Blueberry Basil Quinoa Tabouli Salad

Today was one of those days where I felt like I needed a break from too much rich food.  Too many sweets and indulgence on Saturday was the problem, but luckilly I had lots of fresh produce in my fridge.  Nothing but fresh, cool vegetables or fruit was sounding good to me for dinner.  I had a large container of blueberries from Wisconsin that were some of the best I have tasted in years, plus a large pile of cucumbers from my Grandpa's garden so I decided that those two things needed to be included in whatever I decided to make.  For some reason quinoa tabouli came to mind.  It is a favorite of mine in the summer, classic, or a twist changing up the veggies and dressing.  Although I had some tomatoes from my Grandpa's garden as well, I decided swap them out for blueberries to be a little different and not make classic tabouli this time! 

I threw in basil and toasted almonds, and it was delicious!  It was a little like original tabouli in that it contained mint, cucumbers, lemon and garlic, but it was something a little different as well!  I had used a mixture of black and white quinoa because I enjoy both, but it made the salad a little more appealing to the eyes as well as the taste buds.  It was fresh, and like something you would enjoy at a spa, or a light dinner to leave you feeling healthy.  The berries provided welcome little tart sweet pops of flavor among the savory ingredients! So much for feeling yuck from over indulgence.  Here is the recipe if you would like to try it!

Blueberry Basil Quinoa Tabouli Salad

2 cups water

1 cup quinoa, rinsed (I used a mixture of black and white)

1 cup fresh organic blueberries

1 large cucumber peeled, seeded and diced small

2 scallions, sliced

1/2 cup fresh organic basil leaves, minced

1/4 cup fresh organic mint, minced

3/4 cup toasted almonds

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1 large garlic clove, minced
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

Place quinoa and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until all the water is absorbed about 15 minutes, or when all the grains have turned from white to transparent, and the spiral-like germ has separated. Drain, and let cool. When quinoa is cool, combine with the berries, cucumber, basil, scallions, and almonds. Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, and sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Toss dressing with salad, and chill.

Miso Dressed Spring Radish and Carrot Salad with Toasted Almonds

I was recently at a Japanese fusion restaurant, and I had a salad with the most delicious miso dressing.  I had no idea what it was composed of besides the miso, but it was the perfect balance of salty and sweet lightly and coated the greens perfectly.  It was so good that I have been wanting to recreate it ever since then, and finally decided to do so.   I am a big miso lover, I use it in everything from the obvious, such as soups, and marinades, to the not so obvious such as in desserts, to which it gives a lovely salted caramel like flavor.  It is one ingredient that I always have to have on hand.  Although there are many varieties of it, I prefer the white miso.  It was no wonder that dressing at the restaurant was delicious, miso makes everything more tasty!  When I tried to recreate the dressing, I kept with the Asian theme and added some peanut oil, because I love its nutty quality, some rice wine vinegar for acidity, and agave nectar for a bit of sweetness.  Tamari was needed for a bit of salt in addition to the saltiness of the miso, so no sea salt was needed in this dressing.  Lastly, garlic was important, I  love its flavor in salads, especially Asian ones.  What to pair with this delicious miso dressing?  Well I thought the veggies of spring would be appropriate, so the radishes, carrots and ramps in addition to the greens I had on hand were perfect!  Lastly I topped it off with almonds for crunch!  It was very simple, but so good!  Here is the recipe if you would like to try some for yourself!

Miso Dressed Spring Radish and Carrot Salad with Toasted Almonds
Serves 2

Dressing:
1 Tbsp white miso
1 Tbsp peanut oil
2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp agave nectar
1 clove garlic
2 tsp tamari

4 cups mixed greens, such as arugula, spinach, dandelion, mizuna
1 carrot, thinly sliced on the diagonal
6 radishes, thinly sliced
4 ramps, thinly sliced
1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds

In a small bowl, whisk dressing ingredients together.  In a large bowl, combine greens, carrots, radishes, and ramps.  Pour dressing over and toss well to coat.  Place mixture on a serving plate, and top with toasted almonds. 

Avocado and Roasted Carrot Ravioli with Toasted Almonds

I had grabbed a couple avocadoes while I was at the store last weekend hoping to do something wonderful with them some time this week.  They were on sale so I figured it was a good idea, knowing I would need to use them in the next couple days before they got to mushy.  But they got mushy faster than I expected, and I wasn't in a guacamole sort of mood (although I suppose that is why they were on sale due to it being superbowl weekend), so I had to come up with another use.  It wasn't hard to figure something out, I love avocadoes, they are like nature's butter, so silky when they hit the tongue.  So I thought why not use them in a way that would showcase their smoothness.  I was in the mood for ravioli, so I thought why not incorporate them into the filling?  It may sound wierd, but really it is not.  They add the richness that a cheese filling usually would provide.  I paired them with pureed roasted carrots and almonds and garlic in my filling, and it was rich and delicious but heart healthy at the same time!  This may have been the most unusual ravioli I have ever made, but it was amazing!  Not wanting to distract from the delicate flavor of the filling, I decided a red sauce was not an appropriate accompaniment to this pasta.  I instead used a simple combination of olive oil and orange scented with a little basil and garlic.  I added some more roasted carrots, spinach, and shallots for color, as well as some additional toasted almonds for crunch.  It was a colorful, beautiful dish, and a creative use for the avocadoes!  Here is the recipe if you would like to try some!

