Category Archives: vegetarian

White Bean Salad with Lemon Cumin Vinaigrette

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White Bean Salad With Lemon Cumin Dressing

White Bean Salad With Lemon Cumin Dressing

This salad represents all that this blog is about.  It’s lazy in every sense of the word lazy and it’s fresh and vibrantly flavorful.  I was talking to a girl friend  of mine the other day about food and little ones.  She was in need of some advice about healthy choices for her little one. We went through the list of what she currently feeds her little one.  On her list was a simple salad of canned white beans drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil.  I thought it sounded delish, and I set out to make my own version of that salad.  I make a lentil salad that is similar to this, but I think this one is much better.  Pair this salad with a crusty piece of sourdough rubbed with a little garlic and grass-fed butter and you’ve got a rustic and delicious meal,which didn’t require you to turn on the stove.  Lazy–yes, absolutely! But it tastes anything but lazy–that counts right?;-)

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Ingredients:

15 ounce can of Organic White beans (drained and rinsed)

1/2 cup of feta cheese crumbled

1/2 cup of organic rainbow radish diced

1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes quartered

1/2  cup persian cucumbers diced

1/2 cup of red bell pepper diced

1 Tablespoon of fresh organic Thyme leaves

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

 

Vinaigrette

5 Tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

3 Tablespoons of olive oil

1/2 teaspoon of cumin

1 medium clove of garlic finely chopped

Sea salt to taste

Directions: Add all of the ingredients except for the sea salt to a large bowl and toss well.

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Add all the ingredients for the vinaigrette to a mason jar cover and shake until well combined.  If you don’t have a mason jar, just whisk together all the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a bowl, and set aside. Salt the salad ingredients just before serving, this will prevent the tomatoes and cucumbers from becoming soggy, toss, then drizzle with a generous amount of the vinaigrette, toss  again to combine, serve and enjoy!

Roast Chicken with Cilantro Pesto

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Roast Chicken with Cilantro Pesto

Roast Chicken with Cilantro Pes

I make roast chicken a lot for my family. Mainly because it’s easy, and I know everyone will enjoy it. However, because I make it so often, I am always trying to come up with ways to make it differently, ways in which I can add flavor, this pesto does exactly that. It adds a ton of flavor, but requires minimal extra work. You throw all the ingredients in the blender or a food processor, push a button and it’s done! Leftover, pesto, if you have any, can be spread on bread as the condiment to leftover chicken salad sandwiches…talk about yum! If you don’t want to roast an entire chicken, you can scale this down and use just 2 chicken breasts, it doesn’t matter. I find that buying a whole organic chicken is often less expensive than buying just 2 organic chicken breasts. So I always prefer to save money and buy the whole chicken. I reinvent the leftover chicken into tacos, salad, soup or tostadas.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes

Ingredients:
1 whole Organic Nongmo Air-chilled Chicken
2 cloves of garlic
2-3 Tablespoons of Olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of thyme
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Ingredients for Cilantro Pesto:
2 cups of cilantro
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup of toasted hazelnuts
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions: Pre-heat the oven to 425F. Season the chicken generously with sea salt and black pepper, then rub it with the garlic and oil. Line a baking dish with foil, place the chicken on it and place it in the oven and cook for 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Meanwhile, place all the ingredients for the pesto in a blender or processor, and blend until smooth. Serve the pesto however you’d like, I smear it on the chicken, with an additional spoonful or two, so that I can dip as I go. It’s so delicious!!!! If you haven’t read my blog on How to roast Chicken, Steps to making the perfect roast chicken now would be a great time. My recipe for Roast Chicken with Lemon and Garlic works the pesto as well.

Roast Chicken with Cilantro Pesto

Roast Chicken with Cilantro Pesto

Sautéed Kale with Mushrooms

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Sautéed Kale and Mushrooms

One of the great things about Kale is that it’s so versatile! You can dress kale up with almost any flavor and still end up with a soul satisfying side dish. I love pairing greens of any kind with mushrooms! Mushrooms give the greens a great counter texture, and let’s face it, mushrooms make everything fantastic!

Ingredients
3 cups of Lacinto kale chopped finely
2 cloves of garlic
2 cups of sliced mushrooms
1 Tablespoon of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
Sea salt to taste

Heat olive oil and butter in a skillet. Add garlic and mushrooms and sauté until mushrooms take on some color(10 minutes) add in kale and sauté until greens wilt, add in soy sauce and cook for another 5-7 minutes or until greens are tender. Season with sea salt if necessary, serve and enjoy!

Wine Braised Kale

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Braised Kale

Thank goodness that the Holidays are over. I feel like I’ve been on a fast moving train for the last 2 months! I don’t know about you, but I love being home and settled into my routine. The Holidays always take me out of routine.  It’s nice to get out of routine, but it’s heaven to get back into routine also. While I’ve been away from you, I’ve been indulging in comfort foods, like stews in wine sauces! I love adding wine to sauces and stews. A wine sauce always makes me want to lick the plate clean! This recipe for Kale is so extremely yummy that if you’re not a Kale lover, you may just become a kale lover overnight! Kale gets a bad rap, I think it’s because most people don’t know how to cook it. People always pull me aside in the grocery store and ask me how I cook it. They whisper the question as if my responding answer will contain the secrets of the earth! Maybe for them it does. If you are not eating kale because you haven’t a clue how to make it, I hope that this recipe changes that!

