Romaine rolls

Romaine Rolls
Ingredients
rice:
1 cup calrose rice
water to cook in rice cooker to level "1"
teeny pinch of turmeric
1 tsp "Better Than Bouillion" Mushroom flavor

Green onion omelet:
1 bunch green onions, sliced (about 6 or 7 green onions, to make 3/4 cup sliced)
2 tsp bacon fat or butter
coarse sea salt and fresh black pepper
4 eggs, beaten well
shaved parmesan or Romano cheese

Heat the bacon fat in a 6" skillet, then add the green onions, cook until limp. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the onions. Pour the beaten egg over the cooked onions, turn the heat down, sprinkle on the shaved cheese, and cook until set. If desired, you can put it into a 350° oven and cook until set. Cut into quarters and then into strips.

Zuni Cafe pickled red onions
Trader Joe's Persian cucumbers, sliced length-wise very thinly,
then marinated with a little of the pickled onions & pickled onion juice
romaine leaves

Place a 12" square of plastic wrap on a counter. Place a large romaine leaf on the plastic wrap. Place a spoonful of the cooked rice, some pickled onion, some omelet, and some cucumber on the romaine leaf, then roll up like a burrito. Refrigerate for several hours, to set up.

BANANA CAKE
I've had a hankerin' for banana cake for a long time.

(Not banana bread - for some reason I think banana bread is very boring. And why is it always presented in such an ugly way?)

I want banana cake - that is bright and yellow (not brown!) and full of banana flavor, moist and rich and smothered with frosting.

Here is my version:
Banana Cake 4-18-09

This is NOT banana bread. It is yellow cake that tastes lemony and banana-y.

Grease and flour an 8" square pan.
Have ingredients at room temperature.

Mix until creamy:
1/3 cup honey butter
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
zest of one lemon (1 T)
scant one cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350°
Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon (2 T) into bowl, then mash with a fork, in bits, 2 ripe bananas. Be sure to remove any brown spots. You want to keep the bananas as yellow as possible. Add to the butter-sugar mixture.
Sift in 1 & 1/2 cups flour and 1 tsp baking powder (Rumsford, non-aluminum). Stir until mixed. Spread into the cake pan. Bake 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on rack. Frost when completely cooled.

Frosting:
Mix until creamy : 1 T butter (soft) with 1/3 cup sour cream and tiny pinch of salt
(do this in the bowl you mashed up the bananas & lemon juice for a slight banana flavour)
Then beat in sifted powder sugar until of desired texture (it will take quite a bit, about 1 & 1/2 cups). wait until cake is completely cool before you frost it. OR, if you are impatient like me, cut the cake when it is still warm, and spread some frosting on each piece as you serve it warm.

Quackers

Homemade crackers "Quackers"

They are easy and delicious, and very fun!
They go stale quickly so best to serve the day you make them.

Quackers
2 cups flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 tsp baking powder (not baking soda)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup warm water
2 T. herbs of your choice (fresh rosemary is wonderful)
Mix it up (I used a food processor, but not necessary) and knead. Lightly flour a cloth or board and roll as thin as you can. Cut into crackers - you could use scissors or a knife or a cookie cutters, or a pizza cutter wheel. You might cut on a diagonal to make diamond shapes. You could brush with egg white and sprinkle with parmesan, coarse salt, sesame seeds, or poppy seeds. Or you could put some grated cheese in the dough. Fresh black pepper and lemon zest would be nice too. See, there are lots of things you can do. Preheat the oven to 425°. Put the crackers on a cookie pan and bake for about 5 minutes. They will puff up and look all gourmet. Be careful, they burn real quick. Cool on a rack.

Herb-Lemon Rice Squares

adapted from Lemons, A Book of Recipes, Joanna Lorenz
"Serve as a main dish, with a salad, or as a side dish. Also, it's good cold, and packs well for a picnic."

2 cups broth
1 cup rice (brown or white)
1/2 t salt (omit if broth is salty)
pinch each of saffron and turmeric
1/2 cup shredded white cheese (jack, cheddar, etc.)
1/4 cup grated or shredded Romano cheese
juice & zest of 1 lemon
1/4 t nutmeg
1 T olive oil
2 T butter
chopped herbs: parsley, chives, basil, marjoram

Mix the rice, olive oil, broth, turmeric, saffron, and salt in cooking pot, bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer, cover and cook until all liquid is absorbed (15 to 35 minutes depending on type of rice.) Mix rice with the lemon juice & zest, herbs and cheese. Spread the 2 T butter in an 8" square baking pan or a glass loaf pan, press the rice into the pan. Bake at 375° until golden and crisp around the edges, around 20 - 30 minutes. Cut into squares.

