Fresh summer dessert

This summer has been intense. The heat and humidity has been stifling. This summer seems to be trying to rival the crazy winter we had of below freezing temps and ice and snow storms. As the heat has cooled down into the mid-80's the weather has been joyous. This little lull allowed this time to bake a crisp as well as homemade coconut milk ice cream. Both were delicious. Yum!

Stone Fruit Crisp

Ingredients:

• 6 cups of peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp of lemon
• 1/4 cup of Sucanat
• 5 tbsp of coconut oil
• 1/2 cup gluten-free oats
• 1/2 cup Almond flour
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 tsp of himalayan sea salt

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
2. Place fruit in baking dish - Pie plate or other 9 inch pan
3. Place all other ingredients into the Vita-Mix and blend
4. Add the crumbly mix to the top of the fruit - evenly
5. Bake for 25 minutes or longer depending on your oven (my oven runs hot)
6. Eat with Coconut, Almond & Raspberry Ice Cream. Yum!

Coconut, Almond & Raspberry Ice Cream (Dairy-Free, Sugar-Free)

Ingredients:

• 1.5 pints of Raspberries
• 3 tbsp of fresh lemon or lime juice
• 1/4 cup of vanilla agave
• 1 cup Almond Milk
• 3 cups Coconut Milk
• 1 tbsp pur vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in the Vita-Mix and blend
2. Scoop out and place in Ice Cream Maker for 20 minutes
3. Scoop out of ice cream maker into freezer friendly container and freeze for a minimum of 1 hour.
4. Enjoy with Fruit Crisp!

Simple Soup

Hands down soup is my favorite food. I love them all - creamy, brothy, chunky, noodley...yum. Soup is nourishing and filling and it heats you up when it is chilly outside. Soup can also be paired with just about anything and everything - salads, sandwiches, pastas, entrees.

However, sometimes making soup seems like a chore. Forget that! Instead of slaving away just toss some "stuff" in a pot and call it simple soup. Don't over think it.

This soup is super healthy and nutritious and you can take this recipe and recreate it everyday by using other frozen veggie bags and adding favorite herbs or condiments to give it flavor.

• 1 Bag of Frozen Broccoli
• 1 Bag of Frozen Green Beans
• 1 Box of Chicken Stock
• 2 Large Leeks - chopped
• 3 Celery Stems - chopped
• 2 TBSP of Fresh Parsley 
• 1-2 Bay leaves
• 4 Cloves of Garlic - minced
• 2 TBSP of extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 Tsp (+) Celtic Sea Salt or Himalayan Sea Salt
• Couple cranks of ground pepper
• Pumpkin Oil - little drizzle over each bowl (totally optional, yet tasty)

1. In a stock pot, heat the extra-virgin olive oil on low heat. Once the pan is hot add the leeks, celery, bay leaves and cover
2. Add the garlic after a few minutes
3. Once the veggies are softening up add the box of chicken broth (about 4 cups)
4. Toss in the frozen veggies (add whatever you like no need to follow recipes 100% all the time - cauliflower, peas, spinach, zucchini would also be be great choices and easy to find frozen)
5. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and add salt, pepper, more garlic (optional), parsley
6. Shut off heat and pulse in a Vita-Mix blender if you want a creamy consistency or only blend part of the soup keeping some of it chunky.
7. This is COMPLETELY optional, but super delicious add a drizzle of pumpkin oil on top. Not only is it tasty, but it makes the soup look extra fancy!

This was a thick soup so if you wanted it thinner, blend it more or add extra stock. 

Serves 6

Gourmet Burger Class

Last weekend I had the pleasure of teaching a healthy cooking class. I focused on the health benefits of incorporating certain foods to create truly magnificent gourmet burgers.

The class turned out to be a ton of fun (of course!).

If you have spent any time reading this blog you will know that I am not a vegetarian, but that I love to eat loads and loads of veggies. There are so many vegetarians out there that do not get the benefit of a tasty, satisfying burger. Instead, the option is a veggie patty that usually comes out of a box and has little to no nutritional benefits (blah!). I wanted my class to have an easy option that would be quick and delicious to show their guests that they really care.

