Tuscan style white bean and kale soup with artichoke hearts

                                   

2 Cups dried white beans (soaked over night)
12 cups water
2-3 bunches kale rough chopped
2 shallots, chopped fine
2 large carrots chopped
2 Tbs. olive oil
3 vegan breakfast sausage patties cubed(optional)
1 can artichoke hearts quartered
1 Tbs. garlic, minced
1 Tbs. fresh rosemary minced
2 tsp. each dried oregano and dried basil
Salt and pepper

Place soaked beans in large soup pot and cove with water. Put a lid on and bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer on low until they are soft and squish when pinched(about 2 hours). Heat a frying pan with oil and add shallots and chopped carrots. When they start to soften add chopped kale, minced garlic and cubed sausage patties. Stir constantly until kale is wilted. Add this to the pot of beans. Add in remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Simmer on low for 30-40 minutes.

*This could easily be made without the fake meat or with real sausage.

                                     What I have been up to

Jeeze, I can hardly believe it has been almost 2 years, it is amazing how time flies! I am still eating a vegetarian diet, mostly vegan. I managed to loose a total of about 50 pounds by switching to a whole food, plant based diet in feb. of  2012. I have kept it off by sticking to a mostly healthy diet. I still struggle with sugar addiction and some times slip up on my portion sizes. But what i have found is, when you are making mostly good, healthy food choices, those occasional slip ups dont matter so much anymore.  Cooking for a living has made it a real challenge to stay excited and passionate about cooking at home, Some things however have gotten my attention. KOmbucha tea for example. I have become a big fan of the fermented foods, saurkraut and kombucha being my 2 favorites. I was lucky enough to get a kombucha "mother" from a friend over a year ago and I have been brewing and drinking it regularly since. Saurkraut i also have going on the counter on a pretty regular basis. Granola is still a staple snack around here and I have been playing around with some vegan cheese recipes i will blog on in more detail later. AS some of you may know, 40 is right around the corner for me. I have decided i shall go into my 40s with grace and health & what the hell, beauty as well! I have some pretty awesome folks in my life that have shown some interest in the way that I cook and eat. Some are looking for weight loss and others just looking to make some super yummy food. I look forward to sharing recipes and cooking tips in the weeks to come that may help inspire better eating habits and to show just how damn yummy vegetables can actually be. 

Jicama and spinach caserole

This is my first time working with Jicama. I saw it in the store the other day and decided to give it a try. I read a few recipes I had for it, most called for it raw in salads or cooked and mashed like potatoes. I decided to grate it up to give it an interesting texture, and pair it with spinach and a creamy cheesy sauce. Yummy! It turned out pretty good.

Caserole Body

1 Jicama Peeled and Grated

1 Bunch Spincah, Washed

The green ends off of 2-3 Scallions

1 Cup toased Bread Crumbs

Creamy "Cheesy" Sauce

2 Tbs. Vegan butter or oil

2 Tbs. Flour

1&1/2 Cup "So delicious" coconut drink or dairy alternative

2 Tbs. Nutritional Yeast flakes

1/2 cup Cashew "cheese sauce"(recipe in nutritional yeast post)

Garlic and onion powder

Salt and Pepper

Heat butter alternative or oil in small sauce pan. Add flour and let this cook a few minutes, stirring. Warm dairy alternative and add to flour mixture. Whisk this over medium heat, bring to a boil. When it reaches a boil, add the rest of the ingredients and mix thuroughly. remove from heat and let sit a minute.

Peel the jicama and cut in half. Grate and by the handful, squeeze excess liquid from grated jicama. Grease up a small caserole dish. Line the bottom with the first half of the grated jicama. Pour in some sauce, enough to moisten the jicama. Cut the root ends from washed spinach and rough chop. Rough chop scallion ends and layer them and spinach on top of the jicama. Now layer the other half of the grated and squeezed Jicama. Pour on remaining sauce. Sprinkle on lightly toasted bread crumbs. Cook in a 400 degree oven for 30-40 minutes.

Artisan Bread Baking

It has been a while since I baked any bread, but it seems I still got the touch. This is the easiest, foolproof recipe I have found that makes amazing bread every time. There are a few easy tricks you can do to ensure a perfect loaf with a nice crispy crust. This recipe should make 2 large loaves or you can also use it for pizza crusts, cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls or whatever baked goods you love. If you only want to make one loaf of bread now, you can stick the other half of the dough in the fridge to use later. The dough will continue to rise in the fridge, so make sure it is in a container with some head room. The dough will become stronger in "sour" flavor the longer it is in the fridge and will last up to a week.

