New Favorite Salad

We house sat for someone with a nice BBQ last week, so I got excited about a) being able to grill things, and b) making side dishes to go with grilled things. We're moving soon so I'm trying to use whatever food I already have in my fridge and pantry, which can lead to some of the best food.

I have to say, I think I struck gold with this one. It has a lot of flavors playing off of each other, and they seemed to work well - I made a big bowl of this, and despite the excessiveness of the food we cooked, there was none of this left at the end of the night. Of course you can vary it however you like, but I think the toasted almonds are key (and so much better than raw). I just toasted mine myself in my toaster oven, and it made my whole apartment smell heavenly.

Ingredients:
2 T olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
juice and zest from half an orange (or as much as you want, depending on how orange-y you want it to taste)

1.5 cups dry quinoa
several handfuls of arugula, chopped a bit
1 cup dry toasted almonds, either whole or cut in half
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled (or more if you love feta)
bunch of mint, finely chopped
salt, to taste

First cook the quinoa - as I mentioned before, I like to do mine in my rice cooker (follow the instructions for white rice, but use a little bit more water). You can do this earlier in the day and put it in the fridge for awhile - the salad is better when the quinoa is cold.

Mix the olive oil, garlic, and orange juice in a small bowl and whisk it well. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the quinoa, arugula, almonds, cheese, and mint. Then pour on the dressing and mix it up. It will probably want some salt - I tend to comply, generously.

let's talk about SOURDOUGH

Bread has taken on a villainous reputation lately, and it's only slightly deserved. The carb police tell everyone that bread is evil and you should stay away, and we've all been told that if we ever do eat bread we should eat wheat bread, right? Well, the great hero of the bread world turns out to be good old sourdough.

The whole idea behind sourdough - real sourdough bread, at least - is that you use a starter that not only gives the bread its flavor but acts as the yeast as well. Starters gather natural yeast and bacteria from the air, so you don't actually add ANY yeast to the dough (or sugar, since you don't have to feed your artificial yeast). This is what people did for centuries before baker's yeast was invented. The downside to this system is it takes time - time to get your starter going, and then when you use it in dough, you have to let it sit for at least 12 hours to rise (THAT'S why the Jews didn't have time to let it rise before they left Egypt...). The upside, however, is that this allows the wheat to ferment properly, rather than in a fast forwarded system. The result? Sourdough is the easiest bread to digest, and results in the smallest increase in glycemic index. Much smaller than wheat bread, actually. And it has a much smaller chance of eliciting allergic reactions. People with food allergies - even gluten allergies - tend to be fine with sourdough. It turns out the "processing" in our bread comes not just from the flours, but from the high speed yeast.

Not that I'll never eat that bread again. I just try to have sourdough on hand as my go-to bread.

So I've been baking a lot lately. The trouble, however, is you need a good, living, active starter, which I don't have, because I've been lazy. If you don't get a good starter, then your bread will never rise. I've made a lot of flat bread lately. This website has a thorough explanation of how to make a starter - it's a multi-day process, and I'd like to believe once I'm settled in a new apartment I'll give it a try. You can also buy starters, which seems much more reasonable. Like borrowing someone's pet instead of creating and nurturing your own. I guess in that case you could just go buy some sourdough - but a lot of commercial bakeries don't have 12 hours for their bread to rise, so they just add baker's yeast. Everyone should try baking their own - if for no other reason, there's really nothing like homemade bread right out of the oven.

Here's a recipe I like. He mixes the flour manually; I sure like the dough hook on my kitchenaid.

Ingredients for two loaves:
1/4 cup starter
1 cup Whole wheat flour
5 1/2 cups White bread flour
2 1/2 cups water
2 tsp Salt

Start by measuring the starter you'll need. Whisk the starter before measuring it, so you'll be measuring starter, not bubbles. Then whisk in the water, the whole wheat flour, and then the salt. Set aside the whisk, and get a wooden spoon. Add the white bread flour a cup at a time, stirring as you go. After a while, the dough will become too stiff to stir. At that point, pour it out onto your kneading surface. Make sure you have floured your work surface before you turn the bread out, and flour your hands before you start kneading. Knead the dough 15 to 20 minutes, or until it is resilient, springy, and passes the windowpane test.

