Roasted Beet and Arugula Salad with Walnuts and Black Truffle Balsamic Drizzle...

Last weekend I didn’t buy any groceries, since last Monday was my birthday we did a bit of eating out in the beginning of the week so there was no sense in buying fresh produce only to watch it spoil. I had a well stocked pantry and a few items in the fridge with a longer shelf-life but by the end of the week food was getting pretty scarce in my refrigerator. When lunchtime on Friday rolled around the fridge was looking pretty sad and I was craving a salad. The only greens I had left was some arugula that needed to be used tout de suite, and ditto for some lonely looking beets.

Well arugula and beets sounded like a great combination especially once I started thinking about walnuts and balsamic vinegar. I also had some coconut milk yogurt sitting in the fridge that I’d specifically bought for a recipe I ended up not making and so I decided to use it in my salad dressing in place of oil. I wasn’t sure how that was going to work out, but somehow it paired beautifully with the bitter greens and tangy vinegar. Still the recipe needed just a little something extra to bring ti to new heights, and that something ended up being Black Truffle Oil. Now, I know black truffle oil is a fancy - and pricy - gourmet ingredient but it imparts a truly unique flavor into a variety of dishes. Seriously, this stuff has become my new best friend, and it’s great that such a little can go such a long way. It really makes the cost worth it. Of course if you prefer you can leave the truffle oil out, but I strongly recommend it. The salad isn’t quite the same without this unique component.

Strangely enough, though this started out as a haphazard attempt to just eat something before going into work, this ended up being one of my favorite meals of the entire week. It’s super simple to throw together but the flavor is out of this world. Enjoy!

Roasted Beet and Arugula Salad with Walnuts and Black Truffle Balsamic Drizzle

For the Roasted Beets 

2 Small Beets cut in Small Dice
Olive Oil to taste
Sea salt and Black Pepper to taste

For the Salad 

2 Handfuls Arugula
1 Batch Roasted Beets
1/3 C Walnuts
2 Green Onions sliced
1 Tomato

For the Dressing

2 Tbsp Plain Coconut Milk Yogurt
1 ½ Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
½ tsp -1 tsp Black Truffle Oil
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
Garlic Powder to taste

- Preheat the oven to 450'F.

- Spray a cooking sheet with a little bit of coconut oil.

- Drizzle a tiny amount of olive oil on the sliced beets. Add sea salt and pepper to taste then mix until the beets are well coated.

- Spread the beets out on the baking sheet making sure they do not touch then roast in the oven for 10-15 minutes until they are tender but not mushy. A little bite is nice!

- While the beets are roasting combine the salad ingredients in a large bowl.

- Combine the salad dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined. This may take a few minutes as the yogurt is going to want to curdle once you add the vinegar. Whisk briskly for 1-3 minute and it should come out smooth.

- Once the beets have finished roasting remove from the oven and let cool for five minutes.

- Top your salad off with the roasted beets, then drizzle over the dressing and enjoy!

PS: This salad makes one good sized serving, or two small starter servings. If you want to make enough for two good sized portions the recipe easily doubles.

Garlic Scape Socca with Hummus and Steamed Greens in Balsamic Dijon Vinaigrette...

Where does the time go? I’ve been sitting on numerous recipes that I’ve been dying to share and yet it seems this week I didn’t have a spare moment to post. It was a busy week though, and Monday was my birthday so I’ve spent my free time over the past few days celebrating. Monday was also Canada day so to all my fellow Canadian friends and readers I hope you had a good holiday and enjoyed yourself!

So anyway, back to those recipes. Well, the whole reason I posted my Classic Hummus  recipe last week, was because I was planning to post this socca recipe the day after! But time got away from me and now I’m posting it a week late, though better late then never right?

Now, the last time I posted about Socca was last December, and I had fully intended to post more Socca recipes because it really is a new favorite food of mine and I make it quite often. Though it seems to always work out that I tend to make socca when I have limited time - which means my camera is never at the ready and so I wolf the food down without snapping any pics. This time however I was preparing a socca recipe with the full intention of posting about it because one of my absolute favorite things is back in season GARLIC SCAPES! As soon as I saw them at the market I knew I would have to use them to make Socca, it seemed to me to be the perfect marriage of two amazing things. I’m sure you recall my love of Garlic Scapes, and if you haven’t tried them yet I strongly encourage you to go out and buy some. If you don’t know what to do with them you can always try these recipes Mighty Green Pasta with Garlic Scapes and Creamy Lemon Dill Sauce , Garlic Scape Soup,  Garlic Scape and Collard Green Pizza or make this socca!

So since Socca are French, I decided that for this particular recipe I wanted to use some French flavor pairings like Herbs de Provence, and Dijon Mustard, with a lot of greens and a nice bean spread. After some careful consideration I thought a simple classic hummus would taste fantastic spread over socca, and so that’s how this recipe was born. It’s an interesting amalgamation of flavors and somehow they all work beautifully together. Try it and See, I think you’ll be just as happy as we were with the finished result.

Garlic Scape Socca with Hummus and Steamed Greens in Balsamic Dijon Vinaigrette

Socca 

8 Garlic Scapes sliced
1/4 red onion diced
3 Tbsp Capers
1 ½ C chickpea flour
1 ½ C water
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Herbs de Provence
½ tsp Smoked Paprika
½ tsp White Pepper
Sea Salt to taste

Greens 

1 Bunch Kale
1 Bunch Arugula
2 ½ Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 ½ Tbsp Maple Syrup

1 Recipe Classic Hummus  or Hummus of your choice

For the Socca -

- Preheat the Oven to 425'F

- Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Make a well in the center and add the water and stir to combine into a smooth batter. Add the sliced garlic scapes, red onion, and capers. Stir to combine.

- Lightly oil a cast iron skillet, then heat it over medium high heat. When the skillet is hot, pour in the batter and let it cook for 1 minute.

- Remove the skillet from the heat, and place it into the preheated oven. Cook for 20 minutes or until the socca is dry and pulling away slightly from the edges. Let the Socca cool for ten minutes then slice into quarters or eighths.