The Dough
3 Cups Warm to the touch Water
1&1/2 Tbs. Active Dry Yeast
1&1/2 Tbs. Sea Salt
6-6&1/2 Cups Unbleached White Flour

A few things that will make this process easier
Pizza Stone(mandatory for a panless loaf)
Large Pizza Peel
Some sort of "form" for your loaf  to rise in (I use a smaller sized lined colander)
Squirt bottle full of fresh water
Sharp knife or razor blade for scoring top of loaf
Good sharp serrated knife for cutting fresh bread

Pour the water into a large bowl. Add the yeast and let disolve a few minutes..i swish it around with my fingers till its fully disolved. Next add the Salt and let this disolve also. When all is disolved in the water, add the flour. Mix till all of the flour is incorporated. You now have a nice wet dough. For the loaf above, I happened to have a piece of dough from my last batch left over from the weekend, so I added that in to the new dough. The old dough had a slight sour quality from having sat around for a few days, and this imparted a nice flavor into the bread. You can now do 1 of 2 things, Either knead the crap out of this dough, or let it sit and rise and develope the gluten naturally. So, when you Knead dough you are trying to physically align and stretch those gluten fibers, which will happen naturally through the rising process, it just takes a little longer. I choose to do a little of both. I put the dough in my Kitchen Aid and mixed for about 10-15 minutes. If you were only going to knead, you would want to knead about 45 minutes to get the dough ready to go. If you are going with rise only, that should take about 4 hours. I kneaded with my Kitchen Aid for 10-15 min, and then let it rise for about 2 hours.
Now you are ready to form your loaf(s). You can use a loaf pan if you prefer a nice even shaped loaf of bread. If you are like me and you like a more rustic loaf, there are a few different things you can do.

I use a smaller sized colander lined with a well floured tea towel. You can buy fancy little baskets that are made especially for rising loaves of bread in, this is the thrifty way of doing it. So, I form a "ball shape" called a boul, and let it rise, bottom side up in my lined collander. You can also, generously dust a large pizza peel with flour or corn meal and let the boul rise free form on here. It will flatten out quite a bit during the rise and you will end up with a flatter larger loaf than if you rise it in a form. You want to let it sit covered with plastic wrap, for another 45 min to hour once you have your loaf formed. If you used a form you will need to lightly dust a pizza peel with flour or corn meal and flip your loaf out and onto the peel once the second rise is complete. This can be a tricky move, and will come easier with practice. Working quickly, as the formed loaf will quickly start to flatten and spread once flipped onto the peel. You want to make long "slices" into the top of the loaf to allow air to escape during the cooking process. If you dont make these cuts your air will find its own way to escape and you will end up with a loaf of bread with large eruptions in it. You want to score the top even if you are using a loaf pan.

You want your oven seriously hot when cooking this bread, I heat mine to 500. I turn the oven on when the loaf is in its final rising stage, so after it is in the lined colander. So, now you have your scored loaf on the dusted pizza peel and your oven is raging hot! If you have a (water only)squirt bottle around, fill it with fresh water and, working quickly, spritz the inside of your oven genrously and shut the door trapping the steam in. The steam will help form a nice crispy crust on your bread. Now quickly slide the pizza peel onto the pizza stone, and push the loaf onto the stone. Spritz once more generously with the water and shut the door. DO NOT OPEN THE  OVEN DOOR FOR THE FIRST 10 MINUTES OF BAKING! You dont want to let out any of that steam you worked so hard to get in there. Bake for 40-50 minutes, turning the loaf once to cook evenly. Your loaf is done when it is a deep brown on top and Hollow sounding when tapped lightly on the bottom side. You really want to error on the over done side here. Some amazing flaovers develop in the crust when it gets that nice carmelized color. And when removed too soon the inner "crumb" will be soggy and dense. Once removed from the oven, let the loaf cool completely before cutting. Trust me, its worth the wait. I have been baking bread for about 5 years now, mostly with this super simple recipe. You can substitute in 1 cup of whole wheat flour, any more than that and it will serously affect your recipe. You really want a good Serrated knife when cutting into this beautiful loaf, anything else will end up mangling your hard work. I apologize for any misspelled words..I couldnt get spell check to work for me today on here, damn technology anyway...

