Gavin's tofu mushroom scallion pizza

At the age of 5 in 2002, Gavin asked for this in specific detail, even though I'd never made anything like it before. But it's delicious, and he continues to ask for it. His first original recipe! In July 2005, it was featured on Zorba Paster on your Health on Public Radio International!

Sauté in a teaspoon or so of canola oil

• 3-4 sliced mushrooms
• some firm drained tofu cut in 3/8" cubes (slice a 3/8" slice off the end of a block of tofu and dice it)
• one scallion ("Only the green part; you keep the white part.") or 6-8 chives, chopped.

On a 6" round of pita bread,

• spread a teaspoon or two of basil pesto
• sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese to cover.

Spread the sautéed mixture on top of the pizza base, and broil on a pizza stone in the oven at 325° Fahrenheit until lightly browned (around 10 minutes).

Stuffed baked sweet potatoes

This has become a regular in our household, and was born of what was at hand one evening. What was at hand included a bunch of broccoli, and I was thinking about something that might actually use the stems. It worked. And while you can certainly add the broccoli florets here, they aren't necessary at all, so you might want to save them for another dish.
Vegan

• Bake (or microwave) large (about 5-6 inches long, 3 inches in diameter are ideal) sweet potatoes ahead of time. I'll usually do two or three at a time in the microwave for 10 minutes on high, then turn them over and repeat until tender. Set aside to cool. (Splitting them in half laterally will accelerate that a bit.)
• Sauté a large chopped onion with the chopped stems of a bunch of broccoli until both are tender.
• Preheat an oven to 350º F.
• Scoop out most of the flesh of the sweet potato into a bowl, and mix with the onion and broccoli. Spoon it back into the shells of the sweet potato skins, and place on a lightly greased pan.
  
• Bake for 20 minutes, or until the tops are just slightly browned.
  

Stir-fried sweet potatoes with broccoli and onions

The sweet potatoes we got as part of our share at New Roots Urban Farm this year were fairly small, and irregularly shaped. As I puzzled what to do with them, I came up with this variant of the stuffed sweet potatoes that I first made about a year ago.
Vegan

In a wok, heat 3 Tablespoons of oil on high heat.

• Add 3-4 cups thinly sliced (about ¼ inch thick) sweet potatoes, and halve or quarter the slices if the potato is more than an inch in diameter.
  
• Add the stems from a large bunch of broccoli, thinly sliced. Reserve the florets. Cook, stirring frequently until the sweet potatoes and broccoli stems begin to get tender.
• Add 2 teaspoons ginger powder and 1 teaspoon salt, and stir well,
  
• Add 3 onions, halved and thinly sliced. When the onion begins to get soft,
• Add the broccoli florets, broken into small pieces.

When the sweet potatoes are very tender, serve.

What we're doing here

Laurel and Gavin have said I should write a cookbook, and maybe some year when I'm on sabbatical I'll think about that. I started posting recipes on a plain vanilla web page elsewhere, but this is just such an easier tool that I will probably move them over here. In the meantime, there's a link in the sidebar to the existing page.

I've been a vegetarian since 1976, when I decided to give up meat for a month, having recently become aware of how much grain is fed to cattle in the United States. To my surprise, I liked it so much that I haven't gone back. Besides, for me it feels like a gentler way of living, another way to try to grow in nonviolence.

So, these recipes are all (ovo lacto) vegetarian, and a good number are vegan.