Newsletters: November - December 2006
Holiday Recipes
Spiced Apple Cider
SERVES 6
8 cups Santa Cruz Organic Apple Juice
1 tsp Frontier Whole Cloves
1 tsp Frontier Whole Allspice
3 Frontier Cinnamon Sticks
1-inch piece of fresh ginger root, sliced
Peel of 1 orange
Thin sliced apple or pear
Sweetener (optional)
Combine all ingredients except thin sliced apple or pear and sweetener in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for ten minutes. Strain mixture into crock pot set on low. Sweeten to taste. Float fruit slices and serve.
Recipe by Jill Welch
Pomegranate, Olive & Walnut Salad
SERVES 5-7
This recipe looks like an odd combination but the flavors are perfect together. This is a beautiful and festive dish.
2 pomegranates
1 cup pitted green olives, coarsely chopped
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
2-3 shallots, chopped
1 cup walnuts, coarsely shopped
4 tsp lemon juice
3 T olive oil
1/2 tsp dried hot chili flakes
Sea salt to taste
Cut off tops of pomegranates and pull apart. Remove seeds and discard skin. Place seeds in bowl and add olives, cilantro, shallots and walnuts. Whisk together remaining ingredients to create dressing. Pour dressing over salad, toss and serve.
Recipe from Herbs and Spices
Dried Tomato and Kalamata Olive Pesto
MAKES 1 1/2 cups
This pesto is great atop polenta, mixed with quinoa or served with cream cheese and crackers.
1 jar kalamata olives pitted (8 oz)
1/2 jar marinated dried tomatoes (8 oz) packed in olive oil
1/4-1/2 cup organic pine nuts
3-5 cloves garlic
1/4-1/2 cup olive oil (you can use oil from tomatoes as part of oil)
1/2 cup organic parsley
Place all ingredients in food processor and process until desired consistency.
Recipe by Jill Welch
Jill's Pumpkin Soup SERVES 4-6
5 1/2 cups pumpkin cooked and pureed
2 cans coconut milk
1 T unrefined coconut oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 T powdered ginger
1 T cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp salt
1 T sweetener (optional)
1 tsp five-spice powder (optional)
Heat onion, oil and spices in pan until onion is soft. Puree onion-spice mixture with one can coconut milk in food processor or blender. Pour mixture into saucepan and add pumpkin, second can of coconut milk, salt and sweetener (if desired). Mix well. Slowly heat while stirring with a whisk until hot and well blended. Do not boil.
Variation: Omit spices and add curry powder instead.
Recipe by Jill Welch
Curried Corn
SERVES 10
3 T unrefined coconut oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
4 medium onions, chopped
1 tsp ground garlic
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cayenne powder
2 tsp coriander powder
2 1/2 cups water, divided
1 tsp ginger root, chopped
1 cup plain unsweetened yogurt
Salt to taste
6 cups fresh or frozen corn
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 fresh green chili, seeded and sliced for garnish
Cilantro leaves for garnish
In wok, heat oil and add seeds. Add onions and fry until golden. Mix garlic, turmeric, cayenne and coriander with _ cup water. Add mixture to wok and cook for 5 minutes. Add ginger root and yogurt. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add corn. Gradually add remaining 2 cups of water and stir. Heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off heat and add lemon juice and garam masala. Garnish and serve.
Recipe from Herbs and Spices
Roasted Vegetables
SERVES 5-7
2 purple potatoes
2 red potatoes
1 sweet potato
1 red and/or yellow beet
2 carrots
1 turnip
2-3 shallots
1 onion
Several cloves garlic
1/4-1/2 cup olive oil
2-3 T butter (optional) cut into small pieces
Sea salt to taste
2 sprigs rosemary
White pepper to taste
Herbamare to taste (optional)
Wash and roughly chop all veggies in to large bite-sized pieces. Put all vegetables in casserole or large cast iron pan. Drizzle olive oil over veggies and toss to coat. Season with salt, pepper and Herbamare. Place rosemary sprigs and butter on top of veggies. Cover the veggies and place in a preheated 400° oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and gently mix veggies. Increase heat to 475° and return veggies, uncovered, to oven. Bake an additional 15-20 minutes. Vegetables are ready when potatoes are soft on inside and slightly crispy on the outside. This is a great side dish or can be added to stock for roasted vegetable soup.
Recipe by Jill Welch
Easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce
SERVES 4
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/4 cup orange juice
2-4 T sweetener of choice
Place all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Bring to boil. Lower heat and let simmer for 1 minute. Enjoy!
