This was a favorite when I was a kid and jello was plentiful. Easy to make and always a hit at parties.
1 package (3 oz) lemon jello
1 cup boiling water
1 package white cake mix
1/2 cup cooking oil
4 eggs
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1/4 cup poppyseeds
- Dissolve jello in boiling water, set aside to cool.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Grease well and flour lightly BUNDT pan.
- In large bowl combine cake mix, oil, eggs and extract, beat until smooth.
- Add jello mixture, a little at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Add poppyseeds and mix.
- Pour into prepared pan.
- Bake for 50 minutes without opening oven.
- While cake is baking, mix together:
- 1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
- grated rind and juice of 1 large lemon
- When cake is done, cool 15 minutes in pan; remove cake and pour lemon glaze into pan.
- Then replace cake in pan to absorb glaze and to finish cooling, approx. 15 minutes.
Voila! Enjoy.
Naturally vegan, you don’t miss the eggs!
Makes 12 cup-cakes, sheet cake or 2 small round cakes
1-2/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup both brown and white sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vinegar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Pre-heat oven to 350. Mix all the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients. Pour in cake or muffin pan. Bake 35-40 minutes, time will very a little with the pan you use.
From the ingredients I didn’t think this recipe was going to be all that great, but it’s probably the best chocolate cake I’ve ever made.
top with a butter-cream frosting
Buttercream Frosting
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened but not melted
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1-2 Tbs. milk or soymilk
In large bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating well. Beat in vanilla and milk, till desired spreading consistency.
This is enough frosting for 12+ cupcakes, may want to double recipe for a layered cake.
Can’t take credit for this. My mama always makes this in the summer time, and she usually pairs it with some grilled summery entree of sorts. I love the broccoli rabe’s bitterness with hot pepper and pasta. Oh, summer.
- Bunch of Broccoli Rabe
- Tsp or more Hot pepper flakes
- Clove of garlic
- About a cup of hydrated dried white beans (or about half a can) *I added these for some protein, I’m iffy on whether I want them in or not
- Tsp or more Lemon zest
- Penne
- Olive oil
- Salt to taste
Cook pasta in salted water to al dente, reserving a little liquid to cook with rabe.
Heat saute pan on medium heat. Saute diced garlic in OO until fragrant but not burned. Cut out the big bottom parts of the rabe stalks. Cut rest of rabe in big chunks, making sure not to chop the florets up too much. Add rabe, salt, hot pepper flakes and lemon zest into saute pan. Stir and saute for a few minutes. Add a little of the pasta water to rabe and saute for a while until the stalks are soft. If desired, add white beans. Add pasta to saute pan and toss until heated through. Top with a yummy salty cheese (Myzithra is what we had and it was great, but of course pecorino or parm would be fine too).
- 1 can tomato puree (28 oz)
- 1 can tomato paste (3 oz)
- 1 - 16 oz can chicken or beef stock
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 1/8 cup olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and minced
- 3 large garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 rib celery with leaves, minced
- 1 small carrot, grated
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tbsp crushed oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 tbsp dried basil or 1 tbsp fresh basil
- 1 whole clove (optional)
- 1/4 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 lb hot Italian sausage, ground and browned
In a large pot, place the tomato puree, tomato paste, chicken or beef stock and wine.
Heat a large frying pan and add the olive oil. Saute the onions, garlic, celery and carrot until they just begin to brown a bit.
Add to the pot along with the remaining ingredients. Bring to a light boil and then turn down to a simmer. Simmer for 2 hours, partly covered.
Store in the refrigerator, covered, in either glass, plastic or stainless steel. It will keep for a week. This freezes very well.
This takes some time but it sure is worth it!
Rice pasta (I’m sure you can use semolina pasta, but rice pasta’s cooking liquid is really creamy and yummy to add to sauces. Trader Joe’s rice pasta is my favorite)
1 12oz jar of roasted red peppers (about 2 peppers if you’re roasting yourself)
1/2 cup (or more) pinenuts
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 large shallot
1/3 cup of rice pasta cooking liquid
about a tbsp olive oil
sea salt
black pepper
Boil about 4 cups of salted water for pasta.
Sauté shallots and garlic in olive oil until shallots start to get a little translucent. Add chunks of roasted red peppers, pine nuts, a few grinds of pepper and a liberal amount of salt (I added a few full pinches of a good course sea salt, but I like things salty). Let simmer while pasta cooks.
Drain pasta, reserving about a cup or so of the cooking liquid. Set aside.
