Lunch

Jan
23

Spicy Carrot “Noodles” with Black Lentil and Mixed Greens

When I saw these heirloom carrots, I knew I had to make them the star of a dish. So beautiful, they look like sunshine in a plate… and I sure need some sunshine now in this freezing New York winter 😉 I thought of making a Moroccan carrot salad with Harissa (which is a paste made of hot chillies), but I didn’t want a side dish. I was looking to make a salad that can pass as a meal by itself. It came out so good! Spicy carrot “noodles” and greens with the addition of black lentils- which made it a protein rich dish (for everyone asking “where do you get your protein?) even though there is protein in the carrots, the greens and in the pumpkin seeds. If you are concerned about protein or other nutrients you can check-out CRON-O-METER. It’s a site that calculates food nutritional values according to what you enter. I don’t really worry about it as long as I make sure to eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds. Variety is the key word here 🙂 and yes, it may be a little extra “work” peeling the carrots but doesn’t such a beautiful vegetable deserve the extra VIP treatment?…

Ingredients

8-10 Carrots washed and peeled

1 Can Cooked black lentils washed and drained

Juice of half a Lemon

1 ½ tsp. Harissa sauce

¼ tsp. Cumin

Salt and Black pepper

Olive oil

4-5 Cups Mixed greens (I used Baby Kale and Baby Arugula)

Handful of Dry roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Chopped Cilantro

Preparation

First make the dressing to marinade the lentils. Mix the Harissa sauce, lemon juice, oil and spices with the lentils first and set aside to let the lentils soak up the flavors.

Wash and start peeling the carrots keep on peeling them all the way to the end, until there’s nothing to peel. It’s best to use a “Y” shaped vegetable peeler to get wider “noodles”.

Blanch the carrots in boiling water for 1-3 minutes and drain -Or- sauté them very lightly in a little bit of oil, salt and pepper, just a few minutes to soften them. Be carful not to over cook so they will not get soggy.

To serve: on a large plate, place the greens first, carrot “noodles”, lentils and pumpkin seeds.

Drizzle the rest of the juice/dressing with cilantro on top.

Category: Blog, Easy & Simple, Gluten Free, Lunch, Recipies, Salads, Uncategorized

Dec
11

Homemade Hummus Spread with Baby Bella Mushrooms

Hummus is a must have staple in our kitchen, it’s always in the fridge and ready to use as a base for sandwiches, wraps or just like in this recipe – as a dip topped with mushrooms, served with fresh pita bread and chopped salad. Hummus is a Mediterranean spread/dip made from Garbanzo beans A.K.A Chic Peas, Tahini paste, lemon and spices. It is a good source of protein, calcium (in the Tahini) and is very satisfying.

I sometimes buy a good quality Hummus but prefer to make it myself from scratch. It takes 5 minutes on the clock to prepare, and yes, I did time myself (: I like to use the BPA-Free Tetra Pak® Garbanzo Beans or the BPA-Free Can (just like in my Mexican Black Bean Dip recipe). Sometimes I add a bunch of pitted olives into the food processor, for added zest, and make an Olive- flavored Hummus, which is absolutely De-Lish’!

Ingredients

1 Can or 1½ Cup Cooked Garbanzo beans (about 15oz)

1½-2 Tbsp. Tahini

2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice (Juice of ½ lemon)

1 tsp. Cumin

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt to taste

For the Mushroom Topping:

1 Pack Baby Bella Mushrooms, sliced ,stems off

Oilve Oil

Salt and Pepper

Chopped Parsley ,Scallion and Paprika for garnish

Preparation

Place all Hummus ingredients in a food processor and mix, add lemon juice and olive oil gradually, until it becomes paste like consistency. Taste and adjust to your liking.

If it’s too “dry”, I like to add a little bit of the sesame oil that’s at the top of the Tahini Jar. (It also adds more flavor).

You can add more lemon juice or water if it is still not as smooth as you like, add it gradually, a Tbsp at a time so it won’t be too “watery”.

Don’t forget to leave some whole chic peas on the side for later.

Sauté the mushrooms in oil for a few minutes, until soft, add salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, generously spread homemade Hummus on a plate. Drizzle olive oil on top, add mushrooms, chic peas and scallion. Decorate with paprika and parsley.

Get some fresh pita bread and start “wiping”…

Category: Blog, Dips and Spreads, Easy & Simple, Gluten Free, Lunch, Party, Recipies, Snacks, Uncategorized

Nov
14

Spaghetti Cardboard-O-Lognese

There are many kinds of meat substitutes and alternatives. The most common one is Seitan, which is a wheat protein and is the most versatile in its ability to “mock” meat. It comes in many textures and shapes. The Seitan that looks like ground meat is the easiest type to start with if you want to experiment. It is the closest in texture to ground meat.

I’ve found that there’s an assumption that meat “substitutes” taste like cardboard… but just like animal flesh doesn’t taste good by itself and needs to be flavored with spices and herbs (which come from plants), so does Saiten “meat”. Plus, I’d rather eat cardboard that tastes good and not eat the crushed body parts of a miserable dead cow.

