Apricot (or other stone fruit) preserves

I suck at remembering to can stuff....but this stuff will last a while in the fridge or freezer and it's good on toast, yogurt or ice cream. I don't know why these are 99 cents a pound...It's only may and it was snowing in April. My peas aren't even up yet at the community garden. That said I'm broke, and I love apricot jam.

1. Acquire 2.25 lbs stone fruit. Wash your fruit. Be thorough. Don't peel it. Chop for completely smooth preserves or slice for chunkier ones. Do not use the pits (the pits of stone fruits like cherries, peaches, apricots, etc usually contain cyanide )

2.Take 1 cup water and mix in 1 1/2 cup sugar. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer. The sugar should dissolve and the mixture should still be clear. Watch this carefully so the sugar doesn't burn and turn to rock hard caramel.
3. Once down to a simmer add 1/3 cup lemon juice, then all your fruit.
4. Stir every few minutes until fruit liquefies and reduces to mush. Continue until spoon thick. Add 1 tb almond extract and stir. Take care not to splash as 3rd degree burns can result.
5. For smoother jam shove through a sieve with a spoon or food mill.
6. Pour into containers and cool before use.

roasted plums(or other stone fruit)

Slice fruit in half
remove pit (I like to use a grapefruit spoon)
add some grated ginger or honey if you want
place in pan under broiler at 400 for 10 minutes
eat alone or with ice cream of choice or some cream and chopped nuts

Basic sauces: lemon and oil, roasted brussel sprouts...

This should be self explanatory Lemon and Olive oil is one of the best sauces out there. The technique pretty much lends itself to a variety of  citrus fruits and to a degree just use sweeter vinegars (like balsamic or apple) in a smaller quantity to enjoy your deep green things and noodley things more when there is no lemony goodness around.

Here's how to do it.

On many things squeezing 1-2 tb olive oil and the juice of a lemon will do it. Add a sprinkle of salt if you desire ...which I do. Done. This is helpful for salad, Chopped salad and as a dressing on white bean soup.

Let's say you just stovetop roasted some mushrooms and onion or say broccoli or really anything verdant or nicely bitter(Chicken breasts too if you eat them). Before you stir fry add 1/2 onion half moon sliced and sautee in olive oil, adding 1-10 cloves of sliced garlic once the onion becomes translucent. Grab a cup of water (or wine if the mood calls for it) to keep by the stove. Add a half cup to your pot after the onions and garlic play for a bit. Add salt here if you use it. Grate 1/2 of your lemon's (well washed) peel into the pot. Once the liquid reduces substantially to a syrupy/brothy texture add the juice of the lemon. Don't worry this works with bottled lemon juice and no zest if that's what you have, the flavour is just a bit less bright. Garnish with fresh herbs like thyme,mint, chives, basil,etc. when you have them and when it doesn't clash.

Let's say you are roasting brussel sprouts. Fresh brussel sprouts, not the completely ruined frozen variety. So it's fall or spring and you want delicious sprouts. Clean those sprouts and cut a partial x through their butts after trimming the stem. Sliced 3 cloves of garlic on that lb. of sprouts and toss in a liberal bath of olive oil 3-4 tb. Zest and squeeze you lemon on it, Add salt again if you like. add 1/4 cup water and cook in the oven 15 minutes at 425 F. Put under broiler at same temp for last 10 minutes

hippy chow

I have a confession. Much of the time I don't have the time or cant be bothered to cook creatively, and have no money but some groceries. In these times I rely on hippy chow.

2 cups brown rice ( you set up the rice cooker last night , right?)

In skillet 
1 bunch / 1/2 lb green vegetables such as kale, brussel sprouts, broccoli, chard or whatever,
and 
1 sweet onion sliced
in 2 tsp olive oil
add 1/2 lb baby carrots or squash roasted last week while making nut loaf or red peppers, beets or some red or yellow veg (tomatoes are fruit, pick something else)

put out servings of rice and add veggie mixture


soy sauce (obviously in my case this is gluten free) and cheddar cheese to serve
vegans - add tofu or tempeh and some nooch.


Note...please keep in mind that rice grown in areas that are less traditional rice growing areas like MN and WI seem to have lower arsenic load than TX or SC rice because the soil was less likely treated before the arsenic ban back in the 70's. Buy it from a co-op and it's usually cheap too.

ful medames- egyptian style fava beans (vegan option/ gf)

While fava beans are a bit more effort than most other dried beans, the deliciousness and nutrient density of them more than makes up for the PITA factor. Fava beans have fiber, folate,and tend to be lower sodium even when canned. A bag shouldn't run you more than 2$ conventional 4$ organic. Do not attempt to crockpot fava beans unless they have been soaked overnight. Try to find haba style beans (pre peeled). If you cannot find haba style, peel the outer skin after soaking and before cooking for approximately 8 hours high in a crockpot or 3 on a stovetop.  Once the beans are cooked this thing takes 15 minutes max. Yes, you can also make this from canned fava beans...and let's be honest I did tonight.

