Winter Herb & Greens Salad, with a little sweet & crunch
March 24, 2012 § 1 Comment
It’ll be nearly 90 degrees in Tucson today. With the advent of the near-double digits, the end of March calls for tank tops, margaritas and the last of the winter greens, herbs and recently-harvested pecans and dates. I’ve made this salad six times in the last two weeks — for potlucks, for the fam and just for me. My friend James is a big fan of the dates. My mom says the feta takes the cake. (A sidenote: My dad likes this salad best when I tuck a few pieces of south-of-the-border avocado in between the leaves.)
The dressing is my favorite part, so I’ve put a “sketch” of my method, below. I unceremoniously shake all the ingredients together in a ball jar to emulsify and then taste-test using lettuce leaves, often adding a bit of additional acid (citrus/vinegar), salt or honey.
Ingredients for the Salad:
10 cups winter greens
1 cup fresh herbs (dill, basil, parsley, cilantro)
1/2 cup scallion, chopped
1/2 cup pecans, toasted
3/4 cup dates, chopped
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
Ingredients for the Dressing:
juice of a few citrus fruits (grapefruit, orange, lemon, lime)
a few glugs of white balsamic vinegar (apple cider vinegar is good, too)
hefty pinch of salt
10 cracks of pepper
a dab of dijon mustard
a long drizzle of honey
a few cloves of garlic, minced
stream of olive oil, to taste
Method for the Salad: Layer greens and herbs at the bottom of a large serving bowl. Top with scallion, pecans, dates and feta. Dress just before serving.
Method for the Dressing: Combine all ingredients in a glass jar and shake until thoroughly incorporated and emulsified. Taste and adjust seasonings/acid/oil as needed.
Diet Notes: Gluten-free
Socca To Me: The New Friday Night Pizza
August 19, 2011 § Leave a Comment
It’s Friday and it’s pizza night! While five-minute-pizza dough most certainly has its merits, if you have a hankering a gluten-free pizza alternative, grind up some beans (or buy ‘um ground) and whip up a socca tonight.
Soccas are like pancakes on MiracleGro, except they’re in the savory camp and don’t necessitate maple syrup dredging. They require only a couple of ingredients: ground up garbanzo beans (garbanzo bean flour), salt, a splash of olive oil and water. I’ve been adding dried herbs from our garden, too. While soccas are great plain, hot out of the skillet, they also make a toothsome base for a pizza. Our favorite toppings include garden zucchini, caramelized onion and fresh-picked cherry tomatoes.
Ingredients:
1 + 1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon Italian spice blend (rosemary, sage, parsley, basil)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup water, cold
Method:
1. Grease oven-safe skillet. Place in cold oven. Preheat oven & skillet to 350 degrees (or 325 on convection).
2. In a bowl, whisk together garbanzo bean flour, salt and spices. Add olive oil and water and whisk vigorously until all clumps dissolve.
3. When oven is preheated, carefully remove skillet from oven and add batter to skillet slowly. Be mindful of hot, splattering batter. Place back in the oven and bake for 40 minutes, until the top is golden and slightly brown around the edges. The sides will receede slightly from the edges of the cast iron.
4. Remove from skillet and place on baking stone or sheet pan. Top with favorite pizza add-on’s. Bake five additional minutes and one minute (keep a close eye) under the broiler to make the cheese bubble.
Diet Notes: Gluten-free, vegan, nut-free
Straight from the Garden: Savory Coleslaw
May 15, 2011 § 1 Comment
While my aunt skied down frosty slopes in Southeast Alaska this past week, my mom and I ate kumquats picked from our baby tree and harvested our first cherry tomato. The horse trough gardens are teeming with leafy explosions of zucchini, a bright orange pepper, tomatoes up the wazoo and a dozen overzealous herbs (a few of which are nearly bolting). To pay homage to the last of our winter harvest, I whipped together a simple garden coleslaw so that we could taste the inherent flavor and sweet tang of this maroon-y brassica. This isn’t a recipe per se; rather, I gathered what looked best in the garden and threw it into the salad. It is a fantastic riff off of the usual sweet slaw of summer.
