apricot tart

doesn't look like much in the picture, but it was outrageously delicious!! i made a crust similar to the one used in the ridiculously delicious healthy pecan pie recipe, then made a mixture of 1 cup of almond meal, one egg, and a pat of coconut oil (butter or earth balance would work fine here too) in the cuisinart, and spooned it on top. then, on top of that i spread some apricot compote given to by my friend sandra. the apricots came fresh from her neighbor's tree. cooked in the sun oven for about an hour - et voila! a french apricot frangipane gallette!

$10 brand new sun oven

today i scored a global sun oven brand sun oven (the swanky kind) - brand new in the box - for $10 at an estate sale. now i can cook rice and beans at once, or dessert and dinner at the same time. miracles can happen...

please join us for some rice and beans

quinoa

quinoa is one of my favorite grains. it's wonderful in soups and in veggie burger recipes, and for those who avoid gluten, it's a wonderful substitute for bulgar in tabouli. 2C water to 1C quinoa, cook for 1 hour in the sun oven at 350F.

for this salad, i threw together whatever i had on hand - a few walnuts, olives, chopped apples, parsley, and red onions. the dressing is made of lime juice, olive oil, powered anise, salt, and pepper.

butternut squash

time to cook up what's left of last season's harvest. i simply cut two smallish squash in half without peeling, let them bake in the sun oven for about an hour and a half at approximately 350. the flesh was very easy to scrape out to add to a simple soup.

baked tofu with cabbage

marinate a pound of tofu in a sauce made from rice vinegar, bragg's liquid aminos (or soy sauce if you prefer), toasted sesame oil, and peanut butter. coat each slice of tofu and let sit for at least an hour. put a little olive oil in the bottom of your sunoven pot, then throw in a pile of shredded cabbage. arrange your tofu slices on top, cover the pot, and bake in the sun oven for an hour and 15 minutes at 350F - a delightful lunch, and great left over.

brussels sprouts

simple instructions for a little over a pound of brussels sprouts, rinsed, de-stemmed, and cut in half: drizzle a few tablespoons of olive oil over the top, add a sprinkle of salt and fresh-ground pepper. cook in the sun oven at 350 for 40 minutes for a tender, healthy treat!

sun oven pinto beans

nothing could be easier than cooking beans in the sun oven. today we cooked pintos, which are a larger bean and generally require more cooking time than smaller beans such as plain old black or white. we started with our dry beans at 1pm and had a pot of beautifully cooked frijoles at 4:45pm. it was a beautiful day, and the oven stayed at a fairly constant temp of 350. we repositioned the oven slightly twice in that time - we find we usually need to adjust it once every hour or hour and a half.

if you're using a standard round black enamel pot with lid, pour 2 cups dry beans into the pot (if you've soaked them overnight you may need to adjust your cooking time - today we started with dry beans) and cover with as much water as your pot can hold.

when your oven reaches 300 - 350F, stick the beans in. after an hour, pour off the water (conserve for use on plants if you like - but this initial water will soak out the hard-to-digest sugar molecules - rinsing your beans this way will make them much easier on the stomach!).

add fresh water to cover the beans by an inch or two. bay leaves or dried rosemary are okay to add at this point, but no salt or anything acidic, such as tomatoes, 'til later. these make the beans tough if added before they're fully cooked.

after two more hours, add spices to taste (we use a few tablespoons cumin, salt and pepper, a chopped onion, several cloves of chopped garlic, juice of one lime, and one dried cayenne pepper).

in 30 - 45 min more, your beans will be cooked to perfection!

we ate ours in a bowl topped with avocado, shredded red cabbage, and tomato salsa with warm corn tortillas on the side.

ridiculously delicious gluten free healthy pecan pie

this turns out like a cross between a pecan pie and a pecan coffee cake/sticky bun. it’s out of this world, which is why there are no pictures at the moment – before we could snap any, we'd eaten it all! ah well, next time…


CRUST, adapted from Bob’s Mill “Rice Flour Pie Crust – Eggless”

INGREDIENTS:

1-1/4 cups brown rice flour
1 Tb turbinado sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 Tb cider vinegar or lemon juice (cold)
1/2 cup cold unsweetened soy milk
1/2 cup chilled earth balance
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

mix in food processor or by hand until smooth and blended.
spread with spatula onto parchment paper cut to the shape of the bottom of your sun oven pot (i use an oval-shaped one for this). cook in the sun oven at 350 for 15 minutes. then remove and pour on your filling.


FILLING:

3 eggs
1/3 of melted Earth Balance
1 1⁄2 cups of pecan halves
1⁄4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup grade B maple syrup
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
3 teaspoons molasses

mix in food processor or by hand ‘til blended. pour over crust and bake for 45-50 minutes at 350. will appear fully gelled when it’s done. cool, and EAT!!

new year's 2010 vegan hoppin' john

while i am cooking this very recipe in the sun oven THIS VERY MINUTE, it is published here by special request from my dear friend mary!

Good Luck New Year’s Vegan Hoppin’ John

"Eat poor today, eat rich the rest of the year.”- Southern Proverb

It has long been believed that eating this humble dish of black-eyed peas, or cowpeas as they are otherwise known, on New Year’s Day, increases one’s odds of good fortune in the coming year. Legend has it that the individual beans represent coins (which swell as they cook, ensuring prosperity) and the accompanying greens represent paper money. If you eat them together on New Year's Day, especially along with some cornbread (which represents gold), you will not only have a delicious meal, you will be sealing your fate, and improving your health to boot. Both beans and greens are full of nutrients and antioxidants that are heart-healthy and prevent disease.

Please serve with cornbread and collards, chard, kale, or coleslaw for additional good health and fortune! I'll be serving it this afternoon with warm quinoa salad on the side.

2 C dried black eyed peas, power soaked* or soaked overnight
bay leaf, oregano, epizote** if you can find it

place beans and dried herbs in sun oven covered with at least 2" water.
do not add salt 'til later...this keeps the beans from getting soft.

after 2 hours cooking at 350, add:
1-1/2 teaspoons salt or to taste
1 onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon pepper or to taste
1 cup chopped celery
4-5 cloves garlic, minced

cook 1 - 2 hours longer

garnish with chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
liquid hot pepper sauce or hot pepper vinegar


* to power-soak beans: boil beans in water for 3 minutes. Cover and set aside for 2 to 4 hours (soaking longer doesn’t help or hurt). Drain and discard water. Rinse beans. Proceed with cooking. This method reduces hard-to-digest complex sugars by 80%.

** a uniquely flavored mexican herb that aids in digestion of complex sugars.