Peel and Slice 1 small red onion into pretty little rounds. You can use any sweet onion but I like how the red looks and  it's the same price by the bag at our local market Or you can just use 3 green onions chopped up. If you choose those add them with the parsley.
Slice 3 cloves of garlic
Put the above in a pan with 2 tb olive oil and heat at medium until onions are translucent.

Optional: add  1 tb cumin seeds, a pinch of oregano or cinnamon or some red pepper flake.

Add 12 ounces mostly drained beans. Note: if you plan on mashing your ful leave in about a half cup of the liquid. I prefer mine unmashed.
Cook with onion mixture and the juice of 1/2 large or 1 small lemon until liquid is mostly evaporated.
Salt to taste or Salt after cooking. Mash, if desired.
Garnish with 1/2 bunch chopped parsley and tomato.
Crumble in 1 oz feta if you like.   Drizzle on thinned tahini or  Bakdoonisiya. 
It won't taste quite right without some tahini flavour and the addition of tahini makes the favas a complete protein.
 
Eat with rice, chopepd cucumber and tomatoes, dill rice, pita,on its own, or with yogurt. Seriously, make the Bakdoonisiya if you have an extra 10 minutes.

watermelon, feta, mint salad gf (vegan options)

Watermelon is a cheap sweet delicious source of fiber, hydration and flavour as well as being very cooling. So you get an enormous one because it's 29 cents a lb or something and you're not partial to beverages with chunks. (Not a problem for me but even then we have leftovers.)What will you do with the remaining half melon? Mint is under utilised in urban centers mostly because so many people don't realise how easy it is to grow. Feta packs a punch and is cheap mostly because of how little is actually used here (1$ for 1/4 lb of bulgarian feta) and because feta is cheap here. The silent workers here are parsley (flat leaf if you can...the texture makes a difference) and a lime. These both add lots of nutrients. I get my mint from the community garden we're in and parsley is 59 cents a bunch.(Note:mint stored in the freezer after rinsing is fine here). This also takes almost no time of effort and looks pretty. Thinking about bringing it to a wedding pot luck soon, in fact. The key is in the proportions.Do not store for more than a day or two as the results are mushy and gross after a weekend.

Cut 1/2 of a large watermelon into 1inch chunks (approximately). Save the rinds for pickles or if you are me remove the skin and add the grated white to the salad (time permitting).
Wash 5-6 sprigs of mint and 1/2 large bunch of parsley. Cut into tiny pieces with a pair of scissors. Kids can help with this. Put these in the bowl with your melon.
Add the juice of 1/2 a lime. Toss. Crumble 1/3 of that 1/4 brick of feta on your  salad. Toss again. Chill on ice for buffets and the like.
 You can also skip the feta if you are vegan or dairy intolerant. Cashew Parm also tastes good here.

broiled grapefruit

cut a grapefruit in half.
while making something else stick it in a pan under the broiler for about 10 minutes. Allow to cool enough not to be burned while eating. drizzle with honey. mmmm!

batch cooking 'sauteed onions"- aka frozen onions.

This is one of the many things you can make when you're already firing up the oven so you aren't wasting fuel which is of course both money and very likely to be a non renewable resource. Freeze or store in fridge for later use.Most of my soups for  will start with 1 sauteed onion..that's about 1/2 cup.
Slice 5 onions into rounds. Throw in a baking vessel. Toss to coat in 3 tb olive oil. Bake at 350-425 (it will tolerate anything in these ranges) for 20-45 minutes (higher heat equals less time) Check and stir every 10 minutes.

leek and potato soup (vegan)

1.In larger soup pot dissolve 2 cubes or 3 TB vegan chicken flavor boullion or soak three dried shitakes cut into bits with 1 tsp salt  in three boiling cups water
2.Take 2 lg cleaned leeks sliced into rounds or cut fine please use all but the toughest of the green parts and all of the white.add 4 toes of garlic chopped.
3. Saute leeks and garlic in olive oil til green parts turn emerald
4. Add leeks to the pot add 2-4 clean and chopped potatoes or parsnips. I like red potatoes and parsnips for this application (if you don't peel them it's not as fancy looking but generally has more fiber) add optional 1 tb of nutritional yeast
5.Allow to boil until the potatoes fall apart. add  optional 1 cup blonde beer, hard cider or white wine and allow alcohol
to blend with other flavors and simmer down.
 6. Add one TB brown mustard (skip it if you don't have it)
 7. 2-3 cups almond milk (or you could use soy but rice will taste gross)
can be served cold and pureed
can be served hot and pureed
If you want it thicker simmer longer or use more potatoes
if you want to make it heartier/healthier you could add carrots, peas, frozen and thawed bits of tofu (chewy texture), chard,mushrooms,asparagus,kale or cabbage (though bok choy turns out pretty gross here) broccoli isn't a great idea here as it gets bitter when stewing.

