Marshmallow Snowmen

That Vegetarian chick has added a new topic. Cute foods! I will be adding a new cute food, each

month. The first one is adorable marshmallow snow men.

You will need a food coloring pen, a black one and an orange one. 2 marshmallows

Directions: Take the top head and create the eyes with the black food coloring pen. And the carrot nose with the orange food coloring pen.Create two buttons on the body, with your black

food coloring pen. Attach the head and body with icing. If you want a melted snowman look, melt the bodies slight before attaching them to the head.

French Onion Soup

Ingredients:

5-6 cups thinly sliced yellow onions (3-4 small ones)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat, mostly because it was there)

1/2 cup + dry white wine (I used a chardonnay)

8 cups mushroom stock (low sodium, if you can find it)

2 cups water

Salt and pepper to taste

Optional:

1 to 2 cups (to taste) grated Swiss*

8 to 12 1-inch thick rounds French bread, toasted until hard

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in the bottom of a stock pot over medium to low heat.

2. Add the onions, toss to coat them in oil and cover the pot. Reduce the heat some more, cover, and walk away. No, seriously, go away. The onions don’t need you right now. What they need is a 15 minute break. It’s not you, it’s them.

3. After 15 minutes, uncover the pot, raise the heat to medium-low, and stir in the sugar (it helps draw out the water and helps the caramelization process). Let the onions caramelize for the next 30 or 40 minutes, but make sure to stir them often. If they start crisping, lower the heat. You want them to be dark golden brown, but they have to stay soft.

4. After the onions are fully caramelized, sprinkle the flour over them and cook for about three minutes, stirring the whole time. Next, add the wine. If you used wine in the last step, I still want you to use the full 1/2 cup. There is no such thing as too much wine with your caramelized onions. Also, use the wine to deglaze the bottom of the pot (read: scrape up all the brown bits of flavor from the bottom of the pot).

5. Add the stock and the water slowly, stirring as you go. Once all of it is in, bring the soup to a simmer and let it do it’s thing for another 30-40 minutes, partially covered. Your soup is now done. In fact, it’s delicious. It’s also vegan, so if you don’t eat cheese, please enjoy this amazing soup right now. It’s amazing. For those of you who do eat cheese.

6. Toast your French baguette rounds until they’re hard (but not browned, so set them in your toaster on a very low setting and keep an eye on them). Take a stick of butter/margarine and lightly coat both sides of each round.

7. Preheat the oven to 325F. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil and place your oven-proof bowls on it. Ladle some boiling soup into them.

8. Top each bowl with as many slices of bread as you will fit, and cover those with cheese( see cheese note above). Place in the oven for 20 minutes, then put it on broil for an additional three, or until the cheese is bubbling and starting to brown.

9. Remove the bowls from the oven If you want, sprinkle on dried oregano or herbs de Provence.

http://theinventivevegetarian.blogspot.com/

Honey Cinnamon Roasted Chickpeas

ingredients:

• 2 (15 ounce) cans of chickpeas (or 4 cups cooked chickpeas)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoon honey

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Drain and rinse chickpeas in a colander under running water. Throughly dry chickpeas with a kitchen towel.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar. Add chickpeas and toss until coated with spice mixture. Spread chickpeas out on a rimmed baking sheet.
4. Roast, shaking the pan occasionally, until the chickpeas are crunchy and no longer soft in the middle, 35-40 minutes. Test taste every few minutes until desired texture is reached.
5. Place hot, roasted beans in a small bowl and coat evenly with honey. Spread beans back out on baking sheet and allow to dry. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/

Peneer with spinach and cheese

1 1/4 cups basmati rice

• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 8 ounces paneer cheese cut into 1 inch cubes
• 3 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil
• 1 dried red hot chile, crushed
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 2 1/2 cups water
• Salt, to taste
• 4 ounces fresh spinach, chopped

Directions

Wash and drain the rice and soak it in cold water for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside. Preheat the oven to 250°F.

Line a sheet pan with paper towels. Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium heat to 350°F. Test the oil with a cube of cheese: the cheese should begin to bubble immediately. Lightly fry the paneer until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on lined baking sheet.

Heat the ghee or oil in a 3 1/2 quart ovenproof pot with a tight lid and fry the red chile, bay leaves, and peppercorns for 1 minute on medium-high heat. Stir in the rice and fry for 2 minutes. Add the water and salt and bring to a boil. Add the cheese, reduce the heat to low, and cover. Simmer for 10 minutes, adding a few tablespoons of water if the rice gets too dry.

Stir in the spinach and cook uncovered until the water has evaporated, 5 minutes. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and the lid and place in the oven to bake, 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. Adjust salt to taste and serve hot.

Read more: http://www.kitchendaily.com/recipe/spinach-and-paneer-cheese-pulao-151837/#ixzz1kysj8pLw

Chana Masala

• 1 can chickpeas in water (also called garbanzo beans) or 1 1/2 cups precooked + 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• juice from one lemon, (approx 2 tbsp )
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1 large bunch of spinach or two handfuls, rinsed

Preparation:

In a large skillet or frying pan, sautee onions and garlic in olive oil until soft, about 3-5 minutes.

