Grated Carrot Salad

It’s been ages since either my sister or I posted a recipe, and there’s nothing like spending a week in the springtime on a hops farm to inspire fresh and new creations. A vegetable that, for reasons unknown, always fails to grab my attention when I’m deciding what to prepare is the carrot. I grow them in my garden and end up eating them raw right from the dirt (washed, of course), and yet when I think of dishes, they only ever make it into a medley of roasted veg. So here’s a fresh idea for summer picnics and gatherings, or to accompany other salads in a crudité-style plate. This recipe takes no time at all to put together. I didn’t time it, but maybe 10-15 minutes…

 

Ingredients:

4 large carrots, shredded (roughly 4 C)

Juice from 1/2 large lemon (lime might also be nice)

1-2 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 bunch cilantro (or parsley)

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

Directions:

1. Grate the carrots with a box grater or Salad Master. You want about a medium grate – not too small, not too large.
2. In a large bowl, toss together the carrots, lemon juice, oil, cilantro (or parsley), salt, and pepper.
3. Enjoy.

Inspiration for your Memorial Day Weekend: Memorial Day Munchies

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Sweet Green Juice

I know it’s been a while, and there’s been a relative lack in recipes lately.. Good news, I’ve got some downtime so I suspect that’ll change over the next few weeks. I’ve been busy leading a yoga teacher training, and it monopolizes most of my time for 6 weeks. I graduated a group of teachers on Saturday (Oct 13), and now for some much needed rest.. and baking! Before the baking and inevitable Halloween smorgasbord of deviously delectable treats ensues, let’s start with something healthy! A sweet and delicious green juice! It does require a juicer, but if all you have is a blender.. you could do the same juice, you’d just have a little more pulp and fiber present ~ certainly still good for you! For those hesitant on drinking kale and/or mustard greens.. trust me, with enough apple and citrus, you can’t taste the greens! This recipe makes enough for a single pint, or two 8 oz Soy Candles By Phebes-size glasses.

Ingredients:
2 leaves kale
2 leaves mustard greens
about 8 sprigs fresh cilantro
a few additional leftover kales stems (I made some kale the other night for dinner and instead of tossing the stems, I save them for juicing)
2 medium gala apples
1 small lime
1 small lemon
1 medium tangelo

Directions:

1. Wash all your fruit and veg. Chop your apple into slices that will fit in your juicer. Set up your juicer and turn on. 🙂

2. Juice all veg and fruit, save the citrus. Using a citrus juicer (or your monstrously strong hands), juice the citrus and strain into the greens and apple juice blend.

3. Drink and enjoy!

**NOTE: Fresh juice such as this doesn’t have a long shelf-life, so only juice what you’re going to drink immediately ~ preferably within 10 min, if not within the hour. Vitamins and nutrients begin to breakdown after the first 10 min of juicing.. so the sooner the better for maximum benefit.

Happy Juicing!!

On this day in history:

(2009) Double Chocolate Diablo

(2008) Sopapillas

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Green Chile Hummus

I *heart* hummus.. and I *heart* green chiles from New Mexico. After Jo’s inspiring Jalapeño & Cilantro hummus, and after not finding any green chile hummus in the Co-Op in Santa Fe on my trip home from Lake Tahoe.. I decided to make my own green chile hummus using green chiles from El Patio de Albuquerque (the source of our green chiles in such recipes as Green Chile Potatoes and Green Chile Rice). I think at this recipe, it’s a good medium heat — mellow enough for dad, but enough to tell there’s some heat present. If I were making it solely for myself (or Jo), I’d probably add another 2 TBSP of green chile sauce. If that’s the case, you’d probably also have to add in more chickpeas so it doesn’t get too runny of a consistency. Without further ado.. here’s Green Chile Hummus! 🙂

Ingredients:

2 C cooked chickpeas

3 small (or 1 medium-large) garlic clove

4 TBSP Green Chile Sauce – I used El Patio de Albuquerque’s house-made sauce..but you may use any green chile sauce of choice

3 TBSP fresh lime juice

3 TBSP olive or safflower oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C fresh cilantro

Instructions:

1.  Put chickpeas, garlic, green chile sauce, salt, olive oil and lime juice in food processor and blend until very smooth (1-2 minutes).

