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Vol. 2  No. 6     

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Recipes

BEAN BURRITOS

I have discovered over many years that the beans have a different taste if they are cooked in a slow cooker.  This is the way I make them most of the time, and the way I serve them to guests.  I do cook them in a pressure cooker or on the stove occasionally, but they just don�t have the same long-cooked flavor.  My family has been eating this meal for about 28 years and it is my most requested dinner, by family and friends.  It is easy to serve to any number of people, because everyone makes their own burrito, adding as much or as little of the toppings as they wish.  This is a favorite meal for our �vegetable hater� friend, Sharon.  She likes the beans, soy taco �meat� and the soy cheese.  She also eats guacamole and tomatoes on her burritos, along with some salsa and maybe a bit of lettuce too.

Preparation Time:  15-30 minutes
Cooking Time:  all day
Servings:  variable, at least 10-12

Smashed pinto beans:

2-3 cups dry pinto beans
Water to cover at least 2 inches over beans
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
4-6 whole cloves fresh garlic 

Place all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook for 8-10 hours on high.  Pour off almost all of the water that remains after cooking (save for another use, if desired) and mash with an electric hand mixer or a hand held bean masher.  (The onion and garlic will be soft enough to mash with the beans.)  Season with a little salt, if desired.

Hint:  There will beans left-over when you make this amount.  They may be refrigerated for about 5 days or put them in the freezer for later use.  I always make a lot of these and use the left-overs for Bean Enchiladas, Mexican Pizza or another meal of burritos for lunch later in the week.

Taco �meat�:

1  12 ounce package Yves Veggie Ground Round (original)
1 package Bearitos or Hain Taco Seasoning mix
water as directed on package

Place the �ground round� in a non-stick frying pan and break up with a wooden spoon.  Add the taco seasoning and the water as directed on the package.  Mix well.  Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 8-10 minutes.

Guacamole:

4 avocados, mashed
1/8 cup chopped green chilies (canned)
1 tomato, chopped
squeeze of fresh lime juice
dash Tabasco sauce
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Hint:  This is a high-fat treat.  If you are trying to lose weight or regain your health, it would be best to avoid this on your burrito.  It is nice to have this available for guests, though.  You only need a small amount to add a lot of flavor to your burrito.  To save the guacamole for later use, place in a small container and flatten down the top with a spoon.  Then place some plastic wrap over the guacamole, pressing it down well with your fingers so there is no air space anywhere on the top of the container.  (You can also do this by layering a small amount of salsa over the guacamole so none of the avocado shows through.)  Avocado turns brown when exposed to the air and may be kept in the refrigerator for a couple of days if you prevent the exposure to air, either with plastic wrap or salsa.

Enchilada sauce:

1  8 ounce can tomato sauce
1 � cups cold water
1  to 1 � tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons cornstarch
� teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and mix with a whisk.  Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened, about 5 minutes.  Serve warm.

Toppings: chopped onion, chopped tomato, shredded lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, grated soy cheese, assorted fresh salsas. 

Assorted burrito shells, both flour and corn

To serve:
Place all ingredients in individual bowls and place on a serving counter or table.  Let each person take a burrito shell, warm it on a dry non-stick griddle if they wish, and then layer it with all the ingredients that they like.  For example:  burrito shell, beans, taco �meat�, guacamole, soy cheese, onions, tomatoes, lettuce and salsa.  Then if they want a �wet� burrito, fold over the burrito shell and ladle on some warm enchilada sauce.

EASY OATS (OR CEREAL) FOR TWO

This is the usual breakfast for John and Mary.  It is delicious as well as nutritious!

Preparation Time:  2 minutes
Cooking Time:  20-30 minutes
Servings: 2

2 � cups water
1/8 cup currents or raisins
1 1/8 cup rolled oats or 4-grain cereal

Place the water in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  Add dried fruit and cereal.  Stir to mix.  Reduce heat to low and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for 20-30 minutes.  Serve with sliced bananas, blueberries or other fresh fruit on the top.  Add a small amount of other sweetener, such as brown sugar, if desired.

