Recipe Roundup

I am posting a bunch of favorite recipes. They are all vegan but some have suggestions for adding in meat and dairy.  Enjoy!

Lentils and Rice with Ginger Bok Choi

Lentils and Rice

.5 cup Lentils

.5 cup brown (i've been enjoying brown basmati rice)

2 cups water or vegetable broth

1 cube veggie bouillon (optional)

salt (I like salt and  use celtic sea salt or himalayan rock salt bought in bulk as both have a higher mineral content )

Bring 2 cups water to a boil and add bouillon. After rinsing (or if you choose soaking lentils and rice overnight/ 8 hours with a splash of apple cider vinegar to help in digestion) lentils and rice add to water, bring to boil and reduce heat.  Cook on low for 40 mins or according to rice cooking instructions.

Bok Choi

1 bunch bok choi chopped in 1 inch pieces

1 garlic clove

1 tsp (or to taste) fresh grated ginger (I buy a couple pounds of fresh ginger from local farms in the summer and freeze in pieces to use through the year)

coconut oil  (love coconut oil and buy it in bulk once a year)

While rice is cooking heat oil over medium heat, saute minced garlic for 3-5 minutes but do not let it turn brown.  Grate ginger and add ginger. Toss in chopped and washed bok choi and sautee for 5-10 minutes depending on how crisp you like it.

Favorite Dressing

olive oil

apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 clove garlic (optional)

Mix all dressing ingredients in a jar and shake. The dressing can be used on rice, salads, meat, fresh veg--anything.

Top rice with dressing and serve with bok choi.  On non-fasting days we enjoy eating this topped with feta cheese and ground lamb frikadelle (burger patties)

Curried Zucchini Soup  with Quinoa

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 onion chopped

1 clove garlic minced

2 white potatoes cut in 1 inch chunks

2 zucchini cut in small chunks

2-3 cups water

2 cups or 1 can coconut milk ( I make my coconut milk by buying dried unsweetened shredded coconut in bulk on amazon adding 1 cup water to 1 cup dried coconut (about 5 cups of water per bag) heating it briefly on the stove, letting it sit for 1 hour, blending it and straining it. I dry the left over coconut pulp in the oven to add to granola, cakes or soups and freeze in jars or ice cube strays the liquid milk) another non-strain recipe found here: http://wholenewmom.com/whole-new-budget/easiest-coconut-milk-recipe-improved/

curry powder

tumeric

1 tsp grated ginger (optional)

garam masala (optional)

fresh lemongrass (optional)

fresh lime or lemon leaves (optional)

salt and pepper

Immersion blender or blender

Heat oil in a large soup pan or dutch oven.  Add chopped onion and cook for 5-7 minutes or until translucent.  Add garlic and cook for 3-5 mins.  Add spices and ginger. I add my lemongrass in a little tea strainer so that I don't have to pick it out later as I don't spend much time mincing it into small pieces.  Stir and let spices release their fragrance. Add vegetables and coat with spices. Add water and simmer until potatoes are soft.  Add coconut milk and simmer.  Take immersion blender and blend up the soup til your desired consistency. I prefer mostly pureed with a few little chunks.  you can also transfer cups into  regular blender, but be careful of being splashed by hot soup.

1 cup quinoa (i've been enjoying red quiona)

2 cups water (or veg broth or bone broth when not fasting)Right after you add water to the soup to cook vegetables bring water or broth to a boil, add rinsed/and or soaked quinoa bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Cook 20 mins.


