Here’s how to make it:

Chop and combine the following veggies, all measurements are approximate.

• 1 cup red cabbage slices
• 1 cup green cabbage slices
• 1-2 carrots
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 2 tbs black sesame sees (optional)

Then mix in the following flavors, again all is approximate.

• 2+ tbs olive oil
• 1-2 tbs rice vinegar
• scant 1 tsp honey or agave
• salt and pepper to taste

Let the mixture mingle for about 1/2 hour before serving. This will keep for a few days in the fridge.

Here is my mushroom patch. It is in the rubbermaid bin to keep spores from dirtying the carpet. The mister bottle is to the right. The plastic beyond the mister bottle is a humidity tent, and the skewers in the patch help hold the tent up. You can see a new mushroom at the right of the far end of the patch.

Here is one shiitake mushroom that I clipped from the patch.

The kit came with a number of recipes, but so far I've just been sauteeing the mushrooms in a bit of oil or butter. It's delicious.

I have read that the stems get too tough for cooking, so I boil the stems for soup stock. I then freeze the stock for future use.

Here’s my shitake cooking recipe so far.

Ingredients

• fresh shiitake mushrooms
• oil or butter

Directions

• Wash the mushrooms
• Cut off their stalks, save for boiling in water to make soup stock
• Slice caps in half, then cut into sections
• Heat oil or butter in pan on medium-low
• Add mushrooms
• Sautee until done.  The color will change and they will cook down.
• Serve hot

Mmmmmmm…..

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water or vegetable broth (vegetable broth will add more flavor)
• 1 tsp very thinly sliced red onion
• 1/2 cup chopped bell peppers (red, green, yellow)
• 1/4 cup chopped tomato
• 1 cup fresh baby spinach (or chopped regular spinach)
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin (Be forewarned, this salad is generous on cumin. If you’re not a fan, you can scale it back.)
• juice of 1 lime
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse quinoa and remove any debris or discolored grains.
2. Add quinoa plus liquid (either water or broth) to pot. Bring to a boil and then simmer for approx 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
3. Meanwhile, combine olive oil, lime juice, cumin, peppers, onion and tomato and set aside. (This is all the ingredients except the spinach.)
4. After quinoa is cooked, move to colander and set aside to cool.
5. Combine warm quinoa, bowl of spices and veggies and spinach. Mix well.

Note: Let the quinoa cool based on your preference for crisp spinach or wilted spinach or somewhere in between. I like my spinach ever so slightly wilted, and I let the quinoa cool for about 7-8 minutes before combining with the spinach, so the heat from the quinoa can soften it up just a little.

Ingredients:

• 4 green onions (chopped, use both whites and greens)
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1-2 tbs lemon pepper
• 1 1/2 cups lightly steamed asparagus chunks
• 1 strip crispy bacon crumbled
• 10-12 large grilled shrimp
• 4 tbs fresh chopped parsley

Saute the onions in olive oil. Add the white wine, half the parsley, and lemon pepper. When blended add the asparagus. Take off heat, toss in shrimp and pasta. Mix well. Serve garnished with bacon crumbles and chopped fresh parsley. This served two with a side salad.

Meat Sauce:

• 1/2 yellow onion diced
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• large can tomato pieces (with basil)
• 1/2 cup red wine
• large chunks of dried basil from my garden, could also use lots of dried, or chopped fresh
• 1/4 cup kalamata olives (sliced in half)
• 1 – 1/2 cups grape tomatoes (sliced in half), you could also use cherry tomatoes
• salt and pepper to taste

First, put the tomato pieces, wine, basil in a pot and warm to steaming, but not boiling. Meanwhile, brown the meat and onions together, keeping the meat in big chunks. Add the meat and onion mixture, olives, basil, tomatoes to the red sauce. Mix together and serve atop al dente spaghetti or your favorite pasta.

Stock Ingredients

• 1 turkey drumstick
• 1 small onion, quartered
• 2 carrots chopped in halves or quarters
• 3 stalks celery cut in half
• lots of water

The drumstick went right in a large pot covered with water, and I added water as it cooked when the water level dipped below the top of the drumstick. I made the stock over the course of about three hours, skimming off the funk on top periodically. Then, I strained the stock, discarded the vegetables, and set aside some choice meat from the turkey leg.

