:
Add your cashews to the pot (removed from the heat), stir once, and let it sit there for about 15 minutes.
     Transfer the whole lot to the blender/vitamix.  Those of you who were cashew-responsible and soaked them, add them here (drain soaking water first).  Now, at this point I like to add 2 heaping tablespoons of nutritional yeast before blending.  If you do not like nutritional yeast, don't add it.  If you are a cheese eater, you may want to add a little shaved parm.  Or don't add anything, just blend.

Of course I am a firm believer that soup is better if it sits overnight in the fridge before reheating and serving, but it is edible now.  Enjoy!

Coleslaw--your versatile friend.

To me, you can judge a restaurant by it's coleslaw.  Big awkward slices of cabbage mixed with mayo does not a coleslaw make.  Remember, cabbage is a leafy green, and we need to think of coleslaw as a salad.  A delicious crunchy bite of something cool and green to have in between courses of spicy food (bbq, tacos, etc).  I don't even put mayo in mine (gasp!)--I am a firm believer that coleslaw should be vinegar based.

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup white vinegar (or half white vinegar and half cider vinegar)

2 tsp mustard seeds

2 tsp celery seed

1 tsp salt

Mix the above in a large bowl, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.

Add the following ingredients to the bowl:

1 cabbage, finely shredded

1 small bell pepper, minced

1 T. minced pimentos

1 small vidalia or sweet onion, minced

Toss well and mix.  Transfer to a ziplock bag and refrigerate overnight.  This coleslaw gets better the longer it sits, and it can last up to 2 weeks in the fridge.  

GOOD WITH: bbq, beans, tacos, sandwich filling, hot dogs, veggie dogs, burgers, seafood.

Leeks!!

In keeping with the dinner in courses theme, I've been looking around for simple veggie ideas.  One of my current favorites is a classic french dish of boiled leeks in vinegarette.  Here's what you do:

leeks--1 or slightly less per person (depends on how big the leeks are)
Trim, wash, and prep your leeks according to this video: LEEKS!  (follow the 1st set of instructions she gives for preparing leeks for a recipe that calls for the entire leek)

Next, let's make the dressing:
Remembering from earlier posts that we always want to keep our dressing ratio of 2 parts oil to 1 part acid (vinegar, lemon juice, etc), our dressing would look something like this:
8 TB olive oil
4 TB red wine vinegar
1 TB dijon mustard
However, if you are trying to cut back on the fat, you can replace the oil with vegetable stock.  Usually I make mine like this:
7 TB stock
1 TB olive oil
4 TB red wine vinegar
1 TB mustard
salt & pepper to taste

Shake it up in a mason jar and set aside.  Now let's get back to those leeks:

Boil a pot of water, making sure the water is at least 3-4" deep.  Carefully place the leeks in the pot, cover, and gently boil for 6 minutes. 
Remove leeks from the pot and put them in a bowl of ice water so they stop cooking.  Remove from the bowl after 30 seconds so they don't get too cold.
Finish cutting the leeks lengthwise in half, and place on a rimmed plate or serving dish.  Pour the dressing over them, and serve.
NOTE:  I love dressing.  You may want to reduce the amount used if you are not dressing-crazy like me.

Dinner in courses? Yep!

So if you haven't read the book French Kids Eat Everything, and you have a picky eater at home--it's time to Amazon it, asap.  This book shows a great philosophy to eating in general, but especially where kids are concerned.  After trying some of the author's ideas, I've found a pretty good system for busy weeknight meals at home.
Serve meals in courses.  I know it sounds long and annoying and totally impractical--but it will actually SAVE YOU TIME.  And time is a resource we all need more of.
     a) 1st course: vegetables.  Keep it simple--raw or lightly steamed veg.  Just one variety, whatever is on sale and is seasonal/local.  Examples: lightly steamed broccoli with red wine vinegar, sliced avacado, sliced radishes w/ sea salt, boiled/mashed sweet potatoes with a drizzle of maple syrup, artichoke hearts with lemon juice, etc.  Something that does not take long to prepare.
     b) 2nd course: main.  Keep your weeknight main courses VERY simple--hearty soup/stew (can be made on Sunday and eaten later in the week) with bread, pasta with vegetables/pesto/tomato sauce, flatbread baked in the oven with sliced peppers/squash/mushrooms or other seasonal veggies.  That's it. If there are folks in your house that get cranky without a hunk of protein for their main course, you can add a side of protein: baked chicken thighs, baked tofu, sausage, etc.  Again--keep it very, very simple.
     c) 3rd course: dessert (sort of).  In our house, you have 3 options for your final course: yogurt (or soy yogurt), a small amount of cheese, or fruit.  I let the kinds spoon some homemade jam or honey into their plain yogurt (this has way less sugar than store-bought flavored yogurts).

