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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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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Tracy’s Sesame Seed Dressing

This dressing was created/inspired-by a beautiful and kind woman I met in Los Angeles, Tracy. She was kind enough to invite me into her home and share her dinner with me – of course, her friend that I was visiting was her equally generous and kind brother.. but nonetheless.. inviting anyone into your home and sharing something as special as a meal, let alone allowing me to assist in the preparation is indeed a generosity not to be taken lightly (at least in my eyes). She created this sesame seed dressing to top our salads – which were served alongside Basic Roasted Veg. She found the recipe through Bon Appetit..but in true awesome cooking fashion, we improved upon it! She didn’t have all the exact ingredients, so improvisation was required.. which I feel made it better than had we followed the recipe verbatim. In this version, I made a few additions myself..so here is the inspired recipe, with full credit going to Tracy for such inspiration! The recipe makes about 1/3 C of dressing.. and a little goes a long way! The salad in the photo filled a standard dinner plate.. I topped with 2 TBSP of dressing..and it was a bit overdressed for my liking. I tend to like a salad dressed as casual as I, not one that’s dressed to the nine’s. I hope you enjoy! I know I did…

Ingredients:

Dressing

2 tsp sesame seeds (a blend of black and white, or all white)

1 tsp whole coriander seeds

2 TBSP fresh lime juice (I used the juice of a small lime..which was a smidge or two more than 2 TBSP)

1/3 C extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp toasted sesame oil *optional

1/2 tsp shoyu sauce

Salad

Raw Kale, washed and roughly chopped

Raw Red Leaf lettuce, washed and roughly chopped

Mixed Veg – julienned

*Carrots

*Red Bell Pepper

*Cucumber

Fresh green beans – ends trimmed

Fresh green onions

Fresh cilantro

4 TBSP dried golden raisins (per salad) soaked in some white wine

Directions:

Preparation

1. Place as many dried golden raisins as salads your planning on (4 TBSP per salad), cover with white wine. Let sit while you prepare the dressing.

2. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, lightly brown the sesame seeds and coriander seeds in a bit of the oil. It doesn’t matter how much..enough to saute – perhaps a couple TBSPs. Keep an eye on it… this can take a few minutes. While it was going, I was pulling the other veg, laying out my ingredients.

3. Once seeds are lightly browned, pull off the heat. Set aside.

4. Julienne the bell pepper, carrots, cucumber, and any other veg that tickles your fancy. Trim the ends of the green beans. Toss all veg in a bowl, set aside.

5. Chop the green onions and cilantro, set aside.

6. Roughly chop the kale and red leaf, and any other greens you may choose to use.

7. Whisk together remaining olive oil, sesame oil (if using), shoyu (if using), lime juice, and gently cooled oil/seeds mixture.

Assembly

8. You have two options here. (1) Plate out individual salads or (2) Toss all greens in a bowl to serve “family style.” **Note: If you serve family style, it should be served/eaten immediately. If you opt for choice 1, you have a little more flexibility with the left-overs.

9. If serving individually, top greens with mixed veg, green onions, and cilantro. Sprinkle about 3-4 TBSP soaked golden raisins around the edge of the salad. Drizzle about 1 TBSP dressing onto salad. You can add black pepper, but I wouldn’t recommend adding salt if you used the shoyu. If you’re opting for “family style,” add all greens, veg, and raisins to a bowl. Drizzle with a few TBSP dressing (more can always be added, but you can’t take away..once you hit black tie and stilettos, you can’t go back to jeans and flip-flops..at least when it comes to dressing a salad. 🙂 Serve up the tossed greens and veg, then sprinkle each with green onions, cilantro.

Other nice additions would be:
-Fresh arugula and/or baby spinach
-Other colored bell peppers
-Raw red onions, slivered
-Lightly roasted walnuts, pine nuts, or slivered almonds
-Dried cranberries
-Garbanzo or White Beans
-Apple, cubed

Happy Chopping!