2.  Add cilantro and pulse the food processor a few times, until cilantro is mixed in.

3.  Remove from food processor and serve, or store in refrigerator for up to a couple of days.

Happy Blending!

On this day in History: Blueberries & Cream Ice Cream

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Almost-Raw Veg & Quinoa Salad

I had dinner at a friends the other night, and of course.. I was the only vegan in attendance. Instead of making them find something vegan to make for me, I offered to bring something instead. Only having a short window of time between waking from my nap and when I was destined to arrive, I needed something quick and easy. So I ran to the grocery store, picked up the freshest looking veggies, some quinoa.. and threw this together. Luckily it was easy enough to remember without me having to write anything down. 🙂 This recipe literally took 15 minutes – while the quinoa was cooking, I prepped the veg..and by the time the quinoa was ready (12 minutes later), so was the veg! So if you’re looking for something quick, easy, crowd-pleasing, and crowd-filling.. this is your dish! There were 4 adults, and there’s enough left over to feed me for a few more meals… so it’s a perfect pot-luck dish to feed up to maybe 10 as a side, and maybe 4-5 hungry vegans as a main dish. But of course, you can easily double the recipe to feed a larger crowd.

Ingredients:

2 tsp canola, safflower or olive oil
1 C quinoa
2 C water
1 can or 1-1.5 C cooked black or pinto beans, rinsed and drained
sea salt and pepper to taste
2-3 tsp garlic powder
1-1.5 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 bunch kale, chopped [it was about a handful of stems, maybe 8]
2 medium carrots, washed and chopped
6 Campari tomatoes, quartered (or 12 grape tomatoes, halved)
1/2 red bell pepper, 1” dice
1/2 yellow bell pepper, 1” dice **if you don’t want to use 1/2 of two different bells, you can use a whole of 1.. whatever tickles your bell pepper fancy!
1 bunch cilantro, minced
juice of 2 limes

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add 1 C quinoa and toast lightly, about 2-3 minutes. Add water and spices, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 12-15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, prep (wash and chop) all the veg. Place all veg and half the cilantro into a large bowl, set aside. Juice the limes, set aside.
3. When the quinoa has maybe 3-4 minutes left, add the drained beans.
4. When all water is gone from the quinoa, remove from heat. Fluff with a fork. Toss onto veg, let sit a few minutes to “steam.”
5. Give a stir, drizzle with lime juice, add remaining cilantro. Salt and pepper to taste. Voilà!

Almost-Raw Veg & Quinoa Salad

**I call this almost-raw because the only thing cooked is the beans and quinoa. If you wanted it completely raw, omit the beans and sprout your quinoa.. it’ll take longer since the quinoa takes some time to soak and sprout, but it’s certainly doable.

Happy Chopping!

On this day in History: Chai Spice Shortbread Cookies (2009)

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Almost-Raw Fresh Berry Tartlets

I’ve been interested in dabbling in raw food for some time now, but after spending a month eating a greater portion of raw food than normal I knew I had to get on it post-haste! For my birthday last week, I made these babies.. they’re mostly raw – and I say mostly because the Agave Nectar I had on hand was not raw, nor the tablespoon of maple syrup used in the tart crust… so almost raw. You can certainly adapt to a full raw version by using raw agave, subbing agave in the crust and using water in place of the coconut milk beverage in the cashew cream. But even though it was “almost raw” it was still super delicious, and doesn’t sit heavy like most baked treats. The recipe was adapted from Raw Food Real World. They used dehydrated cherries, but I like the fresh blueberries..but feel free to use whatever sturdy berry suites your fancy. Makes about 36-42 mini tartlets, or 1 standard size tart.