Once the bread is kneaded, let it rest for 30 minutes. Then form the bread into baguettes, boules, or pan loaves. Cover the loaves and let them rise at room temperature until doubled in size, probably about 12 to 15 hours.

Once the loaves have doubled in size, it's time to preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the oven is at the right temperature - I use a thermometer to be SURE the oven is at the right temperature - slash the loaves with a razor blade, slide them into the oven, and put some water into a pan at the bottom of the oven. Allow to bake 45 minutes, or until the inside of the bread reaches 190 F. (Note - my kitchen is at 7,703 feet above sea level, which changes how bread bakes. At sea level, you may want to shoot for 205 F or so.)

Remove from oven, and let cool on wire racks before slicing - if your family will let you.

Tassajara Warm Red Cabbage Salad

A friend of mine was planning a picnic with a vegetarian she just started dating. As I was helping her brainstorm ideas, I came across this recipe that I had bookmarked. I only made it once, but I don't know how I forgot about it. It was delicious! Thought I'd share.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon natural cane sugar (or brown sugar)
fine grain sea salt

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 red onion, diced
3 medium cloves garlic, minced

1 pound head of red cabbage or radicchio, quartered and cut into thin ribbons

1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
2 ounces golden raisins (or other plump, chopped dried fruit)
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

a bit of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to garnish

Directions:

Roast the sunflower seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat until golden brown. Sprinkle on the sugar, and a couple pinches of salt. Stir until the sugar melts and coats the seeds (you pan will need to be hot enough). Transfer the seeds immediately to a plate so they don't stick to the pan. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and saute the onion for a minutes or two with a couple pinches of salt. Stir in the garlic, and the cabbage, and a few more pinches of salt. Stir and cook for just a minute or so, or until the cabbage softens up just a touch. Then stir in the rosemary, most of the raisins, and the vinegar. The cabbage will continue to get more and more tender even after you remove it from the heat, so keep that in mind, and do your best to avoid overcooking it - where it collapses entirely. Fold in half of the feta cheese, most of the sunflower seeds, then taste. Season with more salt if needed. Serve garnished with the remaining raisins, feta, sunflower seeds and Parmesan cheese.

Serves 4 to 6.

This recipe was adapted from The Complete Tassajara Cookbook by Edward Espe Brown. Published by Shambhala (September 8, 2009)

Prep time: 10 min - Cook time: 10 min

Where to buy...

Sarah and I were talking about buying different cooking products, and I thought I'd get some suggestions from people (and offer a few of my own).

Quinoa and faro, I've found Costco is actually the best place. You can get a 4 lb bag of quinoa for $10, which is cheaper than I've seen anywhere else. The faro is a little more expensive per pound, but still relatively a good deal. Costco also has a pretty good deal on strawberries ($5 for a 4 lb flat).

For those of you in the bay area, do you go to Milk Pail Market in Mountainview? It's my go-to place for produce now - tons of variety, lots of fresh herbs, lots of it local, and very inexpensive. They also have things like flour, grains, and legumes that you can scoop out and buy by the pound. Lots of international foods too.

I think Trader Joe's is good for things like sweeteners (agave, raw sugar, honey, etc.), oils and butter, wild & brown rice, sauces, salsa, etc. Their frozen foods are amazing, but not quite as "natural" as I would like.

I've found, however, that when I go to make a recipe, the thing I most often don't have is nuts. Because I intend to buy them, but then I see how much they cost, and I figure it can't be worth it. But then I don't make the recipe... Sarah suggested Costco for raw almonds, which she keeps in her fridge and last a long time. They have a 3 lb bag for $9, which is pretty decent. They also have walnuts and cashews and pecans in large quantities, but then I wonder, do I really want to spend $50 on a large nut pantry? There must be another way... Suggestions?

