Ginger Molassas Cookies

Really soft and yummy...all the ginger and none of the snap!

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (281 g.)
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup molasses
1/3 cup more white sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350

1. Combine flour, sugar, cloves, ginger, and cinnamon

2. In a separate bowl, cream the butter with the sugar

3. To the butter sugar mixture, add the egg

4. To the butter sugar egg mixture, add the water and molasses

5. Combine wet and dry ingredients.

6. Separate into 24 little balls; roll in the extra sugar and place a dozen on a cookie sheet

7. Flatten each cookie slightly with the back of a spoon and bake for 10 minutes.

Baba Ghanouj

I'm not sure if I spelled it right, but it sure is good! This is very simple for even the laziest cooks, and much better than the junk you get in a plastic container full of preservatives.

Ingredients

1 large eggplant
3 T. olive oil
2 T. tahini
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
3 T. lemon juice (or juice of 1 lemon)
3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400

2. Cut eggplant in half lengthwise, rub olive oil on the two halves, and place face down on a cookie sheet. Cook for 35 minutes.

3. When the eggplant is out of the oven and slightly cooled off, scoop it into a food processor along with the other ingredients.

4. Pulse until JUST blended.

Vegan (almost) pesto sauce

This comes from Chef Chloe's blog with just a few modifications, and I'm just putting it here for safe keeping. It is really, REALLY good and so healthy it should be illegal.

Ingredients:

1 lb. fettucine
2 ripe avocados
A whole lot of basil (the entire container you buy from a grocery store; more never hurts)
1/2 cup pine nuts (since these are super expensive, you can sub half walnuts/half sunflower seeds, but won't be as good)
3-4 T. lemon juice (or whole lemon's worth)
3 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp. honey

Directions

1. While boiling the pasta, mix everything else in a food processor. Toss pesto sauce with still warm pasta.

Can be served with sundried tomatoes.

Almond Apple Pie / Apple Galette

*updated*

I made this once and it turned out really well, but then made it a couple more times and the apples were really dry. I've updated the recipe by slicing the apples a little thicker, pre-cooking the apples, and covering them during cooking. Turned out REALLY well!

If you want to leave out the almond paste, you will have a simple and delicious apple galette instead! But if I were you I would leave in the almond extract, since it goes so well with the apples and is very subtle.

This is a really easy-to do crust that is astoundingly delicious. Don't use store-bought or you will be disappointed!

Crust:

1 1/4 cup flour (156 g.)
2 T. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup crisco (or 3 T. crisco, 3 T. butter)
1 T. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 cup ice water

Also:

1/2 cup maple syrup or agave (I use a 50/50 blend from trader joe's)
slivered almonds (optional)

Filling:

3 granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1 cm. thick (you heard me) slices
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract
2 T. butter

Plus around 4 oz. almond paste, flattened with a rolling pie

Directions

Start with the crust; preheat oven to 375:

1. Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and sugar

2. Using a pastry cutter (food processor) blend crisco into flour until it's crumby looking (not crummy looking, hopefully!)

3. Add vanilla and almond extract, then ice water 1 tablespoon at a time until dough just holds together

4. Wrap in plastic wrap and put in the fridge while you make you apples (or about 10 minutes)

5. Peel, core, and chop the apples then mix them in a large bowl with the cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and vanilla and almond extracts

6. Over medium-high heat, melt butter in a large frying pan; add apple mixture and cook until very slightly cooked (approximately 5 minutes)

7. Take the dough out of the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin. Place the dough in a pie pan, letting it fall over the sides (or a parchment-lined baking sheet).

8. Roll the almond paste until very thing and tear off pieces, dotting the bottom of the pie crust like a dalmation's spots.

9. Add apples to the center (put any leftover liquid in last), then fold the edges over so that the pie is still "open-faced" but has a 1-2 inch border of crust on the top

10. Brush crust border with maple syrup and sprinkle whole pie with sugar and slivered almonds

11. Cover exposed apples loosely with a fitted piece of aluminum foil. Bake for 35-40 minutes until crust is golden.

Jeanette's Chicken Salad

This is the best chicken salad I have ever had. I could probably eat a bathtub full of this stuff. (This isn't the nasty, mayonnaise-infested rubbish that people put in sandwiches, by the way; it's a stand alone dish). Many thanks to Jeanette for the recipe!

BTW: Since I'm breastfeeding and can't eat parsley, I replaced the parsley with several sprigs of dill and leaves from a couple sprigs of tarragon (a little goes a long way!) It made it much more savory, but not nearly as summery.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. chicken breast
1/2 cup* regular mayonnaise
1 tsp* honey
2-3 stalks chopped celery
1/2 cup* halved red grapes
handful of parsley chopped
salt and pepper
*All amounts are approximate, as I do it by sight. Tweak the amounts to suit your taste.

Directions:

Cook the chicken breast and allow to cool enough to handle. Shred chicken into small pieces. Chop celery, parsley and grapes and add to chicken. Add honey, salt and pepper, and mayonnaise. Mix and tweak to taste!

Another variation that I really like has dried cranberries and toasted walnut pieces instead of the grapes and celery; all the other ingredients stay the same. This is particularly good in the fall :)

Murat's Salmon Salad Sandwich

Ingredients

1 large pouch/can of salmon
1 tomato, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1/3 long cucumber, cubed
several sprigs of dill, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
3 T. lemon juice
mayonaise
bread

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients except mayonnaise and bread

2. Spread mayonnaise onto bread, add salad!

A good time had by all!

Lemon-Basil Chicken

This is a very light, easy to make chicken that's wonderful if you don't have a lot of time. It's much better with fresh herbs as opposed to dried (why would you ever use dried dill, by the way?)


Ingredients

3 chicken breasts, cut into chunks (can also be done with whole thighs)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 T. white vinegar
several sprigs of fresh dill, chopped (or 2 T. dried)
several leaves of fresh basil, chopped (or 2 T. dried)
1 T. honey
1 T. grainy mustard
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients except chicken

2. Add chicken and marinate for 2 hours

3. Cook in a covered pan until chicken is cooked through