Category: Recipes

1. In a dry skillet, cook the pine nuts over medium heat until lightly browned, shaking the skillet occasionally so as not to burn them. Remove from skillet and set aside.
2. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water according to package directions then drain.
3. While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a 1 quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook about 10 seconds.
4. Add the flour – cook, stirring until the flour is absorbed.
5. Add the half-and-half and the salt. Cook, stirring until the mixture comes to a boil and has thickened.
6. Remove from heat and stir in the basil and grated Parmesan.
7. Put the pasta and sauce in a large bowl and toss together until all is combined. Grind the pepper on top and toss.

Very very good pasta dish. I found the recipe in a book called 1,000 Vegetarian Recipes.

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees
2. Season the chicken with the salt and pepper
3. Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat
4. Working in batches if necessary, add the chicken and cook until browned for approximately 6 minutes
5. Turn over and cook 2 to 3 more minutes then transfer to a plate
6. Add the onion and apples to the skillet and season with salt and pepper
7. Cook until slightly softened
8.  Mix the broth with the mustard and add this to the skillet. Bring to a boil
9. Add the chicken back to the skillet and stir with the apple ingredients. Transfer to the oven. Roast until the chicken is cooked about 15 to 20 minutes then transfer the skillet ingredients to a casserole dish.
10. In a small pot, mix the butter and flour to form a paste.  Take about a 1/2 cup of the juices in the casserole dish and add this to the paste a little at a time. Bring to a boil whisking all as you go along until it thickens. Season with salt and pepper.  Pour over the chicken and serve.

1. In a large bowl sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. Beat the eggs with the buttermilk and the melted butter. Combine the dry and the wet ingredients into a lumpy batter, being careful not to over mix.
3. Heat butter in a skillet over medium heat. Spoon 1/3 cup of the batter onto the skillet and sprinkle the top with some of the blueberries.  Cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side.

1. In a mixer (or by hand) add one ingredient at a time into a large bowl and mix until thoroughly mixed through.
2. Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit for approximately 10-12 minutes until light brown on the top.

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil*
• 1 tablespoon black mustard seeds
• 1/2 medium onion, minced*
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger*
• 1 tablespoon turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more, to taste)
• pinch asafoetida powder
• 1 large cauliflower cut into bite sized florets
• 1/4 teaspoon garam masala*
• 1/2 cup of water*

1. Put the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the black mustard seeds. Cook, until they change color which is less than a minute. Then add the onion and salt and lower the heat to medium.
2. Cook the onion for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until clear. Add the garlic and ginger then cook for another couple of minutes. Meanwhile, gather the turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne and asafoetida in a small bowl. Put the mixture of spices into the pot, stir, and immediately add the cauliflower.
3. Toss the cauliflower with the spices, add 1/2 cup of water, and cover the pot loosely. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower is completely tender but not falling apart, 15 minutes or so. I added more than the original 1/4 cup of water so that we could have more sauce.
4. Stir in the garam masala and taste. I tasted the dry garam masala and found it to be quite spicy for my taste so I put less in than the original recipe called for. Click here for the Wiki article on garam masala.

What I learned:

• It’s okay to adjust the spices to one’s taste
• The garam masala has similar ingredients as some of the other spices so if I had used the amount in the original recipe, it would have been too spicy for me
• The spices lose some of their spiciness when cooked but don’t depend on that to happen. Add a little at a time if you’re not sure

Enjoy! You only live once.

Click here for original recipe

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1. Heat oil in a large pot. Add cumin and jalapeno. When cumin sizzles, add the onion and sauté on medium heat until the onion is soft. Add the ginger/garlic paste and cook 2 more minutes.
2. Add the lentils and turmeric. Stir.
3. Pour 6 cups of water into the pot and bring all to a boil.
4. Reduce the heat and simmer until the lentils are cooked, about 15 minutes.
5. Add the dried fenugreek and stir.
6. When the soup is almost cooked through, add the lemon juice and salt to your taste. Stir again.