The rules with dinner are simple: you can't move on to your 2nd course until you have had a significant amount of your 1st course.  The same is true in moving from course 2 to course 3.  Tantrums are not allowed.  Neither is gagging and pretending that you will throw up if you eat something you don't like.  Or actually throwing up.  Dinner table manners are mandatory.  If any of the above happens, we calmly excuse you from dinner and you are sent up to bed.  I know this sounds harsh, but it took about 3 nights for my kids to figure out that we were not going to budge on the rules, and now they just eat.  AND now that the dinner-table-wars are over, we laugh and have fun at the table--which is what family dinners should be about!

I still love to cook long, involved, complicated meals, but now I save this for the weekends.

Cold Cucumber Soup

Wow, I have so many recipes to add, and no time to do it!  I will try to get caught up soon.
Here's a simple recipe for a cold cucumber soup that is perfect for a hot summer day.

Ingredients:
2-3 cucumbers, peeled and seeded, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon dried dill, or 3 T. fresh
1 teaspoon dried parsley, or 3 t. fresh
1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 container plain yogurt of your choice (greek, low fat, soy, etc)
salt to taste

Throw everything into your Vitamix, blender, or food processor.  Blend until smooth and chill overnight.
If you want to make this soup a bit more savory, follow these directions:
* blend all ingredients except yogurt, adding 1/2 cup vegetable broth/stock. omit the lemon juice.
* after blending, transfer to bowl and stir in 1 container of greek yogurt.  chill as directed. (the greek style yogurt will thicken the soup, which is necessary after adding the broth)

Butternut Squash Muffins

Ok, here it is--finally! The delicious butternut squash muffins! These are easy to make vegan, fat free, and whole wheat. You can make them non-vegan by using real eggs as well. I swiped Jamie Oliver's muffin recipe and tinkered around with it till I lowered the sugar and made it fat-free.

Note: The recipe calls for fresh squash, but I always use frozen because I'm in a hurry. I've used canned before, and it's ok, just a little on the heavy side. If you use fresh, I recommend you chop it up and boil for 5 minutes to soften.

Butternut Squash Muffins

14 ounces butternut squash, skin on, deseeded and roughly chopped or frozen cubed, boiled for 5 minutes.
1 1/4 cups light soft brown sugar
4 large eggs, or equiv. of Ener-G brand egg replacer
¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
Pinch of sea salt
2 1/2 cups white wheat flour (King Arthur makes this kind, or you can mix 1 ¼ cup all purpose + 1 ¼ cups whole wheat)
2 heaping teaspoons baking powder
Handful of walnuts, chopped (optional)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350*
Whiz up your squash, sugar, eggs, and applesauce in the blender, then set aside.
Mix your drys.
Slowly add your drys to the wets (squash mixture). Be sure you do not OVERMIX! Just mix till incorporated.
Pour into greased muffin pan—I have a pan that makes 12 big muffins, and I just fill them up to the top and it uses all the batter.Bake 20-23 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then pop them out.

Fresh Tomato Soup

Last night I realized I had about 6 tomatoes that were going to go bad if I didn't use them right away. I ended up making a quick fresh tomato soup that was fantastic. This can be served hot or cold. I served it room temp with croutons, which really hit the spot.

Heat 2 T. olive oil in a non-reactive pot. Add a few pinches of dried oregano, red pepper flakes, and 1 smashed garlic clove. Heat until fragrent. Now, hack up your tomatoes into chunks. Don't worry about peeling or seeding them, you can just throw everything right in the pot. Season with salt. Bring the heat up to boil, then reduce to simmer, stirring often. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl, and throw in the freezer to cool for 30 minutes. Serve w/ croutons. (PS--Aaron swirled some soft goat cheese into his before serving)

I served this along side some potato perioges that I sauteed with sweet onions. Perfect.

Grated Zucchini and Summer Squash Salad

This salad is so easy--it's perfect for a super hot summer day when you don't want to cook. It's also a great way to use up the cheap squash found at the farmers markets right now.

