Thumbprint Cookies

It's cookie time! Coming from a girl who adores chocolate, I have to highly suggest trying this delicious fruit, nut and shortbread alternative. It came out moist with so many flavors to enjoy. We made these cookies accompanied by a chocolate chip M&M chunk cookie in our holiday gift tins.

Tip: To save time, you can purchase pre-roasted or toasted nuts in many markets.

Toasting Tips: : To toast the nuts. Spread nuts on a baking sheet and bake in a 350 degree F (180 degree C) oven for 8-10 minutes. The nuts are done when they are light golden-brown in color and fragrant. Remove from oven and place the hot nuts in a dish towel. Roll up the towel and let the nuts sit (steam) for a few minutes then rub the nuts in the towel briskly to remove the skins. Let cool completely. Once the nuts have cooled, place them in your food processor and process until finely chopped. Alternatively, you could chop them by hand.

Serving Size: Makes approx. 20-30 cookies

INGREDIENTS:

-1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
-1/4 cup granulated white sugar

-1 large egg, separated
-1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
-1 cup all purpose flour

-1/8 teaspoon salt

-3/4 cup hazelnuts, almonds, almonds, pecans or walnuts, toasted and finely chopped

-1/2 cup jam (any flavor-I chose strawberry)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat until combined.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the flour mixture to the batter and beat just until combined. (If the batter is too soft to roll into balls, refrigerate for about 30 minutes.)

4. In a small bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy. Place the chopped nuts on a plate.

5. Roll the dough into 1 inch (2.5 cm) balls. Taking one ball of dough at a time, dip first into the egg white and then lightly roll into the nuts.

6. Place on the prepared baking sheet spacing about 1 inch apart. Using your thumb or end of a wooden spoon, make a indentation into the center of each cookie and fill with about 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of jam.

7. Bake for about 13-15 minutes, or until cookies are set and the nuts have nicely browned. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool.

Vanilla Pumpkin Pie

What a sweet delight with the addition of the vanilla flavors! Enjoy this traditional pie with a slight twist in preparation! It's less spicy than the common pumpkin pie.

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree

- 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk

- 2 eggs

- 3/4 cup white sugar

- 1 tablespooon all-purpose flour

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees

2. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, flour, salt, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix well and pour into pie shell.

3. Bake for 20 minutes at 450 degrees then turn oven temperature down to 350 degrees and continue baking for additional 40 more minutes. The pie is done when a knife is inserted in the center and it comes out clean.

4. Cool on a wire rack before serving.

Triple Berry Pie

Christmas time is all about baking! The next few posts from me are some delcious treats my husband and I prepared Christmas Eve for the next day's festivities. Enjoy with your closest family and friends!

This first recipe shared is for a triple berry pie. I purchased a pre-made crust from Trader Joes and defrosted it for approx. 2 hours. If you are brave and know how to make a crust from scratch-go for it!!

Tip: if you are using frozen fruit (I did for raspberries and strawberries) than be sure to defrost and strain well the extra water content. The store did not have fresh strawberries or raspberries available, so I bought the frozen version and strained well. The checker at Trader Joes said that many prefer frozen to fresh as at the point of freezing the fruit it at it's best ripe stage.

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 cup strawberries, halved

- 1/2 cup white sugar

- 3 tablespoons corn starch

- 2 cups rasberries

- 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

- 1 recipe pastry or pre-made pastry for 9 inch double crust pie

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the sugar and corn starch. Add the three berries and gently toss until berries are coated.

2. Line a 9 inch pie plate with the pastry. Stir berry mixture and transfer to the crust lined plate. Top with second crust and seal and crimp the edges. To prevent overbrowning, cover the edge of the pie with foil.

3. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 mionutes. Remove foil. Bake for an additional 20-30 minutes ir until the top is golden.

4. Cool on a wire rack.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Tempeh

It is a cold and rainy December day and it also so happens to be our holiday party with my Dad's side of the family. I advised my Aunt that I would bring a vegetarian dish for the holidays. So I played around online and came across this recipe on Whole Food's website.

Not only was I looking to try something new, but also try using tempeh in more dishes. I often experiment with tofu but tempeh offers a whole new variety of flavors and variations on how to prepare it.

This is a great recipe to try. Even non-vegetarians ate it up! I doubled the recipe below to yield more for the family party.

