Cucumber and Lemon Water

This is more of a method than a recipe. I have been making this for years. Until recently I made it in the blender but now use my juicer because it is easier to clean than a fine wire sieve. This drink is light (in calories), refreshing and has a big flavor punch that I like after exercise. Here is how I make it.

Cucumber and Lemon Water
Serves 1

Ingredients:

½ English cucumber
¼ - ½ lemon, depending on how much you like lemon
1 cup water, or more if you like your beverages to have a lighter flavor
1 pinch kosher salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon agave, or to taste

Blender Directions:

Zest the lemon into the blender and then remove the peel and seeds and discard those. Add the lemon pulp to the blender along with the cucumber and water. Process until smooth and pour through a fine sieve. Flavor the beverage with salt and agave to your taste.

Juicer directions:

Cut the lemon and cucumber into pieces that will fit into your juicer. Juice as you would any other drink. Add water, salt and agave according to your taste.

Nutritional Information (assumes ½ lemon which is what I use, but I love lemon):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 34.18
Calories From Fat (8%) - 2.83

Total Fat - 0.42g
Saturated Fat - 0.04g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 294.81mg
Potassium - 300.59mg
Total Carbohydrates - 10.27g
Fiber - 4.09g
Sugar - 2.32g
Protein - 1.6g

The numbers above are approximate. The fiber is clearly overstated because the pulp has been strained out.

Comments:

I find this juice to be very refreshing. It is something I have made for years. I like it after exercising or in the summer. It provides vitamin C and calcium as well as a nice flavor. You can change the flavor by adding fresh parsley or cilantro.

Unrelated Note:

I need to get back to my to do list. However I will be back later with another recipe or two.

Silken Tofu and Tahini Sauce - no oil

Finally I am getting a chance to post one of the recipes from last weekend. Thank goodness it is raining this morning. Normally I would prefer the sun but today I want to get some of the backlog of recipes posted so rain is fine, besides the plants like rain. I decided to start with this sauce because it is so versatile. I have made a version of this sauce for some time. This original came from the idea of using tahini and lemon (a traditional Middle Eastern sauce that is unpredictable for me). I added the tofu to lighten the mixture and give it predictable body. It worked like a charm. Last weekend I decided to eliminate the oil (in keeping with my recent cooking change) and did this by adding more sesame seeds. Another success …. gotta love that! This oil free modification was easier than most.

We use this with falafel, on salads, as a veggie dip. It can be used many ways. I hope you like it as much as we do. It is one of my favorite vegan sauces. Here is what I did.

Silken Tofu and Tahini Sauce - no oil
Makes approximately 14 ounces or 7 – ¼ cup servings

Ingredients:

12.3 ounces firm silken tofu, organic
4 tablespoons sesame seeds (or tahini if not using a high speed blender)
1 clove garlic, peeled (if the clove is huge or you don't love raw garlic start with 1/2 a clove)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

Place everything in your blender and process until smooth. If you are using a Vitamix the machine will grind the sesame seeds into tahini and the mixture will be smooth.  This sauce may get smooth using the sesame seeds in a traditional blender but I don't know that since I don't have one.  If you try it and it works I would love to know.

Store this sauce in the refrigerator in a covered container. It will last for 4 or 5 days, but may begin to separate a little after a few days. You can stir the mixture together and it is fine.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 61.54
Calories From Fat (55%) - 33.61

Total Fat - 3.9g
Saturated Fat - 0.56g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 152.88mg
Potassium - 125.13mg
Total Carbohydrates - 2.73g
Fiber - 0.67g
Sugar - 0.7g
Protein - 4.38g

Comments:

If you like lemon as much as I do you can add lemon zest to this and it is wonderful. We use this sauce in place of sour cream. It has a similar texture but more flavor. I find this to be useful to have on hand.  I hope you love it as much as we do. :-)

Unrelated note:

This morning we had a mixed berry smoothie with oat bran. I doubled the amount of oat bran in the smoothie this morning and it didn’t alter the taste or texture of the smoothie. If you could use a little more fiber in your diet you may want to give this a try. It worked well for me. Be certain to grind the oat bran briefly in your blender first to turn it into a finer product so that it will easily be incorporated into the smoothie.  I am going to keep this in mind we we are running low on fiber.

For now I need to get a few things done here. But I plan to be back early this afternoon with another recipe from last weekend. Happy Friday everybody!

Tofu “Ceviche” Peruvian Style

Eating Ian’s food last night made me think of one of my favorite dishes he makes when the weather turns warm. There is nothing like his Rockfish Ceviche Peruvian style, which must have been inspired by his latina wife. This has always been a favorite of ours. I considered using jackfruit and hearts of palm but in the end decided to use tofu to provide protein.  Next time I may add one or the other for the textural variation.

For those of you that don’t know what ceviche is I will explain. You take seafood, normally a mild white fish (sea bass or scallop are used quite often) and denature the protein with citrus (usually lime but it can also be lemon). The acid will actually turn the fish from opaque to white and the texture will change from soft to firm, as though it is cooked. It is a great dish for the warm weather since it is served cold and is light. Peruvian ceviche is different from the usual variety we see in the US due to the inclusion of sweet potatoes and corn. You can make this dish as mild or hot as you choose depending on the heat of the pepper you add. If you like it really spicy (like I do) add some cayenne for a little extra zip. I intentionally added more veggies in this dish than it normally contains. This was done for both nutrition and to make this more of a one dish meal.

Tofu doesn’t need to be “cooked” like seafood. You are using the marinade to flavor the tofu in the style of ceviche. The texture of the tofu won't change from being marinated like fish does. For those of you that don’t like the texture of raw tofu, you may want to skip this recipe. But I hope you give it a try. Here is what I made today.

Tofu “Ceviche” Peruvian Style
Serves 3

Ingredients:

5 limes, juiced (3/4 cup of lime juice)
1 teaspoon coriander seed, ground
1 teaspoon cumin seed, ground
¼ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
1 jalapeno, finely minced (leave out the seeds if you want it milder or use serrano or habanero if you like heat)
1 clove garlic, smashed, peeled and finely minced
2 tablespoons onion, peeled and thinly sliced (red onion is the prettiest but any will do) or substitute thinly sliced green onion
14 ounces extra firm tofu, cut into small pieces (somewhere between ¼ and ½ inch bits)
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes (approximately ¼ inch or less)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely minced
1 cup corn (fresh or frozen)
¼ cup fresh cilantro, finely minced (substitute parsley if you think cilantro tastes soapy)
freshly ground black pepper and/or cayenne, to taste - optional

Directions:

Combine the lime juice, coriander, cumin and salt and whisk to combine. Add the jalapeno, garlic, onion and tofu and refrigerate in a covered container. Turn the container often to make certain all the tofu has a chance to absorb the seasonings. You want to marinate the tofu for at least 5 hours, but 8 hours is not too much.

Steam the sweet potato until soft and cool to room temperature, or refrigerate.

When it is time to serve the ceviche drain the marinated tofu add the remaining ingredients and toss gently to combine. To serve drain the liquid (mostly it doesn’t have be dry) from the tofu and serve it on greens (romaine or butter lettuce leaves) or with corn tortillas, crispy wonton crisps or crunchy pita triangles. Be certain to taste the ceviche for seasoning before serving. You may have to correct it for your taste. I added a little black pepper and cayenne.

