I made mine with low sodium chicken stock since I have never in my life encountered "good-tasting vegetable stock." As a result, I needed no extra salt at the end.

Also, the cumbled feta and slivered Kalamata olives really make the soup something special, and you probably have these things on hand at this moment! It was hearty and nourishing but not misery-making and heavy. I highly recommend.

Note: it did take about an extra cup of stock and about 20 extra minutes to get the brown rice past the al dente stage, so allow some extra time.

by ClaireMere

Ingredients:

1 box ziti or favorite tubular pasta
1 quantity Fresh Ricotta Cheese
1 15 oz bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 package baby bella mushrooms
1 egg, well beaten
2 jars pasta sauce (or about 4 cups of fresh sauce)
1 bag Italian cheese blend (I used Sargento), but you could grate your own. This is for the top, so a mixture of mozzarella and parm is essential
salt

Directions:
Cook pasta for about 7-8 minutes, draining when just tender (you want to leave it pretty al dente). Meanwhile, saute your mushrooms and remove excess water from spinach by squeezing with paper towels or cheesecloth (or your hand). Add spinach to mushrooms and mix thoroughly, removing from heat. Combine vegetables with, egg, ricotta and 1-1 1/2 cups sauce and mix until incorporated in a very large bowl. Add a lot of salt. You want it. Add pasta to bowl and toss thoroughly. Spray/oil a 9 X 13 inch baking dish, evenly distribute pasta mixture, cover with remaining sauce and top with shredded cheese. Bake, uncovered, in 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until cheese is browned.

by AmandaCarr

by Paula Jeanne

1/3 cup pumpkin puree (from can!)
2 cups milk
1 Tbsp vanilla
2.5 Tb light br sugar, add white sugar to taste if desired
2 cinnamon sticks
7 whole cloves
dash powdered ginger
dash salt
very strong coffee or espresso (I used decaf since I usually want them after dinner for dessert.)

Heat up the pumpkin, milk, spices, vanilla, and sugar on the stove until steaming. Without letting the milk boil, stir for 5 minutes.

Fill mugs 1/3 of the way with coffee. Add milk/pumpkin liquid— this is the star of the show and should outweigh the coffee. Throw in a cinnamon stick for extra credit. Serve PIPING hot. If it doesn't taste delicious, you were stingy with the sugar.

And if you are really motivated…top off with whip cream and fresh nutmeg!

You can also make these drinks 'happy' by adding a liquor like Kahlua, Disaronno, or dark rum.

by stacita

(Makes 4 cups cheese)

Equipment:

Large pot/stockpot
instant read thermometer
strainer
cheese cloth

Ingredients:

1 gallon milk (use either 2% or whole milk. You could probably get away with 1%, but it might not be as good)
1 cup heavy cream (I only used one cup, as opposed to most recipes where a gallon of milk necessitates two, as that's all I had, and it turned out better than fine).
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (you can apparently use apple cider vinegar, but this doesn't seem right to me)
1 teaspoon salt

(You can halve the recipe to make less cheese)

Directions:
Combine milk, cream, and salt in large pot and heat over medium until thermometer reaches 180 degrees. This, apparently, is very important, as you don't want to scald the milk and make burnt cheese. You never want to let it come to a boil-but it should be steamy and getting frothy by the time it hits 180. Stir often so the milk doesn't burn.

Once your milk is at desired temp, add lemon juice and reduce heat. Stir every so often; you'll cook it about 4 more minutes, until curds start to form. Look for curds that are distinctly separated from the whey; they will be whiter, and seem like little bits of ricotta.

Once this occurs, remove from heat and allow to cool a bit (for about 20 to 30 mins). Meanwhile, line a LARGE strainer or colander with cheesecloth (about 3 layers thick). Once milk cools, pour slowly into cloth lined strainer and allow to drain for about an hour and a half.

Cheese, covered in a glass bowl or tupperware container, should keep for two days.

