Girls' Night Dinner

Totally vegetarian menu on Sunday night - if you got rid of the cheese it would have been vegan too!

Dandelion Greens Salad
Chickpea and Oven Roasted Tomato Stew
Roasted Zucchini with cumin and curry

Danelion Greens Salad
*dandelion greens
*1 red pear
*shaved Manchego Cheese
*Chopped Fresh Chives
*Chopped Fresh Sage
*Chopped Fresh Oregano
*Dressing (olive oil, lemon juice, poppy seeds, dijon mustard, dried mint)

Oven Roasted Tomatoes (makes about 1 cup)
*4lbs tomatoes
*1/2 cup olive oil
*1 head garlic
*fresh thyme sprigs
1. halve the tomatoes. Place fine grate strainer into a sauce pot. Remove insides of tomatoes into strainer so that you can save any juices.
2. Use two glass baking dishes (13x9 will work fine), spread 1/4 cup oil across the bottom of each one. Place halved tomatoes, cut side down in them. Make a small slit in skin of tomato.
3. Separate the garlic head but don't remove peel of garlic, spread cloves throughout the baking dishes. Skatter thyme springs on tops of tomatoes (don't be shy with the thyme).
4. Bake in 325 degree oven for 45 minutes. Remove pan and pull skin off of tomatoes. Flip tomatoes over. Cook another 50 minutes. After 50 minutes, flip tomatoes again and cook an additional 45 minutes.
5. Remove from oven, discard thyme sprigs. Scoop tomatoes into a bowl and save for later. Squeeze garlic flesh out of skin and place flesh in with tomatoes.
6. Season with a little bit of salt and pepper. Let sit.

Chickpea Stew
*1 - 19oz can chickpeas (I use Progresso)
*3 cups vegetable stock (I use an all natural one with very few ingredients)
*1 large shallot
*reserved tomato juice from cutting up tomatoes
*dried oregano
*dried mint
*2 tablespoons lemon juice
*1 tablespoon olive oil
1. heat olive oil over medium low heat. Add shallots and cook until soft and starting to break down about 7 minutes.
2. add chickpeas and herbs and cook another 2-3 minutes until fragrant.
3. Add lemon juice and scrape bottom of pan - then add broth. Bring to a boil, then let simmer until it has reduced by half.
4. Stir in tomatoes, bring up to temp and then serve!

Zucchini
*5 small zucchini, small dice
*2 tablespoons olive oil
*sprinkle of ground cumin
*sprinkle of curry powder
*salt and pepper
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tin foil. Spread zucchini on sheet. Add oil, cumin, curry, salt and pepper. Mix together on baking sheet.
2. Bake for 15-20 minutes until cubes are soft or starting to brown.

Foraging for Dinner = Waspy Tacos

Every now and then I like to go on an adventure for my food. This time my foraging tendencies led me out into the yard where chives grow wild and dandelions seem like a nuisance, but to me they were treasures! Two hand fulls later of chives ripped from the ground and another two hand fulls of collected dandelion greens and I had a great addition to the nights tofu tacos' toppings!!

Spring has sprung, which means the return of farmers' markets, and the return of food creativity. These tofu tacos were seasoned just like you would have seasoned ground beef, but they were light on the stomach and 'clean' in the mouth with all the fresh toppings. Try 'em for yourself and don't forget - they don't have to be tacos, you could make them into a burrito, salad (sans chips) or on top of spaghetti squash or beans!

This recipe is enough for 6-7 tacos

1 package soft tofu
1 teaspoon Montreal Steak seasoning
1/4 cup Ortega taco sauce
1/4 cup small dice red onion
1 avocado sliced
2 tomatoes diced
1/4 cup chopped chives
1 cup dandelion greens (or arugula)
taco shells
shredded cheese (Mexican mix of course!)
salsa and sour cream optional

1. Drain tofu, cut into small slices
2. Heat saute pan over medium low heat. Add tofu, seasoning and taco sauce. As tofu heats through, break it up with a spoon so that it is into small pieces about the size of ground beef bits. Cook about 5-6 minutes.
3. Build tacos as desired and enjoy!<>

Truffled Egg Sandwiches

Egg sandwiches for 4 people - if you have friends with chickens, invite them over for breakfast and ask them to bring the eggs! The truffle essence adds a delightful twist to these sandwiches, to make an ordinary egg breakfast into a holiday extraordinary meal!



4 English muffins (sour dough ones if you can find them work great!)
12 eggs (use the whites only of 8 eggs and the full egg for 4 of them)
1/2 cup chopped pancetta
1/4 teaspoon of truffle salt
1/2 teaspoon truffle essence olive oil
2 tablespoons half and half
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
3 slices Swiss cheese
4 slices fresh mozzarella cheese

1. Heat a large non stick sauteuse pan (shown above - it is a saute pan with steeper sides) to medium-low heat.
2. Meanwhile, beat eggs with salt, oil, and half and half until well mixed. When pan is warm, pour eggs into pan.
3. As eggs cook, and begin to set, lift and pull back a corner of the eggs and let liquid portion of eggs on top run underneath (you may have to twist pan to get them to run under). Repeat until all liquid on the top of egg is gone.
4. Place chopped pancetta, shredded mozzarella cheese and Swiss down middle of eggs. Fold omelet in half to melt cheese.
5. English muffins should be split and toasted in toaster oven to desired doneness.
6. When eggs are done (about 1 minute after folding), slide out of pan onto plate. Divide into four portions, place 1 portion on each English muffin bottom, top with slice of mozzarella cheese and squirt some spicy brown mustard on top if desired!

Enjoy with friends for breakfast!

Mom's weight may be a risk factor for autism

I'll have to look into this more, but very intriguing article about the association of overweight women with or without diabetes producing children with autism.

Could be the link in the answer to why the climb in autism diagnoses has been so great over the last decade (not vaccinations at all).

Mom's weight may be a risk factor for autism posted today 4/9/12 on the CNN Health page

Avocado, Cilantro and Cucumber Salad/Salsa

2 cucumbers
2 avocados
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

1. Peel cucumbers, slice into quarters lengthwise. If seeds are large remove them, then cut into cubes.
2. Halve avocado, remove seed, and using spoon scoop out flesh as one piece. Dice up
3. Add lime juice, salt, chili powder and ground black pepper to bowl with cucumbers and avocado. Toss.

Enjoy! As a salsa type dip or a top something like baked chicken, lentils or quinoa!