Bake fried tofu / marinated baked tofu/ glazed tofu

 I came up with this method after giving myself a lovely 1 1/2 in long tofu pan frying scar and decided only things like latkes were worth that kind of pain. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Put parchment on a baking sheet or your tofu will adhere with a death grip to the pan. Cursing and possible spatula injury may ensue. take your 1 lb block of water packed tofu (not the shelf stable stuff here) and cube into blocks about 1 inch cubes or 1" by 2" blocks (shrinkage will occur). Toss in spices if desired. Space evenly on papered cookie sheet. Spray or brush with oil. This all takes maybe 5  minutes. Put in oven. feel free to roast squash or garlic or whatever because it's going to be heating up your house and using fuel for 1/2 hour. Bake 15 minutes and flip the tofu then bake another 15. allow to cool. put in bags to store for up to 10 days in the fridge.

Alterations:
Marinated you can choose to bake marinated tofu. Pirst let tofu set on a plate or in a bowl and drain at least 1 hour. Then place in marinade of choice (lime juice , tamarind paste, ginger and soy anybody?) in bowl or zipbag for up to 2 days. Proceed as above or roast whole bricks and slice for vegan lunchmeat that doesn't taste like meat but goes great with sriracha veganise, avocado and sprouts.

Glazed- take sweet sauce of choice like mango chutney,honey with sesame seeds, bbq sauce and brush or spread lightly with a spoon on one side during 1st half of baking and on other during 2nd half. reduce heat to 375 to reduce scorching of sugar.

super easy 20 minute frig pickles

cut a smallish cucumber into your preferred pickles shape (usually rounds)
add 1/2 cup lemon juice
2 tb salt
1 tb korean chili powder
add 1 tb sesame seeds
optionally 1 green onion and 1 minced clove garlic
put this in a jar and shake- put in frig for 15 minutes

eat quickly as it will go bad fairly quickly

tub scrub and delicates wash (soap nuts)

The wash
Buy your soap nuts in bulk, put five nuts in a bag or old sock. Wash your laundry up to 3 times. Allow the old nuts to dry. When you have a few cups saved, break up the nuts and throw them in a cook pot (as long as you wash it well after you should be fine.) boil in a qt of water until the water turns dark brown and silty. Remove nuts and allow to cool. Pour the liquid and silt into a bottle(we use an old dish liquid bottle.) It smells bad cooking and otherwise but rinses away with no scent. If this bothers you add up to 10 drops essential oil of choice directly to the bottle after removing the solids and shake. We find that lavender is relatively neutral and covers the smell well. Do not use tea tree if you have sensitive skin and might use this as shampoo. This can be used to wash delicates, dishes, or your hair (if your skin is not very sensitive and your hair is either very dirty or very oily-most of the time we use plain goat soap). It does not foam much but the naturally occurring saponins remove dirt and odor very well. It can also be diluted 1 part liquid to five parts water as floor soap.

 Tub scrub

you will need a blender, immersion blender or food processor.

After making the wash you will want to blend the still squishy soap nut carcasses with the blender until as smooth as possible, add 1/2 cup baking soda , 10 drops essential oil,   and 1/4 cup salt. mix well. store in well labeled jar in fridge.                                                                                                                                                                                                   

sesame spinach ( and other greens) gf if needed

You just roasted some tofu and made some rice
You need edible greens...

Take 1 lb leaves wash em'. Remove woody parts.
Please don't be skittish about ingesting a variety of edible greens. Use what's in season, you can grow it and will be ok cooked. Eating what's available encourages biodviersity, your health and can save you money. (For ex right now in may spinach is tres expensive but the kale is coming up, and so is arugula and dandelion greens. Last month cress was cheap...and if the strawberry spinach would grow it should have shown up then..alas.
Pour 1 tb off the top of your tahini or direct from a bottle of sesame oil
add 1 tb lemon juice and 3 cloves garlic, if desired grate in 1/2 inch fresh ginger.
Heat and allow greens to wilt . Add 3 tb soy sauce (gf if needed) and a small handful of sesame or sesame and flax seeds. Serve hot or chilled. Some greens freeze well, some do not.

