Tostones!

2 green plantains (from the tree in my back yard!)

canola oil (peanut oil might be better)

salt

Peel and slice plantains. This is harder than it sounds.

Heat oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add plantain slices. Fry for about 3 minutes, flip, fry for another 3 minutes.

Remove plantains from oil and place on paper towels or a kitchen towel. Let them sit for a minute and then smash them. If you're really fancy, use a tostonera. I'm not that fancy.... I used a glass.

Put them back in the oil and fry until golden brown and crispy. Sprinkle with salt.

My old faithful masoor dahl:

1/2 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup olive oil

1 cup lentils

veg. broth or boullion

water (usually 3 cups or so, but start with about a cup and a half and add as needed)

curry powder (a lot)

cumin (a lot)

coriander (not so much.... maybe 1/2 tsp)

cardamom (also not so much)

red pepper flakes

salt

saute the onion in the oil until translucent. add garlic and saute until fragrant. add water, lentils, and spices (to taste). Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and allow to simmer, closely monitoring and adding water as needed, until it reaches desired consistency (pretty dang mushy). Add red pepper flakes and simmer for 5 more minutes. Serve over rice.

Shiitake turnovers with gravy and steamed green beans.

Turnovers:

For the dough:

Mix 3 cups flour (I used whole wheat because I like to be healthy, but I bet they would taste delicious with white flour), 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup soy, rice, or almond milk, 1/4 cup olive or safflower oil, 2 tbsp maple syrup, and 2 tsp salt.

Roll out and cut into squares.

For the filling:

Chop 2-3 cups shiitake mushrooms.

Cook over medium heat in 1/3 cup vegetable broth and 2 tbsp earth balance, until tender.

Place some filling on each square, fold the square in half, and seal the edges.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Gravy:

Heat 1 cup vegetable stock (I used mushroom stock I made and froze several weeks ago) at medium-low heat.

Add 1 tbsp earth balance and 2 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour. Stir constantly until thickened.

Tomatoey-Squash-Quinoa Surprise:

[I suppose the "surprise" is that combining coconut oil, tomato, and nutritional yeast gives this a rich, cheesy flavor]

1 Large Tomato (2 might have been better, actually)

1 cup mushrooms, chopped

2-3 large assorted summer squash (+ whatever other veggies you have on hand: broccoli, carrots, turnips would be good)

3 tbsp coconut oil

0.5 cups veg. broth

0.25 cups nutritional yeast

quinoa (1 part quinoa: 2 parts water, just like rice)

Place tomato in a stockpot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until the skin begins to peel off and the tomato is tender/ almost mushy.

Meanwhile, bring quinoa to a boil, reduce to low, and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Chop mushrooms and squash.

Pour water off of tomato and allow the tomato to cool for a few minutes. Dice the tomato.

Combine tomato, squash, mushrooms, vegetable broth, and coconut oil in the stockpot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and cook for about 15 minutes (until the squash reaches desired tenderness). Add nutritional yeast and cook for an additional 5 minutes or so. Serve over quinoa.

Home Fries:

Cubed potatoes (I used Yukon Gold)

Canola oil

salt & pepper

Heat oil over medium heat. Add potatoes and cook, covered, for 10 minutes. Remove lid and cook another 10 minutes, stirring constantly.

These would probably be better if served with a tofu scramble, but I was working with the contents of my fridge.

My last midterm (statistics) is tomorrow morning, so hopefully I'll be back to cooking (and posting) more regularly this week.

Pizza...

White whole wheat crust:

1 cup warm water

1 package yeast

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp sugar

3 cups white whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

Combine sugar, yeast, and water. Combine dry ingredients in another bowl. Combine the fry ingredients, yeast mixture, and olive oil. Stir and knead for about 10 minutes. Leave to rise in a bowl covered with a damp kitchen towel for an hour. Knead for about a minute and return to bowl. Allow to rise at least 3o additional minutes. Stretch, slap toppings on top, and bake in a 450 degree for 15-20 minutes.

My toppings:

basil

green pepper

mushrooms

roasted garlic

Follow Your Heart mozzarella cheese

Peach Cobbler:

2 large peaches, sliced

0.25 cups sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

1.5 tsp corn starch

2 tsp cinnamon

0.5 cups flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)

2 tbsp vegetable shortening

1 tbsp sugar

0.25 tsp salt

0.25 cups soymilk

0.5 tbsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Stir the peaches with the 0.25 cups sugar, cinnamon, and corn starch. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the juice thickens and becomes bubbly. Pour into a baking dish and place in the oven.

Mix flour, 1 tbsp sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. Cut shortening into flour mixture until it looks like a bowl of fairly large crumbs. Add soymilk and stir. Spoon onto peach mixture. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes or so, until the fruit is bubbly and crust is beginning to brown on top.