Bryanna's Homemade Tomato Salsa

This is the excellent tomato salsa recipe I have made over and over again. The credit for this recipe goes to Bryanna Clark Grogan who posted it on the Vegsource New Veggies board a few years ago. Since I found this recipe on a public forum and I am giving credit to Bryanna, I think it's OK for me to post it here. I have received a lot of compliments and requests for this receipe from friends.

8 garlic cloves
1 large onion
1 large green pepper, seeded
1/4 cup drained pickled jalapeño peppers OR 2 or 3 fresh seeded hot green chilies
OR use 1 Tbsp pureed canned chile chipotles
2 (28 oz) cans diced tomatoes, very well drained
OPTIONAL: 1/4 cup tomato paste
2 Tbsp lemon juice or red wine vinegar
1 - 2 tsp salt
1 tsp dried oregano (or 1 Tbsp fresh)
OPTIONAL: 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or Italian parsley
1 tsp dried red chile flakes (if you like it really hot--but remember that this salsa gets hotter as time goes on)

If you have a food processor, pulse the garlic cloves, then add the onion and green pepper, cut in chunks, and the jalapeños and pulse until minced. Add the drained tomatoes and the remaining ingredients and pulse until well mixed.

If you don't have a food processor, then you'll have to chop everything fine by hand.

Keep in tightly closed jars in the refrigerator. It will keep refrigerated for several weeks. Some clear liquid will rise to the top. Pour it off or stir it in, depending on the consistency you like.

Marinade and/or Salad Dressing

I used this recipe to marinate some portobello mushrooms for yesterday's BBQ. Well, actually hubby cooked some wrapped baked potatoes and beef burgers on the grill for our guests. For the vegetarians at our little gathering, I baked the portobello's in my little toaster oven. Our portobello burgers were wonderful and the meat eaters were happy with their burgers too.

Here are the ingredients for the marinade:

1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 garlic cloves, grated

I love the combination of these flavours and often use this as a salad dressing. Tonight for dinner we had steamed vegetables on brown rice and I drizzled some of this dressing over the rice and veggies.

I make this in little batches as I need it. If you start making large batches that you can't use up right away, the red pepper flakes start getting hotter the longer you leave it sitting.

Savoury Lentils

This is a favourite McDougall recipe that I have been making since August 2002, according to the notes in my cooking binder. It's from one of Dr McDougall's books (not sure which one). I have modified it very slightly according to my own taste and that's the version I will post here. This would be excellent over mashed potatoes or over whole wheat toast.

2 cups dried green lentils
4 cups water
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, chopped
4 - 6 green onions, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 5.5 oz can tomato paste
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place the lentils in a large pot and cover with the water. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 1 hour.

Saute the garlic, onion, green onions and celery in 1/3 cup water until soft. Add to the cooked lentils, along with the soy sauce, vinegar, tomato paste and mustard. Add freshly ground black pepper to taste. Continue to simmer for 1 hour more for a souplike consistency, uncovered for a gravylike consistency.

Lori M's Sausage Chowder

I got this delicious recipe off the McDougall forum years ago posted by someone named LoriM. It calls for a faux hamburger "meat" and the only type I could find where I live is Yves Ground Round, as pictured below. This product is expensive and too processed for my liking, but it does work well in this recipe.























Next time I will use Bob's Red Mill TVP (textured vegetable protein). I think it's more reasonably priced and it's certainly not as processed, the only ingredient being soy flour.



















Here's the recipe:

1 lb faux ground "meat" of your choice
2 onions, chopped fine
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp thyme
2 tsp sage
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 can chick peas
2 cans red kidney beans
3 potatoes, diced

Brown sausage and onions in a dutch oven and add all ingredients except the potatoes. Simmer 1 hour. Add potatoes, cook for an additiona 1/2 hour. Easily doubled and freezes well. You can add extra water and tomato sauce to thin it slightly, if you prefer. I like it thick.

Brownies

Above is a picture of my brownies just out of the oven, uncut, left to cool on the rack.

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup vegan chocoloate chips (optional)
1/2 cup nuts of your choice (optional)
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix dry ingredients together very well. Mix wet ingredients. Add wet to dry ingredients and stir just enough to mix. Pour batter (batter will be thick) into an 8"x8" square pan. Bake for about 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Leave in pan for about 10 minutes, then remove and place on cooling rack. Once cool, cut into squares.

Notes: Instead of applesauce, I have used jars of prune baby food in the past.

It's important not to overmix dry and wet ingredients when you don't use animal products (such as eggs) in your baking. The reason for this escapes me at the moment but I learned this rule early on my in vegan baking "career".

You will have to test the baking time in your own oven. I use a toaster oven and it took 45 minutes. It make take less in a regular oven. I don't know. Check after 30 minutes. If it's not done, continue to bake and check for doneness in 5 minute increments.

Green White Bean Dip

The green part of this dip is from Swiss chard leaves and the white is from a can of white kidney beans. You could also use spinach or kale. Bean dips are so easy to make with a food processor. I rarely follow a recipe and just toss in whatever I have on hand. This would be good with raw veggies, tortilla chips, plain crackers or even as a sandwich spread. (I just happened to have a loaf of bread baking in the oven right now).

1 can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Swiss chard leaves (green part, not the veins)
1/2 tsp salt
splash water
few twists freshly ground black pepper

Put all ingredients into a food processor and pulse. Add a tiny bit more water if necessary. Blend until all the ingredients are fully mixed and smooth. Add more salt and pepper if required.

Thai Sauce

This recipe is for the Thai Sauce. I guess I didn't really need to post a picture of my stir fry but the colours looked so pretty that I couldn't resist. I won't say anything about the stir fry because you can use whatever veggies strike your fancy. The top photo shows what the sauce looks like before cooking. No photo of the finished dish because my camera battery died.

Here's how I put together the sauce:

2 garlic cloves, minced
1 green onion, sliced
3 Tbsp lime juice, fresh or bottled
1 tsp sugar of your choice
4 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce *
1/8 tsp Tabasco sauce **
2 tsp corn starch

Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. After stir frying the veggies, stir in the sauce and stir fry for a couple of minutes, or until thickened and bubbly. Serve over brown rice or noodles.

* I use 2 Tbsp of a regular soy sauce and 2 Tbsp water to cut down on the sodium
** you could use a bit more Tabasco sauce if you prefer more heat