The main dilemma we both had was where to buy pine nuts, which seem to be worth their weight in gold. The 1.5 lb bag at Costco is $22. Is there something I don't know about the process of harvesting pine nuts? Do they have to compensate the families of the workers who died falling out of pine trees? Does anyone know a good place to buy them?

Lastly, I hear lots of people saying you should use coconut oil. Does anyone know a good place to buy it?

Easy Minestrone

I got this recipe from a cooking class I took in college and have been making this soup ever since. It is so easy and cheap. It's very lowfat and could be made even healthier by using all organic broth and canned goods, and even fresh veggies. It's nice because you can keep the ingredients on hand all the time.

2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth (or I'm sure veggie would be fine)
1 med onion, chopped
1 can kidney beans
1 cup frozen mixed veggies
1/2 cup mini shell pasta (any relatively small pasta works)
1 tsp dried basil
1 can Italian stewed tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients, except tomatoes, and bring to boil. Let simmer for 10 min. Blend tomatoes, and then add to soup. Bring back to boil, then simmer for 5 more min. And that's it!

As with many soups, I think this one gets better by the next day as the flavors blend. It sounds really basic, but tastes really good. Sometimes I add cheese or sour cream, or even chips like with tortilla soup. But they are not necessary.

A word to the wise. I made this soup just a few days ago, and read the label on my tomato can. To my chagrin, these tomatoes had high fructose corn syrup. So check that out before you buy. It made me angry.

And sorry, once again I have no picture. Maybe I will add pictures next time I make these recipes.

Enchiladas with Green Sauce

This is a great epicurious.com recipe I found a few years ago. I usually double the sauce and freeze half of it for later. This is my go to recipe for delivering dinner to someone. I make a non vegetarian version with shredded chicken and caramelized onions inside whole wheat tortillas and then I just pour the sauce over and add some jack cheese, cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes at 350.

Sauce
1/2 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup milk
6 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
3 green onions, minced
1/2 4-ounce can diced green chilies, drained
1 3/4 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

For sauce:
Cook spinach according to package instructions. Drain well. Set aside. Melt butter in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add flour and stir mixture 2 minutes; do not brown. Gradually whisk in whipping cream and milk. Simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in spinach, cilantro, green onion, chilies, cumin, coriander and red pepper. Puree in batches in processor until almost smooth. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before using.)

NYTimes Recipes for Health and Chicken Salad

One of my favorite places to look for new, simple, healthful and often vegetarian recipes is the New York Times Recipes for Health section. Martha Rose Shulman takes an ingredient or theme and writes 5 recipes each week; they used to be published each day, Monday through Friday, but now they release all 5 at once. My favorite is the sweet potato section. I've posted several of these recipes on facebook, so you may have seen those.

This is the description of the recipe series from the website: "Each week this series will present recipes around a particular type of produce or a pantry item. This is food that is vibrant and light, full of nutrients but by no means ascetic, fun to cook and a pleasure to eat."

I have made this recipe a couple times, and I discovered that that it is actually necessary to use all the ingredients called for in the recipe, which is hard for me because I'm into omitting and substituting items all over the place.

Indonesian-Style Chicken Salad

This spicy, refreshing chicken salad makes a great summer meal. I love the flavor of the peanut butter in the dressing.

For the salad:

1 whole chicken breast or 2 boneless skinless breasts, poached and shredded (about 4 cups shredded chicken)

Salt and freshly ground pepper (optional)

1 bunch scallions, white part and green, thinly sliced

1/4 cup slivered fresh mint leaves

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 small red bell pepper, cut in thin strips

1 serrano pepper, finely chopped (seeded if desired)

2 cups mung bean sprouts or sunflower sprouts

1 romaine lettuce heart, leaves separated, washed and dried

1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts

For the dressing:

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh ginger

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon Southeast Asian fish sauce

Pinch of cayenne

2 tablespoons crunchy or smooth natural peanut butter (more to taste)

1/3 cup buttermilk

1. Place the chicken in a large bowl, and season with salt and pepper. Add the white part of the scallions, the mint, cilantro, red pepper, minced chile pepper and sprouts. Toss together.

