McDougall Newsletter - Recipes - Printer Friendly Version

These are easy and delicious dips to have on hand in your refrigerator to use with raw or cooked vegetables, or try these on baked potatoes. We use these during the McDougall Program for snack time and they are one of the most requested recipes!

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Chilling Time: 2 hours
Servings: variable, makes about 3 cups

Place the tofu in a food processor and process until very smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Place processed tofu into a bowl. Stir in a package of seasoning mix, cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours to allow flavors to blend.

Hints: For a spicy dip, use Taco Seasoning Mix made by Bearitos or Hain. For a delicious French Onion Dip, use the one made by Simply Organic. Simply Organic makes a delicious Dill Dip also, as well as several others, including a Southwest Taco. Other packaged mixes may be available in your local natural food stores. Read the labels carefully for healthy ingredients with no added oils or animal products.

Heather and Mary attended an enlightening vegetarian cooking class given by John Ash recently. All of the recipes were easily adapted to the McDougall style of cooking. This was one of our favorites. It is delicious, easy to make, and was a big hit during the class.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes for soup
40 minutes for rice
Servings: 4

2 cups chopped white onions
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
4 ½ cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 32 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon fennel seed
¼ teaspoon crushed red chili flakes
freshly ground pepper
salt
2 cups warm, cooked, brown Jasmine or Basmati rice

Place the onions and garlic in a large pot with about ½ cup of the vegetable broth. Cook stirring frequently until onions begin to soften. Add the ginger and cook and stir for another 2 minutes. Stir in the curry powder until well mixed into the onions. Add the remaining broth, the tomatoes, wine, fennel seed, and chili flakes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Season with freshly ground pepper and salt.

This is a delicious tomato sauce that is wonderful on pasta, baked potatoes or over rice. It tastes even better the day after it is made and may also be frozen.

4 cups water
2 onions, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 ounce can tomato puree
freshly ground pepper
1 pound portobello mushrooms, chopped
½ pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
¼ to 1/3 cup fresh chopped basil

Place ½ cup of water in a large pot. Add 1 cup of the chopped onions and 1 teaspoon of the minced garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until onion and garlic soften slightly, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato puree and 3 cups of water. Season with several twists of freshly ground pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, place the remaining ½ cup of water in a large non-stick frying pan. Add the remaining onions and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until onions and garlic soften slightly. Add all the mushrooms and continue to cook, stirring occasionally until mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. Add to the tomato mixture and cook over low heat for about 30 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in the basil. Season with more freshly ground pepper, if desired, and a bit of salt if necessary.

Ginger Hoisin Rice Noodles with Veggies
By Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, McDougall Program cooking instructor

¼ cup hoisin sauce (in the Asian section of the supermarket)
2 teaspoons tamari or soy sauce
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
2-3 medium-large garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8-1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

½ pound dry rice vermicelli (also called Rice Sticks) or other thin rice noodles
water to boil noodles
½ pound extra firm tofu, cubed (water-packed, not silken)
1-2 large carrots, julienned
1-2 large celery stalks, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 cup green onions, thinly sliced on diagonal
1 medium red pepper, thinly sliced
1-3 tablespoons water (optional)
sea salt, to taste
black pepper
lemon wedges (optional)

While waiting for the water to boil, in a non-stick skillet over medium heat, add tofu and cook until brown. (You can either start the veggies in a separate pan or wait until the tofu is finished browning.) Remove tofu from pan, add water for sautéing and let it get hot. Add carrots, celery, and green onions, a couple pinches salt, and let cook for a couple of minutes. Add the peppers, and keep tossing. Reduce heat to medium-low, and add sauce mixture. Remove from heat if waiting for noodles.

Once noodles are cooked, drain and add them to vegetable mixture. If mixture is a little dry, add a little extra water. Season to taste with sea salt, black pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Hints: Rice noodles are available in most markets and natural food stores. They usually take very little time to cook and most packages will have detailed directions on the labels.

2 onions, diced
6 cloves garlic, peeled
3 pounds butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 bay leaf
7 cups vegetable stock or water
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

In a large pot, combine the onions, garlic, squash, ginger, bay leaf and stock. Bring to a boil and then simmer gently for about 30 minutes. When the squash is tender, add the orange juice, orange zest, cinnamon, soy sauce, and nutmeg. Simmer another 5 minutes.

Puree with an immersion blender or place in a blender jar and process until smooth. Transfer back to the pot, season to taste, and re-heat.

Hint: Some markets sell peeled, chopped, winter squash in bags, both fresh and/or frozen. This would cut down on the preparation time.

Quinoa and Navy Bean Salad
By Alex Bury, McDougall Program cooking instructor

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Chilling Time: 2 hours (optional)
Servings: 4-6

1 cup water
1/3 cup dry quinoa
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons minced green onions
1-1/2 cups cooked navy beans (one 15-oz. can, drained)
2 cups diced tomatoes (one 24-oz. can, drained and diced)
1 cup diced red bell pepper
2 teaspoons minced fresh (or canned) green chilies
salt and black pepper to taste

Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan. Add quinoa, cover, and simmer about 10-15 minutes, until all the water is absorbed. Cool 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine lime juice, cumin, coriander, cilantro, and green onions. Stir in beans, tomatoes, bell peppers, and chilies. Add cooled quinoa, mix well and season with salt and pepper to taste.