Vegetarian tostadas with lentils

Lots of veggies and a lighter cheese make this a healthy meal with a good enough protein to pack a punch (one tostada is about 270 calories, 9g of fat, and 18g protein).

Vegetarian toastadas with lentils

Yield: 4

Ingredients:
  ● 1-3/4  cups water
  ● 3/4  cup dry red lentils, rinsed and drained
  ● 1/4  cup chopped onion
  ● 2 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro
  ● 1  clove garlic, minced
  ● 1/2  tsp. salt
  ● 1/2  tsp. ground cumin
  ● 4  tostada shells
  ● 2  cups chopped fresh vegetables (I used broccoli, tomato, zucchini, and summer squash)
  ● 3/4  cup shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese (3 ounces)

Directions:
1. In a saucepan stir together water, lentils, onion, cilantro, garlic, salt, and cumin. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 12 to 15 minutes or until lentils are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Mash mixture to make a spread (I used a potato masher).

2. Spread the lentil mixture on tostada shells (I made homemade tortillas, then brushed them with olive oil and baked them for a few minutes until they were browning and crunchy); top with the vegetables and cheese. Place on a large baking sheet. Broil tostadas 3 to 4 inches from the heat about 2 minutes or until cheese is melted. Makes 4 servings.

Pumpkin soup

Yes, another pumpkin recipe! We are truly embracing the fall flavors around here. This is actually my own concoction (although not a very original one), and Jon said it was pretty darn good, and that's a quote.

Pumpkin soup

Yield: 6-8
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: ~20 minutes

Ingredients:
  ● 6 cups pumpkin puree
  ● 4-5 cups vegetable broth (chicken would also work)
  ● 2 tbsp butter
  ● 2-4 garlic cloves, diced
  ● 1-2 medium onions, chopped
  ● 3-4 tsp curry powder
  ● 1 tsp corriander
  ● salt & pepper, to taste
  •  1/2-1 cup heavy whipping cream (optional)

Directions:
1. Melt butter in a medium pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until tender (~10 minutes)
2. Meanwhile, in a medium pot combine pumpkin puree and vegetable broth and stir well. Add curry powder, coriander, salt, and pepper and stir until combined.
3. When onions are done scrape pan into soup and stir well. Heat over medium heat for 10-20 mintues, or until soup is hot and flavors are well combined. Sometimes I add heavy whipping cream at this point, stir to combine, then cook an additional 5 minutes or so. Serve hot, topped with roasted pumpkin seeds if desired.

Garden kale soup

I found this recipe, or something like it, doing a search for ways to use kale. I love kale, and with winter coming we're likely to see a lot of it in our organic deliveries. Yum!
To the original recipe I added celery and twice the garlic, and cut the number of potatoes; I increased the amount of tomatoes and beans used while switching from canned to fresh/rehydrated; I also changed dried parsley to fresh and added a little more.
This is a great vegetarian meal for those chilly fall, or winter, nights. I served it with homemade multi-grain peasant bread and apple crisp (an extra fall treat!).

Garden Kale Soup

Ingredients:
  ● 2 tbsp. olive oil
  ● 1 yellow onion, chopped
  ● 4 tbsp. chopped garlic
  ● 1 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves chopped
  ● 3 celery ribs, chopped
  ● 8 vegetable broth
  ● 6-8 tomatoes, diced
  ● 4 white potatoes, peeled and cubed
  ● 3 cups rehydrated cannellini beans (or 2 cans)
  ● 2 tbsp. Italian seasoning
  ● 3 tbsp. snipped fresh parsley
  ● salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
 1. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot; cook the onion and garlic until soft. Stir in kale and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Stir in the water, vegetable bouillon, celery, tomatoes, potatoes, beans, Italian seasoning, and parsley. Simmer soup on medium heat for 25 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Granola topping

