1 1/2 cups sliced onions
1/4 cup rolled oats
6 cups chopped zucchini (3-4 medium zucchini)
2 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried basil, or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1/8  teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2  tablespoons tahini
2 teaspoons umeboshi or rice vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

In a large pot, layer the onions, oats, and zucchini. Cover with the water and bring to a boil. Add the salt, dried basil, and black pepper. (If using fresh basil, see below.) Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 40 minutes.

In a blender or food processor, puree the zucchini mixture with the tahini, vinegar, lemon juice, and fresh basil until well blended. Return the mixture to the pot, reheat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

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Dal is easy to digest and low in fat. Eaten with rice, it provides a complete protein. Legume choices include: green lentils, brown lentils, French lentils, red lentils, yellow or green split peas, mung beans or split mung beans.

1 cup dry lentils (see list above) rinsed and sorted
Vegetable stock or water
1 recipe Curry Paste (recipe follows)

• In a 4-quart soup pot, place the lentils and enough water to cover lentils, plus 3 inches.
• Bring the lentils to a boil
• Continue to cook the lentils until they are tender, approximately 20 minutes.
• Add the Curry Paste to the cooked lentils and simmer together for 5 to 10 minutes.

Serve with rice

Curry Paste

1 teaspoon ghee or oliveoil
1/2 teaspoon brown or yellow mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 pinch red chiliflakes
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped leeks or onions
1 inch fresh ginger, finely chopped, or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup vegetable stock or water
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon tomato paste (optional)
1 teaspoon Bragg Liquid Aminos or tamari (optional)
1/2 cup low-fat coconut milk, vanilla soymilk or almond milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice

• In a medium saute pan, heat ghee or olive oil and add the mustard seeds.
• Let the mustard seeds pop briefly. (Caution: the seeds may pop out of the pan.)
• Add the next seven ingredients (fenugreek through raisins) in order.
• Add vegetable stock as the mixture begins to dry.
• Saute for 5 minutes, and then add cumin, turmeric, and coriander.
• Add more stock if necessary, then add the optional tomato paste and tamari.
• Simmer in the saute pan for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the cilantro, coconut milk , and lemon juice.

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Try this on roasted vegees, rice or omelets.  It’s REALLY good!

modified from Deborah Madison’s recipe in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

1 jalapeno chile, seeded
1 large bunch cilantro, stems removed
1-2 garlic cloves
1/2 c. olive oil
1/4 c. water
juice of 1 lime
1/t. ground cumin
sea salt to taste

Coarsely crop the chile, cilantro and garlic, puree with 1/4 c. water and oil.  Add lime juice and cumin.  Salt to taste.

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 From The Ultimate Vegetarian Cookbook by Roz Denny with some modifications. Use the butterless and milkless options for Vegan Corn Chowder. This is one of my all time favorite soups.  I must have made it over a hundred times.  It tastes even better the next day reheated but is good from the get go.

INGREDIENTS:

1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed (optional)
1 medium size potato, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced (optional)
1 small green or anaheim pepper, seeded and sliced
2 T. olive or sunflower oil
2 T. butter or more oil
4 c. stock or water (use part milk if you want)
salt and ground black pepper
1 - 7oz. can lima beans or 1 c. dried (cooked)
1 1/4 c. corn, fresh, frozen or canned
pinch dried sage (optional)

Optional:  If using dried lima beans, cook.  I use a pressure cooker with 1c. dried beans, 2. c. water for 4 minutes with a ten minute break before releasing pressure.

1. Put the oinion, (garlic), potato, (celery) and pepper into a large saucepan with the oil and butter.
2. Heat the ingredients until sizzling, then turn the hear down to low.  Cover and sweat the vegetables gently for 10 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally.
3. Pour in the stock or water, season to taste, and bring to a boil.  Turn down the heat, cover and simmer gently for about 15 minutes.
4. Add (milk), beans and corn - and the sage.  If your using canned corn and the broth tastes good, you can add that too.  Simmer for 5 minutes.  Check for seasoning and serve hot.

Ghee is butter that has had the solid fats and salts removed by slow simmering.  Although it’s often thought of as a part of Indian Cuisine, it can be used in place of oil for sauteeing in any cuisine and can even be spread on toast instead of butter.  Ghee is better for you as it is relatively free of oxidized cholesterol and it also has a much higher burn temperature and is less likely to become rancid.  It will keep for months if store in a closed container in a cool dry place.

Ghee is surprisingly easy to make and homemade is more cost effective and fresh then ghee purchased at the store.

From The Hare Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking:

Begin by heating the butter in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a boil. When the surface of the butter is covered with a white foam, reduce the heat to as low as possible and simmer uncovered. From time to time remove the solids that accumulate on the surface. Make sure the ghee doesn’t burn. If ghee
is cooked over too high a heat or cooked too long, it will darken and give off a pungent odor.

How much time you need for preparing the ghee depends on how much you are making (see table below). The finished ghee should be golden-colored and clear enoug~ to see through to the bottom of the saucepan. Carefully ladle the ghee into a can or crock and allow it to cool uncovered to room temperature. The milk solids skimmed off
the surface and the solids remaining in the bottom of the pan can be mixed into cooked vegetables, soups, and grains. Ghee properly prepared and stored in closed containers in a cool dry place will keep for months.

 Note:  I’ve made this with one pound of butter and it turned out fine.

Procuring clean water is one of the nicest things you can do for yourself. 

