Baked Cauliflower

One of my favorite discoveries while living in Alaska was the “Cooking Alaskan by Alaskans” cookbook, which I consider a staple of Alaskan life. Even though I now can’t access a lot of the ingredients I could while living there, it’s still a valuable reminder of my time in the state. This recipe has no Alaska-specific ingredients, and is a simple and tasty dinner when you’re really busy.

First of all, make sure that you don’t over-boil your cauliflower. I didn’t poke it well enough and let it get too tender, which made it harder to get out of the cooking pan. That said, it didn’t ruin it, just made the transfer less elegant. This may be my new favorite gluten-free recipe (make sure you grate your own cheese or get shredded cheese specifically labeled “gluten free” as there’s sometimes gluten hiding in store-bought shredded cheese). All my favorite pasta-y flavors, none of the gluten worries. Not that this was why I tried it, but I definitely make note of these kinds of recipes. I like that it was simple to put together. I boiled my cauliflower and then used the same pot to make the sauce (next time I’ll use real onions and also garlic because why not?).

Baked Cauliflower, just out of the oven in its whole state.

Baked Cauliflower
1 cauliflower
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire
minced onion flakes
3/4 cup grated cheese
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Remove the leaves of the cauliflower and cut the core so that the cauliflower can stand upright.
2. Place the cauliflower in a large pot, cover with water and sprinkle in some salt. Boil 20 minutes or till tender. Lift cauliflower from the water and drain well. Place the cauliflower upright in a shallow casserole dish.
3. Heat the tomato sauce, Worcestershire and onion flakes till the flakes start to swell.
4. Salt and pepper the cauliflower.
5. Pour the tomato sauce mixture over the cauliflower to cover and sprinkle cheese over it.
6. Bake 10-15 minutes or till cheese is browned and bubbly.

Baked Cauliflower, dismantled prior to eating

Easy Butternut Tomato Soup

Easy Butternut Tomato Soup

I loved this new twist on tomato soup from the “How it all Vegan” cookbook, but I had several issues with it. For one, you needed a blender for the original recipe. I do not own one here in Alaska. Also, there’s no basil in the original recipe. That seemed unacceptable to me. So I took the original idea and fixed my two problems, coming up with the recipe below. You can buy the cookbook for the original recipe, which I definitely recommend because it’s an AMAZING cookbook. What you see below, however, is a great alternative if you’re lacking a blender or if you want to expedite the soup-making process. I achieved this by using canned tomato sauce, but this also meant that I had to adjust the amount of liquid in the recipe because tomato sauce is quite thick on its own. I recommend adding the minimum at first and then adjusting as you go so you can achieve your own personal preferred thickness of tomato soup. You may even want to up the amount of soy milk you use in order to make it even more creamy. This recipe is vegan-friendly, but you may sub in other foods as you wish if you are not yourself vegan. Beef broth would be a robust alternative and milk or cream would work well instead of soy milk. Jake fried up and crumbled a couple pieces of bacon over his bowl of soup and seemed to like it a lot. That’s saying something because he is definitely not a butternut squash fan.

Easy Butternut Tomato Soup
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon ginger powder
1-2 tablespoons basil
salt and pepper, to taste
3 cups vegetable stock
1 28-oz. can tomato sauce
1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes
2 cups soy milk
green onions, chopped, to garnish

1. In a large soup pot, sauté the butternut squash in the olive oil for 5 minutes. Then add the garlic powder, ginger powder, basil, salt and pepper and sauté another 5 minutes.
2. Add the vegetable stock, tomato sauce and diced tomatoes and simmer, stirring often, for 20 minutes, or till the squash is tender.
3. Remove the soup from the heat and mash with a potato masher to your own desired consistency.
4. Add the soy milk and mix well.
5. Return the soup to the heat and simmer 5 more minutes or till warm through and fragrant.
6. Garnish with green onions and serve hot. Maybe even alongside a grilled cheese sandwich…