1 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow summer squash
1/2 or 1 whole lemon
sea salt

Grate the zucchini and summer squash, then throw them both in a ziploc bag. Sprinkle lightly with a bit of sea salt. Squeeze the juice from 1/2 a lemon over them, adding up to 1 whole lemon if you are a big lemon fan. Zzzzzzzzzzip up the bag, shake (to coat with the lemon juice), and throw it in the fridge. I think you need to leave it in there for at least 30 minutes. I usually make this in the AM before work and put it in my lunch box, so it sits for about 3 hours.

The acidic juice of the lemon starts to "cook" the squashes, which makes them tendor. Toss just before serving.
PS--you could add some crumbled feta or a dash of rice vinegar to this before serving if you like. Sometimes I even rip up a bit of basil over it too.

Smoothies and Green Drinks

That's right, I said "Green Drinks."

I'm hooked on green drinks! Ever since I got my Vita Mix blender, I just can't stop making them. I am now up to 2 a day, which equals over 1 pound of raw leafy greens + 1 pound of fruit. Leafy greens are the most nutritious foods in the world. But I won't get into that, you can read all about it here or even better, here. I make a green drink for breakfast, and one about an hour before dinner.

After many many mistakes, I have come up with a couple of yummy, basic green smoothie recipes. Many of the ones I find online are (in my opinion) too sweet, or have too many things added to them (also adding in the calorie count). I want to keep it simple, so here are my top recipes:

2 cups water + 2 romaine hearts (or 1 head) + 1 apple (cored and sliced) + 1 lb frozen pineapple

2 cups water + 2 romaine hearts (or 1 head) + 1 lb frozen mango

1 cup soymilk + 1 cup water + 10 oz baby spinach (one Ready Pac bag) + 1 banana + 1 lb frozen blueberries

1 cup soymilk + 1 cup water + 6 oz greens (I mix 2 of the following: kale, mustard, turnip, & beet) + 1 banana + 1 lb frozen strawberres + 1 pitted date

Put in the blender in the order given above. I usually put my liquid and greens in first, blend, then add my frozen fruit slowly. The above recipes are enough to fill 2 big glasses (about 16 oz each).

I chose the above greens because they are the most affordable. My WFM sells a 6 pack of romaine hearts for $5. Ready Pac baby spinach is $1.99, and a 12 oz bag of mixed greens is $4. But when something else is on sale, hey--I buy it. In the summer, I can buy fresh fruit and greens from the farmer's market as well. Also, it's easy to grow spinach and chard in your garden!

Frozen fruit is great. It is picked when the fruit is at it ripest, and even if you choose not to buy organic, the fruit is not sprayed with fungisides (like fresh conventional fruit might be). It is so much cheaper than fresh, and it eliminates the need to add ice. Remember that if you have fresh fruit laying around that is getting over ripe, just throw it in a baggie in the freezer and use it for smoothies (bananas too!)

I know it sounds expensive, but remember that when you eat this stuff regularly, you are less hungry and don't need to snack as much. I was sure that my grocery bill was going to go up when I started drinking these twice daily, but it has not at all. I just replaced some of the other food I was eating with this stuff.

ORGANICS 101

ORGANICS 101

As I move through my day-to-day duties working in a natural foods store, it has come to my attention that many people are adamant about buying organic food, and don’t really have a good understanding of what the USDA legal definition of “Organic” means. I would like to help de-mystify this.

Organic Food, by USDA definition, must meet certain qualifications and be certified by 3rd party accredited certifier to be sold under the term “organic.”

Here are the standards that food must meet in the US for it to be certified Organic:
Crops grown without the use of residual pesticides, fungisides, or herbicides, and no chemical/synthetic fertilizers.

No GMO (genetically modified organisms) seeds or ingredients

No sewage sludge used on crops.

Farming/ranches practices that are sustainable.

Animals fed organic feed.

Animals raised without the use of synthetic growth hormones & antibiotics, with humane treatment. (additional standards for animals will be put in place in 2011)

Farm/ranch/facility must keep records and logs, and have an Organic Plan.

Must be certified annually.

For more specific info, check out the USDA’s website here: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/Organic/

People buy organic for various reasons. Some do not want pesticides on their food, while others are concerned about the environmental impact from conventional farming. Some folks just feel organic food “tastes better.” I am pretty creeped out by GMO’s, so that is my main reason, combined with environmental impact.