Then, I made Vegetarian Baked Ziti and it was awesome! We ate it for days!

by AmandaCarr

7 apples
1 Tablespoon of sugar and cinnamon mix
1 Stick of butter
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350
Use an 8 inch pie plate. Peal and core 4 to 7 apples, cut into somewhat thick slices, sprinkle them with cinnamon mix and put into pie plate.
Melt butter then add sugar, flour, baking powder and egg.
Mix well and spread over apples.
Bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Don't be fussy, just throw the apples in so they are a little over the top of plate, then add the batter, just pour back and forth. You don't have to spread it evenly.

by Paula Jeanne

Ingredients:

Pizza dough (I use Pillsbury, the kind you find in the can in the dairy section)
2 cans black beans
garlic
cumin, paprika, chili powder, cayenne
1 Hass avocado, chopped
1 ripe tomato (or use cherry tomatoes in winter, halved), chopped
feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:

Saute chopped garlic, cumin, paprika, and chili powder, cayenne in whatever ratio suits your taste. I use about 5 cloves of garlic, about a tablespoon of cumin, a teaspoon of paprika and chili, and a dash of cayenne. Cook until garlic is fragrant, then add beans with liquid and cook for about 15 minutes, until liquid starts to thicken. Meanwhile, prebake piecrust on cookie sheet or pizza stone according to package directions, but don't cook fully (remove after about 8-10 mins). Spread black beans on crust in even layer, leaving border around edge for crust. Distribute cheese and tomato evenly, and return back to oven for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and add avocado (you can put the avocado on with the other toppings, but I've found that it tends to get a bit ick).

by AmandaCarr

Ingredients:

3 lbs apples—golden delicious, granny smith, gala, whatever you have that's a good mix of tart and sweet, cut into relatively thick wedges
1/2 stick butter, room temp.
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp. lemon zest

1 pre-baked pie crust (graham cracker)

1 cup toasted walnuts/pecans

1 quart vanilla/coffee/caramel ice cream

Directions:

Soften ice cream for about 1/2 hr until it is spreadable, then, using a nonstick spatula, spread it thickly it into a pre-baked pie graham cracker crust: you want to fill it to a 1/2 inch from the top. Sprinkle nuts on top. Put it back in the freezer to harden for 2-3 hours.

Meanwhile:
Melt the butter in a large skillet, add apples, cinnamon stick, and 1/3 cup brown sugar and cook until apples begin to give off their juices (about 10-15 minutes). Add the rest of the sugar, and cook until mixture begins to thicken (about 10 mins more). Drain liquid and reserve. Return apples to heat and cook until they turn dark brown and caramelized. Add back the juice, and add lemon zest. Heat through, then remove from heat; remove cinnamon stick.

Now the tricky part: If you are serving a large crowd, just pour the apples over the top of your pie and serve: it will melt quickly, so beware.

If you are just serving a few, cut your pie into portions and then place the apples on top of the individual slices.

by AmandaCarr

Ingredients:

2 yams, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 red pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
Olive oil
cayenne, paprika, pepper, salt, sugar

Directions:

In large pot, bring water to boil. Add potatoes and yams and cook for about 5 minutes, until just beginning to soften. DON'T OVERCOOK! Drain thoroughly and add to large oiled skillet over medium heat. DON'T move them around! At least for the first five minutes; you want them to be able to start to brown and caramelize. Also, it helps not to overload the pan, allowing all potatoes to have some surface area. After about 10 minutes, add the peppers and onions. Don't salt the potatoes yet, as this will draw out water and cause them to become soggy. Now you cook for a long time. A LONG time, stirring every few minutes. You want all of the potatoes to become nicely browned, crisp on the outside and soft in the middle, and for the onions and peppers to do the same. Now, add your spices, salt, and pepper to taste. You will need to add a ton of salt, but don't forget the sugar, as this helps to balance out the flavor. I like mine to be salty/sweet and spicy. These are great with eggs on top!

by AmandaCarr

Prune plums have a short season, in fall, and whenever you see them snatch them up and bake two of these! It freezes well, wrapped in plastic and then in foil. Eat one, freeze the other.

You may be tempted to gussy this up with vanilla or nuts or other flavors. Do not do so. This is one of the most perfect things of its kind. The dough is thick and sticky and uninspiring to look upon. But it will swell and rise over the plums you nestled on top so that it engulfs the lemon juice, the sugar and cinnamon so that your finished torte will be a low, dense, creamy cake with a rich vein of plum throughout - everything from a thin blush of plum juice to a fat, juicy candy-like fruit. This is my favorite dessert and that includes chocolate recipes.

Note: mysteriously, it's even better when it has been refrigerated; it becomes even more dense and toothsome.

