Summer Vacation

After two back to back fabulous trips, I wanted a dinner that was simple, full of vegetables and super healthy.  The garden kale, the grocery store and the Vitamix delivered.  This soup is not attractive (looks thick and pea green) but it is really delicious.  I promise.

Summer Fresh Vegetable Soup
2-3 servings as a main dish.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, roughly chopped
2 very large carrots or 4 med. carrots, roughly chopped
4 stalks of celery with their greens, roughly chopped
Large pinch of salt
2 large portobello mushrooms, roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
4 large kale leaves, destemmed and roughly chopped

1/2 lemon, peel and seeds removed
Handful of raw cashews*
2 cups water
1 veggie bouillon cube
Sriracha or other hot sauce
Unsweetened almond or other milk

*Replace with 1-2 tablespoons of cashew butter or tahini if using a regular blender.

Add the first five ingredients to a hot, deep pan and saute over medium high heat for about five minutes, stirring regularly.  Add the mushrooms and garlic, stir and saute for a minute or so.  Bring the heat down to medium and cover with a lid.  Let cook for 5 minutes.  Stir again, add the kale on top of the vegetables and cover again with the lid to steam the greens, 5 more minutes.  Uncover and stir again.  The mushrooms should be browned and releasing their juices.

Add the lemon, cashews, water and bouillon to the blender.  Add a squirt of hot sauce (you can always add more later).  Add a splash of milk (you can always add more later).  Add in the cooked vegetable mixture and pour in any pan juices.  Blend at high speed until blended.  Blend 2 minutes until hot in the Vitamix.  Blend until combined in a regular blender, and then pour into a pot on the stove to heat through.  Serve and enjoy!

Summer Lovin

A delicious and even fast dinner if two are cooking together.  An early summer salad and Beijing-inspired dumplings.  All vegetables in season at the market... we had a fresh mushroom medley in our dumplings from the nice mushroom man.  (Apologies on the poor quality photos.)

Green Salad
Asparagus, sugar snap peas and cucumbers in avocado mint dressing.  Four side dish servings.

Small bunch asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
Pint sugar snap peas, cut into 1 inch pieces
Large hunk of cucumber, cut into small cubes
1/2 avocado
Chives
Mint leaves, a few
2 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest from half a lemon
Salt, generous pinch

Blanch the asparagus and the pea pods, separately, in boiling water.  (I did the pea pods for about 30 seconds and the asparagus for about 2 mins.)  Dunk immediately in an ice bath. Prep the cucumbers.  Make the dressing-- combine the remaining ingredients in a blender.  Stir everything together in a boil, test for salt.  Set aside in the fridge until ready to serve.

Mushroom Tempeh Dumplings with Delicious Sauce
Two main dish servings for very hungry people.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
1 cup of finely diced mushroom, whatever varieties you like
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
1/3 block of tempeh, crumbled/cut into very small grain-sized pieces
Ginger powder (or grated fresh)
Salt
Splash of rice wine vinegar and ginger beer if you have on hand
Water
20 or so wonton wrappers

Sauce:
Chili garlic sauce, jarred
Rice wine vinegar
Soy sauce
Lime juice
Dark sesame oil
Water

Heat the oil in a wok or deep cast iron skillet.  The onion, mushrooms and garlic should be so fine they are nearly shredded or grated.  Start sauteing the onions first for a minute or two, then add the mushrooms, garlic and tempeh.  Stir fry at medium high heat for several minutes.  Dust with ginger powder, a generous pinch of salt, add the vinegar and ginger beer and stir.  The tempeh will absorb much liquid so add some water if you need to keep things from sticking.  Cook until everything is browned and soft.  Turn off the heat, unload the mixture into a bowl and set aside.

Get a large pot of water bowling.  Brush one wrapper at a time with water, then put a spoonful of the tempeh mixture into the wrapper.  Follow the package instructions to make into dumplings--you basically fold into a triangle and stick the corners together.  This recipe should make about 20 dumplings.  Boil them 10 at a time, placing them gently into the boiling water and boil for 2 minutes until they start to become translucent then fish out with a slotted spoon.

