Red Lentil Soup with Pea Puree

I never, ever, tire of soup. This one was created using stuff in my pantry, vegetable drawers, and freezer. I used harissa just for fun, but paprika would work here just as well.

1 C red lentils
4 C veggie broth
4 small Yukon potatoes, chopped
1 small onion and 3 garlic cloves sauteed in a drop of oil
2 carrots
1 red bell pepper
1 t harissa or paprika

Cook until soupy and whirl in a blender.

In the meantime:
1 C frozen peas
some basil and parsley
salt and pepper
1/4 C sour cream
2 T milk

high speed blender : add milk until it's pouring consistency.

Broiled Grapefruit

I have been eating lots of red grapefruits this winter! They are such a treat in the dark months here in the north..... and with just a few minutes under the broiler, they become a super comforting breakfast. The cherry and brown sugar don't hurt either.

Separate the sections of the grapefruit with a sharp knife, (go around the circumference and also between all the pithy parts),  sprinkle lightly with brown sugar, add a maraschino cherry for fun, broil for a few minutes.

Artichoke and Spinach Rolls with Lemon Bechamel

There is a nice difference in presentation between regular lasagna and these lasagna rolls. It made the entire meal nicer somehow. However, I think this recipe would work fine in a more traditional lasagna presentation. Try it, and let me know :)

Here's what you need:
1 box lasagna
16 oz ricotta
3 14oz cans artichokes
1 C mozzarella
1/2 bag fresh spinach (about 3 oz)
4 C non-dairy milk (I used rice milk)
1/2 C fresh lemon juice
4 T butter
4-6 T flour (I used 6 because rice milk is a bit thin)

Here's what you do:
Cook the noodles according to the box. Rinse, drain, set aside.
Chop the artichokes and spinach. Mix veggies and cheeses together.
Working with one noodle at a time, place some filling down the center of the noodle. Roll up gently. Place in a greased casserole. Keep going until the filling is gone and the kitchen is a mess.

In the meantime, melt the butter in a sauce pan. Add the flour all at once, whisking constantly until the flour has had a chance to cook and thicken a bit. Add the milk, whisking constantly. Add fresh lemon juice to taste, making sure this is a predominate flavor. Salt and pepper to taste.

Pour sauce over the rolls and bake until bubbly. This will freeze well. So good and pretty simple even for a weeknight dinner.

Creamy Carrot Pasta

Look at those amazing colors! You know when food is that vibrant it is going to be packed with flavor. You're looking at carrot puree, cashew cream, roasted garlic, and fresh sage leaves. Simple and delicious.

Here's what you need:
1 C carrot puree : Approximately 3 large carrots and 1 cut water in a high speed blender
1 head garlic
6 fresh sage leaves plus for more garnish
1 C vegetable broth
1/2 C raw cashews
1/2 C walnuts

Here's what you do:
Cut off about 1/4 inch of the top of the head of garlic and remove the loose outer skins. Wrap in tin foil and before sealing it, drizzle with olive oil. Close the bundle tightly. Roast 350 for about 45 minutes. When cool, squeeze the cloves out using a fork or other sharp instrument.
Make the carrot puree. Add it to a medium pot. Make the cashew cream by blending the nuts with about 1/2 C water. Add it to the carrot mixture. Add the garlic and sage leaves and simmer until thick, being sure to smash the garlic with a fork.  Thin with the vegetable broth to taste. Remove the sage leaves after about 15 minutes.

Garnish with walnuts and fried sage leaves. (1/4 C oil, fry for 5 seconds, drain on paper towel)

Curried Brown Rice Salad

A most delicious and unusual rice salad found in  "The Abundance Diet" by Somer McCowan. I had to swap out a few ingredients, but this salad is full of flavor! This makes a super lot! Maybe cut the recipe in half for a more reasonable amount for your family meal.

Here's what you need:
4 C cooked and cooled brown rice (that's about 2 C raw rice)
4 ribs celery, diced 1/4 inch
2 carrots, diced 1/4 inch
1 red pepper, diced 1/2 inch
1 small bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 C roasted cashews
1/2 C cilantro, chopped
1/2 C dried cranberries

Dressing:
3 T white wine vinegar
2 t dried curry powder
1 t dried cumin
1/2 ground ginger
1/2 garlic powder
1 T peanut butter

Also add to the dressing 1/3 C date paste: 1/3 dates, 2/3 water, high speed blender.

layer by layer, row by row

Are you looking for something special for a young person in your life? Now is the perfect time to own a copy of this little gem of a book (written by yours truly). The winter months are not down times for gardeners - we plan and dream and imagine our perfectly laid out rows and rows - harvesting colorful veg and feasting on the bounty of our labor. 

