Green Smoothies and Other Things

Sorry for the week of absence. Some weeks are hard. On a pleasant note, I chose a different green this week for my smoothies - swiss chard. I was a bit nervous about how the new leaves would affect the taste of my smoothies. Swiss chard tastes a little bit more bitter than spinach, and is saltier tasting as well. I was pleasantly surprised though, and ended up really enjoying the switch. My recipe was 2 large chard leaves (separated from the stem), 1 banana, and some frozen strawberries. The strawberries and chard complimented one another well in my opinion.

Another culinary adventure of the day was using up the vegetables in the fridge. I had 1 bunch of kale and 1 head of cauliflower in need of consuming. I was short on time so I made smoked paprika kale chips in the oven and made raw cauliflower popcorn. Easy peasy.

Chop up a head of cauliflower into bite size pieces.

Toss in 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast, salt and pepper to taste, and a bit of Mexican chili powder for some spice. Note that Mexican chili powder is spicier than regular chili powder. This was a lesson learned last week when I made a pot of chili. Oops, I should have known. It was still delicious though - we like it hot.

Mix the seasonings and the cauliflower together with a fork or alternatively shake together in a zip-lock bag. Now you are ready to snack.

I also tried baking some of the cauliflower popcorn. Being low on time I didn't bake it to a crispy point, so will have to try that out another day. It was delicious baked. Tender cauliflower with some crispiness on the edges and perfectly melded seasonings. You can also take the above recipe and dehydrate until crispy, for a delicious raw "popcorn".

Here is the baked cauliflower popcorn.

Along with the smoked paprika kale chips.

Now for a little link love. I made Angela's 5 Minute + 5 Ingredient No Bake Almond Butter Chews. So good. Please make them.

A Recipe to Please

Yesterday we gathered with some friends for a potluck of sorts. The host provides the main dish and the rest of us bring along the sides. The roasted vegetables I made for our New Years Day feast went over so well that I decided to do another version. The result was an amazingly flavorful combination of veggies. So, if you are ever in need of a dish to bring to a potluck, I would recommend this one.

First, gather your washed vegetables for a little chopping session. I chose beets, sweet potatoes, parsnips, butternut squash, onions, and garlic.

Toss together in a baking dish. I chose to roast the beets in another pan so that they wouldn't stain my stoneware. I'm not sure if it would stain, but it's new, so didn't want to risk it. Our friend gave us some stoneware for Christmas and I truly love the way it bakes. Kale chips baked on the pizza stone didn't burn like they usually do on my cookie sheet.

The marinade ingredients are maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. I will put the recipe and measurements at the end of the post.

Measure out the marinade ingredients and then pour into a jar with a tight sealed lid (like a mason jar), and shake to combine the ingredients perfectly.

Drizzle it on the vegetable mix.

Mix it all together using a rubber spatula, making sure all the pieces are coated.

To prevent the vegetables from drying out, cover the dish with foil. Being a bit wary of the aluminum touching the food, I put down a layer of parchment paper first.

Bake until the vegetables are soft. This dish smells so amazing while it is baking.

Maple Balsamic Roasted Roots*

3 sweet potatoes

4 parsnips

half butternut squash or root vegetable of choice

1 large beet

1 large onion

1 head of garlic

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil, plus more as needed

salt and pepper to taste

Peel vegetables as needed and chop into cubes. The onions can be chopped either in large chunks or small, depending on your liking. Garlic cloves can be used whole or sliced in half.

Toss vegetables together in baking dish.

Measure out maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. Pour into a mason jar or another container with a tight fitting lid and shake until well combined. Pour over vegetables as needed. If you feel like you have to much marinade, do not use it all and save the rest for salad dressing. Toss the vegetables and marinade together making sure to coat each piece. Top baking dish with parchment paper, and then with foil, sealing around the sides. Bake in an oven preheated to 375 degrees F or higher for faster roasting time. The vegetables will take about 30-45 minutes, or longer if needed. Bake until all vegetables are tender.

* I realize butternut squash is not a root vegetable, but it's just so delicious. You could just use root vegetables in this recipe and that would be equally delicious.

Now for a little shout out to Meggie, for posting her vegan nacho recipe. Not all the ingredients were on hand, so I omitted the add-in's, opted for some green chilies from a can, and used it as a nacho dip. The nutritional yeast "cheesiness", definitely hit the spot. Thanks for the recipe, Meggie!

Starting the Year off Right

One of the many self proclaimed goals I have made a mental tally of is this - eat more greens, and vary the types of greens I eat. I consume a lot of spinach, in the form of daily green smoothies. Usually spinach is the only green leafy vegetable I eat in the course of a week. The benefit of eating a wide variety of greens, is that they contain different nutrients. Therefore eating a variety of them allows you to get access to all that nutrition.

So today, I pulled a bunch of kale out of the fridge and got to work creating a delicious salad. Kale salad might sound quite daunting, but here is a way to make raw kale so delicious.

