Baked carrots

  • 1 pound carrots
  • 3 Tablespoons butter
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • Dash of salt
  • Dash of freshly ground pepper
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth or stock

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel and grate carrots, then set them aside. Melt butter in a casserole dish.  Add the onion and bake (in oven) until soft and transparent. Stir in the carrots.  Season with sugar, nutmeg and cayenne; add salt and pepper to taste. Add broth or stock, cover and bake until tender, about 30 - 40 minutes.

J. Rehfeldt, Sun Prairie, WI

Escalloped Corn

  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 stack (1/4 box) saltines
  • 1 can creamed corn
  • about 14 ounces frozen whole kernel corn
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 T sugar.

Grease (with butter) a 2 quart casserole dish. Set aside. Coarsely chop onion. Saute' in half stick of butter till transparent. In large bowl mix onion/butter with 14 ounces whole kernel corn (frozen), creamed corn, half the saltines, (crushed), 3 eggs and milk. Turn all into casserole dish and bake at 350 about45 minutes. Meanwhile, melt remaining 1/2 stick of butter in cast iron frying pan. Crush remaining saltines and saute' in the melted butter over medium heat until they are toasted brown. Midway through baking, sprinkle browned saltines over corn dish and bake until firm. Makes about 2 quarts.

 

Mexican Vegetable Pie

  • 1 T vegetable oil of your choice
  • 1/4 cup celery, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 cup onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 t cayenne pepper
  • 1 15oz can red kidney beans
  • 12 green olives
  • 1 T hot pepper. chopped
  • 2/3 cup corn kernels
  • 1 large or 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 T tomato puree
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • For the topping:
  • 1 cup cornmeal
  • 1 T flour
  • 2 T baking powder
  • 1/2 t salt
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 T cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Heat the oil in a pan over high heat.

Stir in the celery, garlic, onion, and green pepper. Sauté until sizzling, then cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 10 minutes, or until softened.

Stir in the cayenne pepper and cook for another 1-2 minutes.

Stir in kidney beans, olives, hot peppers, corn, tomatoes, and tomato puree.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring mixture to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Then spoon mixture into a large ovenproof dish.

To make the topping, mix together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat in the egg and milk. The mixture should look like a thick batter; if not, add 1-2 T. milk.

Spoon the topping over the vegetables, sprinkle with cheese, and bake 40 minutes, or until the topping is risen and golden brown.

Let the pie stand for 5 minutes before serving. This dish is based off of a dish in “The Vegetarian Cookbook"

Spicy Root and Lentil Casserole

  • 2 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
  •  1 onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1.5 lbs (700g) potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 4 carrots, thickly sliced
  • 2 parsnips, thickly sliced
  • 2 tbsp curry paste or powder
  • 4 cups (approx.1 litre) vegetable stock
  • 3.5 ounces (100g) red lentils
  • a small bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
  •  low-fat yogurt  and naan bread, to serve

Directions: Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the onion and garlic over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes until softened, stirring occasionally. Tip in the potatoes, carrots and parsnips, turn up the heat and cook for 6-7 minutes, stirring, until the vegetables are golden.

Stir in the curry paste or powder, pour in the stock and then bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, add the lentils, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the lentils and vegetables are tender and the sauce has thickened.

Stir in most of the coriander, season and heat for a minute or so.Top with yogurt and the rest of the coriander. Serve with naan bread.

Tomato Basil Pasta

  • 12 ounces pasta (I used Linguine)
  • 1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes with liquid ( I used zesty red pepper flavor)
  • 1 large sweet onion, cut in julienne strips
  • 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
  • 2 large sprigs basil, chopped
  • 4 1/2 cups vegetable broth (regular broth and NOT low sodium)
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • Parmesan cheese for garnish

Directions: Place pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, in a large stock pot. Pour in vegetable broth. Sprinkle on top the pepper flakes and oregano. Drizzle top with oil.

Cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low simmer and keep covered and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so. Cook until almost all liquid has evaporated – I left about an inch of liquid in the bottom of the pot – but you can reduce as desired .

Season to taste with salt and pepper , stirring pasta several times to distribute the liquid in the bottom of the pot. Serve garnished with Parmesan cheese. 

Frijoles (Spanish Beans) with Cheese

  • 1 pint dry red beans, rinsed 
  • 1 small onion, minced
  • Grated cheese
  • Butter and lard
  • Salt and pepper

Boil one pint of red beans in plenty of cold water. As the water boils away, add more (hot) water until beans are very tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drain.

Put in frying pan a heaping tablespoon of lard and butter (half of each).

When beans are very hot in the pot put in one small (minced)onion and mash them a little with a spoon, then put them into the boiling grease. Stir well and allow to brown slightly.

Ten minutes before taking from the frying pan, add seven tablespoons of grated cheese.

- Good Housekeeping Every Day Cook Book 1903 edition

Old Fashioned Baked Beans

(in just one day!)

  • 1 pound bacon
  • 10 cups water
  • 1 pound dried red beans
  • 1 t. baking soda
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 1 t. salt
  • 2 medium onions, chopped
  • 3 cups water
  • 3 large tomatoes

Brown bacon in iron skillet. Remove bacon. Cool, crumble, set aside. Reserve 2 T. bacon grease.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 10 cups water, the baking soda, 2 T. bacon grease and the beans to boiling in ovenproof (I prefer iron) dutch oven. Boil uncovered 2 minutes.

Stir in remaining ingredients, except 3 cups water and tomatoes.

Cover and bake 4 hours, stirring occasionally, adding water as needed.

Remove cover and bake 2-3 hours longer, adding up to 3 cups water as needed.

Add tomatoes after 1 hour in this period.

- From the kitchen of The Soap Lady

Sautéed Carrots with Parsnips

  • A few large carrots
  • A few parsnips (or turnips or kohlrabi or rutabaga)

Wash the carrots. Peel if you wish. Cut into long julienne strips

Do the same with the parsnips.

Heat a tablespoon or two of oil and some butter in a skillet. Add the vegetables. Stir fry until they are tender. Drizzle a few tablespoons of real maple syrup over all and serve hot.

Creamed Peas

On old-fashioned family favorite

  • 1 15 ounce can sweet peas
  • 2 Tablespoons flour
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • pepper to taste
  • milk

Microwave butter in four cup glass bowl. Add flour and stir till mixed. Slowly add liquid from canned peas, stirring well to mix without lumps. Microwave on high three minutes, stirring with whisk at each minute. Add sugar, pepper and peas. Stir and heat through. Thin with milk as desired. Serve over mashed potatoes.

-from the kitchen of Arletta Zahn, mother-in-law of the The Soap Lady

The Soap Lady makes soaps for sensitive skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, seborrhea, rosacea, acne and dry skin.