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Archive for the ‘Vegetarian’ Category

Great Northern Herbed Spread (or Dip!)

Posted in Appetizers, Brunch, Legumes, Lunch, Real Food, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 6, 2012 | 1 Comment »

As promised on my Facebook page, here is the recipe for the delicious herbed bean dip I created this week.  I wanted to create a spread that tasted as good as the herbed tofu spread on my favorite sandwich from a local cafe.  I called the tofu sandwich my “Friday junk food” because it’s soy with nutritional yeast on flax seed bread that is made with unbleached all purpose flour.  But it’s so darned delicious!

Well, this spread knocks it out of the park, my friends.

It’s amazing.  Tangy citrus paired with savory seasonings, and the deep rich bean undertones melding it all together.  I’ve had it on crackers and a toasted sprouted bread sandwich with ripe heirloom tomato, avocado, and sprouts.  It’s simply outstanding.  Try it, and let me know how you like it!

Great Northern Herbed Spread (or Dip)

Makes about two cups

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 c. cooked great northern beans OR 1 - 15 oz. cans of organic great northern beans or butter beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 t. minced garlic
  • 3 T. fresh-squeezed lime juice
  • 1 T. dried chives
  • 1 t. dried thyme
  • 1 t. dried basil
  • 1 t. onion powder or granules
  • 3 T. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 t. sea salt

DIRECTIONS

Place all ingredients in a food processor fitted with the S-blade.  Blend on high until the spread becomes a lovely, creamy consistency, or about 3-4 minutes.  Enjoy on toast, sandwiches, crackers, and veggies.

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Raw Chia Pudding with Cashew Milk

Posted in Big Ag Can Suck It, Conscious Eating, Desserts, Healthy Lifestyle, Kid Food, Nuts, Paleo-friendly, Raw, Real Food, Seeds, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 16, 2012 | 8 Comments »

Creamy, dreamy chia pudding, how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways.

  • Dairy-free
  • Gluten-free
  • Don’t have to strain the nut milk
  • Cashews are high in oleic acid, a heart healthy fat (but remember, you can only access the micronutrients of cashews by soaking them!)
  • Raw honey… ohhh, I’m a beekeeper, I’m so biased on this one…
  • Chia seeds have a higher concentration of omega-3 than salmon, and are a great source of calcium, protein, fiber, and potassium

All this, AND it tastes freaking amazing.  Big Ag, kindly take your processed non-food and shove it in your corn hole.

Raw Chia Pudding

Makes 3 1/2 cups

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 c. cashews, soaked and rinsed
  • 2 c. filtered water
  • 2 T. raw honey
  • 2 t. vanilla extract
  • 1/2 t. sea salt
  • 2 t. coconut oil
  • 7 T. chia seeds

DIRECTIONS

  1. Soak the cashews for at least two hours, then rinse thoroughly.
  2. Put all ingredients EXCEPT the chia seeds into a high speed blender.  Blend on high for about a minute, or until the cashew milk is smooth.
  3. Pour the cashew milk into a bowl and stir in about half of the chia seeds, making sure they don’t clump together.  Stir in the rest.  Cover and put in the refrigerator.  Stir after about a half hour, then let sit overnight.
  4. In the morning, say Why, hello, Beautiful! to your sweet and healthy new breakfast.  Or snack.  Or dessert.  Or all three!

Also shared on Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday.

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Blueberry Apple Crumble at Twilight

Posted in Real Food, Vegetarian, Whole Grains, tagged , , , , , , on July 1, 2012 | 6 Comments »

Darn it, I ran out of full daylight by the time this was done.  It was so good that I’m sharing it anyways.  There are the cutest and tastiest little wild black raspberries on top because we have a giant out-of-control berry bush way in the back of our yard.  You could use blueberries instead.  It would make more sense.  Since I had them, I used them.

If you subbed almond meal for the whole wheat flour, you’d have a gluten-free dessert.  If you omitted the whipped cream, it’d be dairy-free.  I did neither, and I have no regrets.  A great big thank you to Annemarie over at Real Food, Real Deals for this recipe!

Blueberry Apple Crumble

Makes a 9″ x 13″ pan

INGREDIENTS

Filling

  • 7 c. apples, peeled and sliced
  • 3 c. blueberries, fresh or frozen
  • 1 T. cinnamon
  • 1/4 t. nutmeg
  • 1 T. arrowroot powder
  • 1/2 c. grade B maple syrup

Topping

  • 1 c. thick-rolled oats
  • 1 c. corn grits
  • 1 c. whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 c. unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/2 c. grade B maple syrup
  • 2 t. cinnamon
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 1/3 c. coconut oil, melted

Whipped Cream

  • 2 c. pastured organic whipping cream (heavy cream)
  • 1 t. maple syrup
  • 1 t. vanilla

DIRECTIONS

Crumble

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Prepare the fruit and put it in a large mixing bowl.  Add the remaining filling ingredients and stir to coat.
  3. Place the filling in a 9 x 13 inch pan and bake for 30 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, prepare the crisp topping by mixing together all the topping ingredients in the large bowl that you used to mix the filling ingredients.
  5. After the filling has been in the oven for 30 minutes, remove the pan from the oven.  Cover the fruit evenly with the crisp topping and return the pan to the oven.
  6. Bake for another 20 minutes or until the topping begins to brown.
  7. Cool on a wire rack.  Or don’t, if you can’t wait.  It’s really, really freaking good hot.  Bet you can’t guess which path I sprinted down.

