Whole Abundance

Gnocci with Winter Squash and Seared Radicchio

2010-01-28T18:39:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed the flavors of this and they are perfect for a warm wintery night.

I might have cooked the squash too long so make sure you check it along the way. Mine was a bit on the soft side for me. I think next time I make this recipe I will try roasting the squash instead because I love the flavor and texture of roasted squash and I think those crisp edges would provide a good balance to the already soft gnocchi.

Gnocci with Winter Squash and Seared Radicchio

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash (with a long neck, if possible – about 3 pounds)

¼ cup olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 head radicchio, sliced into wide ribbons

2 garlic cloves

a big handful of parsley leaves

12 or more large sage leaves or 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary (I used rosemary because I always have a ton in the garden but my sage is dead… not dormant, mind you, dead! Need to plant more this year.)

1 tablespoon butter if making the sauce

¾ to 1 pound potato gnocchi, cheese ravioli, or mushroom tortellini

freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and/or crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

Directions

Cut off the neck of the squash, divide into two or three easily managed sections, and slice off the skin. Cut it into slabs, then dice it into ½-inch cubes (Don’t worry about irregular shapes). Reserved the bottom for another occasion. Toss with a little olive oil and sea salt and then steam over three cups of simmering water until tender, about 20 minutes. Reserve the water.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the remaining oil in a wide skillet; add the radicchio, season with salt, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until wilted, tender, and no longer red, about 8 minutes. When the squash is done, add it to the pan. Chop the garlic, parsley, and sage (or rosemary) together. Add most of it to the radicchio and squash and reserve the rest.
If you have time to make the sauce, put the strings and seeds from the squash in a pan with 2 cups of the water that was used to steam the squash, a few pinches of salt, and any leftover bits of parsley, garlic, squash, and sage (or rosemary). Simmer, partially covered for 20 minutes, then strain. Whisk in a tablespoon of butter and you have a beautiful, thin orange sauce to spoon around the pasta.
Salt a skillet or saucepan of water, bring to a boil, add the gnocchi, and simmer until done. Add them to the pan with a little of the cooking water. Taste for salt, season with pepper. And add the remaining herbs and garlic. Serve the remaining oil drizzled over the top, plain, or with cheese.

Another thought is to roast the entire squash and make a sort of pureed sauce with added shallots, garlic, coarse salt, a tablespoon of maple syrup, and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes (if you want a bit of heat) to serve over the rest of the dish (you could use any kind of stock of water to thin it out to the right consistency).

Source: Vegetarian Suppers by Deborah Madison

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

2010-01-28T18:31:00.000-08:00

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

Note: This batter can also be made into muffins (just bake them in muffin trays at 350 for 23 to 28 minutes).

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (3 3/4 ounces) packed light or dark brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) mashed ripe banana (about 3 medium-to-large bananas)
1/4 cup (3 ounces) honey
2 large eggs
2 cups (8 ounces) whole wheat flour, traditional or white whole wheat
2/3 cup chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Light grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan
Beat together the butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the banana, honey, and eggs, beating until smooth. Add the flour and chocolate chips stirring until smooth. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and let it rest at room temperature, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
Bake the bread for 50 minutes. Lay a piece of foil gently across the top after the initial 50 minutes, and bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 10 to 15 minutes more. Remove the bread from the oven, and allow to cool for 10 minutes before turning it out of the pan onto a rack to cool completely.

Source: King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking

Red Lentil and Color Vegetable Soup

2010-01-24T10:46:00.000-08:00

Red Lentil and Color Vegetable Soup

2 to 4 tablespoons butter or vegetable oil
1 large onion, finely diced
1 long celery rib, diced
1 cup of diced carrots (or cut into rounds)
1 cup finely diced winter squash or zucchini
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup diced fresh or canned tomatoes with their juice
1 cup red lentils, rinsed well
juice of 1 lime, or to taste
4 scallions, sliced
3 tablespoons minced cilantro

1. Melt half the butter (or oil) in a wide soup pot or large saucepan. Add the onion and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, while you dice the celery, carrots, and squash. Add them to the onion, sprinkle on 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, the turmeric, and the cumin, and cook for 5 minutes.

2. Add the tomatoes, lentils, and 5 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the lentils have softened, 20 to 30 minutes. Taste for salt and add several grinds of pepper. Season with lime juice, sprinkle with scallions and cilantro.

Serving options: serve with toasted pita triangles, you could also sprinkle some diced zucchini, winter squash, or bell pepper over the top along with the green onions and place a bit of warmed rice in the center of the bowl for added texture.

From Vegetable Soups by Deborah Madison.

Black Bean Soup

2009-10-29T10:05:00.000-07:00

Black Bean Soup with Cumin and Cilantro

Source: Adapted from Vegetarian Soups by Deborah Madison

Makes: 2 Quarts

Ingredients

2 cups dried black beans (or 3 cans of black beans)
1 large onion, finely diced
1 small carrot, finely diced
3 celery ribs, finely diced
1 green bell pepper, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, or to taste
1/3 bunch of cilantro chopped
Optional garnishes: 1/2 cup of sour cream, juice of 1/2 a lime, more chopped cilantro, avocado, chopped tomato, diced red onion

Directions

If using canned beans skip to step 2. If using dried beans, rinse the beans and put them in a pressure cooker with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 10 cups of water. Bring the pressure to high, then maintain it for 30 minutes. Release the pressure or let it fall naturally.
Heat oil in a medium saucepan. Add the onions, carrots, celery, green pepper, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat until the onion has softened. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and add the cumin, paprika bay leaves, and cayenne. Lower the heat and cook for 10 minutes longer, stirring occasionally and taking care not to let the spices burn. Add 1 cup of water and the cilantro and continue to cook until the onion is soft, about 8 minutes.
Strain the beans and add them to the onion mixture and cook over low heat, covered, for 20 minutes. Taste for salt. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup or you can leave it unprocessed if you prefer.
To garnish: Mix the sour cream, lime juice, and 3 tablespoons of chopped cilantro and season with a pinch of salt. Serve a spoonful in each bowl of soup and add some avocado that has been diced up. You can add some chopped tomato or red onion as well.

Flourless Chocolate Mini-Muffins

2009-07-30T10:29:00.000-07:00

The photos of these cute little brownie bites are what first caught my eye. You should go check out Dayna's photos as hers came out way better than mine.... in being that hers actually CAME OUT of the pan. I will definitely be making these again and am going to need to be more heavy-handed with the pan greasing so thatwe don't have to eat them from the pan while standing at the counter with spoon in hand.

You thought I was kidding, didn't you?

So when I saw Mike going to town on these I waited until he ate a few more and then told him that they had black beans and tofu. I think he didn't know WHAT to think. I wasn't trying to hide anything. REALLY! He just went to town with a spoon and didn't ask. I know I COULD HAVE kept it all hidden but I'm NO GOOD AT ALL at keeping secrets from him so I had to let him know. We were both pleasantly surprised that it didn't taste beany! Beany would have been bad. But these were chocolately and I never would have guessed the contents if I hadn't made it myself.

If you are going to make these at home, fill up the muffin tins all the way. I filled some up to the top and left some at the height I would have left it for regular mini-muffins which accounts for some of them being much more sunken in than others. No matter. It all tastes the same and this was a good trial run!

