Xmas Granola

In a very large bowl combine 15 cups of oats, lots of toasted and chopped pecans, walnuts and cashews, a few handfuls of salted whole almonds, 2 cups flax meal, 2-3 cups wheat bran (can do combo of wheat bran and wheat germ but I was out of wheat germ), and 1 cup packed brown sugar.

Helpful hint: For the pecan, walnuts, and cashews I toasted them and then put them in a plastic bag and used a meat hammer to crush them into bite sized pieces. Much easier than a knife!

In a sauce pan combine 2 1/2 cups honey, 1 cup canola oil, 2 Tablespoons vanilla, and 1 1/4 cup water. Heat until bubbling.

Pour over oat mixture. Mix until evenly coated and then bake in batches on baking sheets at 325 for 20 minutes, stirring in the middle. I have a convection oven so I could two sheets at a time.

Let cool and then add lots of good dried fruit. I used fancy raisins.

Cranberry Orange Cornmeal Cake

Preheat to 375. Grease a 10 inch springform cake pan.

In one bowl combine
2 cups flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 T baking powder
1/2 t soda

In another bowl mix together
3 eggs
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 T vanilla
1/4 cup plus 2 T oil

In a third bowl mix together
3/4 cup plus 2 T (1 3/4 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/4 t salt
zest of 1 orange

Incorporate egg mixture into butter mixture
Add 1/2 of flour mix and mix quickly. Then the rest of the flour and
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 1/4 to 2 cups cranberries

Mix all together, but do not overmix

Pour batter into pan and top with
1 1/4 cups cranberries and 2-3 T sugar

Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes.

Baked Flounder

Put the fish on a foiled baking sheet. Sprinkle with lemon, breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan, salt and pepper, herbs, etc. Drizzle olive oil, sprinkle paprika. Bake for 12 minutes, until flaky, at 375, in the toaster oven if you've got that kind of toaster oven.

Transcontinental Hustle

This dish starts out just like the cous cous with steamed vegetables and sausage, but the transcontinental flair is added when, searching the pantry, you find that you're out of cous cous. Make an emergency substitution of quinoa. Now we're talking Incan supergrain!

By now if you're feeling pretty good, with that quinoa on the stovetop, go ahead and add olives, dried apricots, and prunes into the saute pan, with the sausage and everything else.

Serve with lemon, salt, hot pepper. Suggested pairings to maximize transcontinental impact include croque-monsieur, kimchee, a pint of Fosters, the music of Gogol Bordello.

No bake cookies

Melt some dark chocolate. Throw in crunchy chow mein noodles, raisins, butterscotch chips, and peanuts. Scoop onto a parchment-lined baking sheet in cookie-sized scoops. Allow to harden in fridge. Inhale.

pumpkin pasta

Using 2-3 small pie pumpkins cut off the top and scoop out the seeds. Using a knife and sturdy spoons, cut/scrape out as much flesh as possible while still keeping the shell intact. Stick the shells in the oven to bake at 350 for 40 minute until softened. Meanwhile saute the pumpkin flesh with garlic, a sliced onion, an inch of peeled ginger root for about 10 minutes. Add zucchini slices and cook for another 5. Add a big can of tomatoes, 1 lb of pasta and broth to almost cover. Cook until pasta is tender. Stir in 1/2 cup ricotta and chopped fresh basil and parsley. Scoop into pumpkin shells to serve.

apple coleslaw

Using the grater attachment of your cuisinart, grate a few apples, lots of cabbage (red and green for color), and carrots. Toss in some raisins, craisins, and toasted pecans. Add a splash of apple cider vinegar. You can add plain yogurt if you like it creamy. Enjoy.

Pasta with veggies, sausages and greens

Saute some garlic, onion, tomatoes, fresh ginger, and the sausage of your choice (I like chicken/spinach or vegan italian spice). Also add sweet potatoes, pea pods, and yellow squash. Serve over pasta and toss in a big handful of fresh baby greens right before serving.

Cous cous with steamed vegetables and sausages

The title pretty much says it all. Steam up some carrot, sweet potatoes, yellow squash, cauliflower, and pea pods. Meanwhile saute some garlic, onion, tomatoes, fresh ginger, and the sausage of your choice (I like chicken/spinach or vegan italian spice). Serve over cous cous and garnish with parsley.

