crispy roasted brussels sprouts

These made a quite decent sprout and slight char was right on the sprout but too brown/black on the leaves for my taste.

Ingredients

2 pounds Brussels sprouts
6 tbsps olive oil
4 ounces panchetta cut in 1/4 inch cubes (I used turkey bacon)
2 tsps kosher salt1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp lemon zest (1 lemon)

Preheat oven to 425 with racks in upper and lower thirds. Trim sprouts ad halve lengthwise, pulling off and reserving outer leaves. Put sprouts and leaves in a large bowl  preheat two baking sheets, mix oil, salt, pepper, add to sprouts and meat and toss.  put sprouts on the baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes. Rotate top to bottom and bake another 6 minutes or until sprouts are browned and leaves are browned and  Remove from oven and sprinkle with lemon zest Serve immediately or leave on the baking sheets up to 2 hours (I don't know about the meat...the recipe doesn't mention that!)

Greek-Style Chicken Breasts

This recipe originally came from Cooking Light 2014. I have another that uses the oven but this is good for the times when I don't want to heat up the kitchen. I always forget that it generates a slew of pots and prep dishes. I could cut that down by using a brine bag rather than covered dish. (I think the brine is important, though--skinned, boned chicken breast gets dry and stringy if you walk post it with a normal frying pan. It would also help to have the orzo made in advance, and to chop the onion with the same knife and cutting board as the other ingredients.

If I'm going to do this I like to  make a lot, since I treat raw chicken like a poisonous substance requiring everything that touches it to go in the dishwasher and the sink gets washed with disinfectant. With that in mind, anybody following these directions, cut up the vegetables first, then you can use the same sharp knife and cutting board for the meat.

My brine process is 4 cups warm water, 1/4 cup sea salt, 4 cubes TJs frozen garlic, and a few peppercorns if you have them. I| leave it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, usually a couple of hours. I put the glass dish in the sink, lift the chicken out with some tongs (or plastic bags on my hands), put them on the cutting  board, slice to make 4 or 6 cutlets. You can slice them lengthwise at the thickest part if the breast is more than about 3/4 inch thick.

|Ingredients:

Cooking spray or oil

6 four-ounce or 4 six-ounce boneless chicken breast halves.
1/4 tsp kosher or sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tbsps olive oil
1 large onion, vertically sliced (|I substitute a small onion finely chopped)
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 ounce chopped kalamata olives (about 14|)
1 medium tomato, halved and sliced (|this time I used slow roasted tomatoes from freezer, plus their oil and juice (there goes the low calorie benefit)
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tsps chopped fresh oregano (I've used fresh time from the yard, also|)
2 tsps fresh lemon juiice
at least 1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled (I use a lot more.

heat a large skillet over medium high heat, add oil, swirl, add onion and garlic, saute 4 minutes (longer for chopped onion--just be sure it is wilted and not crunchy).  Add olives and tomato and cook about 3 minutes or until tomato starts to fall apart, if using fresh. Remove pan from the heat, stir in parsley, oregano and lemon juice. leave on simmer

heat a skillet or grill pan over medium high heat. Coat with spray, put the chicken parts in and brown--about six minutes on each side.

Have the orzo pot ready on a separate burner. Have the water close to boiling. When the chicken goes in the pan, start the orzo (|I use a cup uncooked for 4 servings of chicken...more for six servings)  Boil 9 minutes, take off stove, quickly add about a cup of ice to stop cooking.  When the chicken is done, drain in a fine mesh colendar.

west african peanut soup with rice

West African |Peanut Soup from Dave and Maria's "Eat It" Cookbook

I'd give it 3+ stars.

I made this to share with Anjarwalas after they returned from safari in Kenya--I thought it would be fun to have an African theme, and it fit with Dick's vegan diet.  I'd tasted it a long time ago at the home of somebody entertaining guests from Kenya, liked it then, and wanted to try it. I made it exactly like the recipe and liked the taste, but got it a bit hot. I put in some extra PB, tomato sauce and broth. Also, next time I would use tomato paste,--I had the sauce nandy and was out of paste Next time I would wait to put in the hot sauce. Also, the onions seemed undercooked right up to when I dished it up at the table. I guess that's okay but I might saute then a little in the beginning just to avoid any chance of an onion-y bite.

I served it with a seedy sourdough baguette and Dave's 22-grain bread, toasted., with a side salad and chocolate banana bread for dessert.

I served this the second time with a brown and wild rice pilaf I needed to use up (plus I didn't have brown handy). The flavor was fine and I had the soup spiced up with hot sauce to the point it needed that un-hot balance. I thought the whole thing was fine, and Nadia seemed really to enjoy hers! Usually she likes her food carefully separated these days and she seemed to enjoy dumping her rice, spoon by spoon, into the soup. I guess she has quite a tolerance for hot spices anyway, according to her Dada.