Flourless Chocolate Mini-Muffins (vegan)

Seen on FoodandPhotography who adapted it from Bittersweet who adapted it from Epicurious

Ingredients

1 - 19oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 package silken, firm tofu, drained (425g)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon finely ground coffee (I didn't have any in the house and so substituted 1 1/2 teaspoons ground espresso powder)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted and stirred smooth
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. In a food processor, combine the beans and tofu until well combined.
Scrape the sides, then add the vanilla, coffee, baking powder, soda, salt, sugar and cocoa powder.
Scrape down sides and add the melted chocolate, mixing well to combine.
Spray or line miniature muffin tins with mini-liners and add the batter to the pan filling to the top. With a moistened, clean finger, pat down the batter evenly.
Bake for approximately 25 -30 minutes, cool almost completely before turning out to a cooling rack to finish.

Serve as is or with either powdered sugar sprinkled on top or a berry sauce (strawberry or raspberry would go beautifully with it).

Indian Chickpeas and Spinach

2009-07-29T17:47:00.000-07:00

I planned on making Chana Masala this week because I was really craving it and I was able to visit my local Indian market to procure some mango powder (amchur powder in Indian markets) which I didn't have in my well-stocked pantry. But on ill-fated trip to the grocery store while waiting for Ryan's prescriptions to be filled on Monday I picked up a bag of spinach. That would normally be no problem at all. I love spinach. But as I went to unpack my groceries and put them away I realized that the bag o' spinach that I just picked up was nearing it's EXPIRATION! Say it ain't so!! (And I also had a spinach arugula blend already IN the fridge, also nearing extinction.)

So I quickly changed course and decided to satisfy my urge for some chickpeas Indian-style with my need to use up some spinach. And FAST!

I decided to make a Palak Paneer sauce (sans the paneer) and added some canned chickpeas that I had on hand. It made for a very tasty lunch. And QUICK too!!

Indian Chickpeas and Spinach
(adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer)

Serve 4 to 6.

Ingredients

1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 Tbsp ginger paste (recipe below) OR 4 lengthwise slices fresh ginger (each 2 inches long, 1 inch wide, and 1/8 inch thick)
2 Tbsp neutral vegetable oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
2 dried red Thai or cayenne chiles, stems removed
3/4 tsp ground coriander
1 1/2 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground turmeric (I might try leaving this out next time)
1 tomato, cored, and chopped
1 1/2 pounds fresh spinach leaves, rinsed (or baby spinach as I used... you could also substitute 2 10-oz packages frozen spinach, thawed, but not drained)
1/2 cup thick yogurt (I used the Greek kind that's so prevalent these days in the dairy or natural section)
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Directions

Combine the onion and ginger in a food processor, and pulse until minced.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle in the cumin seeds, fennel seeds, and chiles. Cook until they sizzle, turn reddish brown, and smell pungent, about 15 seconds. Immediately add the onion-ginger blend and stir-fry until the onion is lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes.
Stir in the coriander, salt, cayenne, and turmeric, and cook without burning them, about 10 to 15 seconds. Add the tomato and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until it softens but is still chunky, about 3 minutes.
Add the spinach, in batches if it won't all fit, until it's wilted, 4 to 6 minutes. Once the spinach has wilted, the water it releases will deglaze the pan. If you are using baby spinach you might find that the water that releases is not enough. Feel free to add water to the pan by the tablespoon until you have enough to deglaze the onion and spices mixture at the bottom of the pan.
Remove the skillet from heat. Add the spinach mixture to the food processor along with the yogurt and process until smooth. Transfer mixture to a bowl and mix in the chickpeas. Serve with some Indian bread (rotis, naan, etc.) or basmati rice.

(The above cubes are actually garlic paste as I did the same things with about 100 cloves of garlic and 1 cup of water and stuck them in the freezer... I use a lot of garlic around here.)

Ginger Paste

(adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer)

makes about 1 1/4 cups

Ingredients

8 ounces peeled, coarsely chopped ginger

Directions

Pour 1/2 cup water into a blender jar and then add the ginger. Puree, scraping down the sides of the blender jar as needed, until it forms a smooth, light brown paste. Store the paste in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. You can also freeze into smaller portions and keep on hand in the freezer for up to 1 month. Freeze them in 1-tablespoon portions in an ice cube tray. When they are frozen, pop them out, and put in a labeled freezer bag and use them when needed.

This was a tasty and satisfying meal and it makes me want to cook more recipes from this book. I have a copy that I've been test-driving from the library and it looks as I will try to renew it so that I can try additional ones in the upcoming weeks for me to eat lunch from over multiple days. Taking out the 3 chapters that rely heavily on meat, chicken, seafood, etc. still leaves close to 600 pages of recipes to try including whole chapters on Spice Blends and Pastes, Appetizer Curries, Paneer Curries, Lentil Curries, Vegetable Curries, Contemporary Curries, and Curry Cohorts (which has recipes for all sorts of bread, relishes, and more.)

To listen to the author of 660 Curries check out his interview on my favorite food podcast, The Splendid Table here (scroll to the bottom for the link to download the audio).

Of course, after making and eating this I want to make a more traditional Chana Saag but the Chana Masala had to come first. After all, I have no more spinach in the house.

Invory Lentil Pancakes and Mixed Vegetable Kootu

2009-07-22T18:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't been this excited to post about something in a looong time. I just had to email Nancie a teaser picture and promised that I'd post the details tonight.

Let me introduce you to Ivory Lentil Pancakes with Mixed Vegetable Kootu. I bought the March issue of Vegetarian Times specifically because my mouth started watering when seeing the photos of these while I was browsing at Wegmans way back when. I had NO idea how they would taste - AT ALL because I had never had these before at the time (since then I've had the pancakes at the Indian restaurant that I mentioned above). It did not disapoint. Though if you don't like cilantro then you might want to skip this the Mixed Vegetable Kootu (or if you don't like spicy food). I thought it was AMAZING but Mike didn't like it (I thought he would love the sauce though it's vegetables so I knew THAT part would be a problem) and the only thing we could think of that would have caused him to not like it is the fresh cilantro - it uses 1 cup tightly packed. He happened to LOVE the pancakes which I thought would be iffy for him. Shows how much I know!!

I made this for dinner last night and I thought it was DELICIOUS and can't wait to heat it up for lunch tomorrow!! I felt out of my element a bit maybe because Indian food is not my everyday or maybe because I was interrupted about 16 times throughout the process (which was doubly hard because of it NOT being my everyday stuff) so things took me double the time that it might have taken had I attempted this in solitude. It's hard to tell. But it's one I would love to eat again and highly recommend trying.

Ivory Lentil Pancakes
(from Vegetarian Times, Mar 2009)
Note: Known as oothapams, these light, savory pancakes are served in place of bread in South India. They require a little planning, because the rice and lentils need to be soaked overnight, and the batter needs at least six hours to ferment. Urad dal, or ivory lentils, can be found in Indian markets and natural food stores.

