49 short recipes

Vegan maple rum rice creme made with short grain rice, soy milk, and maple syrup pureed smooth, served with a cocoa-honey chocolate sauce. A dairy-free, low-fat dessert.

Loved the idea of infusing curry, chili powder and cumin seeds in the oil, which made the curry oil so flavorful. The combination of apples, bell peppers, celeries, raisins, and peas (I used peas instead of snow peas) was delicious with the curried rice.

Italian sweet-pickled cauliflower (cavolfiore in agrodolce) with blanched florets and onions jarred in a spiced white wine vinegar syrup with mustard seeds, cinnamon, and cloves. Ready in a week, keeps all year.

Congee is the Chinese name, Kanji the Japanese, and Jook is the Filipino name, all for the same thing. In English it would be called Rice Gruel or maybe Rice Hot Cereal, but progressively it is referred to by the naturalist health community as Congee. It is a staple of the Ancient Chinese Diet and used to nurse the sick and weak back to health. They say 3 weeks of this will cure ANYTHING! Its because it gives your system such a break that it can use its energy elsewhere to heal what ails you. It has nursed me back to health at least 3 times now and is supposed to be a part of my DAILY diet, according to my Acupuncturist, Betsy. Thank you for saving my life Betsy!!!

Short cut version of refrigerated pickled okra.

A depression era soda bread reicip when many ingredients were in short supply.

A light vegetarian chilled soup with fresh lemon juice and zest, brown rice, vegetable stock, and dry apple cider. Bright, tangy, and refreshing, garnished with chives and lemon slices.

Vinegared sushi rice (sushi-meshi): short-grain rice cooked with kombu and dressed with a rice vinegar, mirin, and sugar seasoning. The essential base for sushi, chirashi, and temaki.

False Fish is a clever vegetarian dish of rice and red lentils pressed overnight, sliced, breaded, and pan-fried golden to mimic crispy fish steaks. Serve with parsley sauce.

Handy pastry dough: make-ahead pie crust with egg and vinegar that keeps two weeks in the fridge. Makes five balls ready to roll for pies, quiches, or turnovers on short notice.

All-purpose Mediterranean meat and rice stuffing with fresh mint, parsley, and dill. Fills vine leaves, cabbage, tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, and peppers for dolma-style dishes.

A vegetable curry pot pie filled with sweet potato, eggplant, mushrooms, and peas in a fragrant sauce, topped with a sticky brown rice crust instead of pastry. Plant-based comfort food with Indian flair.

Individual rustic fruit tarts with shortcrust pastry, apricot jam glaze, and thinly sliced apples or pears. A French-bistro dessert that bakes in 15 minutes and looks gorgeous.

Salsa is such a great sauce that can go well with lots of things, it can be served with chips as a dip, or it can be put in the casserole as a sauce. And it is so quick and easy to make, chop a few fresh vegetables, throw them all together, here your freshly homemade salsa.

A warming Korean-inspired broth with ginseng root, garlic shoots, soy sauce, and toasty sesame oil. Just pour boiling water over the seasonings for an earthy, restorative sipping soup ready in 10 minutes.

Simple buttered fiddleheads with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. A quick springtime side dish that highlights the grassy, asparagus-like flavor of fern shoots.