Homemade Granola

So although my blogging would suggest otherwise, I have actually been on a cooking spree lately! This was my first thanksgiving as a Vegan so I prepared lots of dishes so that I would have something besides canned corn to eat on Thanksgiving day! Problem is, I've been in such a hurry I have not taken many pictures!  I decided, however, that homemade granola is a great recipe to share becasue not only is it a delicious addition to breakfasts etc. But it also makes a great and inexpensive Christmas gift! If you put it in a mason jar or in gift bags with ribbon, it makes a great gift to give to anyone! I've even made this for Ben to take to his office, and my own, as Christmas gifts, and it has been a hit! I hope you enjoy it!!

One great thing about this recipe, is you can use any combination of nuts/dried fruit as long as you have the proportions right....

 In a large bowl, add 4c Old-fashioned Oats to 4cups nuts--I used 2c pecans, 1.5c slivered almonds, 1/4 chia seeds and 1/4 flax seeds......but you can just use 4cups of any of your favorite nuts you choose!

 Now flax seeds.....

 1c currants

 3c dried cranberries....(remember any combination of dried fruit you like, as long as it equals 4cups)

 1tbs Cinnamon

 Now, in a measuring cup, add 3/4vegetable oil and 3/4 honey and mix together, then pour into your oats/nuts/fruit mixture and stir together.....

 On two cookie sheets, lay out your granola in an even coating...put in a 350degree oven and turn every 5 minutes for approx 30 minutes......

 until your granola reaches a golden brown but BE CAREFUL not to let it burn, checking on it often is the easiest bet!

 Now, add to your favorite yogurt for breakfast......

 Or, put it in a pretty jar with a bow and give it to someone you like for Christmas, they will thank you for it!

Granola (as adapted from Barefoot Contessa Recipe)

4c nuts (raw, the baking kind, nothing already roasted or they will burn before the rest is finished)

4c dried fruit

4c OLD FASHIONED oats--not quick cooking oats

1tbs cinnamon

3/4 vegetable oil

3/4 honey

Mix all dry ingredients together, then mix in the combined vegetable oil and honey mixture. Spread out onto a GREASED cookie sheet into an even layer (will make two cookie sheets full).  Put into a 350 degree oven, turning the granola every five minutes until golden brown. Let cool completely then serve!

Kindof like French Onion Soup

FIRST THINGS FIRST.......BEN PASSED THE BAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for ALL of the love, support, and prayers you have give us over the past 3.5 years! We are so very blessed!

Now onto the food.....
One thing I've really missed once being vegan is French Onion Soup, onions might actually be my favorite vegetable, and I add them to EVERYTHING! I decided to try and figure out a way to make it without the beef broth and cheese! It turned out DELICIOUS and it couldn't have been simpler! It's a great main course or side dish for all of the holiday meals approaching, I hope you enjoy!!

 Slice three large onions and add to 4TBS of olive oil in a pan on medium heat....

 Now add your spices: 1/2tbs dried thyme, 1tsp ground time, 1tsp red pepper flakes, 1tbs salt, 1/2tbs pepper.....

Stir together and put a lid on the onions and let cook for 35 minutes on a medium low heat, its important that you cook the onions but do not brown the onions.....

Once your onions look about like this.....

Deglaze the bottom of the pan with 3/4c red wine, I used pinot noir....

And as always, only use a wine that you would drink from a glass, not the "cooking wine"

You can also skip this step if you prefer not cooking with alcohol.

Next, add 6c vegetable broth, and three bay leaves. I also added 1/4c of minced dried onion b/c I had it on hand...if you don't no worries, omit it! Cover the mixture again and let simmer on a medium low heat for 30 minutes.

While the soup is simmer, you can make croutons....sliced french bread or baguette, drizzle with olive oil, garlic salt, and fresh thyme and bake in the oven 350 until browned!

Enjoy!!

French Onion Soup
4tbs olive oil
3 large onions sliced
1/2tbs dried thyme (or double up on the Thyme if you only have one or the other)
1tsp ground thyme
1tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1tbs salt
1/2tbs pepper
3/4c red wine (merlot, cabernet, pinot noir)
6c Vegetable broth
3bay leaves
1/4c dried minced onion

Crouton
baguette sliced
drizzled with olive oil
sprinkled with garlic salt, pepper and thyme..... Oven 350 for approx 10 minutes.

Start by preheating your olive oil on medium high in a soup pan....Add your sliced onions, thyme, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper. Cover with a lid checking every five mintutes or so for 35 minutes, making sure not to brown the onions.  Turn up heat of burner to high heat and deglaze the pan with wine. Let simmer for approx 5 minutes. Add vegetable broth, bay leaves, and minced onion. Turn the burner on medium low and let cook for another 30 minutes. Top with croutons and enjoy!

Fried Zucchini

My In-Law's zucchini plant is the gift that keeps on giving! So when I received another batch of it, I decided to make fried zucchini! The zucchini chips at Harrigans are one of our favorite appetizers and inspired this recipe. It was easy and a delicious treat to have while we watched the Rangers win the ALCS!!!! Two years in a row, hopefully the World Series is next! Enjoy!!