But getting certified to be organic can be a huge cost burden on a small farm or ranch, so some alternatives are popping up. Check out Certified Naturally Grown , “a non-profit alternative certification program tailored for small-scale, direct-market farmers using natural methods.”

Organic food is typically more expensive than conventional, because it is much more labor intensive for the grower. The cost of certification also increases the price as well.
If you are passionate about buying organic, but are concerned about the price, it might benefit you to find a local farmer’s market in your area and shop there. The prices are lower because the farmer is selling directly to the consumer. If you can get out of the city a bit and go to a more rural farmer's market or farmstand, the prices will be even lower. Transportation is a huge cost to farmers trekking into the city to sell food.

You may also be interested in joining a CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture. CSA's work in several ways, but basically you purchase a "share" of food from a farm (or collective of farms) that is delievered to a pick up area near you. Some CSA's let you choose what you want to buy, and with others you get whatever they have available. In my experience, most CSA's can be pretty costly, and I find farmer's markets to be cheaper. But I know plenty of folks who LOVE CSA's, so check it out.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Spinach & Bean Pockets

Who doesn't love portable food? I don't have a regular routine for lunch. Sometimes I eat at my desk, other times I am in the middle of teaching, and sometimes I am in my car on a trip. I've been thinking about portable food, and trying to figure out what I can bring that will be healthy. For inspiration, check out veganlunchbox.com. It's an amazing blog that has been turned into a cookbook! I appreciate the author's love of lunchboxes, and this has inspired me to really put some thought into what I am bringing for lunch, and how I am packing it.
Here is my recipe for spinach & white bean pockets. These are so much fun to eat, and they freeze really well. I make a big batch, cool them, and freeze them in foil. Then I take one out of the freezer to thaw in the fridge overnight, and toss it into my lunchbag in the morning. You can heat them up in the microwave for 1 minute on high. Drizzle with tahini and hot sauce (of course) and you are good to go. Eating in the car? Just eat straight out of the foil!

Spinach & Bean Pockets
1 recipe whole wheat pizza dough (in earlier post)
1/2 lb frozen baby spinach
1 can white beans, drained (your choice of bean variety!)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
paprika
about 1 cup veggie broth

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat for a few minutes. Toss the garlic and onion in the pan, stirring continuously so it browns, but doesn't burn. (You could use olive oil here if you want, but I am trying to go low-fat.) Cook till the onions are soft and fairly translucent. Add about 1/4 cup of the broth and stir, scraping any browned bits off the pan.

Add the white beans and a few pinches paprika, and stir to incorporate flavors. Add the spinach, straight out of the freezer. Now, at this point, you want to stir and stir, preventing any of the food from sticking or burning. Add broth as needed to steam the spinach a bit, but you want to make sure you cook away all the liquid. Add a few pinches of salt. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Take your pizza dough and divide into about 4 equal parts. Kneed each part, and roll out to about a 7" circle. When the spinach/bean filling is totally cool, spoon some into the center of the dough circle, leaving about 1/2 diameter from the edge. Fold over the circle to make a little pocket, and press the edges to make a seal. Sometimes I turn the edges to make a cool "braid" like look.

Heat in a 400* oven for about 18-20 minutes.
Yay!!!

Roasted Winter Veg

Delicious and easy dinner tonight. I took an 8" round cake pan and lightly greased it with olive oil. Then I chopped up some winter veggies: carrots, onions, potatoes. You can also use sweet potato, turnip, celery root, parsnip. Lightly coat w/ olive oil, then add rosemary and sea salt. Lay a few links of sausage, a chicken leg, or some tofu on top, and throw in a preheated 400* oven for about an hour. That's it! The veggies get all caramelized and crispy...yum. If you think your meat is over cooking, just take it out after 30 minutes. You can use 1, 8 inch pan per person and serve it right on the table for that rustic look. This one is a keeper!

