My dear friend Rachel recommended this vegan recipe from Joan Nathan’s The New American Cooking, and it sounded like something my mom and I would enjoy. I like all the individual ingredients, but even as it was cooking I had my doubts — I couldn’t see how the flavors would all come together in the proportions listed. Ultimately, served over some whole wheat couscous, it was an OK, healthy dinner. My mom liked it much more than I did, so I gave her the leftovers.

I would probably not make this specific dish again, but if I did I would cut the peanut butter in half (that flavor is overwhelming, in my opinion) and increase the tomatoes and onions.

One good thing came out of this recipe: I tried Smucker’s Natural chunky peanut butter for the first time and it was delicious. It has a strong roasted flavor, with just the right amount of salt and no added sugar.

Peanutty Spinach Stew
Adapted from Joan Nathan’s The New American Cooking

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 c. dry-roasted, shelled pumpkin seeds
3 plum tomatoes, cored and diced
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 c. vegetable stock
2 10-oz. packages frozen, chopped spinach
1 c. chunky peanut butter
salt & pepper to taste

In a deep pot, heat oil and saute onions until they are softened and golden, 5-10 minutes. While the onions are cooking, pulse the pumpkin seeds in a small grinder or your food processor until they reach a cornmeal consistency. Set seeds aside.

Add tomatoes and tomato paste to the pot of onions, cooking over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add stock and frozen spinach, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes or until spinach is thawed. Add peanut butter and pumpkin seeds, and stir thoroughly. Bring back to a boil then lower the heat, simmering uncovered, until the stew reaches your desired consistency — another 10 minutes or so. Season with salt and pepper and serve over cousous or rice.

J. and I both like Lidia Bastianich’s cooking shows on TV, and we’re fans of her restaurants Becco and Felidia. She has a recipe for Warm Broccoli di Rape and Yukon Gold Potato Salad in her cookbook, Lidia’s Family Table, that I have made many times.

Yesterday, in addition to the nice-sized bunch of broccoli rabe from our farm share, I also chopped up all the braising greens we received and added them into the dish as well. Even when cooked briefly they wilt down into almost nothing. The recipe is so simple, you don’t even need to click on that link above: Cut your potatoes into 1-inch chunks, and boil until just shy of being fork tender. Add your washed and chopped greens/broccoli rabe to the top of the potato pot and cover, simmering for another few minutes until the potatoes are cooked through. Drain everything, and then toss with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. Serve warm or room temperature.

This is one of my favorite ways to serve greens! Even better than tossed with pasta.

J. took the day off Friday to go to an event at the boys’ school, so he cooked dinner! (I had a feeling it would pan out this way, which is why I scheduled pancakes for dinner to begin with.) Although he doesn’t get much opportunity to do so, J. is a great cook and the boys absolutely love his pancakes. They devoured them plain — they could not be convinced to try a little syrup, even for dipping. Less mess for me.

This recipe comes from my copy of The All-New, All-Purpose Joy of Cooking, which is apparently no longer published under that title (it’s called The 1997 Joy of Cooking). I use this cookbook much more as a reference for cooking techniques (I can never remember how to hard boil an egg) rather than for recipes, though this pancake recipe is a keeper. J. thinks what makes them so delicious is the sugar and vanilla. They have just a hint of sweetness, without tasting like you’re eating dessert (and leaving plenty of leeway for syrup).

Silver Dollar Pancakes
Adapted slightly from Basic Pancakes in The All-New, All-Purpose Joy of Cooking

1½ c. white whole wheat flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1½ c. milk (we use 1%)
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 large eggs, beaten
½ tsp. vanilla

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat with a small pat of butter.

With a whisk, combine all ingredients in a large bowl, mixing until they are just combined. (If batter seems too thick, add cold water by the tablespoonful until it is corrected.)

Drop batter onto the pan in small circles (about 2-3 inches across), and cook until the tops start to bubble. Then flip and cook another couple of minutes, until the bottom is browned. Take the pan off the heat in between batches, adding a new small pat of butter each time. Serve immediately.

I have Rachael’s Ray’s Veggie Meals (from the 30-Minute Meals series) and I’ve made several successful recipes from that book. One of them is this hummus. It is very easy to make, and is so much fresher-tasting than store-bought hummus (although, we eat a lot of that too).

We normally make this hummus with falafel and Israeli salad, but it’s great as a party dip, too, served with crudite.

Hummus
Adapted from Rachael Ray’s Spicy Hummus

1 19-oz. can chickpeas, drained (reserve the liquid)
2 Tbsp. tahini (sesame paste)
1/2 tsp. crushed pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. cumin
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until chunky. Begin adding reserved chickpea liquid back into hummus as you continue pulsing, until it reaches your desired consistency. I normally add back in 2-3 Tbsp. of liquid. Garnish with a sprinkle of cayenne pepper.

TasteBook’s interface is beautiful and intuitive — it’s incredibly easy to upload your own recipe if you already have it typed up. I literally signed up for the service and created my first recipe page (with my own photo!) in less than 5 minutes.

Here’s the low-res preview of my recipe that the site provides:

The only downside I see is that you can’t customize the photo on the cover of the cookbook — that would be the ultimate in personalization. TasteBook suggests making cookbooks for fundraisers, family reunions, and bridal showers (my favorite idea!). Guests were asked to share a recipe with me at my bridal shower, which they did on index cards. How cool would it have been to receive all those recipes as a bound book?

$34.95 gets you a TasteBook with 100 recipes. If you have fewer recipes than that, you get “recipe credits” so you can add more pages to your book at a later date.

Let me know if you use the service: I’m thinking about making a TasteBook based on the cooking I did with my farm share vegetables last year.