Lentil Vegetable Soup -- Trotting out the crockpot again

I have been working on an apple crisp recipe. I've made 2 versions, and although I liked them both, I'm not quite ready to share. I think version 3 will be the winner. I've also been working on a lime sugar cookie recipe. Totally delicious, but not quite right. I'll post version 2 when I make them.

Apple Crisp courtesy of Nemesis

One thing I have been completely happy with is another fabulously delicious crockpot soup. You don't need a crock pot to make it, but it sure is handy being able to throw the ingredients in, and then let it do it's thing.

This soup, along with a freshly baked loaf of bread and a tomato, avocado, parsley, and swiss chard salad, was our New Year's Eve meal with friends.

Like most soups of this nature, although tasty the first day, reached its prime a day later. So, I made it on the Thursday for our Friday evening meal.

Delicious Lentil and Vegetable Soup

Really Good Bread ...

ingredients:

2 tsp finely minced garlic

1/3 cup finely chopped onion

1/3 cup finely diced carrot

1/3 cup finely diced celery

2 tsp coconut oil

1 tsp sea salt

1/6 tsp cumin

1/6 tsp chili powder

1/6 tsp turmeric

125 g cauliflower (2/3 cup)

2/3 cup du puys lentils

1 tsp sea salt

3 cups water

1 cup diced asian sweet potato

1 tsp marjoram

a little black pepper

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup green peas (frozen defrosted)

2/3 cup (125g) broccoli, steamed if raw, defrosted if frozen. Cut into small florets.

directions:

1. saute garlic, onion, carrot, and celery with coconut oil, sea salt, and spices
2. when veggies are thoroughly sauteed, put them in the crock pot along with the lentils, cauliflower, sweet potato, coconut oil, water, apple cider vinegar, and sea salt. Throw in the marjoram and black pepper. Close the lid.
3.  Allow the soup to cook in the crockpot (or stove top in a covered pot) until lentils are soft and the cauliflower has fallen apart. (It takes about 1 hour on stove top, and 4-6 hours in a crockpot (maybe 5 hours) on high.)
4. Turn off the heat, and add the green peas and broccoli.
5. Serve with fresh bread, with a handful of rotini, or with a side salad.

And finally, a photo essay called :

My Rockin' New Year's Eve

Scenery -- a frozen waterfall

Towards the DVP

Two cuties

On the space ship

O.M.'s 'Anniken Skywalker Pose'

A fierce Space Squirrel

My boys

More posing :)

Ringing in the New Year

Eating the soup

New Year's Tickle-fest

Apple Crisp Numero 2

Yummmmmm :)

Sushi!-- Makizushi Nori Rolls

Two nights of sushi. We're big fans of sushi here. My son loves sushi, but I cut his in half. My husband loves sushi, even if it's avocado. I love sushi because I don't have to try to encourage anyone to eat their dinner. It disappears in just a few minutes. We are currently enjoying our sushi with leftover vegetable soup, and a spinach salad with baby tomatoes and a mild yogurt dressing. (A few tbsp of whole milk organic yogurt, a dash of apple cider vinegar, some salt and pepper, and a 1/2 tsp of honey.)

Sushi is very easy to make at home. I'll confess that my Japanese boyfriend's mother taught me how to make sushi rolls back in their home in Tokushima during the New Year's holiday of 1994/1995. (domo arigato gozaimasu, Hirose San!)  And I don't really remember what she taught me. So I just make it up as I go along.

It's important to have rice that will hold together, or else your sushi will just fall apart. Many people use sushi rice to this end, but I just use a very short grain brown rice, cooked of course without any oil,  because that reduces the stickiness.

Seasoning your sushi rice is a matter of preference. I used to use rice vinegar with a little organic cane sugar, and some sea salt. These days, I use a little apple cider vinegar, and skip the sweetener altogether. You can buy commercial preparations of 'sushi seasoning', that already have the salt, sugar, and rice vinegar combined, by authentic companies such as Marukan. However, it's okay to make your own, or just add a little this and that until it tastes right to you.

