Fresh Chickpea Salad

by Kayleigh Evans

Dressing:

1/2 cup seasoned rice vinegar, or white vinegar

1.5-2 tablespoons natural cane sugar, to taste

1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

Salad:

2 medium field cucumbers, seeded and chopped

1 red pepper, diced

1 cup red or white onion, diced

1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

1 can 15 oz. chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed

1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:
1. Whisk dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and adjust to taste. Feel free to add more sweetener if you prefer. Set aside.

2. Peel cucumbers, slice off the ends, and slice in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds with a small spoon (see photo in post if necessary). Slice halves into 1/8-inch “half moons” and toss into a large bowl. If your cucumbers are really big you can slice the half-moons in half as well.

3. Dice the red pepper and red onion and add into bowl. Roughly chop cilantro and add into bowl. Add chickpeas. Pour in the dressing and toss to combine.  Let this salad sit for about 30 minutes in the fridge, tossing every 10 minutes or so to help the dressing soak in.

4. Portion into bowls and top with peanuts. Serve immediately.

MAKE-AHEAD DIRECTIONS:

Make dressing as above. Combine dressing and salad ingredients as above, minus the cilantro and peanuts. Let flavors blend in fridge, up to 48 hours. Add cilantro and peanuts just before serving. 

Beef Barley Lentil Soup

        by Lindsey Scarber

1/4 lb. ground beef, sautéed (optional)

1 onion chopped, or 1/2 cup dehydrated onion

3 quarts hot water

1/2 c. barley, dry

2 c. brown lentils, dry

2 stalks celery finely diced, or 1/2 c. dehydrated celery

3 carrots finely diced, or 1/2 c. dehydrated carrots

3 T. beef bullion

salt and pepper to taste

Sauté ground beef and onion in a large Dutch oven pot. Add remaining ingredients.  Simmer til veggies and grains are done, about 30-40 min

Crockpot Version: Cover, Cook on High for 3-4 hours.  

Oven Version: Bake in 250 degree oven, Cover tight w/ tin foil, for 3-4 hours. 

The Crockpot and Oven versions of the recipe make a good Sunday lunch.

It's hot & ready-to-eat when church is over.

Meatloaf with Whole grains

Adding whole grains as a meat extender has many benefits!  It adds nutrition and reduces cost.  It also doubles the # of loaves you can make.   Lindsey Scarber

2 lbs. raw ground beef

2 c. dry quick oats

1 c.  cooked cracked wheat (use blender to crack the dry wheat, then cook it in a pot)

4  eggs

4 t. beef or chicken bullion

2  t.  salt

1/2 t. pepper

Some finely diced onion and bell pepper

Some diced celery

1/4  c.  ketchup

2 T. Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 375.  Wash hands. Mix and squish all ingredients together.  Place in loaf pans. Decorate the top with ketchup swirlys. Bake uncovered for 1 hour and 15 min or when middle is no longer pink.  Let stand 15 min before cutting and serving.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins w/ Chocolate Chips

3  1/3 c. whole wheat flour, fine ground

1  t. baking soda

2  t.  baking powder

1  t. salt

4   eggs

1 c. milk, or prepared powdered milk

1/2 c.  oil

1/2 c. butter, melted

1 c. cooked cream of wheat, oatmeal, or cracked-wheat cereal, warm (optional, adds moisture)

1  1/2 c. sugar

15 oz. can pumpkin, or 2 c. frozen pumpkin puree defrosted and drained

2  t. cinnamon

1/8  t. nutmeg and 1/8 t. cloves (optional)

12 oz. bag chocolate chips

Makes 24 tall muffins or 36 short muffins. 

Mix first 4 ingredients, then add the rest.  Grease muffin tin with oil, not with oil cooking spray. Put 1/2  to  2/3 full into the greased muffin tins.  

Bake 15-20 min at 350 degrees. The smell of autumn will fill your kitchen. Lightly touch the center of a few muffins, if it bounces back, they are done. Wait 2 min before removing from tin. Enjoy them hot! 

These muffins freeze very well. They make a great (somewhat healthy) after-school snack. We like to make '36 short muffins' because they cook fast, fit in kid-sized mouths, and if frozen defrost easy.

No need to spread extra butter on top of these babies.  The butter is already inside.

Pumpkin Nutrition:

Great source of  Vitamin A

Low in calories and fat

High in fiber

Can replace oil for pumpkin in many recipes.