Whipped Cream

  1. Chill an electrix mixer bowl and whisk beater in the freezer for 10 minutes.  Take it out of the freezer and put it back on the mixer stand.
  2. Pour the whipping cream, maple syrup, and vanilla into the bowl.  Beat on medium/high until it’s the consistency you desire.  It could be something soft and docile that you spoon over and it puddles down the sides in that oozy way.  Or it could be somewhat stiff, where you could make those fancy Dairy Queen soft-serve style finishes on top.  Or it could be stiff, and using two spoons, you could coax it into the shape of a swan that’s vaguely agitated about the quality of the duckweed growing on the lake this year.  Totally your call on this.  I trust you implicitly.

Update:  Pictures in the daylight.  Which do you like best, twilight or daylight?

Also shared on This Chick Cooks Whole Food Wednesdays and Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday.

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Caprese Salad with a Balsamic Reduction

Posted in Appetizers, Brunch, Fresh Vegetables, Lunch, Main Dishes, Salads, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on May 15, 2012 | 9 Comments »

I’ll admit up front that before I made this I’d never eaten caprese salad before, much less made it.  When I found these aquaponic tomatoes at Nelson and Pade Aquaponics in Montello, Wisconsin this weekend, I just had to use them in a starring role.  I vaguely remembered reading about reducing the balsamic vinegar, which makes it sweeter and a bit syrupy.  Well, I may have reduced it a bit much because it was as thick as cold honey.  I’d do it again in a second though because the flavor was outstanding.  You can also make pretty designs with it on a white plate and it’ll stay put.

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for this recipe to find or make a great fresh mozzarella.  It’s imperative.  I was lucky to find a weak and watery ball of Belgioioso up in Montello, but if I was home I’d have gone straight for the Crave Brothers mozzarella, which is much creamier, firmer, and flavorful.  And can you imagine how pretty this would be made with heirloom tomatoes?  However you make it, the results will be stunning; a feast for both the eye and the palate.  Enjoy!

Caprese Salad with a Balsamic Reduction

Serves 4 to 6

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 lb. fresh mozzarella
  • 3 large tomatoes
  • 1 oz. fresh basil leaves
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • 12 oz. balsamic vinegar
  • sea salt
  • black pepper

DIRECTIONS

  1. For the reduction:  Bring vinegar to a gentle boil over medium heat and simmer without a cover for 15-20 minutes, until it becomes thicker and more syrupy.  Keep in mind it will thicken up even more as it cools.
  2. While the balsamic vinegar is reducing, slice the mozzarella and tomatoes.  Layer the cheese, tomatoes, and destemmed basil leaves as pictured.
  3. Drizzle olive oil over the layered tomatoes, followed by the cooled balsamic reduction.  Sprinkle a few additional basil leaves for effect.  Sprinkle sea salt and grind a little black pepper over it all.

 

This post shared on a recipe swap over here at Whole Lifestyle Nutrition.  Also shared on Foodie Friday over at Simple Living with Diane Balch.

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Corn and Black Bean Salsa

Posted in Appetizers, Brunch, Conscious Eating, Fresh Vegetables, Healthy Lifestyle, Kid Food, Lunch, Vegetarian on May 13, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

This recipe was inspired by a family trip to the Nelson Pade Aquaponic Technology, Systems, and Supplies, a research and demonstration facility.  From their website:

“What Is Aquaponics?

Aquaponics is the combination of aquaculture and hydroponics. In aquaponics, you grow fish and plants together in one integrated, soilless system. The fish waste provides a food source for the plants and the plants provide a natural filter for the water the fish live in. Aquaponics produces safe, fresh, organic fish and vegetables. When aquaponics is combined with a controlled environment greenhouse, premium quality crops can be grown on a year-round basis, anywhere in the world. Aquaponics can be used to sustainably raise fresh fish and vegetables for a family, to feed a village or to generate a profit in a commercial farming venture.”

