Tofu Ricotta Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

I adapted parts of a White Pizza Grilled Cheese recipe over at Kitchen Treaty. This is a great grilled cheese compromise for those of us who must avoid cheese or all dairy.

Ingredients:

Tofu ricotta:

• 1 pkg firm tofu (16 oz)
• 1/4 c. rice milk...or any kind of milk really (regular, soy, etc)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 Tb. lemon juice
• 2 tsp. dried basil (or you can use 2 Tb. fresh, minced basil)
• 1 tsp. salt

 The sandwich filling:

• 1 cup of the tofu ricotta above
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp dried basil (or 1 Tb fresh)
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano (or 2 tsp fresh)
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• fresh ground black pepper to taste
• Your favorite bread--I recommend Ciabatta bread sliced thin, but it also tastes great on whole wheat sandwich bread too 
• margarine or butter replacement (for spreading on the outsides of your bread before grilling)

Directions:

1. Make the tofu ricotta by placing all the ingredients in a blender. Blend till creamy.
2. Take 1 cup of the tofu ricotta and mix with the rest of the ingredients.
3. Warm a skillet over medium heat. Take your bread slices and butter the outsides. Then add a thick layer of the tofu mixture to the inside of the bread. Close the sandwich and place on a skillet. Flip until both sides are a nice crispy brown.

Note about this recipe:

1. Let it cool for a good 5 minutes. The tofu retains it's heat very well!

Sweet Potato Cookies

 

I adapted this from a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe my sister gave me in an attempt to use a left over Thanksgiving sweet potato, and I'm sure glad I did. Moist. Delicious. Enough said.

Ingredients:

•  1 c. cooked and mashed sweet potato (one small sized one did it for me)
• 3/4 c. loose brown sugar (not packed)
• 1/2 c. applesauce
• 1 egg
• 1 c. white flour
• 1 c. wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 heaping tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp milk
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 c. chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Dissolve baking soda in the milk. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl add sweet potato, sugar, applesauce, and egg. Stir till mixed.
3. Add flours, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda mixture into the wet mixture. Mix well. Add vanilla. Mix well.
4. Stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Spoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for about 10 minutes.

Notes about this recipe:

1. I tried adding marshmallows to a few of them during the last 2 minutes of cooking. They were good, but they honestly didn't need them so I did the rest of the cookies without them.
2. If you really want to make them healthy, try adding raisins, craisins, or chopped dates instead of chocolate chips.

Cauliflower Pesto

Sorry for the lack of posts these last few weeks! I have lots to share, but life gets busy, as I'm sure you can all relate.

This recipe comes to you straight from my noggin. I was thinking about roasted cauliflower and how delicious it was. Then I started thinking about pesto, and how I wished I could eat it (cheese hates me). THEN I got a brilliant idea that WORKED! So this is for all you dairy allergy/lactose intolerant folks. Or it's for anyone who needs a little more veggie in their life. So delicious you'll want to just eat it out of the blender on a spoon (at least me and my toddler did!).

Ingredients:

• 1 cup roasted cauliflower (about 1/2 a small head)
• 1 cup loose packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/3 cup cashews (or pinenuts)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Directions:

1. Roast your cauliflower. To do this, chop it into florets, then toss with 1 Tb. olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, and pepper to your taste. Cook in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes, stir on cooking sheet, then cook an additional 5-10 min.
2. Put all ingredients except the olive oil in a blender and blend. Then add the olive oil and blend till well mixed and creamy.
3. Enjoy on all things pesto related! I personally loved using this on my Naan Bread Pizza recipe.