Citrus Chard Juice

Makes about 3 cups (24 oz)

Ingredients

• 1 carrot
• 1 lime (peeled)
• big bunch of Swiss chard (enough to fill a large bowl)
• 2 apples (cored)
• 1/2 tsp ground fresh ginger (not the dry spice) (or 1" piece of ginger root)
• 1 medium cucumber

Directions

Add all ingredients to juicer, except ginger, unless using whole ginger root. If using the ground ginger, whisk it into the juice at the end.

Chicken Tikka Masala

The sauce in this recipe was one of those lick-the-plate kinds for me. It was the perfect blend of rich tomato flavor, spice, and creaminess. Though there is a small amount of prep work involved, the sauce and nut cream can be made a day ahead, so the next day you can have a meal ready in 30 min! (My favorite kind of meal!)

Some notes about the ingredients I used:

I made this recipe with 8 chicken breast tenderloins, which I thought seemed equivalent to 4 chicken breasts at the time, but I ended up with much more sauce than was appropriate for the amount of chicken. Hence, the potatoes. So as you'll see below, I put what was originally listed along with what I did. I had so much sauce that I needed to spread it out by mixing in something else, so I boiled some diced potatoes until they were just tender and mixed those in. (You want the potatoes just soft enough for fork to easily puncture; you don't want them to be super soft, because then they turn to mush when you mix them in). Anyways, potatoes are beside the point of this post. (If you're really interested, if you ask me, I will be happy to explain the potato bit more). Onto the deliciousness of the masala sauce!

Also...

I tagged this as vegetarian and vegan because this could easily be adapted, taking out the chicken and replacing it with vegetables, legumes, seitan, tempeh, or whatever meatless protein or starch you prefer. I am not too familiar with tofu products and seitan, but I'm sure you can find something on the web where it explains how to sauté or otherwise prepare these to be incorporated into a recipe. 

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 8 chicken breast tenderloins, cubed  [original: 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed*]
• 2 medium potatoes [original did not call for this]

• 2 tbsp olive oil

[*If you go with the 4 chicken breasts, don't bother with the potatoes]

Masala sauce:

• 1/2 cup (4 oz) tomato paste
• 2 hot cherry chili peppers, deseeded, chopped (2-3 tbsp, or to taste) (these are technically 'medium' hotness, as a reference for substitutions)
• 3 garlic cloves (1 tbsp minced)
• 2 inch piece of ginger root, peeled, grated
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp garam masala (spice blend)
• 1/4 tsp chipotle chili powder
• 1/4 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp honey
• 1-1/2 tbsp Earth Balance (vegan, non-dairy margarine)
• 2 tsp dried cilantro OR 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 cup cashew cream

Additional/optional garnishes:

• chopped roasted cashews
• 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Puree masala sauce ingredients, from tomato paste to the olive oil into a food processor. Process until smooth. Set aside.
2. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pan (preferably one with a thick bottom for more even cooking) on the stove, medium heat. Cook chicken, stirring to turn over pieces occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until outside is lightly browned.
3. Increase the heat to medium-high, and mix in the masala sauce. Bring to a low bubble, then reduce heat to simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. If sauce gets too dry, add a little water. Stir often to avoid burning the sauce on the bottom. 
4. When chicken has cooked through, mix in the cashew cream, and cook through on low for several more minutes. 
5. Serve hot with rice or vegetables. Optional: Sprinkle with chopped cashews and/or cilantro.

I have only skimmed the cookbook that has the original recipe, but I bought it as an ebook and even though it's a small book, it's full of recipes that actually seem doable, not full of complicated ingredients, techniques, etc. as some special dietary (gluten-free) cooking sometimes appears. And they all look delicious, of course, too!

Source:

Cheetham, G. (2011). Simply gluten-free & dairy-free: Breakfasts, lunches, treats, dinners, desserts. London, U.K: Duncan Baird Publishers.

Cashew Nut Cream

I used this recipe to make the Vanilla Cashew Cream variation, for my strawberry muffins, but it can be a neutral creamy base for many other ideas. I think it tastes just like regular dairy cream, only thicker. It is not heavy like a nut butter; it's surprisingly light, and has that creamy richness of dairy cream. Using different herb/spice blends, you could probably make this into a variety of different vegan 'cream' sauces. I made this to be used later in a chicken tikka masala recipe, but since I couldn't wait to eat some, I mixed some up with a little vanilla and stevia, to make my breakfast muffin extra special.

Basically all you have to do is soak raw cashews in cold water over night, and then in the morning, drain & rinse them. Then purée them in the food processor with some water until it completely smooth. It's that easy! 

