Tools required: Immersion blender or food processor
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 head cauliflower
Category Archives: vegetarian
Zucchini Pasta
If you’re craving pasta, this vegetable-based version will hit the spot. It’s easiest if you have an attachment on your mixer that will make nice noodles for you, but a similar effect can be gained by using a potato peeler to create long strands of zucchini.
Ingredients:
3 Zucchini
Olive Oil
Tomatoes – chopped into 1/2″ cubes
Basil (preferably fresh)
Instructions:
Either peel the zucchini by hand or use the spiral attachment
Toss with olive oil
Pan fry for just a couple minutes – so the “noodles” just start to soften up
Mix in fresh tomatoes and basil
Enjoy!
Crustless Quiche – 2 ways
Tired of scrambled eggs? Add some veggies to your eggs and mix up your routine. Great for a weekend brunch or make ahead and bring to work with you.
Ingredients:
4 eggs
salt & pepper to taste
Coconut oil to grease the pans
Veggie Lovers add:
1 zucchini & 1 carrot (or two of each) – shredded
Meat Lovers add:
2 pieces of bacon, chopped into small pieces
2 breakfast sausages, chopped into small pieces
Hemp Day
While most people are familiar with the 4/20 holiday less people are familiar with the 4/21 Hemp Day Holiday. Hemp is a superfood that comes in many edible forms – seeds, hemp hearts, oil, butter, protein powder, milk and flour. There’s now hemp beer, hemp granola and a plethora of other healthy (and not so healthy) hemp snacks on the market these days. Yet hemp has a lot of other practical uses in many other industries. The same plot of hemp that you can make a variety of foods from can also be used to make lotions and soaps; the fibers can be used for textiles, insulation, bio-composites, rope; and the dust can even be used as a byproduct to soak up oil spills or compressed into a pellet and sold to coal companies as an energy source for carbon offsets. Additional products that can be made from hemp include: paper, carpeting, paints, ethanol/biofuel, diesel fuel, animal bedding and animal feed, mulch, flour, solvents and lubricants. Why do I know or care about all this hempy goodness? My roommate from grad school is a hemp-obsessed Fulbright Scholar that know more about hemp than anyone else I’ve ever met! So for hemp day we used some of these ingredients to make some tasty hemp food, all while enjoying hemp beer!
Avocado Crema
I got the 21 Day Sugar Detox Cookbook hours ago, and have already dived into some of the recipes! This avocado dip is super easy and really good! We devoured it with chips, but it would be great on a burger or any Mexican dish.
Honey Spiced Brussel Sprouts
These days, being in grad school, I need things that are fast an easy that I can make while soon other things. In an attempt to make cooking brussel sprouts easier and also copy some of the best brussel sprouts I’ve ever had from Michael’s On Main in Capitola I came up with this ridiculously easy method.
Ingredients
Brussel Sprouts
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of honey
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
handful of roasted pecans
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 F
Chop the brussel spouts into quarters, making sure to remove the bottoms
Coat the brussel sprouts with olive oil and then season with salt and pepper
Bake for 20-30 minutes total, stirring half way through
Meanwhile, melt the butter, honey and cinnamon in a sauce pan
Once the brussel sprouts are done cooking, pour the honey butter over them
Top with chopped up pecans
Enjoy!
Brie “Popsicles”
Melted brie wrapped in puff pastry on a stick. With just a smudge of jam. Need I say more?
Full recipe and instructions coming soon.
Spinach, Black Bean, Pesto Sausage & Egg Breakfast
Here’s an easy recipe for busy mornings… pre-make individual serving egg dishes! Here’s what we used, per person:
3 eggs
1/4 cup chopped spinach
1/4 cup black beans
1 chopped up sausage (optional)
Mix everything together in individual oven-safe dishes
Bake at 350F for 45-60 minutes
(or until egg has cooked through)
Let cool.
Refrigerate if you’re going to eat them in the newt couple days, freeze if longer.
To reheat, place cold dishes in oven
Reheat at 250F for 30-60 minutes (cover with foil to prevent additional browning)
Now you have time to go for a run or get the kids out the door while your breakfast cooks!
Or simply microwave if you’re in a hurry!
Alice Waters Potato Salad
From the Alice Waters Cookbook!
Ingredients:
1/2 lbs potatoes
1 Tbs vinegar
salt
pepper
1/2 red onion finely chopped
1/4 cup mix of Walnut Oil and olive oil
2 tablespoons of lemon juice (optional)
1 1/2 tsp dill weed
Hummus
Ingredients:
1 16 oz can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans
1/4 cup liquid from can of chickpeas
3-5 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on taste)
1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
2+ tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup liquid from can of chickpeas
3-5 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on taste)
1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
2+ tablespoons olive oil
Tea Party
Guacamole
Ingredients:
4 avocados
1/2 tomato, diced
1/4 onion, diced
lime juice
sea salt
Instructions:
Smash the avocados in a bowl until you’re achieved your desired consistency
Add in the tomato and onion
Squeeze in the fresh lime juice, to taste
Salt to taste
Serve with chips!
Edamame Cheese Salad
We already love edamame, so adding cheese can only be a good thing! Found and followed the recipe from FoodNetwork.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 cups (9 ounces) shelled edamame beans
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
5 ounces pecorino, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
Walnut Potato Salad
The best walnut oil in the world comes from La Nogalera! That’s where we got this recipe!