1. In a small saucepan, add the oatmeal and coconut milk. Stir.
2. Heat on medium low stirring occasionally.
3. Add the salt and cinnamon. Stir.
4. In a small bowl, add your raisins. Add hot water to the raisins to plump them.
5. Continue stirring the oatmeal mixture until it starts to boil. Add more milk if the consistency is too thick for you. Once you have reached the right consistency, remove the oatmeal from the heat and pour it onto a plate.
6. Drain the plumped raisins and add them to the oatmeal.

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1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. After cleaning, season the chicken drumsticks with salt and pepper to your taste then set aside.
3. Heat olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium heat.
4. Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes and heat through until the garlic is soft, approximately 3 minutes. Place the seasoned drumsticks in the skillet and brown the chicken on all sides. About 5 minutes each side (turn occasionally so they don’t burn).
5. Once the chicken is browned, put the skillet with everything in it in the oven.
6. Bake the chicken until it is no longer pink – about 10-13 minutes.
7. While the chicken is baking, bring the apricot nectar to a boil in a large pot over medium high heat. Reduce heat after boiling to medium low.
8. Mix the cornstarch and water to make a paste.
9. Add the cornstarch mixture and the curry powder into the apricot nectar.
10. Add the dry apricots.
11. Once the drumsticks are ready, remove them from the oven and add them to the apricot nectar mixture.
12. Heat the skillet that the drumsticks were in over medium heat. (It should still have the pieces of garlic in it.)
13. Add the onion, pepper, carrots and 1/4 of the diced poblano pepper to the skillet and stir until the onion softens.
14. Add the vegetable mixture to the apricot mixture and stir.
15. Cover the pot and simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

1. In a 1-quart saucepan, melt the butter over medium high heat
2. Add the flour and paprika and whisk it together until it’s absorbed
3. Stir in the broth and the half-and-half
4. Cook until the mixture comes to a boil
5. Add the cheeses and stir until the cheese is melted

Very very delicious.

(This recipe is from the book 1,000 Vegetarian Recipes. I use this book a lot in my cooking and recommend it highly.)

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• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3 eggs

5.  Combine the chopped spinach with the ricotta, egg, Parmesan cheese and nutmeg then season with salt and pepper. Cover and set aside.

6.  To make the pasta, place the flour in the center of a clean smooth work surface. Make a well in the middle. Break the eggs into the well and add a pinch of salt.

9. Lightly flour the dry work surface. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.

10. Divide the dough in half. Flour a rolling pin and the work surface. Pat one of the dough halves into a disk and begin rolling it out into a flat circle. It should be rolled to about 1/8 of an inch. Do the same with the second half of the dough making it the same size.

11. Then, using a fluted pastry cutter, make round or square ravioli pieces. Add a small teaspoon of filing to each of the pieces. Cover with another piece of the same sized dough and press gently to expel any air pockets. (Note: if they don’t stick together, use a small bit of water to get them to stick together.)

12. Place the ravioli on a lightly floured surface and allow it to dry for at least 30 minutes. Turn the ravioli and let the other side dry.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boiling. Add the ravioli to the boiling water. Stir gently to prevent them from sticking. They will be cooked in about 4-5 minutes. Note: Make sure the water boils again before you start the counting process or you will get “almost” cooked ravioli.

Drain the ravioli and serve in individual plates with your favorite sauce. I used a Blue Cheese sauce. The sauce was a little thick because I didn’t allow the cheese to melt all the way so I could have that added flavor.

Enjoy!

Helpful hints:

• Before taking all the ravioli out of the water and assuming they’re cooked, take ONE out and taste it.
•  Although my dough looked pretty thin, I could have rolled it a little bit longer to make it thinner.
• Use eggs that are room temperature
• The dough in this recipe makes about 13-15 ravioli. There was plenty of filling left to have the dough recipe tripled.

(The original recipe was found in the book called Vegetarian by Barnes & Noble. I made a few changes to that recipe.)

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