Cook until most of the liquid is dissolved and evaporated and your greens are bright green.
options:
add 1 tsp honey or maple syrup if sweetness is desired with the soysauce
add 1/4 tsp thai or korean chili powder with the soysauce.
This is good packed with a protein and rice balls for lunch, as part of bibimbap, sushi filling, as a sandwich topping or omlette filling and along side bbq tempeh or pulled jackfruit bbq.

apple cheddar rice cooker risotto (veg,gf with dairy free / veganoptions)

I'm going to start out by saying that you shouldn't do this. Your rice cooker is not designed for it and you might set something on fire..Really.

I do it at least once a month but I don't leave the house when I do and I check it every 15 or so minutes. Even then it's really good but not quite risotto textured.

1.Take 1 cup rice (can be med or long grain) add 2 cups water with broth paste (or cubes) or broth
meanwhile sautee 1 chopped sweet onion (like a red or yellow) or one sliced clean leek.
5 cloves minced garlic
and one lb of clean and chopped mild or bitter greens (kale, collard, dandelion, chard,cress,broccoli leaves or spinach. Mustard and Turnip do not work well here)
if you want to add a chopped mushroom or a chopped apple feel free
add a bit of salt nutmeg and pepper
use olive or sunflower oil as your oil
add a handful of walnuts or pecans if you can afford to and want to


2.Cover and let sit until rice is cooked

with cheese 3.  Grate or mince up 1/2 cup very sharp cheddar. add this and 1 tb dijon to your rice and stir thoroughly.

dairy free   3. Take 1 tb dry mustard , 1 tb dijon,1 tb lemon juice, 1/3 cup nutritional yeast and 3 tb sesame paste, if you have almond or cashew butter add 3 tb. Mix all thoroughly. Now mix into rice.

4. Add 1/2 bottle gf hard cider to your pot. stir. The more you stir the more creamy.
5. Reset cooker and put back on cook cycle. allow to be used in keep warm cycle for up to 24 hours. garnish with cress or parsley if desired.

The rub down- softening shower scrub

Put these in a clean jar :
1 cup sea salt
1 cup turbinado sugar
1tb almond extract
1/4 cup apricot or olive oil
1/2 cup honey
stir until completely mixed.
Use as below:

Wet body. Apply in a circular pattern. Avoid genital and urinary region. Rinse well and use before soap.

Slow cooker cheesy Grits

This recipe was altered from the gourmet vegetarian slow cooker by Lynn Alley
Please use yellow cornmeal rather than the kind bleached with cleaning solvents, kay?

 In a little crockpot

Take
1 cup coarse cornmeal (often marketed as polenta or grits)
4 cups water
(optional 1-2 cups thinly sliced greens like mustard, collard or kale)
1 poblano chile diced (I get them when they go on sale, wash them and leave them in the freezer until I feel like using them)
Plug in, put the lid on and leave alone for 8 hours. 
Before serving stir in 3/4 cup cheese (strong flavours work best here so cheddar, gouda, smoked provolone) and recover for about 15 minutes so it can melt. Stir again. Divide 1/4 cup of cheese between your 2-4 servings so it can be pretty. Sprinkle a touch of paprika on top. Eat.

Colcannon and Boxty

In a big pot Boil
3-5 lbs light coloured roots I usually leave the skins on after removing eyes and scrubbing well (parsnips, red potatoes & idaho russets usually). Mash well adding buttermilk for texture.
Put this stuff in a Heavy pan (I use my cast iron):
1 lg or 2small leeks cut into coins , soaked in icy water for an hour (to get the sand out) ,drained, Add 1/2 head of cabbage or 1/4 head & a bunch of kale sliced fine (or you can have a kid rip out the big veins on the kale & then chiffonade them.) For a change of pace you can also add some watercress at this stage with the cabbage & kale.
1-2 chopped onions (yellow or white)
saute in 1 tb olive oil & 1/4 stick of butter or soybutter (olive oil raises the smoke point a little)
until white parts are translucent. Next add 1 cup buttermilk or (1 c almond milk plus 1 tb lemon juice) & 1/2 cup water & simmer. Grate 1/4 of a fresh nutmeg into this. Add salt & pepper to taste and extra nutmeg if desired. The cabbage should turn a vibrant green just before you finish steaming.Mix together. If you eat bacon it is traditional to put a cross or lattice of bacon on top of the bake to break up into the mash before eating. You can also pan fry smoky tempeh or make coconut bacon to do this with after baking or go without which is pretty traditional also)

and bake at 350f for 1/2 hour or until golden crust appears on the peaks.

