Larb gai

2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, chopped in food processor
1 bunch chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 to 1/2 red onion, chopped fine
4 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons red chile paste

(Fish sauce and red chili paste are available at any Asian market)

Cook chicken in non-stick skillet until done (no oil necessary)

Remove from heat, drain any excess liquid, then add fish sauce, lime juice, onion, cilantro and chile paste.

Good served over rice or wrapped in lettuce leaves.

Vegan Ravioli

For the pasta
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour (or 2 cups all-purpose)
1 egg replacer mixture
Enough water to make the dough - probably about 1/2 cup.
I used my Kitchenaid mixer to do the dough and added just enough water for the dough to wrap together around the beater. Then I left it on slow for a few minutes to let it knead.
Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest for a few minutes.

For the filling - I used my food processor
12 oz pkg silken tofu
egg replacer for 2 eggs
garlic
salt
pepper
parsley
Italian seasoning
1 small can mushrooms, drained
cooked spinach
I prepared everything except the spinach and tasted to make sure I had it like I wanted it. I was shooting for the "cheesy" part of lasagna. Once the flavor was right, I added about a cup of cooked, drained spinach and processed it again to blend everything well.

On the stove - put on a big pot of water to boil.

Back to the pasta:
I rolled this out on a piece of parchment paper dusted with just a little flour. Also, it's easier to work with smaller amounts of the dough since it needs to be so thin - so I divided the dough in quarters and worked with one at a time.
Roll this THIN! Very thin! I turned it over a couple of times and dusted just a little bit of flour to make it not sticky. Then rolled it some more. Did I mention to roll it THIN? :)

Once it is rolled out thin, I used a biscuit cutter to cut the ravioli. Remember, you need 2 circles for each one. I dipped my finger in some water and ran it around the edges of the circles to dampen so they will stick together. It took just a small spoon of the filling in the center of the circle. I put a circle on top and sealed it with a fork just around the edges.

When I had cut all the circles that would fit in that portion, I took the rest and covered it back up. Once I had completed all the quarters, I combined all the scraps and rolled them out too.

Cook 4 or 5 at a time in the boiling water. They will float pretty quickly. I probably left them in the water 5 minutes after they floated. Drain well, and serve with your favorite pasta sauce.

I boiled some of these, baked some on a cookie sheet, and cooked a couple in a non-stick skillet. They were pretty good all 3 ways - but really the best boiled and served in a traditional manner.

This will be an awesome meal with a nice salad and some french bread.

By the way, I had aLOT of filling left. Think I'll use it for some vegan lasagna. :)

Chicken Pot Pie

Cook and bone whole chicken or 4 to 6 chicken breasts

Pour 1 can Veg-All in 9x13 casserole dish
Place chicken over Veg-All

Mix
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups chicken broth
Pour over chicken

Mix
1 cup flour
1 stick margarine (melted)
1 cup buttermilk

Pour over other and bake at 350 until crust is brown

Chicken & Dressing

Boil 10 lbs of chicken leg/thigh quarters. Save broth. Pull chicken meat and mix with

1 skillet of cornbread (crumbled)
1 loaf white bread (small pieces)
8 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon baking soda
1/2 cup oil
Salt & Pepper
Sage to taste
2 big onions (chopped)
Add enough chicken broth to make dressing moist, but not runny.

Bake at 425 for 45 minutes or until brown on top.

Chicken Ro-tel

Boil one pound of chicken (boneless) with stick of butter, salt, pepper. When chicken is done, save one cup of broth, and set chicken aside to cool.

In a large saucepan, combine:
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can Ro-tel
1 can Veg-all
1 cup broth
1 lb Velveeta (cubed)
Heat in pan
Once cheese is melted, add chicken (shredded)

Mix with 16 oz cooked pasta

Mark's Pizza Crust

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (may substitute whole wheat flour for 1 cup of the all-purpose)
• 1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup warm water
• cornmeal, for sprinkling

Directions

1. Mix a little sugar into the warm water.

2. Sprinkle yeast on top.

3. Wait for 10 minutes or until it gets all foamy.

4. Pour into a large bowl.

5. Add flour and salt.
   

6. Combine.

7. Knead for 6-8 minutes until you have a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (add a bit more flour if you need to).

