Granola

We're excited to share this week's recipe with you, which is a guest post from my friend Sarah-Kate.  We hope you enjoy it as much as we do. 

-Jessie

Baking granola makes me think of my mom. She made this recipe often when we were kids, one of her many gifts of homemade, wholesome food while I was growing up. When I moved out on my own I asked her for the recipe, and have adapted it a bit over the years. I make it quite often and eat it almost every morning with yogurt. The great thing about granola is you can make it differently every time, depending on your mood and what you have in the cupboard: substitute whatever kinds of seeds, nuts & dried fruit you like best. It’s always healthy and delicious.



What you’ll need:

Combine in a large bowl:
7 cups thick rolled oats
1 cup raw hulled sunflower seeds
½ cup raw hulled pumpkin seeds
½ cup unhulled sesame seeds
½ cup wheat germ
½ cup flaxseed meal
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 – 1½ cups diced dried fruit (my favorites are apples, apricots, dates, and cranberries (which you can leave whole) – if you use raisins, add them after the granola is baked)
½ teaspoon salt
2 generous teaspoons cinnamon

Combine in a roasting pan:
¼ - 1/3 cup safflower oil (or any other vegetable oil will work)
½ cup water
½ cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put roasting pan with wet ingredients into the oven at 350 degrees for about 3-4 minutes. Take it out and pour in the mixed dry ingredients. Stir well until the dry ingredients are evenly coated.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring from the bottom every 7 minutes or so. Cool, then enjoy!

Carrot Apple Grapefruit Ginger Juice

 This juice is so good, it doesn't need an intro.  Just go make it. Really.

What You’ll Need:
3 carrots
1 grapefruit
1 pink lady apple
1 inch long chunk ginger
1 teaspoon honey (optional)

What you’ll do:

Peel grapefruit. Cut carrots and apple into chunks. Cut chunk of ginger.

Throw all into your juicer or Vita-Mix. Blend until mixed -unless you want to make crackers with the pulp.  If you do, read the note below.

*If you decide to reserve the pulp for raw cracker dough, then you might want to blend the carrot and apple first, strain and reserve pulp, then add the rest of the ingredients to your carrot apple juice, blend, then strain again.

Salad Rolls

Salad Rolls are a healthy alternative to spring rolls. They make a great appetizer, snack or the perfect lunch. I made these this weekend and they turned out just great. Quick and easy with so much flavor. What more could you ask for?

The great thing about salad rolls is really you can add any veggies (or even fruit) that you like. So what are you waiting for? Get moving and make some salad rolls!

What You’ll Need:

1 package of baked tofu (I liked the teriyaki one)
1 cucumber, remove the seeds and cut into thin strips
2-3 medium carrot, shredded
1 mango, cut into thin strips
Salad greens
Large round rice paper wrappers
Dipping Sauces of choice (I like the Sweet Chili sauce and Plum sauce) or better yet stay tuned for our peanut sauce

What You’ll Do:

Soften 1 rice paper wrapper by immersing in warm water until soft (about 10-20 sec), carefully remove and place flat on a large plate or cutting board. Be careful not to let the paper fold on itself when removing the wrapper from the water.

Place veggies in the middle of the wrapper, making sure not to add too much. Roll rice paper as you would a burritos, tucking in the sides, it should stick to itself easily. Repeat for the remaining wrappers.

Cut in half and serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

Vegan Banana Bread

I haven’t had banana bread in years. It’s just not one of those things I ever think about making. But, I had a few over ripe bananas and my freezer was already well stocked with frozen bananas…. so I figured -why not?

All of my old recipes called for milk and eggs, so I made a few modifications and came up with a new version that is just as tasty. This version still had to go through the same old trusted and true taste test procedures though, my kids! I called my ‘taste testers’ to the kitchen to report for duty. Two thumbs up!

What you’ll need:

1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed bananas (2-3 bananas)
1/2 cup vegetable Oil
Ener-G, 5 tablespoon water + 3 1/2 teaspoon powder)
1/3 – 1/2 cup vegan-buttermilk - combine 1/2 cup soymilk with 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar.
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

What you’ll do:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Mix flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Mix bananas, oil, and buttermilk in a medium mixing bowl.
Combine the banana mixture with the large bowl containing dry ingredients, and stir well. Add the Ener-G Egg Replacer, and stir well again. If using walnuts add them now.
Pour into a greased 9x5 inch bread pan.
Bake in 325 degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a knife in the middle comes out clean.

