Butternut Squash Ravioli with Pea Puree

A  lot has been going on in my life these past few months. Most exciting is my retirement from a career in the middle school classroom. I am proud to say I taught 7-8 graders American History, World Geography, and Language Arts for over 2 decades. Phew - I was ready for a change. 

Another exciting announcement is that I wrote a book! It's a children's gardening book. I promise that I'll tell more about that in upcoming blog posts. If you are curious about the book, check it out on Amazon. "Layer by Layer, Row by Row" by David Wood and Tracy Wood. 

The best event and biggest change in my life is that my son got married to the loveliest girl! She is gluten-free, and that has been a new cooking adventure for me! Love it!

Through all the months, I have been cooking. I still love to be in the kitchen. This gourmet ravioli was what I made the very first day of my retirement! True!

Even though my pasta technique is terrible, I never shy away from making it at home. I used to use lots and lots of eggs, but recently, my favorite recipe swaps out eggs for silken tofu - weird, right? But it works amazingly well. You can find my recipe for tofu pasta HERE.  Today I used regular flour in place of the semolina flour and as you can see, the pasta is smooth and silky and strong and it tasted great! I rolled this pasta to the penultimate thickness ($5.00 word). That's 6 on my particular machine.

Just deal with the odd shapes and random pieces of pasta, like I do. 

I boil the odd leftover pieces and saute them in butter and garlic for an afternoon treat. (Amazing! Almost better than the prepared ravioli, strangely)

(Seems like a lot of work....and it is! Save this recipe for when you are in the mood to wash dishes.....)

Here's what you need:

1 small butternut squash
1/2 C walnuts
7 cloves garlic, divided
10 oz frozen peas
1/4 C fresh herbs (chives, basil, parsley)
butter, salt, pepper, olive oil, hot pepper flakes
dollop sour cream

Here's what you do:

Peel and cube the squash. Drizzle olive oil over the cubes and place on baking sheet. Also add 5 cloves of garlic, skins on. Roast until veg is soft. Place squash and walnuts in food processor and add the garlic by squeezing it out of its skin. It will be so amazingly fragrant and delicately flavored! Season with salt and pepper. Blend until desired consistency.

Make the ravioli. Have fun! It's a mess but really fun to do from scratch!

Place frozen peas, herbs, 2 cloves raw garlic, and a few hot pepper flakes

in a pan and saute in a drop of oil until garlic is fragrant. Place peas in food processor and add a dollop of sour cream. Serve the green goodness with the ravioli for a delicious and colorful meal!

Red Curry Ramen

This is a three napkin, dribble on the blouse meal..... and oh so worth it!

Here's what you need:
red pepper
cabbage
red onion
shiitake mushroom (remove the stem)
lots of garlic
lots of fresh ginger
red curry paste (at least 2 T)
1 T brown sugar
1 can full fat coconut milk
1 C (or more) vegetable broth
tofu (firm or extra firm)
ramen noodles

garnish with cilantro, soy sauce, sriracha

Here's what you do:
Slice the veg and saute in a bit of corn oil until soft. Cube the tofu and add it to the veg. Finish by adding the sugar, milk and broth. Mix in the prepared ramen noodles. Simple and delicious.

Summer Orzo Salad

Don't forget about orzo! It's perfect for this light summer salad. (I ate almost the entire thing....) Dress this very lightly - there are plenty of flavors to carry the pasta.

Here's what you need:
1 lb orzo prepared according to package
6 oz feta cheese minced
1/2 C red onion minced
handful fresh spinach chopped small
1/2 lb fresh green beans, cut in 1 inch pieces and boiled until fork tender
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 C Parmesan cheese

For the dressing whisk together the following:
1/4 C olive oil
1 T lemon juice
1 T red wine vinegar
1 t dried oregano
1/2 t dijon mustard
1/2 t honey

Double Strawberry Muffins

One thing I like to do is to transform old favorite recipes into something new and vegan. That's exactly what I did here. I took a perfect blueberry muffin recipe and made some logical swaps and created an excellent strawberry muffin. I call it 'double strawberry' because some strawberries were fresh and others were dehydrated.  The dehydrated fruit really gave the muffins a hit of flavor!  These would be delicious served with softened cream cheese. 

 Dehydrate them long enough that they're past the chewy stage, but not so long that they fall apart.  Hard for me to say how many berries or how long to dehydrate - just aim for having 1 heaping cup chopped berries for this recipe.