3/4 c sugar
1/2 c unsalted butter (one stick), softened
1 c unbleached flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
8 large prune plums, 12 medium or up to 24 small (see below), halved
1 tbs fresh lemon juice
1 tbs sugar
1/4 - 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9 inch spring form pan and cover bottom with a circle of parchment. (You can skip the parchment but the cake will have to be scraped off the bottom.)

Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.

Sift flour with baking powder and salt.

Add flour mixture to butter in two batches, alternately with the eggs. Beat until thoroughly mixed.

Pour into pan and spread evenly. Half the plums and remove the seed (making sure to remove any splinters of pit). Press plums cut side down slightly into batter in a circular patter, edges touching. You want a concentric circle of plums, as many as possible, but don't overlap or add slices in the free space. Thus, the variable number of plums needed.

Sprinkle with lemon juice. Sprinkle with 1 tbs sugar. Sprinkle with 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Now use your nose. If you use a strong cinnamon, like Vietnamese, stop before it overpowers you. If you crave more, add a bit.

Bake one hour. Remove and cool and refrigerate.

Note: the cake swells over the plums and spice to create the aforementioned layer of heaven. Thus, you can't eat this hot until the layers resettle. Make this in the morning to eat in the afternoon or evening. Again, it's even better refrigerated? Refrige any leftovers.

by ClaireMere

1lb of sweet turkey sausage and one or two hot turkey sausage, remove from casings
2 onions chopped
1 teaspoon fennel
3 garlic cloves chopped
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 cans of tomato sauce (28 ounces each) I used crushed tomatoes, you can use whatever you want, but drain whole tomatoes a bit, don't want sauce to turn out watery
1/2 cup red wine, I used Burgundy
few tablespoons of olive oil

Cook broken up sausage over medium high heat, chopping it up as you go into smaller pieces for about 5 minutes. Set aside sausage in a bowl. If too much fat left in the pan, drain all but about a tablespoon, if not enough add some olive oil. Caramelize onions and garlic on medium to medium low for about 10 minutes. Add fennel and oregano and mix for a few minutes. Add tomatoes and cook for another 10 minutes. Add wine, sausage and red pepper, cook another 10 minutes or until sauce has reduced. Toss cooked penne or favorite pasta in sauce over heat for a few minutes.

by Paula Jeanne

For Sauce:
enough small tomatoes, halved, to cover the bottom of a 13 x 9 baking dish in one layer (about 1 1/2 lbs)
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, choppped
2 handfuls basil
salt and pepper
olive oil
1/4 cup marscapone cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes

8 oz. cooked linguini, or other pasta of choice

For garnish:
extra parm, basil, and, for meat eaters, thinly sliced prosciutto

Roast tomatoes, coated with olive oil and salt, at 350 for 45 mins-1 hr (depending on your oven) until they are shriveled and most of the liquid is evaporated. Meanwhile, saute onion until translucent, add garlic, and cook until fragrant. Add roasted tomatoes with juices and stir to combine. (Be gentle—you don't want the tomatoes to completely disintegrate; you want them to remain relatively intact). Add chopped basil, salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, drain pasta reserve 1/3 cup cooking liquid. Put pasta back in pot and add marscapone cheese and a bit of the cooking water over a low flame until the cheese melts. Add the parmesan and stir. Add tomato sauce to pasta and toss to coat. Add salt and pepper to taste, then serve with additional parm, basil, and prosciutto.

by AmandaCarr

I had a brief influx of afternoon energy and decided to take advantage of it by making as much quick and healthy food as possible for the rest of the day. I made some rice, whipped out a hunk of cheese to soften for snacks, and threw together this superquick and easy black-eyed pea dish—which turned out to be very yummy!

Thanks to Amanda's life-saving Indian Night, I have been awakened to the wonder that is black-eyed peas. They are instantly delicious, so with very little labor on your part you can make a tasty dish and take all the credit.

This version required very little prep and only 30 min of stewing. Very adaptable to the whims of your pantry.

Ingredients

• 2 cans black-eyed peas, drained
• 1 or 2 Roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped (fresh tomatoes make a difference here)
• sprigs of fresh herbs (I used rosemary, thyme, and oregano—I felt like the rosemary really stood out)
• 1/2 onion, chopped (I used frozen pre-chopped)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (I used my happy pre-chopped garlic from Whole Foods
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• salt to taste
• dusting of paprika

Directions

1. Saute garlic and onion in olive oil.
2. Add black-eyed peas, tomatoes, sugar, salt, and herbs (I usually just leave my herbs on the sprigs and snatch them out at the end). You might want to add a splash of water or vegetable stock to keep things moist.
3. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more water as necessary—the dish should be moist but not soupy.
4. Remove the herb sprigs. (I also remove visible tomato skins because I'm picky).
5. Add salt if necessary and dust with paprika.

