Sunday, February 27, 2011

French Dressing

I tried this dressing for the first time today. Again, Jamie Oliver's. So tasty! Especially in a green salad.
  • Peel and finely chop 1/4 of a clove of garlic
  • Put the garlic, 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons of white or red wine vinegar (I used red), and 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil into a jam jar with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (I'm not into black pepper that much so I put...almost nothing)
  • Put the lid on the jar and shake well
Of course if you don't have a jam jar you can put all of the ingredients in the Vitamix. I would say in variable speed 3-4. Until everything is well mixed. 

I just watched Julie and Julia again...and since the recipe is french and all, I say to you... Bon Appettit!!!!!


Lentil and Spinach Soup

This is one of my favorite lentils recipe. It's Jamie Oliver's Lentil and Spinach soup (you have to love that guy, even though he's not vegan. He always uses organic ingredients and he's super into having his own garden, you gotta love that guy)). One you thing you will have to get used to with me is that I will always change the original recipe. Most of the time is because I need to adjust for missing ingredients, but sometimes it's just because I think you need to be adventurous in the kitchen. Am I right?! Otherwise where's the fun in cooking...YOU CAN'T BE SCARED OF TRYING NEW THINGS, if you mess up SO WHAT?!

ok so enough of the blah blah. Here's the recipe

**This soup works really well if you make it with yellow split peas or dried green peas, as well as with greens like spinach, cabbage and swiss chard. 

Serves 6-8

Ingredients
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 celery stalks
  • 2 medium onions
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 3/4 quarts vegetable broth, preferably organic (Pretty much the whole carton) 
  • olive oil
  • a thumb-sized piece of fresh root ginger
  • 1/2-1 fresh red chile (I used green serrano peppers instead)
  • 10 grape or cherry tomatoes 
  • 2 cups red lentils
  • 7 cups of spinach (I used a mixed of spinach, kale and swiss chard) 
  • sea salt (you always want those extra minerals in your salt!)
  • black pepper
To make your soup
  • Peel and roughly slice the carrots
  • slice the celery
  • peel and roughly chop the onions
  • peel and slice the garlic
  • put the broth in a saucepan and heat until boiling
  • put a large saucepan on a medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil 
  • add all of your chopped and sliced ingredients and mix together with a wooden spoon
  • cook for around 10 minutes with the lid askew, until the carrots have softened but are still holding their shape, and the onion is lightly golden
  • meanwhile, peel and finely slice the ginger
  • seed and slice the chile
  • remove the stalks from the grape or cherry tomatoes ad slice the tomatoes i half
  • add the boiling broth to the pan with the lentils, ginger, chile and tomatoes 
  • give the soup a good stir and brig to a boil
  • reduce the heat and simmer for 10 min with the lid on, or until the lentils are cooked 
  • add the spinach, swiss chard and kale and continue to cook for 30 seconds 
To serve soup
  • season well with salt and pepper
  • you can now serve the soup just as it is, or using and immersion blender or liquidizer, pulse until smooth
  • divide between your servings bowls
  • try grilling, toasting or baking chunky croutons or slices of your favorite whole wheat bread

Friday, February 25, 2011

Cream of Cucumber Soup

It looks similar to this but a bit darker with the avocado
I really love this recipe. I got it from the "Raw Food Made Easy" cookbook by Jennifer Cornbleet. My husband loves it and he's the food critic in our house.

Yield: 2 cups, 2 servings

Ingredients
  • 4 romaine lettuce leaves, chopped (about 11/2 cupts)
  • 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped (about 1 cup)
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushe garlic (1 clove) 
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 ripe avocado, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh herbs (dill, mint, tarragon, or cilantro) or 1 teaspoon dried
Directions
  1. Place the lettuce, cucumber, water, lemon juice, garlic, and salt in a blender and process until smooth.
  2. Add the avocado and olive oil and blend again until smooth.
  3. Add the herbs and blend briefly to mix
  4. Serve immediately. For a chilled soup, refrigerate for 30 minutes before use.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Granola everyone!


So I know there's already another granola recipe in this blog but i thought this would be another option just in case you are looking for new ideas.