On This Day In History: Green Tea-Ginger Sorbet

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Lime Tea Cookies

I made these cookies for the Cherry Blossom Yoga Studio & Boutique Open House on May 1, 2010. They were absolutely delicious, and a big hit with the studio-warmers (all of which were non-vegans, though some were vegetarian-inclined). So use this recipe when wanting to please even the most skeptical of non-vegans 😉 I adapted & veganized this recipe from “Spring Lime Tea Cookies” at allrecipes.com.

The recipe makes about 2 dozen (or so) cookies. And the recipe doubles wonderfully if you want to host a tea party.. 🙂

Ingredients:

cookies
2 tsp lime zest (best to zest before juicing the limes)
2 tsp fresh lime juice
1/3 C hazelnut milk
1/2 C Earth Balance Vegan Buttery sticks
3/4 C vegan granulated sugar
1/4 C canola:hazelnut milk (50:50 ratio)
1.75 C all-purpose (or 2-2.25 C white whole wheat flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda

glaze
2 TBSP fresh lime juice
1/4 C vegan granulated sugar

Directions:

1. Make the cookies: In a large mixing bowl, either by hand or by mixer, cream together the EBVB with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the canola:hazelnut milk mixture, lime juice, and hazelnut milk. Mix to combine.
2. Combine 1.75 C flour (whichever you choose to use), baking powder, and baking soda together in a small bowl. Gently add into the creamed butter mixture. *If using white whole wheat flour, this is where you’ll adjust/add more flour if the mixture is not firm enough. You want a supple cookie dough..not to firm/crumbly, but not so soft that it’ll spread the minute you put it in the warm oven. I used King Arthur Organic White Whole Wheat and ended up using just over 2 C of flour per batch.
3. Wrap dough in wax paper or plastic wrap, and place in fridge for 30 minutes, or up to 2 days.
4. Preheat the oven to 350F. If the dough has been in the fridge a couple of days, bring it out to room temp while oven preheats. Roll the dough into little balls, or drop spoonfuls on a parchment/silpat-lined cookie sheet.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the bottoms are lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet a few minutes before moving them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
6. Make the glaze: Stir together the 2 TBSP lime juice and 1/4 C granulated sugar. Brush onto the cooled cookies. Enjoy!

**Store in an airtight container, and the cookies will stay soft for about 3-4 days. Then they start to dry out, but then they make excellent crumbles in a Coconut Milk Ice Cream Sundae 😉

Happy Baking!

On This Day In History: 4-day Springtime Detox

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Salsa Italiana Fresca

A fresh Italian salsa, which is similar to a bruschetta but not quite the same – what could be more refreshing?! This salsa works well on tortilla chips, but toasted baguette slices lightly brushed with some olive oil or Earth Balance would be phenomenal! This makes a small “appetizer for 4” size portion, so if you’re in the noshing mood feel free to scale up the recipe.

Ingredients:

12 oz cherry or grape tomatoes
1/2 red onion, diced
fresh basil, chopped-
juice of 1 lime
1 tsp sea salt
fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine halved cherry tomatoes, diced red onion, chopped fresh basil, and fresh-squeezed lime juice. Stir to combine.
2. Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt, and pepper to taste. Cover and let marinade in the fridge at least 1 hour. Stir to refreshen and enjoy!

Happy Chopping!

On This Day In History: Red Beans and Rice

 

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Cannellini and Broccoli Deliciousness

Ok, so last night I wanted to make a broccoli and white bean “salad,” but I wanted it warm considering the weather we’ve been having here in the midwest. So here’s the deliciousness that was created. It was so simple, and super quick (dinner within 15 minutes of first broccoli chop). I had made the white beans the night before, but if you’re not into making your own beans (*for shame*)..I suppose canned beans can suffice. This makes about 3-4 servings as a side dish, but you can always enlarge it by increasing the broccoli or doubling the beans. You could also toss in some roasted corn, peas, or even a diced tomato or two. Red bell pepper, one of my favorites, would not be out of the question either!

