Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: comfort food, cooking, cuisine, dinner, eating, food, garlic, lunch, olive oil, onion, paprika, peppers, recipes, sea salt, soup, tomato, vegan, vegetarian
Comfort foods are a fabulous thing for feeding the wounded soul or ego. Often times, I find myself (like many others, I’m sure) running toward much heavier, calorie-ridden, fat-encrusted foods full of carbs that are just not healthy at all. As I’ve recently had my proverbial heart hurt quite badly, I’ve made a pact not to have my biological heart hurt either but staying away from figure-unfriendly meals. This recipe for tomato soup is flavorful, healthy, and soothing and I hope it helps to heal all of our hearts.
For this recipe, you will need:
- 5 tomatoes, cored and cut into quarters
- 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and cut into quarters
- 3 medium yellow onions, peeled, and cut into quarters
- extra-virgin olive oil
- aluminum foil
- 5 plump cloves of garlic, unpeeled
- fine-grain sea salt (or any other salt you may happen to have at home)
- 2 – 3 cups skim milk (feel free to substitute this with low-fat rice milk, soy milk, or vegetable broth)
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- Preheat the oven to 375F degrees and position 2 racks in the middle of the oven. Line two baking sheets with non-stick aluminum foil, or brush regular aluminum foil or baking sheets with olive oil. (I’ve never tried this with non-stick cookware.)
- Arrange the tomatoes and peppers, skin side down, on a baking sheet. Coat them, along with the onions with olive oil and put them on the other baking sheet along with the garlic. Lightly salt all of the vegetables, and bake until the tomatoes start to collapse and the onions start to brown and caramelize (about 45 minutes). Turn the vegetables, particularly the onions, if they start getting overly dark on the bottom. Garlic should be golden in color before it is removed from the oven.
- Peel the garlic and add it with vegetables to the blender or food processor. Add one-half to one cup of the milk until soup reaches desired consistency. Add the paprika and more salt (if needed) or other seasonings, such as black pepper, or oregano, to taste. You may want to add light cheese or croutons. This would also be delicious served with a baguette of crusty bread.
Can be heated/reheated on top of the stove or in the microwave.
Filed under: dessert recipes | Tags: almonds, baking, cardamom, chai, cinnamom, cloves, cooking, cuisine, dessert, dining, eating, food, fusion, ginger, nutmeg, recipes, rice, rice pudding, snack, south asian, soy, soy milk, tea, vanilla, vegan, veganism, vegetarian, vegetarianism
I’m anxiously awaiting the return of my pudding cup from his travels abroad. He is currently visiting Pakistan to attend a family wedding. He has a few favorite South Asian dishes, so it would be nice to share some recipes with him that will remind him of his family there. He enjoys tea quite a bit, so I thought it would be a nice gesture to have some recipes on hand that include the lovely flavor of chai tea that we could make together when he comes back to NYC.
For this recipe you will need:
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon vegan margarine spread or butter
• 1 cup uncooked brown rice (if you don’t have brown rice on hand, you can substitute white rice)
• ½ cup raisins
• ¼ cup real maple syrup
• 1 cup vanilla soy milk
• ½ cup brewed chai tea (place water in a mug in the microwave with two tea bags for about 75 to 80 seconds, let steep for two to three minutes)
• ½ cup almonds, toasted and chopped (almonds can be purchased toasted, or you can put them in an ungreased frying pan on medium heat for a few minutes until they smell toasted)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom OR ground ginger
1. In a medium saucepan bring water to a boil. Add rice and shortening, then stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes, or until rice is tender.
2. Add rice raisins, maple syrup, soy milk, tea, almonds, cinnamon and cardamom. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Immediately reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring frequently, until thickened about 6 to 9 minutes.
3. Spoon into bowls and serve. Consider topping with more ground cinnamon on top, whipped cream, or toasted coconut.
Filed under: dessert recipes | Tags: banana, cooking, cranberry, cuisine, dessert, dining, food, fruit, lime, orange, raspberry, recipes, snack, sorbet, strawberry, summer, vegan, veganism, vegetarian, vegetarianism
The weather here in New York is becoming, more or less, unbearable to me. I’m at the point where I’m all grilled out and just want to sit and relax with a frosty treat.
