Santa Fe Tofu Tostada Salad with Cilantro Goddess Dressing

Oh goodness, goodness, goodness. Sweet goodness. You really must give this one a try. I can't wait to have the left overs as a salad for lunch (or a late breakfast :)).

Complements: "The Art of Tofu" by Akasha Richmond

Santa Fe Tofu Tostada Salad:
1 package Mori-Nu Tofu (extra firm), cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 cup corn
1/2 red or orange pepper, cut into strips 1/4 inch wide and 1 1/2 inch long
1 zucchini, cut into strips 1/2 inch wide and 1 inch long
1 small red onion, cut into moons
1 fresh serrano chile, minced, if desired
4 corn tostadas
1 can black beans
shredded lettuce
fresh tomato, cut into wedges
avocado, sliced
olive oil for cooking
Cilantro Goddess Dressing (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Place a single layer of tofu cubes on sheet. Drizzle with barbecue sauce (I actually marinaded my tofu cubes in the BBQ sauce for a few hours and each piece was generously covered, I like my tofu full of flavor) and bake for 20 minutes (I turned off the oven and let them sit for awhile longer. This gets the tofu little crunchy on the outside). Saute corn, peppers, zucchini, onion and serrano chile in a skillet coated with olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add the baked tofu and mix lightly. Remove from heat. Heat black beans in a small pot over medium heat. Place tostadas on a plate. Cover with beans. Toss lettuce with some dressing and place over tostadas and beans. Arrange vegetable and tofu saute over salad. Garnish with tomato wedges and avocado slices. Enjoy!

Cilantro Goddess Dressing:
1/2 pkg Mori-Nu Lite Tofu (firm), pureed
2 scallions, chopped
2 teaspoons rinsed capers
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon clover honey
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1 teaspoon minced fresh jalapeno chile, if desired

In the container of a blender (I used our Magic Bullet), combine the dressing ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy.

Soft Ginger Maple Cookies

Oh my goodness! These cookies have a crunchy rim, a soft center and are super delightful. (I know I get excited about most of the things I post, but I just can't help it. We love good food. ;))

2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon cream (or half-n-half, or milk of your choice_
1/8 cup molasses
1/8 cup real maple syrup
3 tablespoons sugar (for rolling the balls of dough into)

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Whisk together and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat for about 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Add the cream, molasses, and maple syrup and beat on low until incorporated. Gradually add the dry ingredients and stir until all the white streaks have disappeared. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the 3 tablespoons of sugar into a bowl. Measure out about 1 level tablespoonful of dough for each cookie. Roll the dough into balls and roll the balls into the sugar. Place the balls on the cookie sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each one. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a cooking rack. Allow the cookies to sit for 5 minutes. Yields about 26 cookies. Enjoy!

Limburger Miner's Bread

Complements: "Old World Breads"

2 1/4 teaspoon yeast
2 cups warm milk
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tablespoon safflower oil
1 tablespoon honey
3 eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt

In a 6 quart mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1 cup of milk. Add 1 cup of the flour. Mix well. Let this ferment for 3 1/2 hours in a warm place. Then add the rest of the yeast and the milk. Mix well. Add the remaining ingredients, and work into a dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it for 6 to 7 minutes. Return the dough to the mixing bowl and cover it with a towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk. Divide the dough into 2 equal halves and shape each piece into a round loaf. Set the loaves on a lightly greased baking sheet. Cover with a towel and let rise again for 50 minutes. Bake in a preheated 359 degree oven for 45 minutes. Remove the loaves from the baking sheet at once and cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

Quinoa whith Beans and Corn

Do you feel the urge to cook something different tonight! Throw some cheese on top too, if you would like. Makes a complete meal and beats any preboxed one dish meal (and just as cheap).

Complements: www.beingfrugalisfabulous.com

1 cup quinoa
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups organic chicken broth
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon cumin
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup corn
2 cups kidney beans
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (optional)
shredded cheese

Saute the onion and garlic in the oil over medium heat. Once onion is starting to brown, add the quinoa, broth, chili powder, cumin, carrots, salt and pepper. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the corn and beans, cover and cook 5 more minutes more. Add the chopped cilantro and stir. Plate the quinoa and top with cheese. Enjoy!

Pretzel Rolls

These were fun to make. They taste like a pretzel on the outside (a nice mix between crunchy and chewy crust) and a roll on the inside. I doubled the recipe and ended up with 16 rolls.

