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!

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.

Crispy Gnocchi with Basil Pesto

This recipe was recommended by Vanessa H. She found it at Two Peas & Their Pod. They have copyright on all their material so please head over there to check out the recipe! Vanessa says "Go figure, my EXTREMELY picky one-year-old thought this was amazing and kept asking for more!!"

100th Post!! Tomato Basil Soup

Can you believe it!?

With your help we have collaboratively shared just under 100 recipes (a few of my posts have been no recipe posts) since July 2011. I think that is incredible and couldn't have gotten so many recipes without all of your contributions. Please keep sending them my way!

(Picture from Everyday Occasions.)

For our 100th post, this recipe comes from Vanessa H. She found it at Everyday Occasions.

Ingredients:

• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 - 14 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes
• 1 - 14 oz. can of whole tomatoes
• 2 cups of stock (chicken or vegetable)
• 1 tsp of sea salt
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 1/2 tsp of fresh ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup of heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons of fresh basil, julienned
• parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a saucepan, saute garlic in olive oil on medium heat for 1 minute - being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the crushed tomatoes. Add the whole tomatoes one at a time, squeezing them into the pan to break them up. Add the juice from the whole tomatoes, as well. Add chicken stock, salt, pepper and sugar. Cook the soup on medium at a simmer for 10 minutes.

To finish, reduce the heat to low and stir in heavy cream and basil. Serve topped with parmesan cheese or a grilled cheese sandwich. Get the recipe for The Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich here.