For the Greens - 

- Fill a medium sized pot with an inch or two of water. Fit with a steamer basket and place the greens inside. Steam lightly for 3-5 minutes until the greens are wilted but the kale still has a bit of texture. Transfer mixture to a bowl.

- Combine the Balsamic Vinegar, Dijon Mustard, and Maple Syrup in a bowl. Whisk until smooth then pour over the steamed greens.

Assembly - 

- Spread a generous amount of humus on each slice of Socca, and top with a generous amount of the steamed greens/ Then enjoy.

- Alternately, you can spread the humus over the socca, and eat the steamed greens on the side as a salad. It’s up to you, but it all tastes great mixed together!

PS: Apologies for the pictures, I know it's kind of hard to see the socca because I really loaded up my plate with the steamed greens. That's the way it's suppose to be though right? 

Spaghetti Squash Pasta with Quickie Marinara...

On these bitterly cold winter nights pasta always seems like the perfect dinner idea. It’s warm, steaming, slathered in rich tomato sauce, and it’s filling. What could be better? But maybe you find yourself feeling as I did recently, wanting - no craving - Spaghetti but not wanting all the carbs, calories, and gluten that comes with eating a big bowl of pasta. Well, I have just the thing. Spaghetti Squash! I know, it sounds crazy, but stick with me for a second. Spaghetti Squash is a great pasta substitute! Lets face it, noodles - especially the horrible for you white flour kind - have little to no taste anyway. When it comes to a good bowl of pasta it’s the sauce and the texture that make the dish good. It’s the toppings you drizzle over it that make it amazing. No one eats a bowl of noodles plain, nobody. Nobody that I know anyway. It’s all about the sauce, and with a good sauce a bowl of spaghetti squash not only tastes like pasta it looks like it too, and has a similar texture.

So, Spaghetti Squash makes a fantastic substitute and the best part about it is that it’s super low in both fat and calories. One cup of spaghetti squash only has 33 calories compared to 1 cup of spaghetti which has 221 calories. You could eat the entire squash if you wanted and you’d still only get about 165 calories! As for fat, an entire spaghetti squash only has 25 calories of fat, that’s pretty amazing! Now I am certainly not the first - or the only - person to jump on the idea of using squash as pasta. If you Google it I’m sure you can find dozens of recipes, and I’ve come across various ones in books and on blogs over the years but it wasn’t until recently that I decided to try it for myself. You see, I was always skeptical. I like squash, but spaghetti squash has never been my favorite and so I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. Even after all the rave reviews I’ve read of it I was still a skeptic. Then I saw spaghetti squash on sale, and since I’d been craving pasta I thought to myself “why not give it a try?” I mean really, what was the worst that could happen? I wouldn’t like it? No big deal. I’ve been trying to eat on the lighter side lately and so the idea of squash as pasta instead of bogging down my gut with a bunch of heavy noodles really appealed to me.

I suppose I needn’t have worried because it turned out so good I’m amazing it took me so long to try it in the first place. The Squash was delicate and subtly sweet, and when scraped into the bowl it looked just like angel hair pasta. Covered in a delicious marinara and topped with fresh herbs and a dusting of nutritional yeast it was hard to tell the difference between what I had in front of me and a traditional bowl of pasta. My husband and I ate an entire squash each, and by the time we’d consumed our bowls we felt full, and satiated but not bogged down like we often do when we eat pasta. So I strongly suggest you give this delicious meal a try and see how you like it.

Spaghetti Squash Pasta with Quickie Marinara

2 Small-Medium Sized Spaghetti Squash

Quickie Marinara 

1 28oz Can Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
1 6oz Can Tomato Paste + 6oz water
1 tsp Olive Oil
10 Garlic Cloves Minced
1 White Onion diced
1 C Diced Mushrooms (I used Cremini)
2 tsp Dried Basil
2 tsp Dried Oregano
½ tsp Garlic Powder (Optional if you like your Marinara a little extra garlicky)
½ tsp Sea Salt
Black Pepper to taste
1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
Fresh Basil Minced to garnish
Fresh Parsley Minced to garnish
Nutritional Yeast to garnish (optional)

- Preheat Oven to 450'F

- Lightly spray a large baking dish with cooking spray and place the squash inside it. Bake uncovered for 45-60 minutes until the squash is tender and easily pierced with a fork.

- Remove the Squash from the oven and cut in half. Let stand on the counter for 5-10 minutes to cool.

- Remove the seeds from the squash and discard or save to roast. You can do this with a fork or by hand.

- Once all seeds are removed use a fork to scrape out all of the squash. Divide amongst two (or more) serving bowls and top with marinara, fresh herbs and nutritional yeast or Vegan Parm if desired.

- To make the Quickie Marinara blend the fire roasted tomatoes and the tomato paste in a blender till smooth and then set aside.

- Heat olive oil over medium and add the onions. Saute until they begin to turn soft. Roughly 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and mushrooms. Saute until the garlic is fragrant and the mushrooms are soft and they begin releasing their juice. Roughly 5-7 minutes.

- Add in the blended tomato mixture, the basil, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine then lower the heat and let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add in the balsamic vinegar and stir to combine.

- When squash is ready, spoon the marinara over top and sprinkle over the fresh herbs and nutritional yeast.

Enjoy!

Garlic Scape and Collard Green Pizza...

There are few things better then a truly good pizza, and I’ve made plenty of tasty pizza’s in my life, but this one beats them all by a thousand miles. The flavors in this pizza are out of this world amazing! It’s truly amazing what you can create when you’re making every effort to use every last bit of fresh produce in your fridge. Collard greens, tomatoes, and non-dairy cheese were all staring at me yesterday afternoon threatening to spoil unless I used them before vacation. A quarter of a jar of garlic and green onion olive oil had been sitting on my counter for the better part of a month. A jar of sun-dried tomatoes sat nearly empty in my fridge, and I had just purchased 4 bunches of garlic scapes from my local grocery.

