2 tbs safflower oil
2-3 cloves garlic, pressed through a garlic press
1 inch piece of ginger root, peeled and finely chopped onions
Vegetables of your choice. Options are:
carrots, cut in jullienne strips
celery, cut in julienne strips
broccoli, cut in small flowerettes and parboiled for 1-2 minutes in boiling water, then drained cauliflower, prepared as broccoli
canned baby corn, bamboo shoorts or water chestnuts, drained
cabbage, chopped
potatoes, sliced thin and parboiled
bean sprouts, fresh (these deteriorate quickly)
1-3 tsp soy sauce, to taste
1 block tofu, wrapped in paper towel to draw excess water, cubed
Heat oil in wok, add garlic and ginger. Heat but do not let burn. Add all vegetables and douse with soy sauce. If using bean sprouts add at the very end. Stir and cook quickly. Add more soy sauce as necessary. The macrobiotic way of cooking a stir fry is to saute all vegetables quickly, then pour ½ cup of water on mixture and cover to steam for 3-5 minutes. This makes the vegetables tender. If you want to thicken the sauce as in Asian restaurants, you can use a large spoon and take out 2 tbs of the cooking sauce. Add 1-2 tsp of corn starch to the cooking liquid. Mix and then add back to the entire liquid. It will thicken quickly. Some people like to deep fry the tofu and then add it to the stir fry at the end. To do this, make sure you wrapp in a paper towel, and make small cubes. Have ¼-1/2 inches of oil very hotand take out with a slotted spoon. Place on paper towels or brown paper. Add to stir fry at the very end. Most people really like tofu prepared in this way.
2-3 tbs olive oil (The Greens cookbook by Deborah Madison and Edward Espe Brown has a method of using half butter and half olive oil with sauces, so you could try this if you want a very rich sauce)
1 onion finely diced
2-3 cloves garlic put through a garlic press soy sauce
black pepper
2 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1 small can tomato paste
1 large can peeled tomatoes blended
water as needed
Heat oil with onion, cloves and spices. When onion is translucent add remainding ingredients and simmer to desired consistency. This can be used for pasta, pizza, lasagne; or manicotti.
A nice variation of this is an eggplant sauce. Roast the eggplant. If you have a gas stove, you can line the area under the burner with foil, and put the eggplant directly on the gas flame. Turn it as each section of the eggplant becomes soft. When completely black on the outside. Put in the sink and peel off the burnt skin. Then clean out seeds and chop to desired size. This approximates burying the eggplant in coals as they do in India. If you have an electric stove, you can bake the eggplant in a dish. Add to tomato sauce. This has a great smokey flavor.
1-2 tbs butter
2-3 tbs flour
1 ½ cup water
2 tbs miso, light or dark
Pepper
Melt butter in small cast iron pan. Do not let burn. Add flour and mix into a roux with a wooden spoon. When mixed, add water, and continue to stir so you don't get lumps. When it thickens take from heat. Mix miso in small cup of water, completely. Add miso to gravy and stir in completely.
1 loaf of whole wheat bread, broken into small pieces and left to sit out over night
1 cup of pecans, chopped in small pieces and dry roasted in a cast iron pan, over low heat
1 onion finely diced
4-5 celery stalks finely diced
1-2 cups mushrooms, diced
1-2 bunches of parsley finely diced
2 tsp sage
2-3 cloves garlic pressed through garlic press
1 tsp black pepper
1-2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
3-4 tbs olive oil
2 eggs beaten
1 ½-2 cups boiling water
Heat oil, saute onion, mushrooms, garlic and spices. When onion is translucent add parsley, nuts, and bread pieces. Remove from heat. Pour boiling water over mixture until the mixture is gooey, but not wet. Beat eggs with a fork in a cup and then mix well into dressing. Put in oiled baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees until top is a little crusty. Serve with miso gravy. If you want to be fancy, you can buy a pumpkin. Cut off the top and scrape out the seeds. It is fun to wash the seeds and then bake them with a sprinkling of oil and salt for a nice snack. Bake the pumpkin in a baking dish with an inch of water in it at 350 for about 30 minutes. Fill the pumpkin with the dressing and continue to make for another 30 minutes. It looks very fancy on the Thanksgiving table.
Burritos- Another Vegetarian Basic
This is really not a recipe, but a reminder. There all sorts of ways of doing burritos.
1 can of pintos or black beans, or pressure cooked pintos or black beans
cabbage sliced finely with a hint of cilantro
romaine finely chopped
chopped vegetables: onions, olives; grated carrots grated cheese
salsa
brown rice (pressure cooked for 20 minutes, using double the measurement of water as rice) flour tortillas heated on a burner
As above, but corn tortillas are fried in 1/2 inch of oil, using tongs, not until crisp but still soft. Put tortillas on inside of brown paper to drain. The cabbage with the cilantro are excellent with the corn tortillas.
My favorite but a little high fat.
