My Excellent Meals

Coconut Miso beans

Dice an onion and fry it in olive oil in a big pot until soft. Add three cans of drained beans, one can of full fat coconut milk, one tablespoon of white miso paste, some lemon juice (fresh is best), salt to taste, and a bunch of spinach. Optionally, add dill. Serve with fresh bread.

Black bean soup

Dice up a large carrot, three large celery sticks, and an onion, and fry them in olive oil in a big pot for a while. Then, add three cans of drained black beans, 2 tsp cumin, some chili powder, some salt, a bay leaf, and some italian seasoning. Add four cups of water or vegetable broth and let it boil with a lid on for at least half an hour. Then, blend it all up using an immersion blender (after removing the bayleaf!) and serve with fresh bread.

Tofu broccoli stir fry

Dice a big block of extra firm pre-pressed tofu, fry in olive oil and soy sauce along with some frozen broccoli florets. Add grated ginger and salt. Add rice. Good with sriracha.

Rice and beans

Dice half an onion and fry it in olive oil in a pot until soft. Add garlic, three drained cans of beans, a can of tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder, salt, and lemon juice. Mash the beans into a tasty wet mush. Add in cooked rice.

Bread

Fill a bowl with 1 cup of water, 2 tsp sugar, and 1 packet of yeast, then wait 8 minutes. Then combine 3 1/4 cups flour and 1 1/2 tsp salt in a large mixing bowl, and mix in the water/yeast. Knead for a very long time, ten minutes at least. Grease another large bowl, then add in the dough to let it rise, covered with a warm wet cloth, for at least an hour. Then take it out to knead some more and shape it into a rectangle. Place this rectangle on a greased baking sheet. Put a warm towel over it and let it rise for another 45 minutes. Then score the dough with a knife, and put it in the oven for 25 minutes at 425 degrees fahrenheit.

Flatbread

Mix together 2 cups flour, 3/4 cup water, 1 tsp salt, 1 packet instant yeast, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tbsp olive oil. Knead, separate into 8 equal sections, and fry each section on the stove on medium heat for three minutes on each side.

Lentil stuffed butternut squash

Preheat oven to 425. Bisect a butternut squash vertically. Scoop out the slime and seeds with a spoon, coat in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast in oven for 45-50 minutes. While it's roasting, dice a small onion and fry it in olive oil on the stove until soft. Add 2 tsp garlic, rosemary, sage, paprika, 1 bay leaf, 2 tsp of tomato paste, 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth, and 1/2 cup rinsed lentils. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add 1 tbsp tahini, 1 tsp white miso paste, 1 tsp balsamic vinegar, salt, and black pepper. When the butternut squash is out of the oven, scoop out a bunch of the flesh, setting aside 1/2 cup of it in a blender for later. Lower the oven to 350 degrees. Pour the lentil filling into the butternut squash halves and put back in the oven for 15 minutes. While it's cooking, use the butternut squash in the blender to make a sauce by adding 1 tbsp tahini, 1/2 tbsp olive oil, a little balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and some water until it reaches the right texture. When the butternut squash is done cooking, remove it from the oven, paint it with the tahini sauce, and enjoy. Best served with fresh bread, but rice works too.