This recipe is great for on or off the grill

Portobello Burger

Ingredients:

• 4 Portobello Mushroom Caps (small enough to fit on a bun if you prefer, reserve stem)
• 1 Tbsp of Dijon Mustard
• 5 Tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Juice of 1 Lemon
• A few cranks of Celtic Sea Salt or Himalayan Sea Salt
• A crank of Pepper
• Optional - Dash of Balsamic Vinegar
• Optional Minced Garlic

Directions:

1. Clean the portobello mushrooms in cool water or use a damp cloth as these mushrooms can be delicate
2. Cut the stem off the mushroom and reserve the stem (you can cook them up too - yum)
3. Put all other ingredients in a bowl and mix
4. Then brush the mushrooms with the marinade/paste so that they are covered
5. Let them sit for 15-30 minutes
6. If you are cooking these mushrooms in a saute pan then put a bit of extra oil in a medium heat pan
7. Once the pan is hot - add the mushrooms, turn the heat down to medium/low
8. Watch the sides of the mushrooms and when the bottom looks like it is shrinking then flip it over
9. Cook the mushrooms on low-medium for about 5-10 minutes (depends on your range)
10. If you like you can top the mushrooms with sauteed leeks (again seems so fancy!)
11. Slice up the leeks and saute them in extra virgin olive oil
12. When the leeks are translucent spoon them on top of the mushrooms and enjoy

  Serving - 4 burgers
Now you are ready to enjoy these burgers on a bun or over mixed greens. Personally a meal isn't a meal without the greens so load up!

Chef Cat Cora & MNBlogPantry

Ok so I have been meaning to post all sorts of various recipes and other odds and ends for over a month (I promise I have the pictures to prove my good intentions). But, who cares if I have all these pictures of various meals I have cooked or eaten if I can't tell you about them? For some reason I just couldn't commit to posting anything. Maybe it has to do with my group detox program going on. Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that I have been working on trying to finish up the details for my new website. No matter the reason here is my first post since my unintentional break.


Chef Cat Cora and the MnBlogPantry.

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Cat Cora here in Minnesota. She is on a book tour and because she is partnered with Macy's she is going around presenting/teaching and then doing a book signing.

She was very dynamic as I can only guess she must be on TV. I loved her Southern accent. She showcased 2 recipes from her new book Cat Cora's Classics with a Twist. Her Grilled Chili-Lime Flank Steak Soft Tacos with Charred Pineapple Salsa and Grapefruit and Cherry Ambrosia with Honey Cream. Everyone got samples - super tasty and the recipes were very simple and easy. Not only that but they were visually appealing as well. Take a peak:

The reason I was able to get my picture with Cat Cora was because I have been participating in the MnBlogPantry events. Thanks to Jen from Unplanned Cooking for organizing this event.

Here she is pictured with Cat 

I also wanted to post a few pics of some fellow bloggers I always love hooking up with at different MnBlogPantry events. Michele and Kelli are pictured here with a watermelon margarita from Cat Cora's book. 

And the lovely Molly of Taste Bud Tart

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?

What's for breakfast?

Breakfast is really important to me. Which means I take it very seriously. Well usually I do, but on a day like today I went down stairs and it seemed like I had nothing to eat. At first I cut up a lovely nectarine and ate that followed by some green grapes. Then a few hours later I was still hungry so I looked at what I had:

Avocados

Tomatoes

Mixed Greens

Eggs

Mochi

Carrots

Peppers

Onions

I first started out making a Mochi Casserole with the onion, peppers and carrots and pieces of cut up Mochi. Then I could not stop cooking so I sliced up the avocado & tomato and arranged it on a plate. I ran out to the garden to pick some basil leaves and then I sprinkled some ground pepper on the tomatoes and placed the basil leaves under the tomatoes. After I was finished with the basil I decided I really wanted eggs for breakfast (like I usually do) and scrambled them up. I placed the scrambled eggs on top of the mixed greens and cut some chives from the garden to add a little something. Then I drizzled some Extra-Virgin Olive Oil on my greens and over the tomatoes.

This did not take too long, but I made enough for breakfast and lunch.

What creations do you come up with for breakfast?