Melanie and Heidi's Red Lentil Soup

8 c. water

1 c. red lentils

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

2 large onions, chopped finely

2 tablespoons oil

2 tablespoons white rice

1 teaspoon salt

Saute onions in oil, and add the rest of the ingredients. Cook for about 1 hour until lentils and rice are completely cooked.

Joelle's variations: 

1. Cook in crockpot on high for 4 or 5 hours.

2. For barley soup: Instead of 1 c. red lentils, do 1/2 c. red lentils and 1/2 c. uncooked barley. Add 1 T. chicken style seasoning, 2 sticks celery, chopped finely, 1 onion, and only 1 t. cumin. Leave rice out. 

4. 2 celery

Peanut Butter Granola

Melt together the following in a small cooking pot:

1/3 c. oil

1/2 c. honey

1/2 c. molasses

1/2 c. peanut butter

2 t. vanilla

Mix in a separate bowl:

6 c. rolled oats

1/2 to 3/4 c. sunflower seeds

1/2 c. wheat germ

1/3 c. bran

1 c. nuts (I've used slivered or chopped almonds, pecans, etc.)

10 c. flaked cereal (Special K or Corn Flakes)

Mix dry ingredients, and then pour hot wet ingredients over dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Place by thin layers on cookie sheets, and bake at 275 degrees for approx. 1 hr., stirring every 15 minutes. Granola is finished baking when it looks golden brown. Let cool in a brown grocery bag. After reasonably cool, add shredded coconut, raisins, date pieces, dried cranberries, etc. Let cool completely before storing in plastic containers. 

Frozen Carob Peanut Butter Pie

It was suggested by the Alistair Huong that we post this recipe since they seemed to have some requests for it, so here it is. All credit for the recipe is due to Cooking with the Micheff Sisters cookbook.

1 baked pie shell (or can use a graham cracker crust)

1 12-oz pkg. firm Mori-Nu tofu

3/4 c. plus 1 c. peanut butter

1/2 c. honey

1 t. honey

1/4 c. oil

1 t. vanilla

1/4 t. salt

2 c. barley-sweetened carob chips

1 1/2 c. crisp rice cereal

Directions:

In blender, blend tofu, 3/4 c. peanut butter, honey, oil, vanilla, and salt until smooth and creamy.

In a glass bowl, spread 1 c. peanut butter evenly, covering bottom and sides of bowl. Add carob chips. Microwave approx. 1 minute, until melted. (Note: DO NOT overheat as mixture will harden, curdle, and become unusable. Stir together until smooth. Add cereal. Spread carob mixture into pie shell. Freeze for 4 hours, until set.

Pour peanut butter and honey mixture into pie shell and return to freezer until completely frozen. (Alistair's note: When I made this, I just poured this second layer directly on top of the carob layer and froze them together. It seemed to work just fine.)

Serve when just slightly thawed. Garnish with carob curls and/or chopped peanuts. 

Enjoy!

Al

Italian Wanna-Be's Sandwiches

Alex, the chef at the Palatino hotel in Rome where my parents go on their tour, would probably come up with something like this. But this is vegan!

You'll need:
About 1 of those long, skinny wheat baguette loaves (which also make great garlic bread, by the way). Depends on how large of a crowd you're feeding, though.
1 recipe (or less, depending on size of crowd) of cheese recipe below
A bunch of basil leaves, enough for one per mini-sandwich you're preparing
Roma (or other small) tomato slices
Garlic
Olive oil
Salt

Step 1: Prepare "mozzarella" cheese!
2 c. water or plain soymilk (I use water)
1/2 c. nutritional yeast flakes
1/3 c. quick-cooking rolled oats
1/4 c. sesame tahini
1/4 c. kuzu, arrowroot, or cornstarch (I've been using arrowroot powder)
3-4 T. fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 t. salt

Lightly oil a 3-cup mold, loaf pan or small bowl. Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Pour into saucepan and stir over medium heat until very thick and smooth. Pour into prepared container, and cool uncovered in fridge. When completely cool, cover and chill overnight (although, I admit to making this in the morning or afternoon and serving it in the evening.) To slice, turn out of the mold and slice with an oiled or water-moistened knife. This cheese is extremely sticky and barely holds together, but is wonderful for these sandwiches. We've also tried them instead of the casein-laden fake cheese from the store on mini-pizzas. Mmmmm, good!

Step 2: Prepare tomatoes.
Slice tomatoes, not too thinly, not too thickly. Place in a bowl and drizzle olive oil over them, and add some crushed garlic to the mix. Sprinkle with salt to taste. Let marinate about 15-20 minutes.

Step 3: Slice bread. I like to make my slices about 2"x3" or so.

Step 4: Assemble sandwiches!
Slice cheese into semi-thin slices and place on top of bread slices. Then put a basil leaf down, and top with a tomato slice about the size of the top of the sandwich. You can drizzle leftover olive oil and garlic mix from the bowl over the tomato, but don't drench the sandwich! You want people to be able to eat it like finger food.

Zucchini Patties

9 c. grated zucchini (Mom and I use the food processor.)
4-6 c. quick oats (depening on how dry the zucchini is)
10 t. chicken style seasoning
2-3 t. salt
5 t. nutritional yeast flakes
4 chopped onions (I do mine in the food processor)
2 c. cashew pieces
1-3 c. breadcrumb-stuffing mix (Mom and I use Pepperidge Farm kind)

Mix everything together.