Put hot quinoa in bowls and top with soup.  Serve with Fresh bread and/or green salad

Cauliflower and Red Lentil Soup

1 tbsp coconut oil

1/2 to 1 leek sliced in thin rounds

2-3 carrots chopped

2-3 sticks celery chopped

1 head cauliflower

1 cup split red lentils

2-3 cups coconut milk (1-2 cans) whole fat

2-3 cups water

1-3 tbsp curry powder

grated ginger to taste (optional)

dash cumin

dash tumeric

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large soup pan or dutch oven on medium/high heat.  Add sliced leeks to hot oil. Cook for 5-7 minutes until leeks begin to wilt. Add carrots and celery and cook for 5-7 minutes.  Add spices and then after fragrant add 1 cup washed red lentils. Stir and add 2-3 cups water so that the lentils are fully covered. Cook lentils for 10-20 minutes and add cauliflower.  you may need to add a little more water. Simmer cauliflower til almost tender. Add coconut milk, simmer and blend with immersion blender.

Serve with fresh bread and left over lentil/rice/bok choi with Favorite dressing

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quesadillas

2-3 baked sweet potatoes (often cooked the night before)

2 cups/1 can black beans

Tortillas (my favorite are sprouted grain tortillas from food for life)

hot sauce

greens (arugula or favorite salad mix) dressed with lemon juice and olive oil if using

sliced avocado

Place tortilla on a cast iron or grill pan with oil or dry. Top half the tortilla with sweet potato and black beans. Fold tortilla in half and warm throughout.  Serve topped with avocado, greens and a dash of hot sauce.

These are delicious with cheddar cheese and topped with sour cream.

Curried Cauliflower and Red Lentil Rice

2 cups white basmati rice

3-4 cups (or enough to coat cooked rice) left over curried cauliflower and red lentil soup

Cook rice according to instructions (generally bring 8 cups water to boil and add rice. Stir as rice cooks, about 12 minutes).  Add cold soup to hot rice and stir til well mixed and warm.  Sprinkle with curry powder and shredded coconut.



Pureed Greens

 
The amount of greens can vary, just adjust other ingredients to match. I just used up what was left in my refrigerator.

3 cups Arugula
2 cups Kale (washed and chopped)
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs apple cider vinegar
juice of half a lime
1 tbs nutritional yeast
half a garlic clove


Lightly steam kale and arugula, just until they turn even brighter green.  Place steamed greens in a food processor or blender, add the rest of the ingredients and puree. 

I served them mixed with rice and sauteed shrimp.  They would be great spread on toast, alone, or even as a pasta sauce. 

Best Bok Choi

Bok Choi is a versatile vegetable and I've loved it for years. The best I've ever tasted was in a small garage restaurant in Hong Kong. Perfectly crunchy, sauteed and sauced.  This recipe has 4 ingredients and is quick and easy. I prefer mine to still have some crunch, so cook yours a few minutes longer if you like it softer.

1 head Bok Choi chopped to your liking
1 TBS coconut oil
Fresh grated ginger to taste
a splash of Amino Acids or soy sauce

Heat the coconut oil over medium heat in a large dutch oven or skillet.  Once hot add the freshly chopped and washed Bok Choi. Grate fresh ginger over the Bok Choi and stir. Let it saute for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. At the end add a splash of soy sauce and serve immediately.

My Dream

Cleaning up the dishes tonight, this phrase starting going through my head...She taught us. I was pleased with how my thrown together dinner had turned out.  Rich, nutritious, and quite good.  I started imagining what my daughter would say in the future about what she learned from her mother about cooking and food.   I started to imagine what else I hope my daughters learn from me, directly and indirectly.  What follows is not an exhaustive list, but what  I hope most for them, what I hold most dear. In writing it, it also helped me to clarify where I need to spend more time. It is a nice exercise, I recommend writing one of your own.