Lisa's note: This made waaaaaay more than 8 pancakes for me. I ended up refrigerating about half of the batter after I had already made 9 pancakes. Not sure why I ended up with so much (I used a 1/2 cup each time.. sometimes more for each pancake). But I can't say that I'm complaining about having extra batter. I'll be making these babies again as soon as I run out just to snack on!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups white basmati rice or long-grain white rice, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup urad dal (ivory lentils) or red lentils, rinsed and drained
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
1 small red onion, minced (3/4 tp 1 cup depending on preference)
3 jalapeño chiles, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped (I used 2 but will use 3 next time for sure)
6 sun gold tomatoes, chopped (the original recipe doesn't include tomatoes but the Indian restaurant I go to DOES and so does the recipe for this in 660 Curries - and I love the addition for color as well as flavor - so I sent Jessi out to the garden and asked her to pick whatever was ripe and this is what she brought me.... you can use any kind though about 1/4 cups worth)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Melted coconut oil or ghee for greasing skillet

Directions
1. Combine rice and urad dal in large glass or stainless steel bowl. Cover with 3 inches of water, and soak overnight. Drain. Transfer to blender or food processor, and purée with salt and 1 cup water until smooth. Transfer to bowl, cover with towel, and let stand six to 12 hours at room temperature, or until batter is fermented and slightly bubbly on surface. Stir in yogurt, baking soda, and 1/2 cup water.

2. Preheat oven to 200°F. Place baking sheet on center rack. Combine peas, red onion, chiles, and cilantro in bowl.

3. Lightly grease medium nonstick skillet with coconut oil or ghee. Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Pour 1/2 cup batter onto skillet. (Do not spread batter out thinly.) Drizzle 1/2 tsp. oil or ghee around edge of pancake to prevent it from sticking.

4. Sprinkle 3 Tbs. pea mixture over pancake. Cook 3 minutes, or until bottom is golden. Flip carefully, and cook other side 1 minute more, or until golden. Place pancake on baking sheet vegetable-side up, and keep warm in oven. Repeat with remaining lentil and pea mixture until you have 8 pancakes. Serve warm.

Mixed Vegetable Kootu
(adapted from Vegetarian Times, Mar 2009)

Note: This hearty veggie dish would be the centerpiece of a festive South Indian meal. If you can’t find fresh or frozen coconut, soak dried coconut in hot water for 15 minutes, then drain.

Ingredients

½ cup fresh or frozen grated unsweetened coconut (I could only find dry unsweeted so I followed the head note and soaked it in water then drained it)
1 cup firmly packed cilantro leaves
½ cup low-fat coconut milk
5 cloves garlic, peeled
1 serrano chile, stemmed and seeded
1 Tbs. ground coriander
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 medium carrots, cut into ¼-inch diagonal slices (1¼ cups)
1/2 - 1 red bell pepper
½ head broccoli, cut into florets (2 cups)
¼ lb. green beans (1 cup)
2 Tbs. coconut oil ( I used 1 Tbs.)
1 tsp. mustard seeds
8 curry leaves, optional (I didn't have these so I left it out)

Directions
1. Purée cilantro leaves, coconut, coconut milk, garlic, serrano chile, coriander, and cayenne pepper in food processor until mixture forms a smooth paste. Set aside. (This can be made ahead of time.)

2. Place carrots and broccoli in large skillet, and cover with 1 cup water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and cook 2 minutes. Add red peppers, cover skillet, and simmer 2 minutes. Add green beans, cover, and cook 2 minutes more, or until vegetables are just tender. Stir in cilantro-and-coconut paste, and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Cover, and keep warm.

3. Meanwhile, heat oil in small skillet over medium-high heat. Add mustard seeds, and cover. Cook 30 seconds, or until sizzling subsides, then stir in curry leaves, if using. Stir mustard seeds and curry leaves into vegetables. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake

2009-07-19T19:18:00.000-07:00

This is THE cake that BOTH of my kids have requested for their birthday parties this year!!!! I'm as shocked as you are seeing as it contains zucchini but I'm not kidding- it's REALLY good! Try it for yourself and let me know your thoughts!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake (from King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking)

You could use a 10-cup bundt cake pan or a 9x13-inch cake pan (I used the latter because I don't own a bundt pan).

Cake
2 1/2 cups (10 ounces) traditional whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (1 1/2 ounces) unwsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (7 1/2 ounces) packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) ganulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick OR 4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened OR vegetable oil
1/2 cup (4 ounces) buttermilk
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon **
2 cups (about 1 pound) shredded or chopped zucchini (I shredded mine)
1 cup (6 ounces) chocolate chips

Glaze (optional)
1/2 cup (4 ounces) heavy cream
3/4 cup (4 1/2 ounces) chocolate chips
2 teaspoons corn syrup (I think you'd be fine to leave this out as I would the next time I make this and try the glaze, but that's just me!)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease the pan of your choice.
2. To make the cake: Whisk the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Stir together the sugars and butter (or oil if using instead) in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Add buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Mix well.
4. Add half of the dry ingredients, stirring until evenly moistened. Stir in the zucchini, then the remaining flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
5. Bake until the top springs back when lightly touched, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack for 15 minutes. If you've used the 9x13 pan, you can either serve it right from the pan or invert the cake onto a serving platter and drizzle with chocolate glaze (we didn't try inverting it, opting instead to serve (or eat) right from the pan. If using a tube pan, lightly loosen the cake around the edges and center tube by pulling it gently away from the pan with your fingers or running a thin, flexible spatula down the sides, then put the rack on top of the pan and flip everything over. Remove the pan and cool the cake completely.
6. To make the glaze: Heat the heavy cream to a simmer, and pour over the chocolate chips in a bowl. Stir in the corn syrup, and keep stirring until there are no more lumps and the mixture is smooth. Drizzle over the cooled cake.

Variation: instead of the glaze you can sprinkle confectioner's sugar over the cooled cake.

Servings: 16.

** The cinnamon was my addition and I, of course, thought it a good one (and one that I would repeat in the future).

In Season: Blueberry Buckle Coffeecake

2009-07-10T18:15:00.000-07:00

We had a huge container of blueberries that we couldn't finish because... well... we're more strawberry people (that and I decided FOOLISHLY not to make my traditional 4th of July dessert. Please don't ever let me do that again. It really doesn't feel like 4th of July without that fruit tart and I was just being lazy in not going to get more strawberries since we had depleted our supply days ago. Shame on ME!)

We could eat strawberries day in and day out and seriously never tire of them. But blueberries we find it harder to eat out of hand for no reason at all. But somtimes when we're hungry we get more food than our stomachs can handle for the week (never go food shopping at the store or farmers market when hungry) and then we need to act quick since berries aren't things that can sit around waiting for you to find the perfect time to eat them.

So it was with these blueberries. We need to act quick and I knew just what to do.

I opened up King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking and started assembling the ingredients. Luckily I had everything on hand so I could forge ahead without trying to make any substitutions, which is good... because when baking, as opposed to cooking, I feel a little more restrained from the tweaking I can do (unless it involves adding more cinnamon - that I will do gladly and with abandon almost every time!).

