Vegan Caramel

½ cup Medjool Dates

½ cup regular almond milk

½ tsp. vanilla

Soak dates in milk then blend all together

Mashed Potato and Squash (Gustavo)

Potaoes and butternut squash, cubed. Instant pot for 3 mins? Add enough water to steam for creamy potatoes. mash and add spices (onion powder, smoked paprika, black pepper, dash of nutmeg) Salt if needed? Experiment with spice quantities.

Serve with sauted garlic and spinach.

Dressings

Lemon-Parsley Dressing (Chef Bravo)

Ingredients

1 cup lemon juice

1 cup chopped fresh parsley lightly packed

¼ cup raw cashews

5 garlic cloves

Instructions

Put all the ingredients in a blender.

Process on high speed until smooth.

Roasted Bell Pepper Dressing (Chef Bravo)

Ingredients

2 large bell peppers (red, yellow, or both), halved, stemmed, and seeds and veins removed

1/2 cup vegetable broth (look for Mushroom-Free broth if needed)

5 sprigs cilantro with stems

1/2 shallot peeled

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Put the peppers cut-side down on the lined baking sheet and roast about 20 minutes, until the skins are browned. Let cool. When cool enough to handle, remove and discard the skins.

Put the peppers, broth, cilantro, shallot, coriander, and cumin in a blender and process on high speed until smooth. Stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator, Roasted Bell Pepper Dressing will keep for 3 days.

Avocado & Chickpea Sandwich Spread (Berta Jay)

1. DRAIN & RINSE a 15.5 ounce can of garbanzo beans. 

2. MASH these beans leaving a little texture.

3. INTO A BOWL, PUT:

    a. MASHED garbanzo beans

4. MASH a medium avocado, leaving a little texture.

    b. ADD to the bowl with the garbanzo beans

5. ADD TO THE BOWL: 

    a. 1½ tablespoons pure lemon juice

    b. 1½ teaspoons parsley flakes

    c. 3 tablespoons Cucumber (tiny pieces)

    d. 2 tablespoons hummus 

    e. ½ teaspoon granulated garlic -OR- garlic powder

    f. 3/4 teaspoon granulated onion -OR- onion powder

    g. 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

    h. smidgen cayenne pepper (optional)

    i.  ½ teaspoon salt (I use Himalayan)

    j. 12 turns of black pepper

6. MIX WELL

7. MAKE A WRAP,  SANDWICH -OR-  TOASTED RICE CAKES with this salad.

    a. Add your favorite toppings...I used tomatoes, shredded carrots, salad greens. 

===

ORIGINAL RECIPE

400g can chickpeas, drained & rinsed well⁣

🌱 1/2 tsp garlic granules ⁣

🌱 1 tsp nutritional yeast⁣

🌱 1 whole medium ripe avocado ⁣

🌱 2 tbsp hummus ⁣

🌱 juice 1 lemon⁣

🌱 1 heaped tbsp chopped fresh parsley ⁣

🌱 1/4 of a medium cucumber / or pickles are delicious too, diced into small pieces⁣

🌱 salt & pepper to taste⁣

🌱 sprinkle of dried chilli flakes (optional) ⁣

METHOD:⁣

1. Drain & rinse your can of chickpeas through a sieve or colander, then place the chickpeas onto a clean tea towel to pat them dry, then add them to a mixing bowl. ⁣

2. Mash the chickpeas, along with the avocado using a potato masher or fork. Leave some texture. ⁣

3. Squeeze in the lemon juice, add the garlic, nutritional yeast, parsley, dried chilli flakes (if using), diced cucumber, 2 tbsp hummus, then season with salt & pepper. Mix well until everything fully combined. ⁣

4. Arrange the mashed avocado chickpea salad into a sandwich with lettuce & tomatoes. (I spread the bread with a little extra hummus). Enjoy! ⁣

Any leftovers can be stored in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. ⁣

⁣

TIPS

Next time you should try add some cumin powder .....cumin and garbanzo beans love each other.

Basic Sofrito

Sofrito is the secret ingredient in many Latin Caribbean dishes, like alcapurrias, and it's easy to make. It's a versatile, aromatic puree of tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, onions, and garlic. It's known as recaito in Puerto Rico, where they don't typically use tomatoes, and so it takes on a more pronounced green color instead.

You may use a food processor or blender to get the desired results, as this variation doesn't require any cooking.

The word sofrito is Spanish and means to lightly fry something, such as by sautéing or stir-frying. But this refers to how it is used in a recipe rather than how it is made. It's often the first thing to go into the pan or cooking pot and can be sautéed to bring out the flavors of the aromatics. You'll need a knife, a cutting board, a food processor, and storage jars for this recipe.

During harvest season, you can use your summer garden produce or buy veggies at the peak of flavor from the farmers market to make and freeze sofrito for use throughout the year. Spending just a little time in the kitchen will be a good investment for having fresh sofrito for future recipes.