tastes lovely with Baked Beans or fish

 Boxty
Take 1 egg 1/4 c buttermilk( or sub you used earlier),(1 chopped half a green onion if you like)  and 1/2 cup white or fine ground whole meal flour like barley, or sorghum per cup of leftover colcannon. Mix together until feels like play clay. Shape into  patties and fry in olive oil, butter or bacon fat. Alternately, you can make a thinner drop pancake by adding 1/4 cup more buttermilk and finish by frying them as you would a regular  pancake.

caraway lentil stew -recipe is easily halved or multiplied, freezes well (vegan)

2 cup/ 16 oz brown or green lentils

6 cup water or veg broth

2 cubes or 2tb vegan boullion -unnecessary when using veg broth (use no salt variety please as the salty flavour gets eaten by the starches if added during cooking and makes the sodium level sky rocket. They also make your lentils take forever to cook. )

1lb or more cooking greens , a large head of kale or 1/2 a small head of cabbage (or any other mild cooking green such as chard ,spinach,dandelion,mustard, mache, etc... or for a sour soup 1/2 cup good sauerkraut)

7 toes roasted garlic (mashed) or 4 of unroasted (minced)

2 sliced onions sliced in rings or one cleaned leek (use the greens too)and one onion

2 tb caraway
lemon juice, apple vinegar or white wine for brightening

4 veg sausages of your choice (completely optional- but holy grail sausage and eggplant sausage are neato in this one)

2 whole sliced carrots if desired

5 sliced mushrooms if desired

1-2 waxy type potatoes if desired

1- 2 tb olive oil

1. put broth or water in large pot (or crock pot) add boullion, (if using), lentils and caraway
2.wash your greens(even if they are pre washed)
3.bone your greens for kale or mustard .Make an ok sign with your dominant hand with the narrow end of poking through the hole. Pull firmly with non dominant hand and squeeze gently with dominant hand. This should neatly de-rib the really woody sections of kale, collards, or mustard . The ribs can now be chopped fine and used as you might use celery.
4. rip up de ribbed greens or slice cabbage. Throw in your soup pot pot.

5.take all other veg except carrots and potatoes and saute in olive oil until onions are transclucent, taking care not to let your garlic burn ( if roasted just add it to the soup during the simmer. cool with brightening liquid of choice, lemon, wine , vinegar (go very light and add more during the simmer if desired). add all veg including roots to soup pot.

5. once lentils begin to soften (about 45 minutes)reduce to simmer.
6. adjust seasoning like salt, brightener, pepper,caraway add sausages. keep warm until serving

for crock pot version just saute veg and prep all and add to crock pot on low for no less than 8 hrs. no need to pre boil. soup should be creamy and lumpy in texture . add sausages during last hour of cooking (as otherwise they fall apart). eat within 4 days or freeze it.

apple squash soup (can be crock potted)

1 butternut squash peeled and seeded
1-2 lg apples chopped (no need to peel)
2 ribs celery chopped
1 chopped onion
1 tb smoked salt if available
3 tb almond butter (you can skip this if you don't have it but it's much cheaper in bulk)
4 toes garlic chopped
8 cups water or stock
cinnamon
olive oil 1-2 tb
opt: sage, 12 oz white beans,1 cup dry lentils,bacon or analouge, red bell peppers
Saute all veggies except squash in olive oil. add to pot. pour in broth and everything else but the almond butter. Stir every 10-15 if on stovetop or more often if using bean or lentils as they stick. cook on crockpot low for 6-8 hours.  Mash up big pieces using bottom of ladle or immersion blend for creamier texture.When reaches desired squishiness remove from heat,add almond butter and stir. serve hot.

horchata (vegan or dairy)

So I finally got around to making non powdered horchata...it's apparently pretty easy.

soak 1 cup rice (white or brown) and a cinnamon stick or 1 tsp cinnamon in 3 cups water.
Cover and leave it alone for 8-12 hours.
throw this in a blender and blend until the rice is powdered add 1/2 c sugar (or 1/4c crystallised stevia/splenda), 1 tsp real vanilla or almond and a few grates of nutmeg. add 3 more glasses of water or milk or almond milk or halvsies of both and blend again. It will be creamy and frothy with or without milk. strain through fine sieve or tea towel or old t shirt. squeeze the liquid through. chill. shake before serving as it will seperate. I add more nutmeg and cinnamon at serving time mmm.

• next I'm going to try starting with rice flour and see how that goes

ummm rice flour...not so good.