Middle Eastern Hummus

This is one of my favorite dips for pitas or chips.  It is buttery and melts in your mouth.  I’ve discovered that you can play with the ingredients to get a taste that you like, but the most important thing is to blend it until its creamy.  This is a healthy snack that is an easy way to sneak beans into your child’s diet.

Hummus

1 can garbonzo beans (chick peas) (or 1 cup dried, pre-soak overnight and then cook until tender)

1/4 cup Tahini (sesame paste)

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

2 cloves garlic peeled (or you can roast it until tender to make more neutral flavor)

1/4 t. salt (add more to taste if using dried beans)

1/4 +/- water

10 kalamata olives pitted (or your favorite Mediterranean olive)

2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Blend all ingredients (but olive oil) in a blender for at least 2 minuets.  Add more water if needed.  Mixture should look like the texture and consistency of a thick  milkshake (Wendy’s Frosty).  Keep adding small amounts of water until the mixture is creamy.  Serve drizzled with olive oil.

(Optional ingredients.  Roasted Red Peppers and nutritional yeast flakes, or fresh basil, or cumin, chili powder and paprika. )

Eggplant Linguine with a Tomato Pesto!

“This isn’t really low calorie, but uses fresh ingredients and contains no dairy products!  Its very flavorful!” – Marta

I love pesto, but usually want to eat it with a LARGE amount of Parmesan Cheese.  I’ve had lots of trouble finding a vegan Parmesan cheese for sale lately.  So I ventured to make one of my own.  After looking at several recipes, here is what I’ve come up with.  It has a good flavor and texture, but obviously does not melt and would not fool anyone, but it is a great topping for pasta!

Non-Dairy Parmesan “Cheese”
1/4 c. Yeast Flakes
1/3 c. sesame seeds
1/3 c. walnuts
2 t. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder
1 T. chicken-like seasoning
1 T. lemon juice
1 t. salt

Put all ingredients in a small food processor and chop until its a fine powder.  Store in an air tight container in the fridge.

Eggplant, Tomato Pesto Linguine
1 large eggplant
6 oz. tomato paste
1 onion diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 c. fresh basil (or if you’re in a pinch, 1/3 c. dried basil)
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup tomato paste
2 T. lemon juice
2 t. salt
1/2 c. non-dairy Parmesan
1 1/2 c. water (add in small amounts if vegetables begin to stick, but eggplant is not tender yet)
1 lb. linguine

Peel eggplant, dice into small chunks and toss with a generous amount of salt.  Allow to sit for at least 30 minuets so it can brine.  Begin cooking pasta as directed.  When its finished drain and set aside.

Once the eggplant has brined, rinse off, and toss with lemon juice.  In a large frying pan (electric frying pan works well) begin to sauté eggplant.  Dice the onion finely and add it and crushed garlic to the pan.  Allow to cook until the eggplant begins to get tender.  Puree the rest of the olive oil, basil and tomato paste and then add to the eggplant.  Cook until the eggplant is very tender.  Toss with the non-dairy Parmesan and the linguine.  Serve immediately.

Fast Asian Noodles!

“This is a quick meal, only about 10 min start to finish, and has fresh veggies and protein.  Its a good replacement to the macaroni and cheese or Lipton noodle packets I used to eat when in a hurry!” – Marta

I pkg. Ramen Noodles
1 small onion
1 large handful of fresh spinach (1-2 cups)
1/4 cup TVP (textured Vegetable Protein), re-hydrated according to pkg.  (You can find this in most grocery stores)
Soy Sauce to taste
Oil to sauté veggies.

Chop onion and sauté in small amount of oil until they begin to be tender.  Meanwhile, begin to cook ramen according to directions.  And re-hydrate the TVP.  I like to put some of the seasoning packet in with the TVP as it does not have any flavor on its own.  Soy sauce does work too.  Once the onion begins to be tender, toss in all the fresh spinach (just cook until it wilts, you don’t want to cook it too much).  You do not need to chop it up unless the leaves are very large.  Add drained noodles and tvp and allow to get brown in the pan for a little bit.  Serve immediately.  Serves one.

Note: I like Top Ramen’s Oriental Flavor, it does not contain animal fat, however you can easily toss the packet and season with your favorite vegetable based seasoning too.

Mint Chip Ice Cream Pie

8 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate, melted
4 cups crisped rice cereal (such as Rice Krispies)
2 pints mint chocolate-chip ice cream, slightly softened

1. In a large bowl, combine the chocolate and cereal until the cereal is completely coated. Transfer to a 9-inch springform pan. Press the mixture into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of the pan. Freeze just until firm, 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Spread the ice cream in the prepared crust and freeze, covered, until firm, for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.

Creamy Chai Iced Tea

One of my favorite drinks of all time!  – Melissa

Creamy Chai Iced Tea

4 chai tea bags
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1. In a small saucepan, bring 4 cups water to a boil. Remove from heat, add the tea bags, and let steep for 10 minutes; discard the bags and let the tea cool.
2. Serve over ice and top off each glass with 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk. Serves 4.

Frozen Blueberry Lemonade

Perfect for a summer afternoon! – Melissa

Frozen Blueberry Lemonade

1 1/2 cups blueberries
1 cup lemonade
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, plus more for serving
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

1. In a blender, puree the blueberries, lemonade, mint, confectioners’ sugar, and 3 cups ice until smooth.
2. Garnish with mint sprigs. Serves 4.