Coming soon

popovers
cornbread
blueberry ricotta muffins
pizza dough

Bacalao

Get a half-pound dried salt cod at your local fish market. Soak it in water for like two days, changing out the water every so often.

Slice a bunch of potatoes and boil them until they're almost ready to eat. Set aside.

Rinse, de-skin, debone, chop up, and rinse the fish again. Dry with paper towels and coat with flour (plastic bag technique recommended). Brown the fish in that same pot. Set aside.

In that very same pot again, fry up sliced onions, garlic, canned tomatoes, tomato puree, lots of olives, lots of oil, oregano, hot pepper. No need to add more salt! Throw in the potatoes and the fish and cook for awhile longer. Add fresh parsley if you have it.

Serve with good bread and cheap Iberian red wine.

Play Doh

1 cup of flour, 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup of salt, 2t. of cream of tartar, 2T of cooking oil. Mix all ingredients in a pan, cook and stir until thickened over low heat. Then remove from heat and as soon as it cools off enough, knead until it is smooth. If you want to add color, add the food color when all the other ingredients are mixed together.

Tofu Stir Fry

Saute onion, garlic, tofu, zucchini, bell pepper, etc.

Steam some chopped sweet potato and add to saute pan once tender.

Add some sugar-snap peas, and some spices (ginger, coriander, tumeric, cayenne, etc)

Serve over brown rice with toasted walnuts sprinkled on top.

Potato Bean Soup

This is a quick delicious soup. We just made it from what we had lying around and it turned out so well we decided to write it down. It goes without saying that you can substitute as you see fit.

Saute a sliced leek in olive oil. Add 3 potatoes chopped, 3 carrots chopped, 3-4 cloves of garlic chopped, and 1 zucchini chopped. Saute briefly and then add stock (we used water and a bouillon cube because they don't sell stock in Europe). Add enough to cover veggies and then some. Add more later as necessary. Add two cans of beans (we did white beans and kidney beans) and 1+ can of diced tomatoes. Cook until veggies are tender. Sprinkle in some spices (I used lots of dried basil, some tumeric, and a little paprika). Using a potato masher, mash around the soup a bit so it gets a little thicker. Add a couple handfuls chopped Italian parsley. Serve with fresh grated parmesan on top.

Great with a salad, bread, and good cheese! Also a nice red wine (but that's too hard to come by in Norway)

Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Bowl 1
2 1/4 cups flour (cake flour or all purpose, or half white and half whole wheat pastry)
1/2 t baking powder
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

Bowl 2
1/2 cup butter creamed
add 1 1/4 cup sugar
add 2 eggs

Bowl 3
1 cup very ripe mashed banana (a cuisinart works well)
1 t vanilla
1/4 cup yogurt

Combine bowls 3 and 1 to 2 alternately

Put in muffin tins and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Top with Cream Cheese Frosting

1 pkg cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 t vanilla

You could add 1/2 c cocoa if you want chocolate frosting

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Cut 4 peppers in half. Broil on high until slightly charred and starting to soften.

Cook 3/4 cup quinoa with 1 cup veggie broth and 1 can of diced tomatoes. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir in 10 oz of fresh baby spinach. Spoon into peppers

Make your pesto: 1 clove garlic, 4 cups loosely packed basil, parmesan cheese and olive oil.

Pour onto stuffed peppers and garnish with lots of pistachios!

Provencal Tofu Salad

You need about 1 1/2 cup cooked brown or black rice (leftover rice is perfect)

Steam 1/2 pound thin green beans (cut into 2 inch pieces).

Meanwhile cut some tofu into cubes (if you can get your hands on really awesome pesto tofu at the OFD in Norfolk, do!!). Dip the cubed tofu into a beaten egg. And then saute until all sides are golden.

Make a dressing of 2 T lemon juice, 1 T water, 1 T+ mustard, 1-2 T capers chopped up, 1 shallot minced, good salt, and 1/4 cup olive oil

Toss together the rice, beans, tofu, and dressing

Serve over mixed greens garnished with cherry tomatoes

Chicken Lime Quesadilla with Cilantro Pesto

Cut 1-1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts into strips and marinate in lots of lime juice, salt, and pepper.

