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Recipes

Tasty Tuesday, November 15, 2011 — Moroccan Inspired Lentil Soup

Vegan, gluten-free, and delicious!  Lentils are so wonderful — like their legume cousins, they are low in fat, high in fiber and protein — and they cook very quickly.  There is no need to soak them overnight or do any extra cooking to get them recipe-ready.  We will be having lentils in another dish next week as well, so stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, this is a delicious, easy and inexpensive soup.  You don’t have to buy lentil soup in a can!  Make a big pot of this soup over the weekend, and you will have easy lunches or dinners ready for reheating during the week.

The spices in this soup are great for warming the stomach, and reducing inflammation in the body.  It is a wonderful soup for a chilly fall or winter day.  You will like the kick the lemon juice gives it too.

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 cup celery, finely chopped (reserve leaves for garnish)

1 cup carrots, finely chopped

1 tsp dried, ground  turmeric

1 tsp dried, ground ginger (you could grate fresh ginger into the soup if you like, but use a little less as it is quite pungent)

1 tsp dried, ground cumin

4 to 6 cups of water or vegetable broth (I used Imagine brand “No-Chickn Broth” in today’s soup)

1 1/4 cups green or brown lentils (the flat variety), well washed and picked over (beware of little pebbles mixed in!)

Sea salt to taste

For garnish — chopped fresh celery leaves, cilantro, mint and parsley.  I recommend making a mixture of these to sprinkle over your soup before serving.  Also, serve this soup with lemon wedges.

 

As always, I recommend doing all of your chopping ahead of time.  Set all of the ingredients out in bowls so that you are ready to add each item into your soup pot as directed.  I also like to wash my lentils ahead of time so they are ready to go as well, but you can do that while the veggies are cooking.

1.  In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium.  Add the onions and cook until they start to soften – about 5 minutes.  Do not let them get brown or burned.  You can turn the heat down a bit if they are cooking too fast.

2.  Add the celery and carrots, and cook for about 8 minutes.  The vegetables should be getting softer.

3.  Stir in your garlic, turmeric, ginger and cumin and cook for a minute more.

4.  Add the washed lentils and the water or stock.  Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer until the lentils are cooked — about 20 minutes.

5.  Season to taste with salt, and serve with chopped herb garnish and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

 

Tasty Tuesday, November 8, 2011, Fig & Shallot Spread

Figs are a naturally sweet source of dietary fiber and minerals (potassium and calcium).  This spread is easy to make, keeps well, and would be delicious as a snack, an appetizer for a party, sandwich spread or pizza topping.

 

Ingredients:

1 cup of dried figs (I used Calmyrna, but you can use any variety you like), finely chopped

2 cups of water

4 shallots, peeled and finely chopped (I used a mini food processor to get them into very small pieces)

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated

1 Tbsp fresh orange zest (from 1 whole orange)

Juice of 1 whole orange

Sea Salt and fresh pepper

***Note:  please be certain to use an organic orange and ginger root, and wash them well with soap and water or vegetable detergent before grating into your recipe***

 

Place figs into a small saucepan and cover with 2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes, until liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup and the figs are nice and soft.  Remove from heat and set aside.  Do not drain.

Heat olive oil and saute shallots over medium-low heat until they are very soft and translucent.  This should take about 15 minutes.  It is important to watch the heat — you don’t want to burn them.  Add extra oil in very small amounts (1/4 tsp at a time) if the shallots appear to be drying out.  Once soft, add to the figs.

Stir in the fresh ginger, orange and orange juice.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  If the spread seems too chunky, you can puree about half of it.  I prefer mine to be chunky, so I did not puree it today.  Experiment with it and see what you like!  You could use lemon instead of orange, add capers instead of ginger, etc.

This spread works best if it is made one day ahead of eating.

Enjoy!

Tasty Tuesday, November 1, 2011 Cranberry Nut Bread

This is vegan, gluten-free, and sugar-free.  It does contain nuts (almond flour and walnut pieces), so adjust accordingly if you have a nut allergy.

