Lentil Pasta Sauce

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 onion, minced very finely

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 large carrots, grated

1 cup dry lentils

3 cups water

2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms

1 15 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

2 1/2 tsp. crushed basil
2 tsp. dry oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 cup water

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes. Add lentils, carrots, and 3 cups water to vegetables. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 25-30 minutes, until lentils are soft. Stir in mushrooms, and add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. If necessary, add more water to keep the sauce from sticking. Be careful not to dilute; the sauce should be quite thick.

Note: I made a double-batch of this and froze a lot for later use. I thought this was a great hearty pasta sauce. This was adapted from a recipe that I found on Allrecipes. The original recipe used zucchini instead of carrots, but you could do red or green peppers too. I couldn't even see or taste the carrots in there once it was all done, but it adds some extra nutrients!

Pumpkin Pasta Sauce

I posted a recipe that some of you have been requesting.
Take a look here for one of our fall favorites!

Black Bean & Corn Fajitas

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

1 yellow pepper

16 oz. pkg mushrooms

1 packet fajita seasoning

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can corn, drained

cilantro, chopped

tomatoes, chopped

avocado, sliced

corn or whole wheat flour tortillas

Slice mushrooms and peppers into thin slices. Sauté mushrooms in a large pan with a small amount of olive oil for a couple minutes. Add peppers and cook for another couple minutes. When peppers are still a little crisp, add fajita seasoning, beans, and corn and combine, stirring until it is heated through. When ready to serve, sprinkle fresh cilantro on the top. Spoon into warmed tortillas and top with tomatoes and avocado and roll up!

Baked Spiced Butternut Squash with Apples & Maple Syrup

I know I have never posted on this site before...but that doesn't mean I haven't drooled over and tried some of your fabulous recipes. Some of you I know...some I don't...but we all love good food, right?

we made this last night...

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 3 small butternut squashes, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, cut crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices
• 4 6-ounce Granny Smith apples, peeled, halved, cored, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

Preheat oven to 400°F. Butter 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Stir butter, maple syrup and apple juice in small saucepan over medium-low heat until butter melts. Increase heat and boil until mixture is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; whisk in cinnamon, allspice and salt.

Arrange 1/3 of squash slices in prepared dish. Top with half of apple slices, then 1/3 of squash slices. Arrange remaining slices of squash and apple atop, alternating squash and apple slices and overlapping slightly. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Pour maple syrup mixture over. Cover baking dish tightly with foil.

Bake casserole until squash is almost tender, about 50 minutes. Uncover and bake until squash is tender, basting occasionally with syrup, about 20 minutes longer. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with foil and refrigerate. Rewarm, covered, in 350°F oven about 25 minutes, or microwave on high about 8 minutes.) Spoon syrup from dish over vegetables and serve.

(from Epicurious.com)

Mindy's adaptation: After reading some of the online reviews, I halved the butter, used water instead of apple juice (out of necessity) and only kept it covered for 35 minutes of baking. It was so tasty. Not too mushy, not too buttery, just good autumnal yumminess. And our goats loved the squash and apple peelings!

Pumpkinier Muffins

Our pumpkin patch is thriving again, and this is one of our favorite ways to enjoy it! I adapted the recipe to use lots more pumpkin because we have more than we know what to do with, plus it makes the muffins more healthful. I reduced the sugar and fat and use whole wheat to seal the deal. Even if you don't grow your own pumpkins, they're pretty cheap this time of year so making your own puree is definitely a money saver! You can use the extra puree in soups or in Mirien's delicious pumpkin pasta sauce!

1 small pumpkin (about 3 ½ c. pumpkin puree, thinner than canned)

1 1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. oil
3 eggs (or substitute)
3 ½ c. whole wheat flour
2 t. cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
½ t. salt
1 T. baking soda
2 c. chocolate chips

Cut the pumpkin in half, scrape out the seeds, chop in chunks, and bake on a cookie sheet at 375 for 30-45 min, until tender. Throw the chunks, skins and all, in the blender with enough water to make it puree nicely. That makes it a bit runnier than the canned pumpkin puree, but I've adapted the muffin recipe to work well like this.

In a large bowl, mix pumpkin puree, sugar, oil, and eggs with a spoon. Add dry ingredients and mix until moist. Gently stir in chocolate chips. Fill greased or lined muffin cups about 2/3 full. Bake at 350 for 20-23 min. Makes 2 dozen muffins.

Spicy Black Bean Burgers

Adapted from "Recipe of the Week: Burgers" by Sally Sampson

4 cups cooked, rinsed and drained black beans
1/2 cup Japanese-style panko breadcrumbs
2 large eggs
4 scallions, both white and green parts, minced
3 Tbsp. (a small handful) chopped basil or cilantro, or a combination
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2-2 tsp. ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1-2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. coarse salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

Place 2 cups of the black beans in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until chunky.

Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add remaining whole black beans, plus breadcrumbs, eggs, scallions, fresh herbs, garlic, cumin, oregano and red pepper flakes and mix until well combined.

Portion mixture into patties about 1 inch thick. Suggested diameter: 3 inches; otherwise, the patty will be difficult to flip when cooking. Place patties on a plate or tray and chill for 15 minutes so they can set up.

When ready to cook, remove patties from fridge and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place a cast-iron skillet over high heat, without any fat; when it is hot but not smoking, add burgers to dry pan.

