Fruited Cabbage Kale Salad with Tahini-Garlic Dressing July 5, 2009
Posted by a-k in dressings and sauces, raw, recipe, salad, vegetables.16 comments
I’m not huge on holidays, and rather less huge on themed food for holidays (apart from Thanksgiving and the baking and beverages surrounding that one consumer holiday in December). Since we got our grill, however – because we have a space to have one now – I’m not opposed to an excuse for using it for various summertime holidays. We had a couple friends over who brough mojitos and ketchup (we forgot to get some at the store), and grilled up a lot of stuff. Not pictured are the Smoked Apple and Sage Field Roast sausages which were delightful with some of the aforementioned ketchup, grainy French mustard, banana peppers, and a little sauerkraut… but behold the strawberry and basil green salad, okra, corn on the cob*, and avocado:
*Notice those various colored dealies right above the salad? They’re corn cob prongs in the shape of dogs… corn dogs!
Despite the relative green theme of our meal, I tend to feel a bit stuffed and icky the day after a holiday feast. Trying not to spend my entire checking account on eating out at Ecopolitan (the local raw place) inspires me to try and rip off replicate a few of their dishes for a cheaper and often tastier homemade meal. Today I give you my version of their Purple Kale Salad, a name which is a bit misleading as the purple actually refers to red cabbage and not the variety of kale. The relatively bitter taste of raw kale and the accompanying red cabbage is balanced with sweet raisins, sweet-tart kiwifruit, tomatoes, and a tahini-garlic dressing that helps soften the greens. This is a case where I think my version turned out better than what I’ve gotten at the restaurant lately. But it may be the use of my CSA farm-fresh kale or that I probably add a few more raisins than they do 
Keeping the kale thinly sliced (important!) helps break up its fibrous texture, and the acids in the dressing and tomatoes help to soften it further. A great introduction to eating raw kale with little or no need to marinate or massage it!
Fruited Cabbage Kale Salad with Tahini-Garlic Dressing (serves 2-3):
1/4 head red cabbage, thinly sliced
3 large leaves kale, destemmed and thinly sliced
1 c diced tomato
1-2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 c raisins
1-2 kiwifruit, peeled, quartered and sliced
2 tbsp raw tahini
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1/4 c water (or as needed to thin out dressing)
Gomasio, to taste (omit this if you want to remain 100% raw)
Combine kale, cabbage, tomatoes, onions, and raisins in a large mixing bowl, reserving the kiwifruit. Make the dressing by combining tahini, lemon juice, garlic and water in a sealed jar and shaking until homogenized. Pour over kale mixture and toss until evenly distributed. Stir in kiwi. Let sit a few minutes if desired to help the kale soften up a bit.
Fill plates or bowls with salad and top with optional gomasio (if you like a little salt in there… my second serving was gomasio-free and equally delicious!).
Friday’s Delicious, Tomorrow’s Chicago* June 13, 2009
Posted by a-k in cake, noodles and pasta, salad, vegetables.11 comments
*Not that Chicago isn’t also delicious…
Raw Zucchini Noodles with Lemon Basil Pesto
You really can’t convince me that pesto needs cheese in it… for me it’s all about the nuts and the basil and the little bit of garlic. Yum! I spiralized some zucchini noodles and tossed them with a few tablespoons of raw lemon basil pesto, then squeezed some fresh lemon on top. Rich and satisfying but light at the same time, which is what I’m aiming for these days.
Field greens with tomatoes, parsley, and Mexican Gems
I had some odds and ends in the fridge and a burning desire to grill the remaining okra I got from the farmer’s market, but it felt decadent to heat some coals just for little ol’ me; not to mention I wouldn’t have been able to finish all the food. So I had one of my coworkers and her husband over for an impromptu dinner tonight…the exchange went something like this: “Hey, M-, what you doing tonight?” “Nothing.” “Wanna come over and grill some stuff? You should bring your special manfriend.” “Hot (vegan) dog, A-K! Sounds great!” And then we made it happen. Part of my container garden this year includes some edible flowers called Mexican Gems. They’re distinctly floral and followed by a spicy kick! I don’t have too many blooming quite yet, but each of us got one with our locally grown field green salad.