If you have any leftovers store it without the lime juice. The lime juice will soften the veggies too much if they are in the citrus too long.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 225.34
Calories From Fat (32%) - 71.28

Total Fat - 8.53g
Saturated Fat-  0.81g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 199.12mg
Potassium - 613.18mg
Total Carbohydrates - 26.43g
Fiber - 4.72g
Sugar - 5.04g
Protein - 16.1g

Comments:

How does this compare to ceviche with fish? Well, it is definitely tofu and not fish. But it does hit the same flavors as ceviche, which made me happy. When we first went vegan I don’t think this would have been close enough to the original for me. Our tastes have changed now and this worked out just fine with me. Even my hubby, the guy who does not love tofu, thought this was good. Sounds like a success to me.

Unrelated note:

Today has been a long day so this will be my last post this evening.  I didn't get everything accomplished that I had planned.  Oh well, tomorrow brings another opportunity. I will be back tomorrow once I exercise and go to the grocery store. Have a great evening and talk to tomorrow.

Dinner Last Night

We had a fabulous time last night. As usual we decided to let Ian (or his kitchen) do the cooking, and everything was fabulous, as always. Walid was able to join us so there were four us (me, Dan, Phil and Walid) last night for dinner.

We were very fortunate that Ian and Corey were both working last night. In the past this would have been a day when they may have been off but last night they were both there. It was so wonderful to see them both! When I heard Ian was working I had to run into the kitchen to say hello. We haven’t been into the restaurant in over a month and there were new people that we hadn’t met yet. Some of these new people were a little surprised to see a customer in the kitchen. Ian doesn’t normally allow this and with good reason. However they all relaxed when he gave me a big hug.   As you can tell we feel like part of the family when we are there.

In the past we used to be at the restaurant at least twice a week for dinner, frequently more. When you are anywhere two or three times a week for 3 hours at a time you get to know people very well. The restaurant is our home away from home. It was so nice to see our old friends last night. With spring here and the patio opening soon we may be going out to dinner more often. Dan and I both love dining al fresco under the canopy of trees. Ian’s fabulous food does hurt. ;-) He has offered to make things just for us (which I feel is such a terrible imposition) but it would be great so I don’t know ..... we may take him up on it.  We are such a pain to cook for now we hate to do that to anyone, especially someone we like so much. We will see, it is a very tempting offer and a definite maybe. ;-)

We have a few things going on next week that may result in a need to celebrate. Ian is already planning what he will make for us. He was asking us for ideas last night, so there may be some sushi in our future next week. For a classically trained chef he makes outrageously good Asian food. We have not had better tofu anywhere. Now we just need to have a reason to celebrate next week. Fingers crossed!

I was so busy chatting last night that I fell down a little on the food pictures but did take a few quick shots with my phone. We started the evening with our usual Middle Eastern plate. This is always a favorite! Of course we had a couple of pots of green tea as well. As I have mentioned before we really do drink green tea all day long.

After the appetizers Dan ordered gnocchi with mushroom and the rapini with tomato, golden raisins, shallots and pine nuts for us to split. I was so busy chatting I didn’t think to take pics until Dan had split the dishes. They were much prettier when they came out of the kitchen. But either way they were quite tasty. Between these, the Middle Eastern plate and green tea I was happy and very full.  Man have I missed Ian's food!

Walid ordered a crab pizza that was one of the daily specials last night. The pizza looked fabulous, sorry no picture. Ian had included a lot of crispy veggies, including asparagus. I will definitely be a making a vegan version of this very soon. It made my mouth water just looking at that pizza.  Such a wonderful combination of flavors.  I get some of my best inspiration from Ian.  I still contend that eating his food so often has done wonders for my cooking as I have a broader palate of combinations that I know work due to him.

We had a great evening telling stories about silly things we had done and everyone got a few giggles from anecdotes of our first year sailing. We were a bit of disaster that year but got the hang of it quickly and by year two you couldn’t tell we hadn’t been sailing for years. Thankfully sailing is similar to flying so Dan and I both had a bit of head start understanding the aerodynamics of how a sail works. One of the stories that got the biggest laugh was our very first time taking the sailboat out (in small craft warnings because we knew that would mean good wind, yes we really did that intentionally and didn't know how to sail). Good thing the boat was built for off-shore racing, which had to be the only reason we were fine that trip. You can imagine some of the other antics we pulled that first year. Hard to understand how we survived our youth isn’t it?

Unrelated note:

Dan and Phil left early this morning for a quick site visit in Pennsylvania. I wasn’t paying attention when they said where exactly just that it was at least an hour and a half drive and their meeting before the visit was at 11am. When we got home last night I packed them some snacks for the trip, apples, tangerines, carrot sticks, trail mix and plenty of water. At least I know they will have something healthy to munch on until they can grab lunch since it is going to be a long day for them with a lot of time on the road.

I have a few things that I have to take care of today and then I am back to my to do list. But I seriously hope to get at least one recipe posted from last weekend. It is already Thursday and I don’t have a single recipe posted from my weekend off. Sorry about that. It has been a hectic week here.

I hope you are all having a wonderful day today. The sun is shining here and is supposed to be 66 degrees. Yay, spring is finally here!

Walnut and Mushroom Gravy

Last night for dinner I used a recipe for lentil and brown rice loaf that I found on the web. I am not linking to it because I was not at all happy with the results. The loaf was so soft that I had to cook it almost 2 hours to make it something that was firm enough to be edible. Does anyone have a lentil and brown rice loaf recipe that they like? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I haven’t made one of these since college and have no idea where I got that recipe or where it went.

With that being said the lentil loaf definitely needed gravy. Since I love mushrooms and walnuts I decided to use the cashew gravy recipe that we love and substitute walnuts and add mushroom powder as an experiment. Major success! This may be my best vegan gravy yet. We loved the flavor of this. If you are missing gravy give this a try. Here is the gravy I made last night.

Walnut and Mushroom Gravy
Makes 10 servings of approximately ¼ cup each

Ingredients:

½ cup oatmeal, ground into flour in your blender
½ cup walnuts, soaked at least an hour (longer is fine)
2 cups water, divided or more depending on texture of gravy (see instructions below)
2 tablespoons mushroom powder
1/2 teaspoon thyme, dried
1 teaspoon onion flakes (for a more intense onion kick)
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:

In your blender combine the ground oatmeal, walnuts, 1 cup of water and mushroom powder. Process the mixture until it is smooth. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and heat until it thickens. You will need more water than the 1 cup. I specify one cup because I use the additional water that is needed to clean the blender. I add a second cup of water and run the blender again to clean what is left in the blender. Add the thyme, onion, garlic, salt and pepper to the pot to taste. Continue to cook to thicken the gravy and blend the flavors. I simmered this for about 15 minutes while Dan was on his way home from work. The thyme flavor will seem too intense when it is first added but it mellows out with the heat and becomes a nice background flavor. If the gravy forms a skin on top use your whisk to incorporate it back into the sauce. Serve the gravy hot.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 55.38
Calories From Fat (59%) - 32.9

Total Fat - 3.94g
Saturated Fat - 0.38g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 95.89mg
Potassium - 61.22mg
Total Carbohydrates - 4.69g
Fiber - 1.04g
Sugar - 0.28g
Protein - 1.47g

Comments:

This gravy turned out amazing, so much better than the sum of its parts. I was so surprised by how good this is. It tastes nothing like walnuts but is instead rich and creamy. I highly recommend this gravy. It would be wonderful on top of baked potato or rice. If you want to make it more “meaty” add a little Worcestershire sauce for flavor.