Cashew Nut Cream

Makes about 2 cups 

1.5 cups raw cashews*

3/4 cup cold water

1. Put cashews in a bowl and fill with enough cold water to cover them. Cover and let soak overnight/12 hrs.

2. Drain and rinse cashews. Add to food processor. Start running processor, and slowly stream in 3/4 cup cold water. Continue to purée until smooth, periodically stopping to scrape down sides as necessary. 

*Depending on the recipe you want to use this for, you could sub in roasted cashews, but I would suggest not using salted ones  

Vanilla variation:

For 1 big dollop

1.5 tbsp cashew nut cream

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp stevia

Recipes using Cashew Nut Cream:

Strawberry Chia Seed Muffins
Chicken Tikka Masala (coming soon)

Pineapple-Ginger Marinade & Broiled Salmon

Broiled salmon filets with marinade semi-reduction

Yum. What is great about this is that the citrus and sweet flavors mask any hint of fishiness that might have been without the marinade. I’m fairly new to liking seafood, and still really only tolerate the freshest, non-fishy fish like halibut, sole, and tilapia. I have been wanting to love salmon too, and hadn’t really found any preparation I liked, other than those in which the salmon is swimming in some kind of teriyaki sauce.

From The New AHA Cookbook.

Ingredients:

• 6 oz pineapple juice
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp reduced-sodium tamari
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp sesame hot chili oil 
• 1 tsp canola oil

Marinate the salmon filets (makes enough for about three 4-oz filets) in the mixture for 30 minutes. To cook the filets, spray the broiling pan will cooking oil. Broil them about 5 inches from the broiler, for 5-6 min on each side. While the filets are cooking, transfer the marinade mixture to a sauce pot, and heat on medium high. Bring to a boil, and cook on a low-boil for about 10 min, or until it has thickened slightly and reduced. Pour over the finished filets when serving.

Broiled salmon with steamed vegetables and lemon-thyme rice

Macaroni and Vegan Vegetable-Cashew "Cheeze" sauce

Today I tried a recipe from ohsheglows.com called Vegan Mac N' Cheese.

I'm usually intrigued when I find a vegan "cheese" recipe, wondering how it could possibly compare to dairy cheese. So, upon tasting the sauce, it didn't make me think of cheese, but the words, "wow" and "yum" definitely came to mind!! I hope people who are not vegan will still try this recipe because they would be missing out on something really rather interesting!

Here is the link to the recipe: http://ohsheglows.com/2010/11/23/vegan-mac-n-cheese/

The only things I changed were:

• used the earth balance in making the sauce instead of with the bread crumbs
• used gluten free panko crumbs for the topping
• used gluten free brown rice pasta
• used coconut milk original instead of almond milk 

I also used a bit more veggies than the recipe called for, and so I ended up with A LOT of sauce (about 3.5 cups or so). I only used about 1 cup with the pasta, and put the rest in an ice cube tray to freeze (it was a bit tricky getting these out later...it might help to line the tray with plastic wrap to help pop them out, or maybe make sure to use a flexible tray because mine is rather rigid and difficult enough to bend to get ice out). 

One last note... I found that the taste was much more flavorful BEFORE, so I actually would recommend just using this sauce as soon as you make it, because it's amaaazing! (Baking dried it out quite a bit, and made me inclined to add some salt).

Baked quinoa carrot oatmeal with raisins and walnuts

Yes, it sort of looks like bird food, as a friend of mine had commented to me, BUT it is tasty, and the texture is more interesting than plain ol' oatmeal.

This was adapted from sweetpeasandpumpkins.com "baked carrot cake oatmeal."

Here's how to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 deg. 

Grease a 9x13" baking pan.

Blend together until well combined:

   • 2 eggs*

   • 1/2 cup puréed fruit (pear or apple sauce)

   • 1 cup flax milk (or any milk of your choice)

   • 2 tbsp canola oil (might be able to use avocado here instead)

   • 1/2 cup light brown sugar (not packed)

Whisk together:

   • 2 cups rolled oats**

   • 1/2 cup puffed millet

   • 2 tsp baking powder

   • 1 tsp ground cinnamon

   • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

   • 1/2 tsp ground ginger

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir in:

1/2 cup shredded carrot

1 cup cooked quinoa

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup raisins

Mix well.

Spread into baking pan.

Bake for 30 min. 

Notes:

*Vegan egg substitute: 

1 "egg" = 3 tbsp hot water + 1 tbsp ground flax seed

**The original recipe called for 3 cups of oats (no millet or quinoa), but I didn't have that, so I threw in the puffed millet and quinoa that I had on hand instead.