Add chickpeas straight from the can, including all the water. Add spices and lemon juice, cover, and simmer about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, adding more water if needed, until chickpeas are cooked and soft.

Reduce heat, add spinach and cover. Allow spinach to wilt for 2-4 minutes. Serve immediately and enjoy your chana masala!

Stuffed Capsicum

Ingredients :

Method : If stalk of capsicum is too long, trim it. Cut a slit around the stalk (about ¼" from it) extending to ¾ of the capsicum. This will serve as a lid. Open it and scoop out seeds from capsicum with the handle of a spoon. Discard them. Grind coconut gratings with roasted red chillies, and tamarind to a coarse paste.

When masala is almost ready, add fenugreek and coriander, gur and salt. Grind for a while.

Then mix chopped onion with the masala. Stuff the capsicums one by one with the masala and close the lids. Prepare seasoning in frying pan with mustard and curry leaves in oil. Drop the stuffed capsicums gently in it.

Spread the excess masala, if any, all over. Cook on a low flame under cover. Open 2-3 times, at intervals, and turn over slightly. After sufficient cooking, remove from flame.

Chana Dal With Pumpkin

Ingredients :
1 cup chana dal (Bengal gram)
250 gm pumpkin
2 tomatoes
3 pods of garlic
½ piece of ginger
2 green chillies
a bunch of curry leaves
1 onion
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp tamarind pulp
salt to taste

Method :
Chop the onion and tomatoes. Slit the chillies into halves. Peel the pumpkin and remove the pith and cut the pumpkin into small pieces. Peel and grate the ginger. Peel and crush the garlic.
Cook the chana dal in 4-5 cups of water till tender but not overcooked. Keep aside.
Heat the oil and fry the onion till it is light golden brown. Add the ginger, garlic and the tomatoes and fry for another minute. Mix in the pumpkin pieces and salt to taste and the turmeric powder. Add one cup of water and cover with a lid and cook over a medium heat till the pumpkin pieces are tender. Mix in the cooked dal and allow the dal to simmer. Add the green chillies and the curry leaves. Continue to simmer for 3-4 minutes. Mix in the tamarind pulp and cook for another minute. Serve hot with rice or paranthas.

Brinjal-Capsicum Gravy

Ingredients :

½ kg brinjal
1 capsicum
1 tsp soya sauce
2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp corn flour
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
Salt as per taste
Coriander for decoration
1 onion

Method :

Cut the brinjals into medium size pieces
Put the brinjals in a glass bowl and pour one cup of water in it.
Place the bowl in microwave oven and boil it for 7 minutes.
After boiling take it outside the oven and mix the soya sauce, chillipowder, ginger garlic paste, garammasala, corn flour and salt.
Keep it aside. Now cut the capsicum and onion into small pieces.
In a glass bowl take 1 tsp oil and put the capsicum and onion in it and cook in microwave for 2 minutes.
Mix the cooked capsicum and onion with the cooked brinjals and put these in the microwave and again cook it for minutes.
After taking it outside mix the coriander leaves and serve hot.

Adai

Ingredients :

Par boiled rice- 2 cups
Red gram dhal- ½ cup
Bengal gram dhal- ½ cup
Green chillies- 6
Grated coconut- 3 tablespoons
Coarsely powdered pepper and cumin -1 teaspoon.
Chopped coriander leaves and curry leaves- 2 tablespoons
Salt to taste - optional
oil- for frying - use sparingly

Makes about 20 Adais

Directions :

Soak rice and dhal together for 2-3 hours. Grind it along with coconut and chillies till it becomes a thick paste. Mix in the other ingredients. Heat a heavy dosa pan and spread little batter on it using the ladle into a thick circular adai. Add a teaspoon of oil around and fry on both sides in medium flame. Serve hot with chutney or tomato sauce. Enjoy!

http://www.recipesindian.com/

Spinach Cup Cakes

1/2 cup of bread crumbs or instant potato flakes
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup prepared mashed potatoes
10-oz chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 cups milk( seems like a lot you may want to eyeball it)
2 large eggs
1 cup of grated parmesan cheese

Oven set at 375. Coat mini muffin cups with some oil spray and dust with the bread crumbs or instant mashed potato flakes. Saute the onions in a little olive oil till tender about 4 minutes. Combine the mashed potatoes and onions, spinach, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix in the eggs and milk. Blend well and add the cheese. Fill each muffin cup with 2/3 of the potato/spinach mixture and bake for about 25 minutes, until browned and set~

Makes 1 dozen appetizers

Nana's Banana Sandwich

Ingredients

U.S.

Metric

Conversion chart

• 2 tablespoon(s) I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!® Spread
• 1 tablespoon(s) firmly packed dark or light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) ground cinnamon
• 1 large banana, thinly sliced
• 4 slice(s) crusty whole grain bread

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Directions

1. Combine I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!® Spread, brown sugar, and cinnamon in small bowl. Arrange banana on 2 bread slices; top with remaining bread. Evenly spread outside of sandwiches with Spread mixture.
2. Cook sandwiches in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat, turning once, 5 minutes or until golden brown.