Chaotic Cooking

• 1 cup cashews
• 2 lemons
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Put cashews in food processor. Cut lemons in half and squeeze their juice in with the cashews. Add tahini and process for 20-30 seconds. Add olive oil and start processor again. Slowly add water until the mixture looks whipped-creamy. Add salt.

This keeps in the fridge for at least 7 days. It’s delicious on burritos.

• 1/4 lb bacon, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 5 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 stalks celery chopped
• 1 lb mushrooms
• 8 cups stock
• 1 tsp oregano
• pinch dry mustard
• 1 tsp salt
• pinch nutmeg
• pinch cinnamon
• 1/2 cup dry wild rice

Heat a large soup pot to medium heat. Add the bacon and cook for a few minutes until the fat starts to melt. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion starts to become soft and slightly brown. Add celery and carrot. Slice the mushrooms and add those too. Saute this mixture until the mushrooms soften up and then add the stock, oregano, mustard, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Add the wild rice and cover the pot. Cook for an hour and serve warm.

• 1 squash, big enough to be stuffed  (pumpkin, large acorn, ambercup, buttercup, etc…)
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 2 slices of bread
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 large onion, minced
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup cheese (blue, feta, goat, grated cheddar, motzarella, etc)
• 1/4-1/2 cup dried fruit (cranberries, cherries, currants, raisins, etc…)
• 1/2 cup nuts or seeds (walnuts, pumpkin seeds, cashews, sesame seeds, etc…)
• 1/2 teaspoon sage
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari

Cut a lid in the squash and use a large spoon to pull out the seeds and scrape the inside clean. Cut the bread into small cubes. Combine bread and rice and eggs and mix well, then add all the other ingredients. Fill the squash with the stuffing.

Cook on a tray in the oven at 375 degrees for an hour and half or so, until you can stick a knife in the squash really easily.

Day 1:

• Bagels with lox and capers
• Grilled cheese sandwiches and salad
• Stuffed acorn squash with apple salad

Day 2:

• Bagels again
• Yellow split pea and cauliflower soup
• Thai green veggie curry with brown rice

Day 3:

• Eggs and toast
• Split pea soup and tuna sandwiches
• Green curry and rice

Day 4:

• Yogurt, granola and bananas
• Salad and avocado quesadillas
• Spanikopita

Day 5:

• Yogurt/granola
• Spanikopita and split pea soup

Day 6:

• Whole wheat pizza with sundried tomatoes and motzarella

• 1.5 cups cooked brown rice
• 1.5 cups cooked beans (no liquid with these)
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds (or pumpkin, etc…)
• 2 bunches spinach, cleaned, chopped, steamed, strained and squeezed dry  (you could use frozen stuff instead and just squeeze it dry too)
• 1/2 pound mushrooms
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 medium onion pureed or finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper and any spices or fresh herbs

Puree the nuts and seeds in a food processor until the consistency of a course flour, or even a paste. Add the beans and mushrooms and process again. Combine all the other ingredients either in the food processor (for smooth burgers) or just in a bowl (if you want them to have some texture).  Add salt and pepper to taste.

At this point, there are a couple of things you can do. You can just freeze the patties on a cookie sheet and then put them in ziplock bags to use later. If you’re going to eat them now, you can fry them in an iron skillet with a little coconut oil, so that they hold together pretty well. Put them on a greased cookie sheet in the oven and heat them up when you’re ready for dinner. I usually prefer to fry them before I freeze them, but it doesn’t make a huge difference, I just think they taste a little bit better. I usually triple or quadruple this recipe if I am freezing a lot. This makes about 8-10 patties.

• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 poblano chiles, diced
• 5-6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 lb fresh tomatoes, skins removed, diced
• 1 lb canned tomatoes
• 5-6 tablespoons chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
• 3-4 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons dill
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 8 oz clam juice
• 2 cups red wine
• 8 cups fish stock (or veggie or chicken)
• 8 oz scallops
• 1 can clams, with juice
• 15-20 shrimp (shells removed and deveined), or 1.5 cups bay shrimp (or both)
• 3 lbs fish, cubed
• Any other seafood you like, or would rather substitute

Heat coconut oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add onion, poblano, garlic and saute until onion becomes soft and carmelized. Add red wine and let cook for a few minutes. Add tomatoes, clam juice, stock and seasonings. Let cook for 15-20 minutes. Add scallops, clams and fish and let cook for 10-15 minutes, then add the shrimp. Let soup cook until shrimp are done.

This seafood stew is awesome. I usually buy frozen scallops, fish and shrimp because they are so expensive. Crab is delicious if you can find it at an affordable price. This recipe makes enough soup for many meals, and it is delicious frozen and thawed out.