8. Cover and let rest for 20-30 minutes.

9. Prepare two 12-inch pizza pans with parchment paper or use pizza stones.

10. Sprinkle with a little bit of cornmeal.

11. Divide dough in half.

12. Place each half on a pizza pan and pat it with your fingers until it stretches over the whole pan. (Use parchment paper if you don't have a pizza stone to keep crust from sticking).

13. Try to make it thicker around the edge.

14. If desired, pre-bake at 425 F for 10 minutes (I don't always do this).

15. Then spread with pizza sauce and use the toppings of your choice.

16. Bake at 425 F for 10-20 minutes longer or until bubbly and hot.

17. Makes 2 12-inch pizzas.

18. If you don't want to use all the dough, you can freeze it. Take a portion of dough, form into a ball, wrap in parchment paper, and place it in a freezer bag. When you want to make a pizza, take dough out of freezer and allow to thaw before using.

Vegan Lasagna

So the menu at Care Group last night was lasagna and I decided that it would be fun for us to have the same thing. I had been thinking I could make a decent lasagna using silken tofu. I did a quick Google search and saw that someone had posted a recipe using tofu instead of ricotta cheese so I put this together. I made a small pan for the 2 of us and enough to share with the curiousity seekers.

8 whole wheat lasagna noodles boiled until tender

1 jar of Wild Oates 365 Brand no fat spaghetti sauce - or make your own.

1 pack of silken tofu - placed in food processer until creamy
add some Italian seasoning, garlic powder, parsley, and egg substitute powder and water equal to 1 egg. Mix well in the food processer until blended.

1/2 pack frozen spinach (cut leaf is what I like) - thawed in the microwave and drained well.

Layer all of the above as many times as you like and bake for about 30-40 minutes at 350.

Honestly, all we missed was the cheese on the top. The seasoned tofu really did a good imitation of ricotta.

Faux Chicken and Rice

1 Bag of Morning Star* brand "Chicken Strips"
1 chopped onion
Brown together in a non-stick skillet til onion is tender.

1 cup of basmati rice
2 cups of water (I used half mushroom broth and half water)

Dump all of the "chicken" and the onion into the pot with the rice and water and throw in a few green peas, carrots and other veggies (celery would probably be good if you like it.)

Cook til the rice is fluffy. We added just a little sea salt to our portions on our plates.

The aroma reminded me of Thanksgiving while it was cooking. I had a little cranberry sauce on the side. It was delicious!

*The chicken strips have expeller pressed canola oil as the very last ingredient on the list. It seems pretty negligible to me and since we don't have heart disease, we enjoy these. :)

Vegan Spaghetti Squash

Prepare a spaghetti squash by cutting in half, wrapping with plastic wrap, and microwaving for 10 minutes or until soft. Clean out the middles with a spoon, getting all the seeds, then use a fork to separate the squash into spaghetti-like strands.

Top with homemade sauce with lots of garlic - or use your favorite jarred sauce.

Shepherd's Pie

1 small onion
1.5 pounds ground beef
Two 8oz cans tomato sauce
2 small cans whole kernel corn
8-10 med new red potatoes
1.5 cups milk
12 tbl butter
Sour cream
2 cups instant biscuit mix

Potato layer: Peel and slice potatoes 1/4 inch thick. Cook in boiling water about 15 minutes. Whip with an electric mixer, adding about 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup sour cream, and a stick of butter. Salt and pepper to taste.

Beef layer: Saute onion in 2 tbl butter. Add ground beef. After beef is browned, drain. Return to low heat and add tomato sauce and one small can of whole kernel corn.

Biscuit layer: Combine biscuit mix and 1 cup milk. The mix should be thinner than normal biscuit dough, but not runny.

