Blueberry-Nectarine Buckle

These fruits go together so well. For those of you not familiar with a buckle it's a dense batter covered in fruit and topped with a coffee cake type crumble. Delicious.

• 2 cups biscuit mix
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• Ener G egg replacer to equal 1 egg
• 1/2 cup light soy milk
• 1 medium nectarine, peeled, pitted and chopped
• 1 1/4 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup Earth Balance vegan butter

Preheat oven to 350. Grease the bottom and sides of a 2-quart baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine biscuit mix, 1/2 cup sugar, egg, milk and stir until moistened. (The batter will be thick)

Spoon batter into baking dish.

Top with fruit.

Mix flour and remaining sugar in a bowl. Using a fork, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over fruit.

Bake for 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Let cool for about 30 minutes. Serve warm.

Cold Peanut Sesame Noodles

Asian inspired foods are one of my favorites, hot, spicy and sometimes peanuty. This sauce is so good you could use it over hot noodles, cold noodles, thin it out more and use it as a salad dressing, dip celery sticks in it, I could go on and on. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

• 1 pound spaghetti
• Kosher salt
• 1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons Braggs
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 6 tablespoons water or more if needed for a slightly thinner sauce
• 2 scallions, sliced thin
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
• Fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish

Cook the noodles in large pot of boiling salted water over medium heat until barely tender and still firm. Drain immediately and rinse with cold water until cool. Drain the noodles well and transfer to a wide bowl. (I had some leftover noodles in the frig that I just pulled to get more room temperature while I made the sauce.)

In a blender, add the ginger, garlic, sugar, peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce, chili sauce, sesame oil, and water.

 Process until the mixture is smooth.

Pour into bowl and let sit for a few minutes for the flavors to marry.

Pour the peanut sauce over the noodles and toss until well coated. I did one serving at a time so I could keep extra sauce separate. Serve garnished with the scallions, sesame seeds, and cilantro.

Enjoy!

Tropical Mango Smoothie

I found this recipe at Food Doodles and it was awesome! I used the vanilla extract the 1st time but not since then, I just don't think it made that much of a difference. I also used canned pineapple since the fresh ones were so expensive. I've since made the recipe with papaya instead of mango and it rocked! This is definitely a delicious smoothie and one that you should try playing around with.
Recipe is here - but these are my pics.

Enjoy!

Chik'n Lo Mein

Be sure to have all of your ingredients ready because once you start cooking this goes together quickly. This recipe was originally from Kraft foods and I changed it up quite a bit. Be sure to store any leftovers separately, you don't want the pasta absorbing all of your sauce.

• 1 package whole wheat fettucini
• 1/2 cup Kraft Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing, divided
• 1 package Morning Star Farm Chik'n Strips
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon almond butter
• 1/4 cup Braggs
• 2 tablespoons dry roasted peanuts, chopped

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat 1/4 cup dressing in a large nonstick skllet on medium-high heat.

Add chicken and garlic and stir-fry about 3 minutes.

Add vegetables, broth and almond butter; stir fry for 3-4 minutes. Stirring occasionally. Add Braggs, and up to 1/4 cup more Kraft dressing to make enough sauce to your liking.

Drain pasta. To serve put pasta on plate, top with chik'n mixture and garnish with peanuts.

 

 

Chik'n with Asparagus and Roasted Red Peppers

This is the first time we've made this dish vegan. My son (when i made this with boneless, skinless chicken breast) said he could eat this twice a week! The only substitues I made from the original dish: 1) use Gardein Chik'n Scallopini, 2) use Diaya mozzarella. If you like quick, tasty, fresh flavors this is one to try. Served with Roasted Rosemary Garlic Potatoes. The original recipes serves 4, but I used only 2 chik'n scallopini, so there was plenty of veggies to eat.

• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
•  2 pieces Gardein Chik'n Scallopini
• 1/2 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 (7 ounce) jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped into mouth sized pieces
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup Diaya mozzarella cheese shreds

Heat the vegetable broth in a large skillet and add the chik'n pieces. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side, then remove from skillet.

To the same skillet add asparagus, red peppers and garlic, cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Return chicken to skillet, add tomatoes and cook another 2 minutes.

Sprinkle with vinegar, top with cheese.

Allow to sit for about a minute and serve.

Pasta Salad

What's a picnic without a good pasta salad. I've made this once before and decided to serve it on the 4th of July with our picnic menu. Use whatever fresh veggies you have and enjoy, this time I added some fresh asparagus that was steamed for a few minutes, cherry tomatoes and fresh basil. I think summer squash, zucchini, Vidalia onions, and olives would all make good ingredients for this dish.

• 8 ounces rotini pasta
• 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 3/4 cup asparagus, steamed, cut into bit sized lengths
• 1 15-ounce can Cannellini beans
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• salt, to taste
• black pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, rinse and set aside.

Combine all other ingredients in a large bowl.

Stir in pasta and let flavors meld at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving.