Chili Baked Potatoes

The Ingredients:
1/2 a small onion, diced
1 clove garlic
1/2 t oregano
12 oz crumbled veggie burgers
1 1/2 c pinto beans
1 1/2 c diced tomatoes
3/4 c tomato sauce
2 T jam (I used blueberry)
1/2 t chili powder
4 baking potatoes

 The Process:

1. Bake potatoes at 425 degrees until tender.
2. Meanwhile, heat a splash of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion, garlic, and oregano and cook, stirring, until onions are translucent.
3. Add crumbled veggie burger and continue to cook, stirring, for a few minutes.
4. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to very low and cover until potatoes are done.  Split potatoes open and top with chili.

Chocolate-Stuffed Scones

Using part oat flour makes this scone dough more difficult to work with than some, but also makes for moist scones with a nice flavor.

Makes 8 scones.

The Ingredients:
1 c rolled oats
1 1/4 c flour
1/2 c sugar
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
6 T COLD margarine
2/3 c COLD almond milk
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 c chocolate chips

The Process:

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. In a food processor, grind oats into flour.
3. Add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to oat flour, and pulse a few times to combine.
4. Add margarine, cut in small pieces, and pulse until mixture resembles sand.
5. Add almond milk and vanilla and process until dough forms.
6. With floured hands, pat dough into a 12-inch circle on a well-floured surface.
7. Cut into 16 wedges.  (Note: dough will be wet and sticky; if the wedges fall apart while you're working with them, simply press them back together.)
8. Top 8 of the wedges with chocolate chips.  Top with the remaining wedges, and press the edges together to seal.
9. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake 15 minutes or until bottoms are light golden.  Allow to cool before serving.

Creamy Polenta with Olive Sauce

The Ingredients:
1 c polenta or coarsely ground cornmeal
4 c water or vegetable broth
1/4-1/2 t salt (omit or use less of using salted broth)
2 T margarine

For Sauce:
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 c chopped diced tomatoes (drained if canned)
1 c loosely-packed kalamata olives, pitted and halved lengthwise
3/4 t ground oregano
1/2 t sugar
a pinch salt
black pepper to taste

The Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine polenta, water, and salt in a casserole dish or dutch oven.  Cover and bake for 1 hour.
3. When polenta has about 20 minutes of cooking time remaining, heat a splash of olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat.  Add onion and garlic and cook until soft and fragrant.  Add remaining ingredients, raise heat to medium, and bring to a simmer.  Simmer for about 3 minutes, then cover and set aside.
4. Whisk margarine into polenta, then return to oven, uncovered, and bake for an 10 more minutes.
5. Top polenta with sauce and serve.

Easy Empanadas

These empanadas use canned black beans, frozen corn, and jarred salsa for the filling, so making the dough is the only time commitment they require.

The Ingredients:
Dough:
1 1/2 c whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 c cornmeal
1 t sugar
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t mustard powder (optional)
6 T margarine
1/2 c + 1 T almond milk

Filling:
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1/2 cup salsa

The Process:

1. Pulse together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, garlic, and mustard in a food processor until combined.  Add margarine and almond milk and process until dough holds together.  Knead dough a few times with your hands, then divide into 6 equal pieces. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3. To make filling, mash beans lightly with a fork, then stir in corn and salsa.
4. On a floured surface, roll each piece of dough into a 6-7 inch circle.  Place about 1/3 cup of filling on half of each circle, leaving a 3/4-inch border.  Fold dough over to enclose filling, and crimp with a fork to seal.
5. Bake on a baking sheet for 20-25 minutes or until edges are golden.  Let cool a few minutes before serving.

Plum Crumb Cake

I'm always searching for ways to use up plums this time of year, so I modified my favorite applesauce cake recipe to use pureed plums.  The resulting cake is not too sweet, and works just as well for breakfast as it does for dessert.

The Ingredients:
3 c flour
1 c sugar
2 t baking soda
2 t cinnamon
1 t salt
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t cloves
1 1/2 c pitted, pureed plums (about 12 small plums)
1 c water
2/3 c oil
2 t vanilla
1 c raisins
6 chopped, pitted plums

crumb topping:
2/3 c brown sugar
2/3 c rolled oats
2 T margarine, melted
2 T flour
1 T cinnamon

The Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and cloves.
3. Stir in plum puree, water, oil, and vanilla until well-combined.
4. Fold in raisins and chopped plums, and pour into a 9x13 pan.
5. Mix together all crumb topping ingredients with a fork until crumbly.  Sprinkle topping over cake.
6. Bake until cooked through, about 45-50 minutes.