Look at these zucchini!!   I have never seen round zucchini before, call me sheltered but I certainly couldn’t resist buying them.  With summer nearly here, the produce markets are filled with wonderful fresh vegetables including this unusual zucchini.  I bought two (went back later and they were all gone) and since there is only my husband and myself  these days,  two was enough.  The only thing I could think of to to with them was to stuff them.  My melon baller came in handy for this job.  I lopped off the top, scooped out the inside and saved it to saute with the other vegetables.  Since the zucchini were so small (about 3 1/2 inches x 3 1/2 inches  ) I didn’t measure the ingredients I just eye-balled the amounts and only had a small bit of the rice stuffing left over, so I just ate it standing by the stove.  Let me know what you think??

2/3 cups brown rice cooked

1/2 yellow pepper diced small (I wanted to use green but only had the yellow)

1 carrot diced small

2 cloves of garlic

3 scallions sliced small

2 small campari tomatoes diced small

dash oregano

dash basil

Add a small amount of olive oil to a skillet and saute the carrots about 3-4 minutes, then add the yellow or green pepper and garlic and saute another minute.  Add the reserved zucchini, scallions, tomatoes and herbs, saute another minute or two.  Salt and pepper to taste.

 Stuff the zucchini with the rice mixture and place in a baking dish.  I added a little water in the bottom of the baking dish,  bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

1/2 onion chopped in large pieces

2 celery sliced on the diagonal

1 carrot sliced on the diagonal

4-6 cups spinach torn

1 ear corn - kernels remove

2 garlic chopped

6 cups vegetable broth

2 pinches summer savory

2/3 cup orzo

Chop all the vegetables and saute in a little bit of olive oil until they start to soften but not too much maybe 8 minutes, they are lots better crunchy. 

  After cooking the vegetables add  the broth and bring to a boil.

Once the soup has started to boil add in the orzo turn the heat down and let simmer for 10 minutes.  Turn the heat off and add the spinach.  Let the spinach wilt a little bit, ladle into soup mugs and add some parmesan cheese.

I ran across this  meatless meatball sub a while back and posted it on another site but since I have moved the site I feel this one is worthy of another post.  I found this on the Curvy Carrot site and she found it on the Nummy Kitchen site.   The ingredients are pretty much items you have in your kitchen.  That is a plus for me since my daughter looks up my recipes and she needs recipes that she can make from what she has on hand.   I have altered a few ingredients like pecans instead of walnuts and  garlic (gotta have that garlic),  plus I left out  the panko

Today is vegan day for me.  I have made a lentil,  brown rice and vegetable loaf with cashew gravy.  The mixture can also be formed into patties then baked in the oven or pan fried in a little bit of oil instead of a loaf.  The cashew gravy looks creamy but there is no cream in this gravy and there is no need for flour either for those  that are gluten intolerant.  Just whirr the cashews and broth in the processor and then heat it.  As it heats it thickens up. 

For the Lentil Loaf:

2 cups cooked lentils, cooked

1 cup brown rice, cooked

2 carrots chopped small

2 stalks celery, chopped small

1 samll onion chopped small

1/2 green pepper chopped small

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 1/2 tablespoon nutritional yeast

Pre-cook the lentils and brown rice and set aside.  I added some veggie bouillon to the lentils when cooking for added flavor.   Put some olive oil in a large skillet and heat, then add the vegetables and cook over low heat 10-15 minutes to soften.   Place the rolled oats in the food processor and process until you get a fine crumb then pour into a large bowl.    When the veggies are ready add them to the oats and add the rice and lentils along with the nutritional yeast.  Mix it all up, if it is too dry add a little broth.   Oil a loaf dish and pour the lentil mixture into the dish.  Place foil over the top to seal in the moisture and bake for about 50 minutes.  Meanwhile place the cashews in the food processor and process until as fine and you can get – recipe below.    Remove the foil and allow to cook another 10 minutes to brown the top.  Let the loaf cool a little bit and it will be easier to cut.  erve with the cashew gravy.

For the Cashew Gravy

1/2 cup cashew

2 cups veggie broth

dash tamari soy sauce

Place the cashews in the food processor and process until they become as fine as you can get them.  Add broth a little bit at the time and pulsing while adding auntil you have added all the broth.  Pour into a pan and heat until the gravy thickens, if it gets too thick add more broth.  Salt and pepper to taste.  I didn’t add anything other than the soy sauce.

Sweet potatoes are a vegetable that is high in carotene and converts to Vitamin A in the body.  Beta carotene is considered a preventive for heart disease and some cancers.  While looking through my book shelves (I used to be a book seller so I have many, many books around my house)  for recipe ideas that pertain to high blood pressure and high cholesterol I found a book titled The Healing Foods and discovered this recipe.   Although I haven’t eaten any red meat or pork products for 40 years, my cholesterol is too high and  as  result I have high blood pressure.  Years ago, when I stopped eating meat I replaced it with cheese and other dairy products.  I have since come to learn that the body produces cholesterol naturally and some people produce too much so eating high cholesterol products can create a dangerous combination.  I have decided that at least once a week I will eat a totally vegan diet.  It  shouldn’t be too hard to do all the time once I can find a tasty alternative for dairy products.