A good water filter will remove any bad tasting chemicals like chlorine and will also remove contaminants like Cysts, Lead, PCBs, MTBE, Mercury, Asbestos, Chloramine and VOCs from your water.  We bought a Multi-Pure water filter in 1995 and have used it ever since.  The fact that Multi-Pure is still in business and still provides filters for the purification units it sold over a decade ago speaks to the quality of their product and their commitment to their customers.  They have excellent helpful customer service people and have helped us find the right hookups for our countertop unit in several houses we’ve lived in which had nonstandard hardware on the kitchen sink.

These units aren’t cheap.  I believe we paid close to $300 for ours but if you look at the price of buying water at the store - the unit will pay for itself quickly and then start saving money over the cost of store-purchased water.  Of course it’s also much easier to have a unit on your sink then to tote water jugs to and from the store.

This recipe is largely inspired by Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.  I reduced the sugar, swapped out the white flour for spelt, swapped out the soy milk for almond milk and cut the topping recipe in half in order to up the "good for you" factor.  I have to say I was amazed at how delicious these cupcakes were.  They beat any dairy / egg cupcakes I’ve ever had by a long shot and were rich, sweet and satisfying.

Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS
1 cup almond milk (or oat milk)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract, chocolate extract, or more vanilla extract
1 cup spelt flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line muffin pan with paper or foil liners - or spray with canola oil.
2.Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a largebowl,and set aside for a few minutes to curdle.Add the sugar, oil, and vanilla extract, and other extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat till foamy.In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder,and salt.  Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat till no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are okay).
3. Pour into liners, filling three quartersof the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely

Topping

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons rice milk
1 tablespoons arrowroot or cornstarch
Scant pinch of salt
1/3 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
1. Whisk rice milk, arrowroot, and salt in a small bowl or measuring cup. In a large stainless-steel saucepan over medium heat, stir together coconut milk and brown sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, till mixture starts to boil. Turn heat down to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for five minutes. Whisk rice milk mixture once more and slowlypour into the coconut milk mixture, stirring constantly to incorporate.
2.Stir mixture continuously till it darkens again, gets very thick and smooth, and arrowroot is cooked, about 6 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and beat in vanilla, chopped pecans, and coconut. Stir till everything is coated and completely combined.  Cool to room temperature before frosting cupcakes.

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It is significantly cheaper to grind your own specialty flours but you need a grain mill to do it.  A bag of organic quinoa flour from Bob’s Red Mill is $6.19.  You can buy a pound of organic quinoa at Trader Joe’s or even Whole Foods for $1.00.  So at 25% of the cost of buying the flour you can grind your own - with the added bonus that the flour is completely and absolutely fresh.  Just about any specialty flour: amaranth, coconut, almond, barley, brown rice, black bean, corn, spelt, millet, oat,  and rye to name some can be quickly and cheaply made yourself.

A good grain mill isn’t cheap though so a purchase of this type probably makes more sense for someone who plans to use non-wheat specialty flours on an ongoing basis.

The grain mill can also be used for other things including, of course, grinding your own wheat.

Back when I ate soy - I ground up soy beans and made my own homemade tofu using the recipe from The Farm cookbook.  The mill easily handled the soy and worked perfectly for tofu making.

We bought the Jupiter Family Grain Mill 8 years ago and are very happy with it.  You get quite a bit of control over the coarseness / fineness of the flour grains and the machine is sturdy, simple to put together and take apart, and clean.  I see that some website are selling it for around $200 and that sounds about right given inflation and what we paid for ours.

from Still Life with a Recipe by Mollie Katzen with some modifications by me to reduce the sugar content

1/2 cup (1 stick) soft butter or margarine
1 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
2/3 cup (packed) light or dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour - 1/2 white 1/2 wheat or spelt
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1] Preheat oven to 375°. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.
2] In a large bowl, beat together the butter or margarine, peanut butter, sugar, and egg. Continue to beat well (high speed with an electric mixer is the best way) for 5 minutes.
3] Stir in vanilla.
4] Sift in the dry ingredients, then add the chocolate chips. Stir by hand until well blended.
5] Drop by rounded teaspoons onto the cookie sheet. Flatten each cookie with a fork.
6] Bake 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on a rack for ultimate crispness.

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This recipe is from The Greek Vegetarian by Diane Kochilas

1 cup wild rice, rinsed and soaked for 30 minutes
1 cup baby lentils, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium-sized carrots, washed, peeled, and diced (or grated)
2 celery ribs, washed, trimmed, and minced (optional)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced (or pressed)
1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 to 3 tablespoons rice vinegar

4 to 6 servings

1. Drain the rice and place in a medium-sized pot with 4 cups of salted water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, for about 40 minutes, or until the rice is tender. Remove and drain.

2. While rice is cooking, place the lentils in a medium-sized pot and cover them with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, until tender but al dente, about 20 minutes. As the lentils simmer, skim the foam from the surface. Remove, drain in a colander, and rinse under cold water.

3. While the lentils and rice are simmering, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a skillet and sauté the carrots (if diced) and the celery (if using) for 6 to 7 minutes, until tender but al dente. Add the garlic and cumin seeds and stir for another minute. Remove from heat.

4. Place the wild rice, lentils, and vegetables in a medium-sized serving bowl, and toss to combine. Season with remaining olive oil, salt, pepper and rice vinegar. Let stand for 1 hour before serving.

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