Unrelated note:

Today is going to be another rushed one for me. Our friend Phil is in town from Missouri again. Yay! Of course this means dinner out and a few hours of fabulous conversation. We love when Phil is in town; he is such a pleasure to spend time with.

I have to do a few things around here before I start getting ready for dinner tonight. I should be back sometime later today.  I hope you are all having a fabulous day.  :-)

Southern Italian Vegetable Tiella

(pictured:  Tiellla before baking)

The weather is glorious here today. It is so wonderful to have the windows open. I may be pushing things a little since it only reached 62 today but the house needs some fresh air. The felines must not think it is cold as I each one is currently napping in a different open window. They love to curl up in a window and smell the fresh air.

Because the windows were open I decided to turn on the oven and make a baked veggie as part of our dinner tonight. Tiella is a traditional Italian technique for making a veggie casserole. It always has potatoes as one of the components and after that you can do whatever you want with it. I use the veggies I have on hand to make these but always seem to include tomatoes, onions and garlic. Frequently you will see this dish topped with bread crumbs and cheese. I sometimes use fresh lemon zest and bread crumbs to top the dish. However the potatoes really make the bread crumb topping unnecessary, in my opinion. Here is what I made to accompany our dinner tonight.

Southern Italian Vegetable Tiella
Serves 3

Ingredients:

2 large cloves garlic, smashed and peeled (allow to stand 10 minutes before heating so allicin can develop)
2 small organic russet potatoes (approx 8 ounces), if not organic they should be peeled
½ yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
14 ounces diced tomatoes, no salt added
8 ounces yellow squash or zucchini
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 lemon, zested
1 tablespoon capers, brined (drained)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, convection if available.

Microwave the potatoes until they are beginning to cook but are not soft. You are microwaving them so that they will have the same cooking time as the squash. Allow the potatoes to cook before slicing them into ¼ inch rounds. If the potatoes are not organic peel them before slicing.

Combine the garlic, salt, red pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning in food processor and pulse to combine. The mixture will be sticky and will try to clump together. Use your fingers to break it apart when it is time to sprinkle it on the dish.

Slice the squash into approximately ¼ inch rounds and set aside.

Place the tomatoes and the can liquid in the bottom of a 9 by 9 pan. Make alternate rows of squash, potato and onions.

Top the tiella with the spice mix you created above. Grate the lemon over the pan so the zest and oils are evenly distributed. Top with a few drained capers. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil.

Bake for 45 minutes and check to see if the vegetables are tender. If not add a little more time and continue to cook the dish covered. The dish is finished when the veggies are tender.

To serve top the tiella with freshly minced parsley. This is good hot or room temperature. I prefer it room temperature. It is great on a buffet.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 126.77
Calories From Fat (3%) - 4.22

Total Fat - 0.51g
Saturated Fat - 0.09g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 414.24mg
Potassium - 1090.16mg
Total Carbohydrates - 29.1g
Fiber - 4.5g
Sugar - 6.14g
Protein - 4.49g

Comments:

I love how easy this particular dish is to make. It also reheats beautifully. If you like soft flavorful veggies you will like this dish. This is something that you can serve to omnis as I have found everyone seems to like it. I guess it is the potatoes that make it universally appealing.

If you are looking for ways to change this dish here are some veggies I have incorporated into this dish in the past that worked well: artichokes, cardoons, eggplant, fennel, and mushrooms. I have even made this with tofu slices in place of the potatoes when I wanted a one dish meal.  You can also use a flavored tomato sauce on as the base, or sliced tomatoes within the dish itself.  This dish is more a method than a recipe.   I documented what I made tonight, which will be different the next time it appears on my table.

Unrelated Note:

I have been busy today running from place to place. Not the most relaxing day, but it keeps me out of trouble. Do your lives seem to get busier as the weather warms up or this just something that happens to me?

The remainder or this week and next are going to be a little crazy here. I will be in and out for the next 7 days or so. Expect me to take a little longer to respond to comments as I will be on my handheld device much of the time.

I hope you all had a great day today!

Moroccan Inspired Chickpea Soup with Pasta

Since I had started sprouting some chickpeas yesterday I knew I was making something with them today, only I didn’t know exactly what. I had considered hummus but the red pepper okara dip turned out so well I decided to turn these into soup. This is a variation of my Moroccan Chickpea Stew only I have eliminated the preserved lemon since most people don’t have a jar in their pantry. I used fresh lemon in place of the preserved ones. I also decided to make this more of a one dish meal by adding a little broken whole wheat spaghetti to the soup. Here is the soup we had tonight for dinner.

Moroccan Inspired Chickpea Soup with Pasta
Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

3 large cloves garlic, smashed, peeled and finely minced (allow to stand 10 minutes before heating so allicin can develop)
1 yellow onion, peeled and finely diced
½ cup water
1 tablespoon tomato paste
14 ounces tomato sauce
14 ounces diced tomatoes
1 pound chickpeas, soaked overnight (or sprouted)
Enough water to just cover the chickpeas
½ inch fresh ginger, grated (if organic don’t bother to peel just rinse off dirt)
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon coriander seed
2 bay leaves
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup small pasta (I used whole wheat spaghetti broken into 1 inch lengths)
1 lemon, zested and juiced
½ cup parsley, finely minced

Directions:

Water sauté the onions and garlic. When the aromatics are soft add the tomato paste and stir encourage it to dissolve more quickly. Add the remaining ingredients through the cinnamon and cook until the chickpeas are tender. 15 minutes before serving add the broken spaghetti (or soup pasta) and cook until it is al dente. Turn off the heat and add the lemon zest and juice. Stir in the parsley just before serving.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 358.09
Calories From Fat (11%) - 38.95

Total Fat 4.62g
Saturated Fat - 0.41g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 586.97mg
Potassium-  875.24mg
Total Carbohydrates - 66.39g
Fiber - 15.52g
Sugar - 11.8g
Protein - 16.63g

Comments:

This is a quick flavorful soup. Pasta adds body and reduces the liquid of the soup making it more of a stew. Like all soups and stews this will be more flavorful tomorrow if you can wait that long to eat it. My hubby walked it the door telling me how good the house smelled.

Each serving of this soup contains 975IU of vitamin A, 90mg of calcium, 4.7mg of iron, 340mcg of folate, 70mcg of vitamin K, 245mg of phosphorus, and 85mg of magnesium.

After our soup we had another fruit and veggie juice very similar to the one we had this morning with our breakfast. I always try to include either a salad or a juice with our meals for nutrition.