So here is the recipe:

6 c low sodium broth
l medium red onion chopped
2 T fresh ginger, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced (I used 4 1/2 cubes TJs frozen cubes)
1 tsp salt
1 bunch collard greens (or kale) with stalks removed, cut into 1-inch pieces (I used a combination of kale, spinach and chard, chopped)
3/4 cup unsalted peanut butter, chunky or smooth (I used smooth)

optional: 1/4 to 1/2 c tomato paste (I used tomato sauce because it was on hand--1/3 cup to begin with, then I added 2 tbsp)

Hot sauce ( used Tapico Sauce Piquant)
1/4 cup chopped peanuts for garnish

In a medium Dutch oven or stock pot, bring the broth to a boil.  Add the onion, ginger, garlic and salt. Cook on medium low heat for 20 minutes.  In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the PB and tomato paste, if using.  Transfer 1 to 2 cups of the hot stock to the bowl and mix until smooth.  Pour the peanut mixture into the pot and mix well. Stir in the greens and season with hot sauce to taste. Simmer for about 15 minutes more on medium-low heat, stirring often.

Serve over brown rice.

Vegan Choc Banana Bread

Vegan Choc Banana Bread

I think this can hold its own with any non-vegan dessert. We served it with vanilla ice cream and choc made with almond milk. I enjoy the challenge of finding food Dick and the rest of the non-vegan world can share without even mentioning the reasons for my menu choices. I've made the non-vegan version a few times--it has more than a thousand votes and is 4.5 stars.

I fell asleep before the oven timer went off and didn't awaken until it was 20 minutes past the 45 recommended. It still came out fine, not overcooked that I could tell at all. So, a fairly forgiving recipe!

• 2 cups overripe mashed banana
• 2 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp white or cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup oil OR milk of choice (I used oil)
• 2/3 cup pure maple syrup, honey, or agave ( I used 3/4 C regular sugar)
• 1 3/4 cup spelt, white, oat, or bob’s gf flour

                

• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used extra dark Hersheys for all)
• 2 tbsp dutch cocoa or additional regular
• 1/8 tsp uncut stevia OR 1/4 cup sugar (I used brown sugar)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp each: baking powder and salt
• optional 1/2 cup mini choc chips (I didn't use)
• I added about 1/2 cup toasted chopped almonds

Instructions

*The oil version will be richer and better textured; the oil-free version will be lower in calories. So it depends on your own personal preference.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan. Line with parchment. Whisk first five ingredients in a bowl. Whisk remaining ingredients in a separate bowl, then pour wet into dry. Stir until just evenly combined. Spread evenly into the loaf pan. If desired, sprinkle more chocolate chips on top and press down. bake 45 minutes, then turn off the oven but do not open the door even a crack! Let sit an additional 10 minutes in the closed oven before removing. (If still undercooked at this time, turn oven back on and continue baking—checking every five minutes—until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.) Let cool, then very loosely cover or refrigerate overnight before slicing and serving if you can wait, because the taste and texture are ten times better the next day!

I Can't Believe Its' Not Hamburger Spaghetti Sauce

This is an old, tried-and-true, made lots of times, sometimes with hamburger, sometimes with Italian sausage. I made it with a pound of plant based hamburger and a large raw chicken sausage. I think it didn't hold up with the faux burger--much as I wish it would! I thought it lacked flavor.. And the beef didn't taste like beef--but Mark seemed to like it It especially didn't have the fennel and a bit of red pepper flake that is in the usual hot Italian sausage. If I try this again I might try the soy-based faux hamburger. The only reason to do so is to find a truly vegetarian sauce that could be vegan with the parm on the top. Yes, it's the PC| way to help get Carbon Dioxide out of the air. This recipe, made with turkey or chicken sausage, is already using the meat with the lighter footprint.

Pasta Sauce with Italian Sausage

l pound italian sausage*
1/2 pound lean ground beef
mushrooms (optional) and italian parsley (optional|)
1 tbsp olive oil
l copped onion
2 cloves garlic
l 16 ounce can chopped tomatoes (I used the 14.5 oz size)
1 16 ounce can tomato paste
1 tsp salt
healthy sprinkling of basil and oregano ( start with a tsp each they adjust to taste)
1 bay leaf
ground black pepper to taste
chopped kalamata olives

*I've used 4 raw turkey italian from Piazza's, 3 mild and 1 hot for a mildly spicy sauce. I also have used precooked organic chicken sausage from CostCo, and Whole Foods raw ground turkey sausage mixed to order with a nice flavor--the fennel shines through.

Directions

Take the casing from the sausage links and cut into 1/2 inch slices (if they are precooked). Brown for about 10 minutes.  Brown ground meat (or faux meat), onion, mushrooms, parsley and garlic in olive oil. Drain the fat if there is a lot. Pour in tomatoes and sauce, mix in salt, black pepper, basil, oregano and bay leaf. Add cooked sliced sausage if you are using it. Simmer uncovered for an hour.