Cabbage Saute

I was asked to post this recipe that I made for Christmas. I hope you enjoy it as a main meal or as a side dish with lunch/dinner or for breakfast with a side of chicken sausage. Yum!

Ingredients:

• 1 Small Cabbage or 1/2 large
• 1 leek, sliced into rings (or yellow onions)
• 1 bunch of kale (de-stemmed)
• 4 cloves of garlic minced
• Pinch Himalayan sea salt
• 2 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Ume Plum Vinegar - to taste

Directions:

1. Chop up the cabbage, chop up/rip the kale leaves, mince the garlic
2. Heat your pan on low, add the extra-virgin olive oil
3. Add the leek and let it sweat a bit
4. Add the sliced cabbage, stir and coat the veggies with olive oil, cover for 7 minutes (or so)
5. Add the kale with a bit of himalayan sea salt, cover for a few minutes until wilted
6. Add the ume plum vinegar to taste (it gives the greens a lovely sour taste)
7. Serve and enjoy. Makes enough for 6.

As with any recipe you may need to "play" with the ingredients to get the flavor you desire. Please do not feel constricted to follow these directions exactly. If you don't have cabbage, use what you have like zucchini or green beans.

Summer BBQ selections

When you are deciding what to pile on your plate at a BBQ this summer try to load up on fresh or grilled veggies & grass-fed meats. 

Have some lovely condiments on hand to jazz up your plate: 

• fresh sauerkraut found in the refrigerated section (loaded with probiotics & enzymes)
• fun mustards (avoid ones with added sugar)
• pickles (same avoid if there is added sugar)
• radishes
• guacamole (slather on the burger/brat/dog)
• hummus (more slathering)
• black bean or refried bean dips
• Ground Flax Seed to sprinkle on veggies
• Nutritional Yeast to sprinkle on veggies

Zip, nothing, nada

Zip, nothing, nada really about sums it up with respect to food provisions in my house. In order to help you truly appreciate this statement I would have to take a picture of my cupboards and refrigerator/freezer to help you really understand how I tend to live. (I thought about it, but...)

I was planning on going to my local co-op for lunch and groceries today. Instead, I changed my mind and decided to see how much longer I could wait it out. This example reminds me of a lovely friend of mine. She waits until the last possible second to refill her gas tank. I wait until I (we) cannot handle it any longer and need more food. The strange games we play to make our lives more interesting.

The last few years I have been on a mission to buy only what I need when I need it. This does not include handy bulk items like nuts, whole grains, frozen veggies & berries, virgin olive & coconut oil or other condiments. I LOVE having condiments around. Precisely for moments like these when there isn't much of anything in the house. I sort of pride myself on being able to craft "something out of nothing" with ease. I do like the idea of recipes, but as I have said before I tend to follow them loosely anyway so just pulling something together seems more fluid to me. Lately, I haven't been all that keen on cooking, going to the grocery store**, or crafting at all. Therefore, today is especially exciting considering I just bit the bullet and whipped something up. I think the inspiration is from all the April showers.

**Let me explain. I love the grocery store, however I tend to spend way too much time shopping and not enough time getting back to work! 

"Something like a soup..."

Ingredients -

• 1 piece of wakame (sea veggie)
• 1 piece of Kombu (sea veggie)
• 1 cup frozen Edamame (Soy bean - GMO free!)
• Pinch of Hiziki
• Handful of Bonito flakes
• 1 Bag of frozen Sweet Potatoes
• 2 Garlic Cloves - minced
• 1/2 cup chopped Leeks
• Umboshi Plum Vinager - A few shakes
• Nickel size of buckwheat noodles.
• 4 cups of water

1. Heat a quart pan with 4 cups water on high add a handful of bonito flakes.
2. Break up the wakame into tiny pieces and cut up the kombu into small pieces add to pot
3. Add the bag of sweet potatoes
4. Add the edamame
5. Sprinkle in some hiziki (quarter amount)
6. Put another pot on for the buckwheat noodles (you could add the buckwheat noodles to the soup, but it will loose its form). Follow the instructions on the label.
7. When the noodles have been simmering for 4 minutes toss the garlic & onion into the pot with all the goodness.
8. Once the noodles are done - rinse them in cold water. Turn of the heat on the soup.
9. Put a few shakes of Umboshi Vinager into the pot - stir and serve!
10. Makes about 6 servings (well the noodles about 2 as I was only serving me).

I cook with seaweeds a lot. Seaweeds are so nutrient & mineral dense that it is a great idea to add them to your diet! Try adding them to soups, stews, grains, beans or salads.

Mix it up - its SALAD season!

This is the time of year for bountiful salad feasting. Yummy. Salads should be full of flavor, filling, and fun to eat!

Salads should not be dull, boring, or repetitive. If that is the case it will be less likely for you to get your greens on! Instead grab a few handy ingredients that sound delicious to you and create magnificent signature salad's you will be proud to share with family & friends.

Ingredients to have on hand to make a salad sensational in a few short minutes:

• Dried Fruit: Cranberries, Cherries, Currents, Raisins, etc
• Nuts: Almonds, Walnuts, Sunflower Seeds, Pine Nuts, etc
• Beans: Cooked Lentils, Garbanzo Beans, etc
• Meat: Whatever you've got!
• Greens: Mixed Greens, Spinach, Swiss Chard
• Whole Grains: Millet, Polenta, Quinoa, Brown Rice, Kasha
• Roasted Veggies: Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Parsnips, Rutabaga 
• Onions: Ramps, Leeks, Shallots
• Avocados, Cheeses, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Artichokes, Olives, etc
• Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

Seriously, making a salad should be a creative process! Make it a time to celebrate and enjoy. I know many people who do not believe a salad should be sweet - instead it should be savory. What does it matter as long as you enjoy it?

