Honey Basil Vinaigrette

This dressing goes perfect with garden fresh tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. But really its a great dressing for your green salads as well.



What You’ll Need:

½ cup fresh basil
¼ cup white wine vinegar
½ cup of olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
Salt and Pepper

Combine ingredients in a Vita-Mix or food processor, blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Cheesecake

Don’t be fooled there is nothing healthy about cheesecake. But it sure is delicious and there is nothing wrong with having something sinfully delicious every once in a while, is there?

I’ve been making this cheesecake recipe for years and it is without a doubt one of my personal favorites, as far as cheesecake goes. I’ve included a sour cream topping which goes very nicely with it but have also made it with several different types of topping, blackberries, cherries, drizzled chocolate, so have fun with it!


What You’ll Need:

2 lbs cream cheese, set a room temperature until softened
4 eggs
2 Tablespoons vanilla
Box of graham crackers or vanilla wafers
½ cup whipping cream
A few drops of lemon juice
1 ¾ cup sugar
1 stick of butter, melted


What You’ll Do:

Using your food processor, gring half the box of graham crackers (I will often use more because I like a thicker crust). Combine melted butter and graham cracker crumbs into the bottom of a 12 inch springform pan.

Beat eggs, vanilla and whipping cream into the softened cream cheese. Then add lemon juice and sugar. Beat until smooth. Pour into springform pan and bake in a water bath at 300 degrees for 2 hours. Then turn oven off and let sit for 1 hour. Remove the cheesecake from oven and add sour cream topping (recipe to follow).


Sour Cream Topping

What You’ll Need:

1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 Tablespoon sugar

What You’ll Do:

Mix ingredients together and spread over the top of the cheesecake while still in the oven. Let sit in the oven for another 5-10 minutes.

Remove cheesecake and let cool in the pan on a rack. Use a knife to go around the edge before removing the outside of the springform.

Enjoy!!

Caprese Pasta

As a working mother with three active kids there are often times when we need to just throw something together for dinner.  This is a quick and simple meal for those nights when you don't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen.  And the best part is you can put some aside for lunch the next day. 

While the pasta is cooking, you can prep the remaining ingredients, throw together a nice salad and there you have, it dinner is ready in no time.   This recipe is also great for picnics and potlucks.

What You’ll Need:

1 cup of grape tomatoes, halved

4 cloves garlic, chopped

½ cup olive oil

2-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 cup chopped fresh basil

1 cup fresh mozzarella balls, halved

1 pound penne pasta, cooked

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine first five ingredients.  Add pasta and mozzarella, toss well.  Season with salt and pepper and serve.  Enjoy!

Honey Oatmeal Bread

If you are a bread lover you are going to just love this recipe.  Even though it makes two loafs it never lasts long in our home. 

What You’ll Need:

2 cups boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons salt
1 (½ tsp) package active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
4 + cups bread flour
2 tablespoons honey, warmed slightly
2 tablespoons rolled oats

In a large mixing bowl, combine boiling water, oats, 1/2 cup honey, butter and salt. Let stand for 1 hour.

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

Pour the yeast mixture into the oat mixture. Add 2 cups of flour and mix well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 20 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Punch the dough down to deflate it and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and form into loaves. Place the loaves into two lightly greased 9x5 inch loaf pans. Cover the loaves with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Bake at for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Remove loaves from pans, brush tops of loaves with 2 tablespoons honey and sprinkle with oats.

Enjoy!!

Curried Lentil Soup with Chapati

Jaime made this dish for us during our visit to Bulgaria.  We enjoyed it so much then and still do now.

What you’ll need:

2 Tbs Earth Balance

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 tsp garam masala

¼ tsp cumin

2 pounds tomatoes, seeded and chopped or 2 - 14 oz canned chopped tomatoes, drained

1 cup red lentils, rinsed

2 tsp lemon juice

1 vegetable bouillon

1 ¼ cup coconut milk

Salt and pepper

What you do:

Melt butter in a large pot and sauté garlic and onions for 2-3 minutes.  Add spices and cook for an additional 30 seconds.

Stir in tomatoes, lentils, lemon juice, bouillon, and coconut milk and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 25-30 minutes, until tender. Blend with hand held blender or in food processor.  Season to taste and serve over rice with Chapati (recipe to follow).

Chapati is an is an unleavened flat bread, which goes perfect with this dish.

What You’ll Need:

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp turmeric

¾ cup water

What you’ll do:

Mix the ingredients together to form dough.

Need for about 5 minutes

Form into 8 small balls

Roll flat and fry in butter.

Greek Orzo Salad

This salad is easy to make and delicious.

 

What You’ll Need:

Dressing:

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon honey

1/2 cup olive oil

Salad:

6 cups vegetable broth

1 pound orzo

2 cups red and yellow teardrop or grape tomatoes, halved

1 7-ounce package feta cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 cup chopped fresh basil

1 cup chopped green onions

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

What You’ll Do:

Whisk vinegar, lemon juice, and honey in small bowl. Gradually whisk in oil. Season vinaigrette with salt and pepper.

Bring broth to boil in large heavy saucepan. Stir in orzo, reduce heat to medium, cover partially, and boil until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Transfer to large wide bowl, tossing frequently until cool.

Mix tomatoes, feta, basil, and green onions into orzo. Add vinaigrette; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.) Add pine nuts; toss. Serve at room temperature.

Cinnamon Coconut Milk Yogurt Fruit Dip

I use to make this recipe with cow’s milk yogurt, but haven’t made it in a long time.  Until, that is, our most recent summer visit to Connecticut.  My sister needed something to bring for ‘snack day’ at work.  I gave her a few options, and wouldn’t you know… she loved the sound of everything.  So I chose my old favorite and it was settled.  I was in the kitchen for the rest of the evening preparing snack for tomorrow’s ‘snack day’. Oh don’t feel bad - we all know the kitchen is my favorite room to be in!

The Results? When she came home from work the next evening, she was so excited to tell me how much people loved the snacks.  Especially the fruit dip she brought! I was beaming as she told me how they ate every last bit.  They even resorted to dunking the brownies in the dip when the fruit was all gone! Not a bad idea actually.   

Anyhow, I was so thrilled about my sister’s reviews, that I decided to make it again for an upcoming family BBQ.  Only this time, I ‘veganized’ it by using the coconut yogurt.   The results? Well, when I went to pick up my plates at the end of the day – there was nothing left.  That’s a great sign! 

 

Now I really don’t believe we need to add sweeteners to fruit - it’s already so sweet and delicious by itself!  But sometimes, I like to change things up a bit and make them even more special.  Well, this is the dip that does it!  Enjoy. 

What you need:

1 cup of coconut milk yogurt

2 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Lots of fresh fruit

Mix ingredients well and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Serve with lots of fresh fruit.
 
*If you can’t find coconut milk yogurt you can substitute with soy yogurt.

**If you are interested in making a simple homemade raw vegan coconut yogurt, here is a link from a newly discovered favourite blog that’ll tell you how.

 
http://www.choosingraw.com/greek-yogurt-raw-vegan-style/