Transfer red pepper mixture into a blender and blend away, adding the cooking liquid as you go to achieve the right creamy consistency. Pour liberally onto pasta and serve immediately.
I made this last night when I was after something healthy, but sort of creamy. I thought about making a tomato cream sauce of sorts, but I just wasn’t feeling an acid-y tomato sauce and I’m not so good at digesting dairy. Hence the red peppers and pine nuts. Now, this is my new favorite pasta sauce. I think it’s so good, I want to eat it like a soup…hmmm.
-Leah
1 lb whole wheat flour
12 oz hot water
8 ounces bread or all-purpose flour
1 5 oz can evaporated milk (more water or soy if you are vegan)
1/3 cup honey
2 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons instant yeast
an additional 1/2-1 cup flour, as necessary, to achieve the desired consistency
makes 2 loaves of bread
Directions:
Mix the hot water and whole wheat flour together in a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic and set aside until around room temperature, at least 1 hour.
Add the milk, honey, salt, yeast, and bread flour to the original mixture and mix until well combined. Add additional flour and knead by hand or in a stand mixer until a tacky but not completely sticky dough is formed. Place the ball of dough in a well-oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside to rise for 60 to 90 minutes.
Divide the dough in two and shape the loaves. Place the loaves in greased bread pans, cover the pans loosely with plastic (I put them in a plastic bag), and set aside to rise again for 90 minutes.
During the final 30 minutes of rising, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the pans into the oven and immediately reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, rotating the pans once so that they brown evenly, until the internal temperature of the loaves is around 190 degrees and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
Enjoy this yummy bread!
Allie
From here:
Chickpea and Rosemary Soup
3 tablespoons olive oil , plus additional for drizzling
8 cloves garlic , finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves , minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 cans (15 to 19 ounces each) chickpeas , rinsed and drained
4 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Sea salt
In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic, rosemary and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring constantly, until garlic starts to brown, about 1 minute. Add chickpeas and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes; let cool slightly. Transfer 1 cup of soup at a time to a blender; cover loosely and puree until just smooth. Return to saucepan. Repeat two more times. Stir lemon juice and salt into soup to taste. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.
I made this last night and loved it, though I added a little more lemon and red pepper than this recipe calls for. Then, I topped it with a good salt along with the olive oil drizzle, and it was super yummy. Sort of reminiscent of split pea soup, but much lighter.
Enjoy,
Leah
2 dried chipotle chilies
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons salad oil
3/4 teaspoon salt (if using unsalted nuts)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
3 cups nuts, 1 kind or an assortment
Preheat oven to 300˚.
Remove and discard chili stems. Whirl chilies, with seeds, in a blender or food processor until finely ground.
In a bowl, mix ground chilies, honey, sugar, oil, salt and cayenne. Add nuts and stir until coated with seasonings.
Pour nuts onto oiled 10 by 15 inch pan; shake into 1 layer. Bake, stirring often, until golden brown (under skins, if not blanched) and honey mixture has hardened, 25 to 30 minutes. If necessary, push nuts apart; cool in pan.
Serve or store up to 3 days.
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp plus 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa, divided (regular-type, dry)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk (soy milk works too)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
• optional walnuts
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 3/4 cups hot water
Sift together flour, sugar, 2 tbsp cocoa, baking powder and salt; add milk, oil and vanilla; mix until smooth. (If you opted for nuts; stir them in now.)
Pour into greased 8-inch square baking pan.
Combine brown sugar, remaining 1/4 cup cocoa and hot water; pour over batter.
Bake in 350-degree oven about 45 minutes. Should be gloppy, pudding goodness on the bottom.
Best served hot with vanilla ice cream.
My mama always makes this for Christmas breakfast, and it always goes so well with salty eggs and savory breakfast things.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (or Earthbalance to make it vegan)
For the topping:
- 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1/3 cup sugar (I used a little less than this because I like my cranberries tart)
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts, optional
For the batter:
- 3/4 cup flour (all purpose works best, I guess)
- 3/4 sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup milk (can be soy milk to make it vegan)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the butter in a 9-inch round non-reactive baking dish. Set pan in oven long enough to barely melt butter or melt in microwave. Remove from oven, swirl pan to coat evenly with butter, set in a warm place.
Toss cranberries with sugar and walnuts, set aside.
In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add milk and stir until just combined. Pour the batter into the pan, it will be pancake batter thin, this is what you want. Pour cranberry mixture over batter, distributing evenly. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until cranberries are bubbly and soft and slightly golden. Serve warm.
-Leah
