Millet with Kale, Mushroom Gravy and Beet Salad

I love the website Oh She Glows.  I follow it quite religiously and am always so impressed how Angela Liddon makes all of the food just look so amazing and healthy.  Pretty much every picture I see, I say to myself "I am so going to make this!"  The reality, of course is that I have so many recipes that I just have to make, and trying as of this point to keep to a budget, but still eat healthfully, is challenging, and I can't make every dish if I don't have the ingredients at home.  I think most of the ingredients in this dish people with a well stocked fridge and pantry should pretty much have on hand at all times.  This is one that seemed pretty easy to make, healthy, but also very much a "comfort food" item.  Sometimes the hubby can be finicky about creamy sauces and gravies, but I thought this would be great.  He ended up loving it, but didn't want to take it to lunch the next day, because in his words it was too light for a hardworking, strong man like him.  Insert good-humerdly crossing of the eyes here.  It ended up being a bonus for me because I ended up taking it for my lunch and was very satisfied!  Try making it and go over and take a look at what Angela ended up doing for the same dish over at Oh She Glows.  I didn't follow her recipe exactly, but used it as a guideline to make my own dish.

Super Comfort-Foody and Delicious!

Gravy:

Yields: 2 1/2 cups

2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, small diced
4 oz. criminis, small diced
4 tablespoons unbleached flour
2 cups filtered water
1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed with the fingers
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon tamari
1/4 teaspoon unchicken boullion

Garlic Kale:
12 cups kale, blanched
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
sea salt and black pepper

Millet:
1 1/2 cups millet, rinsed
1 teaspoon olive oil
3 cups filtered water
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1.  Cook the millet in the oil until toasted and most of the water has evaporated.  Add the filtered water and sea salt.  Bring the millet to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook till the water has absorbed and the millet is fluffy,
2.  Prepare the gravy:Add the oil over medium heat.  Once it is hot, add the onion, criminis and garlic, stirring frequently until they begin to color.  Add the unbleached flour and stir well to coat. 
3.  Allow the flour to cook for a couple minutes so that the raw flour taste goes away.  Add the water all at once, whisking immediately so the gravy does not clump.
4.  Add the remaining in gredients to the gravy: the sea salt, black pepper, thyme, nutritional yeast, tamari and unchicken boullion.  Whisk well to combine all the ingredients.  Continue cooking till the gravy has thickened to your liking.  Season to taste.
5.  Prepare the garlic kale:  blanch the kale just until it turns a bright green color - about 30 seconds.  Drain.
6.  In a small pan over medium heat, cook the garlic in the olive oil until it becomes golden and cooked through.  Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.
7.  To serve, place a mound of the millet on the plate, followed by a generous serving of kale, then top it all off with gravy.  Healthy comfort food at its best!

The millet mixed with the garlic kale.



The plate before adding the gravy.  Yum!

Enjoy!

Koko

Mushroom Barley Soup ala Risotto

The countdown is on for Hubbs and I to move.  It is officially 4 weeks from today that we will make the drive from Brooklyn to Michigan.  Now is the time to start going through things and getting rid of stuff that isn't going to make the journey with us.  Since living in NY, I've invested in a small chest freezer as well as an additional refrigerator/freezer combo other than the one that comes with the apartment.  I have been teaching so many classes and doing so much testing that I simply needed more space.  Now that the time is drawing near, I'm trying to empty out the freezers and use up everything in there.  Mostly we have a lot of frozen fruit left and some baking chips, gluten free flours, etc.  That is until I discovered a ziploc baggie of mushroom stems.  Soup - the perfect answer!  Now I realize that this is not the perfect weather for soup (high 80's and crazy humid), but I could literally eat soup everyday, multiple times a day.  So I decided to make mushroom stock from the mushroom stems I saved every time I purchased a package of mushrooms.  It makes an amazingly delicious stock.  After going through my pantry as well, I came across half a bag of barley that needed to be used up.  What better way to use the mushroom stems and barley then by making Mushroom Barley Soup? 