You need to have some sheets of nori for making makizushi (literally 'rolled sushi'), as well as your choice of fillings cut into strips. Avocado is a perennial favourite around here, although we've used rehydrated marinated dried mushrooms, sweet potato, strips of egg, carrot, cucumber, squash, and even spinach (cooked and squeezed out).

Sushi rice ingredients:

1 cup of uncooked (very short) short grain brown rice

2 cups of water

1 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 - 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or rice vinegar)

1 -2 tsp sugar or honey (optional)

directions:

1. put the rice, salt, and water in a pot, and bring to a boil.

2. Turn the heat down, and cook for about 40 minutes.

3. add the vinegar (and optional sweetener if using) and stir to combine

4. set aside to cool

sushi ingredients:

6 sheet of nori

1 avocado cut into long strips

1 mini cucumber cut into long strips

1 small carrot

cooked rice

directions:

1. Spread approximated 1/2 cup of rice on a sheet of nori, on the upper 2/3 or 3/4 only

2. Lay your ingredients of choice across the nori, just towards the bottom of the rice

3. If you like, you can spread a little wasabi across the rice before putting your ingredients on.

4. Roll up the nori, using a piece of parchment paper or a proper bamboo roller (I don't have one), squeezing gently as you go, from the bottom.

5. Cut the rolls into discs using a very sharp chef's knife or a bread knife (I prefer a bread knife -- the serrated edge really helps)

6. Place the pieces on a plate, a serve with soy sauce and wasabi

7. For children, it can be helpful to cut each disc in half, because nori can be a little chewy.

Let me know what crazy fillings you come up with. The sky is the limit!

Sometimes it's hard to wait for dinner to be ready ... 

Just like mama used to make :)

Vegetable Soup -- a light supper on the 25th of December

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We don't really celebrate Christmas. We don't really celebrate anything specifically. I'd categorize us more as 'equal opportunity feast attenders'. A couple years ago, we started a tradition of breakfast on the 25th with family and friends, anyone who might be around and at loose ends, and who might enjoy a fun relaxing hangout with decent folk and decent food. It sort of lasts all day long, with people nibbling breakfast until early to mid afternoon, after which, along with anyone who is still around, we roll ourselves out the door for a stroll around the neighbourhood to admire the decorations.

After the stroll has sufficiently revved our appetites and chilled our bones, we return home for a bowl of hot soup around 4 or 5 o'clock. Then, anyone who hasn't yet left, leaves, and we pass out -- our son exhausted because he skipped his nap, and we adults exhausted because we've been going non-stop since 5 in the morning ...

Anyway, the soup this year was a big hit, and I thought I'd share the recipe with you. It's a pretty simple vegetable potage, and seemed to be just what we needed for a light meal.

I made it in my crock pot, although conventional stove top cooking in a covered pot would certainly be just as good. One nice thing about the crock pot -- I could just lift the entire crockery 'tureen' out of the metal sleeve once it had cooled to pop it in the fridge until needed. Yes, I made this a couple of days ahead. And I would urge you to make soups a couple of days ahead when possible -- the flavour is best after a day or two. 

ingredients:

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

2 tsp finely mince garlic

1/2 cup finely diced carrot

1/4 cup finely diced celery

2 tsp extra virgin coconut oil

1/3 tsp sea salt

2 tsp coconut oil

2/3 cup finely diced asian sweet potato

1 cup cooked chickpeas

3 cups water

1 tbsp bouillion powder (Sunshine Harvest)

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/3 tsp sea salt

2/3 cup green peas (I use frozen organic -- defrosted)

2/3 cup broccoli, cut into small bite sized pieces (about 83 grams) (I use frozen organic -- defrosted, but you can also use lightly steamed broccoli)

directions:

1. saute the onion, garlic, carrot, and celery with the sea salt and the coconut oil

2. when the vegetables are fully cooked, either add them to the crock pot and then add the chickpeas, sweet potatoes,  and water, or add the next ingredients to the pot you used for sauteeing.

3. Add the water, sweetpotato, chickpeas, bouillion seasoning, sea salt, and apple cider vinegar. Cover the crock pot, and let it do its thing.

4. when the sweet potatoes are fully cooked, turn the heat off and add the broccoli and green peas.

