Donut Army

Spiced Aromatic Lentils with Cucumber Raita Lean Bean Cuisine 1 1/2 c lentils, red or brown, rinsed 4 c water 1/2 tsp turmeric 1 1/2 T vegetable oil 1 onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp coriander 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp cayenne 1 T cilantro, minced Place lentils, water and turmeric in pan and cook over low heat for 45 minutes, until tender. Drain any excess water. When lentils are almost done, heat oil in another pan. Add onion and garlic. Cook 5 minutes. Stir in spices (except cilantro) and cook 1minute. Stir in lentils and cilantro and simmer 5-7 minutes. Serve lentils with raita spooned over top. Raita Lean Bean Cuisine 1 1/2 c yogurt 1 c cucumber, unpeeled, finely chopped 1/2 tsp paprika 1/4 tsp salt Combine all raita ingredients in a mixing bowl. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

  I enjoy going through vintage cookbooks and preparing things that may have fallen out of favor, and therefore haven't been carried over into newer, trendier cookbooks. While this recipe comes from a cooking magazine published in 2010, it is very clearly an example of old-fashioned home cooking. I thought I would give it a try. Oatmeal Pie Penzey's Catalog , spring 2010 2 pie shells, unbaked (recipe below) 1 c milk 4 eggs 2 c ssugar 1/4 lb butter, melted 1 1/4 c corn syrup 2 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp salt 1 1/2 c old-fashioned rolled oats 1 6-7 oz package shredded coconut Crust: 1 1/2 stick butter, room temperature 1 1/2 c flour 1 tsp sugar 1/2 tsp salt 3-5 T milk To make crust, use a fork or your fingers to mix butter with flour, sugar and salt until it looks like peas. Drizzle in milk bit by bit, using fork or a spoon to blend the curst until it just sticks together. Divide into two pieces. Pat into disc shapes, cover with plastic wr...

Totally yummy, and very easy. Man, what a difference it makes to cook your pasta in a combination of stock and cream, versus boiling it in just water. If you have the right kind of cookware, this can also be a one-pot dish, which is also very nice. Baked Four-Cheese Pasta Cook's Country 1 small onion, chopped fine 2 cloves garlic, minced 3 c stock 1 c heavy cream 3/4 lb penne rigate or ziti 1/2 c Parmesan, grated 1 c peas, frozen 1 c shredded Italian 4-cheese blend Preheat oven to 500. Cook onion and garlic in large nonstick, skillet over medium-high heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add stock, cream, pasta and 1/2 tsp salt. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer until pasta is tender, about 15 minutes. Off heat, stir in Parmesan and peas and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to 2-quart casserole and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake until cheese is melted and spotty brown, about 5 minutes. Serve. Note: my picture will look diff...

This dish is fast to prepare, lovely to present, and great as leftovers. I found it low on salt (go figure, since it came from Cooking Light magazine ). But rather than drown it in salt, I added salted cashews to the finished dish as a nice way to add flavor and protein. Chickpea and Spinach Curry Cooking Light 1 c onion, chopped 1 1/2 T ginger, ground *** 1 tsp olive oil 1 1/2 tsp sugar 1 1/2 tsp red curry powder 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained *** 1 14.5 oz can tomato, diced, undrained 4 c spinach 1/2 c water 1/4 tsp salt *** Note, this is the original recipe. But, I would make the following easy changes. Use fresh, chopped ginger, instead of powdered and ground. You can taste the difference. And -- do I need to provide this lecture again? Use dried chickpeas that you have soaked and cooked yourself. Believe me, you can taste the difference, and the additional effort is minimal. Combine onion and ginger in a food processor; pulse until minced....

  Vegetable Quinoa Bake The Global Vegetarian 1 T canola oil 1 yellow onion, chopped 8-10 button mushrooms, sliced 1 green bell pepper (or red), seeded and diced 1 jalapeno , seeded and minced 1 zucchini, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 3 c water 1 1/2 c quinoa, rinsed and drained 2 c butternut squash, peeled and diced 1 c carrot, peeled and diced 1 c kale, spinch or escarole, chopped 1 1/2 T parsley, dried 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper Preheat oven to 400. In large saucepan, heat oil. Add onion, mushroom, pepper, jalapeno zucchini and garlic and saute 5-7 minutes. Stir in water, quinoa, squash, carrots, kale and seasonings and bring to a boil. Transfer mixture to a 9x13" casserole dish and cover. Bake 30-40 minutes, until all liquid is absorbed. Remove from oven. Fluff with fork. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Summary thoughts: I found this dish to be overall a bit bland at first. In the future, I m...

Sometimes, it's the old standards that you really start craving. One of my favorite standards is egg salad sandwiches. I don't ever order them out, because I really only like my way of making egg salad. Which is really my Mom's way of making egg salad. And now, it is shared with the world. When I'm making egg salad, I don't like to incorporate every bit of every egg. I usually exclude most of the yolks. I could argue that this is for health reasons, and that I'm trying to keep the cholesterol content down. But really, it's because I'm not a huge fan of egg yolks. So, after I peel my eggs, I tear them in half in order to remove the yolks on most of the eggs. Dump all eggs into a bowl and chop into pieces you want for the consistency of your egg salad. Many people use a chef's knife for this task, but I find it much, much simpler to use another gadget -- the pastry cutter. The eggs are soft enough to be cut by these flexible blades, and, you d...

