Posted: June 1, 2020

Updated: January 25, 2023

I like variety in my diet as much as the next guy, but I find myself cooking the same recipes over and over. It’s just easier that way.

The purpose of this page is to remind me of my favorite foods to cook and eat. Someday I might add recipes or more information.

• Hummus and crackers/chips
• Tofu vegetable stir fry with brown rice
• Tofu vegetable stir fry with yakisoba noodles
• DIY ramen
• Russian salad
• Green smoothie
• Toast with beans
• DIY pizza
• Hashbrowns with black beans and cabbage
• Overnight oats
• Chia pudding
• Banana bread
• Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
• Roasted chickpeas and vegetables
• White bean tomato soup
• Torta with refried beans
• Spaghetti with mushroom tomato sauce
• Black beans and rice with salsa

Recipes

Now to record some actual recipes.

Overnight Oats

• 4 cups rolled oats (old fashioned or quick) (if you have no flax or chia, use 6 cups total of oats instead)
• 1 cup milled flax seeds
• 1 cup chia seeds
• 3 cups frozen blueberries
• 2 cups frozen strawberries
• 64oz almond milk

1. Place all ingredients in a large bowl
2. Cover with milk and stir
3. Let sit 10 minutes, then stir again
4. Cover and place in fridge, lasts about a week

Almond Milk

1. Soak ~1 cup of almonds in cold water in a covered container for 4 to 24 hours.
2. Drain, rinse, and drain again
3. Add soaked almonds to blender, and fill with cold water to 64oz
4. Blend 1 minute on high
5. Pour into jars or make immediately into a batch of overnight oats to save dishes

Modifications: Substitute cashews or walnuts, or use only 1/2 cup nuts to reduce cost.

Lentil Soup

• 1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 3-5 carrots, peeled and diced
• 6 garlic cloves, minced (or 1 tbs pre-minced garlic)
• 4 cups vegetable broth (or sub 4 cups water with better than boulion)
• 1.5 cups dried lentils, sorted and rinsed
• 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1.5 tsp salt
• pepper
• thyme
• oregano
• parsley
• rosemary
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar (optional)

1. Heat oil in Instant Pot with Saute function.
2. Add onions and cook until translucent, ~6 minutes.
3. Add carrots, garlic, and spices, and cook ~3 minutes.
4. Add broth and lentils and stir well.
5. Add can of tomatoes on top, without stirring, so the tomatoes do not fall to the bottom and burn. Put the can down low next to the soup so they don’t sink as much.
6. Pressure cook on high pressure for 12 minutes.
7. Allow a natural pressure release for 10 minutes, then do a quick release.
8. Open the pot and stir in the balsamic vinegar. If some diners dislike the sweetness, you can add the balsamic vinegar to each bowl individually instead.

White sauce

• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 3/4 cup unsweetened unflavored almond milk
• 1 tbs nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp apple cidar vinegar
• salt
• pepper
• garlic powder
• dried onion flakes
• thyme
• oregano
• rosemary
• parsley

1. Soak the cashews in cold water for 15 minutes. Drain.
2. Combine all ingredients in blender, blend.
3. Store in fridge up to 4 days.

Note: Try different spices! This can be a ranch, simple cream sauce, zesty garlic sauce, etc.

Note: It’s possible to simplify this recipe. I’m unable to find my notes at the moment to confirm, but I know you don’t need to include almond milk. I may have upped the cashew amount from 1/2 cup to 1 cup to compensate.

Zero Sugar Whole Wheat Bread

• 4 cups (520g) whole wheat flour
• 2 cups warm water (~110F)
• 1.5 tbsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 tsp salt

1. Pour warm water into a large mixing bowl
2. Add yeast and a couple spoonfuls of flour to feed the yeast
3. Whisk together until all lumps are gone
4. Let yeast proof ~10 minutes
5. Add salt and rest of flour and mix with a wooden spoon into a well-combined, sticky dough
6. Grease standard bread pan with extra virgin olive oil (or any oil or parchment paper)
7. Pour dough into bread pan, spread evenly
8. Cover and let dough rise for ~20 minutes
9. Bake at 390F for 40 minutes
10. Remove pan from oven and turn upside down to shake bread out

Modifications: Substitute 1 tbsp “instant” yeast

Pickles

See my pickles page.

Ramen

This recipe makes enough broth for 2 standard Top Ramen noodle packets.