2. Combine the lime juice, ginger, garlic, fish sauce and cayenne. Stir together. Add the peanut butter, and combine well. Whisk in the buttermilk. Taste and adjust seasonings.

3. Line a platter with the lettuce leaves. Toss the chicken mixture with the dressing, and arrange over the lettuce. Sprinkle the peanuts and the scallion greens over the top, and serve.

Yield: Serves four to six.

Advance preparation: The poached chicken breasts will keep for three days in the refrigerator. The dressing can be made several hours ahead.

Black Bean Agave Brownies

That's right, black beans and brownies, together. Alan approached me making these with firm skepticism; I approached it with curiosity. I wasn't so sure about it, until I was reminded that bean pastes are used quite regularly in Chinese desserts - and the Chinese seem to be doing okay. And I have to say, they turned out pretty well. I even noticed a large slice missing from the pan this morning after Alan packed his lunch.

To be honest, I've been trying to figure out exactly what the black beans are replacing in this recipe. You could say they replace the flour, but brownies don't usually use too much flour, and these ones do NOT have the texture of flour brownies - they're much more of a rich fudgy flourless cake type brownie. So I guess it's a flourless brownie with some of the butter and chocolate being replaced with black beans? They're not exactly "health food" as there's still a hefty amount of butter and sweetener, but at least they're fudge with fiber and protein.

And the question everyone is asking: do they taste like black beans with chocolate? No, not really. The recipe calls for some imitation coffee, which I didn't include, and there is a touch of bean flavor to mine (but I don't mind it). I think if you included the coffee or something like it, it would wipe out any of the bean taste.

Last note: I don't have a food processor, and I think it would have really helped. I used my vitamix instead, but the stuff you're blending is so thick, the wheels were spinning, and it ended up being more difficult than I imagined. So, you can get it done with a good blender, but a food processor would be ideal.

Okay, the recipe already:

Ingredients:
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup unsalted butter (I used 3/4 cup and it was fine)
2 cups soft-cooked black beans, drained well (canned is fine)
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (granulated) natural coffee substitute (or instant coffee, for gluten-sensitive)
¼ teaspoon sea salt
4 large eggs
1½ cups light agave nectar (the whole 12 oz bottle)

Preheat the oven to 325°F. The recipe tells you to use an 11x18 pan; I used a 9x13 and 9x9 (ends up being the same square inches) and it was really thin, so you should be fine with just a 9x13. Spray the pan.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a glass bowl in the microwave for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on high. Stir with a spoon to melt the chocolate completely. Place the beans, 1/2 cup of the walnuts, the vanilla extract, and a couple of spoonfuls of the melted chocolate mixture into the bowl of a food processor. Blend about 2 minutes, or until smooth. The batter should be thick and the beans smooth. Set aside. (If you use a blender, you'll have to keep stirring it; keep it on a relatively low speed so it will churn a little instead of spinning in place.)

In a large bowl, mix together the remaining 1/2 cup walnuts, remaining melted chocolate mixture, coffee substitute, and salt. Mix well and set aside.

In a separate bowl, with an electric mixer beat the eggs until light and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the agave nectar and beat well. Set aside.

Add the bean/chocolate mixture to the coffee/chocolate mixture. Stir until blended well.

Add the egg mixture, reserving about 1/2 cup. Mix well. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Using an electric mixer, beat the remaining 1/2 cup egg mixture until light and fluffy. Drizzle over the brownie batter. Use a wooden toothpick to pull the egg mixture through the batter, creating a marbled effect. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the brownies are set. Cook it relatively quickly after pouring it into the pan, since the agave can separate from the batter. The recipe recommends putting it in the fridge and cutting it up when it's cold; I don't know if you have that kind of willpower, but I didn't. Eat some while they're hot, and put the rest in the fridge.

