Pumpkin Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Put oven in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Grease or put liners in muffin cups.

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour and powder until just combined.

Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl.

Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about three-fourths full), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown and wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack five minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

***
I put chocolate chips on the tops of a few of them.  Yum!

Curried Sweet Potato & Rice Stew

Original recipe found here.  I made a few slight changes.

1 T olive oil
1 carrot, finely diced
1 small onion, finely diced
2 sweet potatoes (yellow fleshed), finely diced
2 yams (orange fleshed), finely diced
2 T curry paste (I use red curry paste)
pinch of salt & a good grind of black pepper
water or vegetable stock
2 cups cooked rice (I used a mix of brown and basmati)
1 t maple syrup (optional)

In a large pot, heat olive oil and add in carrots and onion, and saute until fragrant, about 3-5 minutes. Add in the yam, sweet potato and curry paste and let everything get coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour water or vegetable stock over everything so the liquid level is about 1-3 inches above the vegetables. Use less liquid if you want a stew, more liquid if you want soup. Turn down heat to a simmer, put on the pot lid and let it bubble away for 20 minutes. Stir in cooked rice and simmer for another 10 minutes.  Does it need more liquid? Add it, otherwise it’s done when the vegetables are tender. Finish it off with a small glug of maple syrup, stirring it into the mixture before serving into bowls.

***

This was AMAZING!!  One of the yummiest meals I've ever had.  Will be making this a LOT now!!!  For Miss Roo, I just mashed up her stew, so she didn't realize she was eating bites of veggies.  I will probably serve this to Claire in a few months as well.  The original recipe calls for a lot less rice, but I wanted a really hearty meal, so I doubled it.  Plus, we just love rice around here!

Zucchini Curry Soup

Recipe from Heidi Swanson's "Super Natural Every Day".

1 block extra firm tofu, well-drained
1 TB red Thai curry paste
3 TB extra-virgin olive oil
2 shallots, chopped
3 or 4 zucchini, cut into chunks
1 large carrot, sliced
1-2 potatoes, diced into small cubes
4 cloves chopped garlic
2 cups vegetable broth or water
1 can coconut milk

Combine curry paste and olive oil in a small bowl.  Set aside.

In a small frying pan, crumble tofu with a small drizzle of oil and some salt.  Saute until golden.  Set aside.

In a large soup pot, heat curry mixture for about 1 minute.  Add shallots and a few pinches of salt and saute for a few minutes.  Add vegetables and cook until zucchini is a little tender.  Add garlic, then broth/water and coconut milk.  Bring just to a boil, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer for 15 minutes.  Taste and add more curry paste if desired. 

Serve with crumbled tofu on top.

***

This was delicious!  Next time I might leave out the potatoes and add a different vegetable in it's place.  My kids really liked this too.  Next time I will probably also make some basmati rice, brown rice or millet to mix in at the end.

Cabbage, Spinach and Tofu with Peanut Sauce

This recipe is from here, I made a few little changes, like adding peas.

cabbage, spinach and tofu with peanut sauce
1/2 block of extra firm tofu, cut into squares (I prefer to crumble it.  Be sure to drain it well first.)
1/2 head of cabbage, sliced into strips and then cut in half to make shorter strips
1 bunch spinach, cleaned & picked through
1/2 onion, cut into large chunks
2 stalks celery, cut on the diagonal into thick slices
1 cup frozen peas
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T fresh ginger, minced
soy sauce
brown rice
1 t vegetable oil
lime wedges (optional)

for the sauce:
1/4 c peanut butter
1 T honey (or brown sugar if you swing vegan-style)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t fresh ginger, minced
1 t sesame oil
2 T soy sauce
2 T rice wine vinegar
warm water

1. In a blender, mix all the ingredients for the peanut sauce, adding a bit of warm water if the mixture gets too thick. Taste. You may need to add a bit more honey depending on your own tastebuds. Set aside.

2. In a large skillet or wok, heat the oil and add the garlic and ginger when hot. Add the tofu and fry until golden on both sides. Add the onion and celery and when the onion becomes translucent, add the cabbage. Once the cabbage gets slightly wilty, add the spinach and a bit of soy sauce for flavour. Stir until spinach is cooked, then turn off heat.

