Pearly Sunny Smoothie

Have you missed my smoothie kick that I was on early in the year?  I didn't fall off the wagon due to eating a bunch of donuts for breakfast, nope...I broke my blender.  One of the pitfalls of being short and having high cabinets is that I drop stuff, A LOT.  Shouldn't I just put my blender that can easily separate into all of it's pieces if it's not level into a bottom cabinet?  No, because that would make sense.  Putting it on a high shelf in my laundry room was clearly the best option.  And when one smoothie mongering morning I went to take it down, the top wobbled off and some how I managed to drop the whole blessed assembly.  Now it won't even make a buzzing sound, I cracked the container, and some how managed to bend the entire rotary unit.  *sigh*  Sadly, it took me entirely too long to figure out that I can make smoothies about just as easy in my food processor.  I say about since it doesn't have as much liquid capacity, but apparently my counter tops are willing to hold a bevy of it when it spills out behind my back.

So this morning I finally used up the Bartlett pears from a few weeks back, and put the navel oranges to good use  in my morning version of an Orange Julius.  Those things were my jam as a kid since the entire food court of my local mall consisted of Orange Julius and the Pretzel Hut.  No soft pretzels in my kitchen this morning, but this smoothie definitely checked the box for delicious and healthy!

Pearly Sunny Smoothie

Ingredients:
3 pears, cored and cubed
3 navel oranges, juiced
1 cup almond milk (or milk of your choice, I use Almond Breeze)
1 Tbsp local honey
8 ice cubes

Blend up your pears and orange juice until smooth, then add in your milk, honey and ice and blend until no ice chunks remain.

Yields two full pints/32 ounces.

Sesame Vegetable Noodle Bowls

Despite my recent plague, I still took myself to the grocery store and for reasons I'm still not quite clear on, I apparently developed an all-Asian menu for dinners this week.  Hey, I can't eat most of it out at restaurants (curse you gluten-hating immune system!), so why not make it at home.  Lots of naps and pitiful coughs apparently lead to good things in the kitchen, because these noodle bowls I made last night may be one of my most favorite concoctions as of late.  Loaded with good green veggies, it's like ramen but healthy and it leaves you feeling somehow full yet light.  I used rice noodles, but you could easily use udon or any other of your favorite Asian-style noodles.  This would also be fantastic with shrimp, chicken or tofu, if you're looking to add an extra hit of protein.  Or throw all of it together into a pot with 2 cups of vegetable or chicken stock and 2 cups of water, and have yourself a noodly soup of goodness.

Sesame Vegetable Noodle Bowls

Ingredients:
1 package rice noodles, soaked in hot water until soft
1 tsp chili oil
1 leek, quartered lengthwise and sliced
4 oz Shitake mushrooms (or any mushrooms of your choice), sliced
1/2 bundle of kale, leaves removed from stem and rough chopped
1 cup cabbage, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and grated thin
2 green onions, greens chopped
1 Tbsp soy sauce (I use Kikkoman's wheat/gluten free version)
2 Tbsp sesame seeds

For sauce:
2 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp lime juice
4 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp Sriracha
1 knob ginger, peeled and grated

Prepare sauce first by whisking all ingredients together and set aside, and soak rice noodles in hot water or put in on the stove over medium heat (not enough to boil) until noodles are just soft.

In a large skillet, heat chili oil over high heat.  Add sliced leeks and cook for about 2 minutes.  Then add mushrooms and cook until they begin to brown.  Toss in kale, cabbage and carrot and cook for about 1-2 more minutes or until kale is wilted.  Add in green onions and soy sauce, and cook for an additional minute.  Remove from heat and toss with sesame seeds.

Drain noodles and toss with veggies in skillet.  Pour over sauce and toss until fully combined.  Serve each portion with additional Sriracha and sesame seeds, if desired...and in this house, we do desire!

Finnish-Style Beef & Brussels Sprout Casserole

As I mentioned in the previous post, my Lenten abstention from personal social media has caused me to fall in love with my cookbooks all over again.  And there's one in particular that I've been meaning to explore much more because it's an entirely new realm for me -- The Finnish Cookbook.

