Recipes
Because it's easier to find them when you host them on your web site.
Risotto. In a large, deep soup pot, caramelize one chopped onion and several minced garlic cloves. Add one cup of arborio rice (it must be arborio rice) and some additional oil, and toast the rice for a few minutes. Meanwhile, warm 4 cups of cooking stock plus 2 cups of water in a saucepan. Add half a cup of white wine OR the warm stock, and stir until the liquid is absorbed. Then add half a cup of warm stock, and stir until it is absorbed, and repeat this until it is all absorbed. Only add a quarter of a cup at a time; this allows the starches to be released slowly, which creates a very creamy and delicious dish. If desired, wash, poke and microwave for 4 minutes on each side a sweet potato or yam, and scoop out the flesh and add it to the risotto at the very end. This adds volume without extra effort.
Lentils. In a large, deep soup pot, toast some salt, pepper, turmeric, cardamom, and other spices as desired. Then add and caramelize one chopped onion and several minced garlic cloves. Add two cups of red lentils (the ones that look orange) and some additional oil, and toast them for a few minutes. Then pour in 3-4 cups of cooking stock, bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer and cook until the liquid is absorbed. If desired, wash, poke and microwave for 4 minutes on each side a sweet potato or yam, and scoop out the flesh and add it to the lentils at the very end. This adds volume without extra effort. Serve with rice.
Tofu scramble. Heat oil in a skillet and toast some pepper and turmeric. Also add black salt, which has sulfur and thus kind of makes this resemble eggs. Add chopped onion (a whole small onion or half of a large onion) and sauté until caramelized. Take a one-pound container of tofu and add half of the tofu and half of the tofu water to the skillet. Break it up into rough small pieces with a wooden spoon and cook a few minutes, adding a little extra water when it gets dry. Add thawed frozen chopped spinach and mix well. After removing from heat, add nutritional yeast if desired. This serves one person. I know it looks like a lot, but it's only like 400 calories, so if you don't eat it all, you'll be hungry later.
Japanese curry. Chop onions, carrots, potatoes, parsnips, and whatever kind of vegetables you like. In a large, deep soup pot, sauté them until partly cooked. Then add enough water to just cover them, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to simmer. Meanwhile, cook short-grain white rice ("sticky rice"). When the vegetables are cooked, turn off the heat, and get your box of Golden Curry (mild preferred), and break it up into small chunks. Submerge each chunk in the water and wait a few minutes. DO NOT have the heat on, and DO NOT stir. When they are melted, stir it all up, and serve in a bowl alongside some rice, with a spoon.
Thai curry. Follow this recipe from my sister.
Cookies. Pour 12 ounces of chocolate chips (preferably the ones without milk fat, but you do you) into a metal bowl, cover it, and heat it over lightly simmering water, to gently melt them. Alternatively, use a real double boiler, or a gentle microwave. In an electric mixer, put about a cup of nut butter, and gradually add powdered sugar, with the mixer on low, until just before it starts to be sandy (ha!). Roll the sugary nut dough into small balls, dip it into melted chocolate (probably holding it with a toothpick), and put each one on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Repeat for all cookies. Chill for at least an hour.
Chocolate mousse. Melt one package (12 oz) of chocolate chips and blend in blender with one package (16 oz) of silken tofu and 1 cup milk. If desired, you can reduce the amount of chocolate and add cocoa instead.
News flash! Diana is vegan now, so the below recipes are outdated. Still delicious, though.
Super polenta. Boil three cups of water. Sprinkle in one cup of cornmeal, whisking furiously. Cook on low until done.
Pro tips: Instead of boiling water, boil chicken stock. Bouillon cubes are delicious, but tend to have MSG or trans fats. Finely-ground cornmeal has a better texture, but will form displeasing lumps if you whisk merely vigorously and not furiously. To the almost-finished polenta, add (in decreasing order of deliciousness) cheese, frozen corn, frozen peas, frozen chopped spinach/kale, drained rinsed canned beans, drained canned chopped tomatoes.
Potato salad. Boil 2.5 pounds (~12) of chopped white potatoes, and drain thoroughly. While still hot, douse in vinegar, stir, and repeat until they stop absorbing vinegar. Meanwhile, poke and then microwave 1.5 pounds (~4) of sweet potatoes until soft, scoop the orange flesh into a dish, and mix with 3/4 cup sour cream and 3/4 cup mayonnaise, plus pepper or whatnot. Boil and chop 6 eggs and mix everything together.
Pro tip: If you are using 100% real British potatoes, you should use 100% real British malt vinegar. Also, it is not possible to add too much vinegar. Keep going. However, if you add too much sour cream and mayonnaise, it will be gross, so don't do that.
Cookies. Heat a stick of butter (or half a cup of coconut oil) with a cup of sugar, half a cup of cocoa powder and half a cup of milk. When it boils, boil it for one minute. Then add some vanilla, 3 cups of oats, and possibly chopped nuts. Form into cookies on wax paper or parchment paper.
Pro tip: Ardently hope that they will solidify and that you won't have to eat the whole pot of chocolate oatmeal with a spoon. In an emergency, you can add chocolate chips. If you are very brave, you can use more cocoa.
Soup. Boil chicken (etc.) stock with various herbs and spices. Add pieces of raw chicken, small pasta, and small vegetables at appropriate intervals so that they will finish cooking at the same time.
Salmon. Marinate salmon in soy sauce, frozen orange juice concentrate, olive oil and apple juice. Sprinkle ground ginger and drizzle honey on top before marinating. Bake at 350° until done.
Chili. Brown some ground beef, pork, etc. Put it in the crock pot along with many drained cans of beans and chopped tomatoes. Add some salt, pepper and chili powder. Maybe some onions. Let the crock pot do its thing.
Coconut rice. When cooking rice, substitute a can of coconut milk for an equal amount of water. Put cashews, raisins, cooked chicken pieces, and spices in with the raw rice and water. Let the rice cooker do its thing.
Pro tip: If you use low-fat coconut milk, you won't get your long-chain fatty acids or whatnot. Use actual coconut milk.
Yogurt chicken. Add various Indian-themed spices to a half-full quart of plain yogurt, until you can taste them quite a bit. Fill the quart the rest of the way with chopped up pieces of raw chicken, mix it all up and marinate it for a while. Cook in a skillet until most of the yogurt disappears. Add cooked rice before it gets dry and mix it all up.
Hmong dish. Brown a pound of ground pork. Add three finely-chopped tomatoes and poke with wooden spoon until they disappear. Add a finely chopped bunch of cilantro (no stems) and cook until done. Salt helps. Serve over rice.
Paneer. Boil (whole) milk. As soon as it boils, add some kind of acid (lemon juice, lime juice, vinegar) and stir until it is completely separated into chunks and greenish water. Pour it through a T-shirt (or cheese cloth), wring it out so it is just a ball of curds, and place it between two plates for a while to solidify it.
Pro tips: This is a pretty useless food item by itself (without saag), but making it is a magical activity. You can make cheese in 10 minutes. Wow. You can use low-fat or skim milk, but you'll just get less cheese.
Runner cookies. Important enough that they get their own page.
The following is a list of family recipes. They all come from Carol Bischoff, and others where noted. Bold face indicates a picture.
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