Soup Ingredients

• 6-8 cups stock
• 1/4 onion thinly sliced and chopped
• 1 carrot thinly sliced
• 1 stalk celery thinly sliced
• 2 tbs fresh parsley
• turkey pulled from drumstick

I combined the above ingredients. I didn’t have any white meat turkey on hand, but would definitely recommend it, if you make your own turkey soup.

Dumplings

• 1 egg
• generous 1 cup flour
• cold water

Finally, I kneaded the above ingredients into an ever so slightly sticky dough ball. When the turkey soup was hot (but not boiling), I dropped in chunks of dough. After about 3 or 4 minutes, the dough was cooked and turkey soup was served!

Here’s what I did. Over the weekend, I made an extra huge batch of French Toast (I use rice milk instead of cow’s milk) and a few extra pieces of bacon. (It was hard not to eat all the bacon, but I held myself back!) I packaged up the leftovers in a paper towel-lined tupperware to prevent soggy-ness and took them into the office. A few minutes in the toaster oven and both French Toast and bacon are delicious. I topped the French Toast with currant jam. I think my officemates were a little jealous of the unmistakable bacon aroma…

Ingredients:

• tuna steak (I used a frozen steak)
• olive oil
• green onions (chopped, white part separated from green part)
• shiitake mushrooms (sliced long ways, from top of cap to bottom of stem)
• tamari
• cilantro

How I made this happen:

First off, non-stick skillet is the way to go. Put in a little olive oil and the white part of the green onions and put the skillet on medium-high heat. Add the tuna steak. Sear the steak until one side is fully cooked, then flip. Add the shiitakes, and green parts of the onions on side of pan to cook. When tuna is nearly finished, pour in a large splash of tamari, this will sizzle like crazy, but just the finish you need. Serve the tuna steak topped with mushrooms, then garnish with cilantro.

Ingredients (all are approximate):

• 2 cans of chili beans
• 1 large can stewed tomatoes
• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 cups chopped carrots
• 1 small chopped onion
• a few cloves minced garlic
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 chopped bell pepper
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup beef broth (or water)
• olive oil
• chili spices (cumin, chili powder, oregano — or whatever spices you like)

Directions (generally):

1. Saute all but 1/4 cup of the onions, garlic and carrots in olive oil in a large skillet or pot (this will be where all chili is combined).
2. Meanwhile, brown meat with remaining 1/4 cup onions/garlic/carrots and set aside.
3. Add wine, beef broth, tomatoes, beans and chili spices to the large skillet (not the browning meat) once onions are clear.
4. Cook at simmer or lower temperature for 10-15 minutes.
5. Adjust chili spices if needed (hotter, etc)
6. Stir in frozen corn, bell pepper and browned meat, and turn off the heat.
7. After the chili cools, spoon it into a gallon size freezer plastic bag(s). Poke the corners in (so when they’re frozen they don’t puncture other bags or foods) and double bag it into another freezer bag.
8. Freeze overnight, and then pack in your frozen chili to your hut or cabin. (Since it’s frozen it will help keep other foods cold en route to your cabin.)

Notes: Serves 6-8.
I served this with steamed green beans and crescent rounds (from a can). Delicious!

Since we didn’t have clay stone (or tandoor oven!) we inverted baking sheets for the naan to bake on:

This is the naan being brushed with Earth Balance (non-dairy butter):

This is the finished product: (a little thick)

The verdict: This sort of worked. It was tasty flatbread, but didn’t have the right consistency for naan. As you might be able to surmise from the picture, it was too thick and it was slightly overcooked.

Things that could make it better are:

• definitely must: roll the dough thinner
• probably should do this: use dairy substitutes that are thicker for the recipe (dairy-free yogurt instead of almond milk)
• maybe this would help: make the naan on a warmer day so the dough would rise more

Here’s the recipe (adapted to be dairy-free from Joy of Cooking):

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 2 tbs melted Earth Balance
• 3/4 almond milk (should have used plain non-dairy yogurt)
• 1 tsp+ water as needed

Directions:

1. Combine dry ingredients.
2. Add we ingredients.
3. Mix on low until soft ball of dough is formed.
4. Knead about 10 minutes with a dough hook.
5. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and turn it over once to coat.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about 1 1/2 hours.
7. Punch down the dough and divide into four parts.
8. Roll into balls, cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
9. Roll each ball of dough into an oval 1/4″ thick.
10. Brush the tops of the dough with melted butter.
11. Place on baking sheet and bake at 475° until each oval gets puffy and beings to turn golden (6-7 minutes).