Anita's super tasty tofu scramble (secret recipe)

Half a block of tofu, crumbled
1 Tbsp chopped fresh ginger
4 cloves of garlic
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp canola oil
2 Tbsp Tamari (good soy sauce thats made from real soybeans, dont buy that cheap stuff)
1 onion
1 red pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander
2 Tbsp Pataks curry paste
1 chili (if you like extra heat)
1/4 cup water

Fry the onions, ginger, garlic, chili and red pepper in the oil until the onions are transluscent. Add the tofu fry it around for a bit. Then add the water, soy sauce, and sugar. Put a lid on the pan and let the juices simmer for a good 10-20 minutes until the tofu absorbs everything. Serve it with acorn squash (baked or microwaved with a bit of butter, salt and pepper), plain yogurt, and warmed up slices of pita bread. If you want greens on the side (which go very well), I have used fiddleheads, bok choy, or kale which is yum yum yummy. A well rounded meal with all your vitamin needs.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

1 butternut squash, cut in half and baked on a sheet face down in a bit of water
2 celery stalks
1 onion
1 Tbsp ginger
2 Tbsp Pataks curry paste
oil
4-6 cups stock (chicken or veggie)
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander
A chili if you like spice
1/4 cup coconut milk or yogurt (optional)
1-3 bay leaf
juice from one lime

Scoop the seeds out of the squash and throw it away, then scoop out the squash and set aside. Fry onions, celery and ginger in a bit of oil until golden. Then add the curry paste and fry for a few minutes. Add the squash and the stock and the bay leaf and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Puree half of the soup in a blender and put it back in the soup with the yogurt or coconut milk and the lime juice. Heat it up and enjoy.

Shitake and crimini mushroom soup

400 g crimini or any brown mushroom (cept the poisonous ones)
200g fresh shitakes
4 cups chicken broth
1 large onion
2 large carrots
some basil or rosemary
salt and pepper
2-3 tbsp butter
150 ml cream
3 tbsp flour
few shakes of worchestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Fry onions and carrots in butter until soft (5-10 min), then add the chopped mushrooms, fry for another 5 min, then add flour. stir it around. Then add the stock and the herbs. let it cook in there for a good 20-30 min. Then cool it a little, put half in blender then put it back in to make it more soupy. then you can add the cream, and im constantly monitoring for salt and pepper. At the end dump in a few dashes of wooster (worchesetire.. dont know how to spell it). Delicious if I do say so myself.

Chorizo sweet potato soup

2- 3chorizo sausages (the smoked kind)
1 onion
2 bay leafs
4 sweet potatoes and 1 white potatoes peeled and chopped
6 cups of chicken stock
4 leafs of swiss chard, with stem removed and torn up
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp chili flakes

Fry the sausage until browned, take out and pat extra oil away with a paper towel. In the sausage grease, fry the onions until golden, add potatoes and fry for a few minutes. Then add the stock and the bay leaves, simmering until the potatoes are very soft. Take a potato masher to mash some of the potatoes. Add the sausage and the swiss chard and simmer for 10 more minutes. This is really good, especially the next day. Sorry for the vegetarians, the chorizo gives this soup a really yummy flavour.

Sweet potato and smoked gouda perogies

I'm slightly obsessed with perogies, especially after living in Winnipeg which I think is pretty much the perogy capital of Canada. Montreal has alot of good things for sure, the onion soup, the poutine, but good perogies are hard to find around here.
I just tried this new kind of perogy from this cookbook, Rebar, and it's delicious.

Filling:
5 lb (2.3kg) sweet potatoes or yams
2 tbsp butter
3 large leeks chopped, mostly whites
1 tsp salt
1 lb (450g) smoked gouda, grated
cracked pepper to taste

perogy dough
4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
4 egg yolks
1 cup hot water
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, scrub the yams then poke them a bit with a fork. Put on an oiled baking sheet wih a bit of water and bake until they're sofy and puffy. Cool them a bit, then mash them.
While the yams roast, heat butter in a frying pan and sautee the leeks until golden and a little caramelized. Add this to your yams along with the cheese, salt and pepper to taste and a little more butter (mm butter). Put this in the fridge.
To make the dough, mix the dry ingredients together. Add the rest and mix with a wooden spoon (or your clean hands) until the dough is smooth, cover it and let it sit at room temp for 30 min.
Divide the dough into quarters, roll it out to about 1/8th of an inch thick (a pasta machine works well for this), then cut out circles with a wine glass, put a tsp or so of filling in the middle, fold it and pinch it closed. Boil the perogies until they rise to the top, toss them with more butter. Serve them of course with sour cream and caramelized onions.
If you want to freeze them, after boiling put one layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and after theyre frozen stick them into some ziplock bags.
** note: for simpler, traditional, just as delicious perogies you substitute sweet potatoes for white potaotoes, and the gouda for sharp cheddar cheese
Whew!

Carrot Cumin Soup

2 large onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, diced
5 or 6 cups chopped carrots
1 large potato, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
6 cups vegetable stock (or water)
3 tsp cumin
salt
2-3 tbsp olive oil
fresh ginger

1) Saute onions and garlic in olive oil on medium heat until onions are soft and translucent.

2) Add carrots, celery, cumin, and salt and stir for about a minute.

3) Add stock and potato and bring to a boil, then simmer for about 25 minutes.

4) Remove from heat and puree.

5) Grate fresh ginger over each serving to taste

The great thing about this recipe, besides the fact that it's pretty tasty, is that it's cheap! And vegan too (in keeping with the vegan theme...)

Shitake Tofu Potstickers

1 oz dried shitake mushroooms
1/2 block of tofu, pressed under a cutting board and a couple of textbooks for at least an hour (to let the water out so whatever seasoning you put into it will be absorbed quickly)
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp minced ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 green onions, minced
1/4 tsp red chile flakes
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cracked pepper
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp minced cilantro
30 round wonton wrapppers
1 tbsp cornstarch
4 Tbsp water

Fry onion, ginger, garlic, and onions in oils. Crumble tofu into mixture and then add soy sauce. At the very end add the cilantro and let mixture cool. Soak dried mushrooms in boiling mushrooms for one hour, then dice and add to tofu mixture. Put filling in middle of wrappers and pinch the edges in an artistic way. Fry the wontons in a thin sheet of oil, when they turn brown add 1/2 cup of water, cover, and steam. Serve with a sauce mixed with 1/2 part soy sauce, 1/ water, a few tbsp of sesame oil and a few tbsp of rice wine vinegar. It's yummmy, and you'll only receive praises from you guests.

Side note: It's totally vegan! please send me your comments on how you feel about craving and eatib meat. I'm definitely not against it, but meat makes me feel bad sometimes.

Sweet divine tomato sauce that youy can study with in the wintertime!

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
6 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
a pinch of chili flakes
1 cup of wine
Tomatoes (1 can canned pureed tomatoes or 30 peeled fresh tomatoes)
Fresh basil (about 1/2 cup)
2 chicken legs or whatever bones you can find (omit if vegetarian, no big deal)
Fry the onions and garlic until golden, fry the meat until it's browned but not cooked. Then add the wine. When reduced by half and you can't smell the alcohol cooking off of it, add the tomatoes and bay leafs. Let simmer for at least one hour. It get's so much more yummy with time!