Many people think they don't like tofu because of the texture -- it can be kind of chewy/spongy, especially when prepared the way most recipes indicate. Most recipes (including the one below) call for people to use the tofu straight from the package, without any kind of prep work. In my experience -- and I do not consider myself an expert in tofu -- it is best to take the tofu from the package and freeze it before using it in any dish.  Remove tofu from the package and drain. Cut into chunks, or whatever shape you will be using. Place on a freezer-safe dish and freeze for an hour or more -- until solid. Remove from the freezer and let thaw on the counter. When soft, squeeze the excess water out by hand. (Alternatively, you could freeze the tofu with a heavy plate on top of the tofu itself, to help drain the tofu as it sits.) This process helps to give the tofu a bit more structure, making it more pleasant to chew. That said, this recipe was delicious. I have made c...

This recipe gets mixed reviews from me - I love the concept, but I probably messed it up with my enthusiasm to dress up casseroles with lots of breaded topping. Chicken Casserole the recipe card from the wild rice package 1 c wild rice, raw 2 c chicken, cooked, diced 3/4 c mushrooms 1/4 c pimientos, chopped 1/3 c green pepper, chopped 1 1/2 c evaporated milk 1/2 c almonds, sliced 4 T butter 5 T flour 1 c stock 1 tsp salt Cook wild rice according to directions. Melt butter. Add flour and blend. Add stock and milk. Cook until thickn, stirring constantly. Add salt. Mix rest of ingredients together and pour into a greased 8x10" casserole. Pour sauce over all. Top with sliced almonds. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes. Here's where I went wrong -- I loves me casseroles that have a nice breaded topping on them. I don't care if it's made out of Corn Flakes, or, a more traditional mixture of bread crumbs and cheese. And since I love this toppin...

I'm not a big chocolate fan myself. But I realize that most normal people are. And so, homemade brownies are my usual go-to gift idea for people. I recently needed to put together thank-you gifts for some neighbors -- without knowing anything at all about them, including food likes and dislikes -- and decided that a combination of two types of brownies would be a safe way to go. My standby collection of brownie recipes comes largely from a feature article on brownies from December 1996, featured in Gourmet magazine. This time, I tried an old favorite, and a new variation. I found the new variant -- the turtle brownie -- to have a topping that was tacky, and never really hardened. But I was told by multiple testers that it was delicious, and that the tackiness added a nice gooey texture to the cake brownie. Turtle Brownies Gourmet Magazine , December 1996 Brownie Layer: 4 oz semisweet baking chocolate, chopped 1 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped 1/2 c unsalted...

A nice, hearty soup that reheated well, allowing for lovely hot lunches at the office. You know I try to give you recipes that allow for you to incorporate more home-cooking into your daily routine, and I try to include recipes that require relatively little prep time. True to form, this soup doesn't need much prep time -- in terms of standing at a kitchen counter and using a knife. But, I highly recommend using dried chickpeas, instead of chickpeas out of a can. It really is a difference you can taste. If you believe me, then you will need to "start" the soup the night before. Simply soak 1/2 - 3/4 c chickpeas in water to cover overnight. Drain. Then, cover with water again and boil for about 90 minutes. That's it -- that's all the effort it takes. But, it will make a world of difference in the taste of the chickpeas. Chickpea, Chard and Lima Bean Soup Gourmet Magazine , February 1997 1 bunch Swiss chard 1 medium onion, chopped 2 ribs...

This delicious little number provides a lovely variant on your standard basil pesto - a bit of a kick to it, and just an overall interesting flavor that will surprise and please anyone presented with this pesto dish. I did not find the fennel flavor to be very present, so might recommend increasing the quantity of fennel to balance the dish better. But, all in all, it was a pleasant combination, and, a good way to use up some extra spinach in the fridge. Caution - as with any any uncooked food, remember your dates. Do not use spinach that's on its last legs, and then hold the pesto in the fridge for another week. This is an uncooked sauce, and so it is only as good as the individual ingredients would have been on their own. Spinach and Fennel Pesto Vegetarian Times 2 c spinach 3/4 c olive oil 2/3 bulb fennel, white part only 1 T oregano, dried 1/2 tsp rosemary, dried 1/2 tsp white pepper 3-4 cloves garlic Combine all ingredients in food processor. Top warm pesto with...

I don't actually have an "Aunt Hannah." But this is the name from a series of recipe cards I got in the mail called My Great Recipes -- the kind of service that tries to hook you in to subscribing to more recipe cards every month. Sometimes, the recipes look horrible (to me), and sometimes, they look delish. This one looked good and, after moving the card across the country (twice), I decided to actually try to make this dessert. (Sadly, these recipe cards are apparently now collectible - search eBay for "My Great Recipe" cards. See here for what they looked like. Mine are long weeded through and scattered.) Results? I love this kind of cookie, in all its variations. I normally make it with chopped walnuts. And, instead of calling them Aunt Hannah's Cookies , I usually call them Sand Balls or Wedding Cookies or Russian Tea Cakes or Butterballs . All versions of the same thing. But I will say, this one was super easy, and the cookies stayed fresh and...