Coconut Apple Dal

Ingredients
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 oz. fresh ginger
1 red apple
1 bunch of swiss chard (or other leafy green)
3/4 c. red lentils
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. curry powder
5.5 oz. coconut milk
8 oz. cooked brown rice
1 lime
toasted coconut, for garnish

Directions
Dice the onion. Peel and mince the garlic and ginger. Using the large side of a box grater, grate the apple. Thinly slice the Swiss chard stems and leaves. Rinse and sort the red lentils.

Place a medium saucepan over medium heat with 1 tbsp. coconut oil. Add the chopped onion, minced garlic, and ginger, and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion softens, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the cumin and curry powder. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add the grated apple, red lentils, coconut milk, and 2 cups of water to the saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until lentils are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, place a medium skillet over medium heat with 1 tbsp. coconut oil. Add the sliced chard and cook until wilted, about 2 to 3 minutes. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Halve the lime and squeeze half of the juice into the dal, off the heat. Season with 1/2 tsp. salt. Divide the coconut apple dal between large shallow bowls and top with greens, toasted coconut, and lime wedges.

Serves 2.

Raw Apple Crisp

Ingredients

4 Honeycrisp apples, cored and diced

1/4 c. orange juice

3/4 c. pecan halves

3/4 c. hazelnuts

3/4 c. raisins

3/4 tsp. ground ginger

3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

Toss diced apples with orange juice and put into casserole dish. Smooth the top. In a food processor, combine nuts, raisins, ginger and cinnamon and pulse until chopped and well combined. Spoon the nut mixture over the apple mixture and serve. Serves 8.

NOTE TO SELF: One and a half of this recipe fits into my oval Corning-ware casserole dish. Also, I used raw almonds in the nut mixture, as well, which was terrific. Use up whatever you've got on hand! 

Apple & Sweet Potato Kugel

I threw this together in about 25 minutes. It's appropriate for any meal of the day, and you can toss in whatever leftovers you have and change up the spices for a whole new dish.

Ingredients
1 lb. sweet potato or butternut squash, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 onion, chopped into 1-inch pieces
2 apples, peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 tsp. vegetable oil
1-12 oz. bag of broad egg noodles
4 eggs
1 c. sour cream or Greek yogurt
1 c. whole milk (I used 2%, actually)
dash of thyme and black pepper, freshly ground
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. butter
Panko bread crumbs, sugar, and salt for sprinkling over the casserole before baking

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Toss vegetables with oil, salt, and pepper, then roast on a pan (in one layer) for about 20 minutes. Toss once during the roasting process. When the veggies are ready, they will have just started to brown. Once you've removed the veggies from the oven, reduce the temperature to 350 degrees.

While the veggies are roasting, cook your noodles until they are just cooked through. Beat the eggs and then whisk in the milk, sour cream or yogurt, and spices, and set aside.

Lightly grease a 9x13-inch casserole dish and create the kugel by layering noodles, veggies, noodles, veggies and so on. Then, pour the egg mixture over the casserole. Press the noodles into the egg mixture with the back of a big spoon. Sprinkle Panko, sugar and salt over the top and bake for 40 minutes, or until the top starts browning. Let sit for 20 minutes prior to serving.

Serves 6 to 8.

Applesauce

We have tried a few different combinations of spices in our applesauce, so let yourself live a little! Many recipes call for sugar, but we find the apples offer enough sweetness!

Ingredients

1 peck (13 lbs.) apples, peeled, cored and quartered

3 c. water

4 tbsp. lemon juice

4 tsp. ground spices

Directions

Peel and core the apples. We recommend using one of those gadgets they sell that peels and cores at the same time -- it is a huge time saver. As you peel and core, drop the apples into a bowl of water and lemon juice to help prevent browning. Then quarter the apples and add to a large stainless steel pot, with 3 c. water.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, for five to 20 minutes, until apples are tender (the time will depend upon the variety of apple and their maturity). Remove from heat and let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.

(If you want a smoother applesauce, puree at this point.) Add spices and lemon juice. Maintain a gentle boil over low heat as you ladle hot applesauce into jars. Remove any air bubbles with a small rubber spatula and adjust headspace to 1/2 inch. Wipe rim, center lid on jar, and screw band down until resistance is met. Increase resistance to fingertip-tight. Place jars in the canner and process at a rolling boil for 20 minutes. Remove canner lid, wait five minutes then remove jars, cool and store.

Makes about four quart jars.