I was not suppose to buy groceries this week, but when I saw that scapes were back in season I knew I’d have to have them before I left, because by the time I get back they’ll surely be gone. It was a total impulse by, and my stomach not my brain was responsible. When I got them home, I thought “What am I going to do?” I have hardly anything left in my fridge. I stared down the contents of my fridge for a good long while and then the above mentioned ingredients started calling to me. They started saying “pizza, pizza, piiiizzzzaaaa!” Until I just had to listen.

Though this was my own idea, I was skeptical at first. Collard greens on a pizza? I’d never hear of such a thing, and collards - love them though I do - are just one of those things that one immediately identifies with ‘health food’ not pizza. Still, I decided it was better to try and fail and have to through the collards out because dinner was terrible, vs throwing the collards out because they went bad. I can not tell you how amazed I was by the end result. This is literally the best pizza I have ever made, perhaps even the best pizza I have ever eaten and I do not say that lightly. We’re talking mind-blowing, mouth-watering, tastebud-tickling good, so good that you’ll crave it! Even my husband, a pizza eating fanatic said it was one of the best pizza’s he’d ever eaten, and last night he simply couldn’t get enough of it!

Instead of sauce I decided to coat the crust in home-made garlic and green onion infused olive oil. I wanted a lighter, cleaner tasting pizza, and wasn’t in the mood for a heavy acidic tomato based sauce. Of course if you’re anti-oil this may not be the pizza for you, but you can control how much oil you brush onto the crust. You don’t have to go overboard and if you’re only eating a slice or two it’s really not all that bad. You can of course try it with a tomato based sauce though I can’t grantee that it’ll taste at all the same. The infused oil is highly recommend. Also though I list the non-dairy cheese as optional I highly recommend that too. I used Daiya’s Garlic Jalapeno Havarti which was amazing and really kicked the pizza up to a new level, but you could use vegan mozzarella if that’s all you can find. Remember though to use just a little bit, you want it more as a garnish than anything else, the pizza shouldn’t be dripping with it. Just sprinkle on enough that you get a few good bites of it per slice. On it’s own the pizza is hearty and filling, but to make it even more of a meal you could serve it with a nice side salad and perhaps even a glass of red wine if wine is your thing. However you serve it, just be sure to enjoy it! And trust me when I say this comes together a lot quicker then the length of the recipe may imply. Also the topping can be made ahead and saved till needed, which makes it that much easier!

Garlic Scape and Collard Green Pizza 

Topping 

2 Leeks white and light green parts only sliced thin
2 bunches collard greens chopped into bite size pieces
3 Roma tomatoes sliced thin
1-2 Bunches garlic scapes sliced into 1 inch lengths
Garlic and Green Onion infused Olive Oil for brushing ***
1/8 C Shredded non-dariy cheese (optional)
10-15 sun-dried tomatoes sliced into strips
Rosemary sea salt ***
Fresh Black pepper to taste (Optional)
1 ½ Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar to drizzle over top

Dough

2 1/4 C All Purpose Flour
1 ½ Whole Wheat Flour
1 pack active dry yeast
1 C warm water
3/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Preheat Oven to 400'F

- Water Saute leeks, collard greens, and garlic scapes in large pan over medium-high heat. Saute about 10 minutes until veggies are tender and all the water has been absorbed. You want the mixture to be a bit dry. Transfer to a bowl when finished and set aside, or if making ahead refrigerate until ready to use.

- To make the dough, combine all purpose and whole wheat flour, and salt in a food processor and pulse to incorporate.

- Combine Active Dry Yeast with Warm water and set aside for five minutes

- Drizzle the olive oil into the food processor and add the yeast/water mixture. Process until mixture forms a cohesive dough. If the dough is too moist or sticky add in more flour until you’ve reached your desired consistency.

- Remove the dough from the food processor, shape into a ball and set aside to rest for 10 minutes.

- After the dough has sat, you can either divide it to make two smaller thin crust pizzas or leave it as is to make one large regular crust pizza.

- Flour a clean work surface and flour a rolling pin. Gently roll dough out into a large circle. Start with the edge closest to you and roll the dough outwards in a circular motion. Flip the dough over and continue rolling outwards in a circle. Flip the dough one more time and continue to roll outwards until the circle is large enough to fit your pizza pan.

- Lightly grease your pizza pan with some non-stick cooking spray. Then gently transfer your pizza dough to the pan. There should be excess dough flowing over the edge of the pan. Roll it up to form a crust around the edge of the pan. Trim some off as needed if the excess is too much.

- Poke your pizza dough with the tings of a fork a few times. Then brush the dough with a generous amount of garlic and green onion olive oil (or regular olive oil) make sure to brush both the base of the dough as well as the crust.

- Place pan in preheated oven and cook for 10-15 minutes until dough is firm. Remove from the oven.

- Brush with a little more garlic and green onion oil, then layer sliced Roma tomatoes around the crust. Evenly distribute the collard green, leek and garlic scape mixture over top of the tomatoes. There will be a lot but that’s okay, pile it all one and spread it as evenly as possible.

- Next scatter the sun-dried tomato strips over top of the pizza, and the shredded non-dairy cheese if using.

- Finish the pizza by drizzling the balsamic vinegar over top, sprinkling with Rosemary sea salt and a few twists of a black pepper mill.

- Return the pizza to the oven and bake for 15 or so minutes until the cheese has melted, and the edges of the crust begin to golden.

- Slice and serve hot with a bowl of garlic and green onion olive oil dotted with balsamic vinegar for dipping your pizza crusts! Enjoy!

