Green Smoothies

This is easily one of my most-requested recipes.  I know a lot of people drink green smoothies, but if you've never tried one, rest assured:  The taste of the spinach is hidden by the taste of the fruit.  It tastes like a fruit smoothie, but has all the added nutritional benefits of being packed full of greens.

My basic recipe:

Put 2 ½ cups of water in your blender.  Add lots and lots of spinach, a couple of handfuls at a time, and let it blend for at least a minute until smooth.  I usually keep adding spinach at least until the blender is full to the 5-cup line.  Add two tablespoons of ground flaxseed.  Add one or two bananas, an apple and a couple of handfuls of frozen fruit.  Blend until it’s creamy.

This recipe is endlessly variable.  You can use any greens you want (kale, lettuces, cabbage, dandelion greens, arugula, etc.), although spinach is the most mild.  You can also use any fresh or frozen fruit you have on hand.  It is a good idea to use something to make it creamy: a banana or two, an avocado, or some coconut milk. 

Healthy Kid-Friendly Lunch and Snack Ideas

(I have two small kids, so I know it's easy to get into a snack rut.  Here are a few lunch/snack "recipes" that my kids love.  Most of these ideas are adapted from Mollie Katzen’s cookbooks for kids.  Check out Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes, and Salad People and More Real Recipes, for detailed instructions and other ideas.)

·      Make your own hummus, then let your kids create wraps on whole-wheat tortillas with the hummus, carrot sticks, red pepper slices, spinach, sprouts, and other veggies.

·      Make “salad people” out of fruits and vegetables.

·      Create mini pizzas on top of pita bread, English muffins, or refrigerated biscuit dough.

·      Lay out a salad bar and let kids assemble their own salads.

·      Try a soup bar.  Fill bowls with cubed tofu, beans, corn, little pastas, carrots, peas, etc.  Let the kids put what they want in their bowls then pour heated broth over top.

·      Make fruit juice pops with Dixie cups and popsicle sticks

·      Create “bagel faces” by topping a bagel half with nut butter or another spread, then fruits, vegetables, and seeds.

·      Build “tiny tacos” with refried beans, salsa and olives on top of tortilla chips

·      Create peanut butter pictures by spreading a slice of bread with peanut butter and letting your kids make designs with raisins and banana slices.

·      Put some (nondairy) yogurt in a bowl and let kids top it as they wish—with berries, fruit slices, granola, etc.

·      Place a dollop of applesauce and a sprinkle of cinnamon on top of a bowl of oatmeal and let the kids swirl it in.

·      Kids love smoothies—including green smoothies!

·      For a quick snack, whiz up some banana milk or strawberry milk.  Place a cup of soymilk or almond milk in the blender, then blend in a banana or a handful of fresh or frozen strawberries.

·      Kids also love dipping:

o   Raw or steamed vegetables dipped in homemade hummus

o   Carrot sticks, apple slices and pretzels dipped in peanut butter

o   Toast sticks dipped in applesauce

o   Fruit slices dipped in (non-dairy) yogurt

o   Tortilla chips with salsa

o   Raw vegetables or tortilla chips in mashed black beans mixed with salsa or some cumin and lime juice

o   Anything in guacamole (just mash an avocado with lime juice and salt)

Brown Rice Salad with Kiwi and Apple

I still don't have a camera.  I probably should have dealt more fully with that issue before launching this blog... but in the interest of not losing steam, I'll just go ahead and post some of my favorite recipes sans photos!  This brown rice salad is one of my favorites in the summertime when I can't stand to eat anything hot.  Also, it is very pretty, although you will just have to take my word for it.

New Zealand-Style Brown Rice Salad with Kiwifruit and Apple

(from The Tropical Vegan Kitchen by Donna Klein)

1 cup brown rice, cooked

2 kiwifruit, peeled and sliced into thin half-rounds

1 Fuji apple, cut into ½-inch cubes

½ cup thinly sliced celery

½ cup chopped red bell pepper

¼ cup chopped walnuts, toasted

2 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, toss all the ingredients until well combined.  Let stand at room temperature about 15 minutes to allow the flavors to blend, then toss again.  Serve at room temperature.  (You can also refrigerate it and serve it chilled.)

Garlicky Kale with Mushrooms

I just realized that two out of my first four posts contain kale recipes.  This blog's title is not a joke, people.

This recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.  I made it for the first time a couple of days ago.  I've made braised kale many times, but for some reason it never occurred to me to add this much garlic to it.  Turns out, the garlic makes it over-the-top delicious.

