I am addicted to Black Eyed Peas and Greens (Soup)

I bought some black eyes peas since I have found I really like their flavor thanks to a variety of dishes including the Portland Bye and Bye bar's side dish on the BBQ platter. Yum! I have never tried mustard greens before so I decided to try them in a soup and carrots sounded like they would go well with it all. As I was cooking up the soup, I decided it needed a little more of something, and decided to add lemon juice. After it was all cooked and ready for eating, I was surprised by my enjoy of this fairly simple soup. I hope you have the same surprise.

Black Eyed Peas and Greens Soup

1 1/2 cups dry Black Eyed Peas

10 cups water

2 Carrots, chopped

2 Vegetable Bouillon Cubes

1/4 cup Lemon Juice

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Black Pepper

1 tsp Garlic Granules

1 bunch Mustard Greens, chopped

Place the black eye peas in 4 cups of the water and bring to a boil in a large pot. Lower heat to a low simmer and cook 30 minutes. Add the rest of the water, carrots, bouillon cubes, lemon juice, salt, pepper and garlic and cook an additional 15 minutes. Place the greens in the pot and stir to combine and cook for about 10 minutes, until the greens are cooked down and flavors could be absorbed.

Betty White Party with lots of food

Betty White has done a lot for animals in her lifetime and she has also delivered a great amount of laughs. When a campaign to see her host Saturday Night Live appeared on facebook, I joined right away. And when she was finally announced to host SNL, I organized a party right away. When I throw a party, what food I will serve becomes my first planning task. I have a few friends that eat gluten free, so I did know I wanted a least most of it to be safe for everyone to eat.

I decided on a host of dips and stuffed stuff. This included my popular Roasted Red Pepper Cashew Spread, White Bean Artichoke Heart Dip and Tofutti Sour Cream with a Frontier Organics French Onion Soup dry mix.

I also served zucchini stuffed with a garbanzo tahini mash and small red potatoes stuffed with tofu celery salad. I served multiple veggies as well including cherry tomatoes I had hoped to stuff with guacamole but that became too much work, so I offered them for snacking instead.

For dessert I offered strawberries, a vegan whipped cream, sweet mini biscuits and cheesecake bites with an almond meal crust (gluten free).

Vegan Cheesecake Bites

Filling:
1 – 8 oz container Tofutti Cream Cheese
½ cup blended Silken Tofu
1/3 cup Organic Unrefined Cane Sugar
2 Tb Cornstarch
1 tsp Vanilla

Crust:
1 ½ cups Almond Meal
1 Tb Cornstarch
2 Tb Margarine, melted
1-2 Tb Almond Milk

Filling: Blend all ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth.

Crust: Combine the almond meal and cornstarch. Using a fork, blend in the margarine. Add the almond milk until the meal starts to hold together when pressed.

Place about a tablespoon of the crust in a greased mini cupcake holder and press down. Filling the cupcake holder until about full. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.

Luckily SNL with Betty White was hilarious and wondrous and the food was enjoyed between the laughs.

Brownie Bites (Gluten Free)

I made these for a bake sale to benefit SPECIEES. I wanted to offer something that was gluten free since there seems to be more and more demand for it. This recipe uses almond meal flour and cornstarch instead of white flour so it has a great taste and no xanthan gum was needed. I have found that blended silken tofu is best egg replacement in brownies. The resulting product is rich in choclate taste and decadent in texture. Yumm!

Brownie Bites

1/2 cup Non-Dairy Margarine, melted
1/2 cup Cocoa, unsweetened

1 cup Organic Unrefined Cane Sugar

½ cup Silken Tofu, blended

1 tsp Vanilla

2 Tb Corn Starch

1/2 cup Almond Meal Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

In a food processor, blend the silken tofu until smooth. Scoop out ½ cup and reserve left over for other baking or for making a “pudding” by blending the tofu with melted chocolate chips and sugar or make a “creamsicle”.

Combine the melted butter and cocoa, stirring to combine. Add sugar, blended tofu and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add the almond flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt and mix to combine. Scoop the batter by the spoonful into a greased mini muffin pan, filling each space about 2/3 full. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes and then let cool 15 minutes. Makes 32 brownies bites.