*** Note - The Garlic and Green Onion Olive Oil is super easy to make and tastes amazing on this pizza. If you prefer you can use regular olive oil, but this oil really does kick the pizza up a notch and infuses it with such great flavor. I highly recommend it, especially since it’s so easy. All you do is pour 2 cups of olive oil in a mason jar. Add 1 cup of sliced green onions (just the green parts) ½ cup of finely minced parsley or basil (or a mixture of both) a pinch of sea salt, and 10-12 garlic cloves finely minced. Screw a lid on tight, give it a good shake then leave it on your kitchen counter for 24 hours to let the flavors develop. So delicious! ***

*** Note - Rosemary Sea Salt is easy to make. All you need is fresh Rosemary springs and sea salt. Remove the Rosemary leaves from the stems and grind in a food processor. Then add to a shaker with an equal (or slightly less) amount of sea salt. Use on everything because it tastes delicious! ***

*** Note - This pizza is only soy-free if you use a soy-free non-dairy cheese.*** 

Seared Tempeh with Blackberry Shallot Reduction...

Something amazing happened in my kitchen last night, and I’ve been dying to tell you about it!  
                   
But first, it all started with a trip to the grocery store. While I was doing my weekly shopping I saw that blackberries were on sale. Being a big lover of the blackberry and not having had them all winter I decided to pick up a couple of cartons. However once I got them home I realized I didn’t quite know what to do with them. I could have eaten them by themselves of course but as much as I love blackberries I have to admit their seeds are more then just mildly annoying. Especially for me, with my mouthful of fillings. I thought about putting them in a smoothie but considering the price of fresh blackberries - on sale or not - it seemed like a waste when I could have easily made a blackberry smoothie with frozen berries for cheaper. Unable to think much beyond that I decided to enlist the help of my numerous cook books, surely somewhere in those pages I could find a recipe.

Unfortunately virtually every recipe I came across that utilized blackberries had them in dessert. I definitely wasn’t interested in making a dessert. The few recipes I found that didn’t make a pie, crumble, cake, or bar out of them used them in sweet breakfast dishes like pancakes, or oatmeal - another thing I didn’t want to do. - While a few more had them tossed into salads or made into salad dressings. I briefly thought about making the blackberries into a salad dressing and then decided against it, that’s not at all what I wanted.

What I wanted was a savory blackberry dish. A dish that could be simple and light, or hearty depending on my mood. Something that would scream spring and yet feel comforting, so I thought long and hard about it. I thought about everything I know about cooking, and food pairing, and somewhere along the line I was reminded of some recipes I’d come across in my pre-vegetarian days. Recipes I’d never got around to making myself, but had piqued my interest for their oddness. There seems to be no shortage of roasted meat recipes dredged in blackberry sauce amongst omnivore gourmands, and minus the meat - of course - that seemed like exactly what I was after.

Now all I needed was to figure out what to use as the vehicle for the sauce I planned on making. As luck would have it my fridge is currently stocked both with tofu and tempeh as I bought several packages of each when they were on sale. After weighing the merits of both, I decided to use tempeh because of it’s firmness and robust flavor. Once I had my vehicle picked out all I needed was to figure out what sort of sauce I wanted to make, and how to go about it. This turned out to be a lot easier then I initially expected, and the result was out of this world.

Seriously, this is probably the most delicious, amazing, mind-blowing meal I’ve eaten in a while. Everything about it delights the senses, and the flavors mingle so well that they truly dance across the tongue. Who would have thought that tempeh and blackberry would pair so beautifully! I know this is a meal I will be making over, and over and over again, and I hope you do as well.

Seared Tempeh with Blackberry Shallot Reduction

1 8 oz pack of garden vegetable Tempeh cut into strips***

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
6 Cloves Garlic Minced
1-2 tsp Fresh Grated Ginger
2 Shallots finely diced
1 C Red Wine
1/4 C Balsamic Vinegar
2 ½ Tbsp Granulated Sugar
6-8oz Fresh Blackberries halved or quartered if large
1/4 tsp Dried Crushed Rosemary
½ tsp Ground Thyme
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper and Sea Salt to taste

- Fill a medium sized pot with enough water to cover the bottom. Place a steamer basket inside and add the tempeh. Cover and steam for 10 minutes until Tempeh is tender.

- Heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Once tempeh has done steaming add it to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes then flip and cook for another 5 minutes or until both sides of each piece of tempeh is a nice dark golden brown. Remove seared tempeh to a plate lined with paper towel to remove excess oil.

- In small to medium sized saucepan saute garlic, ginger, and shallot in remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil. About 10 minutes until fragrant and shallot becomes translucent.

- Add red wine, balsamic vinegar, and blackberries. Cover and bring to a boil. Let boil 5 minutes then uncover and let boil another 10 minutes.

- By this time blackberries should be beginning to break down. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for another 15-25 minutes or until liquid has thickened and reduced by roughly a third.

- Arrange your seared tempeh over a bed of Micro Greens (or Wild Field Greens) then top with the blackberry sauce.

I think this tasted amazing over Micro Greens and the extra sauce doesn’t get wasted because it serves as a salad dressing. Perfect for a light spring or summer meal. However if it’s heartier fare your after I think this would go quite well with a scoop of mashed potatoes or perhaps some roasted potatoes. Although I haven’t tried it out yet myself, I’m quite eager to! However way you serve it, I hope you enjoy!

*** Note - You can use regular tempeh or any other flavor tempeh you like if you don’t have or can’t find the garden vegetable variety. If you can find it though I highly recommend it because it gives the tempeh a really nice additional flavor. My husband and I think the garden vegetable variety when seared or fried has a flavor mildly reminiscent of fried chicken, without all the grease or the animal-cruelty. It really did pair beautifully with the sauce.***

The Joy of Pickling...

Pickling. It’s a process that’s always intrigued me, which I suppose is ironic considering I never much cared for pickled food aside from sushi ginger, pickles and pickled beets. When I first began my culinary adventures in earnest five years ago the fact that I didn’t like pickled food seemed inconsequential, I wanted to learn how to pickle. Of course back then I wanted to learn how to do everything! Everything in the culinary world was new, and amazing to me, and I wanted to achieve it all. I’ve mentioned before that I essentially taught myself how to cook by borrowing stacks upon stacks of cook books from my local library. Well amongst those stacks were several books on canning and pickling. Both practices that fascinated me.