If you haven’t noticed by now, I have a tendency to hide healthy ingredients in my daughter’s food. The “hidden treasure” in this recipe is the mashed acorn squash in the “Bolognese” sauce. When I made this dish for my daughter’s playdate guests it was a delicious success! The acorn adds sweetness, blends in perfectly in the sauce and the young vegetable detectives did not catch it. 😉

If you want to learn more about how to start and substitute, watch Colleen Patrick-Goudreau in her funny innovative lecture,

Ingredients

1 pack Spaghetti Pasta

1 medium Onion chopped

3 cloves Garlic minced

1 ripe Tomato

1 can crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup Vegetable Broth

2 packages Seitan (Cubed and Ground, I chopped them both more finely than packaged)

1/2 roasted mashed Acorn Squash (I used the other half from yesterday when I made this Red Lentil Patties recipe; you can use other mashed pumpkin or carrots, or anything that can add sweetness and can “disappear” in the red sauce).

3 Tbsp. Tomato Paste

1 Tbsp. Soy sauce

1 Tbsp. Brown Sugar (Optional)

1 tsp. Adobo Spice Mix (optional, I stick this stuff everywhere but you dont have to, just season as you like)

Sea Salt

1/2 tsp. Paprika

Olive Oil

Preparation

Cook the pasta according to package instructions, it’s important to salt the water. Drain the pasta and set aside until sauce is ready.

Start sautéing the onion and garlic in olive oil, add the ground Seitan. Stir occasionally for a few minutes until golden brown.

Add the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, chopped tomato, the mashed squash, brown sugar and spices. Cook until everything blends well. Add the vegetable broth to “open” the sauce. let it simmer for a few m ore minutes until it all comes together and the sauce has a nice color and you like the consistency.

Pour the sauce over the pasta and mix well let it soak in the sauce for a few minutes before serving.

Category: Easy & Simple, Kid Friendly, Lunch, Recipies, Uncategorized, Whole Meal

Oct
15

Penne A La Cherry Vodka

Traditionally, Penne Alla-Vodka has a pink creamy sauce. What gives the sauce its pink color is the tomato sauce mixed with heavy cream. These days, “Heavy cream” means something else for me. It means heavy cow’s udders, udders that will never comfort and nourish a baby cow because in the dairy industry cows are separated from their babies right after birth and the calfs are thrown into a small cage the size of their body. The mother cows are then “milked” by painful machines, so humans could steal their milk and drink it in their coffee or make heavy creams. Sad but true, I know it doesn’t have to be like that. We can have delicious nutritious food without it.

If you feel like you need a drink now… I’ve got your fix… how about Cherry Vodka? Well, not really for getting drunk but more for depth of flavors, most of the alcohol evaporates during cooking anyway, so don’t worry! it’s Ok to give it to the kids, worse case scenario they’ll go to sleep early. Just kidding, just kidding… (;

The ‘Cherry’ part in the Penne Alla ‘Cherry Vodka’ was an honest mistake which turned out to be a good mistake. I opened the freezer, picked up the bottle of Vodka without looking at it too much. Later I remembered that alcohol is not always vegan, I ran back into the kitchen to check and only then I realized it was a Cherry Vodka. Oh well, too late, it was already in the pan making friends with tomatoes and cashews. Also, technically tomatoes and cherries are both fruits right? so why not? it works for me… I was happy to find out that it was indeed a vegan Vodka, which made it even more tastier now 🙂 If you want to find out if an alcohol beverage is vegan, you can check it on this site: http://www.barnivore.com

For the ~~Heavy~~ Happy cream I used cashew butter mixed in with unsweetened soy milk, If you can’t find cashew butter it’s easy to make a simple cashew cream/”milk” from scratch. (see below)

Ingredients

1 Pack Penne Pasta (about 16 oz.)

2 Cups Crushed Tomatoes (I used San Marzano 28 oz. can)

1 Tbsp. Tomato Paste

4 Tbsp. Cashew Butter (Or ¼ Cup raw cashews: see below)

1 Cup Unsweetened Soy Milk

3-5 Cloves Garlic

2 Tbsp. Cherry Vodka

1 tsp Oil

1 tsp. Dried Basil

Salt & pepper to taste

Preparation

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water according to the directions on the package, (about 9 minutes to get it ‘Al-Dente’) Drain and set aside (do not wash the pasta!)

In a saucepan add the garlic and oil, sauté for 2 minutes.

Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, cashew butter, soy milk, cherry Vodka, basil, salt and pepper.

Stir in more water or soy milk if it’s too thick.

Cook for about 15 minutes and pour over the pasta to serve.

If you prefer to make the cashew cream from scratch:

Soak ¼ Cup raw cashews for 2-4 hours in water. Wash and drain. In a high-speed blender, place the cashews and ¾ Cup of soy milk or water and blend until creamy, add into the tomato sauce. (Instead of the cashew butter and soy milk).

Category: Blog, Easy & Simple, Kid Friendly, Lunch, Recipies

Oct
10

Sweet Green Split Pea Soup

This recipe is a “Phone recipe” I got from my mom. It’s the kind you don’t get with accurate measures. “Add a little bit of this, a bunch of that and cook until it’s ready”… which is fine here, there is room for adjustments anyway. You can play with the spices, the amount of liquid and the vegetables and it will still be delicious!

As a child, I did not appreciate it as much but now even the smell of it reminds me of Home Sweet Pea Home. It’s so interesting how senses like smell and taste are connected to memories. Winter, coming home from school straight to the kitchen table… that is my childhood pea soup memory. Plus, my hubby said it’s the best soup he ever tasted, but then again, he says that about everything I cook 😉

The soup tends to get very thick when it gets cold, so just add water and it’s good for the next day too.