I can never quite get rid of the snack urge.  I love crunchy things, or sweet things, or salty things...you name it.  I've done a pretty good job of eliminating junk from our diets, and our cupboards, but that doesn't mean that every day, shortly after Calvin slips into nap time sleep land, I don't get that sudden desire to start munching.  So my goal has been to find things to munch on that satisfy those cravings without blowing the day's sugar or sodium intake right off the chart (aside from carrot or celery sticks, which just don't do it).  I know I've also mentioned, umpteen times before, my complete aversion to pre-processed over-packaged foods, and I think that we belong to a society that supports the notion that many foods are a mystery and are not creatable in our own kitchens.  So much the better for companies like Kraft and Keebler (or are they the same company?).  But a quick and simple search on the internet, and a relatively short amount of time, is all it takes to break through the unfair force shield protecting those commercial interestes; we can make just about anythign we need in life with a handful of naturl and basic ingredients.

But that's a big topic.  For the moment, let's just start with granola.  What I really wanted to make was a crunchy snack, and this most certainly was not it, but this version, which is soft and sweet, does make a great topping for Greek yoghurt!  And it was a lot of fun for Calvin to help cook and then eat with lunch.  Down side?  Way too much sugar, as far as I'm concerned.  Back to the drawing board.

Granola topping

Dry Ingredients:
  ● 5 cups rolled oats  (you can also use a combination of rolled grains)
  ● 2-3 cups of raw almond halves or slivers
  ● 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
  ● ¾ cup sesame seeds
  ● ½ cup wheat germ or ground flax seed (I used flax)
  ● 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  ● 1 tsp ground ginger
  ● 1 tsp salt

Optional
  ● 1/2 - 1 cup unsweetened coconut
  ● ½ cup dried fruit—(add after cooked)(I used raisins)

Wet Ingredients:
  ● ¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
  ● 1/3 cup agave nectar, brown rice syrup, honey or maple syrup (I used honey)
  ● 2 Tbsp canola oil

Directions:
1.  Preheat the oven to 300°F.

2.  Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix the wet ingredients together, and then stir into dry ingredients.  Stir well to mix thoroughly.

3.  Spread the mixture into two baking dishes. Bake for 35 – 40 minutes, or until evenly golden brown.  Stir every 10 minutes to ensure even browning.  Stir again when removed from oven to keep it from cooling into a solid mass.  The granola will crisp as it cools.  If you use fruit, stir once it is cooled.

Yield: 10 cups
Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Kitchen sink chili

It's not quite chili season yet, but the weather earlier this week sure was misleading.  After spending the better portion of Tuesday standing in a chill rain making our daily round of the construction sites in the neighborhood, Calvin decided that chili was perfect for a chilly day (in fact, he got a real kick out of saying that...over and over and over again).  I think it's a mark of my increasing maturity (be nice, now) that I was able to pull this off thanks to a well stocked kitchen, or at least a well stocked garden:  dried beans in the cupboard, several plants full of ripe tomatoes, onions from the garden as well, and a strange variety of fresh veggies needing to be used in the fridge.  This, as you can probably tell from its eccentricity, is entirely my own recipe.  Imagine.

Kitchen Sink Chili

Ingredients:
  ● 2 cups mixed dried beans
  ● 2.5 quarts water, plus more
  ● 1 large onion, chopped
  ● 3 lbs tomatoes, chopped
  ● 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
  ● ~4 celery stalks, with leaves, chopped
  ● ~2 parsnips, chopped
  ● ~4 stalks bok choy (white part only), chopped
  ● 1/4 tsp salt
  ● 1/2 tsp pepper
  ● 1 tbsp chili powder
  ● 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions:
1.  In a large pot combine beans and 2.5 quarts of water.  Bring to a boil for 5 minutes, then remove from heat, cover, and allow to sit for 1 hour.
2.  Drain beans, then cover with fresh water, bring to a low boil, and simmer for 3 hours, adding water if necessary.
3.  Add tomatoes, garlic, parsnips, and spices, then simmer for 20 minutes.  Add bok choy and celery and simmer for additional 20 minutes.  Serve hot, topped (optionally) with cheese, sour cream, and hot sauce.

The joy of this recipe is that you can substitute anything you think sounds yummy for anything you think doesn't.