Grilled Okra
Earlier this week I made my first vegan gumbo and included some okra. While good, I also wanted to enjoy okra on its own in a way that didn’t involve deep-frying. So I tossed some in a splash of olive oil and rubbed some salt and pepper in, skewered them, and grilled them over low coals for about 8 or 10 minutes. Wow! It’s kind of like eating corn, only you don’t get kernels stuck in your teeth. Soft, almost creamy, sweet centers surrounded by a slightly crisp, salty crust. I know there are a lot of people who hate okra because of the slime (I’ve only experienced the slime when slicing it raw), but I’d always been into okra the few times I tried it. I think I’m having a love affair with it now! This is the best way to make it so far.
The other day at work we were discussing our favorite smells. Most of mine are food-related, particularly spice-related. And one of them is saffron – the lovely, fragrant Spanish kind. There’s a lot of nostalgic attachment for me to Sweden and the St. Lucia bread made around Christmas time, which has saffron in it. One of my coworkers told me she thought saffron tasted like plastic, and I knew I had to convince her otherwise. I think the best way to do this is with cake. So while I was marinating tofu and slicing veggies for the grill fest, I whipped out this pretty little cake. I think I’m finding that wheat (and yeast) is doing bad things to me, but spelt seems alright so far, which is why this cake is a darker yellow than a traditional Swedish saffron cake would be. But let me tell you, this turned out moist and delicious! It’s a bit heavier than I’d like and took significantly longer to bake than the recipe I based it off of, so I won’t post a recipe yet, but once I get my hands on some more saffron, I’m all over making this again. Do you think she’ll like it?
Spelt Saffron Cake
Tomorrow I find out it it passes the “plastic test” (fingers crossed). And tomorrow I’m also dashing off to Chicago for 24 hours after work, so I’ll be gone most of the weekend. Hope yours is lovely!
Raw Week: Transitioning June 8, 2009
Posted by a-k in raw, salad, vegetables.17 comments
Salad greens and sugar snap peas from the farmer's market with sauteed portobellas and orange slices
Sorry for the lack of blogging the past couple days… on one hand I needed a break to work on some other projects, and on the other I didn’t really have anything blog-worthy to share. Honestly, after Thursday’s feast at Ecopolitan, I started eating very simply for the most part. A lot of straight up fruits and veggies, some repeats like the red pepper soup. I had decided that on Saturday evening I would start to eat some cooked food again.
It’s important to go back to cooked gradually or you’re not gonna feel too good in the digestive department. I’m not going to say I didn’t miss anything while eating raw, although I was really enjoying it as well. But I missed a few things like cooked grains, and the weather over the weekend has been gloomy and quite cold for June. So I continued to eat raw all day Saturday, and dinner that night was basically a giant spinach and tomato salad with tahini dressing and a small pile of quinoa cooked in veggie broth.
Sunday morning I walked to the farmer’s market and scored some delightful treats, like sugar snap peas, okra, and salad greens. I’d had a green smoothie for breakfast, but have to admit at this moment that I couldn’t pass up finding vegan tamales at the market. VEGAN TAMALES, people! They were small and I think the long walk helped, because I didn’t feel regret having eaten them. Still, I wanted to make something mostly raw for my real lunch, which you see pictured above. Yum! Salad greens with tahini dressing and a pretty edible flower, sugar snap peas, and orange slices making up the raw, and a little bit of sliced portobella sauteed in olive oil and garlic with chopped sun dried tomatoes and figs.