Variation: Add chocolate chips for a banana chocolate chip treat.

Yellow Split Pea Dahl...Not Really

So Jaime moved to Bulgaria and left me with a jar of yellow split peas. What was she thinking? I remember her making a dahl and having me trying it, but she didn’t leave me with the recipe. Now what’s a girl to do? Glad you asked. Here’s the answer: try out a few yellow split pea dahl recipes and combine them to make this simple delicious Indian cuisine. Perfect. I do love a good challenge.

What you’ll need:

1 cup yellow split peas, uncooked
2 cups water with one vegan bouillon cube or vegetable broth
1 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp vegan butter or olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
¼ cup peas
1 1/2 tsp cumin, whole seeds or ground
2 whole cloves
dash pepper, to taste

In a large pot, place the peas and water or vegetable broth, and bring to a slow simmer. Add the turmeric, cayenne and salt, and cover. Allow to cook for at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
In a large skillet or frying pan, heat the onion, cumin and clove in the margarine. Cook for 4 to 6 minutes, until onion is soft. Add the onion and spices to the split peas, mix and simmer for at least 5 more minutes.

Add a dash of pepper and more salt, if desired, and serve hot with rice.

Romaine 'Tacos'

Romaine lettuce leaves have a perfect boat like shape and are ideal for holding a generous scoop of my favourite guacamole. While I eat 4 -6 of these 'tacos' for a meal, they would definitely make a tasty light lunch or appetizer as well.

What you'll need:

Organic fresh Romaine leaves

Avocados

Tomatoes

Cucumbers

Mangos (preferably Champagne/Atulfo)

Onions or scallions (or both)

Cilantro

Garlic

Lime

Sea Salt

Jalapeños( optional )

Prep:

Cut your Avocados and mash to desired consistency. Depending on your own preferences, mince your veggies to a size of your liking, then throw 'em all in a bowl. (See links below for Mango and Avocado Cutting tips and photos). Slice limes in half, and use a fork to juice them - directly into the bowl. I would start out with one half a lime, and add more as your taste buds require. Mix well, add salt and Jalapeños to taste. Fill your romaine shells and enjoy!

http://homecooking.about.com/od/howtocookbasics/ss/cutmango.htm

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_cut_and_peel_an_avocado/

Spinakopita

Growing up on the east coast gave me the opportunity to experience many diverse ethnic cuisines. As a child, Greek Diner’s became one of my favorite places to frequent. My grandmother used to bring me (regularly) to ‘Penny’s Greek Diner’ in Norwalk, CT. We went there so often that eventually the owners had no need to take our order - they just brought out our meals.

Later on in life when I began dating my husband, my grandma just had to invite him along to our special Greek Diner. Wouldn’t you know he quickly discovered his favorite dish too- ‘Spanakopita’, Greek Spinach Pie. He shared with me (reluctantly) and it became my favorite as well.

After moving to Oregon, we actively sought out Greek restaurants to test their versions of our favorite dish, but none compared. Many disappointments later, we realized we needed to learn how to make this specialty on our own to satisfy the cravings. Thankfully, Mollie Katzen, author of Moosewood Cookbook, had just the recipe we were looking for. We’ve made some modifications, but our version is originally adapted from her recipe. So here it is - an old time favorite that my children and all of my friends seem to enjoy just as much as we do.

What you’ll need:

1-2 Tbs Olive oil
About 2 cups of chopped onions
¼ tsp salt
1 Tbs basil
1 Tbs oregano
2 pounds of fresh spinach, stemmed and chopped
5-6 cloves or garlic, minced
3 Tbs flour
About 1 pound feta, crumbled
1 cup of cottage cheese
Black pepper
Phyllo - defrosted
Additional olive oil for Phyllo

What you’ll do:
Pre-heat oven to 375. Oil a 9X13 baking dish.

Heat olive oil in a large sautépan. Add onions, salt, basil, oregano and sauté for about 5 minutes or until onions are soft. Add spinach a handful at a time, cook for about 8-10 minutes. Stir in garlic.

Sprinkle in flour, stir in and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix in cheeses. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Place a sheet of Phyllo in the oiled dish. Brush lightly with oil and add another sheet. Continue this process until you have 6-8 sheets, this will give you a nice crisp bottom layer. Add half the filling, spreading it evenly over the entire sheets of Phyllo. Then add 6-8 more layers of Phyllo followed by the remaining filling. Layer the remaining Phyllo over the filling. Oil top and cook uncovered for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve hot and top with Tsaziki.