Ingredients:

For the tart crust:
3.5 C almond meal
3 TBSP date paste (I pureed about 6 Medjool dates – pitted – in the food processor before starting)
1 TBSP maple syrup
3/4 C coconut oil
large pinch of sea salt

For the almond-cashew cream:
1.75 C raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hrs
1/4 C raw slivered almonds, soaked for at least 2 hrs
1 C coconut flakes/shredded coconut, or coconut meat
1/4 C coconut milk beverage (or water)
6 TBSP coconut oil
2 TBSP vanilla extract (or 1 TBSP + 1 tsp almond extract + 2 tsp vanilla extract)
pinch of sea salt

For the topping:
4 C fresh blueberries (~ 2 pints)
1/4 C agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Place the cashews and almonds, for the cream, in a large bowl with enough water to cover. Set aside for at least 2 hrs. Place the blueberries in a bowl with the agave and vanilla. Stir to combine. Set aside until needed.
2. Tart Crust: In a food processor, mix together all the crust ingredients until thoroughly combined. Line individual mini tart shells (or one large tart shell) with plastic wrap. Divide the dough between the shells and press evenly into the sides and bottom – to create an even thickness throughout. Refrigerate until firm – at least 1 hour or more – and keep refrigerated until ready to fill. **Because I used mini tartlet shells..it took the time the nuts for the cream required to soak to complete this task. If you’re using a single standard tart shell, it would go much faster and you’d have some time to dawdle.

3. Cashew-Almond cream: In a food processor or high speed blender, puree all the cream ingredients until completely smooth – stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. **If necessary, you can slowly increase the amount of coconut milk beverage to adjust consistency. Caution, if you add too much the cream will not stay firm in the tart shells..so better to err on the side of a thicker cream. 🙂
4. Fill each tart crust with the cream, creating a flat surface at the top. Cover and return to the refrigerator to chill and set – about 2 hours or more.

5. Assembly: Remove the tarts from the fridge and the use the overhanging edges of the plastic wrap to carefully pull the tarts from their shells. If using a standard size tart shell, it should have a removable bottom from which you simply lift the tart out. Top each tart – or single tart – with the delicious soaked berries.

*Note: Keep covered in the fridge. These have kept in my fridge for at least 5 days, and are still tasty. Of course, the fresher the better.. but if they survive the hungry masses a few days, they’ll still be delicious.

Happy Unbaking! 😉

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Here Comes the SunButter Cups

“Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter…Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces.” Ah, haven’t had many posts in a while, let alone a Beatles reference as awesome as Strawberry Fields Forever. Well, here ya go.. with both! I’m on a bizarre, obsessive SunButter kick right now. Last Sunday we had SunButter Kind of Love Fudge, and today we have Here Comes the SunButter Cups! To alleviate some of your pain from the cold (and from the lack of posts), I created these beauties for you. So for all those out there who have peanut allergies and the like, I give you a SunButter Cup that is equally delicious to it’s nutty cousin, the peanut butter cup. Made from sunflower seeds, these are a great nut-free, gluten-free, tree nut-free alternative. Of course, check your chocolate as well.. but at least the filling is copacetic for the allergy-laden gnomies in the crowd. So “here comes the sun, here comes the sun, and I say it’s all right.”

Ingredients:

2 C vegan chocolate chips, or a chopped chocolate bar to 2 C (make sure you quality control your chocolate by tasting it prior to melting – if it needs to be sweetened add some sugar accordingly)
1 TBSP Earth Balance Vegan Butter *optional for a more ganachey consistency or leave it out if you don’t want the added fatty goodness
1/2 C SunButter, creamy or chunky – however your prefer your cups
1/4 C powdered sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. In a small sauce pan, add about 1-inch of water and bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer. In a dry, heat proof glass bowl, add chocolate chips, 1 TBSP vegan butter, and sugar (if necessary) and place over the simmering water. Keep an eye on it..make sure no steam or water droplets get into the water – this can cause the chocolate to seize..and well, seizing chocolate isn’t as fun as seizing the finished product into your gently smiling jaws. If your chocolate suddenly clumps up and looks gross and no longer shiny, it’s been seized – there’s no saving it, so set aside to eat at a later moment and start over. The melting takes only about 5-10 minutes, so be patient. As I said before, in the PB Cup post, that equally applies here: “As with almost everything in life – you start out cute as a button, go through an awkward, only-see-the-inner-beauty phase, then before you know it you only have a few lumps…and you blossom into smooth, luscious ganache!”

