Harissa Lentil Tacos

1 Tbs avocado oil
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 lb dried red lentils
29oz can tomato puree
6.7oz jar harissa
32oz vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste
gluten free tortillas (4-6)
1 avocado, diced
vegan cream cheese 

1)  In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add potatoes and cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in lentils, tomatoes, harissa, and vegetable broth.
2)  Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, cover and let cook. Stir occasionally until the lentils have absorbed much of the liquid, about 45 minutes.
3)  Serve in a tortilla, with avocado and cream cheese topping each serving.

Review:  For the record, I cheat on avocados these days with individual serving cups. It's such an easy way to guarantee having a ripe avocado on hand! I've had a jar of harissa from Trader Joe's for several months now. I feel like I found a ton of recipes in Idaho that needed harissa, but then couldn't find said recipes. So, I found this one online and it helped use up a few other random items from the cupboard. I'm not sure how this was ever supposed to make tacos, however, as it was SO SOUPY. I may recommend using diced fresh tomatoes as garnish, versus a can of tomatoes while cooking. On the other hand, this was perfectly tasty without the taco shell and made a ton of leftovers for freezing!!

Adapted from:
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/moroccan-potato-lentil-tacos-with-harissa/

Falafel Scones with Harissa Yogurt Sauce

1 cup falafel mix (from Trader Joe's)
1 cup gluten free flour
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
3 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs and 1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup vegan butter, softened
2 eggs
1 cup coconut milk (from a can, not from the milk aisle)
4oz cashewgurt
1/2 cup coconut milk (from the same can)
2 Tbs harissa sauce

1)  Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a scone pan with non-stick spray and set aside.
2)  In a large bowl, combine the falafel mix, flour, xanthan gum, sugar and baking powder. Using an electric mixer on the lowest setting, add the butter and blend until crumbly with pea-sized chunks of butter.
3)  In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs and 1 cup of coconut milk. Make a well in the dry mixture and add egg mixture. Again using the lowest setting on an electric mixer, combine until well-blended.
4)  Bake 17 to 20 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven and place on a wire cooling rack for five minutes.
5)  Combine cashewgurt, 1/2 cup coconut milk and harissa sauce. Use sauce for drizzling or dipping when served.

Review:  I bought falafel mix awhile back, but then never made it as the instructions indicated it was a multi-hour process (soak for an hour, bake for an hour, etc.). Then, Trader Joe's published this recipe and it seemed like a great idea. I just lacked an occasion until today. I have a coworker leaving tomorrow and we tend to use our early morning meeting for celebrations. Time for savory scones (my favorite), I figured. So, I made these tonight and decided to have a few for dinner. I worried that my coworkers wouldn't like them, so I didn't want to take all of them. Unfortunately, I loved these so much that I ate nearly half of them, along with all of the sauce. Oops. These have a great falafel flavor, but not in an overwhelming way. They're also oddly fluffy for a scone made with falafel! The sauce added a bit of creaminess and additional flavor, but was largely bland. I'm not sure how I'd fix that, other than adding salt. I will definitely be making these again, especially since I still have so much falafel mix left (maybe 4-5 batches of scones?).

Adapted from:
https://www.traderjoes.com/recipes/appetizers-sides/falafel-scones-with-harissa-yogurt

Spicy Tuna Rice Casserole

13oz can vegan tuna, drained
12oz shelled edamame
0.35oz roasted seaweed, sesame flavor
1 cup rice
1/4 cup soy sauce
4oz plain cashewgurt
1/4 cup rice vinegar
4 tsp sriracha sauce
1 large avocado
1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds

1)  In a large pot, bring 2 1/4 cups water to a boil. Add the vegan tuna, edamame, roasted seaweed, rice, and soy sauce. Return to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to simmer 25 to 30 minutes - until liquid has all been absorbed.
2)  In a small bowl, combine the rice vinegar, cashewgurt, and sriracha to make a creamy sauce. Refrigerate until the rice mixture has completed cooking.
3)  Mix creamy sauce into completed rice mixture, stirring until well blended and heated throughout.
4)  Serve topped with avocado and sesame seeds.

Review:  Over the years, I've tried many mock meats. However, there are very few seafood options. I found a can of tuna and thought I'd love to make a tuna noodle casserole. I failed to realize (until researching recipes) how difficult that would be to make in a gluten-free, non-dairy manner. I found this recipe instead and fell in love with it. I'm not sure how tuna like this really is (it's been more than twenty years since I've had tuna!), but it's a great, earthy yet tangy recipe. I really liked it, despite my version being soupier than I had planned. The creamy sauce really finishes it out.

Adapted from:
https://www.foodfaithfitness.com/spicy-tuna-rice-casserole/

Roasted Bell Pepper & Olive Tapenade

16oz jar roasted red bell peppers, drained
9.5oz jar pitted kalamata olives, drained
1/2 cup parsley
1/8 cup olive oil
3 Tbs red wine vinegar

1)  Place all ingredients in food processor.
2)  Pulse until well blended, but still chunky.
3)  Refrigerate at least four hours, to allow the flavors to meld.
4)  Serve with pita chips, crackers, or sliced vegetables.