Here's what you need:
6 T non-dairy butter, softened
1 C sugar
1 ripe banana
2 C flour
1/2 t salt
2 t baking powder
1/2 C non-dairy milk
1 C chopped strawberries, some fresh, some dehydrated (measure after chopping and dehydrating)
chopped walnuts for garnish

Here's what you do:
Cream butter and sugar. Add banana. Mix in milk. Gently add in the flour, salt, baking powder being careful not to over mix. Gently fold in the strawberries. Spray the muffin papers well and fill them about 7/8 full. Garnish with chopped walnuts.

Bake immediately in a 375 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool before removing them from the tin. Delicious!

Pineapple Rice

Either you like or dislike using pineapple in your savory dishes. Wouldn't you agree? I used to LOVE ham and pineapple pizza, but I'm not eating ham these days. Other than that, I rarely use pineapple in anything other than a smoothie or a fruit salad. Recently, though, I saw a recipe for a pineapple rice and I decided to give it a try, with a few changes and additions. Much to my surprise, everyone at the dinner table ate it heartily! Especially me! My guys drizzled hot sauce over it. We decided it was good cold, room temperature, or heated up -- that's versatile! And see how pretty it turned out with all the yellow colors. I served mine with a simple baked tofu. You can find that recipe here on the blog.

:)

Here's what you need:
4 C cooked rice
1 fresh pineapple, cut in big chunks
1 small orange pepper, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
1 small red pepper, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 C red onion, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
6 green onions, white and green parts, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
1 C frozen corn
1 t salt, or to taste
1/2 t turmeric
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t dried coriander
1/4 - 1/2 t cayenne pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 T tomato paste
1/2 C water for sauteing
1 C roasted, salted whole cashews

Here's what you do:
Saute the peppers, onions, corn, seasonings, tomato paste, garlic in the water until soft. Add sauteed veg to pineapple and rice. Mix well. Garnish with cashews. It's as easy as that!

Basic Baked Tofu

Super easy and nutritious and perfect for a quick weeknight meal. There is no long marinating time needed for this method. This tofu is great served as is, or chilled and tossed in a salad the next day. It would be great in a sandwich also.

It's more about the method than the ingredients. Of course you can cut the recipe in half or double it for a larger crowd. 2 pounds works well for 4 servings.

2 pounds firm tofu, cut into quarters the long way.
1/2 C soy sauce
zest and juice from one big lemon
1/4 corn oil

Make the slash marks on the tofu, cutting rather deep so the juice gets down in there.
Mix the marinade and spoon over the tofu, allowing it to drip down in the slices.

Bake in a shallow baking dish at 400 degrees for at least 45 minutes, checking every so often and spooning more marinade in the cracks. I actually transferred the tofu onto a parchment lined baking sheet when the soy mixture started to evaporate - I did not want my tofu to burn.

It's nice and chewy - and surprisingly not too lemony!

Tomato Pistou Soup

It's soup weather here in the northern climes. Yes, that's real Michigan snow. And yes, we use top loaders and dump trucks to clear away the snow. Here where I live, they pile it up on the Lake Michigan beach and it creates a wild effect with the wind and sand. Blows all over the place. West Michigan is pretty dang windy. 

(careful out there, fellow drivers)

Being all hunkered down makes it easy to create menus - lots and lots of hearty soups.... and stuff from the freezer, cuz who in their right mind wants to drive with those people on the roads? 

Here's a creation of mine that I think you'll like. I call it 'Tomato' Pistou because traditionally, pistou sauce is more of a fresh basil, and since we are plum out of fresh basil at this time of year, I used tomatoes instead. I kept adding veg and created the lovely tomato mixture, and viola! 

Tomato Pistou Soup

10 C water

5-6 medium size red potatoes, diced

3 medium carrots, diced

2 leeks, diced (be sure to wash them - they always get sandy)

1 medium zucchini, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

3/4 C fresh green beans, cut in 3/4 inch 

1 can drained and rinsed dark kidney beans

1/2 C bread crumbs

1 t salt or to taste

pinch of saffron

Simmer the above until everything is nice and soft. 

Meanwhile: 

In a food processor, make the tomato pistou and add it to the soup. 

3/4 C parmesan

1/2 can tomato paste (about 3 T)

1/3 C raw almonds

1 1/2 T dried basil

6 cloves garlic

1/4 C olive oil

black pepper to taste (be liberal)

Eggplant Walnut Meatballs

Looking to cut out some meat from your diet? Why not try something that will be sure to please your whole family? Meatballs!

I've never been a big fan of greasy meatballs, and I never succeeded in frying them or baking them evenly - mine always turned out looking like flying saucers. And you have to admit it's a bit barbaric to touch all that meat with your hand and form the little balls. What about the giant meatballs? Are you a fan?

Basically what I did with this recipe is add 1 C ground walnuts to my already delicious eggplant balls. The nuts added body, texture, flavor, and protein.

