Chopped Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing

I went to an Eat Like a Yogi vegan cooking class about six months ago with Siri Bani Kaur of Kundalini Yoga Boston. Most of the dishes were also raw. To be honest, I wasn't expecting to like the food as much as I did but everything was great. The Kale Salad recipe was so delicious that I've adapted it, and the tahini dressing slightly, and made it several times since the class.

Chopped Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing, adapted from Siri Bani Kaur's recipe
Kale Salad
1 bunch of kale
3 medium carrots
1 avocado
1 pint of grape or cherry tomatoes
1 English cucumber
1 small red onion, finely diced
~ 2 c cooked quinoa, optional

Tahini Dressing
1/4 c Tahini
2 T Brewer's yeast
2 cloves garlic, pressed
juice from 2 lemons
3 T extra-virgin olive oil, to taste
1/2 t sea salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste
3 T water, or as needed

This recipe makes a huge amount, so make it when you have guests (or decrease the ingredients). It will last for a few days, but because everything is raw, you'll want to enjoy it quickly.

Chop the ingredients for the kale salad into bite-sized pieces and place in large bowl (I use the largest bowl I have or a large cooking pot); add the quinoa. Gently mix together so you don't mash the avocado.

For the dressing, mix all ingredients except the water. Add the water a little at a time, until you get the consistency you like. Add the dressing to the vegetables and stir gently.

Enjoy!

the easiest way to cut up an avocado...slice top to bottom
and then across...

and then scoop out with a spoon

all of the chopped up veggies

kale is washed and ready to be chopped into bite-sized pieces

the quinoa cooks while I chop up the veggies

ready to mix everything together

the tahini sauce is ready too

pour the sauce over the vegetable-quinoa mix and stir gently

done...so healthy and delicious!

served with some french bread crostini

yum!!

Bye for now...

Carrotcake Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

I made these cupcakes a couple of years ago for my birthday and they were SO good. The frosting alone is amazing...I think I could just eat the frosting on its own. It is cream cheesey, orangey, and sweet. So delicious.
I think the Carrotcake Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting came out much better this time. I added more spices, added raisins, and used more butter than oil (I ran out of oil so had to improvise). I also used a larger shredder for the carrots so the pieces were larger and more noticeable in the finished cupcake. I really liked the addition of the raisins, and more butter was nice too. I think using more melted butter versus all oil made the batter thicker, more like a cake batter, instead of thinner like it was last time. The cupcakes lasted almost a week (unfrosted), covered on the kitchen counter. I kept the frosting in the fridge and scooped a bit out as needed, letting it warm to room temperature before using.

The recipe is 24-Karat Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Icing from Flo Braker's Baking for All Occasions (page 239).

mise en place for the cupcakes

the smell of the orange zest (for the frosting) was divine

a food processor made grating the carrots a breeze

the cupcake batter: adding the melted butter

nearly there...you can see all of the spices...yum!

the carrots, raisins, and walnuts get added last

beautiful!

I like to use a scoop so the batter is evenly distributed

ready to bake

done! They smell so delicious.

making the cream cheese frosting

for flavoring the frosting: I used orange zest, freshly squeezed
orange juice, and a few drops of pure orange oil

the softened cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar are beaten

the orange juice and vanilla are added...so smooth and silky!

finally the orange zest is added...so delicious!

cooled and frosted

I'd better just try one before serving them

ready for company...yum!

Bye for now...

Lentil & Split Pea Stew

Toward my effort at healthy eating, here is a Lentil & Split Pea Stew I made a few months ago. I was kind of winging it - a few carrots, a few onions, lots of garlic, some herbs, broth, salt and pepper. Very simple, but tasty.

I normally like to cook with French lentils because they cook really fast and are delicious, but these red lentils were great too (and fast cooking). The split peas however took much longer (I didn't soak them first), so I probably wouldn't combine them again. I started out by sauteing the onions and carrots in olive oil and then just added the remaining ingredients, gave it a quick stir, then added the vegetable broth, and cooked until the beans were soft.

The stew turned out to be rather thick because I had to keep cooking it because of the split peas. I served it with some crostini...delicious!

all of the ingredients combined

add a several cups of vegetable broth

cover and cook over low heat

served with french bread crostini

yum!

Bye for now...