Using a greased 8x11 (or larger) casserole dish, layer the mashed potatoes about half-way up. Next, add the other can (heated) of corn, then the beef layer. Top with the biscuit dough and 4 tablespoons of melted butter. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes, or until biscuit layer is golden brown.

Drew's Chipotle Chicken Chunks

Unbreaded Chicken Strips(as many as needed)
Tabasco Chipotle Sauce(as much as needed)
Flour(as much as needed)
Salt & Pepper
2-3 Eggs

Take your chicken strips and, using scissors or knife, cut the strips into small or large chunks. Get a mixing bowl and break your eggs into the bowl. Stir them up until all you see is yellow. Drop the chunks into the bowl and mix it up until the chunks are completely covered. Get another mixing bowl full of flour and throw in as much salt and pepper as you like. Take the chunks out of the first bowl and put it into the flour. Bread the chunks until completely covered. Once the chunks are breaded, fry them up in some vegetable oil, pan or fry daddy. When chunks are done, put them in a bowl full of Tabasco Chipotle Sauce and cover them good. Throw the chunks on a baking pan and throw them in the oven set to 400. (The temp doesn't matter too much, so use your own judgement.) Let them bake for 15 minutes. Pull them out of the oven and enjoy! Don't forget the Ranch Dressing for dippin'!

Cornish Game Hens and Wild Rice

4 fresh or frozen game hens
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 (6oz) pkg. long grain and wild rice mix
1 (10 3/4 oz) can chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
1 bunch green onions, sliced
6 large mushrooms, sliced or 1 jar sliced mushrooms
1/2 c dry white wine
2 bay leaves

Thaw hens. Remove giblets. Rinse hens and pat dry. Brush inside and out with 1 tbl melted butter. Remove seasoning packet from rice mix; use 1 teaspoon seasonings per hen; rub inside and out. Place hens breast side up in a shallow roasting pan. Pour chicken broth and 1/2 c. Water into pan. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt 2 tbl butter in a skillet. Add green onions, mushrooms and rice packet from mix. Sauté, stirring frequently. Slowly add 1 1/4 cups water, remaining seasonings from packet, wine, bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Pour rice mixture into roasting pan making sure that rice does not rest on top of hens. Brush hens with remaining butter. Cover loosely with foil. Reduce oven temperature to 350 and bake an additional 45 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed.
Serve hens on a bed of rice. Makes 4 servings.

Low-Fat Red Beans and Rice

6 oz. Low-fat smoked sausage, sliced
1 c chopped onion
3/4 c chopped green pepper
1 clove garlic, minced

Sauté until tender in Dutch oven coated with cooking spray.

3 (16 oz.) cans red beans, drained
1 (14 1/2 oz.) can stewed tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 1/2 c water
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. hot sauce
1 bay leaf

Add to sausage mixture and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Remove and discard bay leaf.
Serve over rice.

Baked Fried Chicken

3 c. Self-rising flour
2 env. Lipton cup of soup - tomato
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. paprika
2 pkg. Good Sense Italian 4-pk Dressing

Mix in plastic bag.
Put chicken in bag and coat thoroughly.

Place 1/4 lb. butter in cake pan. Lay chicken in pan. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until crispy.




(This is from Amanda Carver, a Komatsu friend)

Mongo Burros

Brown 1 lb. Hamburger meat and drain. Add 1 pkg. taco seasoning mix and prepare as directions indicate.

Use any size soft flour burrito shells. Place some refried beans in the center of the shell and then fill with some taco meat. Use shredded monterey jack or cheddar cheese (or a combination) if you like. Roll the shell and place in a large baking dish. When the dish is full, pour salsa over the shells until covered. Top with shredded jack and cheddar cheese.

Bake until the cheese bubbles. Serve with sour cream, tomatoes, shredded lettuce, olives, etc.


(This was from Rob Ponder and the old Que Pasa Restaurant.)