The granola made with this recipe has a very interesting quality: it is very crisp!
And along with a glass of soy milk, almond milk and some fruit (especially apple and apricot) is transformed into a full breakfast and otherwise quite tasty. Also, you could eat it with some plain yogurt

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups wheat germ
  • Thick 6 cups oats (organic if possible)
  • ½ cup chopped almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds
  • ½ cup shredded coconut (optional)
  • ¼ cup quinoa (optional)
  • ¾ cup water
  • 1 ½ cup honey or maple syrup
  • ¼ cup sunflower oil (can also use vegetable oil)
  • ½ cup shredded coconut
  • Zest of two lemons
  • Dry fruits to taste
Preparation:
  1. Combine all the dry ingredients, blending the liquid ingredients separately (only if you have honey that is not very liquid, otherwise collect the liquid in a bowl and mix well) then add to dry ingredients slowly and stir with a spatula .
  2. Mix until a homogeneous result. Spread the mixed ingredients in a rectangular baking sheet pan. Bake in moderate oven (350F to 375F) for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Cool and add raisins or any dried fruit you wish.
  3. As you can see is quite simple, cheap and otherwise healthy and more reliable than the granola we get many times at the grocery store.
 ~~Enjoy!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Avocado Pesto Pasta (Raw)


So this is not the actual recipe picture but I just added it so you can get the idea of how it supposed to look
This is my first contribution to this blog. So I hope you like my ideas. This recipe is inspired from Chef Chloe Coscarelli I just love her vegan recipes!
I've made some changes from her original recipe: instead of whole wheat linguini I use raw zucchinis as my pasta. Also, I like to add spinach :) Enjoy!!
Serves about 6 people

Ingredients

  • 4-6 zucchinis (depending on the size and you can do a combination of yellow and green zucchinis)
  • 1 bunch basil leaves (about 2½ ounces)
  • ½ cup pine nuts (since pine nuts are a bit expensive I use walnuts instead)
  • 2 ripe avocados, pitted and peeled
  • 2 handfuls of spinach
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about ½ of a lemon)
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tsp. of UDO oil (optional)
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • ¼ cup chopped sun dried tomatoes (optional)

Directions

  1. In a food processor or Vitamix, blend basil, pine nuts, spinach, avocados, lemon juice, garlic, UDO oil and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
  2. Using a vegetable peeler, cut the zucchini into lengthwise ribbons. Peel off several from one side, then turn the zucchini and peel off more. Continue to turn and peel away ribbons until you get to the seeds at the core of the zucchini. Discard the core. You can also do this on a mandolin, adjusted to a very thin slice.
  3. In a large serving bowl, toss pesto with zucchini pasta and garnish each serving with a basil leaf. For an extra touch of color and flavor, top zucchini pasta with sundried tomatoes


Thursday, February 17, 2011

Zesty Salad Dressing

A few people have been asking me for this salad recipe. It's nothing special. Just stuff I've thrown together in the right ratios I suppose. But I guess the thing that people seem to like the most is the dressing. This recipe is good for a huge salad and maybe even some to save for later depending on how much you use. I like to throw it over some fresh greens, tons of sprouts, a little tomato, avocado and some cooked or sprouted quinoa (since it is a complete protein.) Use whatever veggies you have lying around or whatever is in season. I wasn't much of a salad eater until I found a dairy-free dressing that tasted good. I guess it's a slight variation off of Kira's dressing that she posted a while back with a little extra zing. But that recipe was a great place for me to start. Feel free to vary it up and try a little more or less of certain ingredients.

1 Cup Olive Oil
1/2 Flaxseed Oil (for a good dose of omegas)
10 cloves Raw Garlic (or more if you like it spicier)
3 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 C Braggs Amino Acids
1 1/2 TBSP of your favorite Mustard (I like spicy brown)
1/4 of a small Sweet Onion
1/2 inch Ginger Root
1/4 Cup Kosher Soy Bacon Bits (for their smoky flavor, I find these at Good Earth in the bulk aisle)

Throw all ingredients into a vitamix or other good blender and blend till creamy. Toss into your salad or over some rice or anything. Enjoy!
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