MENU Mondays: Asian Vegan Stir-Fry

This is an adaptation of a vegan, Asian-inflected noodle recipe I used to make--before I stopped eating noodles!  Basically, it's stir-fried vegetables and tempeh with an Asian cashew (or peanut) sauce.

Equipment: Chopping board, chopping knife, large ceramic mixing bowl, wooden spoon, wooden fork, blender or food processor with chopping blade.

Ingredients: 1 cup cubed tempeh, 1 bunch of broccoli, 1 zucchini, 12 oz. of diced mushrooms, 1 cup frozen peas, 1 can water chestnuts, 1 tbsp. oil. Sauce: 1 cup cashews, 3 cloves chopped garlic, 4 tbsp. soy sauce, 3 tbsp. rice wine vinegar, 1 tbsp. sesame oil, 1 tbsp. chili paste.

Notes: Make the sauce ingredients together and process in blender or food processor; set aside. Add the oil to the wok or saucepan. Stir fry 1 broccoli bunch, 1 large zucchini, mushrooms and peas; onions--either green or yellow--are optional. Mix vegetables and sauce, and serve.

THEMATIC THURSDAYS: Fast-Food Salads

Fast food restaurant salads are often dull affairs. But, sometimes they're OK. On a recent road-trip, the Jack In the Box Grilled Chicken salad proved serviceable, as did a similar salad, the Baja Ensalada Salad with Chicken, from Baja Fresh. The former had fresh iceburg lettuce, with cherry tomatoes and a decent low-fat balsamic dressing. The latter had really juicy fresh sliced tomatoes, with a great southwestern dressing.

MENU Mondays: Black Olive, Jalapeno and Onion Dip

This is very easy to make and it's very tasty; you can use veggies or water crackers with the dip--tortilla chips, not so much.

Equipment: mixing bowl, skillet, spatula, wooden fork or spoon, knife.

Ingredients: 1 small can sliced black olives, or 3/4 cup diced black olives; 1 small onion, diced and sauteed, 2 garlic cloves, pressed; 2-4 roasted or sauteed, diced jalapeno peppers, 16 oz. sour cream; 1/2 block light cream cheese; paprika, salt, pepper and dill to taste.

Notes: Mix all ingredients together after sauteed veggies have cooled; chill and serve.

TIPS Tuesday: What's Up Doc?

What's Up Doc? Carrots are definitely healthy eatin'. I get baby carrots in a bag at Trader Joe's to use for dips, because I generally don't eat crackers or bread, and I only occasionally (OK, a little more than occasionally) eat tortilla chips. However, if baby carrots are too expensive, and they sometimes are, you can buy regular carrots in bulk, peel them, and slice them into two to three inch strips for use in dips. One large carrot should make about six or seven strips. Chop the ends off, peel, slice and service. Find out more about carrots in the U.S. government's nutrition database.

SCRUMPTIOUS Saturdays: Flourless, Sugarless Cookies

Great flourless AND sugarless oatmeal chocolate drop cookies! This is a recipe that needs a lot of tweaking, but it can definitely work.

You will need: 1 1/2 cups rolled oats, 1 half cup oat bran, one quarter cup almond meal, two or three squares of bitter chocolate or 90% cacao bar, four packets of stevia, 1 egg, 1 tsp. baking soda, quarter cup of raisins (optional), 4 tablespoons butter.

Equipment: Mixing bowl, wooden spoon, greased cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 300.

Mix all ingredients together. Form into balls by hand, and drop onto the cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes in the oven. Cool and serve.

THEMATIC Thursdays: Pumpkin Recipes, Cont'd....

Wow...here's an Almond Milk Pumpkin Pie recipe, from sugarfreelowcarbrecipes.com.

