Quinoa, Kale, and Broccoli Salad

 

 

I threw this recipe together based on what was in my fridge. Although it was a good salad warm, it was even better cold the next day!

Ingredients:

1/2 red onion, chopped finely

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups of kale, washed and shredded

1 cup of quinoa

2 cups of water

2 heads of broccoli, chopped into small florets

1 carrot, shredded

1/4 cup of toasted pine nuts

 

Dressing:

4 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon of whole grain mustard

 

 

Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in large frying pan. Add onion and garlic and fry until translucent, around 8 minutes. Add quinoa, kale, and water. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and then simmer until the liquid is gone, around 15 minutes. Meanwhile, steam broccoli for 5 minutes, until bright green and slightly tender. Mix vinegar and mustard in a small bowl to make dressing.

 

When the quinoa and kale mixture is ready, add broccoli and carrots. Mix in dressing to taste. Top with pine nuts.

 

                                              

 

 

 

 

Kale stuffed peppers

So tomorrow I start the BluePrintCleanse again. I did the three day cleanse around this time last year and while I had mixed feelings about it, I have decided to take the plunge again.

I am preparing a little bit better this time around. I am on my third day with no coffee, having cut down from my usual three cups a day to one cup of black tea. And today I ate raw vegan- fruit for breakfast, some veggies for lunch, and some nuts pre-run for energy. For dinner tonight, I ended up making red peppers stuffed with kale and avocado. Super simple, all raw.

Ingredients:
1 bunch of kale, stems trimmed and shredded
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 avocado
2 bell peppers


Cut the avocado in half and mash up one half in a bowl. Mix the mashed avocado with the kale leaves (hands are actually the best method here to get it fully incorporated) and then add in the carrots. Cut the other half of the avocado into small chunks. Add in, mixing lightly.

Cut tops off of peppers and remove inner ribbing and seeds. Stuff with the kale salad.

I added a side salad of shaved zucchini with some olive oil.

Delicious....and the last solid meal I will have for three days. eek.

 

Kale Salad with Maple Mustard Dressing

I am super excited about the new cookbooks that I got for Christmas. One of them, Forks Over Knives, is particularly exciting because the recipes are all vegan, and all low fat. I usually don't get too excited about salads in cookbooks - I rarely have the patience to follow recipes for something I feel like I can put together just as easily on my own. However, this book has quite a few salad recipes that caught my eye. The one I made the other day, a kale salad with maple mustard dressing, was surprisingly unique in taste.
 
 Dressing:

• Zest and juice of 1 lemons
• 1 cup cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tbps cup tahini
• 1 tbps stone-ground mustard
• 1 tbps Braggs Amino Acids (or wheat-free tamari or low-sodium soy sauce)
• 1 tbs. 100% pure maple syrup
• 2 tbps nutritional yeast flakes
• 1/4 cup water

Salad:

• 6 cups kale, ribs removed & shredded
• 2 cup of broccoli florets, cut into tiny pieces
• 1 cup of red cabbage, shredded
• 1 cup of carrots, shredded
• 1 15 oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1. Place all dressing ingredients into blender and blend until smooth (add more or less water to get to the desired consistency)
2. Mix salad ingredients together and add dressing.

Black Lentil & Tomato Soup

After a weekend on the beach in Miami, I was not very excited to come back to 40 degree rain in Boston this week. This lentil stew by Heidi Swanson made the cold, dark weather a bit more bearable. Plus, the ingredient list is short which made my trip to the grocery store very easy.


Ingredients:
2 cups black beluga lentils (or green French lentils), picked over and rinsed
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1 28-ounce can crushed fire roasted tomatoes
2 cups water
3 cups of a big leafy green (chard, kale, etc), rinsed well, deveined, finely chopped

Directions:
Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan, add the lentils, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until tender. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a heavy soup pot over medium heat, then add the onion and salt and saute until tender, a couple minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, lentils, and water and continue cooking for a few more minutes, letting the soup come back up to a simmer. Stir in the chopped greens, and wait another minute. Taste and adjust the seasoning if need be.

Kale & Mushroom Lasagna

The other night I made my first attempt at a vegan lasagna. I am not the biggest fan of "fake" vegan cheeses so I was attracted to this recipe that does not call for any vegan cheese but rather uses tofu and nutritional yeast to make the "cheese" layer. The tofu mixture really does resemble cheese mixtures I have used in previous lasagnas. The texture is very similar...and while you can definitely tell the difference in taste it was still really good.

The recipe is from Quick-Fix Vegan by Robin Roberston.

Ingredients:

1 box no-bake lasagna noodles

2 lbs extra firm tofu, well drained and mashed

8 ounces kale, stems removed and finely chopped

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1.5 teaspoons dried basil

1/2 tsp ground fennel seeds

1/2 tsp dried oregano

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tsp red pepper flakes

6 oz cremini mushrooms, chopped 

4 cups marinara sauce

1/3 cup pine nuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine the tofu and nutritional yeast. Mash well to combine. Add the parsley, lemon juice, basil, fennel, oregano, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper. Mix well to combine and adjust to taste.
3. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until softened. Add the kale and season with salt. Cook until wilted, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until softened and any liquid is absorbed, 5 minutes. Set aside.
4. Spread a layer of marinara sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan. Arrange 4 noodles on top of the sauce, overlapping slightly. Spread half of the tofu mixture over the noodles in a thin layer. Spread half the kale mixture. Repeat layering with the sauce, noodles, the remaining tofu mixture, and the remaining kale mixture, ending with the noodles topped with the marinara sauce. Sprinkle top with pine nuts.
5. Cover the lasagna with foil and bake for 45 minutes, until hot throughout. Let stand at least 10 minutes before serving.

Harissa Spaghetti with Kale & White Beans

I love browsing the recipes on Heidi Swanson's blog, 101 Cookbooks. Her food is all healthy and pretty vegan friendly. I came across her recipe for Harissa Spaghettini and immeadiately got a craving to make something with harissa. Suprisingly I had a hard time finding harissa paste....I have the spice blend at home already but I wanted to use the actual paste. I managed to find some at Sofra on Saturay and was all set Sunday night to make my own version of Swanson's recipe.




Ingredients:
3 medium cloves garlic, peeled and minced
a big pinch of fine grain sea salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons harissa (paste)
8 ounces (1/2 pound) whole wheat spaghetti
1 bag of pre-cut, pre-washed kale
1 can of white beans (garbanzo beans would also be great here!)
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 tablepsoon of lemon juice

Directions:

Bring a big pot of water to a boil.
In a small bowl whisk together the garlic paste, harissa, and olive oil. Set aside.

Generously salt the boiling water, add the pasta, and cook per package instructions. Just before the pasta is done add the kale to the pasta water for two minutes, drain and set aside.

Heat half of the harissa dressing in the now empty pasta pot. Add the pasta and kale, white beans, pine nuts, and lemon juice. Stir over the heat for a minute or so, then turn everything out onto a platter and drizzle with the remaining harissa olive oil. Serve with a good french bread.