Kale Salad with Yam Noodles

I've heard so many people tell me they don't like kale.  Sadly, I hear it most often in our own house.  I don't get it.  Taste wise, kale is GREAT!  It's crunchy, lends great color to a salad, but the best thing about kale is its nutritional value!  I've heard it's the most nutritionally dense vegetable!  According to Livestrong.com

Dark green leafy vegetables are rich in iron, dietary fiber, calcium, vitamins B, E and K, protein, carotenoids and other antioxidants.

You really can't go wrong eating kale.

Zucchini Salad

A girlfriend gave me Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes recently.  I must say I'm very impressed with the layout.  Jamie provides a menu for dinner, then gives step by step preparation guidelines to successfully have a tasty, unique dinner on the table, in minutes.  While perusing the pages, I couldn't decide where to begin, so I started with page one.

Moosewood Cookbook: Sweet Potato Pancakes

I love sweet potatoes!  I love them grilled, roasted, boiled, etc.  When I discovered this recipe in the Moosewood Cookbook, I thought, "How could I go wrong?"

Good Luck Grub Style Quinoa-Stuffed Cabbage Packages

Quinoa-Stuffed Cabbage Packages

Even though I've moved on to the Moosewood Cookbook, I still have Grub on my mind.  There was a recipe I wanted to try because it's part of a "New Year's Eve Good Luck Meal."  It is Quinoa-Stuffed Cabbage Packages.

I love quinoa (pronounced keen-wah).  It's one of those super foods hitting the grocery stores and popping up in more and more recipes everywhere.

Most people think it's a grain because it looks like one, but it's actually a seed grown high in the Andes Mountains in South America.  Although many Americans know little of it, it's actually and ancient food enjoyed by the Incas.

One cup of quinoa has about:

220 calories
38-40 grams carbohydrates
8 grams protein
3.5 grams fat
5 grams of fiber
and high in folate, magnesium (great if you have migraines), phosphorus, iron and copper and manganese

According to the Mother Nature Network:

Quinoa is stocked with life-sustaining nutrients all across the board, including all eight essential amino acids. There are other highly beneficial compounds, vitamins and minerals in this food that the Incas reverently called "chisaya mama" (mother of all grains).

 

Vegetarians would do well to incorporate quinoa into their diet often. It’s difficult for vegetarians to get all eight essential amino acids and an adequate source of protein from one food source. Usually, vegetarians and vegans need to combine foods like beans and rice to acquire all the essential amino acids, the building blocks of protein.

 

Those with gluten sensitivities or wheat allergies can rejoice in eating quinoa as it contains no gluten or wheat. (Spanish conquistadors during the South American conquest suppressed quinoa production, as it was associated with what the Spaniards perceived as non-Christian, indigenous, ceremonial backwardness. Thus, wheat was cultivated in the Andes region.)

With all that goodness in one food, no wonder it is considered a superfood AND included in the New Year's Good Luck Meal!

According to Grub, and tradition, "Each cabbage leaf represents $1,000 that you will see in the New Year, so eat up!"  I think I've eaten 2 cabbage rolls, and another 6-7 cabbage leaves for good measure!

Quinoa-Stuffed Cabbage Packages

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa
coarse sea salt
1 large green cabbage head
12 chives
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
4 tablespoons fresh orange juice
4 garlic cloves, minced and sautéed in olive oil for 1-2 minutes until golden
1/4 cup currants
1/4 toasted walnuts, chopped
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
freshly ground white pepper

Quinoa

If it is not pre-rinsed, rinse the quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer under running water and drain.  Combine the quinoa, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 2 cups of water in a large saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, until all the water is absorbed.  Let the quinoa steam with the lid on for 15 minutes, then remove the top and cool.

Cooked Quinoa

Cabbage

Meanwhile, bring a large, deep pot of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons salt. Prepare a large bowl full of ice water.

Cut the core from the cabbage with a small paring knife.  Drop the whole cabbage into the water and boil for 5-10 minutes, remove the cabbage head, and removed the softened outer leaves.  Shock the leaves in the ice water (ice bath) to set the color and stop the cooking.  Return the cabbage head to the boiling water to soften the next few layers of leaves, remove them, ice bath, and then continue with the rest of the cabbage.  Drain and pat the cabbage leave dry with paper towels.  To save time and paper towels I gently spun the leaves in the salad spinner.  Worked great!  Set aside.

