Pesto Pizza

Yummy!!! Hubby made this for lunch on a day that I worked from home. He sat up the meal outside for my 4 year old and I to enjoy lunch. It was fantastic food, company and surroundings! He made the pizza dough from scratch, and then made a pesto out of spinach, pine nuts, olive oil and nutritional yeast. Delicious!

I don't have an actual recipe, so this is a guess. Or follow another pesto recipe.

2 cups fresh spinach
1 garlic clove
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 cup pine nuts
salt to taste

Combine all in a food processor, adjusting seasonings as needed. Spread on the pizza dough, add toppings and bake until dough is puffed and done.

My hubby topped our pizza with sauteed mushrooms and onions. Delicious!

Vegetarian Fajitas

Hmmmm, this was yummy until the third time I had them and then I was ready for a break! But that first meal of fajitas...WOW! I don't eat meat, and had no soy meat to use as a protein in these. I figured I could slice up some sunshine burgers and fry them in plenty of oil so they wouldn't fall apart. It worked! Plus they got crispy on the outside which was quite yummy.

I fried up some onion slices, zucchini, yellow squash and mushrooms for my fajitas. We found a MSPI/TED safe fajitas mix at Hyvee that worked great. In addition to the fajita mix I also used some maggi's, which is like a wheat based "soy" sauce at the Asian market. My family would have also enjoyed red or green bell peppers but we didn't have any. Then I also had the fried sunshine burger slices, avocado and salsa. Delicious!

Creamy Mushroom Zucchini Manicotti

I so crave lasagna and manicotti on this diet, probably because I have NEVER figured out a way to make it work without dairy and soy! I got a little creative and the results were good, not fantastic, but good. I figured a vegetable stuffed manicotti shell should be quite tasty smothered in a creamy sauce. I made this over a month ago and just haven't gotten around to blogging it yet. So I don't remember my exact measurements! I'll do my best, but If nothing else, hopefully it can give you an idea to try something different.

Filling:
2 lbs of mushrooms, half button and half crimini (baby bella) roughly chopped
1 large zucchini, grated
1 onion, finely chopped or whizzed in the food processor
1 Tbsp. olive oil

Saute onion in olive oil, then add mushrooms and salt to release their water. Add in the zucchini when the mushrooms are cooked about halfway through.

White Sauce:
2 1/4 cups rice milk
2 heaping Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. olive oil
seasonings (garlic and onion powder, salt)

Add the liquid to the blender and turn on low, add the flour and blend until smooth. Add seasonings then transfer to a pot and wisk over medium heat until thickened.

Stuff the uncooked manicotti shells with the cooled filling and place in an oiled casserole dish with several Tbsp. of sauce on the bottom. Pour remaining sauce over the top and bake covered with foil for 30 minutes, then uncover and cook until the manicotti can be pierced with a knife. You can sprinkle nutritional yeast on the top towards the end of cooking to serve as the "cheese."

Mushroom Stroganoff

I have never in my life opened a bottle of wine, and I honestly I've only tasted a sip once or twice in the past. I'm not a drinker of alcohol, although I did have my experimentation years and tried plenty then! My husband had purchased a cheap corkscrew, so it was quite the adventure getting that bottle opened!

Anyways, I kept running across recipes calling for white wine in the sauce, and figured I would give it a try. I was a bit put off at first as the alcohol smell was just so intense, but it really cooked down to a fantastic sauce with a hint of sweetness and depth. I'll definitely use again!

1 lb pasta of your choice
1 pound sliced fresh mushrooms, I used half button, half baby bella (crimini)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 cup water
1 Tbsp Maggis sauce (similar to soy sauce, but uses wheat instead, at Asian market)
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. soy-free worshteshire sauce (I found a Caribbean-ish one with no anchovies or soy sauce at HyVee)
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. onion powder
1 tsp. savory (I would have used thyme but had none...)
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 cup dry white wine
4 Tbsp flour
4 cups rice milk
salt and pepper to taste

Chop the onion and garlic and add to a large sauce pan along with the white wine. Cook on low to medium heat for 5 minutes or so, until the liquid is almost gone and the onions and garlic are softened. Meanwhile, clean and chop the mushrooms into large pieces. Add to the softened onions along with 3/4 cup of water. In the blender, combine all the liquid ingredients and start on low. Add the dry ingredients and blend until smooth. Once the mushrooms have begun to soften and release their liquid, add the sauce to the pan. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Adjust the seasonings as desired. Have pasta cooking in salted water during the above process and add to the sauce pan after being drained.

