My Vegetarian Recipe of the Day

Unlike the easy recipes I’ve been running, this one is not for the faint of heart. But, believe me, Mom will love you for the extra effort. If you’d like to take Mom to Cheesecake Factory for Mother’s Day but don’t want to wait in line or pay the high prices, consider this copycat recipe as an alternative. I’ll be running a few more copycats over the last remaining days until Mother’s Day.

The Cheesecake Factory German Chocolate Cheesecake

Cheesecake

24 ounces cream cheese, softened and cut into chunks
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Chocolate Cake

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour

Chocolate Glaze

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons whipping cream

German Chocolate Topping

2 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Garnish

Whipping cream

For Cheesecake: In bowl of electric mixer or in food processor fitted with metal blade, blend cream cheese, sugar, eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract until smooth. Set aside.

For Chocolate Cake: In large microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate and butter. Microwave on HIGH (100%) power for 2 to 3 minutes, or until just melted. Cool slightly. With fork, beat in sugar, eggs and vanilla extract until smooth. Add flour and mix until blended. Spoon into well-greased 9 1/2-inch springform pan, spreading evenly. Carefully, spread cheese mixture evenly over top of chocolate batter.

Bake in preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking 55 to 60 minutes. Turn oven off, open oven door and let cake cool completely to room temperature in oven. Refrigerate until well chilled.

Remove sides from springform. Invert cake onto serving plate, so cheesecake is on bottom and chocolate cake is on top. Spread sides with Chocolate Glaze. Spread top evenly with German Chocolate Topping. Refrigerate until serving time. Garnish with whipped cream if desired.

For Chocolate Glaze: In small microwave-safe bowl combine chocolate chips with whipping cream. Microwave on HIGH power for 45 to 60 seconds. Beat until smooth. Spread on sides of cheesecake.

For German Chocolate Topping: In small microwave-safe bowl, beat egg yolks. Stir in sugar, butter and whipping cream. Microwave on HIGH power 4 minutes, stirring every minute. Remove from microwave and stir in vanilla extract. Stir in coconut and pecans until well blended. Refrigerate until mixture is of spreading consistency. Spread on top of the cheesecake.

This recipe for Cheesecake Factory`s German Chocolate Cheesecake serves/makes 12.

Perfect for brunch or breakfast, this recipe has the advantage of being made ahead of time, so no one needs to get up at 5 a.m. to prepare breakfast in bed. I recommend using a veggie sausage like Gimme Lean that is not already preformed into patties, but you can substitute chopped up patties, if necessary.

Prepare Ahead Breakfast Casserole

1 (16 ounce) package veggie sausage
10 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups milk
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups cubed bread
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped (optional)
1/2 cup thin-sliced green onion (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 F. In large skillet, cook sausage over medium-high heat, stirring frequently until thoroughly cooked. I find that the veggie sausage cooks best when you put a bit of oil in the bottom of the pan.

In large mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, mustard and salt; stir well.

Distribute half the bread evenly in a buttered 9×13 x 2 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with half the pepper, half the cheese, half the sausage and half of each optional ingredient. Repeat layering using remaining bread, pepper, cheese, sausage and optional ingredients. Pour egg mixture evenly over casserole.

Bake uncovered for 55-60 minutes, or until eggs are set. Tent with foil if top begins to brown too quickly.

You may assemble this up to 12 hours ahead of time and bake it in the morning. It may require slightly more time to cook.

In the world of easy dishes, they don’t get much easier than this. If you have glass parfait dishes, this will be even prettier, but you can make it in a bowl, as well. If Dad washes the berries, the kids should be able to do the rest of this.

Simple Yogurt Parfait

2 cups vanilla yogurt
1 cup granola
8 berries (raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, or an assortment— whatever Mom likes)

In a large glass, layer 1 cup yogurt, 1/2 cup granola and 4 berries. Repeat layers.

I’m continuing yesterday’s theme of easy recipes for Dads and kids to whip up for Mother’s Day. This one could pretty easily be made by kids all by themselves, as it is a non-cooking recipe. Even the youngest kids could easily be in charge of tearing up the angel food cake. However, Dads should probably supervise so that Mom doesn’t have to clean up a huge mess.

Chocolate Pudding Cake

1 (10 inch) angel food cake
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed (I prefer whipped cream to topping)
1 (5 ounce) package non-instant chocolate pudding mix
12 oz mini chocolate chips

Tear Angel food cake into bite size pieces into a 9×13 inch cake pan (preferably glass).

Prepare chocolate pudding as directed on package. Gently spread over the top of cake pieces, spreading to edges of pan.