 Thinly Slice your zucchini, I sliced mine on the mandoline (pictured above)

Once you have your slices, lay them out and cover with paper towel or dish towel to help soak up additional moisture for approx 10 minutes.

 While the zucchini is drying, preheat your oil about 1 inch in the pan. The trick below is if you stick a wooden spoon in the oil and bubbles form around the bottom, its ready!

 In two dishes, place egg replacer (or one egg) and in the other, 2c corn meal with 1/2tbs season salt mixed together. Dip zucchini in egg then coat in cornmeal. Now you are ready to fry!

 Fry for approx 15 seconds flipping often until lightly golden!

 And serve with your favorite dipping sauce (ranch, ketchup, etc!) Enjoy!

Fried Zucchini

1 zuchini sliced thinly

2c vegetable oil

2egg replacer or 2 eggs

2c corn meal

1/2tbs season salt

Lay out zucchini evenly and cover with towel to absorb moisture. In two dishes, place egg in one and cornmeal/season salt in the other. Coat zucchini first with egg, then with corn meal. Preheat oil, and fry zucchini. Lay on sheet to cool and serve!

Homemade Spring Rolls

So last night we were actually at home, and it was the perfect night. The ranger game had been delayed allowing us to watch it together after work (one more win guys!!!), the house was clean, and I had some time to try something I've never done before...homemade spring rolls! This always sounded like a daunting task, and it has been on my list of "things I should figure out how to make" for a while. Who knew they would be so easy!?! What have I been waiting for all this time....actually maybe I wish I didn't know how to make these, I forsee them being a staple when we have an asian themed meal, but if it were not for frying these delicious treats, they would be almost zero calories so I guess in the end, its not too bad afterall!! I hope you take a chance and make these, not only are they easy, but they will make you look like you accomplished something much harder than it was....shhh I won't tell a soul!

Start with your ingredients, I found the spring roll wrappers in the Asian section at my grocery store.

 Saute your slaw mix with 1/2 onion, two large diced garlic cloves, and 1/2tbs grated ginger (if you don't have grated ginger, a 1/2tbs of dried ginger would work too)

 In a glass dish, add hot liquid, about 5 cups for soaking your spring roll wrappers (also be sure to look at the cooking directions on the spring roll wrappers you buy)

 Once veggies have softened, about 6 minutes, add 2tbs soy sauce.

 And 1tbs rice wine vinegar (any light colored vinegar will work)

 Start with your first wrapper, soak approx 15 seconds....

 Lay out on board and fill with 2tbs filling

fold......

 then roll!

 Filling should make 8 spring rolls, but I ate alot of the filling as I went....so mine only made six!

 Preheat a pan with oil about 1 1/2 inches deep for frying. Tip, the way to know your oil is hot enough, put the end of  a wooden spoon in the oil, if bubbles start to come up around the wood, its ready!

 And serve with your favorite dipping sauce! I served mine with sweet chili sauce, also found in the Asian food isle.....

 And a veggie stir fry, I substituted Quinoa for Rice--if you haven't tried it, it is a FABULOUS substitution for rice, give it a try!

Spring roll filling
2tbs olive oil
1 bag (about 3cups) of slaw (I used broccoli slaw-broccoli, cabbage, carrots)
1/2 sliced onion
2 garlic cloves
1/2tbs minced ginger
2tbs soy sauce
1tbs rice wine vinegar (or light colored vinegar)
spring roll wrappers
approx 3c vegetable oil

Start by combining slaw, onion, garlic, and ginger in a pan for about 6 minutes until softened.  Add soy sauce and vinegar and let cook another 5 minutes.  Preheat about 3c vegetable oil in a frying pan (or enough to go about 1 1/2 inches high in your pan). While preheating, put 2tbs filling into softened spring roll wrappers and fold and roll until you have made 6-8 wrappers. Let cool for approx 10 minutes.  Once oil is hot, fry two at a time until golden brown turning halfway through.  Let cool on a plate lined with paper towels to soak up extra grease.  Serve with your favorite dipping sauce as a side to your favorite Asian themed meal! Enjoy!

Creamy Avocado Salad Dressing

So the other night, Ben did the totally unexpected! When asked the usual "What sounds good for dinner?" question, Ben replied...."a really good salad!!" You can imagine my surprise when this was his response!? I had to take advantage of the opportunity, but I found myself a bit stumped at what "good" to a meat-eating guy meant when a vegan-gal was making it. What to do?? So I decided, that he asked for it so if he didn't like it, it would technically be his fault for requesting something without any guidelines...except that there must be a candied nut in there.  So I went to the store and bought things that I truly thought Ben would not like. Wow, that sounds like not a very nice thing to do when typed out in front of me, however, I decided it was an opportunity to force him to try some new things!
On my list:
chickpeas
avocado
radishes
endive
grilled red onion
Mixed baby greens
homemade croutons
homemade creamy avocado dressing
oh and the most important part (to Ben anyway) sweet and salty Paula Dean almonds

I was hoping and praying that he would like this salad, since the last time I remember him requesting a salad, we made a Rachel Ray Pecan crusted fried chicken with maple bbq dressing (lettuce basically served the same purpose that rice would...something to fill the plate underneathe haha!) And guess what!?! He actually liked it, and we had it again last night at my parents house! I was a bad blogger and did not take step-by-step pictures but here are a few I took along with the recipe for the dressing and croutons. I hope you enjoy!