I have never really been a big fan of sweet potatoes but I thought I would give it a shot with this recipe.   After having made and eaten this soup, I would make it again.  However, I would not process it into a pureed soup.   I like chunky vegetables much better- especially cooked celery.

1 pound sweet potatoes

1 cup celery chopped

1 small onion chopped

1 -2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon sweet basil

2 bay leaves

salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot add the olive and saute the vegetable about 3 minutes.  Add the bay leaves, basil and vegetable broth.  Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat and simmer 25-30 minutes until the vegetables are very soft.  Remove the pot from the heat and allow to cool enough to place in a food processor.  Process until smooth and then reheat.  Add croutons if desired and some chopped fresh basil.

Pad Thai is a dish I truly love and have been trying to make for quite awhile now.  I just can’t seem to get the sauce ingredients down.  There always seems to be something missing.  Maybe the substitution of orange juice and lime juice for tamarind concentrate is the problem.  I made this yesterday and while it was pretty good with lots of fresh veggies-something was still lacking.  If anyone can offer any help or tips I would definitely appreciate it.  I am looking for a recipe that doesn’t use eggs or fish sauce.

6 tablespoons tamari soy sauce

4 teaspoons garlic chili

1/2 cup organge juice

3 tablespoons lime juice

1 teaspoon vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

Place sauce ingredients in a small sauce pan and heat until sugar has melted.  Set aside.

1 package flat rice noodles

 1/3 cup peanuts chopped

1 cup bean sprouts

5 scallions chopped

1 pepper chopped red or green or both

4 cloves garlic chopped

1/2 cup onion sliced 

1/2 cup purple cabbage chopped coarse

1 cup mushrooms sliced

12 ounce package tofu cubed

   Boil the noodles according to package instructions, drain and set aside. Heat a wok or large frying pan until hot and then add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  Fry the tofu until golden brown and set aside.  Add the the onions and peppers, saute 1-2 minutes then add the carrots and saute another minute.  Push to the side, add the cabbage and mushrooms and cook until mushrooms have wilted.  Make a space in the center of the pan and add another tablespoon of oil and put in the garlic, saute garlic intil lightly browned, add the tofu.  Now add the bean sprouts and stir to mix all of the ingredients.

 Add the noodles and sauce.  Mix well and heat until hot throughout.  Top with the crushed peanuts.

Last night while watching Top Chefs one of the chefs made a bread salad.  Their objective for the cook off was to make an appetizer for $1.00.  All the ingredients supplied for the appetizer were price marked so that they could keep track and not go over the allotted dollar.  One of the chefs made a bread salad and happily she wasn’t sent packing.  I decided to give it try myself today.  I checked out a number of recipes and found that traditionally this salad is eaten on a warm summer day with no need to heat up the kitchen with cooking.  Day old bread is used, torn into pieces and mixed with the other ingredients mainly cucumbers, red onion and fresh basil.  I didn’t have any day old crusty bread so I used whole wheat rolls cut into chunks then sauteed them in olive oil and a little bit of fresh garlic (it was early so it hadn’t gotten too hot out yet).   So basically this is a crouton bread salad.  I also threw in a handful of fresh spinach.  From my garden I was able pick  some ripe tomatoes and fresh basil.  Really all you have to do now is chop up the tomatoes, cucumbers, onion and basil then put it all in a bowl with the bread, add some olive oil, vinegar and fresh ground pepper.  Mix it all together and give it a taste.  Adjust oil and vinegar if needed.  I love this salad and what is really great is that it doesn’t leave much of kitchen mess!!

I am so excited with these brown rice patties.  I have been making these for years and always had to add some type of binding ingredient be it eggs or flour.   I don’t want to use eggs or flour, I want these burgers to appeal to everyone including vegan diets and others with gluten intolerance conditions.   I figured it out this time by putting everything into the food processor.  I just started using a food processor by the way.  What a great kitchen tool.  You can fry these patties until golden brown and crispy on each side or bake them in the oven.  Here I have fried them in a little bit of olive oil.  This will make a great meatless meal and hopefully an easy way to get the little ones to eat more veggies.

Ingredients

1 cup brown rice cooked

 1/4 cup pecan

1/4 cups walnuts

1 medium potato diced small

1 carrot diced small

1 stalk celery diced small

1/2 cup green & red pepper diced small

2 cloves garlic minced

2 teaspoons shoyu soy sauce

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

dash of oregano

dash cayenne pepper

olive oil

Place about a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet and put in the first 5 ingredients.  Allow to cook about 8 minutes on low to soften the veggies, then add the garlic and soy sauce and continue cooking another couple of minutes. 

While the vegetables are cooking process the nuts in a food process until totally ground.  When the veggies have cooled put them into the food processor, and add the dash of oregano, cayenne and yeast. 

Process until all the ingredients are well combined.

 Add a little more oil to the skillet and let it get nice and hot on a medium temperature.  You will need to wet your hands when making the patties because they are a little sticky.  Fry until golden brown on both sides about 7 minutes per side.    Serve with your favorite toppings.  Makes 4 patties.

Best Brown Rice Burgers