Blueberry Buckle Coffeecake
(from King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking)

Streusel
3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) sugar
1/2 cup (1 3/4 ounces) whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup (1 ounce) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (7/8 ounces) old-fashioned rolled oats
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or more if you're a cinnamon addict like I am)
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick or 3 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

Buckle
2 cups (8 ounces) white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (2 1/8 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) unsalted butter
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup (4 ounces) milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (although I think some almond extract would be good in here too - maybe half and half)
2 cups (10 ounces) blueberries (fresh, or if using frozen, don't thaw them)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease and flour a 9-inch square pan.
Make the streusel: Whisk together the sugar, flours, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl. Add the butter and mix to make medium-size crumbs and set aside.
Make the buckle: In a different bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
In a seperate large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time, stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl between additions.
Stir in half the dry ingredients, then the milk and vanilla, scraping down the sides.
Stir in the remaining dry ingredients, then gently fold in the blueberries.
Spread the batter in the prepared pan and sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top.
Bake the buckle until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove it from the oven and let cool in the pan on a cooling rack.
Serve alone or with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream for dessert or with your favorite cup of joe in the morning for a sweet start to the day.

Yields: 16 servings.

I scream, you scream...

2009-07-02T07:18:00.000-07:00

we all scream for ICE CREAM!! Right!?

I was inspired today by Heidi's blog when I read about a new book coming out this month ... and it's all about ice cream! Lola's on Ice is written by chef Morfudd Richards. She has studied the art of the sorbet and refurbished an old Mr. Frosty van out of which she sells her assorted yummy concoctions. Unfortunately, the book is not available yet, but you can pre-order it through Amazon.

Morfudd has recently been featured on Jamie Oliver's show and now has this book coming out. Some of the recipes sound yummy (Gin & Tonic Sorbet, anyone!) and some sound well, kind of "interesting" (like the...creamy horseradish ice cream. LOL!) But the important thing is that she is making mouth-watering creations using only fresh and organic ingredients.

I was SO inspired by this story, that I had to head over to amazon and pick up this little beauty...

I also ordered the Ben & Jerry's book too (because I have an unhealthy attachment to those guys.) :)

I cannot wait to try out some ice cream and sorbet recipes and share them here with you!

xoxo
Nancie

Roasted Acorn Squash and Goat Cheese Flat Bread

2009-04-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

I first saw this recipe on Smittenkitchen.com and it was a Gorgonzola cheese pizza but I substituted goat cheese because I’m not a huge fan of blue cheeses thus far… though I would like to try it on this at some point again with the Gorgonzola (because I **am** a big fan of the Gorgonzola Port dipping sauce at The Melting Pot – LOL! But I hated the blue cheese that was “a top-notch blue” that Mike and I had at a great local restaurant recently. So I think I’m going through some blue-cheese confusion.)

But this pizza was so good that I had it again for lunch (and I counted the minutes until lunch time on the days that I had it)... this was a few weeks ago. Fast forward to today and I felt like I had struck gold when I found that I had to foresight to tuck a piece away in the freezer for a day just like today. I just had it for lunch and it was absolutely delicious... and just what I needed!

Roasted Acorn Squash and Goat Cheese Flat Bread
Adapted from Giada DeLaurentis and Deb from SmittenKitchen.com

Yield: 4 side dish servings

Ingredients
1 (1- pound) acorn squash
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (we used 1/2 tsp. and it had plenty of kick)
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus 1/4 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1/4 teaspoon
1 pound pizza dough (the whole wheat pizza dough recipe that I tried is included below)
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese
1 cup arugula
Squeeze of lemon juice

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Slice the squash in half from top to bottom. Scoop out the seeds. Slice the squash into 1/2 to 3/4-inch wide half moons and place in a medium bowl. Toss the squash with the syrup, olive oil, red pepper flakes, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place the squash on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper. Bake the squash until tender and golden, about 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Keep the temperature on the oven at 375 degrees F. Roll out the pizza dough on a flour dusted piece of parchment paper to a 13-inch diameter. Place the pizza and the parchment paper on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese and the goat cheese on the pizza dough. Bake in the oven until golden and cooked through, about 25 to 30 minutes.
4. Peel the skins off the squash. Top the cooked pizza with the cooked squash. Toss with arugula with the squeeze of lemon juice and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Slice and serve.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
(Adapted from Eating Well; seen on Culinary in the Desert blog)
This is my go-to dough lately... for about that past month and I love the more full-flavored nuttiness that the whole grain flour adds to the dough.

Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions
1. Combine flours, yeast, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Combine warm water and oil in a measuring cup. With the motor running, gradually pour in enough of the liquid until the mixture forms a sticky ball. The dough should be quite soft. If it seems dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of warm water; if too sticky, add 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Process until the dough forms a ball, then process for 1 minute to knead.
2. Lightly coat a large bowl with cooking spray. Place dough inside, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rise about an hour, or until doubled in size. Punch down and let the dough rest for about 10 minutes before rolling.

Brussel Sprout and Mushroom Ragout with Herb Dumplings

2009-03-17T17:52:00.000-07:00

With the weather around here ricocheting between the promise-of-spring-to-come and the reality of winter I felt there was a need for another hearty, cold weather main dish. Although my first taste of brussel sprouts wasn't a winner, I was determined to try again when I saw this recipe in Vegetarian Suppers by Deborah Madison (which in a not-so-formal-way I guess I'm working my way through the entire book.... and I have NOT been disappointed yet. And believe me, if there was ever a possibility for disappointment, well, THIS was it! And it WAS DELICIOUS so I consider this a GREAT choice for a book to be working through. Another plus? It's not as large as some of the others out there... like even Local Flavors, another great one that I have on my night stand for nighttime reading material.)

It starts with getting a nice mushroom mixture that you are happy with. I used sliced criminis and shiitakes.

And brussell sprouts...
Some parsley and tarragon (the latter of which I didn't think I liked but had a wonderful flavor paired with the mushrooms, onions, and brussell sprouts - another surprise for me!)

The cooking starts with a saute thick slices of onion in some olive oil.

The herb mixture is added along with the mushrooms to the saute pan.
In a separate pot I boiled the sprouts that I halved.
After the brussell sprouts cooked, I drained them and added them along with mushroom stock to the saute pan.

Then you mix up the dumpling mixture and add it by the spoonful to the saute pan and cover so they can cook.

This was an excellent and hearty dinner for a cold, dreary day. It warmed me up from the inside out and will be added to my "fall/winter favorites". Oh, and I should mention that I halved this recipe as I knew I would be the only one in my house eating it! But, man, it was GOOD for lunch leftovers!! (One caveat to the recipe: I *have* had better dumplings... these came out flatter than I remember dumplings being! But they still tasted great. So if you already have a favorite dumpling recipe go ahead and use it here instead... but still add the herbs!)