It seemed such a quaint and old fashioned thing to do, but at the same time I thought of it as being a very economical idea. I’ve always been partial to the thought of having a pantry stocked with good, nutritious food that I’d grown, preserved and canned myself. I remember reading the Barbara Kingslover book "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral" and thinking "I want to do that!" Minus the raising and slaughtering of livestock of course. Being a passionate environmentalist I want to live as sustainable and self-sufficiently as possible, growing and preserving my own food is definitely a step in the right direction. However, five years ago when I read my first book on preserving, pickling and canning I felt a bit overwhelmed. Well overwhelmed may be an understatement. Not only was everything I was reading entirely new to me, but I didn’t understand half of it, and what I did understand sounded complicated. How could I be sure I wouldn’t die from botulism? I was neither confident nor skilled enough in the kitchen to embark on such a journey.

Fast forward to now. This week as I mentioned yesterday I’m eating simple, light, mostly raw foods in an attempt to re-balance my body. Flipping through my various cook books, - some raw some not - I came across several recipes I felt I absolutely must try. One of them is Chad Sarno’s recipe for Beet Ravioli that appears in Tal Ronnen’s book "The Conscious Cook." One of the components to the recipe is Pickled Balsamic Figs. Another component is Green Garlic Oil, which is essentially olive oil infused with garlic, and green herbs. I’ve been curious to try this recipe for forever but the raw aspect, combined with the pickling the infused oil and the cultured cashew cheese had me feeling a little intimidated. Until now. I made the figs and oil Monday, and not only was it super easy but I’ve already tried one of the figs and they’re delicious. I’m actually making the full dish tonight for dinner - and I’ll let you know how it turns out - but the simplicity of that one experience eased my fears about pickling.

It’s easy! So easy. All you need are some clean mason jars - or old pasta sauce jars - some vinegar, a bit of salt/sugar and whatever you want to pickle. It really is as simple as that, and I don’t know why I was always so concerned about it. I had so much fun Monday, that today I decided to pickle my own sushi ginger. I love sushi ginger so much and use it in abundance when eating sushi but to buy pickled ginger at the store is ridiculous. Almost $4 for 4oz, when I can buy 2 pounds of ginger root for less then $1 and make my own? No brainer right? So very excitedly this morning I decided to use Ani Phyo’s recipe for pickled ginger from her book "Ani’s Raw Food Asia" and it should be ready in about a week.

I’ve been feeling so good over the past few days that I’ve decided I definitely want to eat more raw over the summer, and I think pickling is going to be a great thing to do. Next up I’m going to try pickled daikon, and after that maybe kimchi. I’ve really gotten a great sense of satisfaction and joy out of the two things I’ve pickled so far, plus the infused oil. It’s given me a real positive lift, and it’s nice to finally be able to upcycle all those pasta sauce jars that have been floating around the house. So stay tuned for more pickling stories and seriously, give it a try yourself. You won’t believe just how easy and fun it is!

Valentine’s Day Rotini with Roasted Beets, Spinach, Red Onion and Sun-Dried Tomatoes...

As promised my Valentine’s Day Rotini recipe. As I mentioned yesterday this came about after a lot of stress, searching and frustration. I wanted to make a dish that was both simple yet elegant. I wanted to make a dish that embodied the spirit of love and romance associated with Valentine’s Day, and I wanted to utilize the beets I had sitting in my crisper drawer. Unfortunately despite all my frantic searching I couldn’t find any creative or inspiring beet recipes, or V-day recipes in general - well not ones that fit my criteria anyway.

Everything was strawberry dessert this, chocolate raspberry dessert that. Pages upon pages of recipes for roasted beets and borscht served as a side dish or afterthought rather then a show stopping main, assaulted me as I scanned the internet. Not to mention virtually every "Valentine’s Day" recipe I came across seemed utterly lacking in romance. I’m sorry but Seitan Parmesan doesn’t scream love to me, it just doesn’t. Spaghetti and marinara isn’t romantic it’s economical! Not to bash these dishes, which are delicious if it’s what you’re in the mood for, but come on! Valentine’s only comes once a year, and even though it’s a stilly, bull-shit, Hallmark holiday, that doesn’t mean you and your loved ones can’t make it your own and make it something special. That’s what I do. In honesty there isn’t a single holiday - Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Hanukkah, Halloween, Labor Day etc.... - that hold any real deep sentimental or significant meaning for me. Not culturally, not religiously. I love holidays, but not because society tells me I should, and not because someone somewhere hundreds or thousands of years ago supposedly did something significant. I love them because they give you an excuse to really go all out and do something extra special. Sometimes I do this anyway, but it’s always nice to have a ‘special occasion’ to back it up with. Holidays whether big or small are a great time to spend with the ones you love, and to shower them with a little extra love. You don’t have to buy the hype, but you don’t have to be a miserable old cynic either. So it’s that desire that was driving me to want to do something lovely for my beloved.

Though pasta doesn’t normally scream romance to me, I figured since I finally settled on an Italian appetizer I may as well make an Italian inspired main dish to go along with it. After all it would be pretty silly if I made caponata to start and say a red coconut curry to follow, or a red lentil dahl. It made the most sense to stay within one culinary tradition, so pasta it was. The beauty of pasta - besides the economical factor - is that it really is versatile. It’s like a good pair of jeans you can dress them down with a t-shirt or dress them up with a blouse. With pasta you can ‘dress it down’ with marinara or olive oil, or make it fancy with just a little thought and effort. With this dish I tried to stay within the color tradition of Valentine’s day by trying to use pink, purple and red foods but I threw a little spinach in, both for a colorful pop and a bit of added nutrition. This dish worked out so well, and it far exceeded my expectations. My guests were just as impressed as myself, and everyone went back for seconds which I consider to be the highest compliment.

However the thing I love most about this dish, - which was entirely unintentional - the thing that really tickles me about it and puts a little smile on my face is that the beets turned the pasta a lovely shade of pink! How perfect is that for Valentine’s Day? Perhaps Aphrodite the dear goddess of love was smiling down on my kitchen on Tuesday.

