Nemesis Makes Dinner -- gluten free, vegan, vegerrific and palate pleasing

I managed to throw a bunch of stuff in a pot, throw it in the oven, and have it come out and be enjoyed by everyone. That's a bit of a win. Colin even had two helpings. Huzzah!!

ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 medium onions, finely chopped

2 cups black lentils -- they are called 'beluga' lentils
1/4 cup quinoa
1/4 cup crumbled dried mushrooms -- I don't think it matters too  much what kind you use

2 cups roughly chopped carrots

2 cups roughly chopped celery (I use celery hearts, but probably any celery will do)

3 cups halved and sliced zucchini
6 cups diced tomatoes (do not use romas or plum tomatoes -- you'll need juicy ones)

1/4 cup almond butter

1 tbsp sea salt
1 tsp chili powder

1 can coconut milk -- I highly recommend using organic and stay away from 'lite'

1/4 cup roasted buckwheat groats -- aka kasha
2 tbsp nutritional yeast


directions:

in a large casserole (or cast iron dutch oven such as Nemesis)
1. layer the ingredients in the order listed and do not stir
2. finish it off with the sprinkled kasha and nutritional yeast and bake for at least 90 minutes
3. stir well then serve with whatever turns your crank -- we had raw spinach leaves

Because only the liquid from the tomatoes and other vegetables, as well as the coconut milk, will be used in this, it will be extra flavourful.

Cottage Dinner

Dinner tonight was 2 bean chill with garlic toast and sautéed broccoli. We chased it with cottage cake and watermelon. Yum.

Purple and Black Crockpot -- a vegan lentil and veggie dish

The farmer's market inspires me.

ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
1 large onion, quickly diced
2 cups black (beluga) lentils
3 cups celery hearts, coarsely chopped
2 cups chopped broccoli greens
1 small red cabbage, coarsely diced
2 cups chopped plum tomato, coarsely diced

1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin (ground)
4 tsp sea salt
black paper
1 tbsp marjoram

1 can coconut milk
1 can water


directions:

1. layer the ingredients in the order listed in the crockpot
2. cook for as long as it takes

Dinner, again. An autumn meal complete with pie ...

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It wasn't a celebration. It was just a meal. It just worked out that way. We had plums that wanted pie-ing, and lovely kale and carrots from the farmer's market. Despite thinking about the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and the six months since Japan suffered a huge earthquake, it turned out to be a day for good eating.

We enjoyed a saute of sweet potato, carrot, pumpkin seeds, and chickpeas with sauteed kale, tomato salad, and sweet potato biscuits. We washed this down with a pretty plum pie topped with vanilla custard sauce. It was all so freakin' good. It was all so freakin' good that I would have loved to share the meal with you. Instead, I'll just share the recipes.

It was a day to look at photos and think and remember. Remember those lost, remember the lives broken, remember man's inhumanity to man, remember man's frailty in the face of nature and natural disaster, remember man's folly in the face of power, both nuclear and governmental.

I find it hard to feel grateful that my loved ones and I are safe and whole in light of all that, because it feels like it means I'm being glad someone else isn't, glad that these tragedies happened elsewhere to other people. Instead, I feel like we are all diminished somehow.

I hope my son grows up in a world where terror attacks and nuclear meltdowns are historical only.

And for all those who are lost or have lost, my thoughts are with you. I am with you ...

Vegetable and Bean Salad -- naturally gluten free, dairy free, and vegan

 I've been full-scale into chopped veggie salads lately. I used to crave leafy green salads, and wanted to eat them every day. Then, when I was pregnant with my son, I had such a profound adversion to salad that just the smell of it brought on an immediate gag reflex. Sadly, I've never regained my previous adoration of the humble leaf. So, I do enjoy it from time to time, but it's no longer something I want everyday, and I've found myself preferring cooked greens to raw. The honeymoon is clearly over, but a new relationship has developed.