Ingredients:
1 small head red cabbage
handful of herbs (dill, parsley, basil) — approximately 1/3 cup chopped
2 early onions, chopped on the diagonal
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 tablespoon mayo
juice of one lemon (approximately 1/4 cup)
sea salt, pepper to taste
Method:
Thinly slice cabbage in ribbons. Toss with chopped herbs, sea salt and pepper. Add liquids (lemon, mayo and sour cream). Stir until combined and chill until served. Best eaten cold, prepared several hours (or overnight) in advance.
Diet Notes: Gluten-free, nut-free
Meal in a Muffin: Arugula, Butternut Squash & Sharp Cheddar Flecks
November 15, 2010 § 6 Comments
I am a muffin FANATIC. I live for mornings that jump-start with mongo-muffins with cracked tops, splitting open, leaking berries and hiding clumps of nuts and oats. The other day, a new muffin-recipe caught my eye: A savory, no-sweet-stuff muffin. I’ve made savory muffins before, but mine were kind of like quiche. Heidi’s pumpkin and feta muffins, on the other hand, are real muffins: Their base is two cups of flour rather than a slurry of egg and cottage cheese, and they’re flecked with delicious-sounding add-ins.
I’ve tweaked Heidi’s recipe and included some of my most favorite flavors. These are not my standard, googly-eyed breakfast muffins bulging with dried fruit and nuts or chocolate and bananas or smelling of all spice and nutmeg. These fellas are dense, speckled with sunflower seed crunches, snappy arugula bites, sweet butternut squash hunks and loads of flavor from a couple scoops of whole grain mustard and a fluffy pile of grated Parmesan and cheddar cheese. Packed with veggies and whole grains, these guys are a stand-alone meal. While I don’t dig into them for breakfast (I cave to my sweet muffin varieties with homemade pumpkin coffee on these chillier, Fall mornings) I’ve rather taken to these toothsome, squashy-mustardy bites accompanied by a bowl of creamy tomato soup or my favorite lip-smackin’ chili.
Ingredients:
2 cups butternut squash, cubed
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
sea salt, pepper
2 cups whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 handful arugula
1/4 cup parsley, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese, sharp
2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
2 eggs
3/4 cup plain almond milk (or milk preference)
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roast cubed butternut squash with a sprinkling of sea salt, pepper and olive oil to coat. Bake until fork-tender, about 20 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees.
2. Meanwhile, mix flour, powder and sea salt in a separate bowl and gently mix with a fork. To the flour mixture, add arugula, parsley, sunflower seeds and cheeses. Toss with a fork and set aside.
3. When butternut squash is tender, remove from oven and combine with flour mixture. The heat from the squash will help wilt the arugula (and make the flavor more subtle and less bitter). Add liquids and mustard to the batter and gently stir until totally incorporated. Scoop into greased muffin tins. Depending on the size of the tin, cooking time will vary. In a 350 degree oven, cook smaller muffins (12-to-a-tin) for approximately 22-25 minutes. Larger muffins (see above photo) may take 30 to 33 minutes. Pierce muffins with a knife to test; if clean, remove from oven. Let cool in the tin for at least 10 minutes to set. Cool completely before packaging. These muffins freeze-and-thaw wonderfully and stay fresh on the counter for several days.
Bulgur & Pomegranate “Crunch” Salad
October 17, 2010 § 1 Comment
Off all the vegetables I’m likely to swoon over, the watery celery stalk is dead last on the list (tied with tasteless green bell peppers). I never buy, eat or really spend any time thinking about celery. But I bit the bullet and bought a handful of celery stalks this past week for a recipe experiment.
Let me back up: I’ve been on the lookout for good pomegranate recipes (hang with me a second; celery plays a hand, I promise). It’s pomegranate harvest time in the southwest and I have six pink poms sitting on my counter top. While I love the little seeds just as much as the next person, there are only so many handfuls I can eat plain on top of my yogurt bowls. After perusing a half-dozen recipes and finding little inspiration, I asked my mom for advice. She voted for a bulgur salad, created by Heidi at 101 Cookbooks. I admit, I was skeptical — none of the ingredients really “sent” me, save the toasted walnuts. But I started fiddling:
I scaled back on the celery, threw in another quarter cup of walnuts, amped up the bulgur, swapped out the pom-juice for orange juice (I like a little citrus tang) and doubled the garlic quota. I also tried scaling back on the olive oil as well as nixing it entirely — both were delicious although I preferred the texture with a spritz of oil. In the end, I loved it. While this salad throws a lot of different tastes together into the same dish, the texture is fantastic. Each bite has a different “crunch” — a crispy-snap from the celery, a beefier bite from the walnuts, a sweet surprise from the pomegranates and a nutty chew from the bulgur.
Bulgur is a whole grain, high in fiber. Bulgur purchased in grocery stores or bulk bins is often par-boiled and dried and sometimes part of the bran has been removed. There are a few different methods of cooking bulgur. Most commonly bulgur is steeped in boiling water for about an hour or simmered. I’ve tried both and prefer the simmering method (the bulgur seems less crunchy); but feel free to dabble!
Ingredients:
1 + 2/3 cup bulgur, raw
2 cups celery, chopped on slight bias
seeds of 1 pomegranate (de-seeding tutorial)
1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
1/3 cup parsley, chopped
1/3 cup orange juice
2 cloves garlic
sea salt, pepper
1-2 tablespoons olive oil, optional
Method:
1. Cook bulgur according to packaging instructions (either by steeping in boiling water or simmering with a pinch of sea salt). Here are a few tips for some additional reading.
2. Meanwhile, chop celery, de-seed pomegranate and chop parsley. Set aside. In an unseasoned skillet, toast walnuts on medium-heat until fragrant (about 5-7 minutes).
3. Prepare dressing: Finely chop garlic. Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt on top and pound it with a back of a fork until it forms a paste. Mix with OJ and, if using, 1-2 tablespoons olive oil. Set aside. When bulgur has finished cooking, pour dressing and allow it to soak.
4. Combine all ingredients together in a large bowl. Season with sea salt and pepper to taste. Best served at room temperature.
Diet Notes: Gluten-free, vegan
Creamy Millet Lettuce Wraps
September 23, 2010 § Leave a Comment
A couple of weeks ago my days were nutty – living in limbo, looking for housing and preparing for a workshop on the other side of the country. Finally, I’m starting to settle. I’m living a few-minute bike-ride up the road from campus, living out of a dresser (no suitcase!) and am no longer in “eat-down-the-fridge” mode. This past week I’ve indoctrinated my little kitchen with experiments. On the sweet-side: I’ve whisked black tea leaves and autumnal spices — my first attempt at homemade Chai tea. I’ve made granola bites for pre-run snacks. Last night I made an experimental pumpkin-spice simple syrup to stir into this morning’s coffee. But while I undeniably have sweet teeth in the most plural sense, I’ve also been craving a home-cooked meal. After two weeks of pre-packaged vegetarian sushi lunches and carrot & hummus snacks from pre-made hummus tubs, I’ve been looking forward to an evening when I can chop my own herbs and use up my late-season garden veggies. Two nights ago I struck gold with a light wrap — perfect for a hot summer night. Instead of using a tortilla shell, I used lettuce leaves to sandwich my black bean & millet salad. Each bite was spiked with basil and parsley, hints of lemon, two types of mustard and sesame. I’ve eaten this hot for dinner and cold for lunch and I can’t pick a favorite.
Millet is a killer grain — a creamy or fluffy alternative to rice, depending on how you cook it. It’s packed with protein and B-vitamins to boot. Here’s a nice Dr. Weil article with tips on how to cook millet.
Inside the Wrap:
1/2 cup millet, dry
4 medium carrots, chopped
pinch sea salt, black pepper
4 small early onions (or 1 large onion)
3 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups black beans, cooked
1/3 cup basil, loosely chopped
1/4 cup parsley, loosely chopped
For the Wrap:
2 large lettuce leaves per person
Sauce:
1/4 cup plain, whole-milk yogurt
1 tablespoon tahini
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon whole grain mustard
pinch sea salt, black pepper, to taste
Method:
1. Chop carrots. Pick through dry millet and remove any debris or small stones. Using a 3:1 ratio of water to dry millet, fill small pot with slightly more than 1.5 cups of water. Add carrots and millet. Bring to a boil; lower the heat to a simmer and cook, with a lid on, for approximately 20-25 minutes until tender.
2. Meanwhile, chop onion and garlic. Heat splash of olive oil on medium-heat. When hot, add onion and saute until wilted and slightly brown (about 6 minutes). Add garlic and saute until fragrant (about 1 minute). Remove from heat.
3. Chop herbs and combine with beans in a large bowl. Add onion & garlic mixture. Whisk dressing together and set aside.
4. When millet is cooked through, remove from heat and add to beans & herbs. Pour dressing over the top and toss. While hot (or at room temperature, or cold) scoop large spoonfuls of the millet mixture onto open lettuce leaves. Roll and eat like a wrap.
Diet Notes: Gluten-free, nut-free
Quinoa Tabouleh
August 4, 2010 § 1 Comment
For the past six weeks, I can count the number of vegetables I’ve consumed on five fingers. (I’m cheating: The “fifth vegetable” is really an herb — called “chipilin” (apparently similar to a Night Shade).) Instead, I’ve been eating bread (“pan”), bananas ’round the clock and a few corn tortillas and cup or two of hot chocolate.
If you guessed that I had a parasite… ding! ding! You win! My meal prospects were bleak for a while; in fact, I actually started dreaming of vegetables in my sleep (no joke!) and, now that I’m feeling nearly all better, I have a new found love of eating simple, fresh foods. This recipe was just what the doctor ordered: vegetables from the garden (parsley! mint! tomatoes! onion!) and a whole-grain base. This salad is light and made me feel squeaky clean from the burst of lemon. And an added plus: it didn’t bump the house temperature up eight degrees by turning on the oven — it’s a one pot meal, requiring only 15 minutes of stove time.
Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa, cooked
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
1/2 red onion, diced
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/4 cup mint, chopped
4 tablespoons lemon (juice of 1 lemon)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, diced
sea salt, pepper, to taste
Method:
1. Heat water and quinoa on the stove and cook according to instructions, until al dente.
2. Chop vegetables and herbs and toss. Set aside.
3. Once quinoa is cooked, remove lid and squeeze in juice of one lemon, olive oil and chopped garlic. Stir. Combine with vegetables and herbs. Add sea salt and pepper to taste and serve warm, at room temperature or chilled. (Room temperature is my favorite.)
Diet Notes: Gluten-free, nut-free, vegan
Quinoa with Citrus-Soaked Dried Fruit & Mint (Gluten-Free)
April 14, 2010 § 2 Comments
I cannot begin to dole out enough effusive adjectives for this little salad. And I’d like to point out that I’m rather surprised I like it as well as I do. Generally speaking, I don’t get particularly – or even remotely – excited about quinoa, and I’m really not a big fan of mint (except in a watermelon & feta salad). But I have a surfeit of the former and an overzealous mint plant in my backyard, so I decided to cut a couple of stems, whittle-down my grain stash and dabble with a new salad experiment.
Out of all the salads I’ve made in recent months, this one may be the most addictive. While I can usually eke out four lunches from a salad this size, I happily polished off this salad in half the days. What won me over – more than the crunch of toasted walnuts and the delicate plumpness of citrus-soaked dried blueberries and cherries – was the superb flavor from the Meyer lemons. Meyer lemons have an almost-orange-like taste about them, yet they still provide a sour zing. But, if you can’t find them at your farmers’ market or local supermarket, try squeezing one lemon and one orange and using the combined juice for this salad.
Two final notes: Don’t skimp on the salt and pepper – they’re crucial for rounding out the flavor. Lastly, while this salad is tasty both hot and cold, it really shines at room temperature or just slightly warmed. I suggest preparing this salad 2 hours before serving time.
Ingredients:
zest and juice of 2 Meyer lemons
1 cup dried quinoa
1 cup dried berries (dried cherries, blueberries, cranberries, etc.)
1 cup walnuts, toasted
1/3 cup parsley, chopped
1/3 cup mint, chopped
1 tablespoon fruity olive oil
sea salt, pepper to taste
Methods:
1. In a 2:1 ratio of water to dried quinoa, fill a pot with water and quinoa on the stove and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook quinoa for 15-18 minutes until tender.
2. Meanwhile, toast walnuts on the stove in a brimmed, oil-free skillet until fragrant (about 5-7 minutes). Alternatively, bake in the oven for the same amount of time at 375 degrees. Chop in rough pieces and set aside.
3. Place dried fruit in a bowl with lemon zest. Cover berries with 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and stir, thoroughly incorporating the liquid with the berries.
4. Chop mint and parsley. When quinoa has finished cooking, fluff with a fork and dump in a large bowl. Combine with walnuts, citrus-soaked berries and herbs. Sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt (at least 1/4 teaspoon) and several cracks of pepper. Combine with a tablespoon of fruity olive oil (or more) and taste. Add additional Meyer lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature.
Diet Notes: Gluten-free, vegan
Addictive Artichoke Gratin
February 22, 2010 § 1 Comment
I’m cozied-up on the sofa at home beneath a grey sky. The heater’s humming in the background. I have a seventh batch of candied citrus peels bubbling away on the stove and the house smells lived-in and fresh. I’m in Regina-veg-out mode.
I’m recuperating: This past Friday through Sunday zipped by in a whirlwind of ooh-and-ahh Bellagio fountain shows, the best strawberry jam of my life, irritating casino music, back-to-back visits to a chocolate chop, a salon and a hotel with limp cucumbers and empty beer bottles on the patio and a beautiful wedding to boot! Sadly, the Vegas-fun petered out a mere hour into our homeward bound drive when we got stuck at the Hoover Dam. We crawled along the highway with the windows down for nearly two hours! But, never fear, I made good use of the time… While we inched, I recipe-planned! And if I manage to make all the recipes I came up with in the car, I’ll eat approximately 5 meals a day for the next week and a half!
But! Ta-DA! I’ve crossed one recipe off my list and guys, there’s no better way to put it: this artichoke gratin is positively ADDICTIVE. It takes no time to throw it together, either.
A few notes about this recipe: First, I prefer to make my own bread crumbs. It’s cheap and a snap: I buy a 99-cent baguette from the store – often days or weeks before I intend to use it in a recipe – tear it into chunks and let them dry out on the counter for a day or two. (If you’re pinched for time, simply toast 4-6 slices of bread in the toaster oven.) Whirl stale/toasted bread in a Cuisinart or blender until the texture is fine. While the Cuisinart is dirty, I often blend a few cubes of Parmesan cheese to avoid hand-grating. I make bread crumbs (with or without the Parmesan cheese) in advance and store the crumbs in in the freezer. It keeps wonderfully for at least a month and it’s convenient to have at-the-ready for a quick, mid-week dish.
Second, if you choose to use canned artichokes as I did, the artichokes are already soaked in a salty brine that lingers, even after a thorough rinsing. The Parmesan cheese will add more salt to the recipe. Because of this, I added no additional salt and I found it plenty seasoned.
Ingredients:
2 cans (15 oz.) artichoke hearts, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth (in a pinch, use bullion)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup scallions, chopped (including the green part)
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons butter, melted & unsalted
Methods:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare bread and cheese crumbs: Use stale or toasted bread and pulverize in a blender until finely ground. Set aside. Using the Cuisinart or blender, blend a few cubes of Parmesan cheese to yield approximately 1/4 cup. (Eye-balling is fine here.) Combine with bread crumbs. Melt 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter on the stove or in the microwave. Combine with bread crumbs and set aside.
2. Rinse and drain artichoke hearts. Chop in half. Chop scallions and parsley and set aside. Heat oil on medium in a brimmed pan and saute scallions until wilted (approximately 2-3 minutes). Add artichokes and cook an additional minute. Add vegetable broth and red pepper flakes and cook a few minutes until some of the liquid has evaporated, but not all.
3. In a baking dish (I used 8″ x 8″) pile artichokes in the bottom of the pan. Top with bread + butter crumbs. Bake in the oven 10 minutes or until the top turns golden brown. Serve immediately.
Diet Notes: Nut-free
GUEST POST: Lori’s (my Ma’s!) Eggplant Lasagna
February 1, 2010 § 1 Comment
Regina asked me to be a “guest contributor” on her food blog after I made this Eggplant Lasagna recipe. I agreed to do it, but I must admit, I approached the task with a little trepidation. Do I admit that I don’t always buy rbST hormone-free cheese when I can get it cheaper at Sam’s club? Or that I bought organically grown eggplant this time, but only because it was the same price as the tainted stuff? And, photographing each “step” – do I really want the world to see how my sauce overflowed from the food processor onto the floor? I’ll cut to the chase and save myself further embarrassment:
Guest Contributor: Mom
Adapted from original recipe posted by Danny Boome on Allrecipes.com
Serves 6-8
Ingredients for Lasagna
2 large eggplants, sliced lengthwise 3/4 inch thick (8 slices)
5 tablespoons olive oil, divided, plus more for baking dish
sea salt, pepper
1 cup mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon basil or thyme, chopped
15 oz whole milk ricotta cheese (I tried low fat, too; it’s good either way)
3 eggs
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated, divided
2 tablespoons oregano leaves, fresh
2 cups Nona’s Marinara Sauce (see below)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees; prepare 9 x 13 baking by brushing a little olive oil on bottom and sides.
2. Arrange sliced eggplant in a single layer on 2 baking pans. Brush olive oil on both sides (3 tablespoons or so) and season with salt and pepper. Roast the eggplant until it is soft and golden. Turn slices halfway through. (I cooked them for about 25 minutes, total.)
3. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and the sliced mushrooms. Saute about 7 minutes, until soft. Add the minced garlic and chopped basil (or thyme). Cook another 2 minutes. Once the mushrooms are cooked, remove and set aside to cool.
4. In a large bowl, add the ricotta, eggs, 1/2 cup Parmesan, oregano, mushrooms, 3/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Mix well.
5. Make Nona’s Marinara Sauce (instructions below).
6. Spread half of the marinara sauce on the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Lay 4 slices of eggplant on top of the sauce, followed by ricotta mixture. Lay another 4 slices of eggplant and finish with remaining marinara sauce. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan. Bake until golden brown at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes or so before slicing.
Nona’s Marinara Sauce
5 cloves garlic
sea salt, pepper
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 large onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
2-3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup basil leaves
2 tablespoons oregano or parsley, fresh
1 (28 oz) can crushed or plum tomatoes
1 tablespoon maple syrup
Directions for Marinara Sauce:
1. Peel 5 cloves garlic and place them in a square of foil. Sprinkle the cloves with salt and pepper and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Wrap up the foil (I would suggest double wrapping so that no oil will leak out) and place it directly on the oven rack. Roast the garlic until it is brown and tender, about 25 minutes. Allow to cool enough to touch and squeeze the garlic from the skins. Set aside.
2. Saute onions and carrots with the oil in a medium saucepan. Add tomato paste and stir well. This will cook off the tomato paste. Cook for about 10 minutes. When the vegetables are softened, add the roasted garlic, salt, pepper, basil, oregano and maple sugar (or sugar) and stir together until incorporated. Pour in the tomatoes. Fill the empty can with water (28 oz) and add it it to the pan. (I added an extra tablespoon of tomato paste to thicken it a bit.) Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 1 hour, uncovered. Stir occasionally. Once sauce is ready, carefully* pour it into the food processor and puree until smooth or slightly chunky. (* When I first made this recipe, apparently I overlooked the “carefully” part. My sauce was everywhere.)
Diet Notes: Gluten-free, nut-free