Brussell Sprouts and Mushroom Ragout with Herbed Dumplings
(from Vegetarian Suppers by Deborah Madison)

Ingredients
Mushroom Stock (see recipe below if you want to make your own)
4 teaspoons olive oil
2 medium to large onions, sliced about ½-inch thick
¾ pound white mushrooms, crimini, shiitake, or a mixture, rinsed and sliced
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped tarragon
1 plump garlic clove, minced
½ large lemon
1 pound Brussels sprouts, halved or quartered

Ingredients for the Herb Dumplings
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/8 teaspoon sea salt
¾ cup milk, heated with 3 tablespoons butter or oil
3 tablespoons mixed chopped parsely and tarragon
1 egg

Directions
1. If using homemade mushroom stock, make the stock. This can be done a day or two ahead of time. Once it’s simmering bring a pot of water to a boil for the Brussels sprouts.
2. Heat the oil in a wide nonstick skillet. Add the onions and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until aromatic and nicely colored, about 10-12 minutes. Meanwhile slice the mushrooms and chop the herbs and garlic.
3. Once the onions are a rich color, raise the heat to high and add the mushrooms, herbs, and garlic to the pan. Squeeze the lemon juice over the mushrooms and sauté until the mushrooms are browned in places, 5 to 7 minutes, then reduce heat to low.
4. Add salt to boiling water, then the Brussels sprouts along with any loose leaves. Boil until nearly tender 4 to 6 minutes, depending on size. Check by piercing with a fork. Drain, then add them to the pan and pour in mushroom stock. At this point you can turn off the heat and let the vegetables stand until you’re ready to make the dumplings.
5. For the dumplings, mix the flour with the baking powder and salt. Pour in the milk, herbs, and egg and stir quickly together with a fork. Add the dumpling batter by the spoonful to the ragout, making 12 small dumplings in all. You’ll have extra batter, but don’t use it all or else the dish will be too bready. Cover the pan with tented foil or a lid, bring everything to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Serve in soup plates, with 3 dumplings in each bowl.

Mushroom Stock
Ingredients
½ cup dried porcini mushrooms
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, chopped (I used shredded because we keep them in the house for our dog as treats since she’s allergic to dog bones)
1 large garlic clove, sliced
2 mushrooms, sliced, plus any trimmings
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon fresh marjoram or 1 teaspoon dried
½ cup dry white or red wine
1 tablespoon flour
salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions
1. Cover the fried mushroom with 3 cups hot water and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a saucepan over high heat. Add the onion, carrot, garlic, and fresh mushrooms and their trimmings. Saute, stirring occasionally, until well-browned, about 10 minutes.
3. Reduce the heat to medium, stir in the tomato paste, marjoram, wine, and sprinkle on the flour. Once the wine has reduced to a syrupy consistency, after about 3 minutes, add the porcini, their soaking water, and ½ teaspoon salt, and a little pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes, then strain. The stock can be frozen.

Mix Your Own Homemade Granola Bars

2009-03-05T10:31:00.000-08:00

Often I find myself shuttling my kids (and sometimes other people's kids as well) to school, from school, and to various after-school activities. And many times I'm HUNGRY while out and about. I've tried many granola bars out there and there are some very tasty ones too... unfortuantely many of them have ingredients that I'd rather not eat on a regular basis so one day when we were all home I got out some cookbooks and made my own granola bars. These didn't quite stay as solid as the ones I've purchased from the store but you can wrap it in wax paper or put it a container and bring it along with you. These tasted so good that they didn't make it far past the weekend and so didn't get to come along with us on our errands around town. (Mike is waiting for me to make these again - they WERE THAT GOOD! Yes, I think he gave them his Cookie Monster seal of approval. LOL!)

Here's what was left when I went to go get a picture of some sliced ones. These are two small ones... but who am I kidding thinking that I could just go and grab one of those? NO WAY! These were too good.
It starts with rolled oats.

As well as some of these ingredients....
And these.... (here's the indulgent part - or that part that I call "get-Mike-and-the-kids-to-ingest-oats"....) chocolate chips, cinnamon chips... and FOR ME: dried cranberries!

Mix-Your-Own Granola Bars

6 tablespoons (3 ounces, ¾ stick) unsalted butter
¼ cup (2 ounces) firmly packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons (4 ounces) maple syrup
2 ¼ cups (7 ¾ ounces) rolled oats
½ cup (2 ounces) whole-wheat flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups combination of dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, apricots), nuts (almonds, pepitas, sunflower seeds, etc.), dried coconut, and/or sweets (chocolate chips, mini-marshmallows, cinnamon chips, smashed cookies or graham crackers, etc.)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 11 x 7-inch or 9 x 9-inch pan.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt and stir together the butter, sugar, and maple syrup, cooking until the sugar dissolves. Stir in oats, flour, and salt.
3. Combine the oat mixture and the dried fruit/nut/chocolates in a bowl or work right in a lightly greased pan like I did. Press the mixture firmly into the baking pan and bake the bars for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them rest for 20 minutes. Then cut into bars or squares while still slightly warm.

I used a mixture of dried organic cranberries, chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, and mini-marshmallows. If I was making these for myself I would have added some ground up flax seeds and sliced almonds (but my kids are allergic to nuts and I was making it for a family treat).

This was inspired by a Smores Granola Bar recipe from King Arthur Flour’s All Purpose Baking Cookbook. I encourage you to find the combination of dried fruits, nuts, and sweets that YOU love. And if you have any combinations that you want to share... let us know. We'd love to hear about them!

Let's Steam!!

2009-03-03T09:15:00.000-08:00

I just bought myself a little bamboo steamer. I'd been wanting to get one for a while, but I've been using a make-shift steamer on my stove using an old colander and a small pot. This is so much better!

Actually I wanted to get a Biggest Loser Steamer I saw on QVC, but I just don't have any room for another small appliance in my too-small kitchen.

I wanted to share with you how easy it is to steam some delicious veggies (or rice or chicken/fish) to keep on hand to pair with brown rice or pasta for a healthy snack, lunch or dinner. The wonderful thing about steaming is that you don't lose all the nutrients like you do when you boil, pan fry or even stir-fry (although I LOVE to stir-fry!)

You are supposed to place this steamer in your wok (not letting the bottom touch of the base of the steamer touch the water) but I bought a 10 inch instead of a 12 inch and it was too small for me to do this. I ended up placing a small amount of water in my 10 inch saute pan and it worked fine. It spit a little so you really have to watch it. But in under 10 minutes, I had perfectly steamed veggies. I had two tiers going - the top with carrots, snap peas and red peppers and the bottom one with broccoli and cauliflower. Put the items that take longer to cook on the bottom. You can also swap out the layers as you go and move them around - but please be careful... I did this and got burned! LOL!

When I was done, I just rinsed and dried the bamboo and then put my veggies in a container in my fridge for the week. I did have some veggies right away over brown rice with my favorite Shoyu sauce... yum!

Done! Healthy, delicious eating on the go!

xoxo
N.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

2009-02-18T12:19:00.000-08:00

Thanks, Nan for a chickpea recipe! I love those little beans. How funny that I have two chickpea-recipes-in-waiting but will save them for another time. I don't want anyone to get chickpea-ed out... although I don't suppose that will ever happen to ME!

So the other day I had steamed a bunch of broccoli for a vegetable lasagna (that will never be posted here because it was YUCKY! So I will need to find a different one before ever serving that dish again - we almost had a revolt. We DID have ONE AND A HALF MELTDOWNS... and I'm not sure if mine or my daughter's was the half.)

I ended up not using all of the broccoli in the meal prep and I ended up having a whole bunch just sitting in my refrigerator. I couldn't let it go to waste.... so I got to work transforming it into a delicious Broccoli Cheddar Soup which I then ate for lunch with a good hunk of bread and a spinach and arugula salad with shredded carrots, sliced mushrooms, and artichoke hearts.