Ingredients:

1 head of garlic (peeled)

2 medium onions (peeled)

1 red bell pepper (stemmed and seeded)

2 medium green bell peppers (stemmed and seeded)

2 large tomatoes

1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves

1/2 bunch fresh parsley leaves

Method:

Chop the ingredients into sizes that are small enough to fit into a food processor ​or blender. You don't have to dice them finely, as you will be processing them. Focus on removing the seeds and any tougher stems that might leave grit in the finished sofrito.

Place the chopped ingredients into a food processor or blender. You can process in batches if your food processor isn't big enough to accommodate everything at once.

Blend all ingredients well so the finished sofrito is finely processed. If you're not familiar with sofrito, it should be the consistency of pesto, a thick paste.

Once blended, your sofrito is ready for immediate use. Store the sofrito in a glass container. Plastic containers are not ideal because plastic will absorb the odor of garlic and onions.

Use the sofrito with rice, stews, beans, or a protein, and enjoy.

Tips

If the sofrito needs liquid, you may add water or olive oil, a tablespoon at a time, while blending. Use as little as possible, because you don't want the sofrito to be too runny. The tomatoes will provide some juice, so you may want to ensure they have been added before adjusting the liquid.

You can freeze sofrito. Depending on how much you use in a recipe, you can freeze it in 1/4 to 1/2 cup portions or in an ice-cube tray for 2-tablespoon cubes. Once the cubes are frozen, transfer to a freezer bag for up to a year.

Homemade Bouillon

The best part about this is that you can build tweak it based on what is in season and your own personal preferences. You can use this in a way similar to bouillon cubes. It is used to make quick, flavorful broth. For example, when cooking soups, risottos, curries, whatever really. 

This recipe requires a food processor. I have a 8-cup / 2 liter / 2 quart model, and needed every cubic inch of it. I found the best approach if you are tight for space in your food processor is to add a few of the ingredients, then pulse a few times. The ingredients collapse and free up more space for the next few ingredients. If you don't find yourself using much bouillon, I will suggest making a half batch of this. And for those of you wanting to do a version with no salt, freeze the pureed vegetables in small amounts - say, ice cube trays, just after pureeing them. Introduce salt in whatever amount you like later in the cooking process.

INGREDIENTS:

5 ounces / 150 g leeks, sliced and well-washed

7 ounces / 200g fennel bulb, chopped

7 ounces / 200g carrot, well scrubbed and chopped

3.5 ounces / 100 g celery

3.5 ounces / 100g celery root (celeriac), peeled and chopped

1 ounce / 30g sun-dried tomatoes

3.5 ounces / 100g shallots, peeled

3 medium garlic cloves

9 ounces / 250g fine grain sea salt

1.5 ounces / 40 g flat-leaf parsley, loosely chopped

2 ounces / 60g cilantro (coriander), loosely chopped

INSTRUCTIONS:

Place the first four ingredients in your food processor and pulse about twenty times. Add the next four ingredients, and pulse again. Add the salt, pulse some more. Then add the parsley and cilantro. You may need to scoop some of the chopped vegetables on top of the herbs, so they get chopped. Mine tended to want to stay on top of everything else, initially escaping the blades.

You should end up with a moist, loose paste of sorts. Keep 1/4th of it in a jar in the refrigerator for easy access in the coming days, and freeze the remaining 3/4 for use in the next month. Because of all the salt it barely solidifies making it easy to spoon directly from the freezer into the pot before boiling.

Start by using 1 teaspoon of bouillon per 1 cup (250 ml), and adjust from there based on your personal preference.

Makes roughly 3 1/2 cups.

SOURCE

Homemade Apple Pie Spice

Ingredients:

1–1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1–1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon allspice

Place ingredients in a small bowl and stir well to combine. Store in a small airtight container.

Apple Oat Crisp (Nutmeg Notebook)

Ingredients:

Filling

4 cups apples, peeled, cored, diced or thinly sliced 1/8 inch I use 2 Granny Smith & 2 Honey Crisp apples

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon oat flour

¼ teaspoon vanilla powder or vanilla extract

¼ cup raisins

2 Tablespoons apple juice unsweetened

Topping

1 ½ cups rolled oats, certified gluten free for those who are GF

¼ cup almond flour or oat flour certified GF oat flour for those who are GF

2 teaspoons Apple Pie Spice

¼ teaspoon vanilla powder or vanilla extract

5 Tablespoons Apple Juice unsweetened

¼ cup date paste *see recipe below

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the filling in a large mixing bowl combine the apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, oat flour, vanilla powder, raisins and apple juice stir until well combined. Place in a 9-inch round or square baking dish.

For the topping, in a medium size bowl combine the rolled oats, oat flour (or almond flour) apple pie spice, vanilla powder or vanilla extract, apple juice and date paste using a fork mix until well combined. Spread it evenly over the apples in the baking dish. It will be lumpy -that’s what we want so it will get crispy.

Bake in a preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until lightly browned on top and the apples are cooked through.

Serving suggestion, serve warm with a scoop of your favorite nice cream. We like using frozen bananas and frozen mango processed in either our Vitamix blender, food processor or Champion Juicer. Give it a little dusting of ground cinnamon for the finishing touch.

Notes

You can make your own oat flour by putting rolled oats in a food processor or blender.