vegetable farm
July 2013
Volume 12 Issue 7

July 2013 Recipes
By Heather McDougall

Roasted Tomato and Cannellini Bean Pasta
This recipe is so easy to put together and can easily be doubled. I serve this with sautéed kale. I like this dish with a lot of garlic, but you can adjust this as you wish. I used cannellini beans in a box, but you can use a 15.5-ounce can as well.

Roasted Tomato and Cannellini Bean PastaPreparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4 to 6

½ pound penne pasta
2 tablespoons vegetable stock or water
6 – 8 cloves garlic, chopped
1 13.4-ounce box cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 15.5-ounce can fire roasted tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
crushed red pepper flakes to taste

In a large pot, cook pasta in boiling water until al dente.
In a medium pot, sauté garlic in vegetable stock or water over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Stir in beans and tomatoes and simmer on low for about 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes. Add pasta and serve.

Sushi Bowls
My family likes to make sushi a lot, but I know for some, making it can be intimidating and time consuming. So, my brother, Craig, and sister-in-law, Mika, gave me this idea. Now you can have all of the flavors of sushi, without spending all night in the kitchen. For the rice in the photo, we used brown rice and quinoa, but you could use brown sushi rice or any other short grain rice. There are two sauces listed after this recipe that are great on these bowls, or you can just use wasabi and soy sauce as you would on sushi. Once you have all of the ingredients steamed, sliced and chopped, the dish is very quick to put together and everyone can make their bowls how they like them.

Sushi BowlsPreparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4 to 6

4 cups cooked rice
2 cups steamed kale
1 avocado, sliced
2 cups pea greens
1-2 small seedless cucumbers, julienned
3 scallions, chopped
2 large pieces sushi seaweed, sliced with kitchen shears
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, optional
Baked Tofu, optional, recipe below
Your choice of sauce, recipes below

Using large bowls, make your sushi bowl starting with rice, top with your choice of veggies, seaweed and optional tofu, then spoon some of your favorite sauce over the top.

Baked Tofu

Preparation Time:  5 minutes
Marinating Time:  10 minutes
Baking Time:  25-30 minutes

20 ounces extra firm tofu
¼ cup soy sauce
1/8 cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon agave nectar
Dash sesame oil (optional)

Drain tofu and slice into ¼ inch pieces.  Place in a large flat baking dish.  Combine the remaining ingredients and pour over the tofu slices.  Allow to marinate for at least 10 minutes and up to 1 hour.  (Or place in the refrigerator and marinate overnight.)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Remove from marinade and place on a non-stick baking sheet.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, turning once halfway through the baking time.  It should be brown and crispy on the outside.  Remove from oven and cool.  Slice into strips or cubes for use in recipes calling for baked tofu.

Hints:  This tastes much better (and is less expensive and healthier) than the baked tofu found in packages in many markets and natural food stores.  Other seasonings may be added as desired, such as garlic, ginger, balsamic vinegar, or rosemary, to change the flavor of the tofu.  It’s also delicious just marinated in plain soy sauce.  The marinade may be saved in a covered jar in the refrigerator a couple of weeks for later use. The tofu may also be cubed before baking with slightly crispier results.

Asian Ginger Sauce

Preparation Time:  5 minutes
Cooking Time:  5 minutes
Servings:  makes 1 ½ cups

¾ cup water
½ cup low sodium soy sauce
¼ cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and whisk until smooth.  Bring to a boil while stirring and cook and stir until thickened.  Serve warm over grains and vegetables.

Asian Peanut Sauce

Preparation Time:  10 minutes
Servings:  makes 1 cup

½ cup natural chunky peanut butter
½ cup water
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
½ tablespoon agave nectar
2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon lime juice
½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger
Dash sesame oil

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process briefly until well combined but not smooth.  Pour into a covered container and refrigerate until ready to use.  May be heated before serving, if desired.

Hints: This is a higher-fat choice because of the peanut butter, so use sparingly.
 
Beans and Greens
There is a restaurant near my hometown that has this dish on their menu. They vary the beans and greens weekly, or maybe even daily, but it is always delicious. You can either cook the beans in a crockpot or pressure cooker. Obviously, the two methods have very different cooking times. For this recipe, I use a crockpot. We do this often at our house and serve with a simple salad or roasted potatoes.  

Beans and GreensPreparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 8 hours
Serves: 4 to 6

3 cups dried cannellini beans
3 cups steamed kale
juice and zest of 1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
crushed red pepper, optional

Start your cannellini beans cooking in a crockpot in the morning. Make sure the beans are covered with at least 1½ inches of water and cook on low for 8 hours. When they are done, mash roughly with a bean masher and add salt to taste. Serve beans with steamed kale, squeeze a bit of lemon over the top and add a pinch of zest. Add salt and pepper to taste and crushed red pepper, if desired.