Unrelated Note:

I had hoped to get one of the recipes from the weekend posted today. Given the time it doesn’t look like that is going to happen until tomorrow. Sorry about the delay. I am running a little behind on everything at the moment after taking the weekend off.

I will be back tomorrow with a few recipes, hopefully one or two of them from the weekend. I hope you are all having a great Monday.

Red Pepper Okara Spread/Dip

So as odd as this sounds I made soy milk today because I wanted the okara. The soy milk will get used in our smoothies. I have had this okara experiment in my head for a few days that I wanted to try which I made today. Yesterday I dehydrated red bell peppers to use in my spread. I dried them out because I wanted to concentrate their flavor without degrading the vitamin C (which isn’t heat stable). My idea was to make a low calorie spread that had some of the flavors of roasted red pepper hummus, only with more nutrition. Honestly I had no idea what to expect from this idea but though it was a worthy experiment so I dove right in. The texture of this spread is creamy, like the best hummus you ever had. It is lower in fat and calories than hummus but no less satisfying. Now that I know it will be easy to turn okara into hummus next time I will be using traditional hummus seasonings of lemon, cumin and paprika. Here is what I made today.

Red Pepper Okara Spread/Dip
Makes 3 ½ cups (approximately) or 14 servings of ¼ cup each

Ingredients:

Okara from 1 batch of soymilk using 1 cup of dry soy beans
3 red bell peppers, dehydrated at 105 degrees for 12 hours (the texture of soft sun dried tomatoes)
1 large clove garlic, peeled and smashed
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon smoked or sweet paprika
2 teaspoons onion flakes
½ cup water cashews
Water or soy milk necessary to process (maybe ¼ cup), or oil (see discussion below)
Black pepper to taste (probably 1/4 teaspoon)

Directions:

Place everything but the water and pepper in the blender and process. Drizzle water into the blender as necessary to process the mixture until it is completely smooth. I made this in my Vitamix and adding maybe ¼ of water. Add black pepper to taste. Refrigerate in a covered container for a few hours so the flavors can marry. Taste for seasonings and use as hummus.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 43.5
Calories From Fat (37%) - 16.02

Total Fat - 1.91g
Saturated Fat - 0.31g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 204.93mg
Potassium - 133.89mg
Total Carbohydrates - 5.46g
Fiber - 0.86g
Sugar - 1.61g
Protein - 1.55g

Comments:

The texture of this dip surprised me the most. It is smooth and silky and reminds me of a hummus we get at our favorite Middle Eastern restaurant. The okara is a perfect vehicle for carrying other flavors. Red peppers are very dominate in this spread. I could have gone crazy with flavor but decided to keep this simple so that it didn’t overpower the fresh veggies.

If you still use oil to sauté or roast your veggies this dip may taste too clean. Raw cashews do not give food the fatty mouth feel that you get from oil. I would suggest you add a little olive oil to the recipe in place of the water or soymilk.  Had I made this 6 or 9 months ago it would have tasted too clean to me, which is why I mention that variation. I had this today as part of my lunch with a very veggie dippers to use as “crackers”. Variations of this will be making regular appearances at my house.

Unrelated Comments:

The weather is absolutely gorgeous here today. I could not resist getting outside for a little exercise in the fresh air. Needless to say that sort of thing does not help me to get things done at home. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

I have some chickpeas that I have been sprouting that are going to make a fast soup for dinner tonight and lunches this week. Once I knock that out and get a few things accomplished I will be back later today. I hope to not only get the recipes from today posted but at least one from the weekend.

Breakfast this Morning: Mixed Berry Smoothie and Fruit and Veg Juice

The weather here if finally starting to look and feel like spring. Yesterday we almost reached 60 degrees and it is forecasted to reach 60 on 4 of the next 7 days. Yay spring, I am so happy to see you! I hope this recent weather means we are finished with snow.

Since the weather has begun to turn we were back to smoothies this morning at our house. Today we had a berry smoothie and fruit and veggie juice for breakfast. I love breakfasts like this because they are so packed with nutrition. Here is what I made this morning.

Mixed Berry Smoothie
Serves 3 (double for Dan and a single for me)

Ingredients:

¼ cup oat bran
2 tablespoons flaxseeds, ground
5 cups frozen dark berries (I used wild blueberries and red raspberries)
¼ cup walnuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups water

Directions:

Place the oat bran in the blender and process to make it finer. Add the remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Serve in a chilled glass if possible. I keep two glasses in the freezer at all times for our smoothies.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 290.98
Calories From Fat (28%) - 81.71

Total Fat - 9.65g
Saturated Fat - 0.97g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 12.74mg
Potassium - 94.23mg
Total Carbohydrates - 49.24g
Fiber - 4.32g
Sugar - 0.39g
Protein - 6.86g

Comments:

Variations of this are typical at our house. I added oat bran this morning for fiber assuming it will keep us full longer with the added fiber. If you have a sweet tooth you may need to add a little sweetener to this. We used to until we cut back so dramatically on sweeteners and now it tastes sweet to us just as it is. I like to include dark berries whenever possible for their antioxidants. Walnuts and flax add omega 3 fatty acids and make this a more satisfying meal. Not to mention the fat makes certain any fat soluble vitamins from breakfast get absorbed.

To go with this smoothie we had a fresh fruit and veggie juice. Here is that recipe.

Fruit and Veggie Juice
Serves 2

Ingredients:

8 cups baby spinach
1 Red Delicious apple
4 carrots
2 limes
½ inch ginger
½ cup pineapple

Directions:

Run everything through the juicer and enjoy with a few ice cubes.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 174.92
Calories From Fat (6%) - 9.96

Total Fat - 1.2g
Saturated Fat - 0.18g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 209.57mg
Potassium - 1397.16mg
Total Carbohydrates - 42.83g
Fiber 11.39g **
Sugar - 20.63g
Protein - 5.91g

** Note: the fiber above has to be overstated since the veggies were juiced. I don’t think it is zero, but it much closer to that than the number calculated by the nutrition program.

Comments:

We make variations of this most mornings. Both Dan and I have decided we like to combine veggies and fruit. The ginger adds a nice zip to the background of the juice that I also think is required. I have specified a Red Delicious apple because they have the highest level of antioxidants. Neither of us likes the texture of this variety to eat out of hand, but when it is in juice it doesn’t matter. We have started buying Red Delicious for our juice and Galas to eat whole.

Each serving of this juice contains approximately 38,000IU of vitamin A, 85mg of vitamin C, 200mg of calcium, 280mcg of folate, 600mcg of vitamin K, 140mg of phosphorus, and 130mg of magnesium. I think this is amazing for a glass of juice. We love to start our day with a big nutritional punch from fresh juice.

Unrelated note:

This weekend was very relaxing. We decided to do absolutely nothing instead we slept late and lounged around all weekend. Dan and I never do this on the weekend we are always working on something, running errands, doing things around the house. It was wonderful to do nothing and have no obligations. We definitely need to do this more often.

When I logged in this morning I had over 200 emails from the weekend and many comments to post and reply to on the blog. I have responded to the blog comments, but the email will have to wait. If you sent one and I haven’t responded, I will respond I promise. But it may take me a day or two to return all the emails. Sorry!