To make the sauce, add a few heaping teaspoons of chili garlic sauce into a small bowl.  Add about a tablespoon of soy sauce, a generous amount of vinegar, a splash of lime juice and a splash of sesame oil.  Stir or whisk together.  Add a generous splash of water and taste the mixture for spicy, tartness and salt levels.  If too salty add a splash more of vinegar and water.  If not spicy enough add more chili sauce.  If too vinegary or generally intense, add more water.  Taste again until you get it right.

Serve the dumplings with small personal dipping bowls of sauce.

Back to the Blog!

Sorry dear readers for my absence.  Things have been a little busy.  And I'm sad I've missed posting many delicious meals.  Below is a photo from a particularly good should-have-been-blogged meal.

But first, a healthy summer dessert treat!  It comes out thick, creamy, sweet, minty and delicious!  Also comes out a pretty pale orange color, flecked with red and green.

Minty Fruit "Sherbet"

2 servings.  Technically more like a frozen yogurt-smoothie-cream but sherbet is the closest noun that describes its taste and texture.

1/2 pound frozen mango chunks (half a regular sized bag)
4 frozen strawberries
1 frozen fruit pop (I used an old large acai berry frozen bar)
4 dates, pitted
5 fresh mint leaves
About 1 cup of plain yogurt (regular style, not Greek/strained)

Blend it all up.  You'll need a high quality blender for this and I wanted it thick so had to frequently use my tamper to press everything through the blades of my Vitamix.

A post I wish I would have done was this dinner I made many weeks ago, made with warm fresh fava beans and local asparagus with a light dressing and parmesan shavings:

The Black Eyed Peas

Make this stew.  It is smoky, savory, delicious.

Black Eyed Pea Vegetable Stew
Five or more main dish servings

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 carrots, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 large yellow onion, diced
5 or so mini portobello mushrooms, diced
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
salt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 teaspoons paprika
1 tablespoon chipotle chilies in adobe sauce, chopped
1 can black eyed peas, rinsed
1/2 can black beans, rinsed
2 veggie bouillon cubes + 5 cups water or 4 cups vegetable broth + 1 cup water
bunch of kale, destemmed and chopped
1 lemon, juiced

Saute the carrots, green pepper and onion in the oil in a deep soup pot for several minutes.  Then add the mushrooms and garlic, saute for several minutes more until the carrots have softened.  Add a generous pinch of salt.  Add all the spices and the beans; stir.  Add in the water and broth, bring to a boil then reduce to low heat so the mixture is barely bubbling.  Add the kale, stir to combine and allow to cook until the kale is wilted.  Then add the lemon juice, stir.  Serve alone or over rice

Spring Pot Luck Dish

Quinoa Fruit and Vegetable Salad
About 8 side dish servings

1 cup quinoa
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup water
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 celery root, peeled and diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
handful of spinach leaves, chopped
5 button mushrooms, chopped
5 large strawberries, diced
2 navel oranges, peeled and cut into small pieces
chives
mint
juice of 1 large lemon
olive oil
salt and pepper

Prepare the quinoa: bring it to a boil with the water and broth, then cover and cook for 15 minutes on low.

Clean and chop all the vegetables and fruit and put in a large bowl.  In a small bowl whisk some snipped chives and a few leaves of finely chopped mint together with the lemon juice.  Then add about 3 tablespoons of olive oil, generous pinch of salt and some pepper, whisk together well.  Pour dressing over fruit and vegetables, stir to combine.  Place in the refrigerator.

When the quinoa is done, cool in the refrigerator for awhile to bring the heat down.  Then stir into the bowl with the fruit and vegetables.  Refrigerate until completely cool before serving.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pickle Experiment

I'll know in two days whether these are good or not... and hopefully they'll be good and I'll be posting about them...

Limey!

Maybe it's because I'm wishing I was in Key West, but this was my post run smoothie today, and it was awesome, nearly transporting me to an island far far away.

Key Lime Cherry Super Smoothie
Two servings

4 key limes, peeled and seeded (or two regular limes)
large handful of spinach
2 tablespoons flax seeds
1/2 cup plain Greek, or other, yogurt
1 1/2 cups frozen dark sweet cherries
1/2 cup water

Blend like crazy.  Drink immediately.  Super tart and refreshing.