Sauteed portobellas with sun-dried tomatoes and figs
I’m still working on the green smoothie post, have no fear! For now I’m taking it a little easy and getting excited about all the herbs I’m growing in the window and outside. Look at this gorgeous lavender flower starting to bloom:
Lavender Lady Bloom
Raw Week: Fruity Crepe and Veggie Dressing June 4, 2009
Posted by a-k in dressings and sauces, fruit, nuts, raw, recipe, salad, vegetables.14 comments
Raw Crepes stuffed with Vanilla Lemon Pine Nut Cream, spiced fruit salad, and date syrup
Today has been a weird day. I had some weird nightmares so I never felt totally rested all day, and on top of it I had my (usually) least favorite shift at work.
However, I had an AMAZING breakfast, as you can probably see! I used the Rawmelette shells to make a fruit crepe. Or is it a fruit taco? I can’t decide. The early morning intense domestic in me decided it needed a little more than just a shell and fruit salad, so I decided on some date syrup (which I’ve wanted to make for a long long time) and some kind of sweet nut cream. In raw food, there are some nuts that don’t need much, if any, soaking in order to be pureed. Pine nuts are one of them, and I had half a cup waiting to be utilized!
I was hesitant at first, since pine nuts have a more distinct flavor, but I’m so glad I took the plunge. The delicate flavor of the pine nuts went so well with the tangy lemon and warm vanilla and it’s just lovely for dipping your finger into! I used this to “glue” the fruit salad to the shell.
Vanilla Lemon Pine Nut Cream
Vanilla Lemon Pine Nut Cream
1/2 c raw pinenuts
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp raw agave nectar
1/2 tsp acidophilus powder (optional, for a tangier flavor)
1/2 vanilla bean scraped (or a splash of vanilla extract)
Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth … It may be quite thick. Pause occasionally if the motor gets too hot and to scrape down the sides as necessary.
I also made some date syrup by soaking 1 1/2 c dates in some warm water for 20 minutes, then draining and blending with 3/4 c water and a couple shakes of cinnamon. If you have an empty squeeze bottle lying around, this is a great way to make use of it and fancy up some desserts (raw or not)! The crepe was spread with pine nut cream, filled with spiced berry fruit salad, and drizzled with date syrup. Yum!
Raw Fruit Crepe Closeup
For lunch I thought a soup would be nice. I’d read a long time ago about “Energy Soup,” which, it turns out, is really just another term for a savory green smoothie. Being quite happy with my sweet green smoothie creations, I thought this would be no problem. Well, I was wrong. I don’t know if it was me being out of garlic, or missing some essential base flavor, or just a bad combination, but this was really acidic and frankly kind of difficult to eat. Because of the carrots it turns more of an olive green color which I tried to ignore by covering it in cilantro and red peppers. I made an energy soup once a while back that was delicious, really and truly delicious, but this sadly wasn’t. Anybody have any good recipes for energy soup?
Curried Energy Soup
When I got home from work with a bunch of free red bell peppers, I knew they had to become part of my dinner. Originally I’d planned to make a red pepper tahini dip to make lettuce roll-ups, but when I blended everything together it ended up too thin for that. What resulted is a creamy, delicious concoction with a hint of spice that I used (liberally) as a salad dressing and fed to my detox friend as a soup. If you find yourself with some extra peppers, make this! It’s so good, and such a lovely bright salmon color. I had it over field greens with sliced snow peas, micro greens, tomatoes, hemp seeds, and a side of rosemary crisps.
Green Salad with Creamy Red Pepper Dressing
Creamy Red Pepper Dressing (or Soup)
2 red bell peppers, chopped
1/2 red chili pepper, seeded and chopped
1 large garlic clove (minced if not using a high speed blender)
2 tbsp chopped onion
1/2 zucchini, chopped
1/4 c raw tahini
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp chopped cilantro, for garnish
Blend all ingredients except cilantro in a food processor or blender until smooth. Garnish with chopped cilantro.
Tomorrow I’m drinking a green smoothie for breakfast, and headed to Ecopolitan for a dinner date with my detox friend Michael. Who knows what lunch will bring? Though I have a hunch it might include avocado…
Raw Week: Tuesday Eats June 3, 2009
Posted by a-k in cookies, dessert, fruit, raw, salad, vegetables.9 comments
Torn Basil Salad with Avocado and Tomatoes
Just a quick post today… I am definitely way more full of energy than I have been in a long time. I admit it could be from a combination of things, but I’d like to think my recent eating habits have something to do with it! At any rate, I think I’m figuring out my “natural bedtime” and it’s earlier than I’m posting this now.
