Beet and Kale Salad

Salad:

• 4 large beets – farmer’s market is a great place to buy in season
• 1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds (I used sunflower seeds)
• 1 bunch kale – must be super fresh!
• 3 scallions
• 1 medium carrot

Dressing:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 3/4 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1.4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon finely diced garlic

Directions:

Wash beets and bring to a boil in a large pot.  After boiling bring to a simmer, continue to simmer for one hour, until tender.  Let cool, then peel beets and cut into 3/4 inch pieces.

In the meantime, lightly toast the pumpkin seeds by placing them in a dry skillet and cooking voer medium heat.  Constantly stir the seeds to ensure even cooking (or buy toasted sunflower seeds).  When they begin to pop and give off a nutty aroma, they are ready.  Set aside to cool.

Wash kale and place in a large pot of boiling water for 30 seconds.  Place in strainer and cool with cold water, cut into bite size pieces.  Finely dice the greens onions and peel the carrot.  Slice into 1/8-inch rounds.

Place all dressing ingredients in a bowl and mix well with a wire whisk.  In a separate bowl place chopped beets, chopped kale, dice green onions, sliced carrots and pumpkin seeds.  Add dressing and toss gently.  Serve chilled.  Make six servings!

From Feeding the Whole Family by Cynthia Lair

Lemon and Garlic Quinoa Salad

Salad:

• 1 cup Quinoa (then cooked)
• 1/2 cup carrots, chopped
• 1/3 cup parsley, minced
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds

Dressing:

• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt to Taste

Directions:

Cook Quinoa.  Prepare dressing in large bowl, add carrots, seeds and parsley.  Add cooked quinoa and toss well.  Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Adapted from Feeding The Whole Family by Cynthia Lair

I had their lemon drop martini (amazing), prawns, and arugula salad (that comes with gilled melon!).  I let them know I was gluten-free and vegan (minus seafood) and they just substituted where needed.  If you do go for a romantic night out and need a gluten-free/vegan full meal just call ahead and they can specially design you a meal that will work for you!  Happy Eating!

Oh – their bar is absolutely amazing!  Order anything/everything and enjoy their color changing drink and super fun drink list.  Let the bar tender know you are gluten-free!

Dinner 9/27/2009:

Mexican Brown Rice with Pinto Beans

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 onion, diced fine (very important to dice it very fine)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (we needed to add an extra teaspoon at the end for flavor)
• 1 cup long-grain brown rice, rinsed and drained
• 1 and 3/4 to 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste or sauce (i would use 2 tbls. next time)
• 3 cups cooked pinto beans

Directions:

Heat oil in a 2-quart pot.  Add cumin and chili powder and saute for a few seconds.  Add onion and salt and continue cooking until onion is soft.  Add rice and stir well to coat.  Now add water and tomato paste and bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer, covered, until all the water is absorbed (about 4 minutes).  Serve next to hot pinto beans.

From Cynthia Lair’s Feeding the Whole Family: Cooking with Whole Foods (Best cookbook I have ever had!)

Alternative if you already have rice cooked:  Add cooked rice without any water but an extra tablespoon of tomato paste.  Also – if you like onions (we love them) add an extra sauted onion to the pinto beans, less finely chopped for more flavor.  This is a very mild meal which is great for kiddos but can sometime need an extra boost at the table.  I also served this alongside a dry green lettuce salad (you can pile the rice and beans on top for dressing or make lettuce wraps at the table) and hard corn tortilla’s so that rice and beans taco’s could be made.  Yum!

Dinner 9/24/2009:

Black Bean Tacos with Green Salad

For 4 People:

• 2 16 oz. cans Black Beans
• 1 large onion
• Salad Greens
• 1 Fresh Tomato
• 1 avocado
• Fresh Basal Leaves
• Hard Corn Tortilla Shells

Directions:

Saute chopped onion until soft, add black beans to heat.  Chop tomatoes and set aside.  Cut avocados into long strips.  Rinse and rip lettuce.  Heat hard corn taco shells in oven (350 degrees for a few minutes).  Put lettuce on plates with basil leaves on top.  Make tacos using lettuce, basal, black beans mixed with onions, tomatoes, avocados.  Once everyone has a ‘hard taco’ with fixings encourage people to make taco salads with remaining ingredients – no dressing necessary!

I made this recipe last Sunday night for my family and it was surprisingly good!  My husband was super skeptical coming to the table and wasn’t sure about the ‘combination’ of ingredients but they all went very well together.  The best part is that this is a super fast and easy recipe that can be a good last minute dinner if you have run out of time.  The brown rice can be made far in advance and everything else just takes a few minutes.  I also made a Green Bean and Sesame Salad recipe to go with the meal (gotta get your vegetables in) but it was terrible, so I won’t share that really bad recipe.  To the credit of the recipe it called for rice miso which I wasn’t able to add because it is not gluten-free (or I couldn’t find a gluten-free version) so I had to try to substitute and I think it went badly.  Steamed Green beans next to the Brown Rice and Kidney Beans would be delicious and will fix the need for a green something at the table.

Last night, Wednesday night, I served this as left overs but added an extra can of black beans so that it was very heavy on the beans.  I really like it when there are more beans rather than less so that is another option.  The black beans with the kidney beans also looks really good together.  We ate a green salad next to it last night to get in the veggies.

Dinner 9/20/2009:

Dilled Kidney Beans and Brown Rice

Salad:

• 2 cups cooked Brown Rice
• 1 1/2 cups kidney Beans
• 1/2 cup red onion, chopped

Dressing:

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons brown rice vinegar (I used regular rice vinegar)
• 1 tablespoon umeboshi plum vinegar (or red wine vinegar and 1.4 tsp salt) (I used red wine vinegar)
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill (or 2 tsp. dried)

Directions:

1.) Mix oil, vinegar and dill with whisk or shake in small jar

2.) Pour dressing over rice, beans and onion, toss gently.