Cook for about four minutes on first side or until well seared and with a flipping spatula, turn onto second side and allow to cook for an additional five minutes, over medium heat.

Serve immediately with fixins': Monterey jack, cheddar or queso fresco, lettuce, fresh tomato slice, pico de gallo or jarred salsa, sour cream, avocado. Good on a soft bun or by itself.

Makes four to six burgers.

Note: I had about a cup of a mixture of leftover pinto and white beans in the fridge, so I used 3 cups black beans and 1 cup of these two other beans. I also left out the red pepper flakes cuz I’m a wimp and I also wanted to make sure it wasn’t too spicy for my girls. We all loved ‘em!

Vegetarian Meat Loaf

Yet another lovely lentil recipe. This one is great, it tastes just like meatloaf, the right flavors and textures. There was plenty left over with just the two of us, but it was eaten quickly.

• 1 1/8 cups dried lentils
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon of bouillon of your choice (i chose tomato)
  
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup broth
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
  
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 packet dry onion soup mix
• 6 slices wheat bread, torn into small pieces
• ketchup to squeeze on top
  

1. Combine lentils and water and bouillon in a pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat a little, and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes. (If you cooked your lentils earlier it would save 30 minutes in preparation)
   
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix together 2 cups cooked drained lentils, eggs, broth, ketchup, soy sauce, basil, garlic powder, black pepper, parsley, olive oil, and dry soup mix. Then mix in the bread. Mash into prepared pan.
4. Bake for 50 minutes. Squeeze on some ketchup, and continue baking another 10 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving or trying to get out of the pan.

Simple Lentil Curry

This was VERY easy to make, especially since i had some lentils that i had already cooked (since the lentils i had were cooked i skipped to step 2). The thing that took the longest was cooking the rice. It tasted great, i highly recommend it and I'll be making it again very soon.

• 1/2 cup dried lentils
• 2 cups water
• 3/4 cup canned lite unsweetened coconut milk
• green onion
  
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• salt to taste

1. Put the lentils and water in a pot on high heat. Bring to a boil, then cover, and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.
2. Stir in the curry paste, coconut milk, onion and season with salt to taste. Return to a simmer, and cook for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until tender and as saucy as you like.
3. Serve over rice, or whatever else you like.

Vegetarian Sloppy Joes

I got a couple bags of lentils from Walmart for really cheap and I've been using them for making lentil tacos, which i love. But I decided to branch out and try some other recipes with lentils and all so far have been a big success, and all fairly easy to make. Since all of these require you to get the lentils soft and to a kind of meat like texture, you could cook a bunch a head of time and have a few different lentil meals throughout the week. This would cut your prep time huge! This recipe was great the first day and great 2 days later for lunch.


1 1/2 cups dried lentils
6 cups water
1 Tbsp olive oil (I just sprayed the pan with olive oil spray)
1 onion, diced
3/4 cup tomato sauce (or ketchup if you don't have it)
3 Tbsp yellow mustard (NOT mustard seed, the actual liquid kind)
1 1/2 Tbsp vinegar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3 Tbsp packed brown sugar, or maple syrup, or agave nectar
salt and pepper
whole wheat hamburger buns

Combine lentils and water in a big pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes, until they're soft (this is the step you can do in a larger quantity and then use the lentils in any of the lentil recipes).

Meanwhile, saute the onion in the olive oil until it begins to soften, and gets a little transparent. Drain lentils and add to skillet, along with everything else. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes. If the mixture is too soupy, let it simmer, or if you see it getting too thick, add more water.

Serve on whole wheat hamburger buns.

Cashew Alfredo

I know it sounds odd but this Alfredo sauce is made with pureed cashews instead of any butter or cream, so it still does have fat, but it is much less and much better for you. And you can make it completely vegan as i did.

I first heard about doing this from my sister Mirien who also posts on this blog but she hasn't posted it yet so i figured I would. It's a really easy recipe also-- it takes just as long as the pasta takes to cook.

1/2 cup raw cashews (I get them here in cashew pieces for $3.65 a pound)
1 1/2 cups boiling water (I add extra water to the pasta and take it out once the pasta has cooked about 3 minutes)
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (i left this out because i didn't have it)
1-2 garlic cloves (or more, depends on your taste)
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt & pepper (it definitely needs some salt, i didn't put enough in and added it at the table)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Blend the nuts alone and just get them to smaller pieces, then add the pasta water and blend it for about 2 minutes, or until it looks like there aren't any pieces. Then add everything else and blend it again for a minute or two. If its not as thick as you'd like then put it in a little saucepan and heat it again and it will thicken.

That's all there is to it. I've seen variations that call for a 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese or mozzarella or 2 Tbs nutritional yeast. I wanted to keep it vegan, and didn't have any nutritional yeast so i just stuck with what's above and my wife and I both really like it. It could be easily doubled but i wouldn't recommend doing more than that unless you have a huge blender or are doing multiple batches. The recipe listed makes enough for about 4 people. I have even mixed it with a canned spaghetti sauce and it makes a very quick and tasty pink sauce.

The picture isn't the best, but it tasted great. I made it with spaghetti noodles and sprinkled parsley on top. I have also mixed steamed broccoli into the sauce at the end and served it over pasta. Every way I've tried it, it's been great.