Complements of: www.amanda.fakeginger.com

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water

Cornmeal
8 cups water
1/4 cup baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar

1 egg white, beaten to blend glaze
coarse sea salt

Combine flour, yeast, salt, sugar and water into large bowl and stir until dough comes together in a ball. Put on floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes or until the dough is elastic and smooth. Grease medium bowl. Add dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then towel; let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour or so.

Flour baking sheet. Punch dough down and knead on lightly floured surface until smooth. Divide into 8 pieces. Form each dough piece into a ball. Place dough balls on prepared sheet, flattening each slightly. Using a serrated knife, cut X in top center of each dough ball. Cover with towel and let dough balls rise until almost doubled in volume, about 25 minutes.

Preheat oven 375 degrees. Grease another baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal. bring 8 cups water to boil in large pan. Add baking soda and 2 tablespoons sugar (water will foam up). Add 4 rolls X side up and cook 30 seconds before flipping over and cooking for another 30 seconds. Using slotted spoon, transfer rolls to prepared sheet, arranging X side up.

Repeat with remaining rolls.

Brush rolls with egg whit glaze. Sprinkle rolls generously with coarse salt. Bake rolls until brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Lentil Soup

Yummy! Lentils are so wonderful. I hope you think so too :). I cut the recipe in half and still had left overs after filling 2 adult bowls and 3 kids bowls (oh and one adult having seconds ;)).

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup red pepper, chopped
1/2 cup celery, minced
3/4 cup carrots, chopped
1 tablespoon sugar (I forgot to add the sugar and it turned out delicious (I am assuming the sugar is to balance out a "sour/bitter" taste, but I didn't miss it))
3 cups dried lentils, rinsed
7 cups organic chicken broth
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups diced canned tomatoes (I used the ones with basil, garlic and oregano added)
2 tablespoons dry red wine (or cooking wine)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced (optional)

In a large stockpot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onion, green pepper, red pepper, celery and carrots. Saute for 5-7 minutes. Add the sugar and stir continuously for 2 more minutes. Transfer to bowl and set aside. In same stockpot, add lentils, broth and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer over low heat, covered for 45 minutes. Add the vegetables, tomatoes, wine, lemon juice, and spices. Continue to cook over low heat (warm-low heat) for another 1 to 1 1/2 hours, covered. Season with salt and pepper (although, it was pretty salty so test it first). Serve warm. Enjoy!

Turkey Burger with Avacado Cream Sauce

This recipe really helps the turkey hamburger stay moist and juicy.

Complements of: www.sarahsbritamericankitchen.blogspot.com

Burger:
1 cup of fresh or frozen corn, thawed
1/2 cup red onions, chopped
1 small sweet red pepper, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1 pound ground turkey breast

Sauce:
1 ripe avacodo, pilled
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons cilatro, minced
2 teaspoons lime juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/8 teaspoon salt

For burgers: In large skillet saute corn, onion, red pepper, jalapeno in oil until crisp-tender. Stir in lime juice, garlic, salt, cumin, chili powder and oregano and saute 1 more minute. Transfer to a bowl and cool slightly. Crumble turkey over mixture and mix well. Shape into four burgers and refrigerate for 30+ minutes. Broil the burgers 4 inches from the heat for 5-7 on each side.
For sauce: In a small bowl mix all sauce ingredients together. Refrigerate until serving.
Eat burger on a homemade hamburger bun. (See my "bread" section for recipe)
Enjoy!!

Hamburger Buns

These are wonderful. If you try them you may never go back to store bought hamburger buns again!

1 1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons organic powdered milk
1/3 cup safflower oil
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole grain spelt flour (or whole wheat, but give your body a change and try spelt :))
2 3/4 cup unbleached white flour
2 1/4 teaspoon yeast

Place water, powdered milk, oil, sugar and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the flours and yeast. Knead the dough for 8 minutes with an electric mixer on low speed. (Go ahead and add more flour if you need to to get a good dough consistancy, but I don't usually need to with this recipe) Cover the dough with a tea towel and place in a warm place. Let the dough double in size (about 1 - 1 1/2 hours). You can also place all the ingredients into a bread machine and use the "dough" setting. When dough is done rising pat it out into a rectangle and it should be about 1 inch thick. Cut out rounds (I use the mouth of a glass to cut out my circles). I make 8 to 9 buns with this recipe. Let the buns rise another 1/2 to 1 hour or until they have doubled in size. Place in a preheated 350 degree oven. Bake 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Brush with butter and cover with a tea towel. Let them cool. Enjoy!