I think the last time I ate this soup, that I can recall anyway, was in second grade when we made stone soup, which was actually a barley soup with stones speckled throughout.  Pretty gross to think of now, but it was pretty awesome back then!  This recipe, which I used the Candle Cafe's cookbook as a reference, turned out very tasty, but stupid me got busy packing more and more stuff into boxes, left the pot on the stove over low heat, and ended up not with a soup, but rather, almost a risotto.  But it was still quite tasty!



Mushroom Barley Soup ala Risotto:



Quite tasty.

Serves: 4-6

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cup medium diced carrots, about 3 medium
11/2 cups chopped celery, 2 stalks
1 cup medium diced onion, 1 medium
1 1/2 cups sliced crimini mushrooms
3 cups mushroom stock
3 cups filtered water
2 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup barley, rinsed
2 bay leaves

1.  In a large pot over medium heat, add the olive oil.  Allow it to become hot, then add the carrots, celery and onions.  Stir and allow to cook for about 5 minutes, till softened. 
2.  Add the mushrooms and gently stir, trying to keep them whole. 
3.  Add the rinsed barley, stirring to coat with all of the ingredients.  (This is to keep the grains separate.  If you were to add them with the stock at the same time, they would clump together more.)  Once the barley is dry, add the stock, water, salt and pepper and bay leaves. 
3.  Allow the soup ingredients to come to a boil.   Reduce the heat and allow the soup to simmer for about half hour, stirring periodically, until the barley is cooked all the way through. 
4.  To make it into the "risotto" I ended up with, cook it for about double the time over low heat.  ;)
Enjoy!

-Koko

Unchicken Cutlet, Forbidden Rice Salad, Roasted Zucchini, Beet Salad

Today was a nice day weather-wise and I was craving something fresh, with tons of colors.  In came today's dinner complete with forbidden rice, beet salad and roasted zucchini.  It was so tasty and even though there were several components that had to be put together, I organized everything nicely and it came together pretty quickly.  Today was a strange day for work though, something that has made me appreciative that I spend my days on my feet for 10 hours a day, sometimes more when I have a class to teach.  Today I had to go to upstate NY with one of my bosses to renew a health certificate, which involved about 4 hours driving in the car total (on my butt the whole time!). 

Makes me even more appreciative that I either use my bike to get where I need to go, or the subway when the location is farther away.  We sat down for an additional 4 hours for the class.  My butt was literally asleep and when the class was finished, I felt more exhausted than when I am on my feet lifting 50-80 lb. things for 10 hours straight.  How does that make sense?  I actually fell asleep mid-sentence on the way back to work while my boss was driving because the traffic was so heavy, the car was so warm and we were basically stationary, while he went on and on about his accomplishments in life.  Sorry, but a little boring. 

I got home only an hour and a half later than I usually do and even though I didn't physically do anything today other than bike to and from work, I am more exhausted than ever!  Strange.  So I feel like taking a nap, which I did not give into - instead I am writing this post and made a beautiful dinner.  Then off to work on the business, waiting for the Hubby to get home from work, then off to bed and awake at 4 am to start it all over again.  But this time all day on my feet.  Yay!  (Funny to think that I complained when my feet hurt after a long day.  Appreciative now!)

Crispy Roasted Zucchini






The contrast in colors of the peppers and the rice is amazing!




My standard marinated beet salad.  Yum.

 Roasted Zucchini:
2 large zucchini, ends trimmed, cut into circles on the diagonal
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

heaping 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon dried oregano

Forbidden Rice Salad:

1 1/2 cups dry forbidden (black) rice, cooked

1 small green bell pepper, small diced
1 small red bell pepper, small diced
1 scallion, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons toasted seasame oil
2 teaspoons olive oil

3/4 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1.  Cook the rice.  Allow it to cool slightly.
2.  Prepare the roasted zucchini.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  In a large bowl, toss together the zucchini, olive oil, sea salt, black pepper and dried oregano.  Place on a parchment-lined sheet tray and roast until cooked through and crispy. 

