Kidney Beans and Quinoa

This is what I made for our lunches today. YUMMY!!!!! (and healthy)

• 1 cup dried kidney beans (soak 8 hrs, drain, and boil for 1 1/2 hrs--let cool)you may use canned if you wish
• 1 cup quinoa (cook and set aside)
• 1 cucumber diced
• 1 avocado diced
• 1 tomato diced
• raw goat milk white cheddar cheese diced (optional)
• braggs ginger salad dressing (or something similar)
• nutritional yeast
  
  Put quinoa in a bowl, and add all of the other ingredients and put a little salad dressing on it to give it some flavor. This will be good as a cold or hot salad. I also sprinkled nutritional yeast over the top (B vitamins).
  
  Two days ago, I just tossed steamed broccoli (cold), kidney beans, goats milk cheese and salad dressing. It was GREAT!!!

Mike's Chickpea & Corn Patties

2 Teaspoons Olive Oil (divided)
1 ½ Cups Corn Kernels (about 2 ears)
1 Cup Chopped Onion
¼ Cup Finely Chopped Red Bell Pepper
1 Teaspoon Minced Fresh Thyme
1 19 Ounce Can Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans) Rinsed and Drained
½ Cup Bread Crumbs
2 Tablespoons Corn Meal
½ Teaspoon Salt
¼ Teaspoon Red Pepper
4 Tablespoons Cornmeal
Cooking spray
¼ Cup Sour Cream
¼ Cup Salsa
Thyme Sprigs for Garnish


Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add corn, onion, red bell pepper and minced thyme. Sauté 2 minutes. Place onion mixture, chickpeas, breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons cornmeal, salt and red pepper in a food processor. Pulse 8 times or until combined and still chunky.

Divide chickpea mixture into 8 equal portions shaping each into a ½ inch thick patty. Dredge patty in remaining 4 tablespoons of cornmeal. Heat ½ teaspoon oil in skillet coated with cooking spray over medium high heat. Add 4 patties and cook for 5 minutes. Carefully turn patties over and cook for another 4 minutes or until golden brown. Repeat procedure with remaining 4 patties.

Serve with sour cream and salsa. Garnish with Thyme sprig.

Patties may be frozen before cooking.

Sweet Kale Salad

I have to share this recipe--it was so good!

Kale Salad
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup honey or agave
cook in saucepan until it becomes a syrup and set aside

1 TBS toasted sesame seeds (toast in oven on 325--for 15 min)

4 cloves of garlic (minced or pressed)
3 TBS olive oil
3 bunches of kale cut into 1-2" strips
1/2-1 cup of vegetable broth (or water w/or w/out sea salt if you have none)

Put oil in huge pan (or wok) on med high heat add garlic add kale, and then add broth (heated). Toss together and cook over med-high heat covered for 5-8 min.

remove cover, drizzle w/ honey/balsamic syrup and sprinkle w/ sesame seeds toss together and serve hot or cold.

GREAT salad!!!!

Pasteli

Thanks Nancy, this recipe looks great! I haven't tried it yet.

Pasteli: Sesame Honey Candy

By Nancy Gaifyllia, About.com http://greekfood.about.com/od/candy/r/softses_pasteli.htm
See More About:
candy recipes
ancient greek recipes
cooking with sesame seeds

Pasteli: Sugar-Free Sesame Honey Candy

In Greek: παστέλι, pronounced pah-STEH-lee

The version of pasteli most commonly sold at the market is generally very hard. It's the sugar in the recipe that makes it hard. This classic version is sugar-free and creates a chewy texture with the fabulous tastes of sesame seeds and honey.

Tip: The quality and taste of the honey will have an effect on the final product. Try this recipe with organic honey of your preference (thyme, wildflower, fir, pine, chestnut, etc.).

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups of honey
3 cups of hulled white sesame seeds
1 strip of lemon peel (about 1/4 x 1 inch) (optional, see note)

Preparation:
Note: If desired, add the lemon peel to give the pasteli a light hint of lemon.

In a saucepan, bring honey and lemon peel to a boil. Add sesame seeds stirring continuously and continue to cook while stirring to mix completely and thoroughly. When the seeds are fully mixed in and the mixture has boiled again, remove from heat. Remove and discard lemon peel.
Spread a piece of baking parchment on a cool work surface and spread out the hot mixture thinly and evenly, on the paper (about 1/4 inch high).

