This recipe came from a blog called Seasonal & Savory, which no longer exists--that's why I'm posting the recipe here! There are many recipes for Gallo Pinto online, but none of them seems to be quite like this recipe that my family has been enjoying for years. One thing we like about it is that … Continue reading Gallo Pinto: Red beans & rice with carrots
Recipes
Quick Lunch from Leftovers: Roasted Tomatoes and Crispy Garlic Kale
Throw together leftovers from different meals to create this quick, vegan lunch in a bowl!
Mexican Casserole
Do you happen to have some stale old corn tortillas (or corn chips), some leftover roasted peppers and onions, and someone demanding a "different" meal from last night? Throw this in the oven!
Homemade Stuffing with Roasted Apples, Mushrooms, and Onions (Vegan)
Use up your stale bread and less-appealing apples in this festive side dish for your holiday feast or to add a spirit of thanksgiving to any meal.
Sweet Potato Soup with Beans, Kale, and Garlic
This wasn't my recipe originally, but it's been one of my favorite soup recipes for more than a decade! Now that the "365 Days of Kale" blog where I found it is gone, I'm sharing the recipe here, with a few tweaks I've made over the years. This hearty soup makes a full meal--maybe you'll … Continue reading Sweet Potato Soup with Beans, Kale, and Garlic
Improved Corn Chowder
I've made corn chowder several times from various recipes. I was never very happy with it because it turned out so bland, high-carb (both corn and potatoes!), and high-dairy; it just made me feel drowsy without seeming like a fully satisfying meal. When I go to the trouble of making soup from scratch, I want … Continue reading Improved Corn Chowder
Quick Coconut Curry from Leftovers
Here is another easy way to make a delicious, creamy curry! Say it's lunchtime, and your refrigerator isn't offering you a full portion of anything, but you have a bunch of odd bits of vegetables and some coconut milk, all of which really need to be used before they go bad. In less than 10 … Continue reading Quick Coconut Curry from Leftovers
Feasting on All the Kingdoms of Earth
Recently, there's been a lot of interest in "a plant-based diet" as the path to good health. Sometimes people use the term as a synonym for a vegan diet (excluding all animal-derived foods) and other times they mean "a diet of mostly plants, with a lot less meat and dairy than a typical American diet." … Continue reading Feasting on All the Kingdoms of Earth
Simple Soy-Ginger Salmon Bowl
Wild Alaskan salmon is one of the healthiest types of fish, with lots of omega-3 fatty acids to nourish your circulatory system and much less brain-damaging mercury than other seafood. Unlike farmed salmon, it's not a source of ocean pollution. Wild Alaskan salmon is widely available in convenient cans that provide 4 hearty servings for … Continue reading Simple Soy-Ginger Salmon Bowl
14-minute Homemade Lunch!
This is what I made for lunch today for myself--and there was a small portion left over from this meal made of leftovers, and my 15-year-old ate that and liked it! I'll explain how I made this particular meal, but the larger point is that it's often possible to make something delicious out of the … Continue reading 14-minute Homemade Lunch!
Simply Balanced curry sauce review (2 flavors)
One of my most popular articles in 2019 was a review of a curry simmer sauce in a bottle--and that sauce was not very good, so we wanted to try some other convenient, ready-to-use curry sauces in search of a better one. We've found two that are quite tasty, and they're not an obscure brand … Continue reading Simply Balanced curry sauce review (2 flavors)
Crispy Garlic Kale
This is a quick, easy, tasty way to get a lot of vegetable into your meal! With the right cooking technique, kale becomes very crisp, almost like potato chips but a bit chewier. Garlic makes it taste great! (You might want to chew some xylitol gum to freshen your breath after eating....) We cook this … Continue reading Crispy Garlic Kale
Turnip Fries and Other New Experiences
Buying a share in a community-sponsored agriculture farm every summer since 2001 has forced my family to try some vegetables we wouldn't have chosen to buy at the store! Turnips are a good example. They're nutritious, but we struggle to prepare them in ways that we'll enjoy eating. My father really likes turnips, so I … Continue reading Turnip Fries and Other New Experiences
Plastic-Free Bean Dip with Roasted Vegetables
We're drowning in tomatoes and also have a lot of bell peppers and onions from our farm share. Is it 3 weeks in a row now, or 4, that Daniel and/or I have done a weekly tomato-roasting binge? It's a lot of work, but it does make it possible for us to eat all of … Continue reading Plastic-Free Bean Dip with Roasted Vegetables
Brown Rice Salad
Looking for something gluten-free to bring to a potluck? My family recently tested 4 varieties of gluten-free pasta and two pasta alternatives in my Sunflower Pasta Salad recipe. One of the alternatives that didn't work well was brown rice--the size and texture just aren't right for that recipe. But we had a recipe for a … Continue reading Brown Rice Salad
Palak Paneer
This is a simple homemade version of the delicious "creamed spinach with cheese" dish popular in Indian restaurants. We've tweaked the recipe enough that it's become our own, and meanwhile the recipe we started from is no longer online. Paneer is a firm, white cheese you can buy at an Indian grocery store--it's the best … Continue reading Palak Paneer
Garam Masala Baked Lentils
Garam masala is an Indian spice blend available in bulk at the food co-op. We've often boiled green lentils with garam masala in a pot on the stove, as a high-protein main dish to go with whatever Indian vegetable dish we were making. Sometimes that's been kind of annoying, though, as the cooking time is … Continue reading Garam Masala Baked Lentils
Split Pea Curry Soup for Slow Cooker (vegan) (GF)
Split pea soup is one of the first things we tried making when we got a slow cooker 5 years ago. We made a basic recipe with carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, and thyme, and it was okay, but only Daniel really liked it. I thought it was boring. Then I spotted a recipe for split … Continue reading Split Pea Curry Soup for Slow Cooker (vegan) (GF)
Magic Breakfast Burrito + 70 Things to Cook in Cast Iron
We've had two cast iron skillets in our home for years, and we use at least one of them almost every day. This year, we inherited three more! That's what inspired me to collect a whole bunch of recipes for foods that cook well in cast iron. My friend Alison Frane (of Chickicheesinara Sauce fame) offered … Continue reading Magic Breakfast Burrito + 70 Things to Cook in Cast Iron
Tomatillo Salsa and 3 Flavors of Roasted Tomatoes
It's been a great summer for tomatoes here in western Pennsylvania! Our CSA farm share brought us 27 tomatoes and 18 tomatillos last week, and 38 tomatoes two weeks ago. We expect to get more tomatoes today! We learned several years ago that roasting in seasoned oil makes tomatoes taste great, take up less space, … Continue reading Tomatillo Salsa and 3 Flavors of Roasted Tomatoes
The Earthling's Handbook 