Valentine’s Day Rotini with Roasted Beets, Spinach, Red Onion and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Roast Beets

3 Beets peeled and cubed
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
½ tsp Crushed Rosemary
½ tsp Dried Dill
1 tsp Dried Basil
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to Taste
1 Packet Stevia (Optional)

Pasta

2 lb Whole Wheat Rotini (or Gluten-Free)
2 Bunches Spinach, trimmed, washed and patted dry
1 Large Red Onion sliced in half moons
10-12 Garlic Cloves minced
10 Oil-Packed Sun-dried Tomatoes chopped or sliced
1/4 C Olive Oil
1/4 C Vegetable Broth
2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
3-4 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1-2 Packets Stevia (Optional)
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
Garlic Powder to taste (Optional if you want an extra garlicky kick)

- Preheat oven to 400'F (200'C) To make the beets peel and cube them into roughly ½ inch cubes. Place in a baking dish. Combine oil, vinegar, stevia and spices in a bowl and stir until well combined. Pour over beets and toss to coat. Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven and roast for 45-60 minutes until beets are nice and tender and most of the liquid has absorbed.

- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain when finished and then return to pot and cover until ready to use.

- Heat a tsp of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat and add the sliced onion and minced garlic. Saute for 5-7 minutes until fragrant and onion becomes translucent. Add sun-dried tomatoes and stir to combine. Saute another 3-4 minutes.

- Add the spinach to the pan, cover and let steam a couple of minutes. Remove the lid then gently stir to combine the spinach. Careful so that nothing topples over the rim of the pan continue to stir the spinach into the onion-garlic-tomato mixture until the spinach has wilted and cooked down. Be careful not to overcook it though. You don’t want spinach mush! Add the roasted beets which should be down at this point, with any pan juices and stir until just incorporated.

- Next, in a bowl combine the 1/4 C Olive oil with the 1/4 Vegetable broth, tomato paste, vinegar, salt and pepper and garlic powder and stevia if using. Whisk together until well blended.

- Carefully add the sauteed vegetables into the pot with your reserved pasta, and pour in half of the sauce mixture. Stir until thoroughly combined. If the pasta looks a little dry add the remainder of the sauce and stir until well combined. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

*** Note - You can make the beets hours in advance if you like then just cover and refrigerate them until ready to use. This makes throwing dinner together later a lot quicker. Also as far as the sauce goes I only ended up using maybe ½-3/4 of it because I didn’t want the pasta to be overly saucy. However everyone’s tastes are different so feel free to use as much or as little as you like. Also it must be said that this dish was developed to feed about 5 people. If you don’t need to feed that many people feel free to decrease the ingredients by half or however best suits your family.***

*** Note - Gluten-Free if using GF Rotini***

Wine Roasted Portobello Mushrooms with Mesquite Wild Rice and Kale Stuffing...

Never judge a book by it’s cover, or a meal by it’s subsequent picture, looks can very often be deceiving. As is the case with my latest recipe creation. The picture is a bit horrendous I know, apologies! But it wasn’t the most photogenic dish to begin with, and my camera was very uncooperative yesterday. Though I took over a dozen pictures all but these two came out utterly blurry and totally useless. I’ve never before had such a bad shoot, but the shitty little cam I use most often for food photography really has been through the ringer. It’s been dropped countless times, bashed, smashed, fallen into sand and had beer spilled inside the battery slot. Some of the buttons have ceased to function and I’m beginning to think the focus is on the fritz now too. I think from now on I just might have to use my good high-tech cam for food photography, but since it’s so bulky I usually forget to bring it to the kitchen with me. I’ll have to start making a greater effort to remember it, I suppose.

Anyway, now that I’ve explained myself lets move onto the food shall we? Yesterday I was hit by a bundle of food cravings all at once. Generally when I get a craving for something it’s one dish in particular or one food in particular, not so yesterday. All of a sudden I was craving mushrooms, red wine sauce, Italian herbs, kale, sun-dried tomatoes and the smokey goodness of mesquite. I was practically salivating at the thought of sauteed kale, and mushrooms roasted in red wine, but how I wondered could I combine all these very specific ingredients into one tasty dish?

Stuffed mushrooms was the answer that came sounding back to me and from there all I had to do was figure out the cooking methods and the proportions. I had no idea whether or not this crazy culinary adventure would yield an edible result but I was determined to embark on it nonetheless. What finally emerged from my oven about an hour later stunned both my husband and I. The flavor of these mushrooms exceeded even my wildest expectations. A truly phenomenal blend of flavors from earthy mushrooms and robust wine, to tart vinegar and capers to sweet sun-dried toms and stevia. Enhanced with Italian herbs and smokey mesquite rice. A beautiful partnership, and absolutely mouth-wateringly delicious. We could barely stop ourselves eating long enough to actually look up at one another and engage in conversation. We cleaned our plates in a frenzy, then sat back satiated and smiling.

So disregard the picture that leaves a lot to be desired, and take my word for it when I tell you these mushrooms are to die for! Really, it’s one of the best things I’ve made - scratch that - eaten in a long time! So what are you waiting for? Get thee to thee kitchen, and enjoy!

Wine Roasted Portobello Mushrooms with Mesquite Wild Rice and Kale Stuffing

Rice -

1 1/4 C Wild Rice
2 1/4 C Vegetable Broth
1 1/4 - 2 tsp Sweet Mesquite Seasoning

Mushrooms -

4 Large Portobello Mushroom Caps
2/3 C Red Wine
1-2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
½ tsp Crushed Rosemary,
½ tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Dried Basil

Kale Stuffing -

2 tsp Olive Oil
10-12 Garlic Cloves finely minced
The mushroom stems diced fine
8-10 Oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes diced fine
2-3 Tbsp Capers with a bit of juice
1 Large Bunch Dinosaur Kale chopped into bite sized pieces
1-2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 Packet Stevia (optional)
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste

- First get your rice going. Wild Rice takes a bit longer then Brown so you want to start it first. If you have a rice cooker just combine all the ingredients together in it and turn it on. Otherwise combine all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil then reduce to simmer for about 45-60 minutes until rice is tender and all liquid is absorbed. If making the rice in a pot be sure to check on it now and again so it doesn’t burn and stick to the bottom.