Meanwhile, make your pesto. Wash, dry, and destem (you don't need to separate the leaves, just get rid of the really stemmy parts) a bunch of cilantro. Cuisinart with some pine nuts, parmesan, 1 clove of garlic. As it blends, pour in olive oil until you have a thick paste.

On a baking sheet, prepare your quesadillas: spread the pesto on half of the tortilla, lay your chicken on the other half and grate a generous amount of monterrey jack cheese. Fold over. Repeat for each tortilla (this recipe makes 4-6.

This is great served with a black bean salad.

TVP Pasta Sauce

Soak your TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein)or TSP (Textured Soy Protein). I used 3/4 cup for this sauce)

Saute some garlic and finely chopped onion. Add about a dozen diced roma tomatoes. Like this cook down a bit. You can add a can of diced too if the tomatoes don't seem very juicy. Add the TVP and a can of tomato sauce (plain tomato sauce/puree). Also shake in a generous amount of green herbs. Cook until it looks nice and thick and not at all watery.

Serve over pasta with parmesan on top.

Note: You can substitute ground turkey or even beef for the TVP

Lentil Soup with Fried Egg

Saute some onion, carrots, garlic, red pepper, and any other veggies you want. Add two spoonfuls of tomato paste and stir until evenly combined. Add a generous portion of paprika. Add a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes. Add 2 cups french lentils and cover with stock or water or a combo. Bring to boil and then turn down to a simmer. Salt to taste. Cook until lentils are tender, adding more water or stock as needed. When the lentils are al dente add a couple handfuls of fresh kale leaves (not the stem).

Top with a fried egg over easy (the yolk should still be a bit runny).

Kale Chips

Wash and dry Kale leaves. Cut out stem. Put in a bowl and toss with olive oil. Spread leaves on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. Roast at 250 for 30 minutes. They should be dry and crispy. This is unbelievably delicious. Trust me!

Roasted broccoli

Cut the broccoli into small trees and place on a baking sheet. If you cover the sheet, you've got 4-5 servings. Add sliced garlic (about 4 cloves), a drizzle of olive oil, and a little salt and pepper. Roast at 425 about 20-25 minutes until broccoli is tender and a little crispy. Top with about 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, grated parmesan, zest of one lemon and lemon juice from half the lemon. Serve immediately.

Hali's Spinach Ricotta Pie

Crust: Cut 1 cup flour (4/5 white and 1/5 whole wheat works well) with 1/3 cup cold butter. Add 3 T cold buttermilk or enough so that the mix holds together in a ball. Chill for 1 hour.

Filling:
1 lb ricotta cheese
3 eggs
1 lb chopped spinach and 1 diced onion sauteed together in butter with pepper, a little salt, and some basil.
3 T flour
1/2 cup grated sharp cheese (or more)
dash nutmeg

Mix everything together and spread into unbaked pie shell. Top with 1 cup sour cream spread to the edges of the crust and top with a generous sprinkling of paprika

Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes. Serve hot!

Dean Family Irish Soda Bread

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 t salt
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 t soda
2 T sugar

1 stick butter (cold, cut into squares)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (you might not use all of it)

1/2 cup currants soaked in 3 T water
1 T grated orange rind (use organic)

Mix together the dry ingredients, then cut in the butter. Add currant and orange rind. Then add the buttermilk. Start with 1 cup and add more as needed to make a kneedable dough. Flour a cutting board and your hands and kneed for a few minutes (add more flour if it is too sticky).

Butter a souffle pan and place dough inside. Cut a cross on the top and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. check it after 35 but you very well might have to go longer than 45. It is done when a knife comes out clean. If the top starts to brown too much, turn the heat down to 325.

If you don't have a souffle pan, I'm sure you can just bake it on a cookie sheet.

Blueberry Muffins (from Stonyfield)

Dry:
1 c flour (all purpose)
1 c whole wheat flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt

Wet:
1 egg
1/2 c veggie oil (can substitute 1/4 c applesauce and 1/4 c veggie oil)
1/2 c sugar
1 t vanilla

yogurt mix:
1 c yogurt
1 t baking soda

1 c blueberries

In 3 separate bowls, mix together the dry, wet, and yogurt ingredients. Add the dry mix and the yogurt mix alternately into the wet. Fold in blueberries. Put in muffin tin and bake at 350 for 25-30 min.