Review:  This was another lesson in 'read the whole recipe before proceeding.' I was at the grocery store and had two red bell peppers in my cart. As I picked out olives, I saw roasted red bell peppers in a jar. I quickly panicked and reviewed the recipe, as I've made this mistake before. Yup, the recipe wanted me to roast my bell peppers. I've done that before and it is a hot, slimy mess. It doesn't really taste any different than the jarred stuff, but IS SO MUCH WORK. Just buy the jar, trust me. This came together in just a few minutes, which is always great. It was very flavorful and tangy, but the parsley was a little too much.

Adapted from:
https://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/red-bell-pepper-and-olive-tapenade

Sesame & Cardamom Cookies

1/2 cup vegan butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 Tbs lemon zest
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup gluten free flour
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds

1)  Preheat oven to 350F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2)  In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the butter, both sugars, and lemon zest until fluffy.
3)  Add egg, vanilla, flour, xanthan gum, cardamom, baking soda and salt. Beat to combine.
4)  Fold in sesame seeds.
5)  Using a small cookie scoop, place 1 Tbs sized balls of dough (leave space between cookies!!) onto the parchment lined baking sheets. Bake 13 minutes.

Review:  This recipe originally called for orange zest, but I like to buy the powdered stuff and only had lemon zest. It worked just as well and lots of sesame cookie recipes use lemon zest instead. What I wasn't expecting was how much these spread out! The first cookie sheet was unpresentable, as it came out as one huge cookie. I quickly ate the evidence, with Mike helping a little bit. The thin, almost lacy appearance made these look even fancier. The cardamom is not as strong as you'd think, and was well balanced with the savory sesame seeds. These were fancy, without being too much so.

Adapted from:
https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/sesame-cookies-with-cardamom-orange-zest

Apple Cider Sangria

2 Cortland apples, diced

1 bottle red wine

2 cups apple cider

1/2 cup apple brandy

1/4 cup orange juice

1)  Toss all ingredients into a large pitcher.

2)  Refrigerate at least four hours, to allow flavors to meld.

3)  Serve in tall glasses, ensuring apples are in each glass.

Review:  I poured over a link I recently found with fall sangria recipes. I initially wanted to make a white sangria with apples and pears, but still had fresh cider left over from last week. The one other recipe that used apple cider wasn't exactly something I wanted to make, so I tinkered with it a little bit. While it initially called for brandy, I wasn't about to buy yet another liquor that I'd only use once. Fortunately, I had some locally made apple brandy from a previous recipe. I managed to use the last bit of that bottle, and now my goal is to find a way to use up a bottle of applejack! Unfortunately, this was too strong on the red wine and too light on the apple. Maybe this would be better with a lighter red wine? I used a cabernet sauvignon ($3.49, Three Wishes at Whole Foods).

Adapted from:

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/10/22/honeycrisp-apple-sangria/

Caramel Apple Sangria

1 750ml bottle of pinot grigio

1 cup caramel flavored vodka

3 cups fresh apple cider

2 medium apples, chopped

1)  Stir the wine, vodka, and cider in a large pitcher.

2)  Add the chopped apples to the pitcher, or to individual glasses.

3)  Serve sangria over ice. 

Review:  I stumbled upon a great article about fall sangrias. Of course, I had to explore a few of the recipes. To enhance this particular recipe, I visited my favorite orchard to buy their fresh pressed cider and a couple of apples. One of my favorite parts of Fall is visiting there and having fancy apple flavored drinks!

Adapted from:

https://www.thewholesomedish.com/caramel-apple-sangria/

Sunflower Seed Spread Cookies

1 cup sunflower seed spread
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 Tbs baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract

1)  Preheat oven to 350F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2)  In a medium-sized bowl, combine all ingredients. Using a small cookie scoop, drop balls of dough on the baking sheets, evenly spaced. They can be smashed with a fork, a la peanut butter cookies, if desired.
3)  Bake for 11 minutes, but leave cookies on the baking sheet for an additional five minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Review: These were SO GOOD. They had the very familiar sunflower seed flavor, but they almost tasted like they were roasted. They were a little crumbly, but I did not smash them with a fork. That might improve their stability.

Adapted from:
https://www.traderjoes.com/recipes/desserts/sunflower-seed-spread-cookies

Butternut Squash Hummus

1 15oz can butternut squash
1 Tbs tahini
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp chipotle
2 Tbs lime juice
1/8 cup avocado oil
veggie chips

1)  In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients.
2)  Heat until warm and fragrant.
3)  Serve with veggie chips.

Review:  Last year, I bought a can of butternut squash at Trader Joe's. I thought it would be handy and would definitely get used. That was not the case. It actually took quite a bit of work to find something to use it in confidently. This seemed to be a great opportunity, as I again am hosting a game night and needed a fresh appetizer. It's been super fun trying out new recipes. This was surprisingly tasty. I say surprisingly as I couldn't imagine butternut squash and tahini, but it worked out to be a great fall dip. Savory, but a little sweet and the spices could easily be switched to more 'pumpkin spice' flavors.

Adapted from:
https://www.traderjoes.com/recipes/appetizers-sides/butternut-squash-hummus