In a hurry? just serve after cooking the rice and adding the lemon, herbs, and cheese.
This was originally posted by Quackyduck on CL FoodFo

Golden Whey Rice
Use whey instead of broth (leftover from making yogurt cheese)

2 cups whey
1 cup pearl rice (Calrose, etc.)
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp turmeric
1/2 cup frozen corn

Stir ingredients. Cook in rice cooker. Or, on stovetop, bring to boil, turn down to low simmer, cover and cook for 12 minutes, turn off heat, let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Hippie Brown Rice Casserole
This takes me back to the days at our Hippie Holler Back-to-the-Land Farm Commune, and also to Down To Earth Natural Foods store in Honolulu where they made a similar version.

1 cup cooked brown rice (short grain preferred)
2 T oil
1 smallish onion, diced
1 carrot, shredded (use the large holes of a shredder)
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 cup chopped spinach (or arugula)
1 small can whole tomatoes
1 tsp. Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or sunflower seeds (toasting them makes them even better)
1/2 cup shreded mild or sharp cheddar cheese (orange)

Saute the onion and carrot in the oil until limp. Drain the tomatoes, (reserve the juice for another use), chop them coarsley, and add to the saute pan; cook briefly. Add the parsley and spinach. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, rice and walnuts. Pack mixture into 8" or 9" squre pan, or a loaf pan, top with the cheese and bake at 325° until heated thru.

MIDNIGHT RICE
1 cup black rice
1 & 1/2 cups broth (I like to use, in this recipe, water and "mock vegetarian beef broth" powder)
1/2 t salt (omit if broth is already salted)
2 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Put the rice in the pan with the broth. Using your finger, make a "hole" in the center of the rice, pushing the rice towrd the side of the pan. Over medium heat, bring to boil, turn down to simmer at the lowest it will go, cover & cook 20 minutes. Turn off burner, DON'T OPEN THE PAN, and allow to stand 20 min. Saute the garlic and nuts in the oil, add the rice. You can double this recipe and place it in crockpot after it is cooked to bring to a potluck.
Even vegans will eat it.

My Peruvian Neighbor's Green Rice
They served it to me one night, and it made me open up my mind about disliking cilantro.

Cook:
1 cup long grain white rice
IMPORTANT: Don't add salt to the rice!

Sauce: grind in blender or small food processor
1 bunch cilantro
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
Stir into the hot rice.

COCONUT RICE
1 cup rice
1 cup water
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 t salt
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
Cook the rice with the water, coconut milk, and salt. When it is cooked, stir in the shredded coconut.

Oatmeal coconut cookies

OATMEAL COCONUT COOKIES
1 stick butter
1 cup dark brown sugar (is there any point to light brown sugar?)
1/2 cup oil (canola, safflower, or if you can afford it, sunflower oil)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup plus 2 T. flour
2 & 1/4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (spread the nuts in a sided baking pan, tosat at 325* for 7 - 10 minutes)
2 cups unsweetened large flake coconut, toasted (spread coconut in a sided baking sheet, tost in oven at 350° for about 10 - 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.)

~Put the coconut and the walnuts on separate baking sheets (this works best with sheets that have sides), and toast them for 7 to 10 minutes, stirring once or twice, until they start to slightly brown and release their fragrance. Set aside.
~Turn off the oven (you aren't going to bake the cookies until tomorrow).

~Cream the butter with the brown sugar, then add the oil, and then the egg.
~Then add the spices, vanilla, and salt.
~Stir in the flour, and then the oats.
~Cover the bowl and put it in the fridge until tomorrow. This is the secret to great oatmeal cookies - it gives the oats time to soften & absorb the fats and egg.

~When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325°.
~Sir in the coconut and walnuts. The dough will be stiff.
~Line cookie sheets with parchment. I used 2 large sheets.
~Using a 1/4 cup scoop or measuring cup, press the dough firmly into the scoop, fill the scoop evenly and level. Place onto sheet. Flatten the cookie a bit. Place cookies 2" - 3" apart. This recipe should makes 17 - 18 largish cookies. (Or make them smaller if you prefer)
~Bake at 325° for 20 minutes (less for smaller cookies). They should look browned.
~Slide the parchment onto a rack to cool the cookies. They will be fragile until they cool.
This recipe is slightly adapted from a recipe by AnswerGal, CL FoodFo

Eat them for breakfast - kid yourself that it is a healthy breakfast. Oh well it is better than a donut.