Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cake

Last week, I posted a vegan version of this recipe. 

Ingredients:

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. allspice
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
4 Tbsp. cocoa
2 1/2 cups grated/shredded zucchini
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 
2. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan. 
3. Cream sugars, butter, and oil. 
4. Add eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir to mix. 
5. Sift together dry ingredients. 
6. Mix all together except chocolate chips. 
7. After mixing well, gently fold in chips. 
8. Pour into pan. 
9. Bake for 45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean when inserted in center. 
10. Dust with powdered sugar or a fluffy light frosting.

Notes:

• You can half this recipe. For the eggs, use 1 egg + 1 yolk.

Salsamole

This is a really great raw salsa. I think this would be right up raw vegans' alley. It's also great for anybody who likes salsa. This is a chunky salsa, so saucy salsa lovers may not like it as much. 

If you can, I suggest starting a salsamole garden in the spring and get your ingredients from your herb garden and veggie garden as much as possible. Off-season purchase of the ingredients is somewhat pricey. It's likely cheaper at markets when these veggies are in season.

Ingredients:

1 pound ripe Italian pear tomatoes peeled (optional), seeded and chopped

½ cup chopped red pepper

½ cup chopped yellow pepper

¾ cup peeled, minced carrot

½ cup fresh corn kernels

2 tablespoons minced cilantro

2 tablespoons minced Italian parsley

1-2 jalepeno chiles, seeded and minced

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons pure olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 avocado, peeled and diced

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl combine all the ingredients except the avocado. 
2. Refrigerate and marinate for about 1 hour. 
3. At serving time lift the mixture to a serving bowl with a slotted spoon. Stir in the avocado. Correct the seasonings. 
4. Garnish with a few whole cilantro leaves. 
5. Serve it with a mixture of blue and yellow corn tortilla chips.

Notes:

• It took me an hour to chop the ingredients. If you are a faster chopper, it will take less time.
• Because you want to serve after adding the avocado, it's good to make this for a party or if you feel like eating a lot of salsa.

Teriyaki Meatballs

Full disclosure: this recipe has mixed reviews at my house. 

Ingredients:

Meatball
1 lb. ground pork
1 large egg
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
1 clove garlic, minced
2 inches fresh ginger
1/2 tsp soy sauce
2 whole green onions
10 - 15 cranks freshly cracked pepper

Glaze 
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 inches fresh ginger
2 Tbsp corn starch
1 Tbsp sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the ground pork in a large bowl. Peel the ginger and then grate it using a small holed cheese grater into the bowl. Mince the garlic, slice the green onions, and add them to the bowl. Also add the egg, breadcrumbs, soy sauce, and black pepper. Mix these ingredients really well until it is all evenly combined (clean hands work best).
2. Cover a baking sheet with foil. Roll the meatball mixture into small balls, about one tablespoon each. Place the meatballs on the baking sheet as you roll them. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown (about 35-40 minutes). Turn them every 10 minutes or so.
3. While the meatballs are in the oven, make rice to go with the meatballs.
4. While the meatballs are in the oven, also prepare the teriyaki glaze. In a medium pot combine the soy sauce, water, brown sugar, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Peel and grate the ginger into the pot. Heat over a low flame until the brown sugar is dissolved (just a few minutes).
5. Add the cornstarch into the pot with the glaze ingredients. Turn the heat up to medium high, stir and cook until thickened. It should thicken as soon as it begins to simmer.
6. When the meatballs come out of the oven, transfer them from the baking sheet into the pot with the glaze. Stir to coat.

Notes:

• Yields about 30 meatballs.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cake

This cake is very tasty. I veganized the recipe. This could use a little optimization yet. What I  need to do is figure out how to make it cakier and rise higher.

Ingredients:

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegan butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 flax eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup almond milk
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. allspice
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
4 Tbsp. cocoa
2 1/2 cups grated/shredded zucchini
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 
2. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan. 
3. Cream sugars, butter, and oil. 
4. Add eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir to mix. 
5. Sift together dry ingredients. 
6. Mix all together except chocolate chips. 
7. After mixing well, gently fold in chips. Pour into pan. 
8. Bake for 45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean when inserted in center. 
9. Dust with powdered sugar or a fluffy light frosting.

Notes:

This may not need the flax eggs at all, given the zucchini acts as a moistener and slight binder. 1 tsp of vinegar may help the rising issue.

Beef and Pasta Bake

We've been making this beef and pasta bake for years. It's a great make-ahead meal. Just pop in the oven when you need to make dinner.

Ingredients:

1 lb. Ground beef

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1 cup shredded mozzarella (divided)

5 cups hot cooked medium tube-shaped (elboroni) macaroni (3 cups dry)

Directions:

1. Brown beef, remove fat.  
2. Stir in sauce and 1/2 cup cheese and cooked macaroni.  
3. Pour into 2-quart casserole dish.  Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese.  
4. Bake @ 400o ~ 25 minutes or until hot and bubbling.

Notes:

• Serves 8 or so.
• Approximately 400 Calories/serving.  Varies based on types of ingredients.
• Can make vegan by using vegan crumbles and vegan mozzarella-like cheese. (Pictured right with no cheese.)

Onion Roasted Potatoes

This is something I've been making since I was a kid and cooking when I got home from school to make dinner for the family. This is so easy.If you are a new cook, this is about as easy as it gets.

Ingredients: 
1 envelope dry onion soup mix 
4 medium all-purpose potatoes, cut into large chunks (about 2 lb.) 
1/3 cup olive oil 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 425. 
2. Combine ingredients in a 1 gallon Ziploc bag. Shake. 
3. Pour into a 13 x 9” baking or roasting pan. 
4. Bake, stirring occasionally, 35 minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden brown. 

Notes:

• Vegan if you use a vegan onion soup mix.
• Since I was a little girl, we used Lipton onion soup mix. Probably someone is going to tell me that one isn't vegan but it looked like it upon review when I made it tonight.
• Serves 4.
• Prep Time: 10 Min. Cook Time: 40 Min.

Super Easy Baked Chicken Breasts

This is a recipe from my childhood. As latch-key kids, my sister and I had a few (or more) days of the week we came home and we made dinner. I don't know what age she started, but I was age ~12 when I started making the easy family recipes. I recall making this one about once every week or two until I moved out. And it was one of the recipes I made once I got married for a number of years. If you are a beginning omnivore cook, then this is a good recipe to have on your regular routine.

Ingredients:
Chicken breasts
crackers or bread crumbs
Oil
2-3 eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325. 
2. Cover a lipped cookie sheet with a thin film of oil. 
3. Crumble crackers into a bowl (place between wax paper and smash with rolling pin) with salt and pepper, garlic salt, and minced onion. 
4. Crack eggs in a large bowl, and mix with a fork. 
5. Roll chicken in eggs then bounce in cracker crumbs. 
6. Put chicken on the pan. 
7. Bake for 30 min, or internal temperature is 165.

Notes:

• Depending on the size of chicken breasts (and other items served), 0.5 - 1 breast per person. You use as many breasts and as much cracker/bread crumbs as needed.