Kale Salad with Miso-Maple Dressing

Ok, so kale is so yummy, but my very favorite salad EVER, is this kale salad with this dressing. This recipe comes from Eat Your Greens. It is perfect. I had something very similar in Sun Valley while travelling for work and this is how I found her site, because I was trying to copy what I had up there.

Everyone must have this! But, because the salad featured is super time consuming, I make it a quick week-night side dish by only using the kale, dressing, some dried cranberries, and chow mein noodles. My kids especially love it and I am happy they are having their greens.

Rye Berry, Roasted Pumpkin, and Kale Salad with Miso-Maple Dressing

1 cup rye berries
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 tablespoon grapeseed oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon yellow miso paste
1 teaspoon Grade B maple syrup
2 tablespoons walnut oil
3 cups kale (about 1/2 bunch), stems removed, cut into bite-size pieces
1/4 cup almonds, roughly chopped

Combine the rye berries, salt and 3 1/2 cups water in a heavy pot. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and let simmer for 1 hour, or until tender. (I make a larger batch and then toss them in dishes throughout the week. They are amazing.)

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the pumpkin on a sheet pan and toss with the grapeseed oil. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through baking.

In a small bowl, whisk together the rice vinegar, miso paste and maple syrup until smooth. Slowly whisk in the walnut oil. Place the kale in a large bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of the dressing. Massage the dressing into the kale, until the leaves are soft and pliable. Add the cooked rye berries, the pumpkin and the remaining dressing and toss to coat. Sprinkle the almonds over the top and serve warm or at room temperature.

Vegan Pesto Tortilla Pizza

This one is a cinch, but oh so yummy! I found this on the PETA website. It literally takes minutes.

8 small flour tortillas
1 cup vegan basil pesto (or make your own)
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 cup pine nuts
olive oil, for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Spread pesto over the tortillas, top with tomatoes, sprinkle on the pine nuts. (We also added mozzarella flavored soy cheese, it was great!)

Bake for 10 minutes or until tortillas are crispy, drizzle with olive oil, if desired, and serve. Yummo!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes.

So, because of Facebook, I don't blog at all anymore. Sad, I know. But I don't have much time for it anyway, so it's probably ok. :) However, I have been frustrated with my recipe storage methods and I keep forgetting amazing meals we have that should be "family favorites," but that I fully forget about and we never have again. I was toying with creating an online recipe collection somewhere that I can store and access them any time... then I remembered: I HAVE A FOOD BLOG. Idiot.

So, I am going to be archiving my favorite recipes on here now so I can easily access ALL of them, like I already do with 5 or so I repeatedly make off this blog. Most of them are not my recipes, so I will link the post where I found them, but some (ok, most) I have altered somewhat and I will note that as well. :)

Also, for some background (because it's going to become apparent otherwise)... we have switched to a vegan-style diet (I say vegan-style because people are fucking stupid and when you say that word, it creates a mindset where they want to "catch" you with an animal product, or hyper-focus on the products and choices you are making to show you where you're wrong. This isn't why I want to be vegan. More below.) as a family and so my recipes will mostly be animal-product-free and I am trying to eliminate as many preservatives and synthetic ingredients as possible from our diet.

So, this begs the question, "What the heck for?" Good question. Well, beginning in September of 2013, I got sick... your normal gross head and tummy stuff, just basic sick. Then a few days later, my Dad was paralyzed in a car accident which increased my stress level 10 fold, and from that point until the beginning of the year, I was sick almost exclusively (and I gained 20 pounds in two months)... I would get "better" from one sick and then a few days later, immediately get another sick. I had everything! Chronic bronchitis, sinus infections, colds, the flu, norovirus, and eventually, pneumonia. All in a matter of 3 months. I thought I was dying. I know this year has been tough on almost everyone in the sick department, but my hair was being limp and weird, I had the worst eczema flare up that I have ever had, that would not get better, regardless of creams that typically work fine. So I started to wonder if this was more of an issue than I thought.

This lead me to an embarrassing amount of research on immunity (70% of your immune response is directly related to the health of your gut, just FYI. :)), diet, and chronic illnesses. I watched dozens of videos and documentaries, I read even more research studies and meta-analyses of research spanning decades, and eventually, I came to the conclusion that I needed to change my diet. I was eating too much crap, and not enough "real" food. And then I watched a documentary called Vegucated. I would highly recommend it, but it was the final catalyst that made me decide that to make a true change for my health and my family, it needed to be to a fully plant-based diet. We have tried saying we will "eat less meat" in the past, but with all of the research I have done, I am convinced that animal products do not need to be in our diets as humans, and with the current state of big agriculture, industry practices in the beef, pork, and dairy industry are downright revolting and simply not nutritious. Antibiotics and genetic engineering are more prevalent than they have ever been and only history will be able to tell what we have gotten ourselves into as a culture and how it will impact our health.

As far as the health side, I have always been very concerned with what I feed my kids, and this has just reaffirmed why I care so much. There are correlations all over the place between dairy and meat consumption and health. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics says vegans are less likely to develop a whole host of illnesses including cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

And then there is the impact on the planet that meat production has. I could literally go on and on, but I will spare you. The point is, we decided this is the best choice for our family right now. I am not trying to live by a label and I certainly don't want to say "we don't eat _____". But I want to try to keep my family as healthy and happy as possible (vegans have lower instances of depression and anxiety than meat eaters, hehe). BUT, I have found a ton of alternatives to meat and dairy that we have easily implemented in our diet, and I am loving trying all the new recipes I am finding. So here's to this new adventure! (Also, I've lost 21 pounds a counting... I still have 40 to go, but I have been on a slow and steady course of weight loss since my birthday in the beginning of February so I am very happy with my progress so far). My goal is to be the healthiest I have ever been by my 30th birthday this coming year. Readyyyyy, set, GO!