3. In large bowls, add brown rice and then top with the tofu-vegetable mixture. Drizzle with peanut sauce.

***

This was good.  SO GOOD!  I could eat cabbage all day.  It was so filling and healthy, but we felt awesome after we ate it.  Yum...I want more...

Spiced Mango Rice Bowls

2 TB butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Saute over med-high heat for 1 minute.

Then add:
2 cups basmati rice, rinsed
2 1/2 cups lite coconut milk
1 cup pureed mango
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup craisins

Bring just to a boil, uncovered.  Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  Then reduce the heat even lower and let rice cook for 20 minutes.  Fluff with a fork and add a few Tablespoons of coconut milk if it seems dry.

***
Delicious!  But it wasn't really a good dinner food...it tasted more like dessert!  This would make the perfect Thanksgiving meal side dish!

Bright Red Tomato Sauce

2 TB olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt

Saute over med-high heat for 2 minutes.  Reduce heat, add 1 can (28 oz) of crushed tomatoes (watch out for splattering!) and simmer for 5-10 minutes.  Serve over pasta.

***
Simple, tasty, quick & inexpensive.  We're done with jarred sauce around here.  :)

Spring Minestrone Soup

2 TB olive oil
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 tsp minced garlic
1 cup brown rice
6 cups vegetable stock
8 asparagus spears, sliced into 1-inch pieces
1 cup sugar snap peas, sliced in half
1 cup frozen peas

Heat oil in large saucepan.  Add shallots and garlic and saute until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add rice and stir for 1 minute.  Add stock, bring to a boil, cover and let simmer for 45 minutes.  Add vegetables and cook for 3-4 minutes.  Add salt and pepper, and serve.

***
We really liked this!  It was filling and so healthy, but it was light too.  A great meal to have after a heavier meal, like pasta or burgers.

*Recipe from Heidi Swanson's 'Super Natural Cooking'.
*Photo from Kitchen Culinaire

Whole Wheat Naan

2 tsp yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp milk
1 egg lightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2  cups whole wheat flour

Dissolve yeast in water.  Let sit for several minutes.  Combine all ingredients together with a wooden spoon until well-mixed into dough.  Let dough rise until double in size.  Break into golfball-size balls and place them on a greased cookie sheet to rest for 30 minutes.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap.  When done, heat a non-stick pan to medium heat and rub it with some olive oil.  Roll each ball until quite thin (I just used my hands to flatten them, using a rolling pin took too much flour for my taste).  Cook a few minutes on each side until lightly browned.  Makes about 12-15.

***
Naan is usually served with Indian food (chicken saag on top is divine!), but these are SO good that I can just eat them plain or with butter/honey.  I ate 3 of them just while I was cooking them!  I plan on using them tomorrow for lunch when I make a middle eastern greens soup.  I'm not sure if there will be any left though!  My kids are gobbling these up like crazy too!

Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers

2 large red garnet yams (everyone calls these sweet potatoes, but sweet potatoes are actually white!)
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup minced dried onions
1 TB dijon mustard
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp grated ginger

Peel and cube yams.  Boil until tender, about 15 minutes or so, until easily pierced with a knife.  Drain and pour into large bowl.  Add black beans and mash together.  Add remaining ingredients and combine well.  Form into patties and cook on a griddle, grill or stovetop until browned, about 8 min on each side.  Serve on whole wheat bun with toppings of choice.  Makes about 8 burgers.

***
I was a little nervous to bite into these, but they tasted really good!  The sweetness of the yam was so good.  I'm not a big fan of cumin, so next time I will probably decrease both spices to 1/2 tsp instead.  I cooked these on our griddle, and that worked out perfectly so they were all done at the same time.  We ate these on whole wheat thin buns with miracle whip, cheddar, spinach leaves and mustard.  You can also cook these with quinoa instead of the oats, which I want to try next time.

Chicken Curry Soup

1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup water
2 tsp curry powder
1-2 lb chicken breasts (I used frozen)
2 cups sliced carrots
1 can unsweetened coconut milk
1 red pepper, diced
1/2 cup sliced green onions

Comtine first five ingredients in crockpot.  Cook on low for 5-6 hours.  Add remaining ingredients, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes. 

***
So quick and yummy!  We ate ours with rice and roasted yams.  I thought it needed some s&p added, and you could also throw a lot more veggies in.