The bright orange color of pumpkin is a dead giveaway that pumpkin is loaded with an important antioxidant, beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is one of the plant carotenoids converted to vitamin A in the body. In the conversion to vitamin A, beta carotene performs many important functions in overall health.

Current research indicates that a diet rich in foods containing beta-carotene may reduce the risk of developing certain types of cancer and offers protect against heart disease. Beta-carotene offers protection against other diseases as well as some degenerative aspects of aging.

Japanese Restaurant Cucumber Salad

Japanese Restaurant Cucumber Salad

                          Lindsey Scarber 2013     

      Dressing Ingredients:

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup white vinegar

1 teaspoon Asian (toasted) sesame oil

1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste

      Veggies:

4 large cucumbers - peeled, cut into 1/4-inch slices

2 carrots - peeled, julienne cut into 1/4 x 1/4 inch strips  (I used the carrot peeler to make strips)

2 Green onions - sliced thin

Directions

Whisk sugar, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and salt together in a bowl.

Add cucumbers, carrots and green onions.  Stir to coat.

Allow salad to marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature before serving.

Blender Whole Wheat Pancakes

Do you have wheat but no wheat grinder? This is a wholesome delicious recipe just for you!  It is the Blender Wheat Pancakes recipe found in the LDS "Basic Food Storage Cookbook," only a little bit bigger portion. ~Lindsey Scarber

1 ½ c. dry wheat kernels

1 ½ c. cup milk  (Make your own: 1/3 c. non-fat dry milk + 1½c. water)

2 eggs                                          

2 Tbsp. sugar or honey

2 Tbsp. oil

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder (add last)                      

Put wheat and milk in blender.  Blend on highest speed for 4-5 minutes or until batter is smooth.  Blend on low speed while adding, in this order, eggs, sugar, oil, salt, baking powder.  

Bake on hot griddle.

Makes 12 to 14 pancakes. Do not double.

Black Bean Burgers

I'm so sorry it's taken so long to post this!  But this is what I made for the "food storage iron chef" ward activity that we had FOREVER ago...  Enjoy!  --Casey Gifford

BLACK BEAN BURGERS
Prep time: 30 min. Cook time: 15 min. Total: 45 min.

PATTY INGREDIENTS
4 cups (2 cans)	black beans
1/4 med	red onion
1 clove	garlic
1/4 bunch	fresh parsley
1 Tbsp	sriracha
1 Tbsp	mayonnaise
1 tsp	worchestershire sauce
1 tsp	cumin
to taste	salt and pepper
1 lg	egg
1 cup	bread crumbs
TOPPINGS
6 lg	hamburger buns
2 med	roma tomatoes
1/2 med	red onion
1/4 bunch	lettuce
1/4 cup	mustard

STEP 1: Pour the black beans into a colander, rinse well and let drain. Add the beans to a food processor along with everything except the salt, egg and bread crumbs [parsley, onion (roughly diced), garlic (minced), sriracha, mayonnaise, worchestershire sauce, cumin and fresh cracked pepper (about 20 cranks)]. Process until everything is combined and the mixture looks pasty with a few chunks. See photos below

If you don't have a food processor, mash the beans with a fork and stir in the rest of the ingredients. Make sure the onion, garlic and parsley are well chopped.

STEP 2: Transfer the mixture to a bowl and season with salt. I used about 1 tsp of salt total. Adjust other seasonings at this time as well. Make the mixture slightly stronger in flavor and saltiness than you want the burgers to be because once the bread crumbs and egg are added, the flavor will be diluted.

STEP 3: Whisk an egg and stir it into the mixture. Stir in the bread crumbs. The resulting mixture should be moist chunks and crumbs. The mixture should stick together if squeezed in your hand. Adjust the bread crumbs up or down to achieve a mixture that will hold a patty shape.

STEP 4: Use your hands for form the patties. Coat a skillet with non-stick spray and cook the patties for 7-8 minutes on each side. The patties should be brown and crisp on the outside and slightly firm to the touch. Be delicate when handling the patties, they are not as cohesive as meat patties but should hold their shape while cooking.

Serve the patties on a bun along with any toppings you desire.

NOTE: You can cook just a few patties and freeze the rest.  Wrap them in plastic wrap and then place them in a zip lock freezer bag. To cook later, just thaw the patty for 30 seconds in the microwave then finish cooking in a skillet as described above.