Classic Spinach Lasagna

Classic Spinach Lasagna

Let’s be honest about life here. You really can’t go wrong with lasagna. No one is going to tell you: “Oh please don’t feed me MAGIC LAYERED WITH NOODLES.” Okay, so that may be an exaggeration. Not everyone likes lasagna. But we love it and we never make it as often as we should. I tweaked this recipe from the cookbook “How it All Vegan” so you have fewer dishes to wash. Well, maybe not fewer dishes, but by not using a blender you save having to scrub all its hard-to-reach blendery bits. This recipe is vegan, but you can easily add meat or regular milk and cheese to the recipe if you’re not vegan. Try this with the tofu though. You’ve often heard me extol the virtues of tofu as a substitute for cheese in some cases. It cuts the fat content for those of you who are concerned about that, and ups the protein a bit. I know a lot of people have concerns about tofu, but if you take it with an “everything in moderation” attitude then you shouldn’t have to worry. Pull this recipe out of your recipe box when vegan friends come to visit and impress them with how diet-savvy you are!

Classic Spinach Lasagna
1 pound firm tofu, drained and squelched
1/4 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3 teaspoons dried basil
salt, to taste
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2-3 tablespoons garlic powder
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups spinach, chopped
4-6 cups tomato sauce
cooked lasagna noodles
1/2 cup shredded cheese (soy or real), optional

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the squelched tofu, soy milk, oregano, basil, salt, lemon juice, garlic powder, onion and spinach. Mix really well.
3. Cover the bottom of the pan with a drizzle of olive oil and a layer of tomato sauce. Put down a layer of noodles.
4. Spoon and spread half of the tofu and spinach mixture over the noodles. Spread a layer of tomato sauce over that. Then a layer of noodles and then another layer of the tofu and spinach mixture.
5. Lay down the final layer of noodles and then drizzle the top with a bit of tomato sauce and cheese, if using.
6. Bake for 30-45 minutes or till golden brown on top.
7. Remove from the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers with Parsley Sauce

Just out of the oven!

I’m back everyone! And in case you still haven’t heard…I’m done with grad school…again. And I guess if you’re reading this, then the world didn’t end at midnight. Anyway, last week, in a flurry of activity and anxiety, I finished the last of my work for my MA in Information Resources and Library Science. I didn’t have much time to go to the grocery store and Jake really hates going, so I had to make do with the veggies I had around the house that week. I got the idea to stuff bell peppers with quinoa from a Vegetarian Times recipe, but I created my own recipe. For those of you who are interested, this recipe is 100% vegan friendly. I actually encourage you all to use the soy milk, vegan or not, because its nutty flavor works well with the rest of the recipe. And eat these real quick, because they’re super amazing while they’re still warm!

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
3 red or orange bell peppers, tops cut off and seeded
2 shallots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 zucchini, diced
1-2 tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce
2 tablespoons flax seeds
salt and black pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon basil
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 cup frozen spinach
1/2 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups water or veggie broth

for the parsley sauce:
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons chopped parsley (dried or fresh)
2 tablespoons flour
2 1/2 cups soy milk or half and half
4 tablespoons nutritional yeast or grated cheddar cheese

1. Arrange the bell peppers, tops up, in a loaf pan. Preheat oven to 400F. While oven is preheating put the peppers into the oven to start the cooking process.
2. In a large skillet, saute the shallots and garlic till tender.
3. Add in the zucchini, tomatoes, tomato sauce, flax seeds, salt, black pepper, oregano, basil, and chili powder and stir to combine. Cook 3 minutes.
4. Add in spinach and quinoa and water or veggie broth, stirring to mix. Let the mixture simmer till the quinoa is cooked, adding more water as needed.
5. While the quinoa mixture is simmering, melt the butter in a small saucepan and add in the parsley, stirring constantly till butter is melted.
6. Whisk in the flour and stir to combine with the butter mixture.
7. Add the soy milk to create a roux. Continue to whisk till mixture starts to thicken. Add in the nutritional yeast and continue whisking till the mixture is thick. Turn off the heat.
8. Check the peppers. They should be just about tender. Pull them from the oven.
9. Once the quinoa mixture is cooked turn off the heat.
10. Spoon the quinoa mixture into the hollow bell peppers. Pour the parsley sauce over the top.
11. Return to the oven for 15-20 minutes or till bell peppers are fully tender and parsley sauce is beginning to brown on top.
12. Serve immediately.

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers