Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

So my garden yielded 50+ roma tomatoes; my gardner coworker recommended a simple spaghetti sauce that tasted dreamy. Tony loved it even though it was healthy with low sodium. I took the basics (see Smitten Kitchen's Fresh Tomato Sauce recipe for the bare basics) and added a spin.

So here we go with the HOMEMADE DELICIOUS SPAGHETTI SAUCE!

15 - 20 Roma Tomatoes (or the type your garden yielded or you have a surplus of), quartered
1/4 cup of olive oil
Head of garlic (roasted)
2 - 3 additional garlic cloves
1/2 cup of shaved parmesan cheese
Bay leaves
Salt to taste
Tsp or so of dried basil
Tsp or so of pepper
Pinch of cayenne
Chopped fresh basil (don't go out and spend $3.00 as the sauce is delicious even without this touch)

Roast the head of garlic in the oven

Heat olive oil over low-medium heat and add 2 - 3 cloves of garlic for 10 minutes to infuse oil
Cut tomatoes in quarters and (to the best of your ability) remove seeds and access juice
Add tomatoes to pan over low heat, stir throughout, to cook for approx. 45 minutes (the longer you cook the thicker the sauce becomes!)
Once the tomatoes start to break down, add a pinch of salt, dried basil, pepper, and cayenne (if you like a mild kick) and a bay leaf, use a kitchen utensil to assist the tomatoes in breaking down
A few minutes before you are ready to serve, add 1/4 cup of shaved parmesan - it melts right up and adds a creamy texture
Serve with fresh basil

Writing a recipe is more challenging than it looks!!!

Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers

Sweet Potato Veggie Burger

I make this ONCE and eat it for lunch all week! YUM!

makes 7-8 large patties

2 cans cannellini white beans, drained
1 large sweet potato, baked/peeled/mashed (about 2 cups)
2 Tbsp tahini
2 tsp maple or agave syrup
1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning OR Cajun seasoning (or another fave spice!)
1/4 cup wheat flour
optional: additional seasoning (whatever you have on hand - I used a few dashes cayenne, black pepper and a scoop of nutritional yeast)
salt to taste if needed

plentiful Panko crumbs
safflower oil for pan

burgers: avocado, Dijon mustard, grain buns, romaine, onion, olive oil, pepper

Directions:

1. Bake sweet potato. Peel, place in large mixing bowl.
2. Add drained beans to mixing bowl. Mash beans and potato together.
3. Mash in seasoning, flour and any additional seasoning. Your mixture will be quite soft and moist. But you should be able to form a patty. Add more flour or a scoop of breadcrumbs - or dry rice to thicken the mixture if needed.
4. Heat 1 Tbsp safflower oil in a pan over high heat.
5. Form a patty from mixture and coat in Panko crumbs. Thick coating. Then drop the patty in the pan. Repeat until the pan is filled. Cook until browned on both sides. You could also bake. If baking, use less Panko.
6. Transfer cooked patties to paper towel. Cool for a few minutes.
7. Serve on toasted bun with lotsa toppings.

Note: yes this patty does fall kind of apart as you eat it. But that is OK because it tastes yummy. 

http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2012/02/easy-sweet-potato-veggie-burgers-with.html

Quinoa Veggie Burger

Loaded Quinoa Veggie Burgers

adapted from Whole Living

• 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 carrot, diced
• 4 scallions, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 15 ounces can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup Italian seasoned dried breadcrumbs
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

In a small pot, bring 3/4 cup water to a boil. Add quinoa, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook until liquid is absorbed, 12 to 14 minutes; set aside.

In a food processor, pulse carrot until finely chopped. Add cooked quinoa, scallions, garlic, beans, breadcrumbs, egg, cumin, salt, and pepper; pulse until combined but still slightly chunky.

Form mixture into four patties. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium; cook burgers until browned, about 8 minutes per side.

Garden Veg Salsa

From Taste of Home September 2012 Issue

Start to Finish: 20 Minutes
Makes: 6 Cups
Minutes it Takes to Consume it All: 1 Minute

3 large tomatoes, chopped
1 cup chopped cucumber
1 medium sweet yellow or red pepper, chopped
3/4 cup chopped zucchini
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. white vinegar
3/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
Tortilla chips

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, toss to combine.
Refrigerate, covered, until serving.
Serve with chips.

I actually throw all but the chips into the food processor and pulse grind until a preferred consistency instead of chopping everything up myself.

Straining to improve the consistency (in my opinion).



I make 2 double batches of this in one weekend and ate it all! Healthy AND low sodium makes for a great snack!