12-24 corn tortillas
safflower oil
1-2 large cans of green or red enchilada sauce (check to see that there is no chicken stock)
1 block tofu, drained and mashed with a fork
Grated cheddar cheese
Chopped scallions
Heat 1/4 inch oil in a frying pan. Insure oil is relatively hot so that the tortillas will absorb the least amount of oil. Open enchilada sauce and pour in a wide bowl. Save a little enchilda sauce to pour into mashed tofu. With tongs cook the corn tortillas so that they are not crisp, but soft. Hold tortilla with the tong over the oil when completing the cooking to drain excess oil. Place the tortilla in the bowl with the enchilada sauce. With a spoon, smear a little sauce on top of the tortilla, so that when you place the next tortilla in the bowl, it will not stick to the previous one. Continue until all tortillas are cooked. Secure a large baking pan. Take each tortilla and place some tofu inside, roll and put in baking pan. When done pour remaining enchilada sauce on top. Top with grated cheese and some chopped scallions: Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melted and dish is warmed through. For vegans you can keep some without grated cheese: Serve with rice and green salad:
6 cups water
2 cups yellow corn meal
salt
¼ cup butter
¼ cup grated cheese (parmesan)
Bring water in large pot to boil. Pour in corn meal slowly; stirring constantly. Add salt and butter. Cook slowly on a low flame for 20-30 minutes: Stir often with wooden spoon. When it thickens add cheese. You can serve with spaghetti sauce. You can also put it in a loaf pan and let it harden. Once hardened, you can slice it and saute it, and add more cheese to taste.
2 ½ cups grated raw potatoes, put in colander, and pressed to remove extra moisture
4 tbs finely chopped onion
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
3 tbs crackers rolled to become crumbs
safflower oil
black pepper
Stir all ingredients together. Insure excess water is pressed out of potatoes. Potatoes will turn a little brown, but don't worry about this. In a cast iron skillet, heat 1 inch of oil. Have the oil relatively hot so that the pancakes will not absorb so much oil. But it shouldn't be too hot, since you need to cook the pancakes through. Form pancakes and drop into hot oil; turn with slotted spoon. Remove and drain on brown paper bag. Serve with applesauce, or with cheese blintzes (see crepe recipe). A nice passover meal.
2 tbs butter
¾ cup white flour (unbelached or organic)
½ tsp salt
3 eggs
2 cups milk
butter for pan
Mix all ingredients very well, preferably in a mixer so that you have no lumps. There is an art to making crepes. The first thing you need is a good crepe pan. Buy one, and rub it with oil. Your first few crepes will stick, but be prepared to throw a few a way. Keep a stick of butter handy, and rub the pan directly with the stick between each crepe. To begin cooking, either put the batter in a bowl with a pouring spout or use a cup to scoup batter from bowl and pour into hot crepe pan. Rub the pan with butter, and heat the pan over a medium heat. The pan must be hot to receive the first crepe batter. Once hot, pour about 2 tbs of the batter in the pan. Pickup the pan, and rotate it. The crepe batter should be sticking to the hot pan. If not, throw away the batter and start again, buttering the pan and getting it hot. Rotate the pan until there is a thin film of batter on the entire pan and up the sides. Pour any excess batter back into the bowk. Cook the crepe until it is starting to peel away from the sides of the pan. With a spatula, loosen the crepe by going under the edge that is peeling away. Flip the crepe with a spatula and cook the other side. In general, the crepe will be done, but you want to slightly brown the back side. Turn the crepe out by turning the pan upside down onto a towel, with a little flick. Continue cooking crepes.
Crepes can be served in a multitude of ways. Sage likes them rolled with maple syrup. I like them with steamed broccoli rolled inside and miso gravy on top. You can make cheese or potato blintzes with these. For the cheese, buy ricotta cheese. Sweeten the ricotta with a little honey and add some cinnamon. Put a dollop of ricotta in each crepe, fold the sides in and then roll them up. Defrost frozen strawberries, and spoon over the top. For potato ones, fill the crepes with mashed potatoes and serve with miso gravy.
Lasagna-Another Vegetarian Stand-By
As with burritos, this is really not a recipe but a reminder. You can make lasagna simply by buying noodles, ricotta, Prego sauce, and mozzarella. Or you make your own spaghetti or spaghetti eggplant sauce and add steamed spinach.
1 box lasagna noodles
1 bottle of prepared spaghetti sauce, or spaghetti sauce in this book
Mozzarella cheese grated
1 tub ricotta
Boil noodles. Layer noodles in lasagna pan (the coated cast iron ones heat the dish well). Make layers as follows:
½ noodles
½ ricotta
sauce to cover the mixture well, but not to be too runny-if it is too runny the layers will slide, if there is not enough sauce the
½ grated mozzarella
repeat layers
If you are adding steamed spinach, you would put this on after the sauce before mozzarella. If you want to be fancy, nutmeg is the secret in Italian cooking when ricotta is used. Turn ricotta out in a bowl. Add in one beaten egg and 1/2 tsp nutmeg. Mix thoroughly. You can also use this same format for manicotti. Cook manicotti noodles. Stuff them with the ricotta mixture. This is a bit difficult. You can use a small teaspoon to put some ricotta in one side, and then the other. Put stuffed noodles in lasagna pan. Top with sauce and mozzarella.