1. Choose the freshest looking bunch of greens. Since it is January and I do not have access to fresh local kale, I painstakingly choose the best looking bunch of organic kale that I can find at the grocery store. I also prefer to buy lacinato or dinosaur kale over the curly kind. I find that it is easier to work with. Either type will do.

2. Wash and dry the kale and remove the leafy part from the stem. This will also create a more pleasant salad as the stems are tougher to chew.

3. Gather the leaves tightly together and cut into thin strips.

4. Pour on about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle on some sea salt.

5. Use your hands to coat every piece with the oil and salt. This step is really important as the oil and salt work to break down the toughness of the kale so that it is easier to eat and digest.

Lemon juice can also be used as opposed to salt, and also helps to break down the kale.

Now you have a lovely base for a salad. You can store prepared kale in the refrigerator for a few days for quick and easy meals. The longer the greens sit, the softer they will become.

5. Toss together a salad of the prepared greens and whatever else you would like to add. You can top them with another salad dressing if desired. I added a splash of coconut vinegar to brighten up the flavor of the salad.

The other ingredients I used were roasted red pepper slices, chopped baby portabella mushrooms, hemp seeds, nutritional yeast, and some fresh ground pepper.

The possibilities are endless once you have your salad base. You could use apples, nuts, and a dash of maple syrup for a sweet fall salad, or fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and lemon juice for a delightfully tangy salad. Get some kale and get creative.

Here's to a year full of a leafy variety!

New Years Day

Today was a lovely day to welcome the start of a New Year. Full of happy moments,

shared with each other and with good friends.

Focaccia bread sticks were made.

Friends came over for a feast of bread sticks, pizza, and roasted vegetables.

A roast of fingerling potatoes, brussel sprouts, butternut squash, onion, and roasted garlic.

Many a pot of coffee was made.

Quite a few mugfuls were drained as well.

Oatmeal flour cookies went into the oven.

And were promptly devoured, while watching Shop Around the Corner.

Then we ended the day with a chilly but beautiful nighttime walk.

It was a good day. Sadly not every day of 2011 will be this delightful. There will be tough times ahead indeed - frustrating days, disappointing moments, mistakes made. Regardless, I feel a bit inspired by the placebo effect of January 1st, and have many goals and hopes for this coming year. I will not list all of these aspirations, because who knows how the year will go. Never the less, here are just a few.

* Worry less

* "Make my own kind of music" - in other words actively

dream instead of just dream

* Learn to make marvelous Indian cuisine

I hope you all had a happy New Year. May your year be full of many blessings.

Holiday Creating

After my long Holiday hiatus, I am back to posting. The busyness of this time of year has kept me away from the computer, and instead, I've been stuck to my sewing machine, riding for hours in a car, and celebrating Christmas with the family.

Sadly, baking and cooking were bottom barrel and this post depicts the one batch of cookies I took the time to create. No recipe this time, as I am still working out the kinks. I was attempting a sort of raw sugar cookie, but it turned out to be a bit harder than desired and needed a bit more of something. But all in all, I was pretty happy with the experiment.

Here is a little picture show depicting the process. Enjoy!

Hope you all had a very merry Christmas! The New Year is just around the corner and we are planning to lay low and just relax as Matt and I have 3 days off together. Perhaps we will cook up a New Years Day feast and invite friends over. What are your plans?

Acorn Squash and Sweet Corn Soup

Today is a short and sweet post. One about a soup I made last week. It didn't take long, and it was oh so delicious. If you try it, I hope you agree. It is a snap to make, especially if you have baked your squash ahead of time (instructions for squash baking and pureeing at the end of the post).

Hope you are all having a wonderful December day!

Acorn Squash and Sweet Corn Soup

serves 2-3

1 acorn squash baked until soft, and pureed

non-dairy milk of choice ( I used unsweetened almond)

1 cup frozen sweet corn

salt and pepper to taste

ground cayenne pepper

Mix together acorn squash puree and enough of the milk

to make it soup like. Heat on medium high and once the soup

is starting to get hot, add in the sweet corn. Season with salt and

pepper. Let the soup simmer or heat 10 minutes and enjoy with some

cayenne pepper sprinkled in.

I also added some Daiya vegan cheddar to my bowl before

ladeling in the soup. It was delicious.

This is how I bake acorn squash, or any squash. Wash the squash thoroughly, slice in half long ways, and scrape out the seeds (or scrape them out after it is baked). Pour some water into a baking dish and place the squash skin side up into the water. The water should be about 1/2 inch deep, or a bit more, as it sometimes will dry out while it is baking. Bake for about 45 minutes in a oven preheated to 375 degrees F. When you can easily pierce the squash with a fork, and the flesh is soft, it is ready. To puree, scrape the flesh out of the squash skin and blend with a bit of water until smooth. You can also refrigerate the cooked squash and then puree it right before you need to use it.