Potstickers and Pierogies

These turned out delicious. I first found this great recipe and then I had to go looking for a wrap. The "round wrap" I found were fairly "natural" with only a few ingredients (basically flour, water and eggs). I was happy with that. I used this potsticker recipe for 1/2 and then I threw together a pierogie recipe. This were worth the bit of work that goes into them. Great fun for kids to make too. Also, I had a lot of filling left over for either a stir-fry or freeze for more potstickers in the near future. Let me know what you think :).

I modified the recipe, but the original came from: www.foodpeoplewant.com

2 cups finely chopped napa cabbage
1/2 pound ground organic turkey breast (or pork)
8 oz peeled, deveined raw shrimp, coarsely chopped (I left this out. I do not like shrimp.)
3 medium scallions, thinly sliced
3 large cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry (or even cooking wine if that is all you have in your cupboard, like myself)
1 1/2 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (optional)
1 tablespoon tamari (or soy sauce)
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
freshly ground black pepper
36 very thin, 3-inch circular, pot sticker wraps (or gyoza wraps)

Here is how I made mine:

To make the filling: Cook the meat in a large skillet. Add the cabbage, shrimp, scallions and garlic. Saute about 5 more minutes. Mix the rice wine, ginger, tamari, sesame oil and sugar together. Toss into the meat filling. Sprinkle with black pepper. Remove from heat and let the filling cool to room temperature.

Fill the Dumplings: Spoon 1 - 2 teaspoons of the filling onto the wrap; fold wrap in half over filling to form semi-circle. We used our fingers and rubbed some water along one edge of the wrap to help it seal. Pinch edges together. (There should be directions with your wraps too)

Pan-Fry the potstickers: Heat 2 tablespoons of safflower oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Working quickly and in batches if necessary, arrange the dumplings belly side down in skillet. Cook until golden brown on the bottom, 1 to 2 minutes.

I skipped this step (basically I didn't read it until now, I am know for not reading all the recipe directions). Anyways, it sounds like a nice step. So if you would like you may do the following: After you pan fried the potstickers you pour in about 1/2 cup water (or enough to come about a third of the way up the sides of the dumplings), bring to a boil, cover and cook until all of the water has been absorbed, 2 to 3 minuets. Loosen the dumplings from the pan with a spatula. Invert the pan over a plate to flip the dumplings, browned side up, onto the plate. Serve immediately with your choice of dipping sauce. (I think this final step would give you dumplings the "rubbery" feeling you often get when eating a potsticker, this is a good thing).

For the pierogie filling I just steamed potatoes. Mashed them with some butter and milk. Added grated cheese and diced, steamed broccoli. Very good :).

Enjoy!!

Chocolate Popcorn

This makes a great, sweet-satisfying, chocolate-satisfying treat. I consider it a "wholefood" indulgence!
We always pop popcorn on the stove. Personally, I think it beats all theater popcorn, hands-down :).

Compliments: "Just 4 Kids"

3 tablespoons sunflower or safflower oil
1/4 cup popcorn
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon milk (or water for dairy-free)
1/4 cup semisweet (or extra dark!) chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottom pan. Add the popcorn kernels, cover the pan, and cook, shaking the pan vigorously and frequently, for about 2 minutes, until the popping stops. Turn into a large bowl.

Put the butter, sugar, honey and milk (or water) in a pan and heat gently until and butter has melted. Bring to a boil, without stirring, and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate chips, and stir until melted.

Pour the chocolate mixture over the popcorn and toss together until evenly coated. Spread the mixture onto a large cookie sheet. Bake the popcorn in the oven for about 10 - 15 minutes. Let cool. Enjoy!

Creamy Tomato Soup

Only a few more weeks of winter. I need to fit in as many delicious warm soups as I can. This one is wonderful. I will definitely be canning this soup in the fall when we have an abundance of tomatoes ready for harvest.

Complements of: "Just 4 Kids"

2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 red onion, minced
1 leek, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 potato, peeled and diced
3 cups vegetable stock or organic chicken broth
2 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2/3 cup whole milk (or unsweetened soy milk)
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil over medium heat and cook the onion, leek and garlic for 10 minutes or until very soft but not browned. Add the carrot and potato and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the stock (or broth) and bring to a boil. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste and season to taste with salt the pepper. Let simmer for 20-30 minutes. Add the milk. Transfer the soup to a blender or food processor and process until very smooth (I left mine a bit chunky, but next time I'll try "very smooth"). Return the soup to the rinsed-out pan and reheat gently. Garnish with snipped chives or fresh grated Parmesan, if desired. Enjoy!