Cashew Gravy

This was also from recipezaar.com.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups cashews, roasted
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 or 5 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 TBSP flour
• 1 TBSP oil
• 1 TBSP cornstarch
• Tamari soy sauce
• water

DIRECTIONS:

1. saute onion and garlic in oil until soft and slightly brown.
2. add flour and cook another minute until brown.
3. Mix cornstarch with 1/2 cup cold water and add slowly to the pan, stirring constantly.  When mixed thoroughly add another cup of water to get it to a gravy consistency.
4. Add cashews and tamari to taste.  You may also need to add more water if it's too thick.
5. Cook until cashews are soft and flavors have melded.  I always let this simmer away for about 30 minutes and add more water and tamari as needed.  When done cooking, you'll want it to be a thin gravy consistency.  The cashews will thicken it up when you blend it.
6. Turn off the heat and let it sit for a few minutes to cool down.
7. Puree in a blender or food processor in batches.  You may need to add more liquid while blending to get the right consistency.

Lentil and Wild Rice Loaf

This is from recipezaar.com (though I think recipezaar is no longer, but this is where I found it a few years ago.)  I was looking for something to make for Thanksgiving that was not Turkey since my in-laws were coming and they had decided to go vegan.  (This was before I had really moved as far as I have now towards the vegetarian/vegan lifestyle as I have now.)

This meal takes about 2 hours.  It is not quick, but it is SOOOOOOOOOOO delish.  In fact, it was the meal that Macon (my husband) requested for his birthday dinner because he loves it so much.

It serves 6-8 (I would say 8).

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Cup of lentils
• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 1/2 cup wild rice *
• 4 cups (sometimes 5 cups) vegetable broth
• 2 TBSP Olive Oil
• 1 red onion
• 5 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 or 3 carrots shredded (or sliced very very thin)
• 1/2 bunch of broccoli (or a bag of broccoli wokly)
•  1/2 cup cashews, roasted
• 2 Tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

* I buy a mix of brown rice and wild rice that are already all together and just measure out a cup of it instead of buying distinct bags of just wild or brown rice).

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Put lentils, brown and wild rice, and veggie broth in a covered pan.  Get it boiling on a higher heat and then turn down to low and cook until the rice is cooked and the liquid is absorbed, but the result is still somewhat wet and mushy, not dry.  This will be approximately 1 hour.  I usually watch this as it's cooking and add more broth as needed
2. While lentils and rice are cooking, heat oil in a separate pan and saute onions, garlic and carrots.  Add steamed broccoli after about 5 minutes or so and cook another minute.  Then, season with basil, salt and pepper to taste (I already listed the amounts that I think are delicious...if you buy salted cashews, you really don't need to add more than a 1/2 tsp of salt to the dish.  If you buy unsalted cashews, then maybe 3/4 tsp??)  This will be mixed with the other ingredients, so you'll want to be a big generous with the spices.
3. Add the lentil/rice mixture to the vegetable mixture when both are done.  Add cashews.  Mix everything together well.
4. Put mixture into greased large loaf pan.
5. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes covered (foil seems to do the trick), and 15 minutes uncovered.
6. Serve with Cashew Gravy (which I will also post).

just for kicks:

1. this recipe is super high in dietary fiber (13.7 g, which is 54% of the daily recommended amount (DRA))
2. It is high in protein (16.5 g, about 32% DRA).  
3. It is also high in Vitamins A (67% DRA) and C (83% DRA)  and has 25% of the daily recommended amount of Iron.

My favorite guilty pleasure these days...

I have found that salsa and nutritional yeast flakes makes a delicious (and addictive) dip for chips (especially Milagro's chips here in Austin.... tan delgado y  muy crujiente!)

Ingredients:
-1 cup salsa*
-3 TBSP nutritional yeast flakes

Directions:
--mix**

*  Texas Texas Medium Salsa being my preferred poison, Macon likes the Texas Texas Perfect Hot 
**  If the salsa has been in the fridge I usually microwave it for 30 seconds before mixing in the flakes.