Hint:  If you don�t have enough time to make this in the morning, it may be prepared ahead of time and reheated in the microwave when you are ready to eat.

PIZZA

Almost everyone knows how to put together a pizza without a recipe.  It is possible to be very creative when preparing pizzas for yourself and others.  You can start with a traditional red sauce, either homemade or store-bought pasta sauce, and layer favorite, healthy ingredients on top of that.  Or you can try something a bit different and use a variety of mashed beans for the base with assorted vegetable on the top.   Baking time is only about 10 minutes, so you can have dinner on the table very quickly.   The best tasting and healthiest pizza crust is made by Dallas Gourmet Bakery in Texas.  It contains only flour water, yeast and salt.  Your local natural food store may stock this or it may be ordered directly from the company.

Kabuli crust  (made by Dallas Gourmet Bakery)
Phone # 972 247 9834

Preparation Time:  10 minutes
Cooking Time:  10 minutes
Servings:  8

1 large Kabuli pizza crust
� cup fat-free pasta sauce
assorted toppings:  chopped onions, chopped bell peppers, sliced mushrooms, chopped pineapple, chopped broccoli, sliced zucchini, chopped artichoke hearts, etc.

Optional toppings:  shredded soy cheese, sliced non-fat, meat-free pepperoni, veggie ground �round�, crumbled tofu

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Spread sauce evenly over pizza crust.  Layer on the toppings of your choice.  Place on a baking tray and bake for about 10 minutes.  Remove from oven, let cool slightly, then slice and enjoy.

Hints:  Other recipes for pizza may be found in the McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook.

LASAGNA

We serve this the first night at the McDougall 10 day live-in program.  Everyone loves it!  It is a wonderful dish to make for guests or to take to a potluck dinner. 

Preparation Time:  30 minutes
Cooking Time:  60 minutes
Resting Time:  10 minutes
Servings:  6-8

1  15.5 ounce package Organic Garlic & Herb Tofu (Small Planet)
1  10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
8 ounces lasagna noodles
7 cups fat-free pasta sauce
12 ounces Soy mozzarella cheese, grated
� cup soy parmesan cheese (Galaxy Foods)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Drop in the lasagna noodles, stir, cook uncovered until just softened.  Do not overcook.  Remove from water and drain, hanging them up to dry slightly.

Drain the tofu to remove excess water.  Crumble into a bowl.  Add the thawed, squeezed spinach and mix well.  Add � teaspoon salt and mix in well.

Lightly oil the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. (Remove any excess with a paper towel.) Place 1 cup of the pasta sauce in the bottom of the baking dish and smooth over the bottom.  Place 1 layer of the noodles over the sauce.  Then add half of the tofu mixture and smooth out.  Sprinkle half of the soy cheese over that, then spread 2 cups more of the sauce over the cheese.  Add another layer of noodles, the rest of the tofu mixture, the remaining cheese, 2 cups more of the sauce,  and the rest of the noodles.  Spoon the remaining 2 cups of sauce over the noodles (make sure you cover all the edges), sprinkle some soy parmesan over the top.   Cover with foil.  Bake for 60 minutes.  Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting.

This may be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated before baking.  Add about 15 minutes to the baking time.

Hints:  The tofu is seasoned with a mixture of fresh herbs, garlic, parsley, basil, dill and chives, which really makes it special.  If you are unable to find this brand of tofu, season any plain, firm tofu with a mixture of these before adding the spinach.  The tofu is quite flavorful so you will need quite a bit of each one, finely chopped, and well mixed into the tofu. I put my pasta sauce into a blender jar and processed it briefly before using in the recipe.

NOTE ABOUT BANGKOK NOODLES-VARIATION ( December 2002)

We have been making these with linguini pasta instead of rice pasta and enjoying them cool for lunch and dinner.  You will need about 12-14 ounces of linguini for the recipe.  I also use more shredded carrots, more bean sprouts and double the amount of baked tofu.  This is a wonderful, easy summer meal.

2003 John McDougall All Rights Reserved