Warm up your waffle iron. Some types of waffle irons have reversible plates which turn into flat grills instead of the indentations for waffles. If you have one like that, use the flat side and drop your patty mix by ice cream scoop full into the waffle iron. Cook for approx. 10 minutes (depends on the iron's temperament.)

GREAT for potlucks. And this is a really good way to use those huge, overgrown zucchini from the garden...

BBQ Chickettes

1/4 c. olive oil
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 rolls Worthington chickettes, torn
2 cans tomato puree
1/4 c. water
1 c. sucanat
1 T. molasses
1 1/2 t. salt
1 T. parsley
1 T. hickory seasoning, opt.
1/2 c. lemon juice
2 T. Bragg’s or soy sauce

Put all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on high until completely heated throughout and bubbly.

(You can also cook them on the stovetop, but we prefer not to have to worry about them burning and sticking. Crockpot cooking is just so temptingly easy!)

Spinach Sandwich Spread

We sent this sandwich spread with the bell choir for their sack lunches last Sunday. We also made it for my open house last Saturday night. Several people requested the recipe, so here it is!

1 c. soy mayonnaise (2/3 c. water, 2/3 c. oil, 1 George Washington Broth pkg., 1/2 c. unsweetenedsoymilk powder, 4 T. lemon juice)
1 pkg. mori nu tofu

Blend mayonnaise and tofu.

1 c. diced water chesnuts
1 sm. diced onion
1 pkg. Knorr’s dried vegetable soup mix
1 10-oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and thoroughly squeezed

Mix all and add spinach last. MUST be refrigerated overnight (or made in the morning and sit all day) because the soup mix needs to soak in mixture to be reconstituted and flavors must marinate.

Multi-Purpose Cake

This is probably my family's favorite cake recipe. We adapt it and play with it. See the variations below. Most recently, we served it at my open house with the last variation. I also made my own variation, a pineapple right-side-up cake with frosting on top when my brother's bell choir came. I'll try to post a picture later.

Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare 8x8x2” pan with Pam. Drain 1 8-oz can unsweetened pineapple slices.

Mix in bowl:
1 2/3 c. unbleached flour
1/2 t. salt
2 heaping t. Featherweight or Ener-G baking powder

Mix in separate bowl:
1 c. liquid
1/3 c. canola oil
1/2 t. vanilla
3/4 c. sucanat

Add liquids to dry and mix until moist and lumps are gone. Pour over pineapple slices and bake for 35-40 minutes. Can double it and use larger pan.

Variations
Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
Mix and spread on bottom of pan BEFORE making the batter:
1 T. pineapple juice
2 T. canola oil
1/3 c. sucanat
Arrange pineapple slices on top and put cherry in center of each piece if desired.
(I made my own variation of this when bell choir came: a pineapple-right-side-up cake with the following frosting on the top.)

Frosting
1 block Mori-Nu Firm tofu
1 pkg. Mori-Nu Mates Vanilla pudding mix
1 pkg. Tofutti non-dairy cream cheese
1 T. Emes Clear Jel
Blend it all together in the blender and then let it chill to set up. Spread on top of cake.

Open House variation
My mom used the above frosting on the plain cake above (no pineapple on the bottom or top) and chopped up fruit for the top. We had canned mandarin oranges, blueberries, sliced kiwi and strawberries.

Summer Pizza

I made this for the OHA bell choir when they came a couple weeks ago. Mrs. Bange wanted the recipe, so here it is.

1 c. water
1 c. cashews
1/8 t. garlic salt
1/2 t. onion salt
1/4 c. dried onion
1 T. yeast flakes
2-3 T. lemon juice
1 T. instant clear jel
2 T. minced fresh onion
1 t. dill weed
3/4 c. Tofutti non-dairy Sour Cream (which I added for the bell choir. It's not absolutely necessary, but it makes this taste "real"--like it has dairy in it or something!)

Blend water and cashews until cashews are very smooth. Add seasonings and sour cream, if using it. Thicken with lemon juice and clear jel. Scrape into a bowl and stir in minced onion and dill.

Spread over 2 pre-baked pizza crusts. Sprinkle with diced tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, green pepper, olives, shredded carrots, and shredded fake cheese.

(Sorry, I don't think I have a picture of this, unless my mom sends me one, and I'm not fully sure that she has one.)

Biscuits

Mindy requested this recipe.

FIRST: Turn on oven to 450° and grease pans.

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup soymilk

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Mix oil and soymilk in another bowl, and then add to flour mixture and mix well. Scoop out quickly with an ice cream scoop onto greased sheet pans. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned. (Makes 6-7 big biscuits, made with a 1/2 cup ice cream scoop.)

Carob Crunchies

This one is to supply Tim's request...

1 1/2 c. carob chips (NOT non-hydrogenated or they won’t melt properly)
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 1/2 c. rice crispies
1 c. nuts

Spread peanut butter on bottom of crockpot. Then add chips. Cook on low for 35 minutes. Add other ingredients. Drop onto party papers and freeze to cool.

pecan cookies

3/4 C. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/4 C. cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 C. chopped pecans or walnuts
1/4 C. maple syrup
3 T. canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix dry ingredients separate from wet ingredients
Whip wet ingredients together, then add to dry.
Combine well, then put in freezer for 30 min. Remove
and form small logs. Place on greased baking sheet for
9-13 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove, cool completely
and dip in melted carob chips, almond bark or baking
chocolate. Enjoy.