1967 Edition

The Mister's paternal grandmother is 100% Finn, making that the bulk of his genetic makeup -- despite the fact he looks as blatantly Celtic as I do.  When we started dating I knew pretty much nothing about Finland other than where to find it on the map, what their flag looked like, and that I thought their capital city always had a cool name.  But once I heard the tale of great-grandpa Kantola carrying his wife AND a cast iron cook stove through deep snow, during a blizzard,  I knew I needed to learn more about the Finns on the whole.  So naturally, when I want to learn about a culture, I want to know what they eat, because what they eat, how they eat and the traditions surrounding food reveal a great deal about a people.  So I snagged a copy of the above cookbook on Amazon and...it sat on my bookshelf for about a year.  I did try my hand at some dumplings and potato broth, that were both pretty decent, but then back to the bookshelf it went...until this week.  

I knew I wanted to make something with the Brussels sprouts, but after searching the index it was clear that they're not a part of traditional Finnish cuisine.  But cabbage is, and Bsprouts are like micro-cabbages, so I can make this work.  I stumbled across a recipe for a meat & cabbage casserole called, Lihakaalilaatikko, and after making my brain hurt trying to figure out how to pronounce entirely too many vowels and double letters, I decided this would be the one to try (if you want to practice a tongue twister, click the speaker on this Google translation of the word).  Looking over the ingredients, I was pretty skeptical as to how it would turn out.  The only seasonings were salt and marjoram, that's it, and you don't even season the beef.  Plus, it was 2 tsp of salt onto the Bsprouts, so I'm picturing a pile of bland meat layered between indelibly salty veg.  Goodie.  But I was already modifying it with the Brussels sprouts, and I had to do all our allergen swaps to make it dairy, egg & gluten free, so I felt I would stray way too far from the original if I started adding onion or even pepper.  As I went to layer the casserole I quickly realized I had way too few Bsprouts to make even two proper layers, which meant it was a smattering of veg with a loaf of meat in between.  It looked weird, but into my oven it went and then something magical happened...my kitchen began to smell amazing!  After about 50 minutes, I pulled it and dove in and oh holy night, it was DELISH!  A titch on the salty side for my tastes, but if I double the Bsprouts, it wont' be as concentrated, and perhaps I'll back the salt down by 1/2 tsp next time.  Otherwise, I would change nothing!

So if you still have Bsprouts left from last week's Crop Share, definitely give this a try!

Finnish-Style Beef & Brussels Sprout Casserole

Ingredients:

1 bundle of Brussels sprouts, shredded    (if there's more Bsprouts at Nalls, grab another bundle as doubling this would make it perfect, or use 1 small head of cabbage in place of Bsprouts)

2 Tbsp butter    (used Earth Balance margarine for dairy-free)

2 Tbsp lite corn syrup

1 tsp salt    (use 2 or 1 1/2 tsp if doubling the Bsprouts or using cabbage, otherwise too salty)

1/4 tsp ground marjoram

1 lb ground lean beef

2 cups plain bread crumbs    (pulsed up 2 leftover gluten-free hot dog buns)

1/2 cup milk    (used plain rice milk for dairy free)

2 eggs, beaten    (used 2 egg equivalent of Ener-G egg replacer)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, and butter a 2-quart casserole dish.

In the original recipe, it calls for boiling the cabbage/Brussels sprouts for 5 minutes and then tossing with other ingredients, but in thinking that this would come out horribly bland, I sauteed the shredded Brussels sprouts in the butter, corn syrup, salt and marjoram, cooking it over medium high heat for about 3-5 minutes.  Then set aside while you prep the meat mixture.  Also, the original recipe calls for dark corn syrup, so you can absolutely use that, I just had to play it gluten-safe when I saw "caramel-coloring" on the ingredients list of the dark stuff.  I'm sure you could also use agave or even local honey to get a very similar result, and if you cook it until the Bsprouts are golden and krispy, on it's own it would make a great topping for soup, steaks or even eaten as it like Brussels sprouts popcorn!  Yum!

In a medium sized bowl, mix together your beef, bread crumbs, milk and eggs until well combined.

Then starting with your Brussels sprouts layer the veg and the beef in alternating layers, starting and ending with the Brussels sprouts.  Now with just our usual Crop Share bundle of Bsprouts, you'll only have enough for a scant bottom and top layer, so either layer all on the top, or double or even triple the amount of Bsprouts so you can do proper layers.  Either way, it's going to be delicious, so don't worry so much about making perfect layers or presentation, the taste is all that matters here.

Bake casserole in oven at 350 for about 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until internal temperature of meat in the center of the dish is 160 degrees.

Serve with a side of fresh cranberry relish or even homemade applesauce as a way to balance the heavy meat with something bright and fresh.