I liked this recipe so much that after making it with cremini mushrooms on Tuesday night, I decided to make it again Wednesday night.  I didn't have any more mushrooms, though, so I made the kale as directed and threw in some steamed broccoli at the end.  It was great, and I think you could probably substitute pretty much any vegetable for the mushrooms and expect it to turn out garlic-licious.

So here are the ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces cremini or button mushrooms, sliced (about 2 cups)
• 1 pound kale, coarse stems removed, leaves sliced or torn into pieces
• Several pinches of freshly ground black pepper 

And here is the procedure:

Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the garlic in the oil for about 2 minutes, being careful not to burn it. Spray it with a little nonstick cooking spray if needed. Add the mushrooms and sprinkle on the salt. Let them cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often, until the moisture has released and the mushrooms are lightly browned. Add the kale and pepper, and use tongs to sauté for about 10 more minutes. Add splashes of water if the pan seems dry. The kale should be tender and cooked down pretty well. Serve immediately. 

Wheat Berry & Strawberry Salad

This is an easy and filling weeknight meal that I threw together today.  It starts with making a simple wheatberry salad.  If you've never tried wheat berries, you totally should: They are sturdy and filling, and (of course) super-nutritious.



Wheat Berry & Strawberry Salad with Citrus Dressing

1 1/2 c. wheat berries

1 pint strawberries, sliced

1 orange, sectioned

Juice of 1 orange

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Salt and pepper

1) Rinse the wheat berries well, then place them in a pot of water that covers them by about two inches.  Add a pinch of salt to the water, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer (covered) for about an hour.  When the wheat berries are tender and chewy, drain the water.

2) Toss the wheat berries with the juice of 1 orange and the juice of 1/2 a lemon.  (You can add olive oil at this point if you'd like to, but I try to avoid using oil unless it's necessary for a methodological reason in a recipe.)

3) When the wheat berries are cooled, add in the sliced strawberries and the orange sections.  (It would also be great with other kinds of fruit, or with fresh herbs like basil or parsley.  Give yourself permission to be creative!)

The wheat berry salad is done!  It takes a little while because of the long cooking time of the wheat berries, but it's very little hands-on time; it's a cinch, actually.

To assemble:  Lay out a bed of leafy greens on a plate.  I used some gorgeous mixed lettuces from my mom's garden, but fresh spinach would be good too.  Layer the wheat berry & strawberry salad over the top of the greens, and top it off with a generous sprinkling of roasted chickpeas.  (It would also be great topped with some toasted walnuts or pecans or sunflower seeds, if you prefer.)

Roasted Chickpeas

I make these crunchy roasted chickpeas all the time.  They're one of my most-utilized recipes, in fact.  My kids eat them like popcorn, I put them out as party snacks, and I love using them as "croutons" on top of salads or soups or anything that calls out for a little extra crunch.  Not only are they delicious, but they are also rich in protein, fiber, and minerals.  Plus they only take a few minutes of hands-on time to make.  They're a win-win-win, is what I'm saying.

It's more of a method than a recipe.  All you need is chickpeas, extra-virgin olive oil, and a seasoning blend of your choice.  Here's what you do:

1) Get the chickpeas ready.  If you're using the dried kind, that means soaking them overnight then cooking them for 1-2 hours.  If you're using the canned kind, it just means opening the can then draining the chickpeas and rinsing them well.  (I don't recommend making less than 2 cans at a time-- Trust me, they will all get eaten!)

2) Lay the chickpeas out on a baking sheet or in a Pyrex baking dish.  Drizzle them with olive oil.  Most recipes call for 1-2 tablespoons of oil, but I usually just use about a teaspoon.  That's plenty to get the job done.

3) Sprinkle the chickpeas with whatever seasonings you like.  I normally use salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, and oregano.  Or you can just use a seasoning salt blend.  After you've oiled and spiced them, taste one: If it tastes well-seasoned before you cook it, it will taste delicious afterward too.

4)  Roast the chickpeas in a pre-heated 400-degree oven.  It will take 30-45 minutes, so you'll want to reach in with a spatula and give them a stir every ten minutes or so.  You'll know they're done when they are crispy and crunchy, and perhaps some of them will start to split down the seam.

I just ate these for dinner and I already want more.

Menu: Vegan Summer Buffet: Grilled Kale, Quinoa Salad, and Roasted Red Potato Salad

Yesterday was my brother's birthday, so we had a big family party (as we are wont to do) and fed everyone.  By doubling and tripling recipes, we were able to set out big bowls of salads and foods for a satisfying buffet.  I took photos of it, but it seems there was a problem with my camera and I lost most of the photos (though luckily my brother took some pictures of the grilled kale; see below!)