• 6 cups water
• 2 tbsp pure sesame oil
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp asian chili paste
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• ~3 cups chopped vegetables (cabbage, mushrooms, frozen peas, frozen spinach)
• (optional) 1/2 block tofu, chopped into cubes

1. Combine water with all spices in a stock pot
2. Add all frozen ingredients
3. Bring to a boil on HIGH
4. When pot starts boiling, add ingredients you don’t want to overcook like cabbage
5. Wait for pot to boil again
6. Reduce heat to medium-high, add noodles
7. Let noodles boil 3 minutes
8. Serve

White Bean Tomato Soup

• 28oz diced or stewed tomatoes
• 31oz canned white beans
• 1 onion, chopped
• several carrots, sliced into rounds
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin

1. Slice vegetables
2. Pour olive oil into stock pot, place on medium heat
3. Sautee onions, carrots, spices, and celery in bottom of pot
4. Add water and rest of ingredients
5. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes

Modifications: Add chopped celery, cabbage, potatoes, or frozen square-cut hashbrowns. Use chickpeas instead of white beans. Remove cumin.

New Hummus

• about 1/2 pound dry chickpeas
• make according to bean recipe
• add to food processor
• add ~6 cloves garlic or minced garlic
• add some of the aquafaba from cooking the beans to make it smooth, light, and fluffy
• add alt, and 4tbsp lemon juice will be a bit bland, but fresh and good flavor. might be good to add paprika, more garlic, chiles, red chile flake? or add hot sauce or pepper on top?

Hummus (see New Hummus)

• 4 cans chickpeas, drained (reserve liquid)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• ~5 garlic cloves or 1tbsp garlic powder
• juice of 1/2 lime or 1tbsp concentrated lemon juice
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup aquafaba

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend. You may need more than 1/2 cup aquafaba. This recipe could tolerate more garlic, more cumin, and more lemon juice as well.

Pizza

• 2.5 cups whole wheat flour (325g)
• 1 cup warm water (110F)
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1. Pour water with yeast and some of the flour in a large mixing bowl
2. Whisk to combine and wait 10 minutes to proof
3. Add oil, salt, and half the flour. Mix with a wooden spoon until flour is combined
4. Add the rest of the flour, and mix some more
5. Place dough on a flour-covered counter, and cover hands in flour
6. Knead for ~10 minutes into a ball
7. Place dough in a bowl, cover, and let rise for 30 minutes
8. Grease a square baking pan and place dough in pan
9. Spread the dough out over the pan
10. Cover with sauce and toppings
11. Bake at 450F for 16-20 minutes
12. Remove pizza from oven and let rest 3 minutes before serving

Beans

Black beans

Soaked for 14 hours in cold water with salt Cooked for 8 min on high pressure, with salt Natural released for 15 min Then Quick release the rest They were a bit soft. But good. Probably 8 min with an 8 hour soak would be good.

Tried again. Soaked for 9 hours with salt, pressured cooked on high with salt for 8 minutes (about 1.5" of water above the beans), natural release for 15 min, then quick release. Ugh, they were wrinkly, and hard. maybe the beans were old? when I tasted them when they were hard and they also didn’t have a good flavor. The room smelled like eggs when I did the quick release. Also when I opened the IP the first time, some wrinkly beans were floating at the top and looked like maybe there wasn’t enough water in the pot? I put them back in for 3 mins on high pressure, and just did a quick release after that. No beans floating this time, they looked less wrinkly, but they were still hard… put back in for 3 mins on high pressure, and another quick release after that. They were softer, mostly soft, but a little al dente on some beans. Adianet said that you should not have to bite into a bean like that. So I put back in for 3 more mins on high pressure, and another quick release after that. And finally they were done! Very annoying, but proves you can just put them back in, not a big deal. They were soft, without being mushy, and the slightest bit firm on the softness like a good baked potato.

Ideas: https://old.reddit.com/r/AskCulinary/comments/fo2q9j/pinto_beans_are_still_hard_after_10_h_soaking_8/ Try adding baking soda to the soak process, or the cook process in case we have acidic water (do we have acidic water?) Also so many people say salt prevents them from getting soft, I thought that was a myth and last time they turned out fine, but maybe there’s something to it? What a nightmare. Or try using filtered water? This says beans should definitely not be al dente: https://www.ranchogordoblog.com/2016/02/an-obvious-point-about-bean-cooking-not-everyone-knows.html

Chickpeas

From https://minimalistbaker.com/instant-pot-chickpeas/

1. Soak 1 pound of dried chickpeas for 8 hours in cold water.
2. Drain and rinse with cold water.
3. Add dried beans to Instant Pot, add ~4 cups cold water (enough to submerge) and salt.
4. Pressure cook on high pressure for 15 minutes (1-2 minutes shorter if the beans soaked for over 8 hours).
5. Quick release pressure and remove ASAP.

pinto beans

1

• soaked 1 pound for 9 hours in cold water with salt
• pressure cooked on high for 15 mins, with enough cold water to cover about 2" (up to 2nd knuckle on left index finger)
• natural release for 10 mins, then full release
• I forgot the salt, but they turned out good. Some of the skins were falling off, maybe I could have cooked it for less time or done a shorter natural release?