5. The soup is now finished, and will be best when eaten at least a day later.

6. I made 3 times this recipe because I have a very big crockpot, but it should work well in any quantity.

7. Enjoy!

We Feasted ...

Well, like many I'm sure, we feasted today. It was good fun, good friends, family, and a beautiful day all around. I've got the pictures to prove it, as well as a really nice recipe for vegetable soup. Stay tuned ... because I'm just too tired to tell you about it tonight! Many huge thanks to my readers, and happy happy holidays to all.

The Infamous Spicy Crackers

Vegetable Soup
 

Blueberry, Hemp, Flax, Pecan, and Almond Baby Cakes

Savoury Spinach Baby Cakes

Coffee Cake Baby Cakes

Gingerbread People and Flowers

Cinnamon Rolls

The festive table, complete with baby oranges, tamari almonds, a christmas tree, a chanukiah, an antique Turkish lantern, and a remembrance candle ...

Cauliflower Fried Rice

I am continually (not continuously) reading about health -- how to optimize it, how to reduce risks of ill-health, how to be healthy, how to feel great -- and the roll food plays in our health. In a very real sense, food is our most powerful medicine, and we can do a lot to augment our quality of life by eating properly. To my chagrin,  the vast majority of information about food and health is woefully outdated, and based on economics rather than fact. And as for cutting edge information on food and health, you have to weave and duck to dodge the shovels full of horse-manure and abject quackery. There's a lot of bad science out there.

Unfortunately, I am rather lazy and have a terrible memory, so I cannot direct you to all the studies and articles and good science out there. However, I would advise you to do your own research as much as possible! Don't take anything anyone tells you (and that includes me) as 'truth' until you are able to satisfy yourself that the information makes sense based on what we are able to know. We don't always have the whole picture, and sometimes make conclusions based on what we think is a complete image, but is really just a fragment.

That being said, I have come to certain conclusions about health and food. I think a lot of what we eat leads to systemic inflammation throughout the body. I think  a lot of what we eat costs us more than it gives us. I think most of what we can buy in the supermarket is frightening and dangerous. I think it's time to throw away most of what we 'believe' about food and health, and start again from the basic building blocks of wholesome ingredients. As Michael Pollan puts it: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

You may have noticed that I eschew grains for other options. Not that I boycott them entirely, but I like to  use them with dedicated moderation. Most of my baked goods are largely, if not entirely, flour from nuts instead of from grains. My research has shown me that in general grains contribute to inflammation in the body, even whole grains. As does cane sugar. Sugar in general. In addition, sugars and carbs tend to be very easily stored as fat, while fat is more easily burned as fuel. Go figure. (She says whilst stuffing the freshly baked heel of a loaf of bread in her greedy mouth).

But many people, my boys included, seem to need some grain in their diet. I think it's a really good idea to figure out what foods you yourself do best on, and to respect that by eating in a way that your body is truly asking to be fed.

You'll notice that this recipe includes some short grain brown rice, but the mass of it is actually cauliflower. And it tastes great. And if it were just for me, I would have skipped the rice entirely and just used cauliflower chopped into rice sized pieces.

ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

1 medium carrot, sliced and diced

1/4 cup raw cashews

1/4 cup raw almonds

3 cups lightly cooked cauliflower (you can steam it or saute it in coconut oil), cut into bite sized florets

1 1/2 cups cooked short grain brown rice (or your fave)

2 tbsp organic tamari (or other soy sauce)

2 tbsp almond butter

1 tbsp maple syrup

5 drops sesame oil

5 drops lime juice

1/4 tsp ground ginger

3 eggs

directions:

1. saute the carrots and nuts in the coconut oil until nicely cooked

2. add the cauliflower and seasonings, and fully heat

3. add the rice, and fully heat

4. once the seasonings have been fully incorporated, and the cauliflower and rice are hot enough, add the  eggs, and stir gently, until the eggs are fully cooked

5. serve with a side of steamed broccoli (or our favourite, sauteed over low heat in coconut oil and tossed with a little sea salt and pepper)

This will probably serve 3 or 4 ... :)

Yummy Muffins -- Saturday Morning Muffins, Again

We are so lucky. We have an aunt and uncle who visit on Saturday mornings, and now that our music class is over, we're going to a gingerbread house making party. Fun! We're bringing muffins ...

