Samosa
Preheat oven to 400. Separately combine the Eggplant and Zucchini with the olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and sage, place on sheet pans in the oven and roast until browned but not mushy. In a blender, combine raw cashews, a pinch of salt and pepper, and nutritional yeast. Just cover with water and blend until consistency of heavy cream and totally smooth. Set aside. In a large saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat, season, and sweat the carrots and onion until tender and onions are translucent. Add eggplant and zucchini, saute until well combined. Turn off heat, sample and adjust seasoning. Mix in cashew cream and set aside to cool. Meanwhile, cut the phyllo into three sections, widthwise. Lay out two of the cut sheets on top of each other on a cutting board and brush with oil. Then lay a third sheet on top of the previous two sheets. Place about a 1/4 cup of filling in one corner, and fold into triangles until completely wrapped up. Place on a clean, dry baking pan and continue until finished.

Risotto
Put the dried mushrooms in a cup and cover with warm water. Set aside. In a saute pan, heat the oil over high heat, season, and add the mushrooms, in batches if necessary to ensure they do not overwhelm the pan. Do not stir, and keep over heat until browned, then stir, and ensure even browning, until mushrooms are soft and have released some of their liquid. For the final batch, add the soaked dried mushrooms, alone, brown, and add garlic and thyme. Saute over medium heat until garlic is soft, deglaze with stock and cook a minute to concentrate, then store in a separate container. Then, in a large, heavy stockpot, heat olive oil and season. Add onion, carrot and celery and sweat. Once some of their liquid is released, add the minced garlic. Then, add the arborio rice, and stir over medium to medium high heat, until grains are evenly coated with oil and are starting to look translucent. Add 1 cup of wine and stir to combine. Continue stirring, now, until the risotto is finished. Once the liquid has absorbed into the rice, add a cup of the simmering stock and stir until it evaporates. Always ensure that some liquid remains in the pan to ensure the rice cooks evenly. When the rice is about halfway done, still crunchy but chewable, add the cooked fresh mushrooms, all at once. Continue stirring and adding stock until the rice is creamy and chewy without being crunchy – the whole should be slightly loose, definitely not a thick paste, so adjust the stock to ensure consistency. Take off heat, and add the reserved dried mushroom/garlic mixture, stir to combine, and cover for five minutes before serving. Adjust seasonings and serve.

Greens
Bring a pot of water to a boil and salt heavily – it should taste like the sea. Clean and roughly chop the greens, so they are still in large pieces. Add to the water, just long enough so that the greens turn bright green – they should still have some bite. Drain and immediately immerse in an ice bath to stop cooking. In a saute pan, heat some oil over medium heat, and add the garlic. Make sure it does not brown – once it is soft, add the red pepper paste, stir to combine, and then add the greens. Toss the greens in the hot oil until warm, and put on plate next to risotto.

Reduction
This could be as simple as just concentrating the flavors of some roasted tomatoes. Slice tomatoes in half lengthwise and squeeze out all the seeds and extra liquid into a bowl. Toss tomatoes with some olive oil and salt and place on a perforated baking sheet, over top of another baking sheet, under the broiler. Broil until slightly charred, remove, reverse the tomatoes, and broil on the other side. Take the resulting tomatoes, puree them in a blender, and then pass them through a food mill. Take the resulting puree and put over low heat until reduced by about half – it should be a very concentrated liquid. Adjust seasoning and let cool.

Vanilla Scented Tapioca with Basil-Vin Santo and Chocolate Sauces

Ingredients:

• Tapicoa, small pearls
• Soy Milk
• 1 whole vanilla bean pod, with seeds
• Florida Crystals
• Vin Santo
• Whole Basil leaves.
• Bittersweet chocolate
• Cocoa powder
• Salt

Heat the soymilk over medium heat until warm and slightly steaming. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla into the milk and add the rest of the pod. Add a pinch of salt. Cook until well flavored. Pass through a sieve to remove seeds and pod. Add tapioca to soymilk and cook until thick and creamy, and tapioca is chewy but not soft. In a saucepan, heat vin santo to a simmer and cook off alcohol. Add florida crystals and cook until thickened and reduced by about half. Take off heat and add whole Basil leaves, stir and set aside. Melt Chocolate over a double boiler until smooth and liquid – DO NOT OVER HEAT! Gradually whisk in soy milk and cocoa powder until consistency is ultra-smooth and liquid enough to pour but not runny. Take the now wilted basil out of the vin santo sauce. Add a pinch of salt to both sauces, add to squirt bottles and prepare to serve.