Ingredients:

1 cup sorghum flour

1 cup tapioca flour

1/2 cup almond meal/flour (you could substitute millet or amaranth or oat flour here)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp xantham gum

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

3/4  cup “Just Like Sugar”

1 cup applesauce

1/8 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

1 -2 Tbsp freshly grated orange zest

1/3 cup canola oil

Energ-G egg replacer for 1 egg (to equal about 1/8 cup of liquid)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup fresh cranberries (see notes below), chopped

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare a loaf pan — it is best to use a glass or ceramic pan, because a metal pan will cause the outside of the bread to get overdone, while the inside will not be cooked enough.  The easiest way to prepare the pan is to line it with a large sheet of parchment paper.  Leave some extra hanging over the edges so that when the bread is done, you can grab onto the edges and simply lift the bread up out of the loaf pan to cool on a wire rack.  It works really well, and there is no need to oil the pan or worry about sticking.

Mix together dry ingredients – through the “Just Like Sugar”.  I like to do this in a stand mixer using the whisk attachment, and mix on a low speed to combine and to get rid of any lumps.

Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl and mix well.  You can also combine the cranberries and walnuts in a separate bowl to have them ready to mix in.

With the mixer on a low speed, add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing until you get a smooth batter.  If it is too dry, add a splash of orange juice or apple cider.

Fold in the cranberries and walnuts.  For those with nut allergies, just leave out the walnuts.  It still tastes great without them.

Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and smooth out the top.

Bake for 55- 70 minutes.  The baking time depends on the type of pan you use and how hot your oven is.  I start checking mine at 45 minutes, but find that it usually takes 65 minutes to get truly done.  Done-ness is determined by sticking in a wooden skewer and having it come out clean.  Once done, remove the pan from the oven and lift your loaf out of the pan to let it cool on a wire rack.  The parchment paper will slip right off.

A note on cranberries:  the first time I made this bread, I used dried cranberries (“Craisins”) and didn’t add any sugar.  It turned out fantastically well.  The loaf was thoroughly cooked through and had a nice crumb.  You would hardly know it was a gluten-free product!  Today I used fresh cranberries, roughly chopped, and the loaf is much denser and moister than last time.  I would not recommend using frozen cranberries in this recipe unless you have thawed them and they are at room temperature when you mix them into your batter.  If they are cold, they will cause your loaf to take a much longer time to bake.

 

Recipes from our Fabulous Fall Foods and Drinks

If you attended this event and would like to comment on your experience, OR if you make one of these recipes and want to share how it was for you, please do so.  We’d love to hear from you!

We had a three-course dinner with flowers and candle light while we talked about the flavors of fall and ate our delicious vegan, gluten-free dinner.  Hope you can join us for the winter class…..

 

Cauliflower Soup

This soup uses just a few basic ingredients to showcase a star vegetable.  Make this soup as garlicky and spicy as you like!

6 servings

1 large head of cauliflower (about 2 pounds), cored and separated into florets

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar or cider vinegar

4 to 8  garlic cloves, minced

¼ to ½ teaspoon crushed hot red pepper

¼ cup olive oil

4 cups hot vegetable broth

 

Coarse sea salt

1/3 cup freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley

 

  1. Trim the stems from the cauliflower florets and cut them into ½-inch pieces, then break the florets into ½-inch pieces.  Fill a large bowl with 2 quarts of cold water and stir in the vinegar.  Add the cauliflower pieces and stir to clean thoroughly.  Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Drop the cauliflower into the boiling water, return to a boil and cook over moderately high heat until just tender, about 4 minutes.  Drain the cauliflower thoroughly.

 

  1. In a large saucepan (I use the same one I just cooked the cauliflower in – be careful, it will be quite hot and you can easily burn your garlic!) cook the garlic and hot red pepper in the olive oil over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is golden.  This only takes a minute or two.  Add cauliflower and cook for 5 minutes, stirring to prevent it from browning.  Stir in the hot vegetable broth.

 

  1. Using a stick blender, puree the soup until smooth – OR puree part and leave some pieces of cauliflower in it for texture.  Taste for salt (especially if your vegetable broth is already salted or if it is no-salt-added; either way, the soup may need seasoning beyond the dash of salt you will use right before serving).

 

  1. Ladle the hot soup into bowls and sprinkle on some coarse sea salt and parsley just before serving.

 

 

Herb-Marinated Tofu

You will use this recipe to marinate your tofu and then dress the roasted vegetables just before serving.