Aquaponics is what Growing Power (last week’s family trip) uses in their greenhouses in Milwaukee.  This system is also what we’re planning on using in our greenhouse

Well they also had a little honor-system stand with produce grown in their greenhouse.  They had lovely big red tomatoes, fresh lettuces (with bulbs intact so you could plant them again),  and herbs.  I purchased two different lettuces, five tomatoes, and a package of fresh basil.  Then Richard and I hit a local grocery for the rest of the ingredients.  We went back to his parents’ campground and I prepared this fresh, zingy salsa.  My 12-year old nephew couldn’t stay out of it, and actually ASKED me to send his mom the recipe!  High praise indeed.

Corn and Black Bean Salsa

Makes 3.5 cups

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 large tomatoes, diced
  • 3 ears husked bi-color sweet corn, kernels sliced off the cob
  • 4 scallions with greens, sliced
  • 1 jalapeno, deseeded, de-ribbed, and minced
  • 1 orange bell pepper, deseeded and diced
  • 1-15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 T. fresh garlic, minced
  • 2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 T. balsalmic vinegar
  • 2 t. sea salt

DIRECTIONS

  1. Mix all ingredients together and serve as a salsa with chips, or as relish over any dish that seems appropriate (grilled fish, tacos, etc.).

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Tomato Basil Risotto with Fresh Mozzarella

Posted in Main Dishes, Vegetarian, Whole Grains, tagged , , , , , , , on May 2, 2012 | 3 Comments »

Before this dish, I’d never made risotto before.  Somewhere rattling around in the back of my brain I vaguely remembered hearing it was difficult to make, but I didn’t really focus on that.  I just put a bunch of water in a pot, got it boiling, threw the risotto in by handfuls, and let it simmer for about 16 minutes with the cover on.  I tried it and it was just a bit chewy, so I let it go another 2 minutes.  Then I stirred it around a bit before dumping it in a colander and shaking it.

I did pretty much everything you could do WRONG to this dish and it still turned out amazingly flavorful.

I’ve since read recipes that say to add broth a little at a time until it’s done and that just sounds fiddly to me.  I don’t know.  Maybe this could have turned out better, but the creaminess of the risotto with the fresh mozzarella cubes was delicious.  But the real proof?  Our 3 year old ate two bowls of it!

Tomato Basil Risotto with Fresh Mozzarella

Source:  Fresh Meals from the editors of Organic Style

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 c. uncooked Arborio rice
  • 2 T. EVOO
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/4 c. lightly packed fresh basil leaves, stemmed and torn in half
  • 1/2 t. sea salt
  • 1/8 t. black pepper
  • 1 T. balsalmic vinegar
  • 3 – 4 Roma tomatoes, cut into chunks
  • 2 egg-size pieces fresh mozzarella, cubed

DIRECTIONS

  1. Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot.  Sprinkle in the rice by the fistful.  When the water returns to a boil, stir once, lower the heat, and simmer until the rice is al dente, 15 - 18 minutes.
  2. While the rice cooks, heat the EVOO in a large skillet over a low flame.  Stir in the garlic; then sprinkle in the basil.  After a couple of minutes (when the garlic is translucent), mix in the salt, pepper, vinegar, and tomatoes.  Gently turn the tomatoes once or twice to coat them with the flavored oil, warming them through but not cooking them down into a sauce.
  3. Drain the rice in a sieve or colander, but don’t shake it dry.  Turn it into a warmed serving bowl.  Immediately sprinkle in the mozzarella cubes, a few at a time, stirring with each addition so that they don’t clump together.  Then gently mix in the contents of the skillet, and serve.

Enjoy!

(Also posted on a recipe swap here over at This Chick Cooks.)

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Fresh Tomato Tostadas. Real food in 15 minutes!

Posted in Appetizers, Brunch, Kid Food, Lunch, Main Dishes, Vegetarian, Whole Grains, Wraps, tagged , , , on April 28, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

These are seriously quick and seriously tasty.  We didn’t use a lot of cheese, just enough to give it the right bite-feel on the whole wheat tortillas.  We had a big green salad before these as well, because they’d be seriously easy to eat too many of!  You could use any other veggies you wanted to throw on these, but they were great with just the diced green chilies.  I admit, we did used canned chiles for these.  If you’re a thinker-aheader and have your own chilies cooked or canned, even better!

Fresh Tomato Tostadas

Suggestion:  Make one tortilla per person and serve with a green salad

INGREDIENTS

  • Whole Wheat Tortillas
  • 3 organic roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
  • 1  4 oz. can chopped mild green chilies, drained
  • 6 oz freshly grated mild cheese blend

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place tortillas flat on a large baking sheet. Arrange tomatoes over tortillas. Sprinkle with chilies and cheese.
  2. Bake until tortillas are lightly golden and crisp and cheese has melted, about 10 minutes. Alternatively, cook them on a nonstick griddle. Cut each tostada into wedges, and serve hot.

Sour cream, fresh tomatoes, corn, and avocado are all delicious as toppings when the tostadas are hot.  They are also great cold when taken the next day for lunch.  Trust me.  Enjoy!

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