Ice Bath

Bring water back to boil and add the chives.  Blanch for 10 seconds.  Remove them and place in ice bath.  Drain and set aside with cabbage leaves.

In a large bowl combine the olive oil, lime juice, orange juice, garlic, currants, walnuts and parsley.  Mix well.  Add the cooled quinoa and toss well.  Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste.  Add white pepper to taste.  At this point, this is an EXCELLENT QUINOA SALAD!  You could serve this as a side dish if you like.  It's GREAT!

Dressing for Quinoa 

This would make a GREAT Quinoa Salad/Side Dish

Back to Packages...

With a sharp knife, cut the thick part of the stem from each cabbage leaf.  Place heaping 3 tablespoons of the quinoa in the center of each cabbage leaf.  Fold the sides toward the center and fold up each end of the leaf into a compact package. Wrap a chive around the narrower side of each package and tie it up into a knot. Serve on a platter with seam side down.

Rolling the cabbage package is like rolling a burrito.  Lay out cabbage leaf.

Place quinoa in center.  Fold in one side...

Then the other...

Roll up the bottom then bring down the top portion.

Wrap it nicely in the chive

Such a cute little package!

Good luck!  Or better yet, Good Health!

Yum!

This Week: Moosewood Cookbook's Basic Corn Bread

Choosing a meatless cookbook to focus on seems rather counter to our mostly paleo lifestyle, but the popularity and appeal of the Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen cannot be overlooked.  Her recipes use healthy, natural ingredients much of which would fit in the Zone or Paleo food program.

The first recipe I'm showcasing this week is Basic Corn Bread.

Who doesn't love corn bread?

It's a must with chili or other hearty soup/stew.  Corn Bread screams comfort food!

This recipe is a variation from the traditional; it calls for buttermilk or yogurt instead of milk.

I used Arrowhead Mills Organic Yellow Corn Meal and 1/2 buttermilk, 1/2 organic vanilla yogurt.  For the sweetener I used coconut sugar.  It's subtle and went well with the sweetness of the vanilla yogurt.

Basic Corn Bread- The Moosewood Cookbook

Ingredients

Butter to grease the pan

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk or yogurt (I used 1/2 cup buttermilk and 1/2 cup organic vanilla yogurt)
1 egg
3 tablespoons sugar or honey (I used coconut sugar)
3 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8-inch square pan (or a 9-10 inch cast-iron skillet) with butter.

Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl.  Combine wet ingredients, including sugar/honey, separately.  Stir wet ingredients into dry, mixing just enough to thoroughly combine.  Spread into the prepared pan.

Dry Ingredients

Dry and Wet...combine

Batter, ready for the oven

The batter is relatively thick- much thicker than other cornbread recipes I've tried. No cause for concern; it turns out great!

Bake 20 minutes, or until the center is firm to the touch.  Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Fresh out of the oven

So moist...perfect!

Thank you Mollie Katzen for a GREAT recipe!

Enjoy!

Grub's Wild-Style Salad

I can't believe it's Friday already!  What happened to the week?  Oh, yeah...we started school again.  Busy days!

In our homeschool, Fridays are fun days set aside for catch up, unlimited reading, field trips, cooking, projects and just playing.  We all love Friday!

By the end of the week, our brains are worn out so we've designed Friday to be our day of learning that is less about books and more about life.

Today we played beauty shop; I cut my girlie's hair.  She's now proudly sporting "long bangs."  One of our boys caught up on math, while another buried himself in his Tim Tebow book.  Did you know Tim Tebow and all his brother's have chin scars?  That's important boy battle scar information!  Furthermore, Tim Tebow's mom made placemats of states, presidents, the periodic table and more!  Learning was something the Tebow kids did while not even realizing it.  That's my kind of teaching!

Most importantly, I had some cooking time!  With Adele Radio playing on Pandora I made the first of my three recipes selected from the cookbook GRUB.

This salad is called Wild-Style Salad.  It looks like something you'd pay $7/cup at Whole Foods' salad bar. It's a beautiful salad filled with many healthy ingredients. It is vegetarian/vegan.  The only protein source would be the wild rice (7 grams/cup) and the minimal amount from the cashews.