3.  Once the rice has cooled slightly, place in a large mixing bowl.  Add the green and red bell peppers, scallions, sesame oil, olive oi, sea salt and black pepper.  Toss very well to coat.  Season to taste with additional sea salt or black pepper as necessary. 

4.  Serve. Yum!


Such a tasty, colorful dinner!



 

Enjoy!

Koko

Sauteed Snap and Snow Peas with Cashews

This is a really tasty, easy stir-fry (which I never make enough of!) recipe I found in Vegetarian Times.  I have been getting that magazine for so many years and even though I find myself oohing and aahing over so many of the pictures and recipes, I find that I rarely actually make any of the recipes, which drives my husband crazy.  After all, my hundreds of cookbooks are taking up so darn much space, I should be doing something with them, right??  Anyway, so I had several of these ingredients on hand already and it was a snap to come together.  Simple and tasty over some steamed rice.  Since my Hubbs isn't the biggest fan of brown rice, we did white rice.  I loved the idea of the cashews in the stir-fry, because I always see recipes and items on menus with cashews in them, but never think to order them or make them, not sure why, but I just never do.  Try this simple, quick, veggie-full dinner and have lots of time to do other things - like baking, what I'm doing now!  Yum!

Sauteed Snap and Snow Peas with Cashews:





So pretty, right?



Serves 4

1 tablespoon tamari

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

2 teaspoons arrowroot

1/4 teaspoon sriracha

2 pinches black pepper

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium red onion, julienned, about 1 cup
1 yellow bell pepper, julienned, about 1 cup
1 cup raw cashews
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
8 oz. sugar snap peas
8 oz. snow pea pods
8 green onions, cut into 1" pieces

Steamed white or brown rice to serve

1.  Whisk together the tamari, toasted sesame oil, arrowroot, sriracha, black pepper, sea salt and 1/2 cup filtered water into a small bowl.  Set aside.
2.  Heat the olive oil in a wok over high heat and add the onion, pepper, cashews and ginger.  Stir-fry for about 3 minutes, or until the onion and cashews begin to brown.
3.  Add the snap peas and stir-fry for one minute. 
4.  Add the snow peas and green onions.  Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
5.  Add the sauce mixture and cook 1-2 minutes, stirring continuously, until the sauce has thickened and the vegetables are well coated with the sauce. 
6.  Serve over white or brown rice with additional tamari, if desired. 





Close Up of the Tastiness!  I loved the cashews!

Enjoy!

-Koko

Toasted Pinenut Quinoa Salad

This is a super simple, super easy salad recipe I made up on the fly when I wanted something really quickly and fresh for lunch.  Quinoa is one of my definite go-to grains to cook when I don't want any fuss.  So,  I opened the fridge, saw what was available and decided on this.  I had a small container of toasted pinenuts left over from a class from a couple weeks back and decided to use it up.  (I know there's the scary thing with pinenut mouth going on right now, but these were definitely organic and definitely real pinenuts - they should be at $30 per pound!).  You could (and probably should) add some chopped parsley or cilantro for color, but I didn't have any. 

Toasted Pinenut Quinoa Salad:

Serves: 4 large servings or 6-8 small servings

2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa

2 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 pinches cayenne pepper
1 garlic clove, minced

1 roma tomato, chopped, about 1/2 cup

1/2 cup small diced red onion

1/3 cup toasted pinenuts

1.  In a medium bowl, add the olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper and minced garlic.  Toss ingredients to coat with a rubber spatula. 

2.  Add the cooked quinoa, chopped tomato, onion and toasted pinenuts.  Toss ingredients to coat again.  Season to taste with additional salt, lemon juice or olive oil, as needed. 

3.  Serve cool or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

-Koko