Week Day Recipes

I bumped into a friend at the store recently and we both mentioned how much money we could spend if we didn't have to eat (or wash laundry, as well as other things we pick up at the store). But since we do have to eat, it might as well be enjoyable and be somewhat nutritious. With that in mind, here are today's offerings. Enjoy!

BLACKBERRY GELATO

Carroll Pellegrinelli, About.com's Desserts and Baking guide, writes, “Although, this is not a traditional Gelato recipe, I promise you'll love it all the same. This recipe for Blackberry Gelato is extremely creamy and very tasty too.” Prep Time: 15 minutes; Refrigerate: 1 hour; Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes; Yield: 1 Quart plus

Ingredients:

2 cups blackberries, washed and dried

1/2 cup sugar

14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup whole milk

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preparation:

In a blender or food processor, crush berries. Push the puree into a large bowl through a sieve to remove any seeds. Stir sugar into berry puree. Add rest of ingredients and mix with hand mixer. Place in the refrigerator for an hour. Place mixture into ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturers' directions.

GLUTEN-FREE TERIYAKI SAUCE

This comes from the July/August 2013 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 38. The recipe starts off, “Use this all-purpose sauce to marinate tofu, top vegetables, season rice, and flavor stir-fries.” Makes 1 1/2 cups in 30 minutes or less. To view online, click here.

1 Tbs. cornstarch

1/4 cup Bragg Liquid Aminos or gluten-free tamari or soy sauce

1 Tbs. toasted sesame oil

1 Tbs. finely grated onion

1 clove garlic, minced (1 tsp.)

1 tsp. grated fresh ginger

1 tsp. mirin or rice wine

3 Tbs. brown rice syrup

1 Tbs. sesame seeds, optional

Place cornstarch in small saucepan, and slowly whisk in Liquid Aminos until no lumps remain. Whisk in 3/4 cup water, then sesame oil, onion, garlic, ginger, and mirin. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat, and boil 1 minute, or until thickened, whisking constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in brown rice syrup and sesame seeds (if using).

nutritional information Per 1-Tbs. Serving: Calories: 16; Protein: less than 1 g; Total Fat: less than 1 g; Saturated Fat: less than 1 g; Carbohydrates: 3 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 114 mg; Fiber: less than 1 g; Sugar: 2 g; Vegan; Gluten-Free

CHERRY TOMATO FOCACCIA

This is from the July/August 2012 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 61. The recipe starts out with, “This bread is hearty enough to be served with a salad for a light lunch or supper.” Serves 8.

Topping

1/4 cup shelled roasted pistachios

1/4 cup olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced (1 tsp.)

1/2 tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary

2 cups heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved

Focaccia

3 1/2 cups bread flour

1 Tbs. sugar

2 1/2 tsp. instant yeast

2 tsp. salt

Olive oil, for greasing baking sheet

To make Topping: Pulse pistachios in food processor until ground, but with some larger pieces. Transfer to bowl, and stir in olive oil, garlic, and rosemary.

To make Focaccia: Stir together flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and 1 1/4 cups water in bowl. Knead dough in bowl 5 minutes. Cover bowl with towel, and let rise 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Generously grease rimmed baking sheet with olive oil. Stretch dough into 12- x 11-inch rectangle in sheet pan. Let dough rise 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450°F. Dimple dough with fingers. Whisk 2 Tbs. water into pistachio mixture, and brush onto dough. Press tomato halves cut-side up into dough. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown on top and bottom.

nutritional information Per Slice: Calories: 329; Protein: 9 g; Total Fat: 11 g; Saturated Fat: 2 g; Carbohydrates: 48 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 589 mg; Fiber: 3 g; Sugar: 3 g; Vegan

SPINACH AND ONION SOUP

Yield: 4 servings

Online Recipe: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html.672.shtml

Source: Great Healthy Food - Diabetes

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

3-3/4 cups vegetable stock

1 bay leaf

Salt and pepper

2/3 cup white wine

6 cups leaf spinach

Directions

Heat the oil in a saucepan and fry the onions for about 5-8 minutes over low heat, until they have softened.

Pour in the stock and bring to a boil. Add the bay leaf and the seasonings. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Pour in the wine and add the spinach. Continue to cook, but only until the spinach has wilted slightly.

Remove the bay leaf and serve hot.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 141; Protein: 6 g; Fat: 6 g; Sodium: 1011 mg; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Dietary Fiber: 3 g; Carbohydrates: 14 g; Exchanges: 2 Vegetable, 1 Fat

BLACKBERRY PEACH CRISP

This comes from Kathy Kingsley, About.com's American Food guide. She writes, “This version of a truly American dessert consists of ripe, juicy fruit and a crunchy sweet topping. The dessert takes it name for the crumbly mixture that bakes over the fruit into a crisp topping. To my mind, few things are as wonderful to eat than this blueberry peach crisp warm and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and I think you'll agree.” Prep Time: 20 minutes; Cook Time: 40 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour; Yield: 8 Servings

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients:

1 pint fresh blueberries, rinsed and picked over

2 pounds ripe fresh peaches (about 6 medium), peeled, pitted and sliced (see note below)

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 


Topping

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup uncooked old-fashioned or instant rolled oats

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Put the blueberries, peaches, sugar, flour, lemon juice and cinnamon in an 1 and 1/2 quart baking dish. Toss to mix and then spread the fruit mixture evenly in the dish.

To make the topping, put the brown sugar and flour into a medium bowl and stir to mix well.

Using 2 knives or a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the oats with a fork.

Sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit, then press down gently.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the topping is crisp and lightly browned.

Remove the crisp from the oven and set it on a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.

Note: To easily peel peaches, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Immerse the peaches in the boiling water for about a minute, then remove them with a slotted spoon and cool under cold running water. Use a paring knife to slip off the skins.

Kathy adds, “What could be more wonderful than a bowl of unadorned and perfectly fresh blueberries? Well that is hard to beat, but here are some ideas for a few ways to enjoy them at their best:

Combine blueberries and fresh melon chunks and top with chopped fresh mint.

Slice bananas and blueberries with a dash of orange juice and sprinkled with some cinnamon.

Fresh pineapple chunks and blueberries tossed with finely chopped crystallized ginger.

Spoon fresh blueberries over rice pudding.

Fill a ready to serve cookie pie crust with ice cream and top with a mixture of fresh blueberries and raspberries.

Mash some fresh blueberries over vanilla stir into slightly softened ice cream.

Mix blueberries into a bowl of vanilla yogurt and top with crunchy granola.” The only thing I can add is, “Yum!”

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BREAD

This is from The Kitchn, one of my favorite emailing lists. To read everything that Faith Durand, The Kitchn's Executive Editor, has to say about the recipe, as well as photos of this yummy quick bread, click here.Makes one large (8 x 5 inch) loaf

1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2/3 cup (1 ounce) unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 cups coarsely grated zucchini

1 1/3 cups (6 ounces) all-purpose flour

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Butter and flour an 8x5-inch loaf tin then preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time until completely combined. Stir in the cocoa powder, vanilla extract, salt and baking powder. Fold in the grated zucchini, then add the flour and chocolate chips to the bowl. Stir until just combined.

Transfer the batter to the loaf tin and spread out using a spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until the cake has risen and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out without batter on it (the toothpick might just have some melted chocolate on it from the chocolate chips).

Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

Recipe Notes

Dust with powdered sugar or cocoa powder for a simple finish.

For a decadent twist, frost the cooled bread with chocolate frosting.