Shredded Brussels Sprouts & Kale Salad with a Lemony Dijon Vinaigrette

I've been eyeing this Shredded Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad with Lemon Dressing recipe from Just A Taste for awhile now.  But every time we get Brussels sprouts in the Crop Share, I'm completely incapable of not roasting them or turning them into this Brussels Sprouts & Mushrooms in a Dijon Cream Sauce dish.  However, this week I vowed to finally make my own version of Just A Taste's salad, and I knew if I was going to get the Mister behind a giant bowl of green for dinner, I was going to have to put some meat in there somewhere, especially since there would also be no carb coming along with it either.  So while the original is completely vegetarian, I tossed in one shredded chicken breast from yet another rotisserie chicken I'm slowly dismembering as the week goes on.  I also didn't go based on her measurements, I just went based on quantities in our shares, so I doubled the dressing recipe as the original measurements were looking pretty slim for the amount of roughage I had going on.  She also had Parmesan or Pecorino cheese in her's, but we didn't miss it and with the almonds you already get that nutty flavor and by adding Kosher salt to the dressing, that checks the salty component box.  So feel free to add cheese if you'd like, just maybe back down on the amount of salt in the dressing or omit it all together.

Not going to lie, this is one of those annoyingly prep intensive dishes, so if you're looking for a quick weeknight dinner salad, this might not be a good option as thinly slicing your way through all that green becomes soul killing unless you've got some good tunes blaring in your kitchen.  However, thanks to this recipe, you will gain two, count them two, gold stars on your culinary skills charts:  Chiffonade & Emulsion.  Yep, we're getting fancy in Nalls' Kitchen tonight!

Shredded Brussels Sprouts & Kale Salad with a Lemony Dijon Vinaigrette

For salad:

1 quart Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed & shredded
1 bundle Kale, removed from stalk & shredded
1/2 cup sliced, unsalted almonds, toasted
1 chicken breast, cooked & shredded (I dismembered a rotisserie chicken)


For dressing:

1 large shallot, minced
4 Tbsp Dijon mustard
4 tsp local honey
2 lemons, zest & juice
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 cup olive oil


In a medium-sized skillet, toast almond slices over medium high heat.  No need to add any oil as the natural oils in the almonds will be enough.  Stir fairy continuously to prevent burning.  Once almond are golden brown, remove from heat and set aside.

To shred Brussels sprouts, trim ends, and remove outer few leaves.  Then halve sprouts and thinly slice each half.  For kale, remove from the stalk and roll leaves into bundles and prepare to chiffonade.  Say what?  Yes, get ready to perfect your fancy knife skills -- and no you don't have to be totally accurate with these, you just want to have thin slices of kale for the salad.  Have no idea what I'm on about, then learn how to get  your chiffonade on in this helpful video...

Now toss together your kale, Brussels sprouts, toasted almond and shredded chicken together in a large bowl.   I weeded out any bits of the core of the sprouts  that still remained as chunks.

Grab a medium sized bowel and whip up the dressing.  Combine all ingredients through the salt and lightly whisk to fully combine.  Then slowly pour in olive oil while you whisk vigorously because you're doing another fancy thing, you're making an...emulsion!  Ooo la la!  First you chiffonade then you, well, emulse?  Emulsionize?  No, I've got it, you emulsionate!  Once all your oil is incorporated you should have a dressing that looks very much like a big bowl of whisked egg yolks.  Pour as much or as little over the salad and toss to coat.

Let sit for about 5 minutes to allow flavors to meld and serve.

Vietnamese Beef Salad

There were just a few carrots in the Crop Share this week, and by a few I mean a ton.  And while I thought about a carrot soup, it was too cold and snowy yesterday after all of the beautiful Spring weather, so I had to just delude myself a little longer and make something bright and fresh that made me think of the warmer temps to come.  If you'll remember, a few weeks back when we got cabbage I did my own Vietnamese twist on TaKorean "takos".  So last night I just left out the arepas all together, tweaked a few of the ingredients, and made up some delicious Vietnamese Beef Salads.  If you're looking to make a dent in your carrot supply and ignore the continued snow, these salads are where it's at!