This morning I had the green smoothie I wrote about in the previous post, followed by lots of water. When I got home I ate the second half of my Purple Basil Kale Salad from Ecopolitan and half of a grapefruit. As an early dinner I ate the salad pictured at the top, which I’m calling the “Torn Basil Salad” in honor of Jamie Oliver and a distinct memory I have from an episode of the Naked Chef 5 or 6 years ago where he urged the hand-tearing of basil right over the greens. It also had two tomatoes, half an avocado, a few tablespoons of Juliano’s House Dressing, diced red onions, and field greens from the farmer’s market.
Triple Berry Fruit Salad
As a dinner-dessert I made a big fruit salad (with enough leftovers for breakfast!). I used strawberries, an apple, a peach, one kiwi, blackberries, and blueberries, and tossed them with cinnamon, cardamom, and fresh minced ginger. It was kind of like cheater garam masala, and it was spicy and warming against the refreshing fruit. I meant to add raisins, too, but I’d already been raisin-ing earlier to make these:
Raw Carob Walnut Cookies
I found the recipe from Ani Phyo’s new raw dessert book for these tasty Raw Carob Walnut Cookies while perusing We Like It Raw. When I was a vegetarian, one of the things that really interested me in veganism was vegan desserts – they were so much tastier, and not so cloyingly sweet! Now that I’m vegan, I absolutely adore raw desserts above traditional baked vegan desserts. While these raw cookies don’t have the same taste and texture properties of a baked cookie, they’re quite a lovely mouthful. I know there are a lot of carob haters in this world, but I love carob, and especially raw carob! It’s so nummy!
Tomorrow morning I’m planning a slightly more fancy breakfast a la Rawmelettes, though perhaps as a fruit taco kind of thing with the leftover fruit salad. A little date syrup and some nut cream and I’ll be in absolute heaven!
Also, I’m planning a tutorial post about green smoothies for the near future. After a lot of comments about different combinations and additions, I think it’s high time some green smoothie love gets spread!
Get It Ripe by jae steele January 28, 2009
Posted by a-k in baking, beans and legumes, breakfast, cake, cookbooks, dessert, grains and flours, muffins, salad, soup, vegetables.23 comments
Adzuki-Squash Soup with Chipotle and Red Peppers and green salad with Molasses Cornbread
You know when you get a cookbook and you read it from cover to cover and cradle it in your arms and wanna marry it? Uh… me neither; isn’t that a weird idea?
Okay, so it’s really mostly true. I heard about Get It Ripe in the Post Punk Kitchen forums awhile back and have been waiting patiently for my co-op or one of the local bookstores or our little vegan boutique to carry it. But months went by and I couldn’t find it. I satisfied curiousities by visiting jae’s blog and have made her recipe for maple flax cookies several times (including a fruit-filled thumbprint version for the flaming cabbage soiree), and they were so good and her vision about food so in line with my own, I finally ordered a copy from Herbivore.
Crispy Fried Tofu over dandelion greens
jae is a holistic nutritionist and has spent a lot of time on farms and in communities/co-ops. So what you get is not only a ton of tasty recipes, but a wealth of information on healthy foods, digestion, cleansing/detoxing, organic and local farming, food preparation and baking techniques. This is the kind of cookbook I’ve been looking for for a long time! These are just a few pictures of the gajillion things I’ve made from it in less than a week!
Adzuki-Squash Soup with Chipotle and Red Peppers
So smoky and warm and simple and yummy!
Molasses Cornbread and mixed greens
We had this on the side of the soup, which was sophisticatedly sweetened and the best cornbread I’ve ever had (or made).