Avocado Dressing
1 Haas Avocado
8 tbs white vinegar (I'm sure that measures into like 1/3c or something but this is how I measured it)
4tbs olive oil
1tsp salt
1/2tsp pepper
1/2 a splenda packet....eek have no idea what the measurement would be for a replacement
1/2c water
1 garlic clove

Combine all ingredients in a food processer or blender until creamy. For texture think creamy and thick like Ranch dressing. Serve on a salad or with sliced veggies!

Croutons
1 Baguette cubed
3tbs olive oil
1tsp garlic salt
1/2tsp chili powder
Toss your baguette with olive oil, garlic salt, and chili powder to coat. Lay evenly on a cooking sheet. Bake in the oven for about 15min at 350 degress. Checking halfway through to toss.

Veggie Shepards Pie

Unfortunately the weather has returned to warm and steamy the last few days, but that didn't stop me from continuing my mission to cook "Fall" dishes.  I figure if I continue to pretend like Fall is upon us, then eventually, it actually will be! There are so many things I love about Fall, cold weather, tall boots with tights, football season, the anticpation of the holidays, I could go on and on.  But my most favorite thing, is cooking a warm dish, and cozying up on the couch with Ben to watch something great on TV.  So we did this on Sunday, we had warm Shepards Pie and watched the Emmy's together...correction, I watched the Emmy's and Ben sat beside me and watched Public Enemy on his Ipad...but at least we were together!! I hope you enjoy! So here it is, my version of "Shepards Pie"

 First, boil your lentils.  I find the lentils in the dried bean section at the grocery store. They are super easy to make, combine 1c dried lentils with 2c water and1/2tsp salt.  Bring water to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and cover until soft (you may check often to make sure they water  does not dry out).

 In another pot, boil 6 baking potaotes peeled and diced.

 And in another pan, saute one large onion and four cloves of garlic over a medium high heat with 2tbs olive oil.

 After about five minutes, add 1/2tbs ground thyme, 1tsp dried thyme, 1/2tsp dried rosemary, 1tsp salt, 1tsp pepper.

 Next, add your flour and vegetable broth.  In a measuring cup, i added 1 1/2tbs flour to 2c Vegetable broth, then stirred with a fork until flour had dissolved.  Add this mixture to your onion/garlic mixture.

 Next add your favorite combo of frozen veggies. I used 4 cups frozen mixed veggies.

 And 2c cooked lentils.  Stir the mixture and let come to a boil to make sure the mixture thickens.

 In the meantime, drain your potatoes reserving about1/4c of the cooking liquid (helps potatoes to thicken)

Add 1tbs butter substitute (or butter)

 1/2c of Vegetable broth (I used this instead of milk, but you can certianly prepare the potatoes any way you are used to).  And salt and Pepper to taste. Then mash until desired consistency.

 Now put your veggie mixture in the bottom of a pie pan or cooking dish.  Spread mashed potatoes over the top of the veggies, and sprinkle with paprika and season salt (optional, mostly for looks! haha)

 Bake in the oven at 350 for approx 15 minutes and serve!

Mashed Potatoes

6 baking potatoes, peeled and diced

1/2 vegetable broth

1tbs butter subst

salt and pepper to taste

Boil your potatoes until fork tender.  Reserve 1/4c cooking liquid. Combine cooking liquid, broth, butter, salt and pepper and mash!

Shepards Pie Veggies

2tbs olive oil

1 large onion diced

4 garlic cloves diced

1/2tbs ground thyme

1tsp dried thyme leaves

1/2ts dried rosemary leaves

1 tsp salt

1tsp pepper

1 1/2tbs flour

2c Vegetable broth

4 c frozen veggies ( I used the mixed veggies--corn, carrot, peas, and green beans)

2 c Cooked Lentils (see package for cooking instructions, also available in cooked versions in a can)

Pinch of season salt, pinch of Paprika

Saute onion and garlic over medium high heat for approx 5 minutes.  Add thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper.  Next dissolve flour into vegetable broth, then add to onion/garlic mixture.  Next add frozen veggies and cooked lentils. Bring to a boil until thickened. Preheat your oven to 350.  In a pie dish or cooking dish, put veggie mixture on the bottom. Cover the top with mashed potatoes and sprinkle with paprika and season salt (optional). Cook in oven for approx 15 minutes. Let set for 5 minutes and serve!