Vietnamese Beef Salad

For the pickled slaw:

1 cup water

½ cup apple cider vinegar

½ cup sugar

½ cabbage, cored & thin sliced

1 cup cilantro, minced

4 carrots, peeled and shredded

For the spicy garlic beef: 

1/2 cup soy sauce (I use Kikkoman's gluten-free soy sauce)

2 Tbsp Sriracha (use only 1 Tbsp for a lower heat version)

3 Tbsp local honey

1 Tbsp garlic, minced

1.5 lbs thin sliced ribeye (if you really want the perfect cut for this or for making bulgogi hit up a local H Mart, it's worth the extra trip -- alas, I did not have the time to make the extra trip)

2 Tbsp sesame oil

1" knob of ginger, minced

Make your slaw a day in advance if possible, if not, just allow yourself at least an hour for the flavors to meld and begin to pickle the veggies.  In a small saucepan, heat the water, vinegar and sugar until the sugar is fully dissolved.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Prep your cabbage, cilantro and carrots and then toss into a bowl.  Pour the liquid over and toss to fully combine.  Cover bowl and place in fridge for at least 1 hour up to 24 hrs (the longer it sits the better).

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together your soy sauce, Sriracha, honey and garlic, till fully combined.  Then add in your sliced ribeye and toss to coat.  Cover and place in fridge to marinate for at least 1 hour.

In a large skillet, heat your sesame oil over high heat, but take care to not allow it to burn.  Once you start to see little bubbles in the oil, toss in your minced ginger and cook for no longer than 1 minute.  Pour in your beef, marinade and all, and toss with tongs to cook.  Cook beef on high heat until you can no longer see pink on the meat, and no longer otherwise you're going to have chewy bits of beef.  Remove cooked beef from skillet and set aside on a plate.   Continue to simmer down remaining marinade in the skillet until it's turned into a thicker, sticky sauce.  Remove from heat and add beef and any drippings back to pan, tossing to fully coat the beef.

To assemble, place a mound of the slaw on each plate and top with some beef.  Drizzle any of the pan sauce over top if you'd like and serve.  You can also cook up a cup of rice if you feel like you need a starch with this too.

Mega Snownadotopus vs. Snowbominable Zombie Prianhaconda: Snow Day Comfort Cooking!

Well a few years ago we had Snowmageddon (aka Snowpocalypse or SnOMG!), and tonight it looks like we're in for some more powdery fun!  YAY!  In good SyFy Originals fashion, I just couldn't resist giving an over-the-top name to the next 48 hours, and I feel my blog title has done that in pure overblown style.  Now, I get it, many of you are not originally from lands where this type of snow is a weekly winter (and fall, and spring) occurrence, and the words, "lake effect," "parking ban," and "shoveling the roof" have never been a part of your vocabulary.  So before panic sets in, here are this Northeast Ohio gals tips for winter storm survival:

1. PUMP YOUR BRAKES!  Seriously people, even if you have anti-lock breaks, please do not come flying up behind me at a stop light and think if you slam on your breaks you will stop.  Go slow, use caution on turns, pulling out and merging, and when you need to use your breaks, gradually pump them to slooooooowly decrease your speed.  Also, don't make drastic U-Turns into oncoming traffic and expect that I can slam on my breaks and stop (I'm looking at you black BMW on Beulah Street!).  That being said, unless the conditions are ungodly, going 5 mph on the Beltway is also in itself dangerous, and you will likely be the cause of an accident.  Oh and if you're in a big pickup or black government issue Suburban, let me remind you that ice is a great equalizer of all vehicles and just because you drive a big honkin' tank, it doesn't mean you can go or exceed the posted speed limit.  Slow your roll big vehicles, slow your roll.

2. Invest right now, right now, in a snow scraper and a shovel!  I've witnessed too many people trying to clean their cars or shovel out around their cars with baking sheets to know that proper snow removal implements are apparently a real need in this area.  Good people have invented wonderful devices to handle snow, so that you can leave the baking sheets for all the Snow Day baking you'll be doing.  Mmm, cookies & cocoa!  Also, once it really starts coming down, if we do get the higher totals they're calling for, trust me, you DO NOT want to try and shovel 10" of snow out of your driveway all at once, so shovel in intervals.  As the son my parents never had, I've had to shovel near knee-deep, heavy, wet snow, that was so heavy the snow blower said, "no, no thank you."  I wound up with what was likely a stress fracture in my left wrist for several months.  Not fun.  But snowball fights while you shovel your driveway in intervals are!  Plus, it's an excuse for more cocoa or hot toddies when you come back in!

3. Fairfax County Schools have already called it for tomorrow, so if you have kids, you get outside tomorrow and you play in that snow!  Snow forts, sledding, snowmen, snow angels, snowball fights, belly flops into snow (this is only fun if the under layers of snow are not frozen, if they are, trust me, it reaaaallly hurts), and even trek your way to the nearest playground and play on the equipment in the snow.  If you don't have kids...you get outside a be a kid!  But just as a friendly reminder to all...don't eat the yellow snow, and yeah, really don't eat any snow at all.  I've seen recipes on Pinterest for making ice cream from snow and I'm like um, probably not a sound idea folks.  Think of it like a sandbox, a very cold, wet sandbox, so don't eat the contents!