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. walnut pieces2 lbs. new potatoes, such as Jersey Royals or Charlotte
1 Tbsp. tarragon or cider vinegar washed or scrubbed
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp chopped fresh tarragon leaves
4 Tbsp. walnut oil
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1 tsp honey
2 Tbsp chopped cornichons or gherkins (optional)
flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Classic Potato Salad
Ingredients
3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
3 large eggs
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced celery
1 pickle diced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup mayonnaise
Nourishing Traditions Waffles
Straight from the Nourishing Traditions Cookbook, these waffles are very dense and moist, making them perfect for freezing and reheating. The original recipe called for 4 tablespoons of maple syrup, but we decided to leave that out.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour
2 cups yogurt
4 egg yolks
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 egg whites
Pizza Margherita
Straight from the most recent Bon Appetit! We used Trader Joes out of the bag whole wheat dough… probably should have rolled it a bit thinner, but it’s so sticky!
Ingredients:
1 13.8-ounce tube refrigerated pizza dough
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 12-ounce bag cherry tomatoes, stemmed
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, coarsely crushed in plastic bag
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
2 4-ounce balls fresh mozzarella in water
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves plus small leaves for garnish
Moroccan Chicken Minestrone
This is Tami’s version of Minestrone Soup, with Moroccan influenced spices and chunks of chicken. You can use any ratio of veggies you happen to have on hand. This is just what we used when we took the pictures.
Ingredients:
Onion
Carrots
Celery
Zucchini
Fresh Tomatoes
Canned Skinned Tomatoes
Tomato Paste
Chicken
Equal Parts:
Cumin
Coriander
Turmeric
Cinnamon
Homemade Peanut Butter
Not only did we make homemade peanut butter, but we did a comparison of the texture of the peanut butters in the Quisinart and in this crazy industrial juicer we have have. The good news for those that don’t have an industrial juicer… we didn’t notice that much difference!
Ingredients & Instructions:
Peanuts
Some sort of oil… peanut oil, sunflower oil
Salt
Mix the peanuts in your Quisinart first, until they get to a really thick peanut paste-like consistency
Add salt to taste and oil until you get the texture you want!
Enjoy!
Mac & Cheese
This recipe came from the Macaroni & Cheese cookbook, which is pretty hilarious because the only requirements are literally that the recipe contain macaroni AND cheese. So recipes like Truffled Timbales with Zucchini Pesto, Lemon-Scented Pasta Pudding and Tuna Noodle Casserole are in this book because they have… you guessed it… both cheese and macaroni! We’ll be trying out a couple more recipes, especially a couple of the baked versions.
This recipe is SUPER easy and SUPER quick. You can literally prep everything in the time it take for your pot was water to come to a boil.
Ingredients:
12 ounces smallish macaroni (elbows or pennette)
2 cloves chopped garlic (we minced 4 cloves)
1 shallot, chopped (we clearly used a red onion)
10-12 ounces shredded Gruyere, Emmenthal or Appenzeller (we used about 16 ounces total of all three!)
4 ounces of creme fraiche (we used heavy whipping cream)
A grating of nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
2 – 3 tablespoons butter
Sourdough Dinner Rolls
Our first recipe from food.com. It went really well with meatloaf, though not very many of the rolls actually made it to the table! They were pretty easy for homemade bread too… we might just make them again to go with tomorrow’s turkey!
Ingredients:
1 cup sourdough starter
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar OR 2 tablespoons brown sugar OR sucanat
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 -4 cups flour (we used half whole wheat, half bread flour)
butter, melted
Semolina Sourdough Bread
Ingredients:
2 cups luke warm water
1/3 cup sourdough starter
1 1/4 cups unbleached bread flour
3 cups semolina flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
Peter’s Minestrone Soup
Monday is Peter’s night to cook, so he used up all the vegetables in the fridge to make his “world-famous” (his words) Minestrone Soup! You can use whatever ratio of veggies you happen to have on hand, or use our list of ingredients below as a general guideline. The main key is to cook all the vegetables individually. That and add lots of tomatoes. Oh, and don’t forget to season and taste as you go along!
Ingredients:
4 sticks of celery
4 carrots
Bunch of broccoli
A handful of green beans
1 can of white beans
1 onion
4 cloves of garlic
4 cups of chicken stock (to start)
1 can of tomato paste
3 blanched tomatoes
4 chopped and crushed tomatoes
2 cups of pasta
2 tablespoons of chopped parsley
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh oregano & 1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt & Pepper to taste
Esalen Provençal Veggie Turnover
Another amazing recipe from the Esalen Cookbook! Savor this with minestrone soup or a greek salad! If you can’t find fresh herbs, you can use dried but make sure to reduce the quantities by half!
Ingredients:
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes (either the type in olive oil pat dry, or the totally dry type)
1 medium onion
2 bell peppers
1 medium zucchini
olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
2.5 cups grated parmesan cheese
1-2 boxes of puff pastry (we had enough filling for 12 turnovers)
Esalen Artichoke, Yam & Blue Cheese Scones
Here’s our declaration of the week: we’re going to cook our way through the Esalen Cookbook!
It’s not quite as ambitious as the Julia Child cookbook, but it should be a yummy challenge! So far we love everything we’ve tried from the cookbook and are excited to sample everything! Just a note: while these are healthy, mouth-watering recipes they are not generally quick; so we’ll make sure to mix it up with some less time-intense ideas!
We hope you enjoy our culinary journey, we sure will!!!
Ingredients:
1 large yellow onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium yams
8 ounces artichoke hearts in water
1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
pinch cayenne pepper
1 cup unsalted butter
2.5 cups Asiago, grated
1/2 pound crumbled blue cheese
2 tablespoons chopped sage
