"Lasagne"

ב"ה

After developing a nice creamy sauce from cauliflower, I decided to try to use it to make Lasagne.

Reminder: Make the sauce by steaming a medium head of cauliflower until soft, take the steamed cauliflower and 2 Tablespoons of tahini and puree in a food processor (adding non-dairy milk as needed, little by little -- I used unsweetened almond milk). Add whatever veggies you like (sauteed -- I like mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, carrots, etc.) and puree until smooth. Add more veggies and don't puree.

So, to make the lasagne (which I made for the first time last week for Sukkot -- and I made more for this holiday week (Shmini Atzeret and Simhat Tora -- and I thought it was delicious) -- I took a large can Muir Glenn fire roasted chopped tomatoes (you can choose whatever tomato product you like) and spooned out a layer on the bottom of a foil lined 8" square aluminum baking pan (this time, since I had "stuff" left over the first time, I used a second pan -- a loaf pan, and made a second slightly smaller lasagne). I then put a layer of mung bean noodles (I didn't fully cook them -- I just dropped them in boiling water, turned off the flame, and strained out the boiling water) by spoonfuls. Then I spooned on a layer of the cauliflower sauce, another layer of tomatoes and I topped the whole thing with a sprinkling of chopped almonds (any nut will do here).

As you can probably tell, there is a lot of room for your own additions or subtractions or just adjustments. I used garlic in the sauteed veggies but didn't add any spices this time (sometimes, when I'm making the cauliflower sauce I add turmeric, coriander, cumin, ginger, garam masala, etc.). Spicing is definitely a way to personalize this dish (I think if you've been reading my blog regularly, or at least as regularly as I've been writing it, you know I don't add salt to anything, so if you like salt, feel free to add that too).

All you need to do is experiment, eat an enjoy!

Ginger "bread" cookies

ב"ה

These are similar to previous cookies (and it's about an hour before Rosh Hashana right now, so I'll make this quick)....

These are no WROBS (Wheat, Rye, Oats, Barley, Spelt) and no sugar cookies. Take 1/2 cup each sorghum flour, almond flour, almond "milk" (unsweetened) and almond (or other nut) butter. Add stevia to taste (I use a heaping 1/4 teaspoon), 1/4 teaspoon cloves, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 3/4 of a teaspoon ground ginger. Blend together. For pan cookies, take an 8X8 pan, line with aluminum foil and parchment paper, and spread the batter on bottom. Bake at 245 degrees for 3 hours. Let cool and cut into 16 (half, half, until you have 4X4 cookies across). Or make into cookies and place on a parchment paper cookie sheet and bake at 245 for about an hour, flip and bake another 1/2 hour. The Sorghum flour has a bit of sweetness that it adds to the mix.

Noodles Cauliflower

ב"ה

I was getting into a bit of a rut and my medical practitioner told me to avoid grains (yet again), so I decided to come up with a new recipe. I've been eating some mung bean pasta (I was also advised to eat more protein and this pasta has 20 grams of protein per serving) and I wanted to come up with a good sauce for it.

In the meantime, I've been rediscovering my lifelong love of cauliflower. Cruciforous vegetables keep popping up in articles I've been reading about healthy foods. So I decided to take a head of cauliflower and steam it, Then I took out the food processor, added the steamed cauliflower (except for the floret or two I snuck into my mouth), a bit of almond "milk" and 2 tablespoons tahini. I pureed the whole "business" and added filtered water (about 1/2 cup twice, so 1 cup total). I had sauteed some veggies (a few mushrooms, a quartered-sliced zucchini, and a handful of shredded carrots) and added 1/2 the veggies to the sauce and pureed again. I then took the rest of the veggies and stirred them into the sauce. I later put the sauce on a package of cooked mung bean noodles and mixed it all together. It came out really delicious.

Eggplant Salad

ב"ה

I write also for Squidoo and I also evaluate other people's "lenses" (I'm what they call an Angel). So this means I often float around the site looking for other "lenses" (Squidoo's word for article). I was looking through vegan "lenses" and I found one I liked: The Tastiest Vegetarian Sandwich Fillings.

I liked the sound of the "Roasted Eggplant Cream", (I also loved the graphic that was with it) and, so, when I was out shopping yesterday at the local health food co-op and they had two gorgeous, nice firm eggplants, I decided to "do it".

I took the eggplants, washed them, cut off the stems and cut them in half lengthwise, put the halves down on parchment paper and tin foil on a cookie sheet. I roasted them in the oven at about 400 or so degrees until soft -- then I broiled it on low for a few minutes. I scooped out the eggplant, put it and 2/3 cup of cashews and some chopped sauteed garlic (I chopped up some garlic -- about 6 or 7 cloves -- let it sit for 30 minutes -- sauteed the garlic and used half for my sauteed kale, which I put into my salads, and the other half for the eggplant) and then I added turmeric, coriander, paprika and cumin (about 1 teaspoon of the first three and 1/2 teaspoon of the cumin). I also sprayed a few spritzes of olive oil (I have a spray bottle that my friend "Michelle Nevada" gave me for a birthday a number of years ago) and pureed in a food processor until smooth (there were still small pieces of the cashew in there -- if you want it totally smooth, you might want to use cashew butter).

