Stir fried brown rice and veggies

If you don't have a lot of time or just don't really feel like cooking but don't want to eat out. Or if your budget is tight, like us, this dish is easy & quick to make, tastes good and you can use whatever veggies that you like or have around.
I made a pot of brown rice. 7 oz. extra firm tofu cut into chunks, I tossed them in some soy, put them in my cast iron skillet and threw them under the broil for a few just to get a bit firmer and slightly brown. Next in a Medium cast iron pan(you can use whatever pan you like) I heated just a small amount of canola oil. I then added 1/2 a yellow onion cooked until soft. The following vegetable took less time to cook, it's nice to keep them somewhat crisp. Once the onion was done I added a large carrot, red bell pepper, 2 cloves fresh garlic and cooked for about 3 minutes. Then added zucchini and peas just until cooked. Next threw in some chopped scallions and turned off heat. The sauce was a mixture of soy sauce, hoison, fresh ginger, brown rice vinegar & a little sesame oil. You can add more hoison or a bit of agave to sweeten up more.
Once veggies are done I add the tofu to the pan, sauce and the rice. Stir to combine. To plate I put a couple of scoops in a bowl, add more scallion to top, a few sprinkles of seaweed gomasio, and a drizzle of sesame oil. Yummy!

Pecan & Chocolate Chip Biscotti

I love, love, love, biscotti! It's light and crunchy. I love the crunch. It's just a thing I have.

So I took the recipe from V'CON and altered it slightly. I used spelt flour, used 1/2 cup sugar instead of 3/4 cup(I usually use less sugar than is asked for, I think when you start cutting back on eating sugary treats your tastebuds change)I only used vanilla extract and used rice flour instead of arrowroot powder. Oh I used pecans and chocolate chips too, my favorite combo. The cute little mug that is pictured, my friend made that for me.

Fennel Risotto and Salisbury Seitan

If you are starting to crave lighter foods, like I am, this is a nice one to make. I had to use up the fennel I bought from the farmers market.

Fennel Risotto

2 T. olive oil (more may be needed)
1 medium fennel, thinly sliced
1/2 C. onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 C. risotto
1/3 C. white wine or marsala
4 C. vegetable broth, hot ( may need more)
S & P to taste

Heat a bit of olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat and add fennel to saute until somewhat soft. Once done take out the fennel and put in a seperate bowl and set aside. Next add more oil to pan and saute onions and garlic until soft. You may have to add more oil to pan if dry and add risotto, stir until light brown. Once lightly browned add the wine and stir until hardly any liquid is left. Next start adding the warmed vegetable broth 1/2 C. at a time, stir, and once the liquid is almost soaked into the risotto is when you add the next 1/2 c. of broth. It's possible you made need more liquid. Keep the process up until there is no more broth. Once the risotto is done you can stir in the fennel. Season to taste.
If you want you can add a Tablespoon of Earth Balance just to give it a more creamier texture. You can also add a dab of Tofutti cream cheese or any soy cream cheese.

The Salisbury Seitan recipe is from The Real Food Daily cookbook. For this dish I also use their seitan recipe. It has a softer, spongier texture that is perfect for this. The one thing I do change with the Salisbury recipe is that the sauce asks for 1/2 c. oil, too much oil for me! I only use like 1 Tablespoon of oil and add more water and a bit more soy to thin out. The sauce just soaks into this seitan. This is a good recipe for people who are transitioning into vegetarianism/veganism. My husband loves this! The seitan looks like it is dry but it's not, believe me. Although I usually have extra sauce in the pan, I halved the sauce recipe that why there isn't any extra to spoon on top. You can also make gravy to put on this or just make more sauce and heat it in a pan. Serve with a nice green salad and you are good to go!

Li'l layer cake

Experimenting flavors for a cake I'm going to be making for my cousins baby shower so I made a small 6 3/4inch cake . This is a four layer yellow cake with a Chambord(black rasberry liqueur)buttercream filling and finished off with ganache. The idea is to put a layer of fresh rasberries in the middle but I didn't have any at the time. My tasters loved it so this may be it.

White Bean Veggie Burgers

Didn't really feel in the mood to cook. But I've been wanting to try these cannellini bean patties from, the show Emeril Green, on Planet Green channel. They were okay. I would add more seasoning next time, if I do make them. I served them with a mix of sweet potato and white potato baked fries with a creole seasoning. These called for eggs but of course I didn't use so I just left that out. They held together rather well without it. like to load my burgers with lettuce, tomato, avacodo, etc. These whole wheat buns are perfect because they are on the smaller size so the burgers are a perfect fit. Here is the recipe.

Emeril's White Bean-Veggie Burgers
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, courtesy Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia

Yield: 4 veggie burgers
Ingredients:

2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil (I only used a couple of tsp. of oil due to the juice of the veggies)

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped celery1/2 cup finely chopped carrot

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 tablespoon minced chives

2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley

1/2 cup dry unseasoned breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon Emeril's Original Essence or other Creole Seasoning

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Hamburger buns, for servingSliced tomatoes, onions, lettuce leaves, pickles, avocado, etc., for garnishing, as desiredCondiments for serving, such as ketchup or salsa, mayonnaise, mustard, as desired

Method:In a nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and saute‚ the onion, bell pepper, celery, carrot, and garlic until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Set aside to cool.
In a medium mixing bowl, mash the beans with the back of a fork. Stir in the cooled vegetables, , chives, parsley, breadcrumbs, and seasonings and mix well. Divide the mixture into 4 patties. Wrap and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

When ready to serve, heat the remaining olive oil in a large nonstick skillet and cook the burgers until golden on both sides and heated through, about 2 minutes per side. Serve hot, on lightly toasted buns, garnished with desired condiments.

Seitan Cutlets with Mushroom Ragu,mashed potatoes and sauteed greens

Valentines is about sharing a great meal and spending quality time with the ones you love. Oh, and a nice glass of wine or a bottle, I prefer the later.

To our surprise my husband arrived home from work early and he suggested we go into town to walk around a bit before dinner, so we bundled up and headed on out. This actually was perfect timing because the french bread dough was on it's second rise.

Before dinner we had a little entertainment. My sons Valentine gift to his dad was playing a song from a band my husband likes, we had set up the music/office room with candles and my son played his guitar while I sang. That was a lot of fun.

Next it was dinner and was it amazing if I do say so myself. hee hee.

I made seitan cutluts from VCON, smothered in a mushroom ragout(from Emeril on the green channel) if you love mushrooms as much as we do you will love this! I did add a bit of Marsala wine to give it a deeper flavor. I put this on a bed of mashed potatoes and a side of sauteed greens. Served with a salad and homemade french bread. It looked and tasted like a meal from a nice restaurant. I was very pleased with myself as well as my family was, as there was not one morsel left on their plates. I will definitely make this for dinner guests.

Blackberry swirled "cheesecake"

My husband and son love cheesecake, so every Valentines they expect me to make them one.

This year I added Blackberry juice and swirled it in. Topped off with fresh blackberries.