If  possible, let sit an hour or tow as flavors mellows with time.

• Preparation time: 10 minutes if rice si already cooked
• Yields: 4 Servings
• Fiber per serving: 8 grams.

From Feeding the Whole Family, by Cynthia Lair.  Moon Smile Press, Seattle, WA.

Last night I made a great Vegan and Gluten Free Chili.  It had a bit of spice so keep that in mind when adding the jalapeno if you have an audience that doesn’t like spice.  My one year old didn’t mind the spice so it might be OK for most people.  It definitely feeds 8 people so feel free to make half or be ready for left-overs.

Black Bean and Quinoa Chili

Ingrediants:

• 1 cup rinsed and drained Quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 Yellow Pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 Red Pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 2 tomatoes, corred and diced
• 1 cup diced carrotes
• Two 16 oz. cans back beans, drained
• One 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley (2 Tbs. fresh)
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 green onions, chopped (optional)

Directions:

Combine quinoa and water in saucepan, cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Cook until liquid is absorbed, about 15-20 minutes.  Remove from heat and let stand about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a large, non-stick pan; add onion, bell pepper, celery and jalapeno. Saute 7 minutes over medium heat.  Stir in fresh tomatoes and carrots; saute 3 to 4 minutes.  Stir in beans, crushed tomatoes, and seasonings; cook about 25 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally.  Stir in quinoa; cook 5 minutes more.

Ladle chili into bowls and top with green onions if desired.

Yields: 8 servings.

la Carta de Oaxaca has been our favorite restaurant in Seattle for the past 4 years or so.  It is located in downtown Ballard (where we live) and has great night life around it.  We have gone there on many if not most date nights and have eaten almost the same meal every time.  This week, being our first Vegan week, we had to change things up a bit!

Caleb, tried and true to his meal, ordered the same thing: Tacos Carne Asada and Quesadilla Fritas.  I decided to branch out and get my seafood for the week.  I ordered the Cocktail de Camarones and their Halibut (not listed on the online menu).  It was all amazing.  I didn’t eat Caleb’s at all but have been eating that dish for the last 4 years so I know it was very tasty.  It is gluten-free but is in no way vegan as the tacos have beef and the Quesadilla’s are made with cheese.  So really, he cheated big time.

My dinner, since I allow seafood, was amazing.  I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this restaurant if you don’t eat at least seafood as I think the substitutions might be more difficult but it is certainly a talented kitchen!  The Halibut Tacos were truly the tastiest halibut tacos I have ever had and more than enough to fill one’s tummy.  The Cocktail de Camarones is not my favorite but was in no way not good, I’m just not a huge shrimp person.  No cheese on anything which was nice not have to omit things that were supposed to be in the dish – I hate doing that.

Overall I give this restaurant a 5 out of 5 if you can eat Seafood and a 3 out of 5 if you are a strict vegan.  I also highly recommend their Margarita’s or any mixed drink for that matter – the bartender is fabulous!

This dinner was so supper tasty and filling!  My 15 month old liked the Kidney beans the best second to the soup.  She was not a huge fan of the corn but my hubby loved the corn and dressing on the salad!  It took about 1 hour to do the whole recipe with some yelling from the kids and a break to breastfeed Zeb (the 3 month old).  The Kitchen smelled fabulous!

Squash Soup

with Side Salad of Kidney Beans and Corn

Butternut Squash with Shallots & Sage

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 shallots, halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/4 inch thick slices (3/4 cup)
• 1 (1-3/4 lb) butternut squash, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (4 cups)
• 1/2 cup reduced vegetable broth or water
• 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage (I got to use the fresh sage from my balcony garden!)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Cook shallots and squash, stirring until shallots are softened, about 5 minutes. Add broth or water, brown sugar, sage and salt, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Simmer, covered, stirring occasionally until squash is tender, 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat. Add vinegar, pepper and salt to taste. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

(I make this Squash into soup by adding about 1 – 1 ½ cups vegetable broth, heating on the stove in a soup pot until it goes to mush and then blending it in the blender until it is completely smooth.  It makes a lovely soup for about 6 people.)

Compliments of  Bastyr Website.

Kidney Bean and Corn Salad
with Cider Lime Vinaigrette

Kidney beans and fresh corn have a sweet flavor and are good sources of protein. Paired with a cooling cider lime vinaigrette, this salsa inspired salad is great on a hot summer day.

Prep time: 15-20 minutes (salad), 5 minutes (vinaigrette)
Serves 4-6

• 1 ¾ cup kidney beans, cooked (I use double to make it more hearty and because my kids love the beans!)
• 3 ears of fresh corn, approximately 1 ½ cups
• ¾ cup fresh red pepper, diced
• ½ cup red onion, diced
• 2 sprigs fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced

Soak kidney beans overnight. Pressure cook beans for approximately 20-40 minutes in 6 cups of water. Drain beans and let cool until room temperature.

Remove husks from corn. Bring water in a pot to boil. Place corn in boiling water. Turn off heat. Remove corn after 4 minutes, let stand until corn returns to room temperature. With chef’s knife, remove kernels from cob. Combine cooked beans, corn kernels, pepper, onion, garlic and cilantro in large mixing bowl.

For the Vinaigrette

• 4 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons unrefined extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon crushed black pepper

Whisk together all ingredients in a mixing bowl until mixture thickens slightly. Combine with kidney bean salad until all ingredients are well coated.

Original Recipes Copyright 2009 by Genevieve Sherrow

Compliments of Bastyr Website