Thai Peanut Bowl

Well, unfortunately you cant tell by the picture, but there is Brown Rice and Fresh Spinach in there. I had something similar to this at Choco Canyon Organic Cafe last summer, and loved it. There is a scoop of Brown Rice, fresh chopped Spinach(from my garden!!), Sauteed Veggies, and a lovely, Sweet and Spicy Peanut Sauce. Topped with Toasted Sesame Seeds and chopped Scallions, I even outdid myself with this one! Alex was telling me This is called a Swimming Rama in the Thai restaurants.(I'm sure mine is better ;)

Brown Rice
3 Cups Veggie Stock
2 tsp. each Onion & Garlic Granules
Salt&Pepper
1&1/2 Cups Brown Rice

Combine Stock and Spices and bring to a boil. Add rice and bring back to a boil. Turn down, cover with a lid and let cook till all the water is absorbed, about 30-35 minutes.

Sauteed Veggies
1/2 Red Bell Pepper
1/2 Yellow Crook Neck Squash
A Few Broccoli Florettes
2 Large Carrots
 Honestly, you could really use whatever veggies you had laying around that needed to go. Or whatever veggies your family likes to eat. Chop all in med size chunks and saute lightly in a little cooking oil. Salt & Pepper

Chopped Spinach

So when Alex got home from work I was telling him my plan for dinner. About how I had had this dish last summer and was really excited to have recreated it with things we already had in the fridge. I was however, bummed that we did not have the fresh spinach layer. He looked at me like I was crazy and said, Uh, what about the fresh spinach from the garden? Good lord, I had forgotten about that! I am obviously still stuck in winter mode, and forgot we have some food growing in the front yard! I planted said spinach last fall, and really, kinda forgot it was out there. It had started to sprout when Alex put the hoops over the garden, But has gone crazy the last few weeks! The leaves I cut and used for dinner last night were all the size on my entire hand! It was really "thick" for spinach and tasted great! The amazing taste and extra nutrients from home grown veggies never ceases to amaze me. For this dish I left the pieces a little large, they will wilt slightly from the heat on the other cooked ingredients.

Thai Peanut Sauce
1 Cup water
1/4 Cup Adams Crunchy Peanut Butter
1-2 Tbs Braggs Liquid Amino Acids, or Soy Sauce
2 tsp. Toasted Sesame Oil
1 Tbs. Rice Wine Vinegar
2 tsp. each Onion and Garlic Granules(You could also use these fresh, lightly sauteed )
1/2 to 1 Tbs. Honey
1-2 tsp. Sriracha Chili Garlic Sauce or other Chili Sauce

Combine water and Peanut Butter in a small sauce pan. Heat on medium heat till combined, stirring constantly (I may have learned that one the hard way!) Once combined add remaining ingredients. Reduce on low heat until it reached the consistency you want for your sauce. You can always add more water if it gets too thick. Salt and Pepper!

So to serve, I used a large Ice Cream scoop to dish the rice. Then sprinkled with chopped spinach. Layer on the veggies, the heat will slightly wilt the spinach. Drizzle on the sauce, and sprinkle with seeds and scallions. If you had Peanuts on hand..a few chopped would be great on here also. As soon as I have more hand sized spinach leaves, I will for sure be making this one again!

BBQ Marinated Tofu samich with slaw and radish sprouts

I have been feeling a bit uninspired on the food front, I just hate it when that happens. We have been eating out a bit more lately than we did the previous couple months. I feel like I'm getting my groove back though. This one was a real winner, although, if I had it to do over again, I would give the marinade more time to soak up. We were super hungry and in a hurry to get dinner on the table so it was only in the marinate for maybe 2 hours. I would say 4-5 is minimum. I was craving BBQ and this hit the spot.

Tofu BBQ Marinate
1 Cup Braggs Cider Vinegar
1/4 Cup Canola Oil
2 Tbs. Honey
Squirt of Sriracha Sauce
Chili Powder, Cumin, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Salt & Pepper

Wrap Tofu in Paper towels and squeeze and press the water out. Cut tofu into 1/2 inch slices laying them on paper towels and cover with paper towels to blot off remaining water. Pour Marinate into shallow baking dish and lay sliced tofu on top. After 1-2 hours in marinate flip tofu pieces.  After 4-5 hours to overnight in the marinate fry in hot oil till dark brown on both sides.

