Nettle Soba Salad

Nettle Soba Salad

Winter has truly come to an end, with or without the sun the nettles are popping up all over the place. Nettles are easy to forage, however finding them in an unpolluted area can be more tricky. Use gloves or a firm hand as to not get stung, and cut with a sharp knife or scissors so they can have a shot to come back. This recipe seems to be a starch on starch, but I thought the sweet yam flavor cut the pungent greens perfectly... and being chocked full of nutritious greens can afford some carbohydrate stacking. I previously made an authentic nettle pesto, but did not have any pine nuts or cheese on hand today. Far less fussy then pesto, I simply combined the cooked and drained nettles in a food processor with a little olive oil and a lot of garlic. I could see using this in many dishes: roasted potatoes, root vegetables, even an omelet. I happened to have Russian kale and dandelion greens needing to be used up, but any leafy green would suffice. This makes a great lunch, pot luck item, or even a main course. enjoy.

Recipe:  

1 box buckwheat soba noodles 

1 yam cut in 1/2 inch cubes(I used Japanese sweet)

1/2 head kale

1/2 head dandelion greens

2 cups cooked and drained nettle greens

5 garlic cloves

1/2 red onion diced

3 tablespoons olive oil

sea salt to taste

Boil a small pot of water and place cubed yam in for about 15 minutes or until tender and set aside. In small skillet sauté' kale, dandelion, in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, adding a little water if necessary, only wilt the green slightly.(less than 5 minutes) Place greens in with yams. Boil water for noodles, and cook for about 8 minutes. Drain and place in with yams and greens. For the nettles flash boil fresh leaves, equal to 2 cups when drained, and place in ice water. (I usually do as many as possible at once and save blanched leaves in fridge or freezer.)  Chop nettles roughly and place in food processor with 2 tablespoons olive oil and garlic cloves, pulsing until pesto consistency is reached. Mix nettles in, and add salt and diced red onion. top with farmers cheese if desired. 

On-The-Go Bar

This Seems to be my mantra lately..."on-the-go" that is...hence the lack of blogging. With full-time school and work, preparing thoughtful recipes is few and far between. The power bar section at the market seems ever expanding but I still have not found one that is truly satisfying. They are either too light, too sweet, taste chalky and strange, or simply don't settle well...not to mention pricey. This recipe is fairly basic and does not contain any refined flours or sugars. It is easily adaptable, and one could easily throw various seeds, nuts, dried fruit, coconut shreds, or chocolate. The recipe is large, so you can stick them in the fridge lasting up to a month or into the freezer for longer term storage. I neatly wrap them in wax paper(kind of shown in the photo) and throw a couple in the car for long, good foodless days.

Recipe:

-4 cups rolled oats (I use barley and tritacle, wheat would work fine)

-2 cups 7-grain cereal(or steel cut oats)

-1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

-1/2 cup sunflower seeds

-1/4 cup chopped almonds

-1/2 cup raisins

-1/2 cup dried cherries

-1/4 cacao nibs

-1/4 cups chopped dates

-3/4 cups apple sauce

-1/4 cup nut butter(almond, sunflower, cashew)

-1/4 brown rice syrup

-2 tablespoons molasses

-1 teaspoon sea salt

-1 tablespoon allspice

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Toast the rolled oats and seeds on low until fragrant, set aside. Place 2 cups of water to bowl in medium sauce pan, and add 7-grain cereal. Cook until water is absorbed, about 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the nut butter, brown rice syrup, dried fruit, nibs, vanilla, salt, and spice, folding in until well mixed. Combine the oat mixture and add the apple sauce, folding well. In 300 degree oven bake for around 20 minutes. This is not completely necessary but lets the flavors melt together, and dries the bars out to a nicer texture for traveling and more conducive to a longer shelf life.

Makes 15-20 bars

PCC Emerald City Salad

This salad is borrowed from PCC Natural Market's Deli of Seattle. Being a former Employee of the PCC Deli I got insight on many delicious recipes, such as this one. Emerald City was one of the most popular, if not the most popular deli case item. Not only is it a beautiful jewel of a salad dotted with colorful gems, it is also a super flavorful dish packed with vital nutrients. Some like to go heavy on the rice making it more of a main dish, where others relay on the greens for the bulk of the recipe(the later being my tendency). Hands down this is my favorite way to eat my greens! Not having straight wild rice on hand I substituted a wild rice pilaf, which worked just as well.

