In my defense, I had been trying to make my own vegetarian sausage for years; I just couldn't stomach faux sausage anymore. And after too many failed attempts, I returned to the real deal. My sisters called me a "Sausa-tarian" to mock me.
While faux sausage has gotten better - less unpronounceable ingredients - it still is expensive and or includes wheat, which I longer can eat. But Italian sausage is still one of my favorite foods, especially crumbled on pizza. So I created this recipe, and it is a winner!
Quick, easy and even stores well, I try to have it on hand for Friday Night Pizza, and it never lets me down!
For me, black kale is tastier and has just that much more juice to its leaves than curly kale and is great for Asian style dressing such as the miso lime soy dressing used here.
At this time of year, shredding in some root vegetables such as turnips, carrots, or radishes of any sort is always a good choice. Even adding some shredded apple would be fun!
This dressing will taste strong on its own, but I find that it melds well with the shredded veggies which mellow out its sharpness, and its acid really tames the bitterness of the kale.
Friends came over with fresh caught halibut and corn on the cob and asked that I provide dessert, so I whipped up this sorbet. Easy, delicious, refreshing. Do your self a favor and freeze some chunks of watermelon and then puree it into deliciousness. Your future self will thank you!
Crumbled tofu is tossed with a little bit of olive oil, poultry seasoning, and baked for 15 minutes to absorb the flavors. Then you toss it with an easy mayonnaise dressing and add a few crunchy vegetables, and voila! Craving met!
You really need to use extra or even super firm tofu for this recipe; high protein tofu also works since it is also super dense. If you only have firm tofu, I recommend pressing the tofu to remove more water, but then it is no longer a quick meal.
It is a cruel trick of mother nature to make citrus season in the middle of winter, teasing us with the bright zippiness of citrus fruits and juices while we freeze are toes off. Living in California, we have access to great produce from south of the border, so making this salad isn't prohibitively expensive, but possible a bit of splurge. Hey, if it makes you forget the cold outside, I say it's worth it!
If you haven't cooked with daikon radish before, do not be concerned. It is a very mellow radish with lots of health benefits, and its crunchiness really adds to this dish.
When I was a child my favorite pie was Chocolate Cream Pie. Maybe it was because it was my dad’s favorite pie, maybe it was because my mom made it often. Whatever the reason, it always made me so happy. It’s been years since I have had any, let alone made it, so I figured it was time to try out this classic once again.
My mom always made a cookie crust or a graham cracker crust, but I present an alternative, because I happened to have some hazelnut flour to use up. You could easily use almond flour, or even actual almonds or hazelnuts, although you should process the whole nuts first before adding in the dates since it will be harder to grind them fine. Of course, you could go the easy route and buy a crust, making the whole endeavor quicker and easier. Make it your way!
I wanted to find a vegan pudding that worked just as well as a dairy based on, and this one is a winner! It firms up beautifully, and doesn’t really require too many odd ingredients. While the original vegan recipe I found online (from OneLovelyLife.com) used almond milk, I have found that Ripple heats well and has that thickness that other vegan milks lack. It did not disappoint!
Of course you can get fancy and shave chocolate on top of your topping; personally, I prefer straight whipped cream!
Winter squash was never my thing; I was definitely very late to the kabocha squash party. But once I discovered this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, I cannot get enough of the stuff!
This recipe is pretty straight forward, marinate squash and tofu and then bake. But what is key are the garnishes, but really, without them the dish falls flat, so don’t skimp on them! Make sure that you get plenty of lime and green onions and use them both liberally. If you can’t bring yourself to buy sesame seeds (I love them and always have them in the pantry) it won’t suffer too much. But the lime is essential!
You can use other winter squash besides kabocha, but then you need to peel it either before or after it cooks. Fortunately, you can eat cooked kabocha peel, so much easier!
Are you ready for zucchini season? Think I’m jumping the gun a little too soon? If you have planted them in your garden in the past, you know the green rascals grow exponentially, so begin stockpiling your recipes for using up their deliciousness now!
One of my favorite recipes for zucchini are pancakes made with chickpea flour. My first foray into this dish was as an Indian side dish, so I have kept the Indian spices, but don’t let that deter you if spice is not your thing, although these spices are not hot per say, just flavorful. The basics are a few tablespoons of chickpea flour with salt, oil and a little water mixed with diced zucchini, which you allow to rest and then fry up in a cast iron pan. It’s magical!
Chickpea flour makes great pancakes on its own - google Socca and see how the French and Italians eat it with just salt. When you add chopped veggies that cook quickly, like zucchini, then it’s a full meal and a quick one at that.
Adding fresh herbs to your cooking repertoire seems to feel daunting and although cookbooks abound on the idea, don’t bother with them, just follow your taste buds. Mine led me to this amazing cauliflower dish that apparently originates from a famous New York chef. I just know it was so delicious I may have eaten a whole head of cauliflower for dinner that night!
Raisins, almonds, and capers with cauliflower is a traditional Sicilian pairing, truly, no lie. But add in a bunch of fresh chopped herbs and this dish is something special. Fresh herbs are like citrus, they enliven all that they touch!
The original recipe called for fresh breadcrumbs toasted in butter, and while it was good, I felt disinclined to make them the second time and I found I didn’t miss them. For me, the star of the dish were the raisins simmered in a vinegar butter bath that plumps them into delicious sweet tangy bites that are mind-blowing with the crunch of almonds and the brine of capers, alongside the cauliflower and assorted herbs! This is truly a dish where you will want to fish around to get all of those flavors and textures in each bite!