For now I need to get a few things accomplished at home. It is after noon and I haven’t crossed anything off my to do list yet. I have an interesting okara experiment to work on today with dehydrated red bell peppers. I will definitely keep you posted. It seems I am making soy milk today so I can play around with the okara. Doesn’t that just seem wrong?

I am off to work on “project purge” which has grown again, now I adding every drawer and cabinet to the list. If this keeps up I may be purging until fall. I will be back later with a recipe or two. I hope you all had a great weekend and are having a great Monday.

48 Hours without Blogging and I Survived!

My hubby surprised me by taking the entire weekend off of work. Yay! Since he wasn’t working I decided I shouldn’t blog. Let me tell you this was much harder than I expected. I have many comments to respond to, sorry about the delay. There are also quite a few recipes to post from this weekend. However, we have had a great weekend. Here are some of the things I made since I was here last.

Mushroom Miso

Quick Taco Salad

Quinoa Tabouli Style with Falafel and Tofu Tahini Sauce

Spinach Salad with Apple, Almond and Miso, Apricot, and Lime Dressing

Seitan Parmesan

I will be back tomorrow to start getting caught up on the recipes (which I did document as I was cooking or I would forget them). Since Dan didn’t work this weekend I am expecting he will be working late during the week, giving me plenty of time to get caught up on the blog.

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend.

Tropical Oatmeal

When it is cold outside oatmeal is my go to breakfast. There is something warm and comforting about oatmeal that allows me to face a cold day ready for action. We eat oatmeal a few different ways. Sometimes we top it with walnut butter and banana slices, other times it is frozen berries and almonds, but today it was tropical oatmeal. Beatrice made oatmeal with coconut milk a while back and it sounded so tasty it must have stuck in my head. This morning I decided make my own version of tropical oatmeal. Thanks for the inspiration Beatrice. Here is what I made.

Tropical Oatmeal

Serves 1

Oatmeal Ingredients:

½ cup old fashioned oats, dry
1 cup water
1 pinch salt
¼ teaspoon cinnamon, ground

Toppings Ingredients:

1 clementine, sectioned and cut into bite sized pieces
¼ cup fresh pineapple, cut into bite size pieces
1 tablespoon unsweetened, reduced fat coconut flakes (Let’s Do Organic Brand)
1 tablespoon sliced almonds
¼ teaspoon cardamom, ground

Directions:

Combine the oatmeal ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and heat until the water is absorbed (2 minutes in my microwave).

Top the oatmeal with the fruit and nuts and serve.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 260.76
Calories From Fat (25%) - 65.1

Total Fat - 18.29g
Saturated Fat - 1.82g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 300.39mg
Potassium - 415.51mg
Total Carbohydrates - 47.21g
Fiber - 8.64g
Sugar - 11.53g
Protein - 7.61g

Comments:

This is something that I made for myself today, not Dan. The reason I didn’t make this for Dan is that he isn’t overly fond of coconut. However if you like coconut and pineapple this is a good oatmeal variation. I used ingredients we had on hand but there are many possible variations. Mango would also be good here as would banana. I think the cardamom is a necessity but you could use nutmeg or vanilla and skip the cardamom if you choose.

This serving of oatmeal contains approximately 55mg of vitamin C, 80mg of calcium, 200mg of folate, 85mg of magnesium, and 18mcg of selenium.

Unrelated note:

Last night was a rough one. I didn’t sleep well due to nightmares. The lack of sleep may have contributed to the headache I woke up with today. This has had an impact on my productivity today. But I am hoping to make some progress on “project purge” this afternoon. Fingers crossed.

At least the sun is shiny and we may reach the low 50’s on Sunday. Nice weather is definitely something to look forward to. It will be nice to have a weekend with cloudy skies and snow for a change. I am trying to think of something fun that will involve getting outside in the nice weather. Bike riding is a possibility but it may still be a little cold for that.

Enough stalling, it is time for me to get back to my project. I hope to get our dinner posted tonight before I turn in. Italian food is on my mind today which may mean it will turn up on dinner table tonight.

Green Salad with Clementine, Fresh Pineapple and Almonds

My husband will tell you that I am the queen of salad. Salad is normally the majority of our lunch and dinner for nutritional reasons. Our lunch salads frequently include beans and salsa but for dinner I like to make things that are different. We love green salads with fruit and nuts. What I put on salad is a function of the fruit I have in the house. I also like to vary the dressings I use on our salads.

As you may have noticed my recent salad dressings rarely contain oil and when they do it is flax. I resisted eliminated oil from our diet for a very long time. The Italian portion of my DNA could not shake the notion that extra virgin olive oil had to be good for us. As much as I love the flavor of olive oil it is now a distant memory. I think about it this way. Oils are nothing more than processed food like white flour. The nut or seed is pressed and frequently also heat and chemically processed. The resulting oil doesn’t include the health benefits of the entire food. Now we get our fat from nuts and seeds, which is a whole food. It took a few weeks but both my husband and I quickly grew accustomed to salad dressing without oil. Here is the salad I made last night.

Green Salad with Clementine, Fresh Pineapple and Almonds
Serves 2

Dressing Ingredients:

1 tablespoon apricot preserves (orange marmalade would also be good here)
1 clementine, juiced
1 splash wine vinegar (for acidity), I probably used 1 teaspoon but didn’t measure
Salt and pepper to taste

Salad Ingredients:

8 cups baby spinach
2 clementine, peeled and sectioned
½ cup fresh pineapple chunks
1 tablespoon sliced almonds

Directions:

Combine the salad dressing ingredient and mix using our blender or immersion blender. Season the dressing with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

Place the baby spinach on the base of the plate and pour the dressing over the spinach. Top the spinach with Clementine sections, pineapple and almonds.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 140.4
Calories From Fat (18%) - 24.7

Total Fat - 2.96g
Saturated Fat - 0.26g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 100.35mg
Potassium - 917.39mg
Total Carbohydrates - 27.55g
Fiber - 5.05g
Sugar - 17.21g
Protein - 5.42g

Comments:

This salad was good, and almost too sweet. But this is coming from two people that have essentially given up sugar so you may not have the same reaction. We like the combination of spinach and fruit topped with the crunch of nuts. This was the perfect accompaniment to the baked tofu.

Each serving of this salad contains 11,300IU of vitamin A, 100mg of vitamin C, 160mg of calcium, 260mcg of folate, 580mcg of vitamin K, 100mg of phosphorus, and 120mg of magnesium. This is what I love about having salads. They are always so packed with nutrition (when properly made).

Unrelated note:

Today I am back to closet duty, the never ending task. Clearly I have too many closets and too much stuff in them. As much of a pain as this is, I am enjoying purging the house of unnecessary stuff. Now if I can just manage to keep those newly lightened spaces that way I will really be happy.

Last night was great at our house. Dan was home from work by 8pm and we had a nice leisurely dinner and time to relax before bed. I also learned that he will not be going downtown to the office this weekend. Yay! My plan is to talk him into doing something fun one day this weekend. We will see if I am successful. He really needs a break so wish me luck.

I will be back later today. I hope you are all having a great a day.