The recipe calls for extra-virgin olive oil.  The flavor was so great without it, I didn't add it.  Although I workout 5-6 days per week, and watch what we eat, a few extra pounds have crept back into my life.  I'm back to counting points with Weight Watchers.  My focus will primarily be sticking to a paleo food program, but I still need to feed the rest of the family healthy whole/clean food.

I input the ingredients for this salad into the Weight Watchers recipe calculator. Three-fourths of a cup is 4 points; this is without the olive oil.

Wild-Style Salad

Salad

1 cup wild rice, rinsed and soaked overnight in the refrigerator
coarse sea salt
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1/4 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions (I used green onion)
1/2 cup cashews, toasted and chopped

Dressing

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Sea salt
Freshly ground white pepper (I just used black pepper)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (optional)

For the Salad

Combine wild rice with 3 cups of water in medium saucepan over high heat.  Bring to boil, add 1/2 teaspoon salt, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, or until water is absorbed.

This is my beautiful new pot.  Thank you Jama!

Rice cooking away...put the lid back on.  It's not done yet.

Remove from heat; transfer to strainer; rinse under cold water until rice is completely cooled.

In a large bowl, combine cooked rice, bell pepper, carrots, celery, raisins, scallions, and cashews.

Yummy snack foods!

Combine rice, vegetables, raisins, and cashews

For the Dressing

In a small mixing bowl, combine vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, maple syrup, garlic, parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and white pepper (to taste).  Mix well.  Slowly pour in olive oil, if using, whisking until emulsified.

This is the dressing, minus the olive oil.

Pour the dressing over the rice and toss well.  Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to allow flavors to combine.

Remove the rice from refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Mini Sweet Potato Streusel Tarts

A number of years ago I came across this recipe from Cooking Light.  I don't care for pumpkin pie, but this little treat is my pumpkin pie substitute.  These little tarts are bite size so if you're watching portions, enjoy one and then call it quits.  They are a bit time consuming to prepare, but I think they're definitely worth the effort. It's best if you have a mini-muffin pan to make them in.  I also have a wooden tart tamper/ mini-tart shaper.  Mine was from Pampered Chef, but I saw them online for about $4.  Since I only make them once a year for Thanksgiving, the time spent making them is actually relaxing and they're so adorable I can barely stand it!

Sweet Potato Streusel Tarts
from Cooking Light

Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening (I don't use the vegetable shortening.  I end up just using 4 tablespoons butter)
3 tablespoons ice water
Cooking Spray

Filling:
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 cup mashed cooked sweet potatoes
1/4 cup evaporated milk

Streusel:
2 tablespoons finely chopped pecans (or other nut)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces

Before beginning, prepare sweet potatoes.  Peel, cube, and boil sweet potato until softened.

Peel, cube, cover sweet potato with water and boil until softened.

Done; ready to mash

Ready for filling

Crust
To prepare crust, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife.  Place the flour, granulated sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in food processor; pulse 2 times or until combined.  Add 2 tablespoons butter and shortening, and pulse 4 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal.  With processor on, add ice water through food chute, 1 tablespoon at a time, processing just until combined (Do not let it form a ball).  Shape mixture into a 6-inch log; wrap in plastic wrap coated with cooking spray.  Freeze 30 minutes.

The worker

Pulsed

Add chilled butter

Workers

Resembling coarse meal

After chilling, shape the dough into 24 balls, and place 1 ball in each of 24 miniature muffin cups coated with cooking spray.  Press dough into the bottoms and up the sides of the muffin/tart cups.

I have these handy gadgets for these little tarts.  They make this project so easy!

Ready for filling

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Filling
To prepare the filling, place syrup and next 5 ingredients (syrup through egg) in a bowl;  beat with a mixer at medium speed for 1 minute or until well blended.  Add sweet potatoes and milk;  beat until well blended.  Spoon about 4 teaspoons filling into each muffin cup.

Streusel
To prepare streusel, combine nuts and 2 tablespoons brown sugar in a small bowl; cut in 1 1/2 teaspoons butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Sprinkle streusel evenly over tarts;  bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350 degrees and cook an additional 12 minutes or until filling is set.  Cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack.  Run a knife around outside edges.  Remove tarts, and cool completely on wire rack.

Fresh out of the oven

Ready to serve

Try to just have one!