Pesto White Bean Bowl
This was quick to make, full of flavor, and full of greens! (My favorite part of the cookbook)
Appleyest Spice Cake drizzled with barley malt syrup
There’s some “naughty” stuff in there too (meaning dessert), but it’s full of non-wheat and non-white sugar recipes, which really makes me happy. This cake was so light and fluffy and without a lot of fat or sugar (Sucanat, in this case).
Slice of Appleyest Spice Cake
Behold the tender crumb!
A Whole Lotta Raw January 9, 2009
Posted by a-k in coconut, dessert, drinks, fruit, raw, recipe, salad, smoothie, soup, vegetables.16 comments
Coconut Rainbow Salad
You wouldn’t believe it was -2F this morning and we might be getting 4 inches of snow tomorrow, would you? I can’t hardly believe it either, which is apparently why I’m pretending it’s summer with colorful food!
For some reason, eating (mostly) raw is really easy and exciting for me this time around. Which is strange considering last time it was June and not eating cooked food seemed more pleasant than it would in early January. I feel really excited about the food and have been un-cooking more spontaneously by feel and inspiration largely, which is how I usually approach food. I’m actually a bit sad to start having to cook again once my ladyfriend returns! Not that I can’t still eat a lot of raw, but dinner is likely to become a cooked affair once more.
The Vita-Mix is really changing a lot of this for me. I am seriously still using it at least twice a day! Making whole juices and shakes in addition to the smoothies is a great way to use up over-bought produce, and tastes so good! Here is a Fig and Grape Cleansing Shake from Raw Food Real World that I made once before, though it was fluffy and smooth this time around!
Fig and Grape Cleansing Shake
I also have been reading this book called Detox Your World that was written by Shazzie, a UK raw foodist. I made a couple recipes from the back of the book, the first one being a Melonmelon shake (just cantaloupe and lemon zest):
Melonmelon Shake
Isn’t that color gorgeous? It kinda matches this Squash and Kumquat Soup from the same book… I think there were some ingredients in strange amounts (1 tbsp of coconut meat and a cup of almond milk) but overall it was a very satisfying soup that I ate for lunch at work a couple days in a row:
Squash and Kumquat Soup from Detox Your World
Shazzie was a bit of an inspiration for my second attempt at a raw cheesecake, and my first attempt at a nut-free cheesecake. Well, I tell a slight lie: there are nuts in the crust, but sometimes I am a little freaked out by a nut crust topped with more nuts! So this has frozen bananas as the base of the “cheese” and it’s also got blueberries, kumquats, vanilla, cardamom, and a little coconut oil in it. I froze it for a couple hours and topped it with a blueberry-cashew cream (I stopped being freaked out by the nuts I guess) and fresh fruit. Not bad for a first try, but being made from bananas it’s just not as creamy as other cheesecakes (but that’s sometimes a good thing!). Here it is, in all its purple and orange glory:
Raw Blueberry Kumquat Cheesecake
One of the best things about my job, despite the problems I have with it, is access to free organic produce that the store can’t sell. Sometimes it’s too far gone, but usually you get perfectly ripe and ready-to-use treasures. I’ve restocked my smoothie banana supply this week for free, for example, and scored three half-pints of fresh blueberries. Also for some reason, there have been tons and tons of bell peppers – and not just the nasty green kind! I love red and yellow and orange bell peppers, but usually only buy one at a time, occasionally, because they’re so pricey. But I’ve amassed about 7 or 8 this week that have gone into various soups and things, and into a delicious salad that was a combination of almost every kind of produce I had in my fridge today.
While it takes inspiration from Thai food, I can’t really call it a curry, and because of how many delicious and colorful ingredients I used I am calling it Coconut Rainbow Salad. It’s basically a bunch of julienned vegetables covered in coconut-pineapple-chili sauce and garnished with cilantro, scallions, basil, bananas, and blueberries. And it is delicious! The fruit might sound odd, but I was a lovely contrast to the crunchy, spiced vegetables. I am posting the recipe for anyone who is interested, and I think the ingredients could be played around with and even made non-raw if that’s how you roll (rice noodles for the daikon, say, and canned coconut milk instead of fresh).