Ingredients:

1 large bunch broccoli (about 1 pound), cut into florets (unless you also like the stem…)
1.5 C fresh cooked or 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2-1 small red onion, diced (if you love onion, use the whole thing)
1 heaping TBSP minced garlic – or 2 TBSP for you, Nikki 😉 and any other garlic-addicts out there
1 TBSP freshly squeezed lime juice
2 TBSP EV olive oil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Lightly steam the broccoli florets for 5 minutes, remove from heat and set aside.
2. In a medium skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Lightly sauté garlic and onion a few minutes (maybe 3 or so). Add in cooked cannelini beans, red pepper flakes (if using, spicy is always optional), and season with salt and pepper. Sauté another 3-4 minutes.
3. Add broccoli and toss to combine. Remove from heat and pour on lime juice, toss to combine. Adjust salt and pepper to taste..serve it up warm or room temperature.

*Optional addition: I tossed in a little sprinkle of dried lemon balm that I had harvested last autumn… it gave it a nice lemony zip in addition to the tangy lime, if you’re inclined towards the lemon-limey goodness! 🙂

Happy Cooking!

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Fingerling Potato, Purple String Bean, and Tomato Salad

Here’s a recipe to give the New Potato and Green Bean salad a run for its money! That is the most popular (most frequented) recipe on this site by the way… So let’s see how well this one will do! I went to the Farmers Market Wednesday evening and found some wonderful looking super-long purple string beans (for reference, I included my small pairing knife in one of the shots). And, better yet, they were at an organic hippie stand.. I was very pleased that everything they had was organic – and was advertised as such so I didn’t have to put the hippies through an inquisition. So I grabbed some of these wonderful looking beans – after being allowed to taste them, which is also a nice ploy to get someone to buy something. I grabbed a handful, got some fingerling potatoes, and some baby tomatoes…not to mention the cutest miniature spicy peppers..oh so cute! Got home and did a different variation on the previous potato salad. I used a similar dressing as the NP&GB. Since I got fingerlings, and I hand-picked the smallest ones, I didn’t even have to cut them! Hope you enjoy this one as much as the NP&GB…let the race of the best Innocent Primate potato salad begin!

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs fingerling potatoes (I picked a mix of both yellow and red)
3/4 lb purple string beans, rinsed and trimmed to about 2 inches long
2 TBSP fresh squeezed lime (or lemon) juice
1 TBSP water
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 C good olive oil
2 shallots, finely minced (or 2 TBSP pre-minced shallots)
1 C baby tomatoes (halved)

Directions:

1. In a pot, bring cold water to a boil. Once boiling, add salt and washed potatoes. Boil until potatoes are soft – about 20 minutes for small fingerlings.
2. Meanwhile, cut rinsed purple string beans into 2-inch pieces; set aside.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the lime juice, water, and salt and pepper to taste. Add olive oil in a continual stream while simultaneously whisking the mixture. Whisk in shallots. Stir in tomatoes and any fresh herbs you choose to use. Set aside.
4. Once potatoes are done, remove from heat, drain and return to pot (without heat). Toss in the cut string beans – no need to stir yet. Keeping it off heat, let sit for about 10-15 minutes to let the potatoes cool, and lightly “steam” the beans.
5. Add to dressing, toss to coat. Serve topped with fresh herbs of choice – I like basil!

Variations/Additions: You could toss in 1/2 tsp lemon balm (fresh or dried) to give it an extra lemony zing. Other herbs that would taste great in this would be basil and/or thyme.

Happy Cooking!

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My glass is half-full of Cherry-Almond Sorbet

Ok, so I’ve been on a sorbet kick lately! Nobody’s here to judge… And I don’t think it’ll stop anytime soon! I think next up will be Mango with macerated berries (thank you Haley at Appoggiatura for that wonderful idea)! But for now, we have to settle for Cherry-Almond sorbet. I know, it’s a hardship to bear – and I’ll gladly take it for the team 😉 ! This sorbet came out so super creamy and delicious! I think I’ll have to call this my favorite of the sorbets I’ve made thus far. After my first helping, I went back for round 2 and made a double scoop in combo with the Pineapple sorbet, which I enjoyed out on the back deck…oooh, doggy! Good times…good times…

