April Theme: cooking with AVOCADO (sarah d.)

Pasta with Avocado Pesto

Ingredients

• 2
  large California avocados, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup
  loosely packed fresh basil leaves
• 2
  garlic cloves
• 1 Tbsp.
  lemon juice
• 1 ½ tsp.
  salt, divided
• ¼ cup
  olive oil, divided
• 1
  (6-ounce) package fresh baby spinach
• 16 oz.
  bow tie pasta, cooked
• ½ cup
  pine nuts, toasted
• 1
  (3-ounce) package goat cheese, crumbled

Instructions

1. Process first 4 ingredients, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a food processor until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides. Set pesto aside.
2. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Cook spinach, pasta, and remaining ½ teaspoon salt 3 to 4 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Toss with avocado pesto and pine nuts. Sprinkle with cheese, and serve immediately.

April Theme: cooking with AVOCADO (sarah m.)

Creamy Avocado and White Bean Wrap

2 tbs cider vinegar
1 tbs olive oil
2 tsp chipotle chilies chopped
2 cups shredded cabbage
1 medium carrot shredded

--Mix above ingredients and toss together

1/4 chopped cilantro
15 oz white beans (i used garbanzo)
2 ripe avacados (recipe says one but I like avacado so i add more)
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (heidi I will leave this out and hopefully you have your own cheese to add)
2 tbs minced red onion

--Mash beans and avacado together, add other ingredients. Spread avacado/bean mix on tortillas, top with cabbage/carrot mix, role and enjoy.

April Theme: cooking with AVOCADO (heidi)

Black Bean Burgers

1 1/2 cups cooked black beans, rinsed and drained (I used dried and cooked overnight in my crockpot)

1 egg

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

1 cup Gluten Free bread crumbs (see personal blog for recipe: The Homemade and Dairy Free Kitchen)

1 teaspoon cilantro

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon fiesta party mix (from tastefully simple, I would sub this with taco seasoning?)

salt and pepper

hot sauce to taste

Put beans in a large bowl and mash well with a fork. Add egg, yellow onion, bread crumbs, seasonings and hot sauce. Mix well to combine then shape into 6 patties.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Arrange patties in a single layer (working in batches, if needed) and cook, flipping once, until golden brown on both sides and cooked through, about 10 minutes total. Transfer to buns, top with lettuce, tomatoes and red onions, avocado smash and serve.

Avocado Smash

2 avocados

1/2 onion, chopped fine

2 TBS lemon or lime juice

salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

Place in a bowl and "mash" together, serve with chips or on burgers!

March Theme: cooking with parsnips (sarah d.)

Spicy Roasted Parsnip Soup

Ingredients
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 2 tsp cumin seeds , plus extra to garnish
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2.5 - 3 lb parsnips, peeled and chopped
• 4 plum tomatoes, quartered
• 64 oz vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

Method
1. Heat oven to 475 degrees. In a bowl, mix together the oil and spices. Add the vegetables and mix well. Spread over a heavy baking sheet, cover with foil and roast for 30 min. until tender.
2. Spoon into a food processor with half the stock and process until smooth. Pour into a large pan with the remaining stock, season as desired, then heat until barely simmering. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Garnish with cumin seeds.

March Theme: cooking with parsnips (sarah m.)

Shepherds Pie... coming soon

March Theme: cooking with parsnips (heidi)

Mushroom Parsnip Soup

1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms
1 sm. onion, peeled
1 lb. scrubbed parsnips (peel if waxed)
2 tbsp. butter or 1/4 c. water
6 c. beef broth or chicken broth
Salt & freshly ground pepper
Minced green onion (for garnish)

Reserve 4 mushroom caps for garnish and chop remaining mushrooms. Slice onion and parsnips. Melt butter or heat water in large saucepan. Add vegetables and lay waxed paper directly on top, cook 10 minutes. Discard paper, add broth, cover and cook 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Strain vegetables, reserving broth and puree in processor or blender with a little stock. Return pureed vegetables to pan with the stock. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve soup hot garnished with sliced reserved mushroom caps and minced green onions. Serves 8

February Theme: cooking w/ Olives (sarah d.)

Spaghetti with Olives and Capers

16 oz. spaghetti
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper flakes
One 28 ounce can plum tomatoes, juice reserved
10 to 15 Gaeta olives, pitted, halved
2 tablespoons capers
1 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Prepare spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and keep warm.

Heat oil in large skillet. Add the garlic, and pepper. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, purée tomatoes with a food processor and add to skillet, along with the juice. Add the olives and capers. Stir gently to blend. Cook until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes.

Add spaghetti to sauce. Toss to coat. Add parsley, turn about gently, then serve.

February Theme: cooking w/ Olives (sarah m.)

Rice Pilaf and Bacon Wrapped Olives

1 cup wild rice
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp sage
Onions, carrots, celery, and mushrooms to taste

Stuffed olives
Bacon

-Make rice in broth and with spices. Cook onions, carrots, celery and mushroom (however much you want) in a skillet until desired done-ness, add to rice. Wrap olives in bacon, bake in oven at 350 for 15-20min depending on how crispy you like your bacon. Enjoy :-)

February Theme: cooking with Olives (heidi)

Olive Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

rotini noodles (a great GF option: Mrs. Leper's Organic Corn Rotelli)

black olives

green olives

red onion

cucumber

red pepper

italian dressing

Directions:

cook noodles and drain, run under cold water to cool

chop olives and veggies

mix together and add dressing

chill for at least two hours for flavors to blend

January Theme: cooking with Tofu (sarah d.)

Cream of Tomato (tofu)

serves 6

Ingredients

• 4 cups tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 (14 ounce) package soft tofu
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed tomato soup
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Saute tomatoes and onion in olive oil until onions are clear.
2. Blend the canned soup and tofu in a blender, then add this blended mixture to the sauteed onions and tomatoes. Warm through and add water as needed. Add salt and pepper to taste, and top with chopped fresh basil.

January Theme: cooking with Tofu (sarah m.)

Hot and Spicy Tofu

3 TBS peanut oil
1 lb firm tofu - drained and diced
1 sliced red onion
1 red bell pepper
1 green chili pepper
3 cloves garlic (decrease if less spice is desired)
------------------
3 TBS white vinegar
3 TBS soy sauce
1 TBS brown sugar
1 tsp corn starch
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Heat oil in skillet, add tofu and brown. Add garlic, peppers, and onion, and cook until tender. In small bowl combine last 5 ingredients. Pour into skillet and simmer for 3 - 5 min. Serve over rice.

January Theme: cooking with Tofu (heidi)

Tofu Nuggets (recipe from Lindsay Garret, see her BLOG)

Tofu Nuggets:
16 oz tofu (any firmness is fine)
2 tbl soy sauce (gluten-free)
2tbl water
1/4 cup nutrional yeast
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Cut the tofu into 4 or 5 strips and place in a plastic bag or container. Add the soy sauce and water, you can add a little more of both if needed. Let sit in the fridge to marinate for 1.5 hours or more (I actually left them sit overnight). Rotate the tofu slabs once or twice.

Heat oven to 375. Mix the nutritional yeast with the spices in a small plate. Cut the tofu slabs into 5 or 6 pieces, to make cubes. Roll the cubes in the nutritional yeast mixture and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 40-45 minutes, rotating the cubes one to three times.

Thanks Lindsay for sharing this with me and allowing me to share it with others!