Marinated Tofu

This is something that I started brining on Sunday night for tonight. The recipe is my variation of Bryanna’s Breast of Tofu. I can’t tell you how it compares because I haven’t tried the original recipe. It was another recommendation of Laloofah that I decided to try (in my own way of course). I wanted to make something that was “meaty” so I used Worcestershire to add that quality to the tofu. The other flavors are just ones that we like. Here is what I did.

Marinated Tofu
Serves 3

Ingredients:

14 ounces extra firm tofu, cut into 6 slabs
1 tablespoon liquid aminos
1 tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon onion flakes
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Freshly ground black pepper (approximately ¼ teaspoon)
Water to cover

Directions:

Cut the tofu into 6 large pieces and set aside. Combine the remaining ingredients and whisk. Place the tofu into a container (with a tight lid) just large enough to hold the tofu and some liquid. Pour the seasonings into the container. Add as much water as is necessary to cover the tofu. I put the container in large freezer bag in case it leaks. Place the tofu in the refrigerator. Turn the container over at least once a day to make certain all the tofu is in contact with the liquid and solid seasonings. I let the tofu marinate for 4 days before cooking it.

To cook the tofu, preheat the oven to 350 degrees (convection). Line a sheet pan with parchment if you are concerned about sticking. The tofu released fine for me once I let it cool a few minutes before trying to flip it. That always seems to work.

Drain the tofu well. Press the tofu with paper towels to remove excess liquid. Place the drained and pressed tofu on the sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and allow it to sit for a few minutes before trying to flip the tofu. Once it cools a little it should easily release from the pan (at least mine did and I didn’t use parchment). Cook the tofu for another 30 minutes on the second side.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 135.22
Calories From Fat (52%) - 70.55

Total Fat - 7.72g
Saturated Fat-  0.72g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 330.86mg
Potassium - 188.42mg
Total Carbohydrates - 3.39g
Fiber - 0.65g
Sugar - 0.93g
Protein - 13.19g

Comments:

This tofu is firm but not crunchy. It has nice subtle flavor from the marinade. It is not the least bit salty. Next time I may double the liquid aminos for more flavor. My husband thought it would be good with BBQ sauce. I think he is right on that but we had it with a green salad with fruit so I didn’t want the extra sugar tonight.

I am definitely sold on marinating tofu for a few days.  It adds a lot of flavor to the tofu, which it always needs.  Any marinade that is thin should be able to easily penetrate the tofu given enough time.  I will be trying Bryanna's original recipe the next time I make tofu.

Unrelated note:

The purging process is going well, but slower than I had hoped. I have decided I am even going to purge my kitchen while I am at this. This is a first for me. I rarely get rid of any kitchen items. We will see if I can actually manage this task.

My hubby got home a little earlier than he has been tonight so I am going to post this and log off for the evening. I will post the salad we had tonight before I return to purging tomorrow. I hope you all have a great evening. Talk to you tomorrow.

Quick Lunch and Yacon Update

A veggie stuffed whole wheat wrap is the type of thing I make when I need to eat quickly. I got off a few shots before Nicco (affectionately known as Binky) decided he wanted my sandwich. In spite of my holding it in the air to try to take a few more pics Binky was determined to get into the sandwich. Can you say spoiled rotten feline? This is the sort of thing that happens here all the time. When one of the felines wants something they are very determined to get what they want. I had to take my sandwich to a room with a door so I could eat it undisturbed because he was relentless.

The sandwich was a quick one. I smeared a little walnut cheeze on a whole wheat wrap and topped with 4 cups of baby spinach and little grated carrot. The fat in the nut spread will keep my satisfied for at least 3 or 4 hours. The walnut spread worked well on the sandwich from a flavor perspective.

I wanted to get back to you on the yacon powder in tea. I added a teaspoon to a 16 ounce mug of tea and I couldn’t taste a thing, no sweetness, nothing. According to what I read here, yacon is high in inulin making it a probiotic. The link also indicates it helps with the absorption of calcium, magnesium and B vitamins. I am going to do more research to confirm this is accurate. That may be enough for me to continue to consume it. So far the taste is so mild that it wouldn’t be enough by itself for me to keep purchasing it. As I use it in other things I will let you know how it works or doesn’t work.

While looking for information on yacon I came across the Navitas Naturals website. They have a nice bunch of recipes using their products (including maca). You might want to check it out.

For now I am going back to my project.

Walnut Cheeze Spread

I received an email the other day about recipes for walnut cheeze. This was one that I hadn’t tried yet. However the more I thought about the idea the more I liked it from a nutrition perspective. Walnuts are the healthiest nut in terms of omega 3 fatty acids so if I could make this into a “cheeze-like” spread it would be a good thing. I knew the color of the walnuts would make the spread a light beige color, which it did. Additionally I was worried the flavor of the walnut would be too strong to mask with other flavors. It did take more seasonings but it turned out fairly well. Here is what I did.

Walnut Cheeze Spread

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup walnuts, soaked overnight and drained thoroughly
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (or to taste)
½ teaspoon onion flakes (start with half next time)
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste (note kosher salt has a different level of saltiness if using another salt start with ½ the amount and taste)

Directions:

Combine everything in your food processor and process until smooth. You may need to stop the machine a couple of times to scrape the sides of the bowl.

Place the spread in a tightly covered container and refrigerate for a few hours before eating. The spread needs time for the flavors to marry.

You can use the spread on a sandwich, as a dip for veggies, on crackers. It can be used anywhere that you would use soft spreadable cheese.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 105.05
Calories From Fat (83%) - 87.03

Total Fat - 9.54g
Saturated Fat - 0.9g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 145.85mg
Potassium - 67.23mg
Total Carbohydrates - 2.16g
Fiber - 1g
Sugar - 0.44g
Protein - 2.25g

Comments:

This is a thick spread that is also soft. The flavor is a little “oniony”. Next time I will use less onion flakes to start. Overall this worked out better than I expected it to. The hubby declared this a success and had a little snack last night of this on Mary’s Onion crackers. You may also want to increase the amount of nutritional yeast. I prefer that to be a more subtle flavor.

Unrelated Note:

Yesterday was a very productive day at our house. One closet down, a few more closets to go. On the bright side I now know that I own over a dozen pairs of exercise pants. To think last week I bought another two pair because I didn’t have enough. Yeesh!

I purged my main closet of a lot of stuff. My rule was it I hadn’t worn something last season it was gone. When I put things back I turned the hangers backward. My reasoning was when I clean the closet next year if any hangers are backward I know those items didn’t get worn and they will be quicker to identify for the next purge. Tomorrow I am working on another closet. This one is my overflow closet which is geographically undesirable. Something tells me 90% of that will be leaving.

Last night I made Dan a smoothie similar to the one posted here, but I sweetened it with the yacon powder. The powder has a very mild flavor, which is much less sweet than I expected. Now I know why the bag label gives the nutritional information for one serving. On the positive side the powder is not the slightest bit bitter. I think it will make a nice sweetener for tea, which I will try today and let you know how it works. When I see the syrup I am going to pick up a bottle to see what we think of it.

For now I am off to tear apart another closet. I will be back later today when I take a green tea break and let you know how the yacon powder worked in tea.