 

1 tablespoon whole cumin seeds

2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds

1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

2 fresh garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons grated orange peel

1 1/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons minced fresh basil

2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

8 ounces extra firm tofu, cut into 1/2-inch squares

  1.  Combine cumin, coriander, and crushed red pepper in heavy small skillet over medium-high heat.
  2. Shake skillet gently until spices are fragrant, about 1 minute, then Transfer to a bowl.
  3. Add garlic, orange peel, and oil and stir to combine. Mix in basil, and cilantro.
  4. Gently stir in tofu.
  5. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 day. (Can be made up to 1 week ahead.  Keep refrigerated.  I made the one we had at the cooking class three days in advance)
  6. If you want the tofu to be saltier, you could add some brine-cured olives to this mixture, and/or some coarse sea salt.  Of course, you can also fry the tofu before putting it into the marinade.

 

 

Quinoa with Roasted Autumn/Winter Vegetables

This combination of sweet vegetables and quinoa is delicious and so good for you.

 

Serves 6

 

1 pound winter squash, peeled and cut in 1 ½-inch chunks (I used Delicata)

½ pound carrots, peeled, quartered and cut in 2-inch lengths

½ pound brussels sprouts, trimmed and cut in half through the stem

½ pound turnips, peeled and cut in wedges

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup quinoa (red, black or brown variety)

3 cups vegetable stock

 

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Oil one or two sheet pans or baking dishes large enough to fit all of the vegetables in a single layer.  Place the vegetables in a large bowl and toss with the olive oil.  Do not salt your vegetables before roasting because the salt with dehydrate them as they bake.  You want these vegetables to be nice and moist!  Spread the vegetables in an even layer on the prepared pan.  Place in the top third of the oven and bake 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.  Turn the heat down to 375 degrees and continue to bake until the vegetables are lightly browned and tender all the way through when pierced with a knife, 10 to 20 minutes more.

 

  1. While the vegetables are in the oven, cook the quinoa.  Rinse thoroughly with cold water.  Bring 3 cups of stock to a boil in a medium saucepan.  Add the very well-rinsed quinoa.  Bring back to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer 15 minutes, or until the quinoa is tender and translucent, and each grain displays a little thread.  Cover the pan with a clean dish towel, replace the lid and allow the quinoa to sit undisturbed for 10 minutes or longer.

 

  1. Using a slotted spoon, scoop tofu out of the marinade and set aside.

 

  1. When the vegetables are tender, remove from the heat and transfer back to the bowl.  Add the marinade while the vegetables are hot and toss together.  Taste for salt.  Serve over quinoa with the marinated tofu on the side or mixed in.

 

Advance preparation:  the vegetables can hold for a few hours once roasted, but don’t toss with the marinade until you reheat them in a medium oven.  The quinoa will keep for three or four days in the refrigerator and can be reheated in the oven, on top of the stove, or in the microwave.

 

 

 

Kale Salad

Ingredients:

1 bunch kale (I used red kale for our class; you can also use Tuscan kale or just ‘plain’ green kale)

1 lemon

¼ c good olive oil

Handful of pumpkin seeds (I used raw, sea-salted seeds for the class; you can use toasted seeds if you like)

 

  1.  Wash kale thoroughly and break or cut the leaves away from the stem (discard stem).  Chop leaves into small pieces.
  2. Juice the lemon and mix well with olive oil.
  3. Pour the lemon juice-olive oil mixture over the kale and “massage” it into the kale.  Don’t worry, kale is hearty and can take some mixing.  Make sure your dressing really gets all over the leaves
  4. Allow salad to sit for 30 to 45 minutes before serving.
  5. Before serving, toss with pumpkin seeds.  Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary.

 

Unlike salads made with lettuce, this salad will stay crisp and fresh as a leftover in a sealed bag or container in your fridge.

 

 

Tofu Pumpkin custard (makes 8 servings)

 

Ingredients:

 

1package silken tofu

1 cup cooked pumpkin (canned or fresh)

¼ to ½ cup maple syrup (I used ¼ c)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ginger

Dash of nutmeg

Dash of cloves

Dash of sea salt

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth.

Pour into ramekins, and place ramekins into a rectangular glass casserole dish.  Pour water into the casserole to the level of 2/3 of the height of the ramekins.

Bake 45 minutes, or until set and pumpkin starts coming away from the sides of the ramekins.

Serve warm or chilled.

You can also add non-dairy whipped topping when serving.

 

 

 

 

Aniseed, Fennel and Caraway Tea

 

This simple tea freshens and enlivens the mouth.  It is best drunk after a meal as an aid to digestion.  A few teaspoons of this tea can also be given to babies to relieve colic.  From “Recipes for Self-Healing” by Daverick Leggett.