Here's the bowl as it looked when I grabbed it from the 'fridge.
And what great savory meal doesn't start with my favorites... onion and garlic?!!!

One of my kitchen essentials is an immersion blender. Mine is at least 8 years old and still going strong and I love it for making quick work of blended soups so that you don't have to drag out the blender and pour multiple batches of hot liquid into it. That's just asking for a lid explosion and soup burns (have you ever burned yourself from putting too much hot liquid in a blender? I have... and it's not pretty)!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup
(based on a recipe for Creamy Broccoli Soup by Mark Bittman from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian)

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 pound broccoli, florets separated (you can add chopped stems or cauliflower as well)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 1/2 cups vegetable stock (or 3 cups vegetable stock and 1/2 cup of white wine)
1 -2 cups of cheddar cheese (depending on how cheesy you want it; for a creamy soup rather than a cheesy soup use 1 cup of cream or sour cream)

Directions
1. Put the butter or oil in a large, deep saucepan over medium heat. When the butter is melted or the oil is hot, add the onion, garlic, broccoli (unless yours is already cooked like mine in which case skip to step #3), a large pinch of salt, and some pepper. Cook until the onion is softened, 5 to 10 minutes.

2. If using white wine add it now and cook for 1 minute. If not using wine, add the stock. Then add the broccoli and cook until it is very tender (10-15 minutes).

3. Use immersion blender to puree the soup in the pan. Or cool the mixture slightly, pass through a food mill or pour it into a blender, and puree carefully until smooth, working in batches if necessary. (You may prepare the soup in advance up to this point. Cover, refrigerate for up to 2 days, and reheat before proceeding).

4. Stir in the cheese and adjust seasonings to your liking (if making the creamy version, add the cream or sour cream instead).

5. Garnish with cheese on top.

Serves 4.

Smashed Chickpea Salad Sandwich...

2009-02-11T12:03:00.000-08:00

Now before you begin to think this is the "ChickPea Blog", I can assure you that both Lisa and I eat other things... honestly we do! LOL! It's just that we are both so in love with this little legume, so please forgive us?

Okay, so my favorite veggie sandwich, prior to trying this recipe (from Smitten Kitchen) was avocado, carrot, sprouts & roasted garlic hummus on a spinach wrap. It still holds a special place in my soul, but this Smashed Chickpea Sandwich is now a close second. The second I saw Deb's recipe, inspired by the NYC sandwich shop, Wichcraft, I became obsessed with trying it!

I didn't have the olives and fresh parsley and was going to try and make it without but at the last minute I ran out to get them and it was worth the trip! I was going to put my own spin on things, but found after I made the initial recipe and added some sea salt, that it was good to go as is. The beauty of the recipe is the deliciousness of it's simple, fresh ingredients. When I have more time I think I'll try to use freshly cooked chickpeas instead of canned.

I paired it with a toasted whole wheat Boule that I got at Trader Joe's. If you haven't tried their Artisan breads, you should - they are so wonderful and even after a few days, hold their freshness. I think this salad would also be good in a wrap or on some romaine, with a simple vinaigrette.

Enjoy!

Smashed Chickpea Salad Sandwich

(from smittenkitchen.com)

1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 tablespoons pitted, halved and very thinly sliced black olives

1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Zest and juice from half a lemon

Couple good pinches of salt

A few grinds of black pepper

A few glugs of olive oil

Mix everything but the olive oil in a small to midsize bowl. Very lightly smash the chickpea mixture with the back of a fork or a potato masher. You’re not looking for a hummus-like puree but something closer to a coarse chop with a few smaller bits to hold it together. Add the glugs of olive oil, mix it lightly and enjoy.

Punjabi-Style Cauliflower and Potatoes with Ginger (Aloo Govi - India)

2009-02-06T07:39:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love potatoes. My motto is “leave no potato behind”. I am not kidding. So it came as no surprise that when I saw this recipe, Punjabi-style Cauliflower and Potatoes with Ginger, in Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian, I really saw this: blah blah blah blah Potatoes blah blah. You think I’m kidding, I can tell. But I assure you, I am not. I happen to like cauliflower too and have never tried the two together. I was craving something different from the same of old steamed broccoli sprinkled with salt and pepper and a tiny pat of butter as my veggie. This seemed like a good place to start. Ingredients I already like prepared in a new way. Perfect. Change in small steps is so DO-able!

In fact, checking this very cookbook out of my local library is the single act that inspired me to call Nancie and start talking her ear off about food. It was this book that made me think, hey I ought to cook some new, healthy recipes each week and maybe even cook my entire way through an entire book (a la Cooking with Julia). This was a many months ago, during which I rechecked out and rechecked out again the book every time it was due back at the library (and then I rechecked it out some more)…. Until finally I just ordered a copy for myself. Good think I did since it’s filled with many great recipes with stories about Madhur’s travels and her friends. It gives a fresh perspective on vegetarian eating since it includes so many different recipes from various ethnicities (Peruvian, Malasian, Indian, Chinese, Javanese, etc – there’s a LOT in here and it’s a great addition to my in-the-kitchen-cookbooks-I-use-everyday section on my kitchen counter – I just reorganized this area and MANY cookbooks got the boot to make way for this one).

I started with the humble potato and cut them into think fry wedges/shapes

The spice mix ready to go (be careful not to get tumeric on your clothes or your countertops if they are light colored as it stains!).

Fry the potatoes enough oil to lightly coat the bottom. Something that’s a bit heartier as this meal is, is perfect for these cold days of winter we’ve been having.

While the potatoes are browning you can cut the cauliflower into florets.

Drain on a paper towel

Here are the veggies mixed together in the pan just after sprinkling the spice mixture over it.

I ate this alongside rice one day, and wrapped in naan the next day. I recommend that this dish be cooked close to the time it will be served so that the potatoes stay crisp. I had it for leftovers the next day and the potatoes were soggy (the dish still good flavor but it would have been better if I would have kept the potatoes separate and then reheated them in the toaster oven or regular oven to maintain that crispness so keep that in mind if you want to have leftovers).

Punjabi-Style Cauliflower and Potatoes with Ginger
(Aloo Gobi - India)
Madhur’s Note: This everyday cauliflower and potato dish is generally eaten with flatbreads (rotis or parathas) as well as yogurt relish and some pickles. You may serve it as part of any meal along with greens, beans, and rice or bread.

Ingredients:
Peanut or canola oil for shallow frying
1 pound boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into thick 2x1x1 fries
1 head cauliflower (1 ¾ pounds), cut into florets
1 teaspoon peeled finely chopped fresh ginger
¼ teaspoon ground tumeric
¾ to 1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 to 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:
1. Put the oil in a large frying pan and set over medium heat. When it is hot, put in the potatoes and fry until golden and almost tender, about 10 minutes.
2. Lift the potatoes with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Turn the heat to medium-high, put the cauliflower florets in, and sauté for 3-4 minutes, until they are golden brown. Lift the cauliflower out with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
3. Turn heat off. Remove all oil from the pan except for 2 tablespoons. Turn the heat to medium-high and put in the ginger. Stir for 10 seconds. Now return the potatoes and cauliflower to the pan. Turn the heat down to medium.
4. Put the tumeric, salt, cayenne, cumin, and coriander. Stir gently to coat the vegetables with the spices.
5. Add 3 tablespoons of water. Stir once and cover the pan. Turn the heat down to low and cook very gently for 4 minutes.
6. Add cilantro and toss gently. Serve hot.

