Almond Poppy Seed Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 Tablespoon water
3/4 teaspoon almond extract

slivered almonds

Preheat Oven to 350
Line a 12 cup muffin tin with liners.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Whisk together liquids in a separate bowl. Add liquids to the dry ingredients and stir only until moistened.

Divide batter evenly among muffin tins. Sprinkle slivered almonds on top of each muffin.
Bake until golden brown, about 24 minutes.

Submitted by Naomi Skye

Bean Salsa aka Texas Caviar

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 can black beans (drain & rinse)
1 can black-eyed peas (drain & rinse)
1 can pinto beans (drain & rinse)
2 cans white shoepeg corn (drain & rinse) or 2 cups frozen shoepeg corn
1 small jar of pimentos (drain &rinse)
1 cup minced onion
1 cup finely chopped bell pepper
1 cup finely chopped celery
1 jalapeno, finely chopped
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Combine vinegar and sugar in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave about a minute, stirring afterward to dissolve all the sugar.
In a large bowl, combine all other ingredients. Pour vinegar over salsa and stir to combine.
Refrigerate at least 2 hours to let flavors combine. I like to make this a day ahead and refrigerate overnight.
Serve with tortilla chips.

~Naomi

Zuppa Toscana

Ingredients
1 pound bulk mild Italian sausage
1 1/4 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large onion, diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
5 (13.75 ounce) cans chicken broth
6 potato, thinly sliced
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 bunch fresh kale, tough stems removed


Directions
Cook the Italian sausage and red pepper flakes in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crumbly, browned, and no longer pink, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Cook the bacon in the same Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp, about 10 minutes. Drain, leaving a few tablespoons of drippings with the bacon in the bottom of the Dutch oven. Stir in the onions and garlic; cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
Pour the chicken broth into the Dutch oven with the bacon and onion mixture; bring to a boil over high heat. Add the potatoes, and boil until fork tender, about 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the heavy cream and the cooked sausage; heat through. Mix the kale into the soup 5 minutes before serving.

Submitted by Miriam Stoll :)

French Toast Casserole

This requires overnight in the refrigerator and 30 min in the morning on the counter before baking.

10 c (1 in. cubed) premium quality white bread, ~16 slices

Cooking spray

8 oz block 1/3 less fat cream cheese, room temp

8 lrg eggs, room temp

1 1/2 c low fat milk

2/3 c half and half

1/2 c maple syrup

1/2 t vanilla extract

2 T powdered sugar

3/4 c maple syrup

oven at 375F

Place bread cubes in 13x9 in baking pan coated with cooking spray.

Beat cream cheese at medium speed until smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add milk, half and half, 1/2 c maple syrup, vanilla and mix until smooth. Pour cream cheese mixture over the bread in the baking pan. Cover and refrigerate over night.

In the morning, remove souffle from frig and let sit on counter 30 min.

Bake at 375F 50 min or until set. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top and serve warm with maple syrup and/or fruit and whipped cream (for added decadence!)

diana

Best Baked Salmon Ever!

Don't really know if this is true but if you come up with a better name let me know.

Big chunk of salmon (with skin is ok. I think one piece is better than lots of pieces.)

Mr. Yoshida's Gourmet Sauce (I get it at Costco in CA but Krista and Miriam used teriyaki sauce instead and thought it was ok)

furikake (Japanese sprinkle stuff you put on top of rice- any kind you like)

wasabe mayonnaise (this is essential! unless you loathe wasabe... :>( )

Oven at 350F

Pick the baking pan to fit your piece of fish. For a really long piece of fish I use my rimmed sheet pan. Watch out for sauce spillage when removing from the oven.

Pour Mr. Yo's sauce into the pan. Cover the bottom with the sauce.

Place washed and dried fish into pan on top of the sauce.

Dot with wasabe mayonnaise

Sprinkle furikake all over the top of the fish.

Using a chopstick, poke holes all over the fish.

Bake about 30 min, until flaky and a good "salmon pink" color.

People really seem to like this dish, and it's easy so it's great to wow the guests, providing the salmon isn't too expensive, of course!

diana

African Bean Soup

This is a vegan recipe that Alexis and I (Diana) made. I got it from www.NutritionMD.org in case anyone is interested in vegetarian recipes. We changed it so it wasn't strictly vegan. We also added some red pepper flakes to give it some zip.

Serves 8

1/2 c water

3T low sodium soy sauce
1 onion sliced thinly

2 sm sweet potatoes/yams- peeled (I didn't), diced, ~2cups

1 lrg carrot thinly sliced

1 celery stalk thinly sliced

1 red bell pepper seeded and diced

15 oz can crushed tomatoes

4 c vegie broth or water (I used chicken broth)

15 oz can garbanzo beans, undrained

1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro

3 T peanut butter

1-2 t curry powder

4c cooked brown rice

1- Heat water and soy sauce in large pot. Add onion and potatoes. Cook over high heat, stirring often until onion is soft, ~5 min.

2- Add carrot, celery, bell pepper. Cover and cook 3 min stirring occasionally.

3- Add tomatoes, broth/water, garbanzos and liquid, cilantro, p-nut butter, curry powder. Stir to mix. Cover and simmer until vegies are tender when pierced with a fork, ~10 min.

TO SERVE: place 1/2 c cooked rice in bowl and top with a generous ladle of soup.

Chocolate Oat Squares

1c + 2T butter or margarine, softened, divideed

2c packed brown sugar

2 eggs

4t vanilla extract, divided

3c quick cooking oats

2 1/2 c flour

1 1/2 t salt, divided

1t baking soda

14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

2c semisweet chocolate chips

1 c chopped nuts

In a mixing bowl, cream 1 c butter and brown sugar. Beat in eggs and 2t vanilla. Combine oats, flour, bakaing soda, 1 t salt. Stir into creamed mixture.

Press 2/3 of oat mixture into a greased 15X10X1 in baking pan.

In a saucepan, combine milk, choco chips and remaining butter and salt. Cook and stir over low heat until chips are melted.

Spread chocolate over crust. Sprinkle with remaining oat mixture. Bake @ 350F for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool. Cut into squares.

diana