- Set your oven to 350'F (175'C) Remove stems from your mushrooms and clean. Combine Wine, sugar and herbs in a bowl or measuring cup. Place mushrooms in a baking dish, then pour the wine mixture over top. Make sure some of the wine stays inside the caps while the rest covers the bottom of the dish.

- Place mushrooms in the oven and roast for 20-30 minutes until tender, and slightly smaller.

- Take the mushrooms out of the oven and using a slotted spoon remove the mushrooms from the dish and place into a colander over the sink to drain. Pour wine mixture into a bowl and reserve.

- Meanwhile, as your mushrooms are roasting and your rice is cooking put the olive oil into a large pan. Heat over medium then add the garlic. Saute for 2-3 minutes until fragrant and slightly golden. Add the mushroom and cook another 4-5 minutes until mushrooms begin to brown and become tender. Add sun-dried tomatoes and capers and cook another 2 minutes. Add kale, and the vinegar. If the mix is looking a little too dry you can also add in another tsp of olive oil if you like. Stir to combine then cover and let cook 2-3 minutes. Stir again and cook another 2-4 minutes until kale has wilted. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and add stevia if you like to balance out the tartness of the capers and vinegar.

- Your rice should be done by now. Remove it from the pot and pour it into the pan with the kale mixture. Stir until well combined.

- Place mushroom caps back into the baking dish, and carefully fill them with stuffing. Depending on the size of your caps you may have a little extra filling. That’s okay, it tastes amazing on it’s own so you can save it and eat it the next day or you can serve it alongside the mushrooms (as we did). Once the caps are stuffed as full as they can be, return the baking dish to the oven and bake about 5-10 minutes, just until everything is heated through.

- Plate the mushrooms and if you like drizzle a little bit of the reserved sauce over them. These mushrooms are so delicious and flavorful that you don’t need the extra sauce if you don’t want it, but a little drizzle is nice.

*** Note - If you don’t have wild rice you can use black or brown rice instead, though I really like the texture of wild rice and I think it’s crunchy/chewy consistency and nutty flavor work really well here. If you don’t have dinosaur kale also known as Lacinato kale you can use regular.***

Vegan Mofo #9 - Isa’s Everyday Chickpea-Quinoa Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette...

Vegan Mofo #9 - Isa’s Everyday Chickpea-Quinoa Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

The Book - "Appetite for Reduction"
The Author - Isa Chandra Moskowitz
The Recipe - Everyday Chickpea-Quinoa Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
Page # 16-17
Difficulty - Easy
Duration - Roughly 20 minutes if you prepare Quinoa in advance, 1 hour if you don’t.

Ugh! It’s been a busy hectic day. I’ve been operating in a whirlwind since 10am, preparing for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving celebrations. Canadian Thanksgiving is actually on October 10^th this year, however since we’re going to be on vacation at that time we decided to celebrate early. Thanksgiving is my hands down, absolute favorite holiday. It is the only holiday left that hasn’t been fully corrupted by commercialization or religion. At least Canadian Thanksgiving. American Thanksgiving I’ve noticed is a little more commercialized - people put giant blow up turkeys on their lawns here, and giant blow up pilgrims! What? - and a lot more religious. - The labeling of certain Thanksgiving ‘traditions’ as ‘Christian’ and praying before and/or after the meal, what? - Yet despite how much I love this holiday I always, always seem to forget each year just how much work it is. It’s very labor intensive for just one person, especially if you’re making your own pies from scratch as I do. Yikes! But let’s never mind all that right now. Today’s vegan mofo post will be about another salad, one of my favorite cook book salad recipes actually.

Isa’s Everyday Chickpea Quinoa Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette is fantastic! First of all I love chickpeas They are my favorite legume, and virtually any recepie that includes them just automatically gets my attention. I also love how simple and easy to prepare it is. There aren’t a lot of ingredients so there isn’t a lot of fuss. Yet it’s an immensely satisfying and filling salad full of wonderful complex flavors. I consider this the perfect meal to bring to work. I don’t know about you but a lot of times I don’t have time to prepare food before I leave, which leaves me hungry at work. Though I’m able to buy something vegan for lunch while at work I prefer to save the money and make my own lunch. So this salad is perfect, because if you prep the Quinoa and the dressing the night before you can throw this together in 10 minutes. It’s also great because if you keep the dressing in a separate container the salad will keep well at room temperatures for a couple of hours. Which is perfect for those of us who may not have refrigerators at work, or for those of us who don’t feel comfortable leaving our lunches in them.

Another great thing about this salad is that it uses quinoa. Quinoa is a grain I actually really love, though admittedly I don’t use it often in my cooking. One way or another I always fall back on brown rice or whole grain Cous cous, and sometimes feel at a loss as to what to make with that lovely 5 pound bag of quinoa in my pantry. This is perfect. You throw a couple of cups worth into your salad and you get the benefit of all that wonderful nutrition along with the delicate nutty flavor.

I’ve made this salad several times, and since I’m only making it for myself I usually cut the amount of quinoa down to 1 cup. 2 cups is just a bit too much for just me to eat. Otherwise I almost always do it according to the directions. Isa includes optional add-ons if you’re looking to make the salad a bit more hearty but I don’t usually add them in. I make the salad strictly the recipe way and love it. It never gets old. The dressing however I do tend to play around with, only because I find it’s too much vinegar for me. I don’t like anything to vinegary or too sweet and so I’m often playing around with the dressing to find that perfect happy medium.

It should also be noted that the dressing is made a lot easier and much smoother in a Vitamix, but I’m if you don’t mind a slightly more grainy dressing then I’m sure a regular blender or food processor would be okay.

PS: I just wish I had better pictures to share with you as these were taken rather in a hurry. I hope they capture just how wonderful this salad is!

Kale Salad with Fresh Figs and Roasted Balsamic Mushrooms...

