Winter greens

Sea-Salted Smoky Almond Chocolate Bark

The only thing better than a great candy recipe is a great candy recipe with only three ingredients, filled with things that are good for you and that is completely simple.  So, without further ado, I present to you…Sea-Salted Smoky Almond Chocolate Bark, the new star in your homemade candy firmament.  It has a place every year, along with my Peanut Butter Fudge and biscotti, on the plates I take to the librarians and people who work at other places I frequent, and is always a big hit.  Put that star power to work for you this year and just smile deprecatingly when people rave about how good it is.  (I gave out recipes to two of the painters just today.)  🙂

Bowl-ing for dinner

When is a recipe not a recipe?  When two factors are present–it’s so simple that I can remember it and it can be adapted to whatever you like, whatever is seasonl, and whatever you have around the house.  Having said that, here’s a tasty, nutritious non-recipe from Jae Steele, author of Get It Ripe and Ripe From Around Here–Pesto Bean Bowl.

Lasagna with Roasted Cauliflower Ricotta and Spinach

I picked up Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s cookcook, Appetite For Reduction, from the library recently and decided to make the lasagna with roasted cauliflower ricotta and spinach.  I’ve been looking for a good vegan lasagna, but what I got was simply a delicious lasagne that happened to be vegan.  Because I didn’t check my ingredients carefully, I didn’t have olives so I couldn’t make it last night, but I made the cauliflower ricotta yesterday and just heated it up before assembling the lasagna tonight.  Give it a try, even if you’re a meat-eater.  It’s tasty in its own right and has a mere 300 calories (only 60 from fat), 8 g. of fiber and 16 g. of protein, plus 35% of vitamin A, 150% of vitamin C, 25% of calcium and 30% of iron, (based on 6 servings/batch.)  Next time I would consider making a double batch, which I don’t think would take that much longer and would give me more leftovers.  I’m going to freeze part of this batch and see how that works. 

They’ll be giving thanks for this food!

If you’re gluten-intolerant, have celiac disease or are vegan or vegetarian, the holidays can be particularly difficult, especially if you’re the only one in your family or group in that category.  This year we’re spending Thanksgiving with friends, one of whom is gluten-intolerant.  Since our usual entree is homemade ravioli (here’s the recipe but the pictures have mysteriously disappeared…https://sustainabilitea.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/cooking-classes-and-ravioli/with walnut sauce) with walnut sauce (also picture-less…https://sustainabilitea.wordpress.com/2012/06/26/after-youve-made-ravioli-make-the-ravioli/), that won’t fly, unless I make gluten-free pasta, which I may do.  So when I saw the Seasonal Fall Flavors cooking class being offered at Mustard Seed Market and Cafe in Solon, Ohio, (http://www.mustardseedmarket.com/index.html), I signed up right away, figuring I might find some great-tasting recipes with which to impress everyone.

Summertime and the eatin’ is easy

It’s difficult to want to do much cooking in summer, sometimes because it’s too hot and sometimes simply because everything is so luscious on its own.  But whether you decide to cook or not cook, mealtimes are good times during the summer.

A little something

Pooh always liked a little something at eleven o’clock in the morning…Winnie the  Pooh, by A.A. Milne.

Day trippin’

My best friend is in town, so we took a day trip into Chicago, had a fabulous vegan lunch at the Chicago Diner (which I completely forgot to save on camera for posterity because I was too busy eating) and went to the Art Institute of Chicago where we saw the Roy Lichtenstein exhibit and a small slice of the rest of the museum before taking the train home.   (Chicago Diner info and pictures here: http://www.veggiediner.com/wp/.)  Excellent day…and we’re even getting some rain, finally.  I’m hoping for an all night soaking, but we’ll see.  Anyway, here are a few highlights from our trip.

After you’ve made ravioli, “make” the ravioli!

While homemade ravioli are wonderful with any sauce, to gild the ravioli lily, make this simple, unusual, and delicious sauce. It’s the sauce that makes the ravioli, even though you thought you already did.

Simple pressure cooker applesauce

I used to make applesauce in a large pot, cooking the apples for several hours, then putting them through a food mill.  Then I discovered pressure cooker applesauce and my life became much easier.  Now I make applesauce regularly and freeze it as well.