Adobo Vegetarian Chili

Ingredients

1 large can whole tomatoes

1 can sweet corn, lightly drained to keep some of the sweet water

1 can kidney beans (or black beans), drained and rinsed

1 green pepper, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 cup chopped cilantro

2 or 3 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped finely

3 tablespoons adobo sauce (very spicy, so add as much or little as you want)

Directions

In a large pot saute onions and peppers in butter or oil for 5 mins. Add tomates and juice and break up with wooden spoon. Add adobo peppers and sauce, cilantro, corn and beans. Continue cooking to bring out all the flavours. Salt and pepper to taste, but most likely won’t need it, the adobo sauce and beans add a lot of salt. Serve whenever.

Creamy Smoked Salmon Penne with Dill and Capers

Ingredients

penne or whatever pasta you like

1 cup softened cream cheese

1 bunch fresh dill, chopped

4 green onions, chopped

1 lemon, juiced, zested

1 heaping spoonful dijon mustard

1/4 cup capers (as much as you like really)

fresh ground pepper

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add pasta, cook to el dente, scoop out 1 cup of the starchy cooking water. Drain the pasta but leave it quite wet. Put the pasta back into the pot with a bit of the water you put aside. Add all the ingredients immediately, toss well to form a creamy sauce. Serve immediately.

Veggie Haggis (my fav lentil loaf)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 small carrot, finely chopped

5 fresh mushrooms, finely chopped

2 cups vegetable broth

1/3 cup dry red lentils

2 tablespoons canned kidney beans – drained, rinsed, and mashed

3 tablespoons ground peanuts

2 tablespoons ground hazelnuts

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 pinch ground cayenne pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons mixed spice (or cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice)

1 egg, beaten

1 1/3 cups steel cut oats

Method

Heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat, and saute the onion 5 minutes, until tender. Mix in carrot and mushrooms, and continue cooking 5 minutes. Stir in broth (the broth will absorb the lentils very fast so pour one in then the other as needed when you add the oats), lentils, kidney beans, peanuts, hazelnuts, soy sauce, and lemon juice. Season with thyme, rosemary, cayenne pepper, and mixed spice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in oats, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a 5×9 inch baking pan.

Stir the egg into the saucepan. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan. Bake 30 minutes, until firm.

Vegan Lentil Loaf

Ingredients

Tomato Topping Mixture

 1 6oz Can Tomato Paste

1 Tablespoon Sugar

1/2 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar

1 Tablespoon Onion Flakes

1 Teaspoon Garlic Salt

Lentil Loaf

1 Cup Old Fashioned Oats

1/2 Block Extra Firm Tofu

1 Cup Chopped Onion

1/2 Cup Chopped Green Pepper

1/2 Cup Chopped Red Pepper

1 Tablespoon Tomato Topping Mixture

3 Tablespoons Plain Yellow Corn Meal

3/4 Cup Cooked & Drained Lentils

1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar

1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1/4 Teaspoon Thyme

1/4 Teaspoon Cumin

1 Teaspoon Chili Powder

1 Teaspoon Dried Parsley

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1 Teaspoon Sugar

1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Salt

1/4 Teaspoon Onion Salt

1/4 Teaspoon Dried Mustard

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix the tomato topping mixture together first because you will need a tablespoon to mix into the lentil loaf. The rest will be set aside to coat the loaf when completed.

Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to a skillet on medium heat, add chopped onions, red and green bell pepper and let cook until onions are transparent (about 5 minutes), stirring frequently.

In a food processor chop oats.

Drain tofu well and press with hands until all excess water comes out. In a mixing bowl mash tofu with a fork or use grater to coarsely grate.

In the same mixing bowl combine, cooked onions and peppers, 1 tablespoon of tomato mixture, oats, corn meal, lentils, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, 1 tablespoon olive oil, thyme, cumin, chili powder, parsley, garlic and onion salt, dried mustard and mix until well combined.

Grease a large sheet of tin foil to form loaf on, place on cookie sheet. On top and in the middle of tin foil form loaf mixture into loaf that is 2 1/2 inches tall and 4 1/2 inches square. Coat top and sides with tomato mixture (you will probably have some left over to spoon on later).

Cook loaf for 20 minutes, then cover with tin foil and cook for another 10 minutes. After cooking let cool for 10 minutes before cutting into it.

Easy Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened

3 cups icing sugar

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips, melted

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla (or favourite liqueur)

cocoa for coating (or icing sugar, coconut, chopped nuts etc)

Method

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth.  gradually beat in in icing sugar until well blended. Stir in melted chocolate and vanilla until no streaks remain. Refrigerate for about 1 hour.  Shape into 1 inch balls. Roll in cocoa.

Creamy Cumin & Parsley Marinade

For fish or chicken

Ingredients

Sour cream or plain yogurt

cumin

fresh parsley

onion

salt and pepper

Method

Add chopped fresh parsley, finely chopped onion to sour cream, add cumin, salt & pepper to taste. Place in bowl and mix in thick chunks of chicken or fish (i have used salmon) until evenly coated, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. Thread generously coated meat onto shish kebab skewers and bake, turning once.

