some favorite recipes of the summer

I ran across this summer squash soup recipe from the fatfreevegan blog while looking for new things to do with all the yellow summer squash. I tried it the other day and it was delicious and very quick and easy. Basically you just saute onions and garlic add equal parts squash and potato and a few spices and boil till tender. Then puree it all. Click on the link for the full recipe and try it--you will not believe how good it is until you do.

I served it with one of my other favorite recipes for drop biscuits. This is a great recipe because it only has 5 ingredients, there is no kneading or rolling out, and they only cook for 8 minutes. You might be able to find the recipe online but I got it out of my cookbook called The Joy of Vegan Baking. These is by far the best biscuit recipe I've found. My biscuits always turned out hard and small but these drop biscuits are great every time.
1 2/3 c flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 c non dairy milk
1/3 c canola oil or melted nondairy butter
extra melted butter for brushing top of biscuits about 2 minutes before removing from oven.

Heat oven to 475 and grease a baking sheet
mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Add milk and oil and stir until just combined and moistened. It will be very thick and sticky. Use 2 spoons--one to pick up a walnut size ball of batter and another spoon to scrape off and drop on the baking sheet. Bake until bottoms are golden brown about 8 mins. Brush tops with melted butter a few minutes before taking out.

Zucchini Bread is another thing I make at least once a week. I love this recipe because it has flax seeds as an egg substitute, and I substitute apple sauce for the oil and leave out about a quarter of the sugar. Obviously changing those two things decreases the amount of fat and calories but the sweet bread still turns out scrumptious. I use up about 1 large or 2 medium size zucchini and even add a small yellow squash sometimes. Don't get me wrong though, I don't believe in hiding these veggies and disguising them in our food. Everyone knows exactly what they are eating and although lots of people (especially kids) look at me like I'm crazy when I offer them zucchini bread, most people come back for a second helping! This recipe also came from the Joy of Vegan Baking but I altered it a bit. We eat it for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner.

3 tablespoons of ground flaxseeds or 4 1/2 teaspoons of Ener-G egg replacer
1/2 cup water
1 cup canola oil or half cup oil and 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 cups sugar (I use 1 to 1/2 cups per batch)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini (I mix yellow and green squash)
3 cups flour (I use 2 white 1 whole wheat)
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins

Heat oven to 325 and grease 2 loaf pans or muffin tins. I like to double the recipe and bake them in two 9x13 inch baking dishes.

Combine flaxseeds and water in medium bowl. Use a mixer or blender or mix with whisk really fast for 2 minutes. Whip until thick and creamy. Add oil, sugar and vinegar and combine. Stir in zucchini and vanilla. In separate bowl sift (I never do but should because we bite into little balls of bitterness every once in while) flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add nuts and raisins if using. Stir dry mix into wet until just combined. Pour into baking dishes. Bake 60-70 mins for standard loaves, 30-45 mins for muffins or 9x13 dish. Check for doneness by inserting toothpicks.