Healthy Eating: January 2014

Mulligatawny Soup Recipe with Jasmine Rice

This quick and easy version of mulligatawny is vegetarian by default- I don't add the traditional chicken to my mulligatawny. But if you'd prefer to add some foul, make sure those birds were free range and organically raised. Why? Watch Food Inc and find out.

Mulligatawny Soup Recipe with Jasmine Rice

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon gluten-free red curry paste or curry powder, to taste
1 medium red onion, peeled, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 medium carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 medium apples, peeled, cored and diced
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 quart light vegetable broth
1 cup coconut milk
Juice from 1 or 2 medium limes, as needed
1 teaspoon raw organic agave nectar or organic raw sugar
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
1 14-oz. can chick peas, rinsed and drained
Finely diced red onion, apple, or chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish

You'll also need:

1 pot of cooked jasmine rice

Instructions:

Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a medium size soup pot. Add the curry paste and stir briefly to season the oil. Add in the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, apples and sweet potato; stir and cook until softened, about 7 minutes.

Stir in the vegetable broth. Bring to a high simmer and then cover the pot; reduce the heat and simmer the soup, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Add the coconut milk, a squeeze of lime juice and a touch of agave or raw sugar. Stir with love. Taste for seasoning adjustments. Could it use more lime to tart it up a bit? A little salt and pepper?

Adjust the seasonings to your liking. Heat through gently; don't boil.

Puree the soup with a handheld immersion blender (you could also puree in small batches, covered tightly, in a blender or a food processor; hold the lid on, though as hot soup sputters and expands when it is blended). Return the puree to the soup pot.

Stir in the drained chick peas. Heat through on low heat until serving.

Note:

If you prefer a little more texture, you can also puree only half the soup- or mash it lightly with a potato masher until you have the consistency you desire. Then add the chick peas and warm through.

Serve the mulligatawny with a garnish of diced red onion, apple or cilantro. Add a spoonful of rice to the center of each soup bowl.

Serves 4.

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Moroccan Coconut & Recipes Chick Pea Soup

By Meet Karina

On a whim I threw together this North African inspired fusion of flavors led by cravings and intuition. We slurped it down and scraped our bowls. Turns out that sweet potatoes, chick peas, roasted green chiles and coconut milk make for one scrumptious soup. I think you'll love it.

Dairy-free never tasted so good.

Moroccan Coconut & Chick Pea Soup

Moroccan Coconut and Chick Pea Soup Recipe

I made this soup in my slow cooker. I love recipes that cook themselves.

3 cups light tasting vegetable broth
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large yam or sweet potato, peeled, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded, cored, diced
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, diced
1/2 cup chopped roasted green chiles- mild or hot, to taste
1 14-oz. can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
1 15-oz. can chick peas, rinsed, drained
1 14-oz. can coconut milk
1 lime, juiced
1 tablespoon Thai Kitchen curry paste (red or green), or to taste
A pinch cinnamon and cumin
Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Add just before serving:

1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or mint
1 cup packed baby greens
Hot red pepper flakes, to taste, if desired

Combine all of the ingredients in a slow cooker and cook according to the manufacturer’s instructions for your make and model and personal time frame.

Or if you're in a more hands-on mood, do it the old fashioned way. Throw everything in a pot and cook, covered, over medium heat until the vegetables are tender, about thirty minutes.

Stir in the cilantro or mint, baby greens and hot red pepper flakes. Heat through briefly until the greens soften, and serve.

Serves 4.

Karina’s Notes:

We ate this soup as it is, with no embellishments, but it would also be lovely with a dollop of fresh organic yogurt, especially if you serve it with chopped mint or cilantro.

If you are allergic to citrus change out the lime with organic rice vinegar.

Hemp or nut milk works as a substitute for coconut milk; adjust flavors if necessary, to taste.

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Quinoa Salad with Pears, Baby Spinach and Chick Peas in a Maple Vinaigrette

By Meet Karina

Quinoa Salad with Pears, Baby Spinach and Chick Peas in a Maple Vinaigrette

If you're looking for a fresh idea to liven up your ho-hum salad plate, Babycakes, have I got a recipe for you. Light, vegan, and packed with protein, this is no ordinary bunny food. It's got teeth- er, I mean, quinoa. Studded with nutty, buttery chick peas and crunchy toasted pecans and succulent jewels of ripe, juicy pears. And did I mention, in a bowl licking maple vinaigrette?

In fact, this is a salad even salad haters would eat. You know, those stalwart gotta have my meat and potatoes aficionados who eschew anything leafy. Who snicker at fiber. And mock carrot sticks. The sort of individual who gets misty eyed for melted butter and bacon martinis. To said individuals, salad could never be anything but rabbit chow. But this lovely mélange of flavors just might pique their interest. The sheer luxurious deliciousness of these autumnal flavors might coax them into flirting with bunny food goodness. Just this once. Then- who knows what could happen? They might settle in, fork poised, all dubious and dreaming of rib eye. They might take a bite. And then another. And another. And before you can say blueberry pancakes on a stick- they might actually smack their lips and grin and hold out their empty plate for more.