Ingredients:

1 C sugar
3/4 C (6 oz) water
1 TBSP Amaretto (*optional)
1 tsp almond extract
juice from 1/2 of a lime
3 C fresh pitted bing cherries

Directions:

1. Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Cover, and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the sugar has dissolved, remove the pan from heat, and stir in the Amaretto. Transfer the syrup to a bowl; place in fridge to chill.
2. Place the cherries, almond extract, and lime juice in the bowl of a food processor or blender; process until liquified, about 2 minutes. Add puree to the chilled syrup; stir to combine.
3. Freeze the sorbet in an ice-cream maker (this took about 15 minutes to freeze to creamy perfection), store in a plastic container in the freezer for up to 1 week.

Round 1:

Round 2:

Let’s not forget how good cherries and pineapples are for you…so eat up and be happy & healthy!

Happy Freezing!

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Jamaican Pineapple Tango

Here’s a sorbet recipe that will instantly take you to the islands, and perhaps make you want to tango… Where is a young island native when you need one to fan you with palm fronds? With the heat beginning to swelter, I needed more sorbet to keep cool! I did pretty much the same base recipe as the watermelon sorbet, but with pineapple!

Ingredients:

1 C sugar
3/4 C (6 oz) water
1 TBSP Malibu or other coconut rum (*optional)
fresh squeezed juice from 1 lime
3 C chopped fresh pineapple

Directions:

1. Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Cover, and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the sugar has dissolved, remove the pan from heat. Transfer the syrup to a bowl; set in the fridge to chill.
2. Place the rum, lime juice, and pineapple in the bowl of a food processor or blender; process until liquified, about 2 minutes. Add puree to the chilled syrup; stir to combine.
3. Strain into an ice cream maker. Freeze the sorbet according to manufacturers instructions (mine took about 15-20 minutes); store in a plastic container in the freezer for up to 1 week.

Variations: Some caramelized pineapple slices would be wonderful on top of a scoop of this sorbet. It may also be good as a flavor in a parfait-type dessert with other sorbet flavors (such as the upcoming Cherry sorbet) and some sweet (without the spicy) almonds or macadamias.

Happy Freezing!

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SOP: Margarita

There are certain things everybody should have in their recipe repertoire, and should know how to make properly as Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). Anyone who knows me, knows how particular I am about my margaritas. First of all for those of you outside the state of Texas, this may come as a shock, but you need fresh lime juice – NOT SWEET AND SOUR! If it’s not lime juice, it’s not a margarita! If you don’t feel like juicing limes, use limeade (frozen or bottled, but not that bottle of ‘lime juice’ that comes in the shape of a lime). The recipe is not hard and doesn’t contain a multitude of ingredients, which is why I’m often surprised at life’s little quirks and how people have trouble making this satisfactorily.

Ingredients:

1 C high quality tequila (Patron is preferable; Jose Cuervo is never acceptable)
3/4-1 C triple sec (DeKuyper’s is my personal preference)
2 C lime juice or limeade

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a shaker. Shake to mix. Pour into margarita glasses and enjoy!
*You can salt the rims of your glasses; I prefer not to salt my glasses – I don’t want anything tainting my enjoyment of such a lovely refreshing beverage.

Variation: This can be turned into frozen margaritas by blending with ice. They decrease in potency when you blend them with ice – so if that’s what you’re after, fine, but if not you’ll need to increase the liquor.

This recipe will serve 3-4 girls (one round) while getting dressed for the evening. If you want to make a pitcher, scale up the recipe. The key is to keep the lime juice to tequila ratio at 2:1 (and I usually add equal amounts of tequila and triple sec – but I’ve been told my margarita’s can knock the socks off AND blow up the skirts). If you like a more limey tart ‘rita, go with 3/4 C triple sec; if you like a more blended sweet-yet-tart appeal go with equal parts liquors. If using fresh squeezed lime juice, and it’s to tart for your delicate palate, add a smidgen of sugar or nectar.

Mix responsibly!

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