Avocado and Roasted Carrot Ravioli with Toasted Almonds

Serves 3-4

Pasta:

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp sea salt
1 egg
1-2 Tbsp water

Fillling:
1 cup roasted carrot puree*

1 medium avocado, pureed

1/2 cup sliced toasted almonds
1 Tbsp orange zest
1 tsp dried basil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 large carrot sliced on the diagonal

olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 shallot, sliced

juice of one small orange
2 cups baby spinach greens

A few fresh basil leaves, chopped

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds

To make pasta, mix together flour and sea salt in a bowl.  Make a well in the center, and crack the egg into it.  Add 1 Tbsp water, and start slowly mixing in flour and incorporating it into the wet ingredients.  Mix until all flour is incorporated and a soft but not sticky smooth dough is formed (if you need to add more water if dough is too dry).  Divide dough into 2 pieces, and flatten each slightly.  Lightly flour each, then send through a pasta maker until the dough is a very long thin sheet.  (alternatively, roll each out until very thin with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface).  Cover with plastic, and set aside. 
To make filling, combine all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.  To fill pasta, lay out one sheet, and drop filling onto sheet with at least a 3/4 inch boarder around the filling.  Cover with the other pasta sheet and press down around each filling mound to seal the filling in.  Cut into squares (in about a 1 inch boarder around each filling mound) using a pizza cutter.  Discard extra scraps (or you can attempt to re-roll them, but it doesn't always work so well).  Set raviolis aside.  Preheat the oven to 475 degrees, line a baking sheet with foil, and spray with non-stick spray.  Toss carrots with just enough oil to coat, and spread out on sheet.  Roast for about 15-20 minutes or until starting to brown at edges. 
Meanwhile, place a large pot of salted water on the stove and bring to a boil (for pasta).  When boiling, add ravioli and cook until it floats to the surface, about 2-3 minutes.  

To finish, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large pan, and add shallots.  Saute until softened and caramelized, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic.  Cook for a minute until garlic is fragrant, then add another 2 Tbsp olive oil, ravioli, roasted carrots, orange juice, basil, spinach, sea salt, and freshly per ground pepper to taste and almonds.  Mix well until heated through, then transfer to plates and serve!

*To make roasted carrot puree, cut about 1 1/2 cups carrots into slices, toss them with olive oil, and roast them on a sheet pan for about 15 minutes at 475 degrees until starting to brown at the edges.  Let cool, and puree until smooth. 

Vanilla Coconut Almond Waffles

Sometimes you just need to have breakfast for dinner, and sometimes nothing else will do but waffles.  Yesterday was such a day for me.  I was craving some Belgian waffles hard core after my Mom was talking about them and saying I hadn't made any in a while...which was true.  I used to make them on Sundays for brunch every so often and have a few people over to enjoy them, but I believe it has been over a year since I have done that.  This time though, I was going to make them for dinner, and I wanted them to be substantial, so I decided to create a new vegan recipe with added protein.  Of course I wanted them to be every bit as delicious as the butter filled rich version I used to make, but not be able to tell.  I decided that coconut and almonds would be the perfect addition to my waffles to give them a wonderful fragrance and aroma instead of the usual vanilla.  I wasn't sure how they would turn out, because I added soy protein powder to them, but I didn't even notice it in the finished product!  My kitchen smelled like wonderful brunch as they were cooking, and my mouth was watering in anticipation of the delicious waffles I was about to dive into!  They were crunchy on the outside, fluffy in the middle, as Belgian waffles should be, with the added toasty flavors of coconut and almonds...perfection with some persimmons and maple syrup!  If you feel that you need to make breakfast for dinner, you should!  Try this recipe out if you like!

Vegan Vanilla Coconut Almond Waffles

Makes 4 Belgian waffles

Waffles:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup organic soy protein powder
1/2 cup toasted finely shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped toasted sliced almonds
1 Tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp sea salt
1 cup organic full fat coconut milk
3/4 cup organic soy milk
3 Tbsp agave nectar
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp pure almond extract
3 Tbsp Earth Balance butter, melted

To serve:

1/2 cup toasted large flake coconut
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds

2 persimmons, sliced (or fruit of choice)

1/4 cup crasins

maple syrup

Heat oven to 250 degrees, and place a baking sheet in there (to keep waffles warm and crisp while you cook the others).  Preheat waffle iron while you mix together ingredients.  Whisk together whole wheat pastry flour, protein powder, coconut, almonds, baking powder, sea salt in a large bowl.  In a smaller bowl, whisk together coconut milk, agave nectar, vanilla extract, almond extract, and earth balance, then whisk into dry ingredients until well blended.   Scoop about 3/4 cup batter onto the waffle maker and cook according to maker's instructions, then when cooked, remove to oven to stay warm while you make the remaining waffles.  To serve, scatter coconut, almonds, and fruit over waffles, and drizzle a bit of maple syrup over as well...enjoy!

Creamy Balsamic Almond Dressing

I have a favorite creamy dressing that I make all the time, tahini with lemon.  Last night I was going to whip up a batch to serve on my salad, but I discovered I had no lemons!  No tahini either...hmmm, well I have a creamy peanut butter dressing I make as well, but it is more Asian flavored which I wasn't in the mood for.  So, I decided to come up with a new one using almond butter!  I wanted it to have the same sort of pop that the lemon gave the other dressing, so I decided that balsamic vinegar would do the trick.  I added some garlic and thyme for flavor, whazzed it all up in the blender and tasted it on a bit of lettuce.  It was wonderful!  It reminded me of fall, because it tasted like something that would go well on roasted fall veggies or squash.  Silky smooth, nutty from the almonds, a little tangy from the balsamic and savory from the addition of garlic and thyme...it paired really well with a salad of greens and mushrooms with almonds I made for dinner.  You should try it out as well, and like I said it would go well on any autumn veggie...or maybe warmed slightly and served as a silky sauce over tofu...

Balsamic Almond Dressing

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

2/3 cup almond butter
2/3 cup water
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp sea salt
freshly ground pepper

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.  Serve over salad, tofu, or whatever your heart desires!  Store extra in the fridge in a tightly lidded container for up to 2 weeks.