Recipe:

-2 cups organic wild rice
-1 bunch organic kale
-1 bunch organic chard
-1 red bell pepper
-1 yellow pepper
-1 fennel bulb
-1 bunch green onion
-1/2 cup chopped parsley
-1/2 cup olive oil
-3/4 cup lemon juice
-2 teaspoons minced garlic
-2 teaspoons salt
-1 teaspoon black pepper

Optional:

-1/4 cup cranberries
-1/4 cup sliced almonds
-top with a fresh goat cheese or cubed gruyere


Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper to make dressing. Cook the rice in ample water and cool. Drain, cool, and toss rice with dressing. Remove tough stems and ribs from greens and chiffonade (roll up greens length wise and chop in thin strips).Combine with diced peppers, thinly sliced fennel bulb and chopped green onion. Just before serving, toss veggies with dressed rice.


Serves 6

Pumpkin Pie With Hazelnut Crust

This is an adapted recipe from my last years vegan version that didn't go over so well. It tasted great but was much too soupy. I rarely use plain old sugar(raw sugar of course) but decided it would work best, not needing any more additional liquid from agave or maple syrup. The coconut milk is so delicious and blends so nicely with pumpkin, and the coconut flavor is hardly discernible. The crust is the same as from the pecan and hazelnut pie recipe, and adds a nutty aroma to the sweet pumpkin filling. I enjoy topping my pies with hand cut and scored leaves, each one adding its own character, but leaf cookie cutters will of course work just fine too.


Recipe:

Hazelnut Spelt Crust:

2 cups spelt flour(whole or white)
2 tablespoons butter or earth balance
1 cup cold water
3/4 cup whole hazelnuts (reserve 1/4 cup for topping pie)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the 3/4 cup of hazelnuts and toast until fragrant or lightly browned.(about 10 minutes)

Place 1/2 cup of the hazelnuts in food processor and blend until fine. If you do not have a food processor a coffee grinder or a rolling pin and a stiff wrist would work fine. Butter and flour a pie dish and set aside. In a large bowl place the spelt flour, salt, butter, and hazelnuts cutting in the cool butter with a dough blender, adding cold water until well mixed. (Additional flour may be necessary if dough is too sticky). Dough will roll out best if refrigerated at least one hour, but if you wish to bypass this just be extra careful rolling out the dough and use the help of a metal spatula. (I set aside about 1/8 of a cup of dough to use for the leaf topping.)

Place crust in dish and crimp edges. If desired you can brush the crust with a beaten egg mixture to give the crust a glossy brown sheen. Cut small slits in bottom of crust with sharp knife, as to not let the crust raise up with a hollow center, and place in oven for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Filling:

1 small sweet pumpkin
1 tablespoon safflower oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup coconut milk
3 eggs
1 cup raw sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon ginger powder

Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees. Clean and chop pumpkin into 6 slices down the center, discarding the stem. Place on pan and drizzle with safflower oil and salt, and place in oven for about 50 minutes or until very tender. Once cooled scrape flesh into blender or food processor and blend smooth. Place pumpkin puree in large bowl and mix in the sugar, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, allspice, and ginger. Then add the eggs(lightly beaten) and coconut milk.

Decrease oven temperature to 350 degrees. Pour filling into crust and bake for about 50 minutes.

Leaf toppers:

Increase oven to 400 degrees. Roll out remaining dough to same thickness as pie crust. I use a small sharp pairing knife to cut the leaf shapes and score the veins with the back side of the knife. This is of course also achieved with cookie cutters, but I prefer the hand done look. Place on pan and bake for 10-15 minutes. Once cooled place on pie top in desired pattern... my leaves actually turned into a poinsettia!

Serves 10

Cherry Walnut Tea Biscuit

Having been snowed in today, I thought what else, then to make some warm biscuits and sit wrapped up with a hot cup of tea and good book. Toasting the Walnuts just shy of burning them, allowed a rich nutty fragrance to permeate the whole biscuit. Barley sweet, rich in aroma, and cherry tart; these biscuits are the perfect addition to a snow day.