2

• soaked 1 pound for 18 hours in cold water with salt
• pressure cooked on high for 15 mins, with enough cold water to cover about 2", and a good amount of salt
• natural release for 15 mins, then full release

mayocoba beans

1

• soaked 1 pound for 12 hours in cold water with salt
• pressure cooked on high for 20 mins, with just enough cold water to cover plus a few seconds in the tap, and salt
• natural released for 30 mins. this was enough for the valve to go down naturally!
• the beans were still crisp, sad. Put in for 10 more minutes.
• naturally released after some time, they turned out great!

Baked apples

• cut apples in half, vertically (stem to bottom)
• scoop the seeds out
• put on baking sheet, core up
• sprinkle with salt, cinnamon
• pour some vanilla into a spoon and drip a few drops over each one
• bake at 375 on middle rack for ~25 minutes
• cores should be filled with liquid (apple juice) but not overflowing everywhere. this way they are still crisp but also soft, and sweet. Juice should come out of the bottom of the apple. But there shouldn’t be a mess. to make them juicier, just keep baking until they juice up? haven’t tried that though.
• in case 1, I put them in for 10 mins, opened the door, maybe opened the door again… a total of 25-35 mins. Maybe check after 20 mins without opening the oven. in case 2, I did 375 for 25 mins, no juice yet, 30 mins, juice on top and a tiny bit on bottom, 35 mins same, 40 mins unopened - took them out, they were soft but still crispy, quite good. last time I must have forgotten them longer than I realized. I think 40 mins is great.

Hot Cocoa (Hot Chocolate)

• Make cashew milk
  • Soak 1c raw cashews for ~1 hour
  • Drain, rinse, and drain, put in vitamix
  • Fill close to full 64oz
  • Add salt to taste. I like a good bit of salt, not salted caramel tier, but it brings out the flavors.
  • Blend for 1-2 mins
  • Pour into beeg jar
• Put cashew milk in 12oz mug
• Microwave for 60 seconds (depending on your microwave, may be super hot!)
• Optional - add some real vanilla extract, just a few drops. This actually tastes very nice on its own, without any chocolate, just a creamy vanilla drink.
• Add cocoa powder. I added 1 tbsp of that one brand with the chef cartoon face guy. It takes about a full minute to mix this in your mug with a spoon.
• Optionally, add sugar. Without sugar, the drink is quite healthy, all whole foods. And it tastes nice, creamy, and chocolately. But not sweet, and some may find it bitter. 1 tbsp of coconut sugar makes this cocoa taste rich, sweet, creamy, and perfect.

Cashew milk

• 1 cup raw cashews
• 32 oz water
• salt

To serve, drink it cold. Or microwave it and make it into a vanilla latte or hot cocoa.

Mushroom cassoulet

ingredients:

Beans

• 1 pound (dry) great northern beans (retain cooking water)
• salt

First fry

• extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 medium yellow onion
• 5 big cloves garlic
• 24 oz mushrooms (costco pkg)
• salt
• pepper
• thyme
• parsley
• oregano
• basil
• rosemary

Broth

• ~1 cup bean water (add more or less to make thicker or thinner)
• 1tbs vinegar
• better than bullion
• 2 bunches of kale, deveined and chopped

At the end

• extra virgin olive oil
• panko bread crumbs
• lemon juice

Instructions

First, follow your normal bean cooking process. I soaked for 8 hours with salt, rinsed, pressure cooked for 20 minutes with salt, natural released for 15 minutes, then quick released.

Wash and chop mushrooms into bite size pieces or to preference.

Wash, devein, and chop kale to preference.

Dice onions and garlic.

Add plenty of olive oil to a large and deep pan, and fry onions with some salt. After 1 minute, add garlic. After a few minutes, add the mushrooms. Fry a few minutes until the mushrooms are cooked.

In a pint jar, add the bean water, vinegar, and bullion. Stir. Pour jar into pan, and stir.

Add kale and beans. Do not stir too much at this point or you will disintegrate the beans.

Let simmer for several minutes until the kale gets soft and the sauce gets thicker.

To serve, place the food in preheated bowls. Fresh lemon juice on top helps balance the savory and salty flavors.

(Optional) Toast panko bread crumbs in a pan with extra virgin olive oil, and put on top of the bowls.

Tips

Lemon juice and bread crumbs are optional.

Instead of bread crumbs, try slices of sourdough.

Try substituting vegetables - spinach or chard instead of kale, add carrots, add oyster mushrooms, add zucchini.