For those in your home that can eat sour cream, add a dollop onto their serving. It was delicious!

Creamy Asparagus Mushroom Linguine

Early TED

This was a pre-TED/MSPI favorite that I was really craving. It handled the transition to "safe" very well!

1 lb. wheat or rice linguine noodles
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and blanched til al dente
1 package white mushrooms, halved and cut into thirds
1/2 a large onion, finely diced
2 cups rice milk
3 Tbsp. flour
1/2 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. olive oil

Start the pasta cooking in well salted water. In a large skillet, cook the onions in the oil until almost softened. Add in the mushrooms and cook until both are done. Steam the asparagus until crisp tender on the stove or in the microwave. Transfer all to a bowl. Combine the remaining ingredients in the blender and process until smooth. Pour into a pot and whisk on medium heat until thickened. Taste for seasonings and adjust as needed. Add the cooked vegetables and pasta to the pan and combine. Yummy!

Rice or Quinoa Stuffed Squash

This is something my Hubby surprised me with for supper when I was unable to eat rice and so desperately hungry!!! He used quinoa and it turned out delicious. I promptly made it again for myself the next night! Enjoy :-)

2 medium sized winter squash (such as butternut or acorn) halfed and prebaked
2 Tbsp. margarine
1 cup minced onion
½ lb. Mushrooms, diced
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
½ tsp. Salt + more for inside of squash
½ tsp. Sage
½ tsp. Thyme
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/3 cup coarsely ground raw sunflower seeds
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup cooked brown rice or quinoa

Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add onion, and sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the onion is clear and soft. Add mushrooms, garlic, celery, carrot and seasonings, and sauté about 10 minutes until everything is tender and well mingled.

Stir in remaining ingredients and mix well. Taste to correct seasonings. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle the insides of the baked squash with ½ Tbsp. of olive oil and additional salt. Pierce all over with a fork, being careful not to go all the way through so the seasonings can soak into the flesh of the squash. Fill the baked squash and bake, uncovered until heated through, about 20 – 30 minutes.

Stellar Mushroom Sauce

From the Moosewood Cookbook. I love mushrooms and anything, so this sounds awesome!

2 oz. Dried Chinese black mushrooms
OR
¾ lb. Fresh shiitake, oyster and/or chanterelle mushrooms, chopped
2 Tbsp. margarine
1 lb. Domestic white mushrooms, chopped
1 cup minced onion
1 tsp. Salt
6 Tbsp. dry sherry or 3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp. flour
1 large clove garlic, minced
¼ cup rice milk
2 Tbsp. rice milk powder or Dari-Free powder
1 lb. Fettucini or other noodles

If using dried mushrooms: Place the mushrooms in a small bowl. Add 3 cups boiling water, cover with a plate and let stand 30 minutes. Drain the mushrooms, squeezing out and saving all the liquid. Beware of sand and sediment on the bottom of the bowl when using liquid later. Remove and discard the stems, coarsely chop the mushrooms. Measure out 2/3 cup of the liquid for the sauce.

Put pasta water on to boil.

Melt the margarine in a deep skillet. Add all mushrooms, onion and salt. Cook uncovered over medium heat for about 10 minutes.
Stir in sherry (or vinegar). Turn heat to low and have a whisk ready. Slowly sprinkle in the flour, whisking steadily. Keep whisking for a minute or two after all the flour is in.
Add garlic and continue to cook and stir over low heat another 5-10 minutes. Dissolve powdered milk into liquid rice milk and add to sauce, mixing well until it is completely incorporated. Add to cooked pasta and serve.