This is a sorbet recipe that I really enjoy. Feel free to replace the fruits with which ever you like. I think this recipe would be equally delicious if the raspberries were substituted with blueberries. I’ve seen this recipe used with lemon juice in place of lime juice, but I’m allergic to lemon, so I don’t include it, but I think the lime juice contrasts the cranberry juice nicely. Enjoy this dessert on a hot day—let the sorbet be the one to melt, not you!
For this recipe you will need:
- 2 cups white sugar or sugar substitute, such as Splenda
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries
- 1 cup mashed banana
- 1 (12 ounce) package frozen unsweetened raspberries
- 1 1/2 cups cranberry juice
- 1/2 cup lime juice
- 2 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate
- Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. When the sugar is dissolved, stir in the strawberries, and cook and stir for 5 minutes. Add the raspberries, and simmer for 5 more minutes, until both strawberries and raspberries have softened.
- Strain the mixture through a sieve or strainer, discard the pulp, and mix in bananas.
- Refrigerate the mixture for 2 hours.
- Remove from the freezer and transfer to a mixing bowl. Mix in the cranberry juice, lime juice, and orange juice concentrate. Use an electric mixer to beat until smooth.
- Return to the freezer until gently set, at least 2 hours.
Top with fresh whipped cream, mint leaves, dried coconut, or any fresh fruit or nuts that you like!
Filed under: lunch/dinner recipes | Tags: cooking, cuisine, dining, dinner, eating, food, grilling, italian, lunch, pizza, vegan, vegetarian
For this recipe you will need:
- Pizza dough (homemade or store-bought—it is your choice!)
- Provolone cheese or vegan cheese-alternative (this is totally optional, this recipe is great without cheese.)
- About 1 cup basil
- About 1 ½ to 2 cups marinara sauce (again, homemade or store-bought, this is up to you.)
- 1 clove mince garlic, or garlic powder to taste
- Italian seasonings to taste
- Dried crushed red pepper to taste
- Chopped vegetables and toppings to taste:
- Zucchini, diced
- Sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
- Cooked cannellini beans
- Black olives, sliced
- Green and yellow bell peppers, thinly sliced
- ½ large white onion, diced and sautéed until tender, but not brown
- Aluminum foil
- Olive oil or non-stick cooking spray.
*If you are using a homemade dough, you will need to grill it first, directly on the grill for about three minutes, before assembling pizza with toppings. An easy how-to can be found here.
1. Layer two large pieces of aluminum foil on top of one another. Brush lightly with olive oil or spray generously with non-stick cooking spray. This will keep the pizza from sticking to the foil and will allow for easy removal.
2. Start with homemade or store-bought pizza dough/crust . If you are purchasing the dough, be sure to carefully read the list of ingredients to make sure it is not made with eggs, milk, casin, or gelatin if you are a vegan.
There are several awesome recipes for pizza dough that can be found online. I personally like this one. It does include honey, but that can easily be replaced by maple syrup, or simply excluded from the recipe. Be sure not to leave salt out of the recipe! Many people often forget or exclude salt from their dough, but it really makes a huge difference in taste.
Whichever option you choose, it should ideally be about 4 servings in size.
Place the dough/crust on top of the foil.
3A. (optional) Cover the dough with pieces of very thinly-sliced provolone cheese (or a vegan soy-based “cheese”), going for a margarita-like style, leaving at least ½ inch from the end.
3B. Add a layer of basil.
4.Cover in marinara sauce (though a pesto sauce would also work quite well). If you are using jar sauce, read the label, making certain that dairy products, including parmesean or romano cheese are not included
5. Top pizza with toppings listed above.
6. Transport your pizza to your grill, which should be prepared for high heat. Heat the pizza for about 10 minutes, until the toppings have been heated through.
Serve hot.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Welcome to my new recipe blog, while I hope to fill with lots of ideas meatless meals. As always, I hope you will continue to read my other blog, which can be found at: http://keeleyteemsma.wordpress.com.
Peace,
Keeley T.