Coconut Rainbow Salad
Coconut Rainbow Salad (serves 2-4):
For the sauce:
Meat from one Thai young coconut (about 3/4 cup)
1/2 c fresh coconut water
1/2 c fresh or frozen pineapple chunks
1 knob fresh ginger (about 1 tbsp)
1/4-1/2 red chili flakes, or to taste
Julienned vegetables:
1 1/2 c green cabbaged, julienned
1 1/2 c fresh spinach, julienned
1 lg or 2 sm bell peppers, julienned
1 daikon radish, peeled into noodles or spiralized
2 carrots, julienned
To garnish:
4 scallions, sliced
1/2 bunch (or to taste) fresh cilantro, chopped
6-7 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
1 banana, sliced
handful of blueberries
Place all sauce ingredients in Vita-Mix or blender and process until smooth (if you do not have a high-speed blender, you may wish to grate or mince the ginger first). Set aside.
Combine all vegetables in a large mixing bowl to mix evenly. Arrange on serving plates and pour the sauce over the vegetables. Garnish with the scallions, cilantro, basil, bananas and blueberries and serve immediately.
A Birthday Dinner November 6, 2008
Posted by a-k in baking, beans and legumes, cake, chocolate, cookbooks, dessert, parties and happenings, ppk, protein alternatives, salad, sauces and spices, tempeh, the millenium cookbook, vegetables.16 comments
Rum Raisin Bundt Cakes, Coconut-Vanilla-Cashew Cheesecake, and German Chocolate Cake
So, remember how in my last post I said I was reducing my sugar intake except for holidays and special occasions? This was a very special occasion: my ladyfriend’s 28th birthday! We had our good friends Michael and Dan over and it was a gay ol’ party (I mean that in both senses)!
While I kept most of the dinner a secret until the evening of, I tried really hard to think about what Angela would want and like. I mean, she likes just about everything I make her, but after last year’s scuffle with the vegan cake I made her (she hadn’t yet been convinced that vegan baking was delicious), I tried to be very considerate in not making anything too out there. I may have gone a bit too far with the raw cheesecake I made, but it was my least favorite (though certainly not inedible) of the desserts, too.
Tamari-Roasted Chickpeas from ED&BV
All the preparation started on Monday, when I baked the layers and filling for the German Chocolate Cake from the Artful Vegan (the Millenium restaurant’s second cookbook), made a gallon of vegetable stock, marinated and baked three packages of tempeh, made the raw cheesecake, and prepared a batch of Cranberry-Ginger Dressing (from the first Millenium cookbook). Tuesday I actually ended up taking a break from all of it because I was so tired and totally stressed out about the election (even though I am not particularly into mainstream politics), but on Wednesday I made the Rum Raisin cupcakes from VCTOTW in bundt form AND assembled the other two desserts before going to work. Once home from work it was chopping vegetables and stirring risotto and cooking a mushroom sauce for the tempeh while a big batch of Tamari-Roasted Chickpeas baked in the oven as a pre-dinner snack, and sauteeing kale and grilling the tempeh and finally assembling the plates. Whew! I’m tired just remembering it all.
Mixed greens with Cranberry-Ginger Dressing
Grilled tempeh with rosemary-dijon-mushroom sauce, butternut squash and sage risotto, and balsamic-sauteed kale.
It was a delicious success! We started with the chickpeas and a mixed baby green salad tossed in the Cranberry-Ginger Dressing and topped with fresh pears. I do think I’m a bit used to fatty dressings (this one had no oil or other fat) so I though it was a bit acidic, but no one left any behind. Dinner included of butternut squash and sage risotto which I based on the PPK recipe; I also added some black truffle oil for extra-specialness. I sauteed kale in olive oil and balsamic vinegar as a side, but the most delicious part in my mind was the tempeh. I used the recipe from the Millenium cookbook for baked marinated tempeh, which I then grilled and topped with a rosemary-dijon-mushroom sauce (this was an on-the-spot invention). Everything was rich and warm and flavorful, and I kind of wish I’d made more! But we wouldn’t have had any room for it, because dessert was CRAZY.