THEMATIC Thursdays: The (Great) Pumpkin Visits Town

It's that orange-and-black time of year. And the orange in this mix comes from pumpkin (at least, on this blog it does). There's a plethora of sugarless, flourless pumpkin recipes online: Here's a pumpkin oatmeal pancake. There are a lot of ingredients, including artificial sweetener, in this pumpkin bread, but it's worth a shot. These brownies contain pumpkin puree--try them.And, this pumpkin-bean soup looks really healthy, filling...and delicious. Thanks to

TIPS Tuesday: Float It...or Coat It

Just tossing up a non-lettuce leaf salad with dressing, sometimes doesn't really work too well, I find. 

Sometimes dressing for, say, a cauliflower salad--as from last Saturday--or an asparagus or green bean salad, really needs to marinate the salad--float a little in the dressing, as it were--before you can serve it. Another possibility is to coat the salad ingredients with just some olive oil, and maybe one or two of the dry dressing ingredients (for example, parsley or paprika), let that sit for a bit, or even chill overnight, before tossing it with the dressing-proper. You can divide, or reserve, some of the dry ingredients, as well, to sprinkle over your marinated salad before serving.

SCRUMPTIOUS Saturdays: Spanish-Style Cauliflower Salad

This is really yummy--an adaptation of an adaptation. At first I couldn't see how it would work--cauliflower not being very flavorful, but with the dressing you make for this dish, it makes sense, and you can even get a hint of Spain (perhaps).

Utensils: chopping board, sharp knives, small whisk

Ingredients: salad -- 1 half head cauliflower, 1 cup finely diced parsley, 1 finely diced green onion (scallion), 1 minced hard-boiled egg; dressing -- 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar, 1 pressed garlic clove, 1 tbsp capers, 1 tbsp. paprika, dash, cayenne.

Notes: Make the dressing and set aside. Separate the cauliflower into small florets, about as big, maybe a little bigger, than your thumb. Steam in an inch of boiling water, with 2 tablespoons lemon juice, for 10-12 minutes. Let cool, pat the florets dry. Toss into the dressing, cover and refrigerate. The next day, spoon some cauliflower onto a salad plate, sprinkle some of the parsley and egg on the top. Serve.

Then toss the cauliflower in the dressing. After that, toss in the parsley and green onion. Parsley and hard-boiled egg provide color and texture, but not too much flavor--for that, you should probably dial up various elements of the dressing: garlic, capers, cayenne, paprika, etc. It's important to steam the cauliflower as directed, then allow to cool, then marinate in the dressing, refrigerated, overnight.

THEMATIC Thursdays: Nuts for Coconuts

How much can coconut add to flourless recipes? Here's a New York Times recipe (with rolled oats, not flour) for granola bars. This coconut primer basically spells out the coconut facts you need in the kitchen. BTW, stay away from canned coconut cream--like the kind you might have used in college to make pina coladas--as it contains sugar.

TIPS Tuesday: Vim and Vinegar

Don't skimp on vinegar. You don't need to buy top-of-the-line, but at least have these four on hand: balsamic, red wine, white wine and rice. Each offers different help for various dishes, and while they can sometimes be subsituted for one another, it's best to use the right kind. Vinegar provides the savory, tartness or bite for which so many recipes depend. And, hundreds of years of experimenting by cooks better than I have found they mesh well, and enhance or support a variety of flavors you'd never think about needing such help. The Vinegar Institute is a good resource, as is About's Vinegar recipes page.

SCRUMPTIOUS Saturdays: Super-Quick Olive & Garlic Dip

Wow. This is the easiest thing I've made all year. This dip, with olives, garlic and green onion takes 10 minutes to make, tops.

Equipment: blender, spatula, large glass or ceramic bowl

Ingredients: 1 cup olives (from olive bar); 5-7 garlic cloves, pressed; 2 green onion stalks, diced; 2 cups sour cream (or any combination of sour cream and yogurt you wish); 1 dollop mayonnaise.

Notes: You shouldn't need to add spices because of the amount of garlic, which you can alter up or down. Add the olives and garlic to the blender first, then blend them, then add the sour cream/yogurt and mayo, along with the green onion. The dip should turn a slightly taupe color, especially if you've mixed it up with a variety of olives, including black ones.