Sweet Potato Chocolate Pudding

I needed some pancreas friendly pudding and I found this recipe on the interwebs: 1 pound sweet potatoes (450 g) 1 cup plant milk of your choice (250 ml) 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (40 g) 2 tbsp maple syrup 8 Deglet Nour or 4 Medjool dates I used half the maple syrup, 4 medjool dates, flax milk, and put it all in the VitaMix. Fresh sweet potatoes - peel, dice, steam until soft, and cool completely. I had been gifted a frozen bag of mashed sweet potatoes from Trader Joes, so I held back two ounces, put the tiniest bit of water in a pan to heat it. When they were half defrosted, I turned it off, stirred it, and walked away. I came back later, stirred it again and the frozen chunks were now soft and the whole mix was cold rather than hot, all with less added water than the package instructions.

Vegan Gravy

I double this recipe for Thanksgiving but I don't double the roux (oil and flour) when I do. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/vegetarian-gravy/

Peanut Butter Kale

Ask Annie, it's great.

Stuffed Peppers

We have a million peppers from our farm share. For Colin, I use poblano and for me cubanelle. These are delicious on their own, cut up and scooped with corn chips, and would probably be good on bread, too. Put a can of tomato paste in a pot with some amount of water and about a cup of salsa. Add spices...like part of pack of opened chili seasoning your father-in-law opened before he died, some taco seasoning from a giant shaker that you bought a couple years ago, or some cumin, garlic, cayenne, oregano...whatever you have around. Bring it to a boil and simmer for a few minutes. Halve however million peppers you have, take out the seeds, and lay them in a baking dish. If you really scrunch them in there, you won't really have to aim when you put in the filling; you can just lob it in. In another pan, add some black beans (oh, I better put those in the pressure cooker! I'm making these again tonight), leftover rice, veggie meat, onions, or whatever combination of filler you want and cook the appropriate amount. You could basically make these 100% cheese if you want. Really, just imagine that you are making gluten free topless enchiladas, where the tortilla is a pepper. Then cover everything with sauce, then put cheese or vegan cheese or a vegan nacho cheese you made yesterday from potatoes and carrots on top and bake it at a temperature like 350 or 425. I don't believe in pre-heating unless I'm making popovers, but I guess if you are time-crunched you might have already wanted your oven to be on. Whenever they look done, they are!

Vegetable Korma (GF, DF, Vegan)

I made this vegetable korma when Ben came to visit. It is adapted from an All Recipes recipe that I originally got from Rachel. This recipe can be made gluten free, dairy free, and vegan (or not).  I also recently made it my slow cooker and that worked out pretty well.

Ingredients:
1 small onion diced or about 4 T dried minced onion (I prefer the latter!)
1 tsp minced fresh ginger root (or powdered if you don't have fresh)
4-6 cloves garlic, crushed
2-4 potatoes, cubed
5 Tablespoons cashews, ground
1 15oz can tomato sauce
2 tsp salt
vegetables of your choice: carrots, cauliflower, peas, peppers, broccoli, etc.
1 can full fat coconut milk (or 1 cup heavy cream)
fresh cilantro for garnish
~1 cup chicken stock, optional
      2 t garam masala
      1 t turmeric
      3/4 t cinnamon
      1 t cardamom powder
      2 t cumin
      1 bay leaf
If you don't have the above spices, you can use 1 1/2 Tablespoons Curry Powder.

Method:
Depending on your time and "chefliness" you could begin by sauteeing the onions and spices together, then add in the potatoes and optional chicken stock to get the potatoes soft, or cook them in the coconut milk and tomato sauce. Once the potatoes are tender, add in the other vegetables and cook them until tender. Add it delicate vegetables such as peppers, at the end.  I often use frozen veggie foursome for convenience.

Or, you could basically throw everything in the pot and cook it together.  The potatoes really take a while to cook in that medium. I'd allow an hour to be safe. Or throw it all in a slow cooker. I cooked mine on low for about 6 hours I think? 4 hours might be sufficient.

Serve with rice or quinoa.

Enjoy!

4/24/17 : additional notes from my most recent batch:
I cooked the potatoes separately in water to make sure they were done, then added them to the pot. Consider doing the carrots this way too, especially if you are crunched for time. (I think veggies take a long time to cook in coconut milk and tomato sauce.)
I used two cans of "coconut cream" from trader Joe's and one can of tomato sauce. Same quantities of spice above.
Half a head of cauliflower (I probably could have used all), 4 or 5 carrots, 5 medium golden potatoes, 2 bags of peas.

Purple Jubilee

This is a very simple recipe from my friend, Heidi:

red beet puree
applesauce

Mix together red beet puree and applesauce, aiming for at least 25% beets.  Present mixture to kids in small bowls or ramekins and call it "Purple Jubilee"!  It's all about the marketing - and this one works!  All three kids love it.

Nectarine Upside Down Cake

1 1/2 pounds nectarines, pitted, and sliced 1/2-inch thick (peels ok!) 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 1/2 cup sugar **** For the Cake **** 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 1 1/2 cups sugar 3/4c almond yogurt (can sub 2 large eggs) 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 cups flour (I used 1.5c whole wheat pastry flour and 1c all purpose) 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 1 cup milk (dairy or non-dairy, I used almond milk) Preheat oven to 350. Add cinnamon and nutmeg to nectarines. Set aside. Cream butter & sugar, add yogurt/eggs and vanilla. Sift all dry ingredients and add to butter mixture. Add milk after everything else is mixed. In a skillet (I used a Calphalon "Everyday Pan"), melt butter with the sugar. Stir with a wooden spool until sugar is dissolved and syrupy. Turn off heat, stir in fruit. Pour batter over the top. Bake 40-50 minutes. Colin said this was one of the best things I ever made. You can use any stone fruit. If peaches, you'll probably need to peel them. If you blanch them, the skin will come off very easily, not wasted peach flesh.