World Class Stuffed Tofu "Turkey"
SERVES 8
Tofu Turkey:
5 lb extra firm tofu
2 T onion powder
4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 T canola oil
2 T toasted sesame oil
2 T shoyu or soy sauce
1/4 tsp sage
1/4 tsp thyme
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp spike (all-purpose seasoning salt)
Basting Sauce:
1/4 cup shoyu or soy sauce
1/2 cup toasted sesame oil
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp sage
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp spike
Drain and press tofu. This is best done the day before in order to extract the maximum amount of water. To press, place blocks of tofu on a broiler pan making sure that you have the bottom pan to catch the water! Cover tofu with plastic wrap. Place a cookie sheet on top of plastic wrap. Place approximately 15 lbs of heavy weights on top. Refrigerate overnight.
The next day, in a large bowl crumble tofu into a fine crumble. Add the seasonings and mix well. Line an 8" colander with cheesecloth. Press tofu into colander to make a 1-inch "shell" leaving out enough of the seasoned tofu to form the bottom. Fill the tofu shell with herb stuffing (see Whole Wheat Stuffing recipe). Place the remaining seasoned tofu over the stuffing to form the bottom of the "turkey."
Place your baking pan over tofu "turkey" and carefully flip the colander. Gently remove the colander and cheese cloth.
Baste with sauce and cover with foil. Bake at 350° for 1 hour. Remove from oven and baste again. Bake uncovered an additional 30-40 minutes or until internal temperature of stuffing reaches 140°. Garnish.
Whole Wheat Stuffing
SERVES 8
5 cups 1/2-inch bread cubes
2 T olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, minced
Pinch sea salt
1-2 cups boiling water
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1/3 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup shoyu, tamari or soy sauce
Herbed Seasoning
3 T fresh sage or 1 T dried
1 T fresh thyme or 1 tsp. dried
1 tsp marjoram, dried
1/2 tsp black pepper
Heat oil on medium heat. Saut onion, garlic and celery until translucent. Mix herb seasonings together. Combine herbs with bread cubes, soy sauce, pumpkin seeds, salt and water. Add bread mixture to onions, garlic and celery. Adjust seasonings and liquid according to taste.
Southern Pecan Gravy
SERVES 8
1 large onion, diced
2 T sesame oil
Parsley, chopped
2 cups mushrooms
3/4 cup toasted pecans
4-5 cups water
3 T kuzu or arrowroot (dissolved in _ cup cold water)
1/4 cup shoyu or tamari
Heat oil in large skillet and saut onion until just starting to brown. Add mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes over medium-low heat. Add pecans, water and soy sauce. Bring to a boil. Cook for 15-20 minutes over low heat. Adjust flavors to suit. Stir in kuzu and cook until thick and clear. Add parsley and serve.
Raw Sweet Potato Pie
SERVES 6-8
Crust:
2 cups walnuts soaked, drained and well dried
15 dates, pitted
1/2 tsp five-spice powder
1 tsp nama shoyu
Filling:
5 medium sweet potatoes or yams
15 pitted dates, soaked just until soft
1/2 cup pine nuts, soaked
1 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp five-spice powder
3-4 T psyllium powder
3 T raw honey
Vanilla
In food processor chop crust ingredients being careful not to over process. Press into deep-dish pie pan. Set aside. Peel and slice sweet potatoes. Put through juicer alternating with nuts and dates using blank blade. Use a food processor if you do not have a juicer. (You should end up with approximately three cups potato puree.) For a creamier texture puree in a food processor after mixture goes through the champion juicer.
Add remaining ingredients to mixture, stirring well to combine. Add more psyllium powder if mixture seems loose. Press into pie pan. Chill before serving. Top with Cashew Whipped Cream.
Adapted from Dining in the Raw: Cooking with "the Buff" by Rita Romano
Cashew Whipped Cream
1 cup cashews
1/2 cup water, approximately
1 T raw honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch sea salt
In blender or food processor, blend ingredients until smooth.
Chocolate Pumpkin Truffles
MAKES 48 truffles
2-1/2 cups crushed vanilla wafers (about 12 oz)
1 cup toasted sliced almonds
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, (6 oz package), melted (one minutes in the microwave)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup coffee liqueur
Pulse vanilla wafers in a food processor until ground fine. Pulse toasted almonds in a food processor until ground fine. Combine ground vanilla wafers and almonds, 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl.
With a rubber spatula, blend in melted chocolate, pumpkin and coffee liqueur. Let stand 10 minutes to firm up. Shape mixture into one-inch balls, place on wax paper lined platter and refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes. Garnish with additional chopped, toasted almonds just before serving.
The Co-op Advantage Naturally Good Celebrations Party Planning Guide