Collards and Black-Eyed Peas

Wash the collards and then destem them by folding in half and ripping. Lay them all on top of each other, roll them up like a cigar, and cut in 1/2 inch strips.

Saute half a diced onion for awhile and throw in the collards. Throw in some garlic, and add a can of tomatoes before everything gets burnt. Cook down for a good long while, maybe 30-40 minutes. Add a can of black-eyed peas at the end.

Serve over rice. Better yet, throw the cooked rice into the skillet as the last step. As Huck Finn says, "things get mixed up, and the juice kind of swaps around, and the things go better."

You can add Worcestershire sauce, or Tabasco sauce, or both, at the table.

Fettucini with Roasted Butternut Squash and Sage Brown Butter Sauce

Cut up 1 butternut squash into bite size pieces and roast in olive oil and a little salt at 425 until soft (probably around 30 minutes).

Meanwhile cook up your fettucini (3/4-1 lb)

In a sauce pan, melt 3 T butter and add 15 fresh sage leaves. Cook on low heat without stirring until the butter turns a light caramel color.

Toss the pasta into the butter sauce, add the squash, some toasted pine nuts and some shaved parmesan!

Optional: Add cooked swiss chard.  Separate leaves from stalks. Saute or roast stalks, throw greens in when you combine everything. The hot pasta will wilt the leaves. I actually put the chopped leaves in my strainer and poured the hot pasta on it to strain the pasta and wilt the leaves in one step.

Asparagus Goat Cheese Linguine

Saute some onion and garlic in a pan. Add some chopped-up yellow squash, sundried tomatoes, and olives. Saute until squash is tender. Meanwhile, cook your linguine. 4 minutes before the end of the boil, add your asparagus to the water(each stalk cut into threes). Strain your pasta, and toss in the veggies and lots of goat cheese (cut into chunks). Serve with freshly grated parmesan.

Version 2.0: In two separate pans, roast chopped up asparagus and sliced baby tomatoes in a little olive oil with salt. Also roast a head of garlic (chop off the top of the bulb and roast face down in a little olive oil). Roast at 425 for about 30 minutes or so until asparagus are tender and a little crisp. Toss your pasta with the asparagus, tomatoes, and the roasted garlic (scoop out each clove with a fork and throw it in). Scoop in some goat cheese. Toss. Top with parmesan!

Vietnamese Caramel Tofu

Dissolve 1 cup sugar in 1/4 cup water and heat on medium for about half an hour, until the liquid looks like maple syrup. Throw in 1/2 cup water, which will sizzle and might crystallize the sugar. If it does, stir with a spoon to try to re-dissolve.

Pour this caramel sauce on a skillet (medium-high heat) with 5 diced shallots (cook for a few minutes), add 4 minced cloves of garlic and some minced fresh ginger (cook for a few minutes), and 3 tablespoons of soy sauce (cook for a few minutes).

Cut a block of tufu into 8 thin slabs and lay them in the sauce for 10 minutes, flipping midway through. Serve with chopped green onions and ground black pepper, over rice.

This dish is really delicious if you're in a sweet/salty/spicy kind of mood. From the Times.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Broil 6 red peppers: place 6 whole peppers on a baking sheet and broil on high for 5 minutes on each side until pepper is blackened and blistered. Put peppers into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, saute 1 chopped onion in 2 T olive oil and 1 T butter until translucent. Add 3 cloves of minced garlic. Saute another minute and then add 3 cups veggie or chicken broth, 1-2 T thyme, 4 bay leaves, freshly ground pepper, and 1/4 t salt. Bring to a gentle boil

Rub skins off the peppers and remove seeds. Add to the pot. Cook for a few more minutes and then remove bay leaves and using an immersion blender, completely puree the soup. Add 1 cup whole milk and return to a simmer. Add more salt to taste.

White Bean Parmesan Dip

1 big can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
3 T olive oil
handful of fresh parsley
handful of grated parmesan
2 t fresh oregano
1 clove garlic

Combine in food processor. Service with carrots, belgian endive, and crunchy breadsticks

Yogurtlu Chicken

Mix 2 cups whole-milk yogurt with 1 teaspoon cardamom and 1 inch fresh ginger. Let it sit and infuse.

