Greens and More Greens

The discovery:
I can use greens in so many creative ways ...   They do not need to be in a salad.
I have added kale to my lentil soup, served it in my Ribollita, along with Savoy Cabbage. Sauteed Collard Greens with Mushrooms- they were a hit even with my husband who is "anti-green"...
Rapini with Edens Twisty Kamut pasta... With some imagination, it's easy include them.

New Year is not far away... I'm getting ready for new challenges.
Stay tuned:)

Ribollita

There is nothing like a big pot of soup...

http://www.thestar.com/living/food/recipes/article/547259--tuscan-bean-and-kale-soup-ribollita

A New Recipe is Born

Macaroni and Cheese
My favourite food of childhood. The one that was responsible for the weight I carried.
Here I am some 40 years later - still love it.
I am a bit smarter now... at least, I hope. :)

My Macaroni is made out of red and white quinoa. It has protein, fiber.
The cheese: Gruyere. Not much: just a cup of grated cheese in  2% Evaporated Milk. (A bit of cornstarch added to thicken the sauce)
I need veggies... I was searching for broccoli in my freezer: no luck. I found some green peas.
Sure, why not?
Added a cup of green peas to my ingredients  list.
Looked for some suitable veggies in the fridge while I was already softening a chopped sweet onion with some chopped garlic scapes from the freezer, over some olive oil in a frying pan.
I found a bunch of rapini. Washed it well, chopped it, added it to my onion, sprinkled it with some red pepper flakes - and let wilt and reduce in volume.

I spread 1/3 of the cooked macaroni in my baking dish,
added the green peas, as they were, semi-frozen,
covered that with more macaroni,
added my onion/garlic scapes/rapini mix,
covered it with the remaining macaroni,
gave it a sprinkling of Black pepper,
poured the hot cheese sauce on,

and baked it in a preheated 375F oven for about 35 minutes.

A nice and filling lunch or dinner for 6  with a soup or a salad.

A Funny Story - with a Moral

 I will tell you a funny story.
It's a true story and there is a moral, too...
I know that it's important to label anything we put in the freezer.
I do it, pretty religiously, listing the item, and the date I froze it.
A couple of things I don't always bother with as they go through quick rotation. My sliced bananas don't get labeled, my garlic and my ginger are not labeled. Anyone can tell them apart... and I use them within the week so there is no problem.

This morning, in a hurry, I grabbed my oatmeal, added the almond milk, carob and reached for the small pack of sliced bananas. I mixed everything, put it in the microwave. As I was closing the door, I smelled "cooking smell" - so I made a mental note to clean the microwave soon.
It beeped - I grabbed the flaxseed that I add after cooking so as not to heat it, mixed it once more and settled into a chair to eat. The first bite was shocking. The banana was hard. Bananas are NEVER hard -  - wait a minute: this "banana" smelled... of garlic. Itwas garlic.
And thus my breakfast ended up in the garbage...  

Moral of the story:
Label. Everything.

More and More

I've been playing with recipes, inventing others...

Tonight's quick creation:

Collard Greens and Cremini Mushrooms over Shallots and Garlic - Served with Soba Noodles.

I used Olive oil to saute the Shallots/Garlic/Greens and Mushrooms -
Seasoned it with Black Pepper, Tamari - added a bit of Sherry for good measure -
a good spray of Garlic Olive Oil. Simple and delicious.
Don't tell anyone: it's also nutritious:).

For the Love of ... Okra

A new one for me...
I tried okra for the first time this year. For some reason, Lentil and Okra sounded like a match.
I had a wonderful Lentil soup recipe - a lucky internet find - and I decided I'd play with it a bit to accommodate the okra.

Here it is  - because it's delicious and I'd hate to forget it.

Lentil Okra Soup.

Ingredients:
1 cup red lentils
2 cups water
1 tsp turmeric
1 onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 - 2 tsp Caraway seeds
1 TBS veg. oil
1 cup diced tomatoes
2 cups chopped okra
4 cups veg. broth

1. cook the lentils in the water with the turmeric in a stockpot
2. heat the oil in a skillet, add the caraway , stir until it's fragrant,
3. add the onions, cook until softened
4.  add the bay leaf and the okra.
    Cook for a few minutes
5. Add the tomatoes, stir.
6. Once Lentils are done, blend, using an immersion blender or Food processor, then
 add the broth and the the contents of the skillet. ( Remove bay leaf before blending the soup)
Stir and serve.


A nice fall/winter salad:

Roasted vegetables and Chickpea salad

Heat oven to 425-450 F

Ingredients:
(this is a flexible list - other veggies could work equally well )

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 head of broccoli, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 red pepper
1 can chickpeas
Olive oil to coat the bottom of the roasting pan
2 TBS Balsamic or Sherry Vinegar
1 TBS  Tarragon Mustard (or a good Dijon)

Spread Olive oil on the roasting pan.
Add the veggies - and roast - check frequently.  Once it's done, mix together with the chickpeas. Mash the roasted garlic.
Add the vinegar - mustard dressing and toss well.
Enjoy!

More Fun with Napa

You can't really go wrong with a salad.

This week's version of Napa Cabbage:

Sliced Napa
Jicama, peeled and chopped
Shallot, sliced thin
Handful of Curried Raw Sunflower seeds

Dressing:
Grape Seed Oil and Rice Vinegar  in 2:3 ratio.

Very pleasant, mild with a little hint of spice (in the seeds)