Slaw
2 Cups shredded Cabbage
2 Shredded Carrots
Handful of diced Snap Peas
2 Sliced and chopped Scallions
Toss with about 1/2 cup of the marinate from tofu

I served this on Daves Awesome Bread, but it would have been lovely on some homemade Whole Wheat buns as well. The Radish Sprouts really gave it a nice spicy crunch and acted in place of lettuce. I also sliced up a couple potatoes and dusted them with flour and spices. Then baked them in a 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes. This was my take on a BBQ Samich with fries. It was a good healthy alternative that I will be making again for sure!

Fruit Leather and Seed Sprouting

One of those things is easier than the other! I have made several attempts at fruit leather and have only gotten one of them right. In the above picture is my first successful batch of Strawberry fruit leather. They are super yummy and the texture is right on. This same day I also made a Mango leather, which was just about done when I put it back in the oven because it was still a little bit tacky to the touch. One thing you want when making fruit leather is for it to be totally not sticky on top. So, I put it back in the oven, but I think I forgot to turn the oven down as low as it would go, leaving it at 350. The plastic wrap fused to the bottom side of the fruit leather and I could not get it off. I can see why this method of storing fruit is so good for folks with excess fruit, but not so good when your paying full price for it. I think I will wait to try more when I have tons of cherries from moms tree to work with. I would also love to perfect some Apple leather, shouldn't be a problem finding extra apples this fall in my hometown of Selah,Wa!

Strawberry Fruit Leather
2 Lbs. Strawberries stemmed and cored
1/2 Cup Honey

                                        Mango(before I killed it ) & Strawberry fruit leather

Cut Strawberries in half and put them in a large pot with honey and cook till just soft. About 30 Minutes.  Put in the blender and blend till smooth. I leave the seeds in, I kinda like the crunch and that's where all the fiber lives. If you wanted you could put this through a jelly bag to remove seeds. Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap or silicone mat and spread mixture as evenly as possible. You want it about 1/4 inch thick. The optimum temp is somewhere between 130-150 degrees for drying fruit leather. My oven only goes down to 170 so its a little too hot. I have a warming drawer, it holds at about 130, so its about perfect. It will take about 6-8 hours and you want to keep the drawer/oven door open a cracker to allow moisture to escape. After about 5 hours start checking, its done when it is no longer sticky to the touch. Let cool and rip or cut into the sizes you want. I stored mine in wax paper tied with my old bulk food ties! REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE!

SPROUTS!

                                                              (Mung Bean Sprouts)

This combines two of my favorite things, Good healthy food and Vintage canning jars. I have been into sprouting seeds for a long time. It comes and goes from my life, like a lot of things. It is a super easy, inexpensive way to get nutrients that are yummy added to a variety of dishes. I put them in salads, on Sandwiches, in my Spring Rolls, In my Pasta dishes and they are also good on scrambled eggs. We have all seen the plastic boxes full of sprouts in the grocery store. If this is what you think of when you hear "sprouts", think again. Those are alfalfa sprouts and they are just the tip of the iceberg in the sprouting world(if there was such a thing). LOL. Who wants to eat Alfalfa? not me. But who wants to eat radishes, broccoli, and Sunflower seeds? Heck yes I do! Turns out you can sprout all of these seeds and they have a hint of the veggie flavor you would expect from the full grown veggie. Radish sprouts are spicy and sunflower sprouts are very nutty. And unlike the white Mung Bean spouts we are all used to, I let mine get a nice set of green leaves. You Can pick up plastic sprouting lids at a variety of places. I have seen them for sale in a 3 pack at PCC in Seattle recently. You can use any jar that the lid will fit onto without leaking everywhere. You can also get the little trays, I have tried 2 different ones and found them to be a super big pain in the ass really. Im all for the jars. You can also use the rings that come with canning jars and cut a piece of fiber type screen to fit inside your ring. I know some folks also sprout in a wet paper towel on a plate. Get creative! Sprouting seeds are pretty readily available also. I have seen them at PCC, Whole Foods and in gardening centers in the same section with the garden seeds. Simply put some in the jar and soak overnight. Then drain off water and keep them damp till they are ready to eat. I rinse mine daily to keep any old water rinsed off.