Serving Size: 6

Ingredients:

1/4 cup reduced-sodium tamari

1 tablespoon mirin (sweet Japanese cooking wine) or cooking wine

1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 (8-ounce) package tempeh, cut into bite-size chunks

2 medium sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds), peeled (optional) and cut into bite-size pieces

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon canola oil

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

Instructions:

1. Put tamari, mirin, granulated garlic, onion powder and sesame oil into a wide, shallow dish and stir to combine.

2. Add tempeh, toss to coat, cover and set aside to let marinate for 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, toss sweet potatoes with olive oil, ginger, cinnamon and 1 1/2 tablespoons of the marinade from the tempeh. Set the yams aside.

4. Preheat oven to 350°F.

5. Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Drain tempeh then add and cook, turning frequently, until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes.

6. Transfer to a 2-quart baking dish, toss with sweet potatoes, salt and pepper then cover with foil and bake until sweet potatoes are tender, 30 to 35 minutes.

7. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Vegetarian Pad Thai

Oh boy! This was a delicious meal. I made my sesame ginger tofu on the side as an added source of protein.

Tip: You can find pre-cooked noodles at most health food markets such as Whole Foods to cut down the prep time.

Ingredients:

-1 pound Asian-style rice noodles
-1/4 cup soy sauce (or Braggs)
-1/2 cup lime juice (I used lemon)
-2 tbsp organic peanut butter
-1/4 cup sugar
-1 onion, diced
-4 cloves garlic, minced
-2 tbsp sesame oil
-1/2 cup bean sprouts
-1/4 cup chopped or crushed peanuts

-4 green onions (scallions), sliced

Instructions:

1. Cook noodles according to package instructions.
2. Whisk together the soy sauce, peanut butter, lime juice, and sugar.
3. In a large wok or skillet, sautee the onion and garlic in sesame oil for a minute or two, stirring frequently. Allow to cook for another minute or two.
4. Add the cooked noodles and the peanut butter and soy sauce mixture.

5. Stir well, and allow sauce to thicken as it cooks for about 3 minutes.

6. Top with peanuts, bean sprouts and green onions and serve hot.

Vegetarian Sloppy Joes

Finally a meal we remember as kids (at least for me) has a vegetarian twist so I can enjoy it now. This was fairly simple to make with an approximate prep and cook time of under 30 minutes. I served with toasted sourdough bread with a slice of cheddar cheese. To make this dish vegan, eliminate the cheese entirely or try soy or rice cheddar flavored cheese.

Substitution Tip: You can also substitute the Morningstar veggie crumbles with Two 8 ounce packages of tempeh

Serving Size: 2-4

Ingredients:

- One 12 ounce package of Morningstar Veggie Crumbles
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup minced onion

- 1/2 cup minced green or red bell pepper

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 1/4 cup tomato sauce

- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce ( I used vegan version)

- 1 tablespoon honey

- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

- 1/4 teaspoon celery seed

- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

- 1/2 teaspoon oregano

- 1/2 teaspoon paprika

- 1 pinch ground pepper

- hamburger buns or sourdough bread slices

- slice of cheddar cheese or vegan alternative (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a 10 inch skillet over medium-low heat. Cook the onion in the oil until translucent

2. Add the veggie crumbles into the skillet and cook until golden brown; approx. 2-3 minutes

3. Add the green pepper and garlic; cook for another 2-3 minutes

4. Add the tomato sauce, worcestershire sauce, honey, cayenne pepper, celery seed, cumin, salt, coriander, thyme, oregano, paprika, and black pepper. Stir.

5. Simmer another 10-15 minutes

6. Spook hot on toasted hamburger buns or sourdough bread with sliced cheese (optional)

Greek Marinade

Last night's dinner inspiration came from a yogurt cilantro sauce I purchased at Trader Joes this last weekend. I bought some fresh Naan bread and cucumbers. I really wanted to make a healthy Greek meal for Gary. I also bought some organic chicken breasts. How could I flavor the chicken to match the Greek inspiration and flavors from the sauce. Here is a simple herb combination I found online. We combined the following herbs and applied to the chicken breasts with some olive oil. The chicken breasts were baked in foil on the grill outside for approx. 20 minutes or so. Enjoy!

Greek Marinade
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried mint
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion
- 1/4 teaspoon dried minced garlic