And you.

You could smile back, sly and slow, as you reach for the serving spoon to comply with their new found desire.

And feed their craving.

Karina's Quinoa Salad Recipe with Pears, Baby Spinach and Chick Peas in a Maple Vinaigrette

Quinoa adds vegan protein and heft to simple green salads- perfect for lunch or a light supper. Use pears or apples in this recipe- either one will work.

Ingredients:

1 cup organic quinoa
Sea salt
2 good handfuls of organic baby spinach leaves, washed, drained
1 large ripe pear, washed, stemmed and cored, cut into pieces
1/2 cup chilled chick peas, rinsed, drained
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
A handful of pecans, pan toasted and salted to taste

For the Maple Vinaigrette Dressing:

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons golden balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Quinoa salad with pears, chick peas and baby spinach.

Instructions:

Rinse the quinoa thoroughly in a fine sieve. Place the quinoa in a saucepan or a rice cooker. Add 2 cups fresh water, and a pinch of sea salt. Cover and cook on a low simmer until all the water is evaporated and the quinoa is tender- roughly 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork and dump it into a large salad bowl.

Add the baby spinach, pear, chick peas, and chopped parsley to the quinoa and fluff.

Whisk together the vinaigrette, pour it over the quinoa salad and toss gently to coat. Season to taste with sea salt and ground pepper.

Just before serving, add the toasted pecans and lightly combine.

Makes four main course servings, six side dish servings.

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Free Raspberry Coconut-Almond Bars

By Meet Karina

Raspberry Coconut-Almond Cookie Bar Recipe

Free Raspberry Coconut-Almond Bars

These luscious little vegan beauties are sticky sweet, buttery and decadent. A truly tempting dessert treat. Go ahead and indulge. Bake up a batch. Make friends.

Ingredients:

1 cup ground hazelnut or almond flour
1/2 cup sorghum
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour
1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup Earth Balance stick, or coconut oil
1 teaspoon bourbon vanilla

Topping ingredients:

14 oz. really good raspberry jam or preserves

For the crumble topping:

1/2 cup sorghum or brown rice flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon bourbon vanilla
5 tablespoons Earth Balance

For the coconut-almond topping:

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
2/3 cup sliced almonds
4 tablespoons Earth Balance
1/2 teaspoon bourbon vanilla extract

Instructions:

Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF.

Prepare a 9x13-inch baking pan by lining it with parchment paper. Cut a piece large enough to extend up both long sides of the pan- so you can grip it later, after baking, and lift the cookie bars out in one piece.

First, make the bottom cookie crust. In a large mixing bowl, whisk to combine the flours, sugar, xanthan gum, salt and spices. Cut in the shortening and vanilla- I use the whisk attachment on my Kitchen Aid stand mixer to cut the shortening into the flour blend. You could also use an old fashioned pastry cutter. The dough should be crumbly, a bit sandy, but moist enough that it sticks together when you pinch it.

Scoop the dough into the prepared baking pan and press it out evenly to form a cookie crust.

Bake the crust in the center of a preheated oven for 7 minutes- just to "set" it.

Remove from the oven and set aside. Keep the oven heated.

In a bowl, combine the sorghum flour and brown sugar. Drizzle with the vanilla extract and dabs of the shortening. Rub together with the palms of your hands to create crumbles. Set aside.

To make the coconut-almond mixture- gently melt the vegan butter in a saucepan. Add the flaked coconut, sliced almonds and vanilla and stir to coat. Remove from heat and set aside.

While the crust is still a bit warm, spoon on the raspberry jam and using the back of a spoon spread it evenly over the crust, up to the edges- leaving about 1/4-inch bare crust on all sides.

Sprinkle on the crumble topping.

Spoon on the coconut-almond mixture and spread it evenly all over the top.

Bake in the center of the preheated oven for 22 minutes. The raspberry jam will be bubbling and the crumble topping will be golden and the coconut toasted. The center of the top may still feel a bit soft- that's okay; it will set as as it cools.

Remove the pan to a wire rack to cool. When the cookie bars are completely cool, gently loosen any stuck edges around the sides of the pan. Place a sturdy cutting board next to the pan (at least the same size as the pan). Lift the bars from the pan using the parchment paper as a grip on each side and move the whole big piece to the cutting board. Place the board in the freezer to chill the bars. Say, twenty minutes or so. Remove the bars and slice with a large sharp knife.

Makes 18 generous bars. You could skimp on size to squeeze more serving pieces out of the recipe. But. Then you'll probably end up eating two, anyway.

Wrap leftover bars, bag and freeze.

Cook time: 22 min

Yield: 24 bars - These babies are sugary and rich.

Raspberry Coconut-Almond Cookie Bar Recipe

Karina's Notes:

Cool before cutting (if you can resist!) to keep them from crumbling.

Store chilled for best texture.

If you prefer using dairy, butter will work.

Coconut oil can be slightly oily, so when I use it in this recipe, I use a little less.

Enjoy sugary treats in moderation. Gluten-Free Goddess advises consuming no more than 2 tablespoons of sugar a day.