I ate this as is, but you might consider mixing with rice (add more tomatoes) or serving alongside greens or fried plantains— yum!

by stacita

1 1/2 pounds of skinless salmon fillet
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
2 Tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup soy sauce (can use low salt if you prefer)
3 Tablespoons of lemon juice
1/8 cup of white wine
2 Tablespoons of sugar
Pinch of cayenne pepper

1. Rinse and dry salmon
2. Heat the broiler
3. Combine all remaining ingredients in a shallow broiler pan. Use aluminum foil for the bottom, really helps in the clean up. Coat the salmon with the mixture making sure to spoon most of the garlic and ginger are on top.
4 Broil for 3 to 5 minutes on each side, as soon as it flakes it is done. Watch carefully, nothing worse than overcooked salmon.
5. Serve hot on top of spinach, pasta or rice. Pour excess sauce over salmon.

by stacita

Ingredients

Vegetables

• 1 large eggplant, halved
• 2 very small or 1 small zucchini, halved
• 1 red pepper, halved

Tomatoes

• 6 plum tomatoes, halved/1 can whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 red onion, diced
• 5 kalamata olives
• 5 olive-cured black olives
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 5 leafs basil
• spring parsley
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• After liberally rubbing/mixing the veggies with olive oil, grill or roast eggplant, zucchini, and red pepper until very mushy (30-60 minutes depending on your method).
• Meanwhile, sauté onion in olive oil until translucent, add tomatoes and cook until very jammy (about 30 min).
• Add basil, parsley, olives, sugar, salt, and pepper to tomatoes when almost finished.
• When vegetables are soft, scoop out of skins and mash together with a fork.
• Mix vegetables with tomatoes. Add vinegar and season to taste.
• Serve at room temperature with crusty bread.

by stacita

My ingredients are totally guess work

Small loaves of garlic bread (Stop & Slop has 3 loafs in a bag)
fresh garlic
cherry tomatoes or Capri
whole basil leaves
extra virgin olive oil
cheese, your preference, mozzarella, fat free mozzarella, Pecorino Romano, Parmesan

Cut one inch slices of bread, arrange on sheet pan, sprinkle a little extra virgin olive oil on each piece
Broil until lightly toasted
Remove from oven and rub with a piece of garlic, yes each piece !!
Add a slice of tomato, salt and fresh ground pepper, top with some of your favorite grated cheese
Broil again until slightly browned
Remove from oven and top with a piece of basil and a dab of extra virgin olive oil

These appetizers disappear. People politely wait to share the last pieces.

by Paula Jeanne

Despite the blight that's threatening to ravage my tomato plants, TOMATOES are here, and they are big, fat, and delicious.

All I want to eat is bread covered in tomatoes. This is what I made the other night.

Ingredients:

1 loaf crusty fresh bread, cut into 1 inch thick pieces
3 cloves garlic, crushed
olive oil
dash sea salt
dash red pepper
romano cheese, grated

2-3 ripe beefsteak or heirloom tomatoes, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
4 tablespoons chopped onion
dash balsamic vinegar
fresh ground pepper
couple pinches sea salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Mix garlic, olive oil, sea salt, red pepper in small bowl and brush onto sliced bread. Cover bread with however much romano cheese you like (you could use parm; I could even see mozzarella, but I like the romano b/c it's so salty, which is a great contrast with the sweet and juicy tomatoes). Bake bread until it gets brown and toasty.

Meanwhile, mix remaining ingredients in bowl. Spoon tomato mixture liberally over bread slices and devour!

by AmandaCarr

On trips to NYC we often frequent Bar Barbossa in the East Village, which serves the national drink of Brazil, the caparina. This is a delicious, spicy summer drink consisting of lime juice, cachaca (a type of rum made from sugar cane), sugar, and various fruits. You can use anything from mango to watermelon, but my husband-to-be has become obsessed with the jalapeno version. He has been perfecting the recipe, and I must say that I'm now addicted to them too!