 What I hope my children will say about me when reflecting on my life:

She taught us to cook and eat nourishing and delicious food.
She taught us to eat when we were hungry, to respect our body and feed ourselves what we needed to carry us through our days.
She taught us that we are spiritual beings and to listen to our inside voice.
She taught us to love God, and that we are unconditionally loved.
She taught us to see our wrong, and to repent, and to move past our wrongdoing with an open heart.
She taught us we were beautiful, from our hearts.
She taught us to be outside, and to notice the natural world, to love and respect it.
She taught us to dance, and feel the joy of running, moving, feeling our bodies.
She taught us to share what we have, even when we don't want to, even when we'd rather have it all for ourselves.
She taught us love one another, that we are each others greatest gifts.
She taught us not to be afraid to try, and to fail, and to try again, this is how we learn.
She taught us to pray, with our lips and our hearts, in church, in the home, on the tops of mountains. To let prayer be love within our hearts, unceasing.
She taught us to ask questions and to seek the answer when none was given.
And above all, she taught us to be Kind, and to care for those who are not yet able to care for themselves.

A new dressing

Olive and Anchovy Salad Dressing



I recently developed some love for Anchovies and I bought a case of them on Amazon, and now I need to eat them.  So, I decided to whip up a new dressing as I've been overdoing it on my favorite dressing.  What you'll need:

1 small jar of Anchovies
a handful of Calamata olives
1 clove garlic
3 TBS of olive oil

Put it all together and blend. Vitamix makes it really smooth, but a  little texture would be nice too.

Easy, and ready to pour over your favorite salad. Our salad was just lettuce and it was great.  The baby loved sucking it off the lettuce.  Salty, deep and delicious.

Hot Chocolate (Vegan and Delicious)

I wanted to make a dairy free hot cocoa for my daughter and this is what I came up with:


2 cups Coconut milk
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
1 Tbs. honey
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract


The proportions are dependent on how much you want to make and what type of cocoa you are using, as well as how sweet you want it to be. I like to use raw cacao powder as it is high in magnesium, iron, zinc and fiber.   It is very strong so I normally only use half of what is recommended in recipes calling for unsweetened cocoa.  I make my own  coconut milk and prefer it to store bought as i haven't found a store bought version with a consistency I like or that doesn't have an after taste.    You can also easily make vanilla extract.

Heat the coconut milk over medium heat and add all ingredients stirring slowly.  Heat til hot but not boiling.  Serve warm. 

Sing to me

It is one of those mornings when I am trying to get out of the house and am running late and trying to remember everything. My youngest is finally contained in her carseat and crying, my oldest is bopping around doing everything except getting ready and what I ask of her.  I hear my voice get harsh, my throat get tight.  I try to remind myself in these moments that this is not a crisis. This is not what a crisis looks like at all and everything is ok.  I do not need to overreact and get upset. My oldest has started acting like this, like me, getting worked up about very small things and I actually do say to her, “this is ok, we are ok, I’ll help you, this is not a crisis.” And she replies, “Yes, it is a crisis!”

Oh boy.

Back to this morning.  Even though I’ve told myself, we are not in the middle of a crisis, I have yet to calm the panic I feel in needing to get out the door NOW.  As I’m moving around getting things together I ask my daughter one more time to come over to me so I can zip her jacket and I hear myself say, “Why is this so difficult? Why aren’t you listening to me. What can we do to make this work?"  She replies, “You need to sing to me”. 

Stillness. Everything stopped in that moment and I melted.  Of course, sing to her. That is how I envisioned my life as a mother pre-parenthood. I really wanted to have children and imagined our beautiful life together. Learning, cuddling, loving and yes, singing through our days.  That was the movie of motherhood I had in my mind.

I smiled and laughed, and hugged her and started singing about brushing her teeth (a hauntingly, beautiful tune actually) things flowed smoothly and we got out the door. A wise daughter.

I’d like to say I don’t end up in crisis mode over menial details or my voice doesn’t get harsh when I’d prefer to speak calmly and lovingly, because I am still working that out. However, this moment, was a big one for me and a big reminder that although reality is different than the movie versions I used to play in my mind of motherhood, I need to keep my visions alive. I need to remember that we are creating this life together, my children, husband and I.  In our daily adventure, I am the director, I set the stage and call the shots.  My direction gives the nuance and flow  to the action. My crisis, becomes their crisis.  One day at a time, one moment at a time, I am trying to calm down and enjoy.