Strawberry Pie

I made this the other week. It's the first fruit pie I've ever made. (I usually prefer to buy my pies because I'm lazy.) ;) But this was surprisingly easy to make. Also, it is naturally vegan, as long as you leave off the whipped topping at the end. Woohoo!

THE CRUST

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable shortening
• 2 tablespoons cold water (add 1 additional tablespoon as needed)

COMBINE flour and salt in medium bowl; cut in vegetable shortening with pastry blender or two knives until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle with water; blend until mixture holds together.

SHAPE dough into ball; place on lightly floured surface. Roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Line pie plate with pastry. Turn edge under; crimp as desired.

BAKE in 9-inch glass pie plate at 475 degrees for about 10 minutes.

THE FILLING

• 6 cups fresh strawberries                                           
• 1 cup sugar   
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch 
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 to 5 drops red food color, if desired

In a small bowl, crush enough strawberries to make 1 cup. In 2-quart saucepan, mix sugar and cornstarch; stir in crushed strawberries and water. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. If desired, stir in food color. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Place remaining strawberries, whole or sliced, in cooled baked shell. Pour cooked strawberry mixture evenly over berries. Refrigerate until set, about 3 hours, before serving.

Top with whipped cream (optional).

Pistachio Salad

Liz can't have this because of her allergies, but I'm thinking of making it for Thanksgiving anyway, because it sounds good. :)

• 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1/2 (10.5 ounce) package miniature marshmallows
• 1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 (3 ounce) package instant pistachio pudding mix

In a large bowl, combine the pineapple and pistachio pudding mix. Fold in thawed whipped topping and marshmallows until well mixed. Refrigerate until chilled and serve.

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Favorite Chicken Marinade

This marinade makes a delicious tasting chicken, and it is super easy. Literally the hardest part is just remembering to mix it the night before so that it has plenty of time to flavor the chicken. Then all you have to do is grill it. (I use a George Foreman, but you could use an outdoor BBQ grill or probably even bake it in the oven.)

• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 (10 ounce) bottle Worcestershire Sauce
• 3 tablespoons italian seasoning
• 3 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white pepper

Directions:

1. Put the amount of chicken that you want to grill in the bottom of a big bowl.
2. In another bowl put all above ingredients in and whisk together.
3. Then pour the prepared marinade over the chicken, and refrigerate overnight, or for 4-5 hours.

I like to serve it with a fruit and nut salad (spring mix lettuce, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, feta cheese or substitute, and balsamic vinegar dressing). But you can pair it with any side you like. Yum!

Scary Easy Pumpkin Cookies

My VT comp shared this recipe with me this week. I plan to make them with vegan chocolate chips so Liz can have them.

Ingredients:

• 15 oz can of pumpkin
• Duncan Hines spice cake mix 
• 12 oz bag of Chocolate Chips OR Craisins OR Nuts, etc.

Mix all the ingredients together. Drop on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees. (I'm not sure for how long, but I'm guessing 8 to 10 minutes.

Empanadas

I've been in an experimenting mood lately. Last week I made up my own chicken chimichanga recipe, and it was pretty amazing. This week, I plan to experiment with empanadas. (Empanadas were one of my favorite foods on my mission.) Here's the recipe I plan to use. (It's a combination of a taco recipe that I got from LeiLani's mom year's ago, plus an easy empanada recipe that I found online.)

PREP: 3 or 4 hours before you plan to start cooking, put out Rhodes rolls to rise.

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 large potato
• 1 small onion
• 1 can green beans, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• crushed chili
• salt
• 1 1/2 t. chili powder

Directions:

• To prepare the filling: Brown meat. Add garlic and onions. Add carrots and potatoes. Add about 1/8 c. water and lots of salt. Add chili powder. Stir and let cook on low-medium for about 10 minutes. Add green beans. Stir and let cook on medium 5-7 minutes. Add crushed chili.
• To prepare the empanadas: Take your Rhodes rolls that have raised and roll them out paper thin. Put taco filling on half of each piece of dough, and fold over. Use a fork to close up the edges (like you would with a pie crust). Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.

I will let you know how it turns out! It probably won't be very authentic, but it's bound to taste good--I hope. :)

Note: If you're unfamiliar with empanadas, they look something like this:

On my mission, I usually ate them stuffed with cheese, but you can also get them filled with meat and veggies (which is what I'm attempting here), or they make special sweet empanadas that are filled with manjar (kind of like caramel).

Another Note: This concept could also be adapted to make calzones. Instead of stuffing with the taco filling, you could try pizza sauce, mozarella cheese, and pizza toppings (diced pepperoni, sausage, diced peppers, etc.). If the empanadas work out, I'll try the calzones variation next week. :)

Creamy Lentil Soup

Since Nori's going vegan, :) here's my favorite vegan recipe. We ate lentils a lot on my mission, so maybe that's why I like it so much.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 T. vegetable oil
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, cut into small dice
• 5 medium carrots, peeled and cut into small dice
• 4 ribs celery, cut into small dice
• 2 cups lentils, rinsed
• 7 c. vegetable broth
• 2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
• 1 T. Herbes de Provence (I have a hard time finding this seasoning here, so lately I've just been leaving it out of my recipes)
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 t. pepper
• 1/2 c. dry brown rice
• Corn tortillas

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat a soup pot over medium heat and add in oil. Once oil is hot, add the onions, half the carrots & half the celery. Sweat the vegetables with a sprinkle of salt until they are soft and the onion is translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
2. Add in lentils and stir to combine with the oil. Pour in 4 cups broth and add in garlic, Herbes, and salt & pepper.
3. Cover with a lid and simmer gently for 20 minutes or until lentils are soft and tender.

Note: You can stop at this point and serve the lentils as a side with roasted salmon or chicken. OR

1. Add remaining 3 cups of broth. Blend in the blender until smooth. Return to pot.
2. Add in rice and remaining carrots and celery; simmer until vegetables and rice are tender, about 30 minutes.
3. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve with warm corn tortillas.

Makes about 8 servings.

Oriental Chicken Salad

Have I posted this already? Scott really likes it, and it's egg- and dairy-free. :) It's Mom's recipe.

Oriental Chicken Salad

                                                                                                     

1 small head or ½ large head cabbage                                            

½ bag chow mien noodles                                                              

2 chicken breasts (boiled, grilled, or however you like it) cubed       

3 green onions chopped                                                                      

2 TBS sesame seeds                                                                      

1-cup almonds (roasted 5 minutes in a hot buttery frying pan)          

2 pkgs ramen noodles                                                                         

Dressing:

2 TBS sugar                                                                                  

½ tsp salt                                                                                      

½ tsp pepper                                                                                

½ c salad oil                                                                                 

3 TBS red wine vinegar                                                                

Make dressing first.  Pour dressing over cooked chicken and let it “marinate” while you are putting the rest of the salad together.

Dice cabbage and put in a large bowl.  Add all the other ingredients except the dressing and chicken.  Add chicken and dressing right before serving.  Serves 10 if it is the main course.  If it is being served with other salads it will probably serve 15-20 people. 

*Mom's tip: Double (or even triple) the dressing part (depending on the amount of cabbage you have).