I did not cook this - my husband did!  It was yummy.  (Even Dylan thought so!  Kind of!)

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Another healthy salad sandwich!  I’m on a roll!  (Get it?  Roll?  Ha…?)

• 1 cucumber, seeded peeled chopped
• 3 plum tomatoes, chopped & drained well
• 1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained well
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup halved Kalamata olives
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 3 tbsp each chopped fresh mint and oregano*
• salt & pepper to taste - easy on the salt, the olives and the feta may be enough

Mix everything together.

Serve in pita bread w/ hummus.

*Not in the original recipe, but obviously needed!

This soup is embarrassingly healthy, rich and hearty, and takes about 20 minutes to prepare. Though it’s really more of a hearty soup than a chowder, I will defer to the original recipe name here.

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This was an almost oppresively healthy meal, but the potatoes in the griddlecakes made it filling, and the rosemary, spinach and feta made it tasty.  The lima beans were also amazingly good - dry cooking them makes them fluffy without becoming grainy, and there is almost no vegetable that the addition of Italian herbs and chopped green olives can’t improve. Continue reading →

This is a vegetarian version of my Cincinnati-Style Chili.  (Vegan, actually, if you don’t put cheese on top.)  You can make it fat-free by omitting the olive oil, but you won’t get the flavor benefits of the fat-soluble elements in the chili powder or cumin.  This is the first time I have ever made it in a slow-cooker, and it was quite successful!  The beef version of this chili really does need high heat in the beginning to brown the meat and develop a fond, but the veggies did quite well simply simmering on low for about 8 hours while I went about my day.  The other change I made on this round was to use a can of crushed tomatoes instead of diced, which I think was a good change.

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The baked beans are not quite done yet, but I do not think I like this recipe.   For one, it’s got four different sweeteners in it (maple syrup, molasses, honey, and sugar), and I like my savory foods *savory*.  For another, I think I may have burned it.  We’ll see.

[Post-tasting notes: the beans were atrocious.  I have thrown them out.  What a waste of bacon!  For excellent baked beans, try Alton Brown's Once And Future Beans.]

The Roasted Broccoli Medley is misnamed (broccoli medley implies several varieties of broccoli - this is a vegetable medley containing broccoli) but simple and good.

• 1 head broccoli cut into florets
• 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 each large red and green bell peppers, sliced
• 4-5 large cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/8 cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Italian herb blend

Toss everything together in a big bowl, then roast at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until veggies are slightly softened and well browned.

The veggies tonight are going onto open-faced sandwiches and topped with melted provolone.  Mmmmm, cheese!

I have a confession: I did not griddle this.  I do not own a griddle.  I pan-seared it instead.

This dish really drives home the necessity of marinating tofu for a long time - I accidentally let this marinate for 2 days and the flavors were much more intense than my usual 20 or 30 minutes. Continue reading →

The original recipe title was “spicy mac & cheese” but since I was making this for a 20-month old I left out the cayenne and the jalapenos.  Still very tasty though!  I also added some roasted veggies because I like my mac & cheese with roasted veggies.  I’m still going to count it as having made this from the book because I followed the recipe’s directions regarding the types and proportion of cheeses.  Also the cumin and coriander in the sauce, which was a nice touch that I think I’ll keep. Continue reading →

This is a nice basic recipe for the kind of “orange [insert protein here]” you can get at any Chinese fast food lunch buffet.  It would work just as well with chicken as with tofu, but actually the tofu has a really nice texture once it’s been battered and fried.  It was sweeter than I normally like for dinner, but not overly so, and the crispiness of the tofu really balanced it well. Continue reading →

This was originally a mashed potato recipe - I changed it up a bit because I really, really really love twice-bakeds.  And because you eat the potato skin too, they’re marginally healthier than mashed.

The recipe is a bit of a no-brainer.  Potatoes, shredded cheddar cheese, a couple chopped jalapenos (I used jarred tonight because I couldn’t find fresh on my way home), just enough butter and milk to make them fluffy.  Salt and pepper. Continue reading →