1 tbs butter
1 onion diced
½ tsp each, oregano, thyme
½ cup white wine or water
1 tbs olive oil
8 oz mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced
salt and pepper
2 cups milk
3 eggs beaten
6-8 slices of bread
1 cup grated cheese
Sauté the onion and spices in the butter, until onion is translucent. Add the olive oil and mushrooms, continue to sauté, add salt and pepper. Remove from heat and add to beaten eggs which have been whisked with the milk. Stir mixture. Lay bread in baking pan. Pour egg mixture over the bread and top with cheese. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Uncover and cook 10 minutes more.
Pastry crust (see Short Crust or Stir n Roll Crust)
1 small head of cabbage shredded
2 tbs butter
½ lb. mushrooms
1 yellow onion shopped thinly
dill, basil, marjoram, tarragon, salt and crushed pepper to taste
3 tbs butter
4 oz softened cream cheese
4-5 hard cooked `eggs, sliced
Make pie crusts. Pre bake the bottom crust. Put foil over bottom with some dry beans to help it retain its shape. Bake 5-12 minutes at 350 degrees. In large cast iron skillet sauté cabbage, mushrooms, onions and spices, until cabbage is wilted and onions are soft. Spread the cream cheese on the bottom of the pie. Slice the eggs and put them over this. Then add the sautéed mixture. Put on the top crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until crust is done.
2 cups lentils
4 cups water
2 tbs oil
2 onions chopped
6 cloves garlic mashed
2 stalks celery chopped
2 carrots grated
3 eggs well beaten
1 tsp basil, oregano
½ tsp cumin, rosemary, dill
2 tbs parsley finely chopped
1/8 tsp oregano
grated cheese, optional
Cook lentils for an hour. Sauté vegetables and spices, until onion is translucent. Combine it all, mixing well, and press into a loaf pan: Bake at 325 for 40 minutes. Serve with miso gravy.
(Not really a main dish, but a traditional Japanese side for New Year's. It had to be somewhere.)
Buy agar agar flakes or bars at a health food store. As a sea weed, agar agar is high in minerals, and therefore very good for you. It is usually in the macrobiotic section.
Boil two cups of unfiltered apple juice.
Stir in 2 tbs of agar agar flakes until dissolved
Refrigerate until solid. Cut in cute shapes and serve
This is my traditional New Year's meal.
1 cup white flour
1 tbs baking power
1 1/4 cup water
l/4 tsp sea salt
bit of honey.
The baking powder makes the tempura puffy and the honey makes it brown. Mix well with a whisk. Cut vegetables in large section, sweet potatoes, onion, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms. Heat 3-4 inches of oil in a wok. Test temperature, by putting in a small vegetable to see if it will rise to the top. You must have HOT oil to make good tempera. Dip vegetables in batter. Drop in hot oil. Turn with slotted spoon. When brown on all sides place on brown paper bag to drain. Allow oil to heat up between cookings. Serve with rice, broiled marinated tofu, miso soup and agar agar. Make a dipping sauce by adding honey or maple syrup to soy sauce and then thinning with water.
nori
cooked rice
carrot cut into ¼ inch strips and parboiled
cucumber cut in ¼ inch strips
deep fried tofu, cut in strips
Making good looking sushi or nor maki or nori rolls is a difficult task. You will need the little sushi bamboo mat. Take a sheet of nori and toast it on burner very lightly. It will change colors. Put the nori sheet on the mat. Put a thin layer of rice on the nori, leaving about 1/4 inch clear at the top. Put the vegetables or tofu in a line in the middle of the rice lengthwise. Start rolling up the sushi by rolling up the mat. Roll slowly and carefully, until only the piece of nori without rice is showing. Wet the nori that is exposed by dipping and stick it to the roll. Cool the rolls, then slice with a sharp knife. Serve with wasabi.
Drain the tofu and wrap in a paper towel. Slice it Cut the tempeh in small pieces.
Sauté either in small amount of hot safflower oil until well browned, adding soy sauce as you cook. Tempeh needs to cook thoroughly and make take more oil than the tofu.
Make a mixture with 3 tbs olive oil, 2 tsp balsamic vinegar, ginger root that has been peeled and grated, soy sauce, mashed garlic cloves and water to thin the mixture. Marinate the tofu or tempeh. Broil on a cookie sheet turning after 7 minutes or so. This is very good.
Basic shortcrust pastry , in this book
½ cup scallions chopped
butter
6- 8 oz Swiss cheese, cubed
3 eggs beaten
½ cups milk or half n half
nutmeg
salt and pepper
Make a crust. Pre bake for 5 minutes at 350 (line the crust with foil and place a handful of dried beans on the foil to keep the crust from puffing up). Sauté the scallions in butter. Put them in the crust. Sprinkle cubes of cheese in the crust. Mix the other ingredients together. Pour into shell. Bake 15 minutes at 450, then lower to 350 and bake another 10 to 15 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.