Tracy's Eggplant Walnut Meatballs

1 ½ pound of firm, small, peeled eggplants, cut into 1 inch cubes

2 cloves garlic, peeled

2 T olive oil

½  t salt

½ C fresh parsley

1/3 C fresh basil

1 C panko bread crumbs

2/3 C vegan parmesan cheese(recipe below)

2 eggs (I used 2 flax eggs)

1 C walnuts

Roast the eggplant cubes and garlic cloves in the oil and salt.  (Foil covered baking sheet, 350 degrees, 30 minutes.) When cool, transfer to a food processor and process till chunky. Remove to a large mixing bowl. Next, grind the walnuts, parsley, and basil in the food processor until chunky. Add to the eggplant bowl. Add in the remaining ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon. Form small balls with wet hands and bake on a parchment lined sheet at 375 for about 25-35 minutes. 

These freeze very well, so make plenty! They reheat well by lightly frying them just before serving. I do not recommend mixing them in the sauce - they retain their delicate shape and taste better if you simply serve them atop your pasta and sauce. 

Best Vegan Parmesan

¼ C nutritional yeast      

1 C raw cashews              

1 t salt

Here’s what you do:

Process in a high speed blender until a powder is produced. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge.

Tamales

How many times have you wondered about the "Authentic Tamale Kit" in your local grocery store produce department? I took the plunge and tried it and I lived to tell about it. 

True, the corn husks were kinda plasticy and not real corn husks and true, the masa was 'instant' (just add warm water), but still! Look what I made! They were AMAZINGLY good. Very simple to do, but a huge amount of time and a big mess in the kitchen. 

I started by making my excellent cauliflower taco meat. Find that recipe HERE. I also thawed my homemade suiza sauce. Find that recipe HERE. You could easily fill your tamales with other kinds of meat fillings, and douse them with any other kind of Mexican sauce or salsa. 

Then it was simply following the steps on the package. Voila! 

Three Pepper Stuffed Potato Skins

There is a group out there in the vegan community called Dr. McDougall's WFPB. The acronym is "Whole Food Plant Based." You can check them out on Facebook or HERE on their website. Lots of great info and excellent plant based recipes. He's the real deal, so to speak. I encourage you to take a peek.

Anyway, Dr. McDougall is into eating lots and lots of potatoes. Not overloaded with butter and sour cream, mind you, just the humble potato. They are super low in calories, have no fat or cholesterol, plenty of vitamin C and B6, and surprisingly, they have more potassium than a banana.

(This is the amazing secret ingredient to so many Mexican flavored meals! I always have about 3 cans in my pantry ready to go. If I don't use the entire can, I freeze it in 2 T portions in small baggies to plop into chilis and stews and refried beans.)

These potato skins are loaded with everything yummy, including three kinds of peppers: poblano, chipotle, and jalapeno. And no, they're not excessively spicy! Serve them with some chips and salsa and you have a nice lunch.

Here's what you need for 6 potato skins (about 3-4 portions)
3 medium- large russet potatoes
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 C chopped tomato
1/4 C minced onion
1/4 C minced poblano pepper
3 T lime juice
fresh cilantro to taste
1/2 t cumin
salt, pepper
2 T corn oil
3 T canned chipotle salsa
Nacho Sauce - one recipe (see below)
Avocado for serving

Here's what you do:
Prick the skins of the potatoes well and bake them until they are really soft. Allow to cool a bit. Slice them in half lengthwise and remove 90% of  flesh....leave a little bit behind. (Eat the flesh for breakfast tomorrow!)

Mix the beans, veggies, lime juice, cilantro, and seasonings. Set aside.

Whisk the oil and chipotle salsa and brush the insides of the skins liberally. Place skins back in hot oven (crank it up to 450 degrees) and crisp them up. The secret to a good potato skin is to have a crispy and seriously delicious potato skin!

When the skins are crisp and starting to get brown, fill them with the bean mixture and pour Nacho Sauce over them. Serve with a dollop of guacamole or avocado slices.

Nacho Sauce:
2 T oil
1/4 C minced onion
Saute the above till soft

Add:
1/2 t garlic powder, 1/2 t cumin, 1/2 t smoked paprika, 1/2 t salt, 1/2 t chili powder
Stir and mix all spices into the onion mixture

Add: 1/4 C flour and continue to cook for a minute

Add: 3/4-1C non dairy milk
Stir well until thickened

Add :
1 can Rotel brand tomatoes
1/4 C minced pickled jalapenos
1/4 C nutritional yeast
Mix well. Heat till bubbly. Devour. Fabulous with Scoops chips!