Clementine, Lime, Pineapple and Ginger Juice

I have been rather obsessed with the juicer since we bought it. Neither my hubby nor I were certain how much we would use the juicer but most days it is used at least twice, sometimes three times. It is so nice to have fresh juice with no additives.

Today I made a juice of fresh fruit juice to go with my lunch. This was the combination I had in mind yesterday and I like it. You can add the fruit with the peels and the juicer will handle it, but it grinds things so finely the bitterness of peel and pith tend to overwhelm the juice. I found this out the hard way in the past. ;) When I am using a small amount of citrus relative to the other ingredients I leave the peel on but not when there is so much of it like today. Here is the juice I made.

Clementine, Lime, Pineapple and Ginger Juice
Serves 1

Ingredients:

2 clementine
1 lime
½ cup pineapple chunks
¼ inch fresh ginger, sliced (when it is organic I don't peel it I just clean the exterior with a brush)

Directions:

Peel the clementine and lime and break into segments. Feed everything through the juicer. Give the juice a quick stir and pour it into a glass.

Nutritional information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 48.16
Calories From Fat (4%) - 1.77

Total Fat - 0.21g
Saturated Fat - 0.03g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 2.08mg
Potassium - 172.21mg
Total Carbohydrates - 12.51g
Fiber - 1.14g
Sugar - 7.34g
Protein - 0.7g

Comments:

This juice has a complex flavor that is not easy to identify. There is an orange undertone, but the flavors of lime and pineapple take the juice to a new level. Ginger works really well in the juice. Next time I may double the ginger because I like the zip it adds to juice and in this case it is a little more subtle than I prefer.

One thing that I find so interesting is how much produce it takes to make juice. It makes it so obvious why juice contains more calories and nutrients than whole fruit. As long as you are getting plenty of fiber through other sources I think juicing can be a very healthy addition to your diet. For those of you that are curious I have tracked our fiber recently and we always get more than 40 grams per day and some days we have consumed as much as 60 grams. Clearly we aren’t missing the fiber from the fruit and veggies we are juicing.

Unrelated Note:

I spent the morning tearing apart my first closet and I am almost finished. It feels so good to purge myself of excess stuff that I don’t need or use. Which bring me to a question, when you have things to get rid of what do you do with them? Do you toss them or give them to charity? If you donate to charity which one is your favorite?

For now I need to get back to my project so that I have some down time before I need to take care of my regular life administration activities. I hope the weather is nicer where you than it is here and you are enjoying some time outside as the seasons begin to change.

Bean and Oat Burgers

Yesterday was a disorganized day for me. Somehow I managed to be productive only I didn’t get to the items on my to do list. My juice experiment went out the window as did my plan to make mushroom burgers. I hope to get back to both of those later this week.

Have you ever looked for something you own only to realize you have way too much stuff? This is exactly what happened to me yesterday. I went to look for something that I had packed away in box and there were so many boxes that I wasn’t certain where to start looking. For the next few weeks, maybe longer, I am going to be purging my house of excess stuff. I will still be posting recipes and updates but may not be as quick to respond to comments until I get this project knocked out. This is something that I have needed to do for a while. Now I want to finish it before the weather turns nice and I can be enjoying the outside.

After lamenting for a while about the task in front of me I had to make dinner. Since I was no longer in the mood for mushrooms burgers I opted to use the beans I had in the frig and make bean burgers for dinner. These always work out well and contain a good deal of protein and very little fat. Here is what I made last night.

Bean and Oat Burgers
Makes 4 larger burgers about 7 ounces each

Ingredients:

2 cups of cooked beans, no salt added (I used 1 cup black beans, 1 cup pinto beans)
1 1/3 cups oatmeal, dry
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 cup vital wheat gluten

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees convection. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or use a non-stick sheet pan, or a silpat baking mat.

Combine the beans, oatmeal and water in your food processor. Process the mixture until well combined. Turn the burger mixture into a mixing bowl. Add the spices and combine well. Add the vital wheat gluten and knead so all the gluten is completely absorbed.

Form the mixture into 4 burgers and place them on the sheet pan. Bake for 30 minutes and check to see if the burgers are done. After 30 minutes mine had partially risen (plumped) so I added a ½ cup of water to the pan and baked them for another 15 minutes.

If you would like to crisp the top and bottom of the burgers you can sear them in a hot well seasoned cast iron pan until they release on their own (about 3 minutes per side).

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 282.57
Calories From Fat (5%) - 14.25

Total Fat - 1.67g
Saturated Fat - 0.3g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 601.03mg
Potassium - 450.94mg
Total Carbohydrates - 36.26g
Fiber - 9.72g
Sugar - 0.29g
Protein - 32.85g

Comments:

Last night I served the bean burgers with bbq sauce, brown rice, green beans and salsa, which made a fairly quick and definitely easy dinner. When I am short on time or inspiration I frequently make veggie burgers of some type. Salsa is something I use as a regular condiment to give foods flavor (and lycopene) without fat.  The burgers were topped with Organicville agave sweetened bbq sauce. If you haven’t tried that brand it is very good. We could put that sauce on just about anything.

The texture and flavors of these burgers is somewhere between seitan and veggie burger. It has the chewiness of seitan, which cuts with a knife. The flavor is reminiscent of a bean burger. We like the combination so I make many veggie burgers like this.  If you want them to be less chewy add less gluten.

Unrelated notes:

Today I want to spend a few hours going through closets gathering things for charity. I also have a walnut cheese experiment that I want to try. Since walnuts are the healthiest nut it would be good if I can figure out how to make them into cheeze.  Thanks for asking Jenn!

I am going to take a break at lunch time I will be responding to comments then. I hope you are having a good day.

Summer Rolls

Summer Rolls are something I make when I want a different form of salad. Traditionally the filling contains rice noodles and veggies. My version tonight is all veggies since we were getting plenty of carbs from the congee.

The rolls can contain any veggies you like or have on hand. Tonight I included shredded napa cabbage, baby spinach, thinly sliced red bell pepper, shredded carrots, green onions and cilantro. In the summer when the mint is plentiful I always add that to the rolls. I am going to post the method instead of a recipe for these.

Start with dried spring roll wrappers made of rice flour and tapioca. Heat a large bowl of water to approximately 110 degrees. You want warm water to soften the wrappers, but not so hot you can’t reach into the water and gently remove the softened wrapper. Place one wrapper in the bowl of warm water and allow to soften completely on its own. This will take anywhere from one to two minutes depending on the temperature of the water.

Cover a cutting board with a damp paper towel. This makes it easier to grab the thin wet wrapper so you can roll it. Gently remove the flexible wrapper from the water and place it flat on the damp towel. Fill the end of the wrapper with veggies of your choice. Roll the wrapper around the veggies and tightly as possible without tearing the paper.  It is important to be firm and gentle. Fold the ends in like a burrito and continue to roll until you have something that looks like the picture of the finished rolls.