4.  There will still be Doritos, milk, bread and water on Friday.  It amazes me the first things to disappear from grocery shelves here, and apparently Doritos are a part of every snow emergency kit.  Unless you plan to go through a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk, 8 gallons of water (I have witnessed this purchase this week, and yes she was in full storm panic mode), and 3 bags of Doritos in the next 24 hrs, maybe just buy some comfort foodstuffs.  A nice bottle of wine, a large roast, some potatoes, bagels from the bakery, you know, cozy foods you want to cuddle up with.  You're not going to be wearing a power suit and heels tomorrow, you're going to be letting the gut out in some slouchy, comfy pants (what I call, "party pants"), so eat accordingly!


See, this is fun!  Most of you will have the day off tomorrow, and just get home safely tonight and Mother Nature has just gifted you a Pajama Day!  HOORAY!  So like I said in #4, rather than stocking up like the world is ending (really lady at the Giant, 8 gallons of water??), get ready for some stick to your ribs comfort cooking.  And with that in mind, tonight I whipped up a faux cheesetacular batch of Chicken, Broccoli, and Zucchini Mac & Cheese!  There's nary a lick of dairy in this mac, but I dare you to not succumb to the ooey gooeyness.  I'll give you the dairy-free version, but you can always go with a dairy-full version and just use the real milk versions of the ingredients.  Well, at least in theory it should work, I never actually made mac & cheese from scratch before I met my dairy-free Mister.

So get home safe everyone, and if you don't have to venture off to work in the AM, then stay in those pj's all morning until you change into your snow gear to go play, and then immediately come home to change into another set of pj's before you curl up with some comfort food and a good film.  Happy Snow Day!

Dairy-Free Mac & Cheese with Chicken, Zucchini & Broccoli

Ingredients:

12 oz pasta (shells, rotini, or macaroni)
1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large zucchini, stem end trimmed and then cut into bite-sized pieces
2 broccoli crowns, chopped
Ground black pepper & garlic powder
1 breast, thigh and leg from a rotisserie chicken, shredded
4 cups unsweetened rice milk (or use skim milk for real dairy)
1 cup Daiya jack "cheese" shreds
4 cups Daiya mozzarella "cheese" shreds (or use the real version of each cheese)
2 tsp ground black pepper
2-3 dashes nutmeg


Start your pasta water to boil and get your pasta cooking according to package directions.

In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Add in veggies, season with a few sprinkles of ground black pepper and garlic powder, and saute until just slightly browned, 4-5 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Dismember your rotisserie chicken, and shred breast, thigh and leg meat with two forks (use the remaining breast and thigh for these Zucchini Boats Stuffed with Pesto Chicken...and know your husband has likely already eaten one chicken leg within 5 minutes of getting home from the grocery).  Set aside.

In a saucepan, heat rice milk over medium high heat.  When it begins to simmer, whisk in your cheese and continue to whisk until fully melted and well-combined.  Reduce heat to low and season with black pepper and nutmeg, whisking to fully blend.  Fold in shredded chicken and veggies and allow to cool for a few minutes while pasta finishes cooking.  When pasta is done and drained, pour cheese and veggies over top and gently fold in to cover all of the pasta.  Allow to cool and set up for a minute or two before serving.  Proceed to bow in awe before the lusciousness of the faux cheesiness!

Zucchini Boats Stuffed with Pesto Chicken

I'm currently OBSESSED with pesto.  Earlier in the week I had to make our new favorite, Cilantro Pistachio Pesto, and it just wasn't enough, I needed more.  Luckily, I've begun to cook in my dreams again, and the other morning I awoke after having whipped up some delectable roasted zucchini boats stuffed with basil & almond pesto, tomatoes and shredded chicken.  They say if you can dream it, you can do it, so I made a massive batch of basil & almond pesto (for the base pesto recipe, see our Broccoli Pesto recipe, and either omit the broccoli, or use up the last of this week's broccoli for a double dose of crop share veggies), turned two zucchini into battleships of deliciousness, snagged an extra tomato and rotisserie chicken, and prepared to make my dream come true.  I only used up two of the three zucchini this week, so it allowed for two halves for the Mister & I, and man do I wish I would have just attacked that 3rd zucchini.  But I'm lovingly saving that one to pair with the broccoli, and the rest of the rotisserie chicken in a creamy, dairy & gluten free mac & cheese.  That magic is happening tonight, so stay tuned!  Oh and if you make the full pesto recipe linked above, it makes A LOT.  You only need a cup for this recipe, so save the rest to toss with pasta, pour over some baked chicken or fish, use as a chip or veggie dip, or hollow out a couple tomatoes and cook up a cup of quinoa, and get ready to roast up some stuffed tomatoes with pesto quinoa.  Which if you want a vegetarian or vegan version of these zucchini boats, just leave out the chicken and sub in quinoa, chickpeas, or another protein-packed animal-friendly foodstuff.