Mixed Vegetable & Red Quinoa Stew

I get a weekly delivery from Boston Organics so I've been trying to find - or make up - recipes to use the contents of my boxes. Sometimes it can be difficult and I wind up with tons of potatoes or kiwis or something. But, for the most part I really love getting fresh fruit and vegetables delivered right to my door, and having the surprise of not knowing exactly what I'll get.

Here is a vegetable and red quinoa stew I made recently. I made up the recipe based on what I had in the delivery: carrots, kale (or any other green would work), onions, zucchini, summer squash, and garlic; olive oil, salt and pepper, and some hot sauce, with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice added at the end complete the dish.

ingredients - use what you like!

cooking down the carrots and onions in some olive oil

while the carrots and onions cook, I started the quinoa.
I love quinoa - so easy and very healthy!

the chopped garlic and kale are added to the carrots and onions mixture

after the kale softens, add the zucchini and summer squash
which don't need to cook for too long

done! How easy was that?

the quinoa is done when the germ (the yellow spiral bit) separates from the germ

mix the vegetables and quinoa together, squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the top...
and voila!

time to enjoy a bowl

delicious!

Bye for now...

Fresh juice! Carrot, apple & ginger

My friend and I decided to do a juice cleanse to celebrate spring so, first things first, it was time to buy a new kitchen gadget. We both bought the Breville BJE200XL 700-Watt Compact Juice Fountain. The motor sounds as powerful as a mini jet engine (but luckily not as loud) and it only took seconds to grind up the veggies and fruit. My friend's first juice was a cucumber-apple-ginger, mine was a carrot-apple-ginger juice. Both were delicious! I wasn't quite sure I could jump right into some of the green veggie juices (kale in a juice?! I'll get there soon) so I started with something a little newbie-friendly.

I took a handful of baby carrots, one Rainier apple and about 1/2 inch of fresh ginger. They all went into the juicer and delicious carrot-apple-ginger juice came out. It was so fresh tasting and chock full of vitamins! Both the carrot and apple taste came through and the ginger added a spicy kick.

It was really fun. I can't wait to try some more adventurous recipes.

my new juicer...exciting!

fresh carrots, an apple and a bit of ginger go in...

and voila, juice!

it was so fresh and tasty

I'll have to figure out different ways to use the pulp - so much healthy fiber!

Bye for now...

Quick Lentil Stew and Focaccia

Last week a work colleague had a lentil salad for lunch - it looked delicious. So delicious that I wanted to try something similar myself. I bought some French lentils (I like them because they cook faster) and threw together a quick lentil stew and some focaccia this weekend.

The focaccia recipe I used was cobbled together from a Julia Child (Baking with Julia) recipe and one from a bread class at Cambridge School of Culinary Arts. The lentil stew recipe I made up on the fly, so I'll list it below. In terms of the ingredients I just threw together what I had around the kitchen and pantry. I called it a stew instead of a soup because I wanted it to be thick hearty rather than brothy but if you prefer more broth you can add more water or stock. I wanted to use stock but didn't have any and worried that the water would make for a bland stew, but it actually was very flavorful so I'm glad I went ahead and made it without waiting to use stock.

Quick & Easy Lentil Stew
Ingredients
French green lentils - I used about 3 cups worth (rinsed and picked over)
1 large onion, chopped (I used a huge vadalia, but I love onions, so use more/less as you like)
5 small carrots, chopped into bite sized pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can whole tomatoes, chopped
smoked thick cut Canadian bacon cut into bite sized pieces (any other meat you like would work...or no meat!)
olive oil
~5 cups water to cover lentils (more or less depending on how much lentils you use and/or how much broth you want)
salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 bay leaves
~1/2 t oregano
I didn't think of it at the time but some hot sauce might be good to give it a little kick. Frank's Red Hot is my fav.

Directions
Heat olive oil in a large pot, add onions and carrots. Cover and cook for about 5-10 minutes - stirring occasionally - until the onions are translucent and carrots begin to soften. Add garlic, salt and pepper and stir.

Add the remaining ingredients (lentils, tomatoes, Canadian bacon, bay leaves, oregano, water) and give it a good stir. Cook for about 30 minutes - stirring occasionally and adding more water, if neccessary - until the sauce is thickened and the lentils are soft.

Enjoy with some focaccia, crusty french bread or some tortilla chips and a glass of red wine. I've been bringing leftovers to work this week and it's just as delicious!

the finished stew - onions and carrots and lentils, oh my!

into the bowl

yummy!

focaccia - brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and chopped rosemary...
ready for baking

smells delicious

Bye for now...