This came out really good by itself but when I put it on bread it was spectacular! Next time I try this, I may try broiling the eggplants until the skin burns. That always adds a certain smoky taste that I love in eggplant salad.

"C" is still for Cookie, but this time Vanilla Rules!

ב"ה

I've been making the cookies from C is for Cookie, That's Good Enough for Me. I still love these cookies, but when I was Israel recently, my niece came to my sister's for each Shabbat and brought, for my father, some vanilla cookies she made. Though she didn't give me a recipe, I designed my own, based on hers.

The ingredients that I use for these are: 1/2 cup each Spelt flour, almond flour (or meal), organic crunchy peanut butter (no added sugar or fat), and almond "milk". In addition to this, I put in stevia to taste. I use a powdered stevia which I put in with the flours, then I add the almond "milk" (and, into the pools of "milk" I add 1/8 of a teaspoon of maple extract and 1 1/2 Tablespoons non-alcohol vanilla extract) and then add the peanut butter (and blend them all together as well as I can) and if it's still a bit stiff, I put in a bit more "milk" until the consistency is as I like it.

After I get all the ingredients together, I line an 8" X 8" pan with no-stick aluminum foil. Then I press the dough (with a spoon) into the pan, getting it as flat and as even as possible. I bake it at 245 degrees for an hour and a half (90 minutes). I then let the pan cool a bit, and cut it into 16 pieces (4 X 4) and put them into a container. I try to make these whenever I can since they are so easy. They make a good nosh.

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out some of my squidoo lenses (articles):

Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Why be Vegetarian?
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington

My Salad Days

ב"ה

I'm not a huge salad person. I know that's probably a bit surprising, since I've been a vegetarian for 33 years, but for me to like a salad it has to be easy to make and delicious (as in well worth the trouble).

But I've gotten myself into a salad routine these days -- I take 1/2 container of grape tomatoes, 1 medium or 1/2 large cucumber (or 2 small Kirby cukes), 1 avocado, 1 can of sliced black olives (small can) and 1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar and a few sprays of olive oil (I use a pump spray).

Cut up all the veggies, add the olives (drain them first), add the vinegar and oil, mix everything together.... It's good with a sandwich (or without) and I also like it with my smoothie.

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Jewish Sandwich

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):

Don't miss my latest Veg*n Themed "lens" -- If you love animals Don't eat them!

Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
Why I'm a Red Sox Fan

Giving Thanks and Passing the Mashed Potatoes (et. al.)

ב"ה

People have a tendency to associate Thanksgiving with a huge Turkey. But when one is vegetarian (which I've been for 33 years), Thanksgiving takes on a new meaning.

Stuffing that omnivores look forward to actually stuffing into the rear end of a dead turkey, I, as a vegan, look forward to baking in my oven and eating with vegetables.

I made two stuffings this Thanksgiving -- wild rice with chestnuts and cranberries and bread stuffing. The wild rice stuffing was wild rice, spices (turmeric, coriander, cumin, paprika, a little chili powder), one small bag of chestnuts (I get them pre-cooked and pre-peeled in a plastic/aluminum pouch), and some dried fruit juice sweetened cranberries. I also put in a bit of onion/garlic/scallion (sauteed in a bit of olive oil). I cooked the wild rice (I started with 1/2 cup raw), with the spices. After the wild rice was cooked (about 45 minutes) and cooled a bit, I added the chestnuts (which I cut into smaller pieces) and the cranberries. I mixed it all together and stored it in a container in the refrigerator (I made it on Sunday) and heated it up on Thursday before the guests came.

The bread stuffing (which I currently have a batch of in the oven) I made by cubing the bread (I made 4 cups of cubes with 6 pieces of Ezekiel bread), toasted them in the oven (at 245 degrees for a long time -- until they were all toasted nicely) after which, I put them in a paper back for anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days.

I then take the bread cubes, add 1 cup vegetarian vegetable stock, 1 teaspoon coriander, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, some chives and cilantro (if you don't like those herbs and spices, substitute your own -- I don't like the "Scarborough Fair" spices, except parsley ("parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme") -- and a teaspoon of arrowroot. I mixed in some sauteed onions, garlic and scallions and mixed all the ingredients together in a bowl, then transferred it to an 8X8 pan and put it in the oven at 245 degrees until the top was crusty. (It can be stored in the frig and warmed up before the meal.)

I also remade a soup I had originally made the week before when I had a mild bronchitis. I sauteed up onions, garlic and scallions (the garlic I let sit 30 minutes after cutting up to release the medicinal substances) and shiitake mushrooms in a bit of olive oil (I use a spray). In the meantime, I took 1/4 cup each black and red lentils and green split peas, along with 1/4 cup of wild rice, and put them in a pot with filtered water, veggie stock (1-4 cups -- according to your taste and sodium needs*) and 1 teaspoon each turmeric, coriander, paprika, garam masala and 1/2 teaspoon cumin and chili powder. Boil it up and let it simmer until the beans are tender and then add the veggies and cook a bit longer until the flavors meld.

* boxed veggie stock has a lot of sodium. I happen to need more sodium in my diet -- I hate salt and I was told I need 2000-2500 mg of sodium because I drink a lot of liquid, but most people do not need more than 1500 mg per day, so keep an eye on the sodium or make your own vegetable stock

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out some of my squidoo lenses (articles):

Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Why be Vegetarian?
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington