a quick idea

I made myself some squash soup recently and didn't feel like making pumpkin seeds with the squash's guts. I hated to just throw them away, though, so I made some pumpkin milk. I just covered the seeds and stringy stuff with water and let it soak while I worked on my soup, and after a couple of hours whizzed it all in my blender till it was very smooth. I squeezed it through a nut milk bag (If you don't have one, a big piece of cheesecloth would work nearly as well) and put it in the fridge. The next morning I used some as the liquid for a spinach smoothie. I think it would also be good used in place of water when cooking rice or oats.

cauliflower tomato

I've made this dish a couple of times lately, and I really like it so I thought I'd better record it so that I don't forget all about it. It's good either fresh out of the oven or later on at room temp ( the second time I made it I took it to a potluck, where it was a success), and you can get all the vegetables cooked the night before so that it only needs a quick run through the oven right before you plan to eat it.

Cauliflower Tomato Bake
serves 2, and can easily be multiplied to serve more.


1 small cauliflower, thinly sliced so that the pieces look like little tree silhouettes
8 oz cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
olive oil
ground cumin and coriander
a couple of sprigs of marjoram, leaves stripped from stems and roughly chopped
salt and pepper

1/4C tahini
juice of a lemon
1 fat garlic clove, crushed
walnut parmesan*

If you're cooking your vegetables in advance, do them on a tin foil lined cookie sheet so they take less time. Otherwise cook them in a greased 8"x8" pan. Toss the sliced cauliflower with some olive oil, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper. Spread it in your prepared pan and bake at 450°F  till tender.  Meanwhile, toss the tomatoes with a little more olive oil and salt and pepper, plus the marjoram. When the  cauliflower's ready, scatter the tomatoes on top and cook for ten more minutes.  At this point you can let the vegetables wait till the next day, or proceed to the final bake.
Heat (or turn down) the oven to 350°F . Whisk the tahini, lemon juice and garlic together, then add enough water to make it into a pourable sauce. Pour it over the vegetables in their 8"x8" pan, spread it around, and sprinkle some walnut parmesan over the top. Bake for 10-20 minutes more (it will vary according to how hot things are when you start), till browned and tasty looking.
*Walnut parmesan: walnuts,nutritional yeast, salt, and a little lemon zest, all chopped together to a fine meal in a food processor.