When the pasteli cools to room temperature, refrigerate, as is, on the parchment paper (it doesn't need to be covered). Chill for at least 2-3 hours.
With a kitchen shears, cut the pasteli into small pieces, together with the parchment paper on the bottom, and serve.

To eat, peel off the parchment paper.
Store in the refrigerator.

Serving suggestions: Pasteli can be eaten as a candy at any time, as an energy booster, and it goes wonderfully well as an accompaniment to tea. Because it is very sweet, cut in small pieces. Those with a sweet tooth can always select several!

To increase or decrease quantity: The recipe calls for equal parts by weight of sesame seeds and honey.

1 pound of honey (16 ounces) = approximately 1 1/3 cups
1 pound of sesame seeds = approximately 3 cups

Note about sesame seeds: Sesame seeds can be quite expensive, especially when purchased in small quantities. Look for sources to buy in bulk.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

This is a GREAT website!!! She has tons of recipes! This is where I got the pumpkin pie recipe from...this turned out great, however, I maybe try an easier one next--or one without oil and/or sugar. Stay tuned.....

http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2008/10/vegan-pumpkin-pie-worthy-of.html

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9-inch glass pie plate. (Or not--I didn't)

In a food processor bowl add: (blender and worked fine)

1 14 or 15-oz can pumpkin

1 1/2 cups plain hemp milk

2 teaspoons bourbon vanilla (regular works fine)

2 tablespoons light olive oil

1 tablespoon Ener-G Egg Replacer ( 2 TBS of flax seeds ground in coffee grinder is replacement)

3/4 cup organic brown sugar

1/2 cup buckwheat flour

2 tablespoons tapioca starch/flour (I put 2 TBS of tapioca pudding in coffee grinder and added)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (I used Arrowroot--but you may not even need w/ tapioca)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon or pie spice

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Cover and process until smooth and creamy. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl, if necessary to incorporate all of the dry ingredients. Pour into the prepared pie plate and smooth evenly.

Bake in the center of a preheated oven for about an hour until done. The pie should be firm- but still give a little when lightly touched. The center should not be wet. It will fall a bit as it cools, like my Flour less Chocolate Cake recipe. Cool the pie on a wire rack completely. Cover and chill in the refrigerator until serving.

Makes 8 slices.

You can make this pie without a crust or with. It's not Gluten Free with a crust though. I put this pie in a Grape Nut's crust.

You just pour some grape nuts with enough Honey and/or Maple Syrup to make it sticky. Freeze, and pour pie into frozen crust. This allows you to pour the pie in without the cereal mixing into it. Bake until firm on 350.

Heart Healthy Scalloped Potatoes

Here it is everyone--I got this recipe from FatFreeVegan.com and it ROCKS!!!!



2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes (I used 8 medium)
water, to cover
Paprika or white pepper
Salt (optional)

Sauce ingredients:
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup plain soymilk (I used Rice Milk--and it was great!)
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (or fresh garlic is even better--I used 2 or 3 cloves in garlic press)
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons raw cashew butter (tahini works just as well)
1 teaspoon white miso

Place a large pot, half-filled with water, to boil while you prepare the potatoes. Using a mandolin, food processor, or a very steady hand, slice the scrubbed potatoes into 1/4-inch thick slices. They need to be a uniform size, so a mandolin is preferred.

When the water is boiling, add the potato slices and make sure they are covered with water. If not, add just enough to cover. Boil for 5-8 minutes, just until barely tender. Be very careful--they go from raw to falling apart in seconds. You do not want them to fall apart!
As soon as the potatoes are tender, remove them from the heat, pour them into a colander to remove the water, and rinse them with cold water.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Prepare the sauce by blending the sauce ingredients together, either in a blender or with a hand blender, until smooth.Place the potato slices into an oiled casserole dish one layer at a time. Sprinkle each layer with a little salt and paprika or white pepper before adding the next layer. Stir the sauce, and pour it over all the potatoes. Sprinkle with paprika.

Bake at 400 F for 20 minutes, or until sauce has thickened throughout. Serve warm. (OR INSTEAD OF PUTTING IN THE OVEN, PUT IN SLOW COOKER FOR 4 HRS, I had to pour out the liquid and thicken it on the stove and pour back in; it was soooooo good!)


This sauce was so great, you could use it as a Vegan Alfredo sauce also. I can't say enough about it!!!