 

Preparation time:  5 mins

Makes 3 cups

 

1 teaspoon aniseed

1 teaspoon caraway

1 teaspoon fennel

 

Simply put the seeds in a teapot and pour on boiling water.  If you like it a little stronger, simmer the seeds in a pot for about 5 minutes.

 

These spices are warming and really promote work well for those who are prone to sluggish digestion, loose stools, overweight and fatigue.  Because they are warming, they are not necessarily good for someone who is sweaty, red-faced and who gets acid indigestion or heartburn after eating.

 

Fabulous Fall Foods and Drinks Tonight, Wednesday October 26th, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.

Introducing our new, seasonal offering!  For $30 you get a 3-course meal, recipes and instructions on how to prepare the menu items.  Our fall menu includes cauliflower soup, roasted vegetables and marinated tofu over quinoa, kale salad, and pumpkin custard.  The whole meal is organic, vegan and gluten-free.  Recipes will be posted here tomorrow.

If you couldn’t join us for this class, watch for the winter dinner.  Information on  that event coming soon.

Tasty Tuesday, Part Two: Tofu-Ginger-Cilantro Soup

This recipe is adapted from Deborah Madison’s very wonderful cookbook:  Vegetable Soups.  I highly recommend adding this book to your kitchen.

This particular recipe is wonderful for a damp, chilly fall or winter day.  It is a clear broth soup, so it is not too heavy.  It also has ginger and jalapeno peppers — very warming for the digestion!  It makes about 6 cups of soup.

To make it more of a meal, you could serve it with cooked rice noodles.  This soup is Gluten-free and Vegan, but does have soy in it, for those of you with allergies or sensitivities.

 

Ingredients:

6 dried shitake mushrooms (these are commonly found in markets now.  Locally, MOM carries them)

1 1/2 Tbsp peanut oil — best to get organic, unrefined oils

2 – 6 slices fresh ginger, about 1 1/2″ wide, smashed — I like a LOT of ginger in mine, so I use 4 to 6 slices

Sea Salt

2 – 4 tsp finely diced jalapeno pepper — if you like some heat, use more.  If not, go with 2 tsp.  It will have a nice tang, but will not be spicy

2 tsp minced fresh garlic

1/3 cup cilantro stems, finely chopped

2 bunches scallions, including 3″ of the greens, finely chopped

1 cup celery, finely diced

8 to 10 ounces firm tofu, drained and cut into small dice

1/2 cup cilantro leaves, chopped

1 tsp wheat-free soy sauce, tamari, or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, plus more for serving

Toasted Sesame Oil, for serving

 

This soup is very quick to make if you are very organized — I strongly urge you to wash and chop all of the ingredients and have them ready to go before you turn on the stove.  Once you’ve done that, it is 15 minutes or so to the table!  You will also want a fine-mesh strainer and possibly some cheesecloth.

Cover the mushrooms with 5 cups of boiling water and set aside to rest while you are dicing your vegetables .  I also like to allow the ginger slices to rest in the oil at the bottom of my wok while I am dicing my vegetables.  It infuses into the oil.

Once you’ve done the preparation work, heat the oil over medium high heat (with ginger in it) and add 1/2 tsp of salt while you stir fry for a few seconds.  Add the jalapeno and garlic and stir fry for 2 minutes, adding the cilantro stems for the last 20 seconds or so.

Lower the heat to medium and add the scallions.  Cook for 3 minutes, until they turn bright green.  Then add the celery and 1/4 tsp of salt.

Now, strain the liquid from your dried mushrooms through the fine mesh strainer (you can use cheesecloth in the strainer if you like), squeezing the now plump mushrooms to get all of the liquid out.  Add this liquid to your soup pot.

Now, slice up your mushrooms and add to the soup.  Add in the tofu as well, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Right before serving, add in your chopped cilantro leaves and the soy sauce/tamari/Bragg’s.

Dress up each bowl with a bit more soy sauce and a dash of sesame oil.  Enjoy!

 

 

New Feature! Tasty Tuesdays ….

Introducing a new feature of the website (and here in the office) — “Tasty Tuesdays”.  Each Tuesday afternoon (we open at noon), we will have something tasty to try here in the office.  Generally, these foods will be gluten-free, vegan or vegetarian.  If you are here for an appointment, you will have the opportunity to try something new and delicious.  The recipes will be posted here on the website.  Check back with us each week to see what’s cookin’!

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