Rum Raisin mini bundt cakes
There were a few different kinds of cakes Angela had mentioned over the past few months, and that gave me the idea to make a bunch of miniature cakes in different flavors rather than one single large dessert. This was a bit of insurance as well, since she was sure to like at least one of them! All the desserts were made using 4″ diameter cake pans and halving most of the recipes I was using (though that ended up being not quite small enough in most instances and I had to eat up some extras), which included: mini German Chocolate Cake from the Artful Vegan, mini Rum Raisin bundt cakes from the VCTOTW cookbook, and a raw cheesecake based on this slightly cult-ish internet video I found (the actual recipe directions were fine, but the surrounding contents were pretty … uh … creepy quotes and footage from some channel called “Supreme Master TV”).
Leaning tower of German Chocolate Cake from the Artful Vegan
Portions for everyone were devoured while watching VHS tapes of Bollywood montages which were AMAZING. I’ve still got mountains of dishes to do today (and I really don’t want to do them!), but they were worth it for a tasty evening and a happy girlfriend. Hooray birthdays!
***Thank you to everyone for your supportive comments about my last post! Once I’m back in business I hope my attempts to be healthier will be reflected… I’ve got a load of ideas waiting to get tested out. Including my first attempt at a lentil bolognese, seen here over spaghetti squash:
Lentil Bolognese with Spaghetti Squash
a giant salad and mole-roasted cauliflower May 14, 2008
Posted by a-k in chocolate, fruit, herbs, mexican food, recipe, salad, sauces and spices, vegetables.15 comments
strawberry-avocado green salad with chickpea relish and fresh basil.
do you ever have one of those dinners where you realize you are shoveling your food frantically into your mouth as though you’ll never eat again? that’s what happened to me tonight. i had to stop myself, put my fork down, and breathe a little. i think this was a combination of not having eaten since my morning smoothie and my meal being mouthgasmic.
one of the big perks of my co-op job is that there’s often produce that can’t be sold for whatever reason and is free for employees to take. sometimes they really are past their prime, but most often you can either work around a bruised spot, or it is simply a perfectly ripe vegetable ready to be eaten within a day or three. a couple of days ago i got a free pint of strawberries, and today i unburied a few avocados and a bunch of cilantro. when i have strawberries and avocado, i think of them as perfect mates for a green salad, rather than separating them for sweet and savory individual purposes. a sprinkling of fresh basil and a sudden inspiration to use my recently soaked and cooked chickpeas as well made for a giant salad perfect for one person’s dinner, or two as a considerable side salad.
strawberry-avocado green salad with chickpea relish and fresh basil (serves 1 as a meal, 2 as a side):
1/2 head red romaine, chopped
6 strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/2 avocado, sliced
1/2 c chickpeas
2 tbsp red onion, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
splash white balsamic vinegar
splash lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
4-5 leaves basil, shredded or cut into chiffonade
dressing of choice (optional – i used goddess dressing)
place romaine on a plate or in a wide shallow bowl. top with sliced strawberries and avocado (you can sprinkle a little lemon juice on the avocado to prevent browning). make the chickpea relish by combining the chickpeas, red onion, olive oil, balsamic, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a small bowl, tossing to coat. sprinkle over the salad and top with basil leaves. serve as is or with optional dressing.
the second half of my meal was inspired by pondering cauliflower. i’d thought about making a raw coconut cauliflower “rice” dish with green peas, or a soup, or just roasting it. today ended up being rather dreary and gray, and crispy roasted cauliflower sounded just right. but not just with olive oil and a couple of spices. i wanted something spicy, flavorful, and different. how about chilies? how about cilantro? how about chocolate? yes. chocolate. mole-roasted cauliflower it was.