These muffins have two kinds of seeds in them, two kinds of nuts in them, some raisins, a few different flavours, and are wholesome and tasty.

ingredients:

1 1/2 cups organic whole milk

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

1/4 cup coconut sugar

2 xl organic eggs

1 tsp sea salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp organic ground vanilla bean (or 1 tbsp vanilla extract)

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp allspice

1 tbsp carob powder

1/4 cup flax meal

1/4 cup shelled hemp seeds (aka hemp hearts)

1 cup pecan meal

1 cup almond flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup kamut flour

1/2 cup organic thompson raisins

directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. lightly warm the milk and coconut oil together to melt the coconut oil

2. mix in the coconut sugar and the eggs

3. add the vanilla, cinnamon, sea salt, carob powder, ginger, and all spice

4. add the hemp hearts and flax meal

5. add the pecan meal and almond flour

6. add the baking soda and mix well

7. add the kamut flour and stir lightly until just mixed

8. add the raisins and stir lightly until just mixed

9. scoop the batter into 24 prepared muffin cups and bake at 345 for 25-30 minutes in the upper half of the oven (until the muffins spring back when lightly poked

10. share with your friends, enemies, and frenemies

We had a great time at the gingerbread house making party. Here is our creation. My son was the mastermind behind the decorations. The shaky construction is all me. :)

Pancakes -- The Best Pancakes in the World :)

We love eating pancakes for dinner. These pancakes are great because they are super moist, very flavourful, and very nutritious. We sided them with broccoli that had been tossed in coconut oil, and topped them with organic whole yogurt and maple syrup. Yummy.

They starred in many a breakfast over the course of the last year, most notably our big Dec 25th breakfast blowout with all the lost lambs who had no where to go ... They were equally well received on many Sunday mornings with friends and family. Try 'em, you'll like 'em.

ingredients:

2 eggs

2 cups organic whole milk

1 cup pecan meal

1/4 cup flax meal

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup kamut or red fyfe flour (or another whole grain flour of your choice)

directions:

1. beat eggs and add milk

2. add flax meal and pecan meal

3. add sea salt and baking soda

4. add kamut flour

5. allow to sit for at least 15 minutes before using (or can be refrigerated over night)

6. heat up a skillet (I've cooked them on a ceramic pan or on a cast iron griddle) and coat it lightly with coconut oil

7. depending on what size of pancake you want, deposit the appropriate amount of batter on the heated pan (we make anywhere from silver dollar to pancakes that use 1/4 cup of batter at a shot)

8. cook them for 1 or 2 minutes per side, turning when the bubbles come out on the first side.

9. keep the pancakes warm in the oven while you finish up the batter ...

Sugar Cookies -- lots of flavour, but no sugar

A couple of days ago I posted a recipe for sugar cookies made without sugar and without any grain flour. To be honest, these gluten-free cookies remind me a little of short bread cookies -- they have that kind of texture. Today I decided to make a sugar cookie without sugar, but in these I used some whole grain kamut flour in addition to almond flour. The texture is delicate and almost fluffy. They are pleasant and simple. Just the right kind of cookie to go with a cup of tea. And they partner well with the vanilla bean cookies from the other day -- different, yet charming in their own unique ways. The sweetener I have used is a clear, raw agave. I personally find cane sugar, whether organic or not, tastes great but disagrees with me. Agave is extremely sweet, so you need less of it, and I find it doesn't give me the headaches and racing heart I can get from cane sugar.

These aren't as sweet as the ones made with coconut flour and the reason for this is simple. Coconut flour absorbs so much liquid that you need very little of it, so that all the flavours and sweetners in the confection have much more potency. With these cookies, we are using twice as much flour, thus the potency of the sweetners and flavours are cut by half. If you followed this ramble, then it will be no surprise to you when I say the two cookies are different than each other.

ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

1/4 cup clear agave

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 eggs

1 tsp finely minced orange zest (optional -- or lemon zest -- or go crazy and try lime)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 tsp ground vanilla bean

1 tsp cinnamon (I used ceylon cinnamon)

1 1/2 cups almond flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup kamut flour

directions:

1. lightly melt the oil and combine with the agave

2. add in the vanilla and lemon juice

3. mix in the eggs (and zest if you are using)

4. add the sea salt, vanilla bean, and cinnamon

5. stir in the almond flour, followed by the baking soda

6. add the kamut flour last, and stir until fully combined

7. as with any recipe using a flour that contains gluten, try to stir it as little as possible, and work it as little as possible. This will prevent the gluten from 'activating', and limit the toughness that will ensue. All you pie pastry makers out there know what I'm talking about ...

8. wrap the dough in parchment and put it in an airtight container. Refrigerate until fully chilled.

9. divide the dough into quarters, and roll each piece between two pieces of parchment

10. cut with your favourite cutter, and place on a lined baking sheet

12. this recipe will fill two baking sheets

13. bake for a total of 14 minutes in the upper half of an oven that has been pre-heated to 345. If you are baking 2 sheets at once, switch their positions halfway through.

14. once the cookies have come out of the oven,  remove them from the baking sheets to cool on a cooling rack

15. store in an airtight container

Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies -- Sans Sugar, and Gluten-Free

I always really liked sugar cookies. I liked the simple, vanilla redolent flavour, I liked the light texture, and I liked the cute shapes. When we were teenagers, my friend Jennifer and I made a huge batch of sugar cookies that we cut by hand into fantastic shapes and decorated with bright amazing colours of icing. We then took the whole batch down to Sick Kids hospital to give to the kids. A nurse confiscated them and promised they'd be distributed to the kids who were allowed to eat them. To this day, I have my secret doubts, and am at least halfway convinced that there were a lot of doctors and nurses grooving on the psychedelic effects of our beautiful creations. They were gorgeous, and back in the 80's, we all still believed sugar was good for you ... :)

Keeping with the theme of 'holiday' type cookies, I wanted to come up with a recipe for a sugar cookie that includes no sugar, and can be enjoyed without qualms. Like the gingerbread people of a couple weeks ago, these ones are also gluten-free. I'll do a not gluten free but still healthy alternative later on.

Coconut flour is an interesting flour. It absorbs water so prodigiously that you need much less of it than you would another flour. In fact, it could probably be used for disaster clean up following flooding ... I find the texture of cookies made with coconut flour improves after a couple of days, and then is really great, and keeps well for a number of weeks, even. In addition, coconut flour is very high in protein, with a good amount of fiber, won't spike anyone's insulin, is gluten free, and doesn't have the same inflammatory effects that many people experience with grain flours, even whole grain.

ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

1/4 cup agave

2 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp ground vanilla bean (this is more or less optional, because it's a bit more esoteric, and the cookies will be nice without it, too)

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 cup almond flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup coconut flour

directions:

1. warm the oil to melt it

2. mix in the agave

3. mix in the eggs

4. add the vanilla and lemon

5. add the sea salt and vanilla bean

6. add the almond flour

7. add the baking soda

8. add the coconut flour, and mix well

9. wrap the finished dough in parchment, put it in an airtight container, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled (this will make it easier to work with)

10. divide the dough in half

11. roll half the dough between 2 pieces of parchment until reasonably thin, and cut with your favourite cookie cutters and transfer the shapes to a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet

12. amass the scraps and repeat until the dough is gone.

13. repeat with the second half

14. you should fill two baking sheets. The number of cookies will depend on the size of the cutters ...

15. preheat the oven to 300, and bake the trays for 20 minutes in the upper half of the oven. After 10 minutes cooking time,  switch their positions halfway through.

16. After 20 minutes total cooking time, shut the oven off, and leave the cookies in the oven for another 10 minutes.

17. After 30 minutes total cooking time, remove the cookies from the oven, and leave to cool for a few minutes.

18. remove the cookies to a cooling rack.

19. store in an airtight container.

20. these cookies keep really well, and in my opinion improve with age, and are at their best after a few days after baking