Cooking Gurus

Nikki and I were talking yesterday about posting recipes we find on other sites, and it turned out we both had the same website in mind: 101cookbooks.com. It's all vegetarian and all natural, and she has one recipe after another that I'm dying to try - looking through them, I wonder why I ever ate a non-extraordinary meal. So don't be surprised if most of the things I post on her are just me documenting trying one of these recipes.

What I wanted to share today, though, isn't a particular recipe. She has a page devoted to building a natural foods pantry, that goes over some basic ingredients you should have on hand for a lot of natural foods cooking. She goes over oils, grains, sweeteners, vegetables, herbs, etc., and says why she likes each one and what standards you should use when choosing ingredients. I found it super helpful.

www.101cookbooks.com/build_a_natural

Coconut Ice Cream

This delicious recipe is from my friend Jo. I want to try it with mango instead of chocolate.


Coconut Ice Cream
1 can whole fat coconut milk
3oz approx of real dark chocolate 72% real cocoa or higher
Sweetener of your choice, Agave, Stevia, Dates sweeten to taste.
1tsp vanilla
Blend all ingredients until warm (about 5 min), This works best with a blendtec, vita mix type blender.
Freeze.
Thaw for 10-20 minutes before eating.
For creamy dairy like ice cream freeze in Ice Cube trays and just before serving put cubes in blender with some almond milk, coconut milk, or something like that. It just takes a little milk.
Serve.
Variations we enjoy.
*1/4 cup -1/2 natural peanut butter When this is blended for about 5 min it becomes thick like fudge. This is my favorite.
*Mint, you can add Peppermint oil or extract or a few peppermint leaves. This is wonderful.
*Nuts of any kind.
*Mix ins- pour ice cream into a flat Tupperware type container and sprinkle with nuts, marshmallows, toffee, whatever you like in your ice cream. Once sprinkled on push slightly to get it into the mix better.
* you can leave out the chocolate (I don't know why you would want to!) and mix in some frozen berries.
After making a few batches you will start to get creative and come up with some great variations. This is a great Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free alternative to traditional ice cream.

Southwest Quinoa

Hooray for Quinoa and its complete protein! I like this recipe in the winter because it doesn't rely on a lot of fresh ingredients, but I'm sure it would taste fantastic with fresh grilled corn and fresh diced tomatoes.

Southwest Quinoa

Ingredients
olive oil
dash cumin (optional)
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1.5 c quinoa
2.5 c broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can corn
1 can black beans
salt and pepper to taste
cilantro, torn

Directions
Heat oil in medium saucepan. Add cumin and stir briefly. Saute onion until translucent, then add garlic until just fragrant. Add dry quinoa and stir until coated. Add broth and tomatoes. Increase heat to high until mixture bubbles, and turn heat down to medium to simmer. After 10-15 minutes, or when most of the liquid has been absorbed and the outer part of the quinoa is pulling away from the inner part, add the corn, black beans and cilantro. Mix together and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Enjoy with sliced avocado and a squeeze of lime.

Mediterranean-ish Quinoa Salad

I thought I'd start things off with a quinoa dish I made last night that made me, my tummy, and even Alan happy. I went to the store and bought a bunch of ingredients for nothing in particular, thinking that for sure I would have everything I needed to make any number of recipes I'd found online, and discovered that I had about 70% of the ingredients for a large number of them. So I improvised a little bit. It worked as a main course for us (just because I ate so much), but I think it would go perfectly as a side dish with some grilled fish. Since I didn't have any, I included some tofu in this. Substitute at will.