i’m certainly not a mole expert; i’ve had it a few times to varying degrees of likeability. one of the world’s “master sauces,” i read somewhere that authentic mole uses 100 ingredients and a bit of time to prepare. but since my cauliflower didn’t need a thick sauce for roasting, i improvised more of a simple marinade. it’s far from 100 ingredients (and probably authenticity), but full of flavor and a nice kick from the cayenne. go ahead and make your roasted cauliflower a little sexy.
mole-roasted cauliflower (serves 2-4):
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp epazote or oregano
1 tsp sesame seeds
1/8 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cumin
2 tsp cocoa powder
2 cloves garlic
3 tbp canola oil
1-2 tsp lime juice
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
chopped fresh cilantro to garnish
preheat oven to 425F. in a medium mixing bowl, whisk together all ingredients except cauliflower and cilantro. add cauliflower and toss well to coat, then place in a wide, oven-safe dish. roast for 25-35 minutes until edges are crispy, and sprinkle with chopped cilantro. serve hot. (you could also use any leftovers pureed with vegetable stock for a quick and easy soup.)
i was generously awarded the excellent award blog awhile back by lisa of show me vegan. i am meant to award this to five other bloggers whom i find excellent, but this task overhwhelms me as i feel there are so many amazing blogs out there(and i know i only know a small fraction of them) and i have seen this award floating around on several within the past few months. i try very hard to keep up with all the blogs on my blogroll as well as a handful of others, but i’m not always a visible visitor (i don’t comment very often). therefore, in order to prevent double-awarding/repeats (which i was guilty of causing with my last meme), i am forgoing passing this award on to only five blogs, and going to leave comments on the blogs i visit regularly instead of being shy. and again, if you have a blog or know of a blog i don’t have listed here, please let me know!
foods against sickness May 7, 2008
Posted by a-k in baking, bread, grains and flours, herbs, noodles and pasta, salad, vegetables.9 comments
spinach salad with baked tofu, red bell peppers, sunflower seeds, and papaya poppyseed dressing
my regimen of not taking medication isn’t really working out for me. i feel worse today than i have so far, i think. but i’m trying to eat some healthy foods in the meantime (and sucking on some olga’s herbal pastilles for my throat). above was lunch before work today, and dinner consisted of my attempt to include ramps* in a pasta dish. however, i was having a bit of a battle with the ezekiel sprouted pasta. it states clearly in bold type (twice) not to overcook the pasta, which i didn’t do to my knowledge. however, most of it ended up clumped together and grossly chewy (and not very photogenic), which i suspect is partially just a characteristic of sprouted grain pasta. however, i’m taking a well-advised tip from katie about not showing a picture of this dish just because i made it. the gummy pasta really detracted from the otherwise delicious flavors going on.
what i did in shorthand is: tossed a drained can of chickpeas and a bunch of ramp bulbs and stems in olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and roasted them at 400 until browned. i made the ill-fated pasta while sauteeing cremini mushrooms in a cast iron pan until brown and juicy, then threw in the ramp greens and a large handful of spinach to wilt. i tossed it all together, added a little more salt and pepper, and put a few drops of white truffle oil on my serving (seriously, is there anything truffle oil can’t make extra-wonderful?) along with a chiffonade of fresh basil.
so, for lack of a finished product, here is a picture of the chickpeas and ramps before going into the oven:
*what the heck is a ramp? it’s also known as a wild leek in the midwest, where it’s just come into season. tasting somewhat like a cross between garlic and onions, the roasting really toned down the pungency of this little woodland treasure. (last year i tried them for the first time and i think i let them sit around too long before throwing them into a stir-fry… kissing was not a top priority after that experience!) many places, especially in the south, have huge ramp festivals in the spring! a majority of traditional recipes are also laden with dairy and meat, so i had to go with my own concoction. hooray for wild vegetables
**i have TWO upcoming bread-type experiments fermenting right now that i hope will work out…one for a whole wheat/spelt herbed pizza crust, the other for a traditional swedish all-rye bread. wish me baker’s luck!