Spaghetti Squash & Pork Stir Fry (Eating Well Mag)

Last sunday was the final day of the Skippack Farmer's Market for the season. Man am I bummed. Kim K and I drove out there and loaded up on fresh fruits and veggies from Stauffer Family Farms. 5 generations of growing in Pennsylvania and going strong. For $18 I got a 1/2 gallon of fresh cider, 8 pears, 8 apples, 1/2 pint raspberries, 4 cukes, 8 big potatoes, 6 heirloom tomatoes, and a big fat spaghetti squash. Josefina ate all the raspberries and is working on the pears too.
I was googling spaghetti squash recipes (I have never cooked one) and stumbled across one from the good folks at Eating Well magazine. Now, those of you who know me know that I LOVE Eating Well magazine. Get yourself a subscription, it is worth the $20. They focus on seasonal food, and do alot of "recipe makeovers" to make stuff better for you. They also have several great cookbooks out, including one called "Eating Well Serves Two." But I digress...Anyway, this one looks perfect, especially because I have a freezer full of pork (see earlier posts). And I get excited about sitting down to dinner and realizing that 90% of what's on the table was grown/raised within 100 miles of my house.
Here's the link:
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/spaghetti_squash_pork_stir_fry.html

Make it and let me know how it was! I am making it tonight.
UPDATE:
I made it. It was fantastic!

Salads

I read Joel Fuhrman's Eat To Live book. He makes some great points about the American Diet, disease, weight, etc. The book is really detailed, but the bottom line of it is he recommends people eat 90% of their diet from unrefined plants. This includes veggies, fruit, and beans. Only 1 serving of complex carbs daily. 10% of your diet (calories) can be from animal protein. And most importantly, you should eat 1 pound of raw leafy greens a day. ONE POUND!!! And work up to also eating 1 pound of cooked green veg a day. Wow.

Well, I've been doing it for 3 weeks now. And you know what? I feel better than I have felt in a long time. I never thought that 1 pound of lettuce/spinach/kale would keep me so full. I know, all of this sounds crazy, but just read the book if you want to understand the madness.

The point of all of this is that I am coming up with some creative (but simple) salads these days. Ol' Dr Furhman is against oil--even olive oil--for 6 weeks, so this is requiring some thought. I've had some good salad, and some really bad salad. As I eat a delicious salad I will post the components, mostly so I can remember them for later.

Kale/Carrot/Raisin:
Blanch 1 bunch of kale. I use the red kind for color. Disgard tough stems, and chop the leaves into 1/2 inch strips. Grate 1-2 carrots, and throw 1 box of raisins on the kale. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon on the whole thing and toss. It's better if you keep it in the fridge overnight before eating. I think the lemon juice breaks down the kale, and the sugars from the raisins sweetens everything. Drizzle with tahini before serving. And yep, I eat the whole thing in a day. BTW--I HATED kale before discovering this recipe, which is an adaptation from a recipe a girl at work gave me.

Romaine/Pea/Tofu:
Chop 1 head/heart romaine (I use the heart only, because I can buy a 6 pack for $4 at the store), and toss in 1/2 lb. of frozen (thawed) green peas. Pour 1 T. apple cider vinegar over, and toss. Quickly sautee 1/3 lb firm tofu, cubed. I press the tofu while it's cooking to get some of the water out of it. Nope, no oil, just straight tofu in a frying pan. After about 4 minutes, splash some Bragg's Liquid Amino's on the tofu, stir 1 minute, then turn off heat. The Bragg's taste just like soy sauce, but without the sodium. Throw the tofu on top of the lettuce/peas. Drizzle with tahini (yes, I do alot of tahini drizzling) and serve. Fantastic.

Red Lentils:
I love red lentils, especially when they are mixed with a tomato broth. The 2 were just made for each other! Red lentils are great because they cook much faster than most beans, and do not require a pre-soak. So here we go:
Take 1 cup dried red lentils and put into a pot. Add 2 cups low sodium veggie broth, 1 cup Imagine creamy (vegan) tomato soup, and 1 cup water. Turn on high heat till boil. When it boils, turn down the heat to a low simmer, and cover. Cook for 45 minutes, then turn off heat and let sit for 15 minutes. If you want this more "soupy" increase liquid by 1 cup. This is great served next to steamed brocolli drizzled with (you guessed it) tahini and hot sauce.

