Goblin Pie

I went to the grocery store last night and loaded up on groceries. While there, I was shocked at the price of fresh spinach. $6.99 lb! Ridiculous, right? So I didn't buy any and after I left my neighborhood market I headed down the street for the health food store. Spinach there was $2.49 lb. I bought two pounds.

Two pounds may sound like a lot of spinach... okay, it is a lot of spinach, but for what I am planning on cooking this week, it is just enough. Really, spinach is a staple in our home. One recipe calls for 10 cups of spinach, another calls for four and yet another calls for six! So, buying that much spinach didn't bother me. It wont be going bad.

Today I decided to make a souffle for dinner. I am trying out another recipe in my vegan cookbook. Spinach souffle! I love that stuff, and make it with tofu and the nutrients and vitamins that I need just skyrocket! So, with a little bit of tweaking to make it perfect for my family, here is my recipe:

Goblin Pie

What you need:

4 Tbsp olive oil
1 med yellow onion, minced
4 cups fresh baby spinach
handful of mushrooms, sliced
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lb firm tofu, drained
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup veggie broth
2 Tbsp soy sauce

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350*. Lightly oil a 3 qt casserole or round baking dish and set aside.
In a large skillet heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium low heat. Add the onions, cover, and cook until soft (about 10 minutes). Stir in the spinach and mushrooms and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook until spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes.

In a food processor (or blender) combine the tofu and the onion/spinach mixture and process until well blended. If you are doing this in a blender, add the vegetable broth and blend. Add the baking powder, soy sauce, remaining 3 Tbsp of olive oil, and the broth if you have not yet added it. Blend. If you have a heavy duty blender, go ahead and add the flour and blend it all together. My blender would choke, so I after everything else was blended I had to mix the flour in by hand. Regardless of how you do it, when it is all blended together, pour into your baking dish. Add cheese if you would like. Or not. Put in the oven and bake until firm, about 60 minutes. Serve immediately.

This souffle looks disgusting. Really. Jeffrey said it looks like a cow pie turned over. But man oh man, is it good stuff! This is definitely added to our rotating dinner menu. Okay, lets be honest, I don't have one of those, because I am constantly trying new recipes. But if I did, it would be added. We loved it! The tofu has lots of protein, as does the spinach, so that is great. They both also have lots of calcium, so you nay sayers about the vegetarian diet, there you go. A simple dinner that has tons of the two nutrients that are supposedly lacking. Next time I am going to add some ground up flax seed just for fun.

Well, what are you waiting for? Go on and make it! Surprisingly easy, and enormously delicious!

Buen Provecho!

Roasted Zucchini and Tomatoes

I have some zucchini sitting in my fridge waiting to be used. And I am craving vegetables without pasta. So glad I found my cookbook (do I talk about it too much?). I found a recipe in it for Roasted Zucchini and Tomatoes. Since I have all the ingredients it calls for, I decided I would make it. I will come back and post (if I can remember to take one) a picture, and my reviews. I am hoping it will turn out good! But of course it will, it is zucchini and tomatoes!

Without further adieu,

What you need:

4 small zucchini, halved lengthwise
1/2 small yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 ripe plum tomatoes, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley

What to do:

Turn on your oven to 400*. Lightly oil a 9x13 baking pan. Cut the zucchini inot 1/4 inch slices and place in the prepared pan. Add the onion, garlic, tomatoes, oil, basil, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste, tossing to coat.
Roast, uncovered until tender, stirring once about halfway through, 30 to 40 minutes.
Transfer to a serving bowl, toss with the parsley, and serve immediately.

Sounds good, doesn't it? So I am now off to make it. And as always

Buen Provecho!

Baked Pasta Shells with Broccoli

I got a new cookbook on a date with my hubby last week. I finally made a recipe out of it last night. It was pretty good, but not what I was expecting. For some reason I thought that it would be a very elegant meal. I don't know why I thought that, but I did. At any rate, it was very much a home-style cooking kind of meal. But Jeffrey liked it a lot and requested I make it again, so that is a good sign. I forgot to take pictures of it, so you are going to have to use your imagination on this one. Also, I didn't follow the recipe exact as I didn't have all the ingredients it called for, but I think it turned out pretty well regardless.

What you need:

1 medium bunch broccoli, trimmed and cut into small florets (I would use two bunches of broccoli the next time I make this)
8 oz small pasta shells (I used curly noodles as I didn't have shells)
3 cups Mornay-Style Cheeze Sauce (recipe below)
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup dry unseasoned bread crumbs
1 tsp sweet paprika

What to do:

Steam the broccoli until just tender, about 5 minutes. Run under cold water to stop the cooking process and set aside. Preheat the oven to 375*F. Lightly oil a 9x13" baking dish and set aside.
In a pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta over medium-high heat until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain well and return to the pot. Add the steamed broccoli, the Mornay sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix gently to combine, then spoon the mixture into the prepared baking dish and top with the bread crumbs and paprika.
Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until the top is lightly browned, about 10 minutes longer. Serve immediately.

*** I just mixed everything in the baking dish rather than return it all to the pasta pot and then mixing it before putting it in the baking dish. Also, we were impatient to eat so I baked it for 15 minutes with the foil on and about 10 minutes with the foil off.***

Mornay-style Cheese Sauce

What you Need:

1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/8 tsp turmeric (I didn't have any so I used worchestshire sauce. I don't recommend doing this )
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 Tbsp water
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp yellow mustard
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk (I only had vanilla, so I used regular milk)

What to do:

In a small saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, cover, and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in the broth and nutritional yeast, turmeric, and salt and pepper and simmer, stirring, until the mixture starts to thicken and bubble. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture and cook, whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes to thicken.
Transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add the lemon juice, mustard, and milk and blend until smooth. Taste, adjusting seasonings if necessary. Return the sauce to the saucepan and heat over low heat, stirring, until hot. If not using right away, cool the sauce to room temperature, then transfer it to a container, cover, and refrigerate until needed. Properly stored, the sauce will keep for 2 to 3 days. Reheat the sauce in a saucepan over low heat.

Again, it was a very comforting meal, but I will definetly add more broccoli next time, and not try to replace the turmeric, because that gave it a really funny flavor. I also added some shredded cheese and mixed it in with the casserole. All in all, it was yummy but nothing to wow the Jones'. If you do decide to make this, let me know now it goes, and as always,

Buen Provecho!

Pumpkin Bread

This Pumpkin Bread is not your typical pumpkin bread. It is far better than any other you could ever taste. It is divine and phenomenal. Every time I make this I get requests for the recipe. It is absolutely delicious! I love to make it in the fall, and just realized I don't have the recipe posted. What a horrible oversight on my part! Never fear, for what would be the purpose of this post were it not to share the scrumptious bread (it is true, I have probably been watching too much Jane Austen if my speech is begining to imitate theirs. Oops!)

At any rate, here it is:

What You Need:
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 bag craisins

What To Do:

Heat your oven to 350* F. Grease and flour your bread pans (about 3 7x3" loaf pans.
In a large bowl mix the pumpkin, eggs, oil, water, and sugar until it is well blended. In a seperate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices and craisins. Stir the ingredients into the pumpkin mixutre until just blended. Pour the batter into bread pans. Bake for about 50 minutes. Loaves are done when they pass the toothpick test.

They are best the day after baking for some odd reason. But even fresh out of the oven they are divine. I hope you all enjoy this, and feel free to play with the mix ins. The recipe didn't call for craisins but I added them anyway, and have decided that they are necessary. Absolutely wonderful! Enjoy.