Ingredients (per drink):

3/4 lime, or thereabouts, cut into wedges
1 slice jalapeno, seeds removed
1/4 cup cachaca (to be found in the rum section of a well stocked liquor store)
1 teaspoon sugar
limeade or other lime drink—This is optional, but we have found that the limeade makes the drink a bit more palatable and less strong. The key is not using one that's too sweet. I like the organic brand, Santa Cruz.

Directions:

Muddle lime, jalapeno and sugar in medium sized glass until limes seem dejuiced. Add cachaca, stir, add ice, fill the rest of the glass with limeade.

by AmandaCarr

Last night Claire secretly returned for a surprise "bachelorette party" (read: the three of us sitting fatly at a restaurant all evening) startling the bejesus out of Amanda. We ate obscenely. Seriously, it must be thought not on. I, of course, had tempeh, which inevitably left me feeling today like I MUST indulge in it again!!

I wanted to try out the method I mentioned last time of boiling/steaming the tempeh first in broth. At first, I tried to figure out a good steaming method, but then I was like, what the hell! The whole point here is to get that stuff MOIST and delicious. It's a moldy bean cake, for God's sake. I can't be messing around with no steaming.

I moved on. I boiled up about 1.5-2 cups of water and was about to drop in the vegetable bouillon cube when I had my second epiphany. What am I doing with this bouillon cube?! Do I want my tempeh to taste like musty cellar? No, I do not. So I added:

Broth

• 1 tsp salt (frankly, people, I really don't know)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 carrot, halved
• okay, I might have added some msg.

I then stewed cubed three-grain tempeh for 30 minutes.

Yes, people. Yes. Stew your tempeh in sweet, salty water.

Ok. What next? I then had several options: eat directly, bake, stir-fry, grill. For today I decided to just dump a sauce on it. I wanted it to be lemony and spicy.

Sauce

• Juice from 1/3 lemon
• Dash of broth to tone it down a little
• 1.5 tsp honey
• 1 tsp of hot pepper flakes (I want this thing fiery)
• Salt, pepper to taste
• Olive oil to taste, whisking in a bit at a time

I then! Dumped the sauce over the tempeh in a large bowl and let it sop it up a bit. (Contemplate: cooking it in the sauce briefly.)

People, the word succulent comes to mind. I also sampled the dish with the following herbs:
Mint: very good, a bit strong, a good side to plain foods, might get wearisome
Sage: good, use in moderation
Parsley: a nice addition if used in moderation

I ate the entire package by accident, so I really didn't make it to the rice. But I think a green vegetable side would be ideal. Grilled asparagus comes immediately to mind—no idea why that might be.

Let me know what your findings are if you experiment with tempeh.

by stacita

Ingredients

3 cloves of pre-peeled garlic, smashed with a spice jar, or a tsp of pre-chopped garlic
1 package of tempeh, cut into 1 in hunks, marinated
½ cup of pre-sliced fresh carrots
½ cup thawed frozen soybeans
1.5 cups dry white rice, cooked

Marinade for Tempeh:
This is really arbitrary for me. Experiment. Epicurious has the following marinades you might try:
Spicy Asian Marinade
Asian-Style Noodle Salad
Grilled Teriyaki Pork Chops

I whisked:
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Rice vinegar
Water
1 tbs sugar

Directions

The Virtues of Tempeh

• Great texture
• Flavor-sucker
• Protein dream

The Evils of Tempeh

• Dryness
• Bitterness

THUSLY. You must seek to keep the tempeh moist throughout the cooking process and be not afraid of the sugar.

To proceed:

• Saute the mashed garlic hunks in canola oil. You can pick them out later (or leave them in, at your peril).
• Add the carrots.
• Add the tempeh, a bit of the marinade, and the soybeans.
• Get it nice and hot. Make sure it's a bit liquidy.

• Add the rice. You may also want to add more marinade or more soy sauce, as suits your vile purpose. BUT PLEASE ADD MORE SUGAR!!

That’s really it. If you have one hand, you can do it.

NOTE! Soybeans and tempeh can make a dish hard to digest. A little extra time in the pan will much alleviate this.

I read somewhere that you might first steam tempeh before marinating. Maybe this will make it more moist. Here's another recipe I found that looks yummy: Pan-Fried Tempeh with Lemongrass, Garlic, and Ginger

by stacita