Zucchini Boats Stuffed with Pesto Chicken

Ingredients:
2 large zucchini, stem end trimmed, halved and seed section scooped out to make enough room to stuff
1/2 tomato, seeded and diced
1 breast and 1 thigh from a rotisserie chicken
1 cup pesto (for homemade, see our Broccoli Pesto recipe.  I left out the broccoli, but added in 1/2 cup of the zucchini innards, for extra veggie power)
Pinch of kosher salt
Olive oil for drizzling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Lightly rub olive oil onto zucchini boats and place on a baking sheet or in a large enough baking dish.

In a medium sized bowl, shred the cooked chicken breast & thigh meat, and then stir in 1 cup of prepared pesto and the diced tomato.  Add a pinch of kosher salt, and stir to fully combine.  Evenly distribute filling among zucchini boats, and then lightly drizzle tops with a bit of olive oil.

Bake in the oven at 375 for 30 minutes or until zucchini is just soft, but not mushy, and top of stuffing is golden.

Cilantro & Pistachio Pesto

I had all sorts of traditional plans for last week's cilantro, including making another round of that Healthy Three Layer Taco Dip for a game night with friends.  Well you know what they say about the best laid plans. But oh happy accident, because, as I was staring aimlessly at the cilantro, it came to me...pesto!  Now, I 've never made a pesto.  I've eaten plenty of it, and my mother-in-law has mastered an amazing traditional pesto with dairy-free parm.  And though I've vowed to make it a thousand times for the Mister, I tend to be pretty darn lazy when it comes to using the kitchen appliances I have that require lots of random parts that will need hand washing.  But perhaps it's the smoothie kick I've been on, because I yanked my Cuisinart from the depths of my pantry and in no time at all I had concocted a Cilantro & Pistachio Pesto, that I promise you, promise, promise, promise, pinky swear promise, will NOT be able to detect that it's cilantro hiding in there! Not a soapy taste to be found anywhere.  So cilantro haters, I've found the solution for you, put it in your food processor or blender and make it pay!!!

Cilantro & Pistachio Pesto

Ingredients:

1 bundle cilantro, washed and ends trimmed
4 cloves garlic
2 tsp lemon zest
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup dry roasted & unsalted, shelled pistachios
1/2 cup olive oil (I'm going to play Barefoot here, use the GOOD olive oil!), plus 1-2 Tbsp more reserved if tossing with pasta
2-3 pinches Kosher salt

Place all ingredients in your food processor or blender and blend  until nice and smooth.  You won't have a completely smooth sauce, but you want all of the big chunks broken up (especially of the garlic) and have everything well-combined.  Scoop out and toss with cooked pasta of your choice, or use as a spread for crostini or some garlic pesto bread.  If tossing with pasta, add another 1-2 Tbsp of olive oil to keep the pasta from sticking and gumming up.

I found the pesto itself was perfect with about 2 pinches of Kosher salt, but once I tossed it with my pasta, it totally disappeared, so you will want to adjust with the salt content after you've tossed the pesto with the pasta and additional olive oil.  Also, I did not use Parmesan of any kind, but you could absolutely include it in the sauce.  To me the pistachios actually impart the same flavor profile as Parm would, so give it a try without and see what you think.  It at least helps to offset the calories from the bevy of olive oil that goes into this dish!

Go Green Smoothie

If it's green and in liquid form, I want to drink it.  Go figure.  Doesn't matter that it looks like gnarly baby food, I want to consume it all.  One big problem with most commercially available smoothies though...they put wheat grass in them.  And for me and my gluten-hating system, that's a big no-no.  So if I want a green smoothie, I've got to make it myself.  Who wants grass in their smoothie anyway?!  Leave that for the cows!  So when I saw the massive bundles of spinach this week, I knew exactly what needed to happen first thing Saturday morning.  GREEN SMOOTHIE TIME!  Woot!  Trust me, even with 2-3 cups of spinach you cannot detect the spinach flavor.  I even forced a mason jar full of green goodness on the Mister.  He looked at me suspiciously, gave it a swig and declared it was delicious.  He then proceeded to drink two mason jars full and asked if there was more.  So if you're on a post-holiday smoothie kick, this is the perfect drink to give your body a jolt of wonderfulness and get fueled up for the day ahead.  I still have more spinach left even after this recipe and throwing two handfuls into some Homemade Take-Away Beef with Broccoli, so look for yet another green smoothie recipe to follow in the days to come.