This salad makes a nice simple meal that’s both delicious and filling. A perfect salad to enjoy during one of autumns warmer evenings. It also makes for a lovely presentation as a starter salad. The lemon juice, maple syrup, cherries, figs and mushrooms make for the perfect combination of sweet, savory and sour. Enjoy by candlelight, with soft music and a bottle of Pinot Noir.

Kale Salad with Fresh Figs and Roasted Balsamic Mushrooms

Salad

1 Bunch Kale
2 Carrots Julianne or grated
½ -1 large red pepper sliced thin
½ Large red onion sliced into thin half or quarter moons
Handful of dried Cherries
Handful of Sunflower Seeds
4-5 Fresh Figs Quartered
1 Batch Roasted Balsamic Mushrooms

4-6 Cloves Garlic finely minced
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2-3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1-2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
pinch sea salt and black pepper

Roasted Balsamic Mushrooms

20-25 small to medium Cremini Mushrooms
2-3 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1-2 Tbsp Olive Oil
½ tsp rubbed sage
½ tsp crushed Rosemary
1/4 tsp ground thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
5 garlic cloves minced fine
Dash of Agave (optional)

- First remove the stems from your mushrooms. You can keep them and use them or discard them. I kept mine. Then place mushrooms in sealable container along with minced garlic, vinegar, oil, agave and seasonings. Place in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours to marinate, turning once.

- When you’re ready to make your salad, preheat your oven to 400'F (202'C) then chop your kale into bite sized pieces and place in a large serving bowl. Add the olive oil, Lemon Juice, Maple syrup minced garlic, and pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Stir thoroughly until all kale is coated. Then set aside to marinate at room temperature.

- Lightly spray a small baking dish with non-stick spray. Dump your mushrooms along with the marinade into the dish and roast at 400'F (202'C) for roughly 20 minutes until mushrooms are nice and soft.

- While mushrooms are roasting prep your veggies but don’t add them to the kale just yet.

- When mushrooms are done remove them from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes so that they are still warm but cool enough to eat without burning yourself.

- Add Carrots, red pepper, red onion, dried cherries and sunflower seeds to the kale, mix to combine.

- Distribute salad evenly amongst two plates and add quartered figs. Use a slotted spoon to remove the cooled mushrooms from the roasting pan and place them onto the salads. At this point you can either discard the mushroom marinade or reserve it to drizzle a tsp’s worth over each salad.

- Serve and Enjoy!

Marinated Stuffed Mushrooms...

For the mushrooms lovers out there I’ve come up with another great stuffed mushroom recipe. It’s funny, considering I spent almost my entire life hating the fungi family I sure can’t seem to get enough of them these days. I’m still finicky over them of course, preferring certain kinds over others, and I’m pretty particular about the methods in which I like them prepared but I’d say all in all I’ve really come around.

I think these mushrooms in particular have a very intricate blend of flavors, the secret of which I’m sure is all in the marinating. It had never really occurred to me to marinate a mushroom unless I was planning on grilling it. That is until about a week and a half ago, when I ate a salad that had about a handful of cold balsamic marinated mushrooms in it. In the past that would have turned me off, popping a whole virtually naked mushroom into my mouth just wasn’t appealing to me. However my burgeoning affection for mushrooms convinced me to give the salad the benefit of the doubt. And who knew a small raw cremini mushroom could taste so good drizzled in a little bit of vinegar? Well, that got me thinking that those marinated mushrooms would probably be even better, stuffed and baked and I was right!

These little guys really are delicious, and they’re versatile too. Serve them as an appetizer a side, or over a plate of salad or greens. I chose to serve them over a bed of kale gently sauteed in a bit of garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. It was fantastic!

Marinated Stuffed Mushrooms

16-20 Cremini Mushrooms

Marinade

2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
½ tsp crushed Rosemary
1/4 tsp ground Sage
6 Sprigs fresh Oregano minced
4 Cloves Garlic finely minced
A pinch of Sea Salt and Black Pepper

Stuffing

4 Garlic Cloves
½ Large Red Onion
1 Large Carrot peeled chopped into thirds
1 C Soft Whole Wheat Breadcrumbs
½ C Panko Breadcrumbs
1 Tbsp Agave Nectar
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
2 Tbsp Vegetable Broth
2-3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp crushed Rosemary
1/4 tsp ground sage
1-2 tsp dried basil 1/8 tsp white pepper
sea salt to taste.

- Combine all marinade ingredients in sealable container, and add mushrooms. Shake well and place in refrigerator for 3-4 hours, returning once ever hour ro so to give the container a shake.

*** Note- Feel free to use Fresh chopped Rosemary if you have it on hand. I didn’t and so I used crushed but fresh always lends a bolder flavor ***

*** Note- Making your own soft whole wheat breadcrumbs is super easy. All you need to do is put a couple of slices of whole wheat bread into a food processor and process until it’s a fine powder. Super simple and a lot better then buying the pre-packaged kind, though if you wish you could use that instead. Though it won’t be quite the same. ***

- Pre-Heat oven to 400'F/204'C. Add a little water (or olive oil if you desire) to a small pan, and saute garlic and onion over medium heat until onion is soft and translucent and garlic is fragrant. Just use the tiniest amount of liquid for this because you don’t want the stuffing to be ‘wet’

- When the garlic and onions are ready transfer them to a food processor, along with all other ingredients
except Panko Breadcrumbs. Process until mixture is smooth and paste like. Moist but not wet. Taste for seasonings and adjust as needed. Stir in Panko by hand.

- Grease baking sheet with a little non-stick cooking spray. Then begin stuffing your mushrooms with your filling. Gently fill them as full as you desire without bursting them. Then line them up on the baking sheet and put them into the oven.

- Bake roughly 15-20 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and the top of the filling is a nice golden brown. Serve over a bed of sauteed greens and enjoy!

*** Note - How big your mushrooms are will determine how many you can fill. My mushrooms were rather big so I only had enough filling for about 16 if your mushrooms are considerably smaller you could get 20-30 out of the filling. I recommend medium sized mushrooms, not to small not to big.***