Saute 1 diced onion until soft, add a pound and a half of chicken breast until lightly browned. Add some salt and pepper and a cup of water(start with a 1/4 cup and add more only as necessary-see note below), and cook until the water is reduced.

Turn off the heat, add the yogurt, and sprinkle on some chopped almonds.

[Ed. note: we didn't let the sauce fully reduce because it was taking too long, and ended up with a delicious yogurtlu soup. Maybe a quarter-cup water would have been a better place to start.]

Serve with hot, thick pita bread

Spanikopita Triangles

First, make the filling: saute/strain/saute a pound of frozen spinach until it's dry. In a mixing bowl mash together a half-cup-plus of feta cheese [ed note: maybe a full cup would be better] with a half-cup of cottage cheese. Add 2 lightly beaten eggs, the spinach, a quarter cup dill (don't go too far out of your way to get this), and ground nutmeg.

Now take your (fully defrosted!) filo dough (find this in the supermarket's frozen section) out and take out four squares. Cut each square into four fat strips. Be prepared to make many more middle eastern pastries soon, because the remaining dough will only keep for a few weeks in the freezer!

Brush the top-side of the first rectangle with oil. Plop a spoonful of filling near one end, fold over once, then start folding triangularly all the way down. There is a knack of sort of folding in the corners as you go, by which you can avoid making the pastries too flat.

Repeat.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

If we carefully consider the ratio of the deliciousness of this dish divided by the amount of work it takes to prepare, and add to this fraction the value p sub t where p is the amount of pleasure it will give tonight to roll up the pastries, we find that we should restrict our preparation of this dish to days when we're feeling like doing some arts and crafts.

Outrageous Muffins

Preheat to 350

1/3 cup coarse ground cornmeal
1/3 cup soy or chickpea flour (or whatever flour you have)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
3/4 t salt
1 cup ground almonds
1 t baking soda

2 eggs
1 cup yogurt
1 t vanilla
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
grated peel of 1 organic orange
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup diced dried apricots

Combine wet to dry, put in muffin tins, top with cinnamon sugar and bake for 25 minutes

Whole Wheat Waffles

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup nuts, ground very fine
1 T baking powder
1/4 t nutmeg
1 3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup canola oil
2 eggs separated

Mix dry together. Mix wet together (include egg yolks in this). In another bowl beat the egg whites until stiff

Combine wet to dry, then fold in egg whites.

Make waffles on a waffle iron. Top with maple cream, fruit, yogurt and maple syrup

Simple Couscous

Saute up some onion, garlic and veggies of choice (red pepper, zucchini, etc). Cubed sweet potatoes are a nice addition, but make sure you steam or boil them so they soften before adding to the saute. Add some raisins and a can of chickpeas and spices to taste (cumin, chili, paprika, even a little cinnamon if you want)

Meanwhile put cous cous in a bowl with water and microwave for three minutes. Add cous cous to veggies when the veggies are tender. Top with fresh cilantro and/or almond slivers.

This can be served warm or cold. You can change it up by adding a can of tomatoes to make is saucier, or adding chicken to increase the protein

Pasta Primavera

Saute onions, eggplant, zucchini, garlic, peppers, grape tomatoes, sugarsnap peas, or whatever else looks good. Throw in a few ounces of white wine at the end, with some extra oil. Season to taste. Serve over stringy pasta of choice, with grated parmesan.

One way that works to saute eggplant is to cut it into french-fry-sized slices, throw in a lot of oil, and cover the pan. You can do this with the onions in there, too. Covering the pan will keep them from drying out as you cook, and reduces the amount of oil you need.

For authentic "restaurant style" flavor, use more oil and triple the salt.

Pumpkin Gingerbread

Butter a 9x5 loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350

In 3 separate bowls combine:

1 cup sugar (can do white and brown mix)
scant 1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 t soda
1/3 t baking powder
1 tsp+ ginger
1 tsp+ cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg (freshly grated if possible)
pinch of cloves

1/2 cup water
1/2 can pumpkin

Add pumpkin/water and dry ingredients alternately into sugar mixture. Or just do the typical dry and wet and combine.

Bake 1 hour.