Go Green Smoothie

Ingredients:
16 ice cubes, divided
1 pint strawberries, tops trimmed and quartered
1 1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk (I use Almond Breeze, you can use any milk of your choice, but the almond milk gives you a nice added protein boost)
2 Bartlett pears, cored and cubed
Juice of 1 navel orange
1 tsp local honey (you can also use agave or maple syrup)
2-3 cups spinach, well rinsed and stems trimmed

Into your blender, add 8 of the ice cubes, the strawberries and almond milk.  Blend on high until ice is fully crushed and strawberries are blended.  Add in pears, navel orange juice and honey, and blend those down as well.  Next add your spinach, and you'll likely have to blend these down in batches to make sure you have enough room in the blender.  Blend until completely smooth.  You'll likely have some noticeable green bits no matter how long you try to blend it, and that's okay, you won't be able to taste them.  Then add in your remaining 8 ice cubes and blend until ice is fully crushed.

Serve immediately.  Made 4 mason jars full.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Brownies

Okay so we gave you A LOT of zucchini this week.  So if you're still left with zucchini and no inspiration, or maybe you just really don't like zucchini, then the best way to use it up is to hide it inside dessert.  Eww, you say?  Trust me, just like with zucchini bread, the zucchini is in there but you'll never know, plus it makes your baked good super, duper...well, you know, that m-word.  We all have a word in the English language that we despise, mind is that m-word often used to describe soft and luxurious baked goods.  I refuse even to type it, and I generally do not allow that word spoken around me.  But suffice it to say, if you add grated zucchini to a baked good, it will give you that oft desired texture that is better just enjoyed rather than named.

Anywho, m-word rant aside, I stumbled across this recipe for Chocolate Chip Zucchini Brownies from Texanerin Baking, and decided to tweak it to make it safe for consumption in this household.  Plus, I had just enough Homemade Applesauce left over to use in the recipe.  Score!  Now don't I feel all domestic!  So I've provided my gluten, dairy & egg free version below (I'd say this recipe was vegan if there wasn't honey in my homemade applesauce), with alterations for a gluten, dairy and egg full version.  Make it my way and this is practically a health-food!  Because anything with a cup and a half of chocolate chips in it is clearly good for you!  ;)

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Brownies

Ingredients:
2 egg equivalent of Ener-G Egg Replacer (or 2 eggs)

1 1/2 Tbsp vanilla

1/4 cup plus 4 Tbsp Homemade Applesauce

1 cup sugar (if not making the gluten-free version, you can stick to 3/4 cup, as the base flavor of the gluten-free flour pretty much tastes like aluminum so I try to mask it as much as possible)

1 cup Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Baking Flour (or 1 cup regular All-Purpose Flour)

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda (or if you're like me, you forget you've run out of baking soda and have to substitute 6 tsp of baking powder -- if you do this, just use 1/8 tsp of salt rather than the full 1/4 tsp)

1/4 tsp Kosher salt

4 small zucchini peeled and finely grated (makes just shy of 2 cups)

1 cup Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips, plus 1/2 cup more for sprinkling (if not avoiding dairy, you can use any chocolate chips you desire)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 9 x 13 or 8 x 8 baking pan.

In a medium sized bowl, mix together egg replacer, vanilla, applesauce and sugar until well blended.  Allow to sit for several minutes to allow the sugar to mostly dissolve.

In a separate, larger bowl, mix your dry ingredients up through the salt, making sure to break up any clumps.  Stir in wet ingredients and mix until fully combined.  Fold in your zucchini and chocolate chips, and then pour into your prepared baking dish.  Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate chips over top.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean...well, as clean as it can be with all those chocolate chips.  You just don't want to see batter being pulled up, if so leave it in for a few extra minutes.

Allow to cool completely before slicing (yeah right, I don't even follow my own directions) and enjoy part of your daily serving of fruit & vegetables!

Chicken & "Ricotta" Stuffed Banana Peppers - Surprise It's Dairy-Free!