Carefully spread whipped topping over chocolate pudding, spreading to edges of pan and taking care not to mix with pudding.

Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips.

Chill until ready to serve, at least one hour.

I know that it’s possible there may be kids or Dads reading this. They want to make Mom a special breakfast in bed for Mother’s Day, but they’re thinking “It’s got to be easy!” Never fear. This recipe is super simple and super special. And just a hint— a flower in a vase makes any breakfast special, but the MOST special breakfast is the one you don’t have to clean up after Now, on to the recipe.

Super simple, super special scrambled eggs

8 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon seasoned pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium ripe tomato, chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped red bell pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped green onions
1/2 cup Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, milk, salt, and pepper together until well blended. Melt butter in skillet over medium-low heat until hot; pour in egg mixture. Reduce heat. As mixture begins to set on bottom and sides of skillet, lift and fold over with spatula. Cook until eggs are almost set; fold in tomato, finely chopped red pepper, and green onion. Heat scrambled eggs through; serve immediately.
If desired top with shredded cheese just before finished.

What’s Mother’s Day without muffins? They’re easy for kids to help with. They’re easy to make ahead or the morning of. You can make a lot of them if you have company, and they save well (so Mom has breakfast to feed the kids for the rest of the week). These muffins are a twist on traditional banana muffins as they contain macademia nuts. If you were really feeling adventurous, I bet you could add a bit of coconut, or at the very least coconut extract, to make a kind of pina colada muffin. Yum!

Banana- Macademia Nut Muffins

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/4 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 large)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg
1 cup unsalted macadamia nuts, toasted, chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease twelve muffin cups or line with muffin papers. Sift first 4 ingredients into large bowl. Combine bananas, both sugars, butter, milk and egg in medium bowl. Mix into dry ingredients. Fold in half of nuts. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle tops of muffins with remaining macadamia nuts. Bake until muffins are golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about
25 minutes. Transfer muffins to rack and cool.

As promised, I’m posting this great salad recipe. It’s really easy and could easily serve as a main course with addition of some hard boiled eggs or some chickpeas, or both. Serve it as a side or a starter for pasta dishes for a delicious meal.

Salad with feta and balsamic dressing

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Dash Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup olive oil
Salad greens. I usually buy the bagged ones, and my favorite is Riviera and European which I mix
Feta cheese, crumbled (you could also use blue cheese)
Toasted pine nuts

Whisk all ingredients except oil until well mixed. Blend in oil s l o w l y with whisk until thick and creamy.

Add toasted pine nuts and crumbled feta cheese to salad.

Perhaps you’re not planning to serve breakfast to Mom. Maybe you’re planning a brunch or an after-church lunch. This delicious spring pasta dish will be just the thing. Serve it with the delicious salad I’m going to post tomorrow, some bread, and a dessert, and you’ll have the perfect meal. And all for much less money (and much less of a wait) than the local Italian food eatery.

Perfect Pasta Primavera

1 cup sliced zucchini
1 cup sliced broccoli
1 1/2 cups snow peas
1 cup baby peas
6 asparagus spears, sliced
10 white mushrooms, sliced
1 heaping tablespoon salt, preferable kosher
1 pound fettucine (you could also make this with a penne or a tortellini)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
5 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped

Fit a steamer basket into a large pot. Add a small amount of water to the pot and bring to a boil. Place the zucchini, broccoli, snow peas, baby peas, asparagus, and mushrooms in the steamer basket, cover, and steam until tender, about 3 minutes. Rinse the vegetables under cold water and allow to drain. (If you don’t have a steamer basket, just put them in a pot with just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan. Try to put the larger vegetables, like broccoli, on the bottom.)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the salt and the fettucine. Cook until al dente. (If you’re not sure when pasta is al dente, just cook it the amount of time that’s on the package— it will probably be fine.)

Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat. Ad the pine nuts and garlic and cook, stirring, until they begin to turn golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, and then the steamed vegetables. Next add the parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until all the vegetables are heated through, 2 to 3 minutes.

Drain the pasta and add it to the saute pan. Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano, butter, cream, and basil, and heat thoroughly. Toss, then scatter the tomatoes on top. Serve immediately.