If you won’t be eating these right away place them in a sealable container on top another damp paper towel (to keep them from sticking to the container). Add another damp paper towel if you are adding a secondlayer of the rolls in the container. Top the last layer with another damp paper towel. I have been able to hold the summer rolls in the refrigerator for a day by using the damp paper towels in a closed container. When I send these to work for my husband I wrap each roll in a piece of wax paper and place them in a larger resealable container.

I served this tonight with the Asian walnut dipping sauce I made yesterday. They were tasty and a different way to eat salad.

If my directions are not clear please let me know and I will make another summer roll and photograph the process and edit this post.

Unrelated Note:

I spoke too soon about the weather changing. When we checked the weather channel this morning they are calling for snow again today. Not much snow, just enough to make a gray day and a slushy mess. My reaction to this? Great, more snow, I can’t wait! Blah!

On a happier note, I did manage to stick to my menu for one day. This is a miracle at my house. I normally change my mind a dozen times before I settle on what to make for dinner. My husband is particularly shocked that I made what I had planned. In the interest of sticking to a menu plan for two days in a row, tonight I intend to make mushroom burgers. We will see if I can keep the streak going, if I do it will be the first time I have stayed on track (menu wise) for two days. Wish me luck! ;)

For now I need to cross a few things off my to do list. I have an idea of another juice that I want to make myself for lunch. I should have that posted not long after lunch. I hope you are all having a great day today.

Slow Cooker Congee

My husband and I used to have a neighbor Chinese restaurant that we went to for dinner a couple times a week many years ago before we were married. The restaurant did a booming business with the Asian community. They even had a menu written entirely in characters (which we assumed was Chinese). After we became regulars the owners made an English version of the “special menu” for us. We both fell in love with congee. It was our go to soup to start dinner. I began making it at home a couple of times a month. We ate it for years before I forget about it. Since I decided to make summer rolls tonight for dinner I thought a bowl of congee would make a great soup with dinner.

If you are unfamiliar with congee my husband describes it lovingly as "gruel". You overcook rice in a large amount of water (or light veg stock) and it gets most of its flavor from the garnishes. This soup is very versatile. In China they eat this soup as part of breakfast. I have had it in the morning and it does make a nice breakfast for those of you that are open to anything. The base of the soup is low in calories. This soup can be very light or rich depending on the garnishes you choose.

My slow cooker has been sitting quietly waiting to be used for months. I don’t know why I haven’t put it into service until today. I tend to use my slow cooker more in the summer when I am busy outside or don’t want to heat up the house. However the slow cooker is great in the winter when the house is closed up so that you aren’t bringing toxins into your home by using your gas stove. I always open the kitchen window for a few minutes after cooking to remove some of the toxins after I use the stove or oven.

Here is the version of congee I made today.

Slow Cooker Congee
Makes 6 servings of approximately 2 cups each

Soup Ingredients:

1 ½ cups glutinous short grain brown rice
10 cups water or light veg stock
½ yellow onion, peeled and very thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
½ inch fresh ginger root, peeled and cut into thin julienne
2 tablespoons liquid aminos (or low sodium soy sauce)

Possible Garnishes:

Thinly sliced green onions
Carrots, finely julienned
Mushrooms, thinly sliced and marinated in liquid aminos, or minced
Sriracha
Sesame oil
Liquid aminos (or low sodium soy sauce)
Black sesame seeds
Cilantro, minced
Napa Cabbage, thinly sliced
White miso (not traditional but I love this addition)

Directions:

Combine everything in your slow cooker and cook on high for 6 - 8 hours. You want the rice to be very soft and soup. You can’t overcook this soup.  When it is finished it will be thick like porridge.

When it is time to serve the soup, top with the garnishes of your choice. Remember this is what gives the soup most of its flavor so be generous with toppings.

Nutritional information (for the base soup not the garnishes):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 92.78
Calories From Fat (7%) - 6.45

Total Fat - 0.78g
Saturated Fat - 0.01g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 332.77mg
Potassium - 32.45mg
Total Carbohydrates - 21.77g
Fiber - 1.74g
Sugar - 0.48g
Protein - 1.74g

Comments:

Without the garnishes this soup doesn’t have much flavor. The garnishes are what make it come alive. After you have had a bowl you will get a feel for how to season this for your tastes.

Unrelated Notes:

What a gorgeous day we had today. It was so nice to have the temperature reach the mid 40’s where it should be. Today it felt like spring may actually get here, eventually. Having the sun shining and weather warming also does wonders for my mood.

Last night and this morning I have been dabbling in trying to plan meals for the week. Since I doubt that I will stick with it, because I never have before, I am not going to post the list just yet. But I will be trying to stick to it. If I can do it for a couple of weeks I will start posting weekly menus.

We also had summer rolls with the congee.  I will be posting the recipe or at least the method tomorrow. I hope you all have a good evening.

Asian Walnut Dressing

I was chatting with Laloofah and she mentioned walnut dressing and was kind enough to send me the recipe. After she mentioned it for the second time I knew I had to give it a try since we loved the okara miso pate she also recommended. Being me I didn’t follow the recipe but used it as a starting point. Combining an equal amount of walnuts and water in the blender produces a loves thick dressing. It reminded me very much the dressing that goes on peanut noodles so I went with that inspiration. If you haven’t tried making dressing with nuts you should. I had made dressing with raw cashews, macadamias and now walnuts. They have all been fabulous. Here is the Asian Walnut Dressing I am having on my salad today for lunch.

Asian Walnut Dressing

Makes 27 tablespoons

Ingredients:

1 cup walnuts
1 cup water
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
1 tablespoon liquid aminos
1 teaspoon onion flakes
½ teaspoon coriander seed (grind first if not using a high speed blender)
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
½ inch fresh ginger, thinly sliced will help it break down in the blender without strings

Directions:

Place everything in your blender and puree until completely smooth. The dressing will get thick and creamy.

Nutritional Information (per tablespoon):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 29.31
Calories From Fat (81%) - 23.72
Total Fat - 2.84g
Saturated Fat - 0.27g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 36.02mg
Potassium - 23.2mg
Total Carbohydrates - 0.81g
Fiber - 0.32g
Sugar - 0.15g
Protein - 0.69g

Comments:

I know this is going to be making regular appearances at my house. I can imagine this not only salads but on other raw or lightly steamed veggies where you want an Asian flair.

Unrelated Note:

This morning the sun is shining and the sky is mostly blue. I am going to out to see if my normal 1 mile route through the neighborhood is clear of snow and ice. It will be nice to take my exercise back outside after so long.

Tonight for dinner I am thinking summer rolls using some of this dressing for a dipping sauce. Now that I put that into print we will see if that nudges me to stay with the plan. ;)

I hope you are all having a fabulous day.

Lalo, keep those recipe ideas coming.  You are batting 1000 at our house!

Chlorinated Chicken

For those of you that have family or friends that eat meat I thought I would post a link to an article about the acceptable USDA levels of chlorine in chicken processing. I was a reading an article this morning about the fact that the EU is considering allowing US chickens into their markets. The issue at hand is chlorine. Obviously this doesn’t impact me directly but I wanted to share it so that you can pass it along to your friends and family that eat meat. No matter how you look at this chlorine doesn’t belong in food. I won’t even use bleach in my home due to the toxicity. No wonder the health of this country continues to deteriorate.