Crispy Caribbean Veggie Wraps

These are so good. My youngest daughter kept eating these and wouldn't stop! Be sure to double the recipe. You'll be glad you did.

 

1 medium sweet potato

1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained (I actually added the whole can of beans)

1/4 cup red onion

2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 teaspoon each ground cumin and chopped jalapeno

1 garlic clove

1/4 cup water

22 wonton wrappers (I couldn't find them so I used lumpia wrappers cut into fourths)

1 1/2 cups salsa

 

Bake or microwave the sweet potato until tender. Cool. Slit potato and scoop pulp into a small bowl.  Mash pulp; stir in the next eight ingredients. Lightly brush water over all four edges of one wonton wrapper.  (Keep wrappers covered with a damp paper towel until ready to use.) Spread 1 tablespoon filling along one edge of the wrapper; roll up tightly.  Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.  Place on a baking sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray. Lightly spray wraps with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve with salsa.

Veggie Turkey Roast

8 oz. cashew nuts, raw, whole and ground

4 oz. whole wheat bread crumbs

1 egg, beaten (optional)

1 onion, small and finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

3 parsnips, medium-sized, coarsely chopped (or any other white root vegetable, parsnips, potatoes etc.)

1 teaspoon rosemary, fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried

1 teaspoon thyme, fresh, or 1/2 teaspoon dried

pinch of sage (I put in  more)

1 teaspoon miso (Asian food section)

1/2 cup water, hot

3 tablespoons olive oil

8 oz. mushrooms, chopped

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ground cashews with breadcrumbs. If using egg, add to dry ingredients. Steam parsnips until soft and then mash. Add parsnips and herbs to nut mixture. Water saute onion, garlic and mushrooms and then add to the nut mixture. Dissolve miso in 1/2 cup hot water, then add to mixture and mix thoroughly. Grease baking tray with olive oil and shape mixture to look like a turkey or place in a loaf pan, or shape like a loaf on a baking tray. Bake for 1 hour covered, last 15 minutes uncovered. Check earlier as sometimes it is done before an hour.

I've been trying out new recipes!

For dinner today I tried out a new soup Recipe that I found in a Magazine I like to read: Real Simple. I liked it.

Squash and White Bean Soup

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion

1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes

1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2 - inch pieces (4 cups)

1 Tbsp fresh thyme

Kosher salt and black pepper

2 15-oz cans cannellini beans, rinsed ( I used white beans)

1 bunch spinach, thick stems removed

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until soft, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juices and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes

Stir in the squash, thyme, 5 cups water, 1 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the squash in tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the beans and spinach and cook until the spinach is wilted and the beans are heated through, 2 to 3 minutes.

The recipe included some biscuits but I found a recipe online at allrecipes.com that I used

Cheese Biscuits

1 c flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 c. milk
1/2 c. cheese

Preheat oven to 400.

Mix together and fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake for 15 minutes. Super Easy!

Adam really liked these even though the soup wasn't his favorite.

Yesterday I made some Christmas cookies out of the Real Simple magazine (I told you I've been trying out recipes!)

Pecan Snowballs

1 c. pecans

1 c. unsalted butter at room temperature

1 3/4 c confectioners' sugar

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp pure almond extract

1/4 tsp kosher salt

2 c. all-purpose flour

Heat oven to 350. Spread the pecans on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for 8 minutes. Let cool and roughly chop. ( I chopped them finely in the Cuisinart so that Kael could eat them)

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and 1 c. of the sugar until fluffy. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts and salt. Gradually add the flour, mixing until just incorporated. Mix in the pecans.

Shape the dough into tablespoon-size balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Transfer half the balls to a second parchment lined baking sheet, spacing them 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until lightly golden, 18-22 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes.

Place 1/2 c. of the sugar in a large bowl. Toss the warm cookies in the sugar and return to the backing sheet. Sift the remaining 1/4 c. of sugar over the cookies before serving.

This picture shows what Kael is like while I am cooking. First he is happy then bored and then desperate to be picked up!

Real Food Store Gravy

Mom sent this to me a long time ago. I tried it and it was really good, although my was salt for some reason . . . .

 

¼ rice flour (I use white flour whenever I feel like it)
¼ cup nutritional yeast
¼ c. soy oil (I use only 1-2 T. olive oil)
2 ¼ c. stock/water
¼ cups Braggs Aminos (It tastes just like soy sauce.  You get it at the Real Food Store.  I think soy sauce could be substituted here if you can't get Braggs Aminos)
1 1/2 t. minced garlic
3 ½ t. prepared mustard
¾ t. horseradish
¾ t. Worcestershire sauce
Dash  of pepper

 

In a heavy bottomed pan, over medium high heat toast flour and yeast for one minute, stirring constantly (I didn't do this the first few times and I thought the gravy was fine). Whisk in oil and garlic and stir constantly four 30-40 seconds.
 
Whisk in remaining ingredients, bring to a simmer and allow to cook 15 minutes on low heat. (I just cook until it's thickened.)  Add tamari or water if necessary.
 
The gravy I made tastes just like the Real Foods Store's to me.  If you have a mathematician at your house who could do a more precise job reducing the recipe.

 

Here is the original:

 

1 c. nutritional yeast
1 c. soy oil
2 T. minced garlic
9 c.  stock/water
1 c. Braggs
1/3 c. prepared mustard
1 T. horseradish
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
½ t. black pepper

Orange-Honey Marinade for Salmon

You all know that I stopped eating a lot of meat . . . so in honor of my once a year meat consumption, here is a picture of me and my friend Karen, at the Salmon Festival with the salmon we caught. Since I caught it with my own hands, I couldn't waste it . . .. (Although I did feel a littel bad after I caught it thinking about the poor fish suffocating!)! And here is the recipe I used to cook it . . . We invited people over from my hubby's work to share it with us.

Salmon Orange-Honey Marinade

1/3 cup orange juice

1/3 cup soy sauce

3 tbsp. olive oil

3 tbsp. Ketchup

1 tbsp. honey

1/2 tsp. groung ginger

1 clove garlic

24 oz. of salmon (I had a whole salmon so I made a lot of marinade)

Mix it all together and let marinade for as much time as you remember to marinade it! For me that was 2 hours. I think it's even better if you do it over night.

Quick Breakfast Pudding

This breakfast is almost like dessert!

8 dried apricot halves
5 or 6 dried figs
1/4 cup raisins
1 green apple
1 cup quick rolled oats (I used regular and it worked)
3 cup soy milk (vanilla)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Chop apricots, figs, and raisins in a food processor. Cut apple in quarters and remove core. Add to dried fruit in food processor and chop fine.

Transfer to a saucepan and add oats, milk, and cinnamon. Heat to a simmer, then cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 5 minutes.

Pecan Maple Salad

1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup regular soy milk
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 dates
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Mix in blender half the chopped pecans with the other ingredients. Then when creamy, take our of the blender and add the rest of the pecans so the dressing remains lumpy, with some crunch. Pour over romaine, spinach or whatever salad you have. When I made it I used romaine and spinach with apples and peaches in the salad. Yum!