Zucchini, Spinach, and Onion Quiche

I just made up this dinner because I was out of mushrooms and I really had planned on making a Spinach and Onion Quiche, but it is AWESOME, so I wanted to get it down before I forgot what ended up in it. :) Enjoy!

Crust:
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup ice water
1/4 cup vegetable oil

In a bowl stir together the flour and salt with a fork. In a separate bowl, whisk the water and oil so it gets thicker. Pour into flour and stir with a fork until it all combines. Press into bottom and sides of pie plate.

Filling:
1 zucchini, peeled and small diced
1 large handful of baby spinach, washed and chopped
3 green onions, chopped

Saute all filling ingredients in a small amount of olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and then a little bit of nutmeg and cinnamon. Spread evenly over crust in pie plate and top with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Custard:
6 eggs
1/3 cup heavy cream or half and half
salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cinnamon to taste

Whisk ingredients and pour over filling ingredients and bake in a 400 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes or until set. Remove and let stand for a few minutes before slicing.

SO GOOD!

Arayes and Garlic Paste

I will post more soon, but these are the most important ones to get posted! :)

Garlic Paste:

I know this is the one that people REALLY want, so I’ll add it first. These are approximations and it definitely takes some trial and error.

• 2-3 good sized heads of garlic (not cloves, the whole head), peeled
• 1-2 tablespoons each of salt and lemon juice
• A whole bottle (about 3 cups) of MILD (super important for taste) olive oil (not extra virgin)

Put the garlic and at least a tablespoon of salt and about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice in a blender and pulse until the garlic is nicely chopped. Ever so slowly, pour a tiny stream of oil into the blender as it is blending. One mistake I made was having the blender at too high of a speed, but it need to be going pretty quick, just not “liquefy”. The goal is to make sure the oil is emulsifying and it should grow in volume and become white. You have to be very careful not to pour too much oil in at once or the whole mixture will separate and it isn’t as good and will have a topping of oil forever. So, thick and frothy is the goal. You will likely need more salt and lemon juice… don’t be afraid to add more, until it tastes the perfect blend between the 3 flavors (salty, lemony, and garlicky). Good luck! (Store leftovers in a glass jar in the fridge.)

Arayes:

This was my favorite dish while we were in Abu Dhabi, but I have Americanized it both for ease and because it really doesn’t taste that much different. It is tough to find items like garam masala, so I just changed it to fit what is sold at MY stores. J

· 2 lbs ground lamb (if you can’t find it, ask the butcher… there usually isn’t very much stocked, but it IS usually there)

· 1 cup packed parsley

· ½ cup packed mint leaves (at Winco it is only available in organic in the “weird vegetable” section)

· ¼ cup pine nuts (I have had two people tell me they hated pine nuts and then tried this recipe and liked them fine. Don’t leave them out, they really are what makes this dish for me)

· 1 onion, chopped into quarters

· 1 tsp salt

· 1 TBSP lemon juice

· ½ tsp garlic powder or minced garlic

· ½ tsp each: cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves

· 5 or so pita bread, cut into 8 wedges each

In a food processer, pulse until finely chopped: onion, parsley and mint. Put meat in a large bowl and add all ingredients including food processor mixture and combine with your hands (or mix it in your awesome KitchenAid mixture that your dear husband got you for Christmas). Take a small amount (a heaping teaspoon or so and spread it evenly on one side of a pita triangle. Top with another pita wedge and place on a baking sheet covered in aluminum foil and sprayed with cooking spray (I used to use a crap-ton of oil for this, but in an effort to make it healthier, opted for cooking spray and it ends up just as freaking yummy). Repeat this process until you run out of meat and/or pitas.

Bake in a 350 degree oven until browned on the bottom (about 10 minutes), flip and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes or until nicely browned. Serve with garlic paste.

"Sakana" Veggies

We have a hibachi-style restaurant here that I LOVE, but who wants to pay upwards of $25 a plate? Instead, I trial-and-errored my way to perfecting the veggies that they do on the grill there. Here they are!




Sakana-style Stir-Fried Vegetables

1 large onion, sliced

2 zucchini, sliced length-wise and then into thick strips

2 carrots, sliced

1 cup broccoli florets

1 1/2 cups button mushrooms, cut into quarters

1 tsp sesame seeds

2 TBSP butter

garlic powder (to taste)

tsp salt (to taste)

soy sauce (to taste)



1) Heat a wok with the butter until it is bubbly and hot, then add the veggies and stir-fry until desired tenderness (I like mine to stay a bit crunchy, so about 4-5 minutes).

2) Season with salt and garlic powder (start with about 1/2 tsp and then add more if you want more)

3) sprinkle with soy sauce and sesame seeds and serve. It is great with either steamed white rice or fried rice.

Enjoy!

Crock Pot Chicken Soup

Simple. Super yummy. A new family favorite.

Crock Pot Chicken Soup:

2 onions, chopped
2-3 carrots, cleaned and sliced
3 celery stalks, sliced
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
3 TBSP parsley
1 2-3 pound fryer chicken, cleaned
4 cups of water

Put all ingredients in Crock Pot in the order listed above. Cook on low for 8-10 hours (or high for 4-6). One hour prior to serving, remove chicken from Crock Pot and let cool slightly. Remove skin and discard and pull meat from carcass and return to Crock Pot. Serve hot with garlic bread and a salad.

Enjoy!