What are your favorite salad fixings?

Lovely Swiss Chard

Swiss Chard is a veggie that many people do no know anything about. Swiss Chard is a dark green leafy vegetable that dwarfs regular salad lettuce in the nutrition game. Dark leafy greens are so good for you for a multitude of reasons. But, the main reason I want to share is that most people don't eat dark leafy greens. They are the #1 most missing veggie in American diets. Why don't people eat these lovely veggies if they are so good for us? Well, I think it is because they are seen as somewhat exotic or scary. There is also the aspect that many people have never heard of these veggies because they are not usually sold at fast food restaurants and many Americans do not have their own home gardens.

So if you have been missing out on this fabulous dark leafy (or others) go pick up a bunch or two at your grocery store or local farmers market. Ask someone where to locate it if you do not see it. Trust me! Most of my clients come to love dark leafy greens with a passion! They even eat them with breakfast - that's how amazing these veggies make you feel. They change EVERYTHING.

Ingredients:

• 2 Bunches of Swiss Chard
• 3 Shallots
• 3 small purple onions
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 2+ tbsps. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• Dash of celtic sea salt
• Toasted walnuts
• Parmigiano-Reggiano or other cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Remove Swiss Chard leaves from the stem and rip them into pieces and set aside
2. Chop the stems into small pieces
3. Chop the shallots and onions (use less onion if you think it is too much)
4. Mince the Garlic
5. Heat a large pan on the stove with a small amount of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
6. Toast the walnuts in the toaster over or in a pan briefly (avoid burning)
7. Add the onions/shallots - cover for a few minutes (2 min) and stir
8. Add the chopped stems - heat for a few minutes (2 min) covered - note if you enjoy crunchy vs. soft veggies cook longer if you want them soft.
9. Add the garlic and saute for a few more minutes 
10. Add the leaves, toss in the sea salt, stir and cover and let the steam heat the leaves
11. Cook for another minute or two
12. Remove from heat and place in a beautiful serving dish
13. Add the walnuts 
14. Grate cheese into the dish and toss (cheese isn't necessary, but can be fun)

This makes enough for a dinner party or potluck. Otherwise, half the recipe. I like making a lot so I have leftovers!

Let me know if you try this recipe and what you think.

Note - Mix it up try using pine nuts, pecans, slivered almonds or try different types of cheese. You could also try using kale, spinach, collard greens, bok choy, cabbage - whatever. These are slightly different greens so the cooking of the greens is a bit different.

Portions on Your Plate

Many of my clients want to know "How Much?" when it comes to what they are preparing to eat. I am not really stringent on that because what I am teaching them to do is eat the RIGHT things. That in and of itself works! But, I wanted to share a little guide in the form of a photo.

I suggest you have 65 - 75% of your plate veggies and the rest protein and complex carbs.

PS. This dinner was delicious. Thank you to my dear friend for the wonderful meal made with love!

Seeing Green

I wish I was talking about money because we can all use more. But, today I am talking about GREENS. They are my favorite and so I took a few pictures of what I have been up to. I am preparing a menu for a cooking class and I still had a few things in my fridge to finish off before I pick up my next CSA box from Harmony Valley Farm later today. I love picking up a box of veggies and determining what to create. It involves experimenting which is always challenging and fun.

So back to the green things. I love to eat greens. They make me happy. So of course I want to include them in my class menu. First I cut some collard greens out of the garden (yes we are grateful to the man who grew them) then cleaned them and tossed the steams. Then I determined what to do. I don't usually know what I am going to do until I do it.

So I toasted some walnuts in the toaster oven, while the walnuts toasted I steamed the collards (with salty water), while the collards were steaming I chopped up some garlic. Then I tossed the garlic in a pan with coconut oil. Then once the collards had cooked a bit I took them off the heat and chopped them fine and tossed that into the pan with the garlic. I fetched the walnuts and then tossed those in too. YUMMY!!!

I was also in the mood to get back into making soups. Never-mind that the weather is warm and beautiful in Minnesota, which I am thankful. I will not complain, but for some reason soups are calling my name. So I gathered zucchini & collard greens from our yard, a cauliflower, a leek and various green peppers from my fridge. Then I chopped everything up small, tossed in the main ingredients into some chicken stock and then cooked till done. I added loads of garlic as it is a gift from the gods and then I seasoned with various spices. The last thing that I add to cook are the greens make sure to add some extra virgin olive oil and salt when you add the greens to keep the vibrant green color. The various spices were thyme, sage, and oregano I also used a lot of ground pepper.

The reason I decided to make a soup of this nature is that I wanted a CREAMY soup. This soup turned out super creamy with out any cream. It looks like broccoli cheese soup, but not quite as think. So you can see from the pictures (no they are not fancy pictures and I thought they would be in another order) that the soup started out chunky and then I used an immersion blender to make it smooth.

I made a ton of soup so I can get my greens in! It freezes really well too so you can stock up.

What are your favorite soups? Any tips to share?