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10-12 minutes

Ingredients:
1 bunch of Lancinto Kale washed and chopped finely
1/4 cup of shallots or brown onion finely chopped
1/4 cup or more of a good white wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc)
1 large clove of garlic sliced thinly
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil

Directions:
Heat olive oil add garlic and shallots and  cook until you can smell the garlic, (20 seconds), add in kale, and sauté until wilted. Add in white wine, sea salt, and pepper, bring to a simmer and lower the heat. Cook covered for 5-7 minutes. It’s done when Kale is tender.

Gourmet Popcorn — Homemade gift giving

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Tis the season to be jolly–and to give until it hurts no more. Giving gifts is supposed to be fun, right? Well if you’re anything like me, waiting in long lines, and inching through crowds of people at a mall, all so that you can get something a loved one may or may not appreciate, just isn’t fun! So this year, I’m giving the gift of food. Everyone young and old appreciates it, and if done right your pocket book will too. One of my favorite gifts to receive when I was a kid was one of those huge tins of popcorn. The tin always contained caramel, plain, and cheese popcorn, all delicious in their own rite. You could go out right now and buy one of those tins, or you could make my version of gourmet popcorn and make a loved one very, very happy! My recipe for Caramel Popcorn with almond and coconut flakes is to die for. It’s so good in fact that my mom told me I should remove the recipe from my blog and sell it on the free market. After tasting it recently, I think she may be right…it is soooooo good! Addicting even! My recipe for coconut kettle corn is equally as good! Trust me if you make these two gourmet pop corns and give them as gifts, your friends and family will thank you and thank you some more!

Caramel Popcorn with Almonds and Coconut Flakes

Ingredients:
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons of Organic non GMO popcorn
3 Tablespoons of Coconut oil
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons of Almonds
1 cup of Organic Sugar
4 Tablespoons of grassfed butter
3 Tablespoons of Organic Corn Syrup
1 teaspoon of Sea salt
1/4 cup of water
1/4 cup of coconut flakes (optional)

Spray a large baking sheet with coconut oil. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Add popcorn kernels and 3 Tbsp. coconut oil to a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, shaking frequently. You will start hearing the corn pop after a few minutes—keep cooking until there’s a gap of about 5 seconds or more between pops. Immediately remove the pan from heat and pour the popcorn onto the prepared baking sheet. Add the almonds.
In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, butter, corn syrup, and water. Place over medium heat and cook, without stirring, until the mixture is a light caramel color, about 10 minutes. Add the salt and stir to combine. Pour the caramel over the popcorn and almonds.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and cook until the caramel becomes thin and shiny, about 10 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and with a rubber spatula, fold the popcorn and Almond to coat with the caramel. When the caramel hardens, you’ll know it because the popcorn mixture will be harder to move, return the baking sheet to the oven. Repeat this process as many times as necessary to completely coat the popcorn and Almonds with caramel and until the caramel has darkened to a dark amber color. I did this 5 times checking on the popcorn and tossing it, in 5-7 minute intervals. On my 4th turn and check I added the coconut flakes. I just sprinkled them in and gave good toss.

Once you remove the popcorn, let it cool for 2-3 minutes, then break up the popcorn into bite-size pieces. Let cool completely. It will last two weeks stored in an air-tight container. This makes enough caramel corn to fill 3 treat bags, or 2 good sized tins. If you need more then double or triple the recipe.

Coconut Kettle Corn
Ingredients:
1/4 cup of organic corn kernels
3 tablespoons of  organic coconut oil
1.5 teaspoons of coconut sugar
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt

Directions:
Add all of the ingredients except for the sugar to a pan with a tight lid. Place on high heat until the corn starts popping. Once the popping is active, turn off the heat and allow the corn to pop on residual heat, shaking occasionally. Once the popping stops sprinkle with the coconut sugar, shake to coat and then transfer to a bowl and enjoy!




Roasted Cauliflower with Parsley Lemon Sauce

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Roasted Cauliflower with Parsley Lemon Garlic Sauce

I love roasted Cauliflower, it’s one of my favorite side dishes. My daughter loves it too. Since we eat so much of it, I decided to try it with this little twist. I’m so glad I did because it is definitely something I will add to my arsenal of cauliflower recipes!

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower roughly sliced
1 cup of flat leaf parsley
1/2 juice of a medium lemon
1 clove of garlic
6 tablespoons of olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:
Pre heat the oven to 425 F. Place cauliflower on a roasting sheet/pan toss with 4 tablespoons of olive oil, salt and black pepper, and roast for 15-20 minutes, or until cauliflower is fork tender and takes on a bit of color. While the cauliflower is roasting, place, the parsley, lemon juice, garlic, and remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a small blender or processor and blend until it comes together. Season the sauce with sea salt to taste. Once the cauliflower is done, toss with 1 tablespoon of the sauce and reserve the rest to serve on the side.

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Indian Spiced Cabbage

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Indian Spiced Cabbage
 

I love cabbage! I wish more people shared my love for it. I say that because, it’s rarely on menu at restaurant’s, and when I go to a friends house for dinner, it’s rarely served. I don’t quite understand that, because it’s one of the most soul fulfilling veggies I know, in the same league as collard greens, and kale. I would happily eat it any day of the week! This is one of my favorite ways to prepare and eat cabbage! If you’ve ever been to an Indian restaurant then you’ve probably had this. It’s so quick to make at home that it’s almost an afterthought!

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes

Ingredients
1 small head do cabbage, chopped finely
1 teaspoon of black mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon of ground turmeric
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Sea salt to taste

Directions:
In a cast iron skillet heat the oil along with the mustard seeds and turmeric, when the seeds begin to pop add in the the cabbage, cook for 10 minutes, allowing the cabbage to breakdown a bit. Add salt, toss, turn off fire, cover for 5 minutes, serve and enjoy!

What is your favorite cabbage recipe?
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