Suggestion

I usually put a bowl of the marinade aside before I add the meat to serve as a dipping sauce.

Mexican 7 Layer Dip

Layers in order from bottom to top:

1. Refried beans – I always use canned, best to go at the bottom because it is the heaviest.
2. Guac – avocados, lime juice, tobasco, finely chopped tomato & onion, cilantro, salt & pepper.
3. Veggies – Layer of finely chopped tomatoes, green peppers & cilantro
4. Spicy sour cream – Sour Cream, taco seasoning (cream cheese optional)
5. Salsa 
6. Cheese – cheddar
7. Black olives - chopped (garnish)

Curried Chickpeas

Ingredients

1 large tomato

1 large can of chickpeas

1 onion

1 green pepper

curry powder, cumin, coriander, turmeric, ginger, red chili flakes

1 clove garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Chop onions, green peppers, tomatoes very finely, you want them to be smaller pieces than the chickpeas.

Saute onion and green peppers in oil or butter for a bit. Add garlic. Add in tomatoes and continue until they cook down. 

Add Spices a bit at a time (about a teaspoon each) until you get the flavour you like.

Drain chickpeas and add so the curried mixture coats them.

Then add salt and pepper to taste. I like it saltier, so I end up adding quite a bit.

Can be served hot, or cold as more of a curry chickpea salad.

My Easy Curry

Ingredients

Milk (any kind, I use whatever I have)

Veggies (mushrooms, broc, zuc, onions etc whatever I have)

Chickpeas/green peas/mixed beans (optional)

Garlic

Butter

Peanut Butter (don’t worry it wont taste very strongly of peanuts, unless you want it to, it just really smoothes out the flavour)

curry powder, cumin, turmeric, ginger etc

sugar, salt, pepper to taste

Method

saute onions in butter for a bit, add other veggies and garlic. Saute together for a bit. Add chickpeas etc.

Add milk, cook on medium heat. Slowly add spices until you get the flavour you want. Turn down the heat. Add peanut butter a spoonful at a time til you get the right flavour. Same with salt, pepper and sugar. 

Keep simmering the curry, it will thicken pretty fast.

Vegetarian Mushroom Gravy

Ingredients

onions (at least one)

garlic

2 or 3 boxes of mushrooms

about 4 Tbsp butter 

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup sherry 

2 – 4 cups vegetable broth

thyme

You’ll need two pans. First you saute onions, garlic and mushrooms in one. Then make the roux in the second. Then add the first pan to the second pan, so second pan should be big!

Step 1 – Chopping

Since this is a gravy, I chop the ingredients finely. Minced onions, minced garlic, thinly sliced mushrooms. I almost never chop things finely, but it’s worth it. The liquids cook out faster and the gravy is smoother.

Step 2 – Sauteing

You can throw your ingredients in, fry ‘em up without thinking and have something that works, or you can pay attention, and have something great.

Fry the onions in a little butter or olive oil on high to medium high heat. We want really nice brown bits to give the gravy that great roasted taste. Obviously avoid burning them. Onions have quite a bit of liquid inside them, so they can take a pretty high heat, but once they start turning brown, pay more attention and stir more often to minimize the chance of burning.

Add the garlic when the onions are close to done. Garlic burns easily on high heat, so this is when you want to turn down the heat to medium or medium low.

Add the mushrooms. They’ll have a decent amount of liquid in them, so you want to cook them slowly to draw it out nicely for the sauce. 

After the mushrooms have cooked down a little, add the thyme.

While the mushrooms are cooking, you can start the roux… (And if the mushrooms are done before the roux, you can take them off the heat until you’re ready for them, or vice versa.)

Step 3 – The Roux

The key to good gravy: mix the fat with the flour first. Then cook it. Then add the liquid.

So, equal parts fat and flour. For this recipe, about 4 tablespoons of butter and 1/4 cup flour. Melt the butter in a new pan (everything will end up in this pan at the end, so it should be reasonably big) over medium heat. Mix in the flour. It’ll bubble oddly. It looks and smells like Playdoh. 

Keep stirring. You don’t want to burn it, but you do want to brown it. So medium heat is good. Lots of stirring. Thick bottomed pans are better here for an even heat.

I can usually tell that my roux is ready from the smell more than the color. It goes from smelling like Playdoh to smelling like baked pie crust.

Step 4 – Deglazing the Mushrooms

* I usually do this step at the same time as I’m making the roux to give the mushrooms more time to sit in the booze.

I just sprinkle as much sherry as I need, which is probably between 1/2. If you don’t have sherry on hand, you could use Marsala wine or vermouth, or red or white wine. 

Once the fond is mixed into the liquid, you’re ready to add this to the roux.

Step 5 – Mixing it all together

Pour the mushroom bits into the roux. Stir a lot. It’ll foam up, but just keep stirring and pouring. The sauce should be thick and glossy. It’ll be too thick. This is when you add vegetable broth thin it out. Add a bit at a time until the consistency you want.