Quick Winter Notes

Not much time, so here are some notes for winter that I can expand on later:
* Pizzas continue to be the #1 food at our house. Now I am making the crust w/ part whole wheat flour. Breakfast pizzas are my favorite: sauce, light on cheese, 1 strip of cut up bacon, and crack some raw eggs on top before baking.
* Overnight oatmeal. Just throw some rolled oats and water (ratio is 1 part oats to 4 parts water) into the crockpot before you go to bed at night. Add some dried fruit: apricots, cherries, dates, cranberries, rasins, etc. and some flax meal, then put the crock pot on "low." In the morning you have this super-chewy yummy hot breakfast. I am going to experiment w/ corn grits this week.
* Mac & cheese with add-ins. Sorry, but its a childhood favorite. I tried making my own, but frankly I like the boxed kind better. I use Annie's Whole Wheat Shells & Cheese. Add-in's include: sliced tomatoes & green peas (throw frozen green peas in with the cooking pasta 3 minutes before its done); pureed butternut squash (the kids will never know!); turkey bacon & mushrooms (sauteed together first); and of course, plain w/ a side of fish sticks & ketchup.
* Ham & Swiss on a baguette. Or if you are feeling fancy--hot ham & cheese on a potato roll.
* Saurcraut & weiners cooked all day together in the crock pot. Use a can of beer for your cooking liquid.
* Sides: sweet potato fries, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, romaine & avacado salad, raw baby carrots, spinach & hard boiled egg salad, deviled eggs, sliced apples & pears, baby arugula w/ lemon juice and olive oil.
* Smoothie: pineapple/coconut juice w/ 1 banana, protein powder, & 2 leaves of raw kale. Just whizz it up and ignore the texture of the kale :)

Aaron's picks:
Aaron has continued roasting various meats, of course. Favorites this winter include: boston butt (pork shoulder--one of the cheapest meats per pound sold out of the case), whole chicken or turkey, pork loin roast, brisket, and chicken drumsticks. He roasts them slowly usually after marinating for 12-24 hours or applying a dry rub. The meat keeps great in the fridge for up to a week and makes an excellent cold lunch served with cheese, bread, broth, and fruit.

Overflow Tomato Pasta Sauce

Ok, this pasta sauce is meant to be a base sauce to freeze, when you thaw a portion out, you add the finishing touches. This recipe is perfect at the end of the summer when you realize you've got a million tomatoes and they are getting soft faster than you can eat them. What I love about this recipe is that you don't have to peel or seed the tomatoes, so the prep time is pretty quick. The down side to this is that you will need to be able to cook them down all day long so they loose their bitterness. I'm talking a minimum of 6 hours here. If you've got a food processer use it to dice the onion and carrot to save time. I've adapted this recipe from my mother-in-law's basic pasta sauce, which she adapted from Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Italian Cooking.

* 1 medium onion, diced (I like vidalia or a sweet onion myself.)
* 1 carrot, diced
* 1 clove garlic, chopped (add another if you are a garlic freak)
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (if you've got fresh oregano, omit the dried and use the fresh at the end of the cooking process)
* Tomatoes, roughly chopped, as many as you can fit in the pot (use up the ones that are bruised and overripe)
* olive oil
* salt & pepper
* red wine vinegar

Coat the bottom of a large enamel pot with olive oil, just enough to where it can swish around a little. Add onion, carrot, garlic, and oregano, then sautee over medium heat till onions are transparent. While this is happening, I usually start chopping up my tomatoes.

Add the hacked up tomatoes to the pot, stirring as you add to coat in oil. I mean it when I say add as many as your enamel pot can hold. Add the juices from the cutting board, seeds, and all. Cut, add, and stir, till your pot is full.
Reduce heat to a tiny little simmer. Now we wait. Continue to cook at lowest heat all day long while tomatoes break down. Stir occasionally.
After 6-7 hours, add salt, pepper, (and fresh oregano if you are using it instead of dried) and 1 teaspoon of vinegar.
Now get out that immersion blender and puree the sauce, leaving a few chunks if you like. If you don't have an immersion blender, get one. They are only $14.99 at Target. If you refuse, do it the hard way and transfer your sauce to the food processor or normal blender in batches, pureeing as you go.

Cool the sauce completely, and freeze in whatever portions make sense to you. Keeps in the freezer hapily for 6 months. Remember this is a BASE SAUCE only. When you thaw it out you will add fresh basil, cheese, meat, or whatever the heck you like to put in your pasta sauce. It will be a bit thin when you thaw it, so plan on re-heating it for at least 15 minutes to cook down a bit.

Note:
I like to add 2 carrots instead. I don't know why, but it makes it very yummy and interesting. Try it both ways and see what you think.

Using canned tomatoes: This recipe works great in the winter when all you can get is canned tomatoes. Use 2 large cans (I think they are 24 ounce) per every 1/2 onion and 1 carrot. You will only need to cook down for 1 hour, so you can use it right away. Still freezes well!

My additions: I always add a handfull of fresh basil and some shaved parmesan cheese before serving.