RAW TOMATO SOUP

Okay, here we go, guys! It's letting me upload one photo (only one, it seems, although I tried for another for a 'soup show' item, as it were). So this keeps me happy for now - Yesssssssss!!!!!

RAW TOMATO SOUP

NOTE: not all my condiments are strictly raw - eg. the soy sauce and nutritional yeast, but I see them used in raw cookbooks.
I adapted this from recipe from a Tomato Soup in Kate Wood's _Eat Smart Eat Raw_ book.

6 tomatoes
1-1/2 sticks of celery
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp dried basil
2-1/2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp low sodium soy
a handful of parsley
juice and zest of half a lemon (or more to taste)
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
4 rehydrated sundried tomatoes
and as much water as I needed to make it work
fresh black pepper to taste
more salt, if you like, to taste

GARNISH: Well, maybe a little parsley and a twist of lemon? I also rehydrated a little wakame for garnish (that's the funny dark green circle of love around the lemon and lemon zest) - love any excuse for using sea vegetables! - but you can skip these if you like.

Chop what needs to be chopped and dump everything except the garnish in the blender, puree and chill. Garnish and serve. Delish!

Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce

Today I tried a recipe from fatfree.com for a Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce. I had wanted to use up the jar of roasted red peppers I had started a few days ago (for the Rotini, remember? - Rotini with Broccoli & Tomatoes) - and so googled and scouted around a bit. What I found was Mikes roasted red pepper pasta sauce which would use up all but three of what I had left. Made with already-roasted peppers, this was a Quick-and-Easy Fix for lunch.

It took two red bell peppers per person, so for two of use I used 5 of the jarred peppers, plus garlic, onion, sundried tomatoes, herbs and balsamic vinegar. Got all that!

I did as was asked - except my peppers were already roasted - and blended the ingredients, adding in some of the tomato soaking liquid as suggested. heated it and seasoned it and there it was, in no time at all!
It was thick and beautiful and tasted wonderful!

We had it with wholewheat penne and a side salad. A great lunch.

THREE-GRAIN CASSEROLE

This was our lunch today.

This recipe is adapted from one in Betty Crocker's _Slow Cooker Cook Book_ 1999 (not veggie, btw, although there is a section on veggie meals and some of the others are veggie too.) I imagine one could cook it on top of the stove without incident, altering liquid amounts and cooking time, for those who know about converting these things. (I haven't yet tried
this with other grains, but I do a variation that includes lentils and different seasonings.)

THREE-GRAIN CASSEROLE

2/3 c. Uncooked Wheat Berries
1/2 cup uncooked wild rice
1/2 cup pot barley
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
6 green onions, very thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic
4 cups vegetable stock (homemade if possible)
1/4 cup finely chopped rehydrated sundried tomatoes (or a little more if you like)
*ground cayenne pepper (strictly optional) to add towards the end of cooking, to taste.

Mix all in the crockpot (except not the cayenne just yet), cook on low 4 to 6 hours or until liquid is absorbed - OR on High for 2 1/2 hrs (I did).
Serve with vegetables and salad - and garnish with more parsley and a slice of lemon.



Excellent - and good the next day too. I always freeze some of the rest.

This is said to serve six. We find it is goood for eight, but we are light eaters.

We had it with a tossed green salad and roasted sweet potato slices.

Enjoy!