I was equally inspired by Pam Pell's Stuffed Sweet Banana Peppers and by the fact that our local Giant is FINALLY carrying Tofutti's Better Than Ricotta Cheese.  Wait, Tofutti?  Does that mean it's faux tofu cheese?  Yes, yes it is.  But when you're in a household that's dairy-free for allergy reasons, then you leap for joy over a whole tub of faux cheese awesomeness.  So pretty much this whole week I'll just be looking for excuses to put this faux ricotta in everything (if I can find gluten-free lasagna noodles, I may pass out...and then bake a lasagna safe for the Mister & I).  While this recipe uses the faux cheese, by all means use real ricotta in your own.

Chicken & Better Than Ricotta Stuffed Banana Peppers

Ingredients:

6 sweet banana peppers, tops removed and peppers seeded

1 1/2 shredded, cooked chicken breasts (poached or use leftover rotisserie chicken)

1 cup Tofutti Better Than Ricotta Cheese (or regular ricotta)

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp garlic, diced

1/2 tsp red chili flakes

salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine chicken, ricotta, olive oil, garlic and spices in a bowl and mix thoroughly.  Stuff each banana pepper down to the ends with the filling and cap each pepper with the reserved top.  Secure with a toothpick if need be.  Repeat until all peppers are stuffed.

Place into a baking dish and drizzle a bit of olive oil over tops of stuffed peppers.  Bake at 400 for 30 minutes.  Prepare your tastebuds for awesome!

Blackberry Butter

Despite a sizable portion of my genetics being of the French variety, I'm not all that big a fan of butter.  However, if that butter is flavored, I will eat it like its a dessert and likely gross everyone out.  There's a reason why I haven't tried the Maple Brown Sugar Butter we carry in store from Great Harvest.  Because I know once I start down that path, my co-workers are going to find me hiding in the store cooler, with a spoon, surrounded by empty containers of butter.  So I've been doing very well in the not-eat-an-entire-crock-of-flavored-butter department.  That is until I came across...blackberry butter.  That's right, say it with me now...BLACKBERRY...BUTTER.  It has fruit in it, so that makes it a health food, no?  And it includes local honey, so really a spoonful, or two, or three of this today is good for keeping my allergies at bay.  Did I mention the butter is also dairy-free and soy-free?  Oh well, if it's for my health, then I guess I must.

Blackberry Butter

Ingredients: 

15 oz (1 container) Soy Free Earth Balance Margarine, room temperature (or use whichever butter strikes your fancy)

1/8 cup, plus 1 Tbsp local, raw, unfiltered honey (Now back in stock in our store!  Look for the yellow tops!)

1 cup fresh blueberries

In a mixing bowl, using a hand mixer beat together butter and honey until light and fluffy.  Add in blackberries and beat on medium speed until blackberries are pretty well broken up.  I wanted to still have some bits of blackberry in mine, but you could certainly whip these until it's completely smooth.  Pour into small jars or back into empty Earth Balance container.  Chill in fridge until ready to slather on all sorts of goodness.

Adapted from The Lazy Daisy Kitchen: (http://www.thelazydaisykitchen.blogspot.jp/2012/12/blackberry-butter.html)

Thai Chicken Quinoa Bowls

So the Mister and I are kind of a hot mess of food allergies.  Our home is peanut, cashew, dairy, egg and gluten free.  And while I adore Thai food, it's pretty much the kiss of death for the hubs.  Thus I was pretty darn excited when I stumbled across these Thai Chicken Quinoa Bowls from How Sweet It Is and realized all I needed were a few key tweaks to make it safe for both of us.  Including subbing in almond butter in place of peanut butter -- you'd never know.  While this dish is the perfect vehicle for this week's cilantro, you could just as easy throw in some of the diced, green bell pepper or even blanch some of the broccoli to toss in.  I say the more crunchy veg in these quinoa bowls, the better!

Thai Chicken Quinoa Bowls

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked quinoa, cooked to package instructions
2 chicken breasts cooked & shredded, or use leftover rotisserie chicken
1/3 cup chopped carrots
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1 1/2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Sauce:
4 Tbsp chili garlic sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp coconut milk
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp almond butter
1 lime, juiced
1/4 tsp ground ginger

Toss shredded chicken with cooked quinoa.  Add in chopped vegetables and cilantro and stir to mix well.

In a separate bowl, whisk together all sauce ingredients until fully combined and pour over quinoa mixture.  Fold sauce in evenly and taste.  Season with salt & pepper if needed.


Adapted from How Sweet It Is: (http://www.howsweeteats.com/2013/02/thai-chicken-quinoa-bowl/)