So, now I really like chopped up salads of whatever veggies are handy, and I like throwing in whatever beans are in the fridge (or freezer -- that's why it's so handy to freeze 'em in small quantity packages like a cup or two). Plus, these seem to go over really well with everyone in my family. It seems to be much easier to get my three year old to eat something like this than a bowl of leafy greens, which he enjoys for a few bites but then loses interest in. I will often throw in left over cooked veggies like cauliflower or broccoli -- or you could use asparagus if you are a fan. I've also been using steamed green peas (because unfortunately they are not fresh sweet peas, but rather gulag peas from my stock of organic veg in the freezer).

Nice thing, too, is the leftover are great the next day if you make too much.


ingredients:

1 avocado (1 cup chopped)
1 pint grape tomatoes (1 1/2 cups chopped)
3/4 cup finely sliced celery
3/4 cup finely sliced carrots
3/4 cup black eyed peas
1/2 cup chick peas

1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tbsp raw honey
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp chili powder
black pepper


directions:

1. combine the cut up veg and the beans, except for the avocado -- mix that in after the major tossing has been done
2. add the seasonings, and toss really well
3. adjust for taste
4. add the avocado and mix gently to combine

We don't always have avocado, and anyway I've found that steamed cauliflower is a delight in this salad.  As is broccoli. Go crazy, kids.

Du Puy Lentils with Carrots and Spinach -- Continuing Crockpot Adventures

It was a rainy Monday, and our fridge was bare. It seemed like a good idea to do some cooking. We got the crockpot going, roasted some fennel and beets for a salad, made a polenta, and baked four dozen oatmeal raisin cookies. And then we danced. In the rain. A la Singing in the Rain. Just kidding. Sort of.

The thing I enjoy about a crock pot is that aside from the chopping and measuring, no work is involved, and magic happens. Ingredients go in, and food comes out. So great.

This dish has a nice flavour, and gave us a nice variation from the tomato-chickpea  kick we've been on. And it goes very well with the latest polenta dish. (My son is eating the tomato polenta for breakfast as I write this. Second breakfast actually. He thinks he's a hobbit.)

ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
1 tbsp garlic, finely minced
1 small onion, finely chopped, approx 1/2 cup
1 1/2 cups diced carrots
1 1/2 cups du Puy lentils
1/2 lb finely diced roma tomatoes (aka plum tomatoes)
3 cups filtered water
1 tbsp sea salt
1 tbsp marjoram
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp allspice

1 1/2 cups diced asian sweet potatoes

150 g chopped spinach


directions:

1. turn on the crockpot to HIGH and set for 6 hours
2. layer the ingredients as follows:
a) coconut oil
b) garlic
c) onion
d) carrots
e) lentils
f) tomatoes
g) salt, marjoram, bay leaves, all spice
h) water
g) sweet potato
(reserve the spinach for after the heat is turned off)
3. after the dish has finished cooking, turn off the heat, and stir in the spinach

Voila. It is done. Ingredients go in, food comes out. Cool beans.

This would be a great dish to serve with crusty bread ...

Vegetables with Green Peas and Chickpeas -- Continuing Crockpot Adventures, or is it Chickpea Variations?

This dish feels spring appropriate to me with its flavours of green peas and celery. The ingredients mellow and blend together, so there are no sharp edges, just a satisfying meal that appeals to all ages. We have been enjoying it as a topper to slices of quinoa polenta, and my three year old gobbles it down with great enjoyment. Even my husband has no complaints on this one ;)

ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
1 tbsp finely minced garlic
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup finely diced celery
1 cup finely diced carrot

1/4 cup amaranth

3 cups finely diced tomato
1/2 tbsp sea salt
1/2 tbsp marjoram
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp mesquite powder
black pepper
2 bay leaves

1 1/2 cups chickpeas

2 cups frozen green peas, defrosted (organic) (250g)

1/2 tbsp sea salt

2 cups broccoli florets, either lightly steamed, or defrosted from frozen (250g)


directions:

1. turn your crockpot to high, set the timer for 6 hours
2. layer:
a) coconut oil
b) garlic
c) onion
d) celery and carrot
e) amaranth
f) tomato
g) sea salt, marjoram, mesquite, black pepper
h) tomato
i) chickpeas
j) green peas
k) rest of sea salt
3. cook for 6 hours
4. turn off heat and stir in broccoli
5. serve over quinoa polenta, cornmeal polenta, with a slice of bread, with a big smile, or simply with pride and enjoyment.

very yummy.