In between your weekends of sugar, animal fat, and alcohol-laden holiday festivities, on a quiet weeknight at home, when your body is clambering for some real nutrition, try whipping up this extremely easy soup that is clean, vegan, and packed with super nutrition. The pepitas, while delivering a complete essential amino acid profile, also give it that comfort food edge that will surely hit the spot on a cold winter night.
Curried Chickpea Salad Sandwich
The other day I was plugging away working in my office when that familiar, mid-day hunger craving snuck up on me. Sometimes, when we don’t properly manage our flow of food fuel throughout the day, we can get the wrong kind of craving at the wrong time. Suddenly, all I wanted was some meat, mayo, and bread made from highly refined flour and sugar. Luckily, I don’t keep any of those things around my kitchen! So I mustered up enough focus to remember, that I have been wanting to experiment with a vegan version of the classic luncheon chicken or egg salad. Here is what I came up with about 20 minutes later, and it turned out pretty yummy.
“Creamy” Cauliflower Soup with Truffle Tomato Salsa
Nothing completes a crisp autumn or rainy day like a bowl of creamy soup. I am pretty sure that there isn’t a person out there who doesn’t have a nostalgic attachment to a “cream of something” soup from their past or childhood. Well I have some good news about that! You can keep your creamy, comforting stroll down memory lane while also avoiding the bad and promoting awesome, clean nutrition. This soup is very easy to make and is also great as a cold vichyssoise style soup if you have leftovers. The salsa is a tangy compliment that offers extra rich flavor in the truffle oil, but also completely optional. Read More
Heirloom Pole Bean & Potato Salad with Tarragon & Fennel Seed Dressing
Every year I plant a yummy heirloom pole bean and it never disappoints. I actually don’t remember the name…I think it is called “Rattlesnake.” I always go by the picture on the seed package…a beautiful, purple spotted pole bean. It recently started going crazy so I whipped up a quick and easy mid week salad, and here it is for your sharing and noshing enjoyment.
Butternut Squash Enchiladas with Roasted Tomatillo-Pepita Sauce
I love trying different versions of the traditional enchilada. In these vegan enchiladas, we get some extra protein punch from the pepitas in the sauce. I had some vegan “queso” that I was experimenting with so I was able to make this completely vegan, but you are certainly not limited to that. A good queso añejo would also go well. The grilled tomato was intended to add color to make the picture better, but it turned out being a nice acidic component that brightened up every other bite or so. Butternut squash loves being seasoned with cumin and chile, so this just came together quite naturally. Read More
Radish Greens & Rice Noodles with Fresh Mango
You have probably heard the expression “diamond in the rough.” Well, what about “vitamins in your rubbish pile?” That is exactly what you have when you throw away your radish tops. I know, I know, it is probably an automatic reflex to just break those greens off and toss them away. It’s cool, if you are okay with tossing a significant source of calcium, iron, magnesium, folate, vitamin A, C, K and other nutrients into the trash. Not only are radish greens edible, they are the most nutritious part of the plant! It is worth the effort to find a good source of fresh radishes with live, abundant greens. Here is just one example of an easy way to utilize fresh radish greens. The slightly bitter bite of the radish and the fresh, sweet mango are like two peas in the pod…sorry I couldn’t resist the cliche! Read More
“Raw” Portobello Burger with Basil Cashew Cheese
Happy Father’s Day! How about giving your dad something he probably has never had? This raw, portobello mushroom burger is pretty hard to pass up and could end up being the best gift you could give someone…the gift of better health. Warning, this “burger” is addictive and can be a transformational experience! Keep in mind that in order to keep this in it’s raw state, it is actually dehydrated, and takes 3-4 hours to prepare. But the actual active time to prepare is short, maybe just 15 minutes. If this sounds too weird to you, keep an open mind, because the end result is a juicy, dense, flavorful burger that can stand up to any beef burger. Read More
Vegan Lemony Power Bars
This recipe and image has been sitting in my drafts folder for a couple months. I am currently on a 5 day bicycle ride to raise money for climate ride. When I am riding my bicycle for five days straight, my body craves clean, usable nutrition without a lot of hard to digest stuff. This protein bar recipe came to mind so I thought it is time to finally post it for you all. And, I thought it would be a fun for you to try on the weekend because these bars store great for a week long go to snack. By the way, if you are curious about Climate Ride, you can learn more and make a donation here: http://bike.climateride.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.participant&participantID=3270
Garlic Stuffed Roasted Artichoke
I love the artichoke roots that have taken hold in my food garden! Every year, a glorious new artichoke plant pops out and produces delicious artichokes right on schedule. They have become one of the highlights of spring in at our house. Artichoke roots go dormant in late summer early fall, but then wake up in early winter to start producing the plant, and spring is usually harvest time for artichokes. Many people scratch their heads at artichokes, either because they only know how to boil them, or maybe they just don’t think its worth the work required to finally get to the delicious heart of the artichoke. To me it is all worth the work, but just in case, here is a super easy way to prepare fresh artichokes, that incorporates roasted garlic. I recommend trying this accompanied by something you can spread the edible meat of the artichoke, along with the roasted garlic onto, like a baguette or a toasted flatbread. Don’t let spring pass without trying this once! It is a nice alternative to the traditional boiling method. I like to leave two or three artichokes on the plant each year because they eventually blossom into a beautiful flower. And they look as beautiful as they taste! Read More
Eggplant Cannelloni with Mushrooms & Leeks
Cannelloni, ravioli, manicotti, tortellini…what do these foods have in common besides ending with the letter “i”? Well, it is probably safe to say that they are all loved by many for their cheese-stuffed, pasta goodness. One of my favorite reasons for blogging on here is to discover healthier, less toxic versions of this kind of stuff. With that said, I am loving this cannelloni creation that has been evolving in my kitchen. It delivers a rich, comfort food experience without any of the bad stuff. And, it is great the next day, even cold! I know this because I left it sitting on the stove one cold winter night, and the next morning it was devoured before I could wrap it and put it into the refrigerator! The sunflower seeds give this dish enough clean protein to replace any meat or dairy version, and the mushrooms don’t need any nutrition hype to make their healthy introduction. In other words, this would make a great entree whenever you have that urge for a comfort food whatever…ending in “i”!