It might be hard for some people to imagine what you'd make for a vegan buffet, especially when there is a barbeque grill handy.  But our buffet was colorful and satisfying.  Here are the things we made:

1) We made a green salad with sundry lettuces and radish microgreens from local BUG Farms (harvested by my brother and his gal-pal Sharon).  We threw in some ripe tomatoes from my uncle's garden, plus sliced almonds and dried cranberries, then we dressed it with fresh lemon juice, olive oil, and some salt and pepper.

2) Of course, in true summer fashion, there was a huge bowl of watermelon and cantaloupe.  It isn't a buffet without fruit salad!

3) Grilled Kale

As I'm sure you've guessed from the title of the blog, kale is pretty much my favorite vegetable.  It's an under-used ingredient for most people, which is a shame because it is so robustly nutritious and versatile.

My brother has a few healthy kale plants growing out in the garden, so we decided to try something new and grill it up.  First we cut some Red Russian Kale and some Curly Kale out of the garden...

Then we washed the leaves well and tossed them with olive oil, salt and pepper...

Then we placed the leaves, with their stems intact, onto the grill, turning them frequently.  The curly kale held its structure better than the red Russian, and the leaves also got more pleasantly crispy.  (Next time I do this I'll only use curly kale, I think.)  We also threw some thick lemon slices onto the grill.

Once the leaves were crisped up, we squeezed the grilled lemon over the top and ate the kale like lollipops.  (You probably don't want to eat the stems, but leaving them on makes them easier to grill.  It's easy to just nibble around them.)

4) Quinoa Salad with Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Beans and Avocadoes

Quinoa salads are one of my favorite things to make, because the recipes are endlessly variable.  The first quinoa salad I ever made was from Mark Bittman in How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, but once you have the method down you can just use whatever you have in the fridge and pantry and whip up something delicious.  We made a gigantic bowl of quinoa salad yesterday, so I'll reduce the proportions here: This would probably serve 4-6 people.

2 c. quinoa, cooked and cooled
1 lb. sweet potatoes, roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 can black or kidney beans
1 c. fresh spinach, chopped
A handful of black olives, chopped
1 avocado, diced
1 lime
Salt and pepper

If you've never made quinoa before, it's super-easy.  Use the same proportions as you would use to make rice: 1 c. quinoa to 2 c. water, plus a pinch of salt.  It only takes about 15-20 minutes to cook up.

And roasting sweet potatoes is easy, too.  Just peel and dice the potatoes, and toss them with a tablespoon (or less) of olive oil and some salt and pepper.  Roast them in a 400-degree oven for 20-30 minutes, or until they are tender.

Once you've got the quinoa and roasted sweet potatoes prepared, the rest is easy.  Just throw all of the ingredients into a bowl, squeeze on the lime juice, apply salt and pepper to taste, and voila!  Quinoa salad.  Done.

5) Roasted Red Potato Salad with Lemon and Basil

We kind of made this one up as we went, and it turned out delicious.  Roasting the potatoes and lemons gave it a really deep but slightly sweet lemony flavor, and the tomatoes, corn and basil turned it into a summery-tasting dish.  It got devoured and it will definitely be in our regular rotation this summer!
2 lb. red potatoes, washed and cut into chunks
1 lemon, cut into eighths
2 T. olive oil
1 c. halved cherry tomatoes
1/2 c. defrosted frozen corn
1 or 2 handfuls of basil leaves, chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper

First, place the potatoes and the lemon pieces in a roasting dish with the olive oil and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper.  Roast the potatoes at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until they are tender when pierced with a fork and crispy around the edges.

When the roasted lemons are cooled enough to handle, squeeze their juice over the potatoes.  Let cool.  Toss the cooled potatoes with halved cherry tomatoes, corn, and basil.  Add salt and pepper to taste, and garnish with lemon zest.  Serve at room temperature.

And 6) Dessert was lime cupcakes with lime zest frosting and chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter-swirled frosting.  My mom made them and they were amazing, and I have good news for you: She caters cupcakes, both traditional and vegan!  She's working on getting a website up, and I'll let you know when it's ready for you to peruse.

Welcome!

I was going to write the inaugural kale-vangelical post today... but then I got in a water fight and played Monopoly until 1:30 a.m.  So it will have to wait until tomorrow.  See you then!