As you can see, the focus of "Layer by Layer, Row by Row"  is to get young people interested in gardening. The method presented was developed by my friend Pat Lanza, based on her book "Lasagna Gardening."  My father-in-law and I decided to pare down Pat's method and together he and I created this charming book about a simple and effective way to garden. Perfect for kids of all ages, really!

You may purchase the book directly from Amazon or you may contact me at woodtracy3@gmail.com to purchase directly from me. ($12.00 covers the cost of the book, P&H)

Thanks so much and happy gardening! 

Chiles Rellenos

When the Hatch chiles came to town this summer, I really loaded up! I've got bags full in my freezer, and that's a good thing. I have used them in egg dishes, quesadillas, and refried beans. Lurking in the back of my 'recipe' mind, is a vegan white chili with a bunch of them. (I'm thinking white beans, potatoes, roasted corn, vegetable broth thickened with some cashew cream, and lots of chiles. I'll let you know!)

Hatch chiles come from a certain part of New Mexico and are available at only certain times of the year. They are not poblano and they are not anaheim; the medium ones are really not that spicy. And they are the perfect and classic pepper to use for a chile relleno.

My son and I were a little obsessed about our precious chiles when we got them in the house and we just had to try the rellenos! I'm not a great lover of fried food, but for these authentic rellenos, every splatter of grease and every calorie was worth it!

Here's what you need:
(I don't really have quantities. This was truly a free-form cooking event. I had a lot of help and encouragement from other bloggers and internet 'friends.')

Hatch chiles (roasted and peeled, seeds removed). I am sure other Mexican chiles would be good here as well.
Monterrey Jack cheese cut in strips
4 eggs separated
flour
4-5 fresh tomatoes, cored
2 garlic cloves
nutritional yeast (optional)
other seasonings

Here's what you do:
Boil the tomatoes with the skins on in enough water to cover for a while. Whirl them in a blender with the boiling water and with the garlic cloves, 2-3 T nutritional yeast (optional), and other spices to taste. Keep it a bit simple because you want the chiles to be the star of the show. Heat 2-3 T corn oil and add 2-3 T flour to create a roux. Add the tomato sauce and cook for about 1/2 hour or until the sauce is thickened. Set aside.

Slit the chiles lengthwise and remove seeds. Stuff them with cheese. Set aside.

Separate the eggs and whisk the whites until fluffy. Also whisk the yolks until creamy and light yellow. Add 2-3 T flour to the yolks. Carefully incorporate the whites into the yolks. Dip the stuffed chiles in the egg batter and fry carefully in hot oil.

That's it! It's really not too difficult! The hardest part is locating the Hatch chiles!

Creamy Spinach and Cauliflower Stuffed Shells

Pasta shells can be stuffed with just about anything. A lentil meat crumble and tomato sauce would be good. Mushrooms and chestnuts sauteed and ground up would be great. Minced veg and mashed potatoes would even be good - kinda like a pirogi. A few years ago I created an excellent shell stuffed with cheese and artichokes and smothered in a lemon sauce. So good!  (See my Lemon Artichoke Stuffed Shell recipe HERE)

NOTE: This is a double batch!

Today I made this ridiculous amount of shells stuffed with spinach and cauliflower, bound together with a thick creamy cashew sauce. Healthy and light and very nice on a blustery November evening.

Here's what you need:
1 box jumbo pasta shells
2 x 12 oz bags frozen cauliflower - defrosted
3-4 oz fresh spinach (3 big handfuls)
1 t miso paste
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic
1/2 C non-dairy milk
2 T cornstarch
1/2 C raw cashews
1 C water
32 oz marinara sauce
salt, pepper, dried basil

Here's what you do:
Start by chopping the onions and garlic. Saute the onions in a small bit of oil until soft and translucent. Add the garlic toward the end, being sure not to brown the garlic. Add the miso and incorporate it well. Set aside.

Working in small batches, process the cauliflower, spinach, and sauteed veg in a food processor. Season with salt, pepper, dried basil. Mix well and set aside.

Whirl the cashews and water in a high speed blender to create a cream. Thicken the cream over low heat. Whisk the corn starch into the milk and add it to the cashew cream. Whisk constantly until quite thick. Add this cream mixture into the spinach-cauliflower mixture. Season appropriately.

Cook the shells until just al dente and fill them with the lovely mixture. Place the shells in a 9x13 and bake until bubbly.

Bulgur Taco Meat

Don't panic when vegans come to visit! Serve them this foolproof bulgur taco meat and everyone will be satisfied!

1 C bulgur
1 package taco seasoning
1 can Rotel brand tomatoes
1 1/2 C water

Cook bulgur according to package or until all the liquid has absorbed. This stuff is really good!

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!