Hint: Serve this over whole grains of your choice, if desired.

Guacamole Pasta
We love guacamole at my house. It is so easy to make and my boys love to help. Usually we eat it with baked tortilla chips, but when you add pasta it becomes a completely different dish. This time of year, the addition of homegrown tomatoes really make this dish special. However, please note, avocados are high in fat, so think of this as an appetizer or salad, not an entire dish.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 8 minutes
Serves: 4 to 6

½ pound whole wheat pasta
4 – 5 avocados, skinned and pitted
1 4-ounce can chopped mild green chilies
juice of 1 lemon
salt to taste
½ teaspoon hot sauce
4 cups chopped tomatoes

In a large pot, cook pasta in boiling water until al dente. In a large bowl, mash avocados well. Add chilies, lemon juice, salt and hot sauce and stir well.  Add tomatoes and cooked pasta and mix until well combined. Serve at room temperature.

Recipe Contributions
The two recipes that follow were given to Mary & John McDougall by the Weaver family, whom they met at the Vegetarian Summerfest in Johnstown, PA in July of 2013.  The Weaver family has been following the McDougall Program for several years with many beneficial results for their whole family and we were happy to finally meet them this year.  The family of five got up on the stage after John’s presentation during the conference and sang a delightful song about potatoes that we hope to be able to share with all of you at a future date on YouTube.  They also gave us some of these goodies to take home with us on the airplane and they were delicious!

Super Charger Cookies
By Rachael Weaver

Makes 2 dozen cookies
I created these cookies after one of our daughter's soccer games. All the kids were given an enormous commercial cookie that was full of hydrogenated fats, white flour, white sugar - and the cookie weighed 1/4 lb! Looking at the nutritional information on the cookie, I thought "we don't need to super-size our kids' food... we need to super-charge it! I got to work straight away, and then gave our kids these delicious AND healthy cookies.

2 cups rolled oats
1 1/3 cups oat flour (grind oatmeal in blender)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup raisins or chopped dried fruit
1/2 cup non-dairy chocolate chips (optional; or use more dried fruit, nuts, or seeds)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup ground flaxseed
1 cup maple syrup or honey
6 tablespoons peanut butter (may use cashew, almond butter)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 tablespoons applesauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine oats, flour, salt, cinnamon, coconut, raisins, chocolate chips, and baking powder and stir until well combined. In a separate bowl, combine ground flaxseed, syrup, peanut butter, vanilla and applesauce and stir until well combined. Add wet mixture to dry, and stir until just well combined (do not overmix). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat. Spoon batter onto baking sheet, evenly spaced apart and lightly flatten. Bake for 13 minutes (no longer, or they will dry out). Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 1 minute, then transfer to a cooling rack.   These freeze very well.

Mary’s Note: These are not fat-free cookies because of the flaxseed, nut butter, chocolate chips and coconut.  But they certainly are MUCH healthier than most of the options available at any market.  And they do make a special treat for children (of all ages).

Beet Chocolate Cake
By Rachael Weaver

1 large beet (appox. 8-10 ounces)
¼ cup water
unsweetened apple sauce
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups soft white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cocoa  powder
1/2 cup sucanat or organic sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Prepare ahead:
Put several red beets with the skin in a saucepan with water to cover and boil until soft, 30-60 minutes depending on number and size.  Once they are soft, run cold water over them and slip the skins right off (much easier than peeling).  Weigh out or measure how much you need.  Put the rest into ziploc bags or containers in the right size amount and freeze for later use. Put the drained beets into the blender / food processor with 1/4 cup water, and process until pureed.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Use a silicone or non-stick baking pan or muffin cups.

Put the pureed beets (about 1 cup) into a 2-cup measure. Add enough applesauce to reach the 2-cup line. Pour into a larger bowl. Add the 2 tablespoons water, vanilla extract, and apple cider to the beets and mix well.  Mix the dry ingredients together, then add the beet mixture and stir until well combined. Bake for 20 minutes in cupcake pan, OR bake for 35-60 minutes, depending on the size of pan you use: more for small, deep pans and less for a 9 x 13 pan. (I used a round cake pan, and it took 32 minutes.) Test by inserting a toothpick into the center; it's done when the toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before cutting and serving.

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Dr. McDougall's Health and Medical Center
P.O. Box 14039, Santa Rosa, CA 95402

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