by jphilo | Oct 7, 2014 | Recipes
With soup weather here and me on the road, this top ten list contains links to nine favorite soup and stew recipes along the gravel road. The number one spot is waiting for your family’s favorite in the comment box.
10. Crock Pot Bean Soup: This recipe is easy, inexpensive, healthy, and tasty. What more could you want?
9. Cream of Broccoli Soup: This soup tastes equally good with almond milk for those of you who have dairy allergies.
8. Mom’s Chili Soup: The Man of Steel’s not a big bean fan, so this one doesn’t get made at our house very often. Too bad, ’cause it’s very easy and tasty, too.
7. Cheeseburger Chowder: Hiram and I recently tested a non-dairy version of this family favorite recipe using almond milk and non-dairy cheese shreds. It was surprisingly good.
6. Midwest-Style, Shanghai-Style Noodle Soup: The flavors in this soup are wonderful, though rounding up the ingredients isn’t easy in Iowa!
5. Minestrone: This recipe is our new family favorite. Even the Man of Steel, not a bean fan, likes this one because it doesn’t have too many beans. I like it because it tastes great and is super easy to make.
4. Turkey Tortilla Soup: This one’s not further up because there’s a division in the Philo ranks concerning it. I love this soup, but the Man of Steel does not. Believe me, its delish!
3. Thai Coconut Chicken Soup: This one doesn’t taste dairy-free, but it is!
2. French Stew: This was my daughter’s favorite when she was growing up.
1. ???
Now it’s up to you to fill in the number one spot by leaving a comment and a link if possible in the comment box.
by jphilo | Oct 1, 2014 | Recipes
The Man of Steel loves meatloaf. Me? Not so much. So I’m always on the hunt for meatloaf recipes healthy enough for a guy able to devour great mounds of the stuff at one setting and tasty enough for me. Thanks to my daughter-in-law, who mentioned a meatloaf recipe that included a variety of shredded veggies, I may have located one.
The original recipe can be found at Yummly. The recipe below is quite different, though both use zucchini as the primary vegetable. This version adds a few more veggies and does not have a topping as we prefer to dip our meatloaf in barbeque sauce (him) and mustard (her). Next time, I’ll replace the oregano and basil with dried, ground mustard as the Italian herbs didn’t seem quite right for meatloaf. See what you think.
Healthy Meatloaf with Hidden Veggies
1 cup grated, unpeeled zucchini, squeezed dry
1 medium carrot, grated
1/4 cup sweet pepper, diced fine
½ cup uncooked rolled oats (not quick cooking)
¾ cup finely chopped onion
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons fat-free milk, or milk substitute (rice or almond)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pound extra lean ground beef 93% lean
Preheat oven to 350°. Spray loaf pan with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, mix together all ingredients except the meat. Add the meat and mix with hands until all ingredients are evenly distributed. Press mixture into loaf pan. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes. Remove from oven. Let sit 10 minutes before serving.
by jphilo | Sep 24, 2014 | Recipes
I tried a new main dish recipe this week, and it was delicious.
But…
We served it for company, and it seemed a bit awkward to ask everyone to not eat until I took pictures.
So…
That recipe will wait to be made again and photographed with only the Man of Steel inconvenienced by the need to photograph our food.
Instead…
Today’s recipe is a favorite of mine because it is dairy-free, low fat, low sugar and absolutely delicious. What is it?
Biscotti…
Which I made because any day now a copy of my new book The Caregiver’s Notebook is supposed to arrive. And that means I’ll make and send a box of biscotti to the publishers to celebrate. So I had to make a practice batch to be sure I had the process down pat and to taste test it, of course. The Man of Steel helped with that part, too.
Yippee!
This recipe first appeared at Down the Gravel Road in November of 2011. Here it is again, for your eating pleasure.
Low Fat, Low Sugar Biscotti
3 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs and 2 egg yolks
2 cups granulated sugar (I used 1 cup to make them low sugar)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons almond liqueur, such as Disaronna (I used 2 teaspoons almond extract)
1 tablespoon anise seed
4 cups coarsely chopped whole almonds (I used half walnuts and half almonds or sometimes use 2 cups nuts and 2 cups dried cranberries)
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large, rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Beat eggs, egg yolks, and sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light about 2 minutes; beat in vanilla, liqueur (or almond extract) and anise. Beat in dry ingredients and then nuts to form sticky but workable dough.
Divide dough into four, long portions on parchment paper. Flour hands and shape each portion into an approximately 15 x 2 inch log. Bake until pale golden and just beginning to crack, about 25-30 minutes.
