Featured Recipes - Recipe Contest

Thank you to everyone that contributed to the recipe contest. Trying all of the recipes has been so much fun! But, since we received so many recipe entries, we haven’t had time to try them all. We discovered there were so many favorites, it was hard to narrow it down to just a few. So, for this issue, we are including two of our favorites. Stay tuned to next month’s newsletter for two additional winners.

The two winning recipes featured in this month’s newsletter are easy to prepare, work great as leftovers, and sure to please the whole family. Enjoy!

Rockin' Moroccan Medley
By Kim Hoffman

Serves: 2 – 4 people
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

This is a delicious one-pot meal that is also excellent the next day. Since it tends to dry out a bit, the liquid gets absorbed into the couscous, to re-heat, just use a little water or vegetable stock. To make this fat-free, simply leave out the almond butter.

1 medium sweet onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cups butternut squash, cubed
1 medium, or 2 small, zucchinis, chopped
¼ cup almond butter
1 Tbs. nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Salt to taste
2 cups whole wheat Israeli couscous, cooked
Juice of one lime

In a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat dry sauté onion until translucent and add garlic for one minute more. Stir in chickpeas, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, almond butter and spices. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes, or until squash and zucchini have softened to your liking. Remove from heat, add couscous, lime and salt to taste.

Baked Ziti Casserole
By Diane Barnett

I use a Penne Rigate for this dish, but you can use any pasta you like.  What makes this dish so easy to make is the fact that the noodles and the filling are all mixed together so you have this delicious pasta casserole without layering noodles or veggies.  This is healthy, low fat and totally oil free. This tofu mix makes a delicious filling.  I also use it for my lasagna in place of a ricotta filling.
 
1 bunch lightly steamed broccoli crowns
1 bunch lightly steamed asparagus cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 cups sliced mushrooms
8 ounces firm or extra firm tofu - not silken
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons agave nectar
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 ½ tsps onion powder
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
4 cups cooked pasta
1 cup stemmed and chopped spinach
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1- ½ cups bottled or homemade marinara sauce (no oil added) I often buy an oil free marinara and then tweak it with my own spices and always a splash of good balsamic vinegar to cut the acidity of the marinara sauce

Steam the asparagus and broccoli al dente, and cut into bite sized pieces and set aside.  Saute the chopped onion, and peppers in water or veggie broth until almost tender.  Add the sliced mushrooms, adding more water or veggie broth to keep them from sticking.

Meanwhile drain the tofu (to get all the water out) by wrapping in a clean towel and squeezing tightly or put a heavy pan on top of the wrapped tofu and let drain a couple hours.  Crumble tofu into a large bowl using your fingers.  Add the nutritional yeast flakes, lemon juice, agave nectar, garlic powder, onion powder, basil, oregano, salt and pepper and mash with a fork until completely smooth. 

Combine the pasta and tofu in a large bowl and add the sautéed mushrooms, onions and peppers and mix well.  Add spinach and the parsley.  Gently stir in the broccoli and asparagus being careful not to break it up. Make sure the mix is evenly combined. This is a heavenly combination that can be used in a variety of dishes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Use a 9 inch non stick or silpat flexible square baking pan or pour some sauce in the bottom of a regular baking pan or casserole to lightly cover the bottom of the dish so the ziti mix won’t stick.   Place one half of the ziti mix into the prepared baking dish.  Top with one half of the marinara sauce.  Repeat the layering procedure with the remaining pasta mixture and marinara sauce. Bake 30 minutes or until heated through and lightly browned around the edges.  Serve hot.  This is really delicious.  Even my meat eating friends love this dish.

Pumpkin-Walnut Muffins
This recipe is for those beautiful muffins shown at the top of this month's newsletter pages

When I make these mildly spiced muffins for my grandchildren Jaysen, Ben, and Ryan, they are all standing around the kitchen counter eagerly waiting to get a warm one from the first batch. We bake the muffins in standard-size silicone muffin cups, available online and at most cookware stores. After cooling for about 10 minutes, the muffins pop right out of the cups; no liners needed.

Prep: 20 minutes | Bake: 30 minutes
Makes 12

2 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup raisins
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup Sunsweet Lighter Bake
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup soy milk

Have ready  a 12-cup standard-size silicone muffin pan or line a muffin pan with liners.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F with a rack in the lower third of the oven. Whisk the Egg Replacer with 1/4 cup warm water in a small bowl until frothy, then set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the whole-wheat and all-purpose flours, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the walnuts and raisins.

In a separate bowl, stir together the pumpkin, Lighter Bake, molasses, and soy milk until no lumps remain. Add the
reserved Egg Replacer. Stir this mixture into the flour mixture just until combined.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups and bake for 30 minutes, or until they are golden and test clean with a wooden pick. Set the pan on a rack to cool completely before removing the muffins from the pans.