2. Meanwhile, with a hand mixer or wooden spoon, combine SunButter, sugar, salt, and vanilla until combined. Fill a pastry bag with the SB mixture and set aside, [or prep a melon baller or small spoon]. **When you’re ready for it, microwaving the SB mixture (before adding it to a plastic pastry bag) for about 30 seconds will help make the mixture easier to work with.

3. In a mini-muffin tin lined with candy/foil wrappers, fill with about 1 tsp melted chocolate with a spoon, a small melon baller, or chocolate in a pastry bag (the latter two I find to make things more manageable, but feel free to get your fingers dirty. What a tragedy..licking chocolate-covered fingers.) Place a hefty dollop, about 2-3 tsp of the SB mixture (again a pastry bag or melon baller seems to make things easier for me) and press down so it’s cozy in the chocolate. Top with remaining melted chocolate, about another tsp, to cover SB center. Give the muffin tin a good shake, then place in fridge about 15-20 minutes for chocolate to set!

*Confectioner’s Notes: Your chocolate bowl needs to be 100% dry – not a speck of water. Don’t rush the melting of the chocolate. Stir occasionally with either a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Remember…good things come to those who wait, and those who rush get unworthy chocolate. Keeping the heat low will also help prevent the burning of the chocolate – which is also not a good thing.

Happy Baking!

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SunButter Kind of Love Fudge

These babies are rich and creamy, smooth and luscious..just like Etta James. So give me a SunButter Kind of Love Fudge! This is definitely more than love at first sight, or bite. You remember Melanie and her son, Dylan from the infamous blueberry brownies..well, they’ve introduced me to sunbutter. So I’d like to thank them for this Sunday Kind of Love affair with sunbutter. This fudge is different, in many regards, from the peanut butter fudge. I may be Capt. Obvious here: it’s peanut-free! But it’s also gluten-free and tree nut-free.. so it’s über amenable to the allergy-laden peeps in your life. SunButter is made from sunflower seeds, and I find it gives this fudge (at least when it was still warm, hello..quality control, though not so much after they’ve cooled) a slight caramelesque flavor without being overtly sugary or sweet. And as with all kinds of love, it’s hard to have just one. It’s easily rich (like so many Sunday mornings), so you can’t really eat them back to back..but I certainly found myself listing back towards the fridge not 5 minutes after eating one to have another round 😉 Makes 24 mini-muffin sized bites.

Ingredients:

3/4 C Earth Balance Vegan Butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 C Creamy SunButter
1.5 C powdered sugar, sifted

Directions:

1. Melt EBVB over low heat in a medium sauce pan. While butter is melting, line a 24 mini-muffin tin with candy cups (like you use for peanut butter cups).
2. Once melted, remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and sunbutter.
3. Once blended, stir in sifted powdered sugar. Scoop fudge with small melon baller (or spoon) into the lined tin.
4. Place in fridge to chill overnight.

*Serve chilled. [They do soften at room temperature, to just slightly softer than the consistency of a PB cup filling..so just be aware. They have the consistency of fudge when chilled, the consistency of delicious filling when softened. Either way, they taste equally delicious 🙂 ]

Happy Baking!