Serves 4.

An Old Favorite...

2009-02-03T09:34:00.000-08:00

Back when I met my husband, I had just moved back to Michigan from California where I had been an on-again, off-again vegetarian. When I met John I was running 3 miles a day, juicing and eating veggie. Yeah, I was in much better shape than I am now! 13 years, a kid and a few juicy steaks later, and well, er, here I am! LOL!

When John & I began to date, I had the coziest apartment in Ann Arbor! It was on the second floor of a Greek Revival home from the 1880's and it was only 500 square feet but it had floor-to-ceiling windows (lots of them) and beautiful hardwood floors. It also had a sweet little kitchen with a tiny stove & fridge in it. I would invite John over to my place and cook him healthy dinners, while we watched Friends! :)

One of my most treasured cookbooks is Mollie Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook. It's filled with such incredibly delicious recipes and each page is handwritten with beautiful illustrations by Mollie. Not only is it fun to look through for this reason, but she really takes the time to go through each recipe in detail so you feel like an old friend is teaching you to cook! Who could feel deprived when eating this way? There is so much goodness in here, but, in my opinion, the sauces, dips & soups are the best part of the book (except for my favorite brownie recipe, Moosewood Fudge Brownies!)

This is one of our favorites from the good old days. It is a delicious combination of mushrooms, wine & asparagus! I ended up substituting organic chicken broth for the water and John and Ellie went crazy for this dish last night! I think Ellie had two helpings and we did not miss the meat at all. I served it over Barilla Plus Penne. I hope you like it...

Asparagus-Mushroom Sauce

by Mollie Katzen

(from the author's notes: also good in Crepes, or on rice or baked fish)

* = are my substitutions

1 1/2 pounds of fresh asparagus - trimmed at the bottom and cut into 2-inch spears

2 Tbs. butter or margarine (* olive oil)

1 1/2 cups minced onion

1 tsp. salt (*sea salt)

1 pound mushrooms sliced (*baby bella, chopped)

1/2 tsp. tarragon (*not used)

black pepper, to taste

1 1/2 cups dry white wine (*used Barefoot Club Chardonney)... a glass for me, perhaps and oh yeah, some for the sauce! ;)

1 cup water (*chicken broth)

1 to 2 tbs. flour (depending on how thick you like it)

6 to 8 cloves of garlic, minced

1 lb. pasta — penne, ziti, or fusilli (*Barilla Plus Penne)

Optional: Parmesan cheese & extra olive oil or butter for pasta and some fresh minced dill

1) Steam the asparagus until just tender (I roasted mine for 20 minutes in oven at 425º F). Transfer to a colander over a sink and refresh under cold running water. Drain well and set aside.

2)Melt the butter or margarine in a large skillet. Add onion and salt and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, tarragon & pepper. Cover and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3)Add wine & water. Turn up heat until the liquid boils. Sprinkle in the flour whisking constantly until it completely dissolves. Lower heat, cover and simmer about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic and cook about 5 minutes more. Set aside until serving time.

4)Gently reheat the sauce while you cook the pasta. Stir the asparagus into the sauce at the last minute. Toss the drained pasta with a little olive oil or butter, if desired. Serve topped with sauce, parmesan and possibly a little freshly minced dill.

Enjoy!

Nancie

Pasta e Fagioli

2009-01-24T17:19:00.001-08:00

When the temperatures start dropping I get in the mood for comforting foods that fill my home with delightful aromas and my belly with warm deliciousness. This soup does both of these things with the amazing flavor (and the bonus of being chock full of vegetables and beans)! I am a big fan of cinnamon but have never added it to my soups. I should have because it made a HUGE difference in the flavor and made for one satisfying soup that I will be making again SOON.

Pasta e Fagioli
adapted from a recipe by Lori Longbotham (Fine Cooking #96, pp. 80)

Serves eight. Yields 16 cups.

2-3 tbsp tablespoons of olive oil or mixture of 2 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp butter (the original recipe called for 8 ounces of bacon and I made it once with half that amount and it tasted good)
3 medium red onions, finely chopped
3 medium cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
2 quarts vegetable broth (the original recipe called for lower-salt chicken broth)
Two 15-1/2-oz. cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
14-1/2-oz. can petite-cut diced tomatoes
4 medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and thinly sliced
3 medium celery ribs with leaves, thinly sliced crosswise
1 3-inch cinnamon stick
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup tubettini (or other small pasta - I used whole wheat rotini spirals because I happened to have a batch already cooked and in my refrigerator so any pasta works well in my opinion)
1-1/2 tsp. red-wine vinegar; more to taste
Grated or shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano for garnish

Heat olive oil (and butter, if using) in a 6-quart Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Add the onions to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and rosemary and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the vegetable broth, chickpeas, tomatoes and their juices, carrots, celery, cinnamon stick, 3/4 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil over high heat; skim any foam as necessary. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the carrots and celery are very tender, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the tubettini according to the package directions and drain.

Discard the cinnamon stick and add the pasta. Stir in the vinegar. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and more vinegar. Serve garnished with the Parmigiano-Reggiano.

You can store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Otsu!

2009-01-18T09:00:00.000-08:00

My recipe this week was a delicious Otsu by Heidi Swanson, from her blog, 101cookbooks.com. It also appears in her incredible cookbook, SuperNatural Cooking, which I just received last week. It is one of the most inspiring and FRESH cookbooks that I own! In fact, she has a recipe in there for a 5 Minute Marinara Sauce that I made last night to go over some fresh spinach linguine. It was so incredibly simple and delicious, I'd definitely recommend it for a weeknight meal.

Okay, on to my Otsu! According to Heidi, Otsu in Japanese means "something strange; quaint; stylish; chic; spicy; witty; tasty; romantic" and that is just what this dish tasted like to me. Now, I had been wanting to make this for a while, but I was waiting to get out to the grocery, as I was missing most of the key ingredients. But with the snow and freezing temps here in Michigan lately, I just did not feel like going out... so I made it with what I had on hand, for lunch, improvising here and there. It still turned out great!

My only complaint (and my husband and daughters as well) was that it was too lemony... so when I make it again, I'll put in either the lemon juice or the zest, but not both. Also, this recipe would be so tasty in the summer as a cold salad for lunch or picnic because it's very refreshing.

I ended up substituting some ginger sauce I had for the fresh ginger (would not recommend this!) and some plain low-sodium soy sauce for the shoyu. I also substituted roasted sesame oil for the olive oil and add some chili-paste for the cayenne. You may opt to leave out any heat and just put some Sarachi on top to give you a little kick.