This was one of the first frittata’s I ever tried. I don’t know if that’s why I like it so much, or if it’s just because it’s so good. It comes from the Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites Cookbook, but don’t let the Low-Fat part scare you off

Black Bean and Hominy Frittata

2 cups chopped onions
2 teaspoons canola or other vegetable oil
1 green or red bell pepper, seeded and julienned (I just chop it up)
1 jalapeno or other fresh chile, seeded and minced (the recipe says optional, but I consider it necessary)
1 15-oz can white hominy or corn, drained
1 16-oz black beans, drained and rinsed (If you want to make your own, you’ll need about 1 1/2 cups)
2 T. chopped fresh cilantro
3 whole eggs
5 egg whites (I always just use 6 whole eggs)
1/2 t. salt (or to taste)

salsa
sour cream

Place the onions and 1 t. of the oil in a 10 to 12-inch nonstick skillet. Cover and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until the onions are soft and golden. Add the bell peppers and chile and saute on medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir in the hominy, black beans, and cilantro, cover, lower the heat, and cook for about 5 minutes, until hot. Remove the skillet from the heat. Put bean and hominy mixture in another bowl.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, egg whites, and salt until fluffy. Stir the bean and hominy mixture into the eggs.

Coat the bottom of the same skillet with the remaining teaspoon of oil and return it to medium heat. When the skillet is hot, pour in the egg mixture and distribute the hominy and beans evenly. Cover and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until the edges are firm and the bottom has browned. Place a large flat plate or pizza pan over the skillet and flip the skillet over so that the frittata falls onto the plate. Slide the frittata back into the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes more, until the eggs are fully cooked. (I never do the flip it over part of this recipe. I just pop it under the broiler until it firms up and the top is slightly brown. Sometimes I even put a little cheddar cheese on the top and melt it.)

Cut the frittata into wedges and serve hot or at room temperature, topped with salsa and a dollop of sour cream or yogurt.

Sometimes things get a bit hectic with the holidays. With this recipe, you can’t go wrong. It works if you make it the night before and pop it in the oven the next morning. It even works if you cook it the night before and reheat it. It’s easy to double or triple. It would work on a buffet table or for breakfast in bed. And it’s so much less time consuming than flipping pieces of bread a couple at a time. Oh, and did I mention that it’s delicious? So, make up a batch and serve it to Mom. She’ll thank you for it.

French Toast Casserole

7 cups bread cubes (toast bread first or use stale bread)
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup white sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly butter an 8×8 inch baking pan.

Line bottom of pan with bread cubes. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, 2 tablespoons sugar, salt and vanilla, 1/2 t. cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour egg mixture over bread. Let stand for 10 minutes (or overnight).

Pour melted butter over the top. Combine remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle over the top. Bake in preheated oven about 45 to 50 minutes, until top is golden. Serve with maple syrup or powdered sugar.

To reheat this, make sure that you cover it with foil or a lid to a casserole dish, so it doesn’t dry out. Also, ideally you would decrease the cooking time by about 15 minutes, then reheat at 350 for 15 or 20 minutes.

What Mom— okay, what I really want for Mother’s Day is kids who are calm and well-behaved at the table. My kids are great about so many things. They can be a bit picky when it comes to food. But every single one of them LOVES these pancakes. And I feel good that they have a little bit of a health benefit also. My husband and I also think they’re delicious. You can alter the sugar in the recipe to suit your taste, and if you’re really looking to add a little something special, you can add chocolate chips to the recipe. They’re delicious served with syrup (try butter pecan for a taste that reminds you of sweet potato casserole), but I prefer them with a little butter and a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

1 15 oz. can non-candied sweet potatoes **
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
up to 1/2 c. of sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup butter, melted

** You can make your own sweet potatoes, if you like. Use 3/4 lb. and mash them well before adding them to the recipe.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Mix sweet potatoes, eggs, milk and butter in a separate medium bowl. Blend sweet potato mixture into the flour mixture to form a batter.***

Preheat a lightly greased griddle over medium-high heat. Drop batter mixture onto the prepared griddle by heaping tablespoonfuls, and cook until golden brown, turning once with a spatula when the surface begins to bubble.

Serve with your favorite toppings.

*** As a time (and bowl) saver, I often mix my wet ingredients and then just pour the dry ingredients in and mix without mixing them in a separate bowl first, or you can mix them in a large measuring cup.

Passover is drawing to a close, but Mother’s Day will be upon is a couple of weeks. What do you do for Mother’s Day? Do you join the masses at the restaurants? Do you really need to pay $30 per person to eat scrambled eggs and french toast?

I’m giving you weeks to prepare, to look over recipes, and to think about giving your Mom the gift of a homecooked meal. Whether it’s breakfast, brunch, or lunch you can make a simple but tasty meal for your Mom.

Maybe your Mom’s not a vegetarian. What an excellent time to expose her to the possibilities of vegetarianism. If you make brunch, she probably won’t even miss the meat. And she can see that you really can be healthy without eating meat. And that’s all she wants— for you to be healthy.

So, save yourself waiting in line (and a few dollars, as well) and make a Mother’s Day meal to remember.