On This Day In History: Whole Wheat Chapati

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2 Potato Ginger & Shoyu Veg

This is a hodge-podge dish I created this afternoon..similar in fashion to the spicy noodle veg, but on rice. I just took the veg I had on hand because I needed to use up some veg before it went bad (the studio monopolizes my time, so yeah..now I actually have veg that might go bad because I’m not in the kitchen as much)..so any veg would work. You could also include some peas, corn, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, even a hot pepper. This would also be awesome served on a bed of baby spinach and turned into a salad..perhaps topped with some pistachios or pine nuts. I really love the addition of purple potatoes in combo with the red potatoes. YUMMY! This recipes serves about 4 peeps! 🙂

Ingredients:

1 TBSP olive or canola oil
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/2 large yellow onion, diced
1 medium (or 2 small) red potatoes, cubed
1 medium (or 2 small) purple potatoes, cubed
1/2 bunch kale, chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
1 TBSP ground (or minced) ginger
1 tsp dried basil
1-2 tsp shoyu sauce
salt and pepper to taste
2 green onions, diced for garnish

Directions:

1. In a skillet, over medium heat, warm the olive (or canola) and toasted sesame oils. Add in the onion and cook for about 2-3 minutes (the time it took me to chop the potatoes).
2. Add in the cubed potatoes with a little salt (maybe 1/2 tsp). Saute over medium heat about 8-10 minutes, until the onion becomes translucent and the potatoes begin to develop a browning.
3. Add in kale, red bell, ginger, and basil. Cover with a lid and let saute over medium heat another 8-10 minutes, until potatoes are soft all the way through.
4. Adjust salt and pepper to taste, serve over some brown rice or a bed of baby spinach, garnish with green onion and/or any nuts. Enjoy!

Happy Cooking!

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Spring Cleaning: The Body

So we all think about Spring Cleaning our houses or apartments…but lest we forget to Spring Clean our own bodies – the temple in which we continuously inhabit regardless of where our brick and mortar resides. Here’s a few recipes from posts-past that provide a little detoxification of the body, for which Springtime is the most apropos.

If you have the time, the 4-day Springtime Detoxifying Cleanse is absolutely wonderful! As is fresh fruit…tons of fresh fruit!

For just a quick kick into purification, Teatime: Rosey Detox is a simple and easy way to get a minor flushing…and with just a cup, I do mean minor. But every little bit helps, right?!

And for the smoothie-inclined, and with Farmer’s Markets beginning to appear throughout the South (it may take a few more weeks for those further North)..check out the Pineapple-Cherry Pick-Me-Up! This smoothie provides the slightest hint of detoxing properties, plus it gives you a nice boost of energy to make it through the day! 🙂

And complete the cleansing with some new external products to keep the outside as purified as the inside..Arbonne Seasource Detoxifying Kit!

Happy Spring Cleaning!

On This Day In History: Nacho Salad

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Golden Delight

This drink is going to seem a little strange to many of you – “you want me to drink a whole teaspoon of turmeric??”  But it actually tastes wonderful.  It’s very warming, filling, and may very well be good for your health.  Turmeric is known to be an anti-inflammatory agent, have loads of anti-oxidants, improves liver function and lowers cholesterol.  Cinnamon is also anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, improves memory function and regulates blood sugar.  A single teaspoon of both turmeric and cinnamon each have 5% of the recommended daily value for iron!  Add in the contribution from the hemp milk and you’re getting 15% of your iron in one cup of this drink, for those of you keeping track.  I have a strong personal preference for Ceylon cinnamon (aka “true” cinnamon), rather than the Cassia that is always what you’re getting when you buy something labeled “cinnamon” without specifying “Ceylon.”  If you can’t tell by the label which one you’ve got, then you’ve got Cassia.  Ceylon cinnamon has a milder, sweeter, more delicate flavor than Cassia.  But if you can’t find Ceylon cinnamon, or are totally content with the Cassia you have (a valid life choice), I would reduce the amount called for in this recipe.

Ingredients:

1/2 C water

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp ground Ceylon cinnamon (or 1/2 tsp Cassia cinnamon)

3/4 C vanilla hemp milk

1 tsp almond oil

Instructions:

1.  Bring water to a simmer is a small sauce pan.  Whisk in the turmeric and cinnamon.  Simmer for 3 minutes.

2.  Whisk in the hemp milk and almond oil.  Reduce heat to low.  As soon as it begins to simmer, remove from heat and serve.

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