Cool cookie logs on baking sheets until tepid, about 40 minutes. Heat oven to 225 degrees. Slice logs diagonally into 1/2 inch thick strips. Lay slices on baking sheets in single layer. (You will need 2 – 3 cookie sheets.) Bake biscotti until crisp and golden, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely before storing. They can be stored in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks.)
by jphilo | Sep 17, 2014 | Recipes
What’s a person to do when the vegetable drawer is stuffed with summer produce that needs to be used? How about typing the names of all those veggies, along with “recipe” and “salad” into a search engine to see what turns up? That’s a strategy that worked beautifully for me. I settled on a dish at the All Recipes site, and added a few more veggies we had on hand.
This recipe makes a big batch, which was fine because we had a houseful of company. But for an intimate dinner at home with the Man of Steel, I would halve the recipe. That said, we found a delicious way to use the leftovers for supper a few days later. I browned a pound of ground sausage. We put the sausage in pita bread and piled on the salad (Man of Steel added ranch dressing, too) to make sandwiches reminiscent of gyros. They received Hiram’s enthusiastic seal of approval.
Late Summer Cucumber, Tomato, & Zucchini Salad
2 large cucumbers, diced
1 zucchini, seeded and diced
3 large tomatoes, diced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 medium sweet pepper, diced
1 cup chopped kalamata olives
2 tablespoons fresh, chopped basil
2 teaspoons fresh, chopped thyme
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
1/4 teaspoon cracked, black pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
In a large salad bowl, mix together the cucumbers, zucchini, red onion, tomatoes, sweet pepper, kalamata olives, basil, and thyme. In a separate bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, lemon zest, lemon juice, kosher salt, sugar, and white pepper until thoroughly combined. Pour the olive oil slowly into the dressing mixture, whisking to combine. Pour the dressing over the salad. Can be served immediately, but is better if allowed to marinate for a couple hours in the refrigerator.
by jphilo | Sep 10, 2014 | Recipes
One day not too long ago, I had a major craving for chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. However, I had just one Earth Balance vegan buttery stick for shortening and needed two. But I had plenty of peanut butter and thought, This could be the Reese’s peanut butter cup of the cookie kingdom and got to work.
The cookies look exactly like the regular chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and have a peanut buttery taste. Not quite Reese’s peanut butter creamy, but they satisfied my craving the day they were freshly baked. The ones in the freezer continue to satisfy those pesky cravings when they reappear. So give them a try if you like and share your thoughts in the comment box. I’d love to hear what you think of them and what you do to make them even better.
Chocolate Chip-Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
1 Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Stick (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
2 cups oatmeal
1 cup Kirkland chocolate chips
Cream buttery stick and peanut butter until well mixed. Add eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Cream thoroughly. Add soda, salt, and flour. Mix well. Add oatmeal and blend. Add chocolate chips and mix well. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 350°. (If using baking stones, put them in oven to heat). Drop cookie dough by spoonfuls onto cookie sheets or baking stones. Bake for 12–15 minutes. Place on waxed paper to cool.
by jphilo | Sep 3, 2014 | Recipes
Though it took longer than expected, here is the blueberried version of the non-dairy lemon zucchini bread recipe featured two weeks ago here on the Gravel Road. The first attempt resulted in a much wetter batter that the original recipe, which led to a gooey bread that needed a hotter oven and longer baking time. The second try incorporated those two changes, as well as not quite so much grated zucchini. This recipe also requires less sugar, so this bread is very low sugar…and dairy-free to boot. When you give it a try, leave a comment about how it worked for you. Thanks!
Lemon-Blueberry Zucchini Bread
Bread ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup buttermilk substitute
zest of one lemon (minus 1/2 teaspoon for glaze)
3/4 cup grated zucchini (do not peel first)
1 cup fresh, frozen or canned blueberries (drain frozen or canned berries)
Glaze Ingredients:
11/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon almond milk
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
Preheat oven to 365°.
Create buttermilk substitute by putting 1 1/2 teaspoons of vinegar into a 1/2 cup measuring cup. Add 2 tablespoons Coffee Rich and fill cup to 1/2 cup measure with rice milk. Let sit for 15 minutes.
In large bowl, beat eggs. Add oil and sugar. Mix until well blended. Add lemon juice, milk substitute, and lemon zest to this mixture and blend well. Fold in zucchini until mixed well. Add flour, salt, and baking powder and blend until all ingredients are combined.
Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray. Pour 1/3 of batter into loaf pan. Sprinkle half of blueberries on top of batter. Pour 1/3 of batter over berries and spread with spatula. Repeat with remaining berries and batter.
Bake for 45–60 minutes. Remove from oven when toothpick poked in middle comes out clean. Let sit on wire rack for ten minutes. Then slide butter knife around edge of pan and flip over loaf pan to remove bread from it.
Put loaf on a plate right side up. (Poke some holes in the top with a fork if you want the glaze to soak in more.) Mix glaze while loaf is warm and spread over the top. Let cool before cutting and serving.