Ingredients:
-1 cup uncooked quinoa
-1 Tbsp olive oil
-12 oz tofu, cut into small cubes
-1-2 cloves of minced garlic
-1-2 zucchini, cut in half and then into thin slices
-handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
-1 cup crumbled feta or goat cheese
-juice of lemon
-dill
-salt to taste

Get the quinoa cooking - I do mine in my rice cooker, and it actually works quite nicely. While that's cooking, heat the oil on medium-high in a large saute pan, add the garlic and tofu, and let the tofu brown (about 4-5 minutes). Add the zucchini and let it soften, another 4-5 minutes, then add the cherry tomatoes. I don't like mine cooked very much, so I just let them cook for about 2 minutes, tossing the pan most of the time.

Put the cooked quinoa in a large serving bowl and add the veggies, feta, and lemon juice. Add as much dill as you want - I like a lot, but for some it's overpowering (like Alan, who picked up a sprig, smelled it, and made a face you don't want people to make when they're tasting your cooking. Maybe let people add it individually). Toss it all - add a little more olive oil if it's dry.

This is good warm, but it's also super yummy the next day when the dill has flavored everything.

Black Bean Burgers

This one is always a favorite, and can be vegan AND delicious.


Black Bean Burgers

1 19-ounce can black beans (I have never found a can this size, I usually just use the normally commercially available size and make 3 burgers)
1 4-ounce can diced mild chilies
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
2 garlic cloves
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (I actually don't put this in)
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
4 pita pockets


In colander, drain beans and chilies together. Rinse with cold water, shake the colander and let it drain in the sink for a few minutes. In a medium bowl, combine the beans and chilies with 2 Tbsp of the cornmeal and the onion, cilantro, lime juice, garlic, jalapeno, cumin and a pinch of salt. With a potato masher, mash the mixture until about half the beans are crushed. Form into 4 three-inch patties. Add the remaining cornmeal to a small bowl, then press both sides of burgers into the cornmeal until well coated.

In a nonstick pan over medium-high heat, heat the oil until hot but not smoking. Add the burgers and cook until crisp on one side, about 2 minutes. Turn and cook on the other side until crips and warm all the way through, about 3-5 min.

Cut off the top third of the pita pockets and spread sour cream inside if desired. With a spatula, carefully place a bean burger inside each pita. Spead the salsa on top of each burger; if desired, garnish with lettuce, fresh cilantro or tomato (I like to do avocado slices and salsa and sour cream only, very good).

Enjoy!

Avocado Tomatillo Green Sauce

This salsa/sauce/guacamole is great because it is all veggies, and so the only fat in it is the good kind from the avocados. Surprisingly, I did not get this recipe from any of my favorite Mexicans, past or present. This one came from one of the whitest guys I knew at BYU; actually, from his aunt. Guess he's out of luck because I still have his aunt's hand-written recipe.

-8 tomatillos
-2 jalapeños (fresh)
-2 avocados
-1/4 red onion
-1 clove garlic (sometimes I omit, because it leaves a pretty strong aftertaste)
-1/3 to 1/2 bunch of cilantro (go ahead and include the stems)
-lime juice to taste (my addition to an already pretty good recipe. It also keeps it from turning brown. Added bonus!)
-salt to taste

1) Peel the tomatillos and wash the sticky film off. Cut the tops off the jalapeños, but leave the seeds in. Boil tomatillos and jalapeños in water until tender (you can stick a fork in it easily.) Usually the tomatillos are done first, and I let the jalapeños go a minute or two more.

2) Put tomatillos and jalapeños directly into a blender. Add some of the water you boiled them in. Usually, just about 2 inches or so. You can always add more later, but you don't want it too watery. Blend.

3) Add avocados, onion, garlic (if used), cilantro. (Note: Sometimes the cilantro stems will get caught in the blades, so just use a fork to untangle. But usually, they're fine).

4) Add salt and lime juice to taste.

5) Best served warm. You can heat up again later if you need to. It's great with tortilla chips, or also on quesadillas or tacos. Disfrútalo! (Enjoy it!)