Recipe:

1 cup oat flour
1 1/2 cup spelt flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons butter or earth balance
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 egg
1/2 cup almond, rice, soy, or dairy milk

1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup dried tart cherries

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place walnuts on baking pan and toast until fragrant and darkly browned(5-10 minutes). Place flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in large bowl and set aside. In seperate bowl place beaten egg, agave, and almond milk. Place the butter in with the flour and cut in with pastry blender. Mix the wet ingredients in with the dry until dough is formed. If dough is too wet put additional flour in. Form into a log about ten inches long and 2 1/2 inches in diameter, wrap in wax paper and place in refigerator to chill one hour. After chilling dough heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut dough log into 12, 1 inch buiscuits and place on pan. Bake for 15 minutes.

Makes 12

Pecan & Hazelnut Pie

This pie is similar to the traditional style pecan pie without the corn syrup, high levels of refined sugar, and unhealthy fat content. It is still a super sweet sticky dessert, that will fool even the most discerning pecan pie fans. The crust is a hazelnut spelt blend that marries nicely with the nutty aroma of the filling. Brown Rice syrup is the perfect sticky pie filling, and when cut with agave the rice flavor is indiscernible. A dollop of freshly whipped cream puts this pie over the top.

Recipe

filling:

-2 cups organic pecans

-1 cups organic hazelnuts

-3/4 cup brown rice syrup

-1/2 cup agave nectar

-3 organic eggs

-3 tablespoons butter or earth balance

-zest of one orange

-1 teaspoon cinnamon

-1 teaspoon allspice

-1/2 teaspoon fresh nutmeg

Hazelnut Spelt Crust:

2 cups spelt flour(whole or white)

2 tablespoons butter or earth balance

1 cup cold water

3/4 cup whole hazelnuts

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the 1 3/4 cup of hazelnuts and 2 cups pecans on pan(keeping nuts separated) and toast until fragrant or lightly browned.(about 10 minutes)

For the crust:

Cool the oven to 375 degrees.

Place 3/4 cup of the hazelnuts in food processor and blend until fine. If you do not have a food processor a coffee grinder or a rolling pin and a stiff wrist would work fine. Butter and flour a pie dish and set aside. In a large bowl place the spelt flour, salt, butter, and hazelnuts cutting in the cool butter with a dough blender, adding cold water until well mixed. (Additional flour may be necessary if dough is too sticky). Dough will roll out best if refrigerated at least one hour, but if you wish to bypass this just be extra careful rolling out the dough and use the help of a metal spatula. Place crust in dish and crimp edges. If desired you can brush the crust with an agave oil mixture to give the crust a glossy brown sheen. Cut small slits in bottom of crust with sharp knife, as to not let the crust raise up with a hollow center, and place in oven for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

For the filling:

Cool oven to 275 degrees when crust is done.

Chop pecans and hazelnuts until to desired size and set aside. If you prefer extra fine pieces you may achieve this with a food processor, but I prefer larger chunks, coarsely chopped with a knife.Place rice syrup, agave, and butter in large pan over low heat to melt butter. combine orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Combine beaten eggs with mixture and mix well. Place in oven for 60 minutes, checking occasionally.

Serves eight

Holiday Spice Cookies

The base of this recipe is simple and versatile, and once you have the essentials you can swap various ingredients to your liking. It makes a light, fluffy, and less sweet cookie that is ideal for a quick morning breakfast or mid-morning snack. Chocolate, fresh cranberries, and walnuts marry nicely in my mind, but other variations would surly work great as well. The applesauce is used to add additional moisture and allows you to cut back on the other oil and sugar amounts.

Recipe

-3 cups barley flour

-1/2 teaspoon baking soda

-1/2 teaspoon sea salt

-1 teaspoon baking powder

-1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

-1/4 teaspoon allspice

-1 teaspoon cinnamon

-a few grates of fresh nut meg

-1/4 cup safflower oil

-1/2 cup rice, almond, soy, or dairy milk

-1/2 cup agave nectar

-1/2 cup apple sauce

-1 teaspoon vanilla

-zest of one orange and one lemon

-1/2 cup chocolate chunks..or chips

-1/2 cup fresh cranberries

-1/4 cup walnuts broken up with hands

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the dry ingredients in large bowl and set aside. In separate bowl combine the wet ingredients stirring in the applesauce last. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry mix, and lastly add the chocolate chunks, fresh, cranberries, and walnuts. On cookie tray Place 2 inch dollops of dough and flatten with a spatula or palm of hand lightly. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden on bottom.

Makes 2 dozen