Otsu
(from 101cookbooks.com)

Grated zest of 1 lemon
Fresh ginger, cut into a 1-inch cube, peeled, and grated
1 tablespoon honey
3/4 teaspoon cayenne
3/4 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup unseasoned brown-rice vinegar
1/3 cup shoyu sauce (wheat-free soy sauce)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

12 ounces dried soba noodles
12 ounces extra-firm nigari tofu
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cucumber, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, seeded, and thinly sliced
1 small handful of cilantro sprigs, for garnish
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

Make the dressing by combining the zest, ginger, honey, cayenne, and salt in a food processor (or use a hand blender) and process until smooth. Add the lemon juice, rice vinegar, and shoyu, and pulse to combine. With the machine running, drizzle in the oils.

Cook the soba in plenty of rapidly boiling salted water just until tender, then drain and rinse under cold running water.

While the pasta is cooking, drain the tofu, pat it dry, and cut it into rectangles roughly the size of your thumb (½ inch thick and 1 inch long). Cook the tofu in a dry nonstick (or well-seasoned) skillet over medium-high heat for a few minutes, until the pieces are browned on one side. Toss gently once or twice, then continue cooking for another minute or so, until the tofu is firm, golden, and bouncy.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the soba, the ¼ cup cilantro, the green onions, cucumber, and about ⅔ cup of the dressing. Toss until well combined. Add the tofu and toss again gently. Serve on a platter, garnished with the cilantro sprigs and the toasted sesame seeds.

Here's a picture of the finished dish, along with my dd, Ellie, digging in. She added some extra soy sauce and her favorite sesame & miso sauce from our local Japanese marketplace.

Enjoy!
Nancie

2009-01-09T12:15:00.000-08:00

One of my projects this year will be to cook some new recipes each week from some of my favorite cookbooks. It will likely be either Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison, World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey, or A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop. I thought about cooking from the book for the year but I think I might need to have more variety so I will likely pick one for a shorter length of time - maybe on a season or one a month but I haven't decided yet). I'm having cookbook commitment issues, I think!

Although I am NOT a vegetarian (nor is anyone that lives in my house), I DO plan to focus on fresh, wholesome meals, simply prepared. Over the past 2 years I've been gradually shifting to include more veggies, whole grains, beans, and greens in my meals and I suspect that some of you may be trying to do the same. It's not always easy. And it's best done slowly in my opinion. So while I may focus on meals that are not meat-centered, if this doesn't fit the way your family eats, then you can use these as sides and serve it with meat (as I often do for my husband and kids).

I've created a Whole Abundance Flickr group for us so that if you try any of these or ones of your own you can upload your photos to our group and we can continue to inspire each other along the way.

I look forward to discovering some great recipes together and forming our own little community table here. So pull up a chair. We're about to begin.

Some of my other wellness goals I have for myself this year:
• When the weather warms up ride my bike more. At least once a week I want to be out on my bike for a ride to just EXPLORE and clear my mind! I am also looking for a distance event to make it interesting and have something to train for.
• Less time on the computer = more time outside taking a walk, hike, finding beautiful places to take pictures of
• Focus on weight training (only during times when I’m not training for an endurance event – which means RIGHT NOW!) I’ve been looking forward to the new release of fitness video by my favorite instructor that will be a three-month long weight training rotation… I’ll share more information about this in upcoming weeks as I’ve been emphasizing strength training in my workouts for the past few months and have been AMAZED at the results.

We’d love to hear what your wellness/health goals are this year too.

Okay, time for the FOOD!! For our first recipe I thought I'd share my favorite find of the fall and a recipe that has quickly become a favorite of mine. Let it be said, at the start, that I am not a big fan of beans as a genre but I adore CHICKPEAS (go figure!). I have always like garbanzo beans, the other name for chickpeas (cici beans are yet another name).... so I've been trying to find different ways to eat them since I tried other white beans... and well, that's a topic for another post.

I have made this three times but I think it's going to become a weekly thing for me because it can keep well in the fridge, and the flavors just get better, and it's great to have alongside a salad, or as a side to just about anything. And I've been known to eat a few spoonfuls straight from the container before I head out the door when I need something to quell the grumbles.

Chickpea and Roasted Pepper Salad
Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

2 roasted red peppers*
3 cups cooked chickpeas**
1/4 flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons chopped mint
3 tablespoons capers, rinsed
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar***
1/4 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
2 garlic gloves, minced
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Cut the peppers into 1/2-inch wide strips and put them in a large bowl with the chickpeas, herbs, and capers. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar, salt, garlic and oil. Pour over the chickpea mixture and combine. You can serve this immediately, or do as I like to do, and refrigerate it for a few hours so the tastes get to mingle together and get delicious.

Serves 4.

Notes:
* The original recipe calls for roasting your own but I used the bottled kind that you can often find in the Italian section or along with the olives or condiments, depending on your grocery store, and it worked just fine and then can be made with pantry staples in a snap!
** You can also use 2 15-ounce cans. I've made this with dried beans rehydrated and cooked ahead of time and the other times I used canned organic chickpeas and they were both great! So if you have cooked beans on hand, great, if not, go ahead and use the pantry shortcut.
*** You can use lemon juice, or rice wine vinegar... or any vinegar you have on hand.

New Beginnings: Live Well

2009-01-08T13:44:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our newest collaboration. We've worked on joint projects in the past on art and design (and even some paintings/art journaling). But now we're taking our kitchen/life/wellness adventures public.

Nancie and I first met through digital scrapbooking back in 2004 and since then we've found common ground on many other issues and activities and we would always email and call to let each other know about the newest recipe that we just tried, to ask each other what was on the menu for the week, to talk about our latest fitness goals, or to share the details of a trip to Whole Foods or Trader Joe's or the Farmer's Market. We both share a zest for life and LIVING WELL! We get excited about finding the perfectly ripe avocado in the market that's just waiting to become guacamole or getting the family to try a new vegetable that they had never thought they like before (like I did recently with butternut squash - YAY!).

Our purpose in creating this blog is to share our passion for healthy living and invite you to join us on this adventure. We both love cooking with bright fresh flavors in our kitchen, love how we feel after a great workout, and get a kick out of comparing notes along the way.

This year we want to cook with more whole grains, vegetables, and greens as well as continue our workouts efforts. This blog will give us the opportunity to share our findings with each other and also with YOU! We know there are others out there that love food and wellness as much as we do and we look forward to all the new friends that we will connect with here!

Each week will be sharing something new on this life-long journey. We encourage you to join us. It's going to be a FUN ride!

Whole Abundance

Gnocci with Winter Squash and Seared Radicchio

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

Red Lentil and Color Vegetable Soup

Black Bean Soup

Flourless Chocolate Mini-Muffins

Indian Chickpeas and Spinach

Invory Lentil Pancakes and Mixed Vegetable Kootu

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake

In Season: Blueberry Buckle Coffeecake

I scream, you scream...

Roasted Acorn Squash and Goat Cheese Flat Bread

Brussel Sprout and Mushroom Ragout with Herb Dumplings

Mix Your Own Homemade Granola Bars

Let's Steam!!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Smashed Chickpea Salad Sandwich...

Punjabi-Style Cauliflower and Potatoes with Ginger (Aloo Govi - India)

An Old Favorite...

Pasta e Fagioli

Otsu!

Otsu(from 101cookbooks.com)

New Beginnings: Live Well

Otsu
(from 101cookbooks.com)