Bavarian Strawberry Pie

2 1/2 cups flaked sweetened coconut
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 quart fresh strawberries, sliced
3/4 cup sugar
1 (.25 ounce) envelope unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped

In a small bowl, combine coconut and butter. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased 9-in. pie plate. Bake at 300 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned (cover edges loosely with foil to prevent over browning if necessary). Cool on a wire rack.

In a large bowl, combine strawberries and sugar; let stand for 15 minutes. In a small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over cold water; let stand for 1 minute. Cook and stir over medium heat until gelatin is dissolved; stir in lemon juice. Stir into strawberry mixture. Cool to room temperature. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into crust. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before slicing.

Creative Cooking

Penne Frittata and Pepperonia Kale. This meal was a prime example of substituting what I had in my pantry to save a trip to the store and also to save from buying more expensive ingredients. It is meatless (except for the pepperoni) which also saves on costs, but has plenty of protein from the eggs, yogurt and cheese. The kale is from our garden. It was overgrown but still had great flavor.

This Frittata recipe is inspired by Martha Stewart’s. I didn’t have milk, ricotta, or fresh basil so I made a few adjustments. Here’s the recipe as I used it. Next time I would use a little less salt and less basil. Darren and I loved it, but the kids did not.

6 eggs

1 cup plain fat free yogurt

1/4 cup parmesean cheese

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 cups cooked whole wheat penne pasta

Beat eggs, stir in yogurt, cheese and spices. Fold in pasta. Pour into a greased cast iron skillet and bake at 400 degrees until eggs are set, about 30 minutes. (I put mine in a cold oven and let the eggs cook while the oven heated up. I thought this would give the cook first on the stove top and transfer to the oven feel without having to stand over it and burn the bottom.

Pepperoni Kale (What happens when I run out of turkey bacon–it was fantastic!)

6 slices of beef pepperoni, chopped (or use a meatless substitute if you prefer)

1 onion sliced

1 large bunch of kale, washed and sliced

Stir fry the pepperoni and onion together until the onion is clear. Add the kale and cook just until barely wilted. Remove from heat and salt gently.

Roasted Vegetable Foccacia Sandwich

This is a wonderful light fresh sandwich for a hot summer day.  And its so flavorful that you won’t even notice that it is vegan.

Roasted Vegetable Foccacia Sandwich

1 loaf Foccacia Bread

8 oz. Greek Olives (pitted), chop in a food processor until in small pieces.

1 large Onion Sliced and grilled

1 lb. sliced mushrooms (or 2 portabella mushrooms, sliced) sauteed

1 Summer Squash, sliced and grilled (sprinkle with salt, onion and garlic powder first)

1 Red Pepper roasted (you can get these in a jar and its much faster)

Fresh Spinach

1 Cucumber

1 pkg. Tofu (prefrozen and thawed and marinated with soy sauce) sliced and grilled

Trader Joe’s Goddess dressing (or Kraft Cream Italian (4T.) + 1t. Tahini + 1/4t. soy sauce)

Bake whole Foccacia Bread about 10 min in a 350 oven, just to give it a nice crunch.  Remove and cut down the middle (the long way to form top and bottom).  Spread bottom of  bread with the olive mixture.  Next layer the onion and mushrooms over the whole sandwich.  Next the summer squash (there really is no set way, although I’d keep the cucumber and spinach at the top).  Next Tofu or Gluten chops (as seen in picture).  Next red pepper.  Next Cucumbers and Spinach.  Drizzle with dressing, add the top to the sandwich and cut into easy to eat pieces.

No time? Think Slow Cooking

As busy moms our time is limited.  Stress makes it hard to think and most of us grab something convenient (or fast food) for supper when we would rather fix a healthy meal.  If you’ve done it too, you’re normal.  I’ve started to lean more and more on my slow cooker to help relieve this stress.  I can put healthy ingredients in the crock before the rest of the house is awake, forget about it for the rest of the day, and just sit down to eat at dinner.  This is so helpful when we are gone for music lessons or I have a full day of cleaning planned while we are home.

Most of the slow cooker recipes I’ve found contain cream of soups with MSG and other highly processed foods.  I’ve spent the last two years researching alternatives and learning how to do as little prep as possible and still use whole grain pastas, dry beans, and unrpocessed brown rice.  Here are some of the things I’ve found:

Add an extra cup of water to your tomato based sauce and let your ingredients slow cook all day.  Then 15 minutes before serving, stir in 12 oz of whole grain pasta.  It will cook up without getting soggy, absorb the extra water and thicken your sauce!

Milk products tend to curdle  when slow cooked, unless they are highly processed cream soups or velveeta cheese.  To make a natural cream sauce, cook your broth and veggies all day and right before serving stir in yogurt, sour cream, parmesean cheese, or cream cheese just until smooth and heated through. It will thicken as it cools.

Brown rice and barley will continue to absorb water as long as there is water to absorb turning to a mushy mess.  These are great slow cooker candidates if added at the end.  Add brown rice for the last hour of cooking and barley for the last 3o minutes.

I’ve compiled 31 natural slow cooker recipes with full color photos into an e=book available at groceryshrink.com.  Here is one that is for you to sample:

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