Roasted Chickpeas

September 22, 2014

This photo got a ton of attention when I posted it to Facebook and Instagram last night. People requested the recipe and wanted to know all the details from what kind of seasoning I use to if they get crunchy.

Why I decided to make these…

On Saturday, when I was at DC VegFest, they handed out free samples of this snack. They tasted delicious, and the minute I saw them, I knew I have seen them before. In my favorite cookbook, Super Natural Everyday, Heidi Swanson has a recipe for these. So instead of buying a bag at VegFest, I decided to make them myself.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups cooked chickpeas. (Drain and dry them the best you can.)
2 tablespoons evoo
1.5 teaspoons sweet paprika
1.5 teaspoons smoked paprika
1.5 teaspoons hot paprika (I didn’t have hot paprika on hand, so I used red pepper flakes as a substitute. When using red pepper flakes I only used 0.5 teaspoon.)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon of chopped fresh rosemary. (I used dried)
1 teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme. (I used dried)
Lemon zest of 1 lemon

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 425 F
Pour the chickpeas on a baking sheets, and bake for 20 minutes.
Check the chickpeas at 10 minutes shaking the baking sheet, making sure they aren’t stuck to the sheet. Continue baking for the rest of the time.
Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine evoo, salt, lemon zest, rosemary, thyme, paprikas, and red pepper flakes if using.
Once chickpeas have baked for 20 minutes, take them out of the oven and put them in the bowl with the other ingredients. Mix together.
Place paprika covered chickpeas on baking sheet and put in the oven, baking for an additional 5-10 minutes. (The longer you leave them in the oven, the crunchier they get. Just make sure they don’t burn.)
Let cool for a couple minutes and serve warm.
Enjoy!

*** All of the ingredients I used are organic, and non GMO. ***

Why I love these…

I absolutely love these chickpeas. They are a wonderful alternative to potato chips, kale chips, or popcorn. They are a low in sugar, high in protein snack. You can eat them by themselves, or add them to salad, soups, or even on top of grains. And although, I flavored them with paprika, you can really chose any type of seasoning or flavors you are craving. A friend of mine, commented on facebook that she made hers with garlic and grated parm. So try away, get creative!

Have you tried roasted chickpeas before? What is your favorite seasoning? How do you flavor you roasted chickpeas?

KALE: Your New Friend with Benefits!

March 30, 2013

Hi Lovelies!

I want to share with you my favorite leafy green!

How my friendship with Kale began…

I started eating Kale a couple years back when I first discovered Kris Carr. I read her book, Crazy Sexy Diet and watched her documentary Crazy Sexy Cancer, and was totally inspired. This book is a must read, and the documentary is a must see.

Her Story…

After being diagnosed with a slow moving rare cancer that has no cure, Kris Carr used food as her medicine. She became vegan, and ate a whole food mainly raw diet, based on an alkaline PH level. She juiced everyday, slurping down healthy gorgeous green juices made from kale.

How I eat Kale…

I love juicing Kale, or mixing it in with my protein shakes. I also love adding it to salads. I actually started eating Kale so often I started growing my own. Anyway, just recently I discovered this amazing Kale recipe in the cookbook I am obsessed with, Super Natural Everyday, by Heidi Swanson.

Miso-Curry Delicata Squash

INGREDIENTS

Summer Squash
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup white miso
1 tablespoon Thai curry paste
4 medium new potatoes
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1.5 cups chopped kale
1/3 cup pine nuts
2/3 cup fresh cilantro
Cherry tomatoes

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Cut squash and potatoes.
In a medium bowl, whisk together olive oil, miso, and curry paste.
Combine squash and potatoes with miso-curry paste. Toss.
Roast in a glass baking pan for 25-30 minutes until potatoes are soft.
Add kale, lemon juice, tomatoes, pine nuts
Cook for an additional 10 minutes.
Let cool, add cilantro.
Enjoy!

This is a quick easy dish that taste amazing and is full of health benefits. This dish is organic, vegetarian/vegan. It can be eaten as a main dish or a side dish.

Questions for You…

How do you eat kale?
What is your favorite leafy green?

I was in a Sweet and Spicy kinda mood!

March 24, 2013

Today…

I ran.

I bought groceries.

I gardened.

Today…

Although, I did all of the above, I will admit, I spent most of my day playing in my kitchen…

I was in a Sweet and Spicy kind of mood…

so I baked these…

These are homemade Ginger Cookies, from my favorite cookbook, Super Natural Every Day, by Heidi Swanson. If you have been following my blog, then this book will be familiar to you, for I have shared with you several of her recipes. She’s the best!

Sweet Tooth

Because I am an endurance athlete, I normally crave healthy fats and salty food. However, sometimes, I desperately desire something sweet – I am human.

Ginger and Cacao

Along with sweet, my all time favorite ingredient is ginger! I love, love, love ginger – can’t even express how much. Ginger also has many health benefits, including being an anti-inflammatory, and improving digestive health. Lately, I have been cooking with it quite a bit. So when I came across this recipe, I just had to try it. This recipe also includes Cacao, which is known for being rich with disease fighting antioxidants. I am a chocolate lover, so this was definitely a plus. I mean, if I am going to indulge in something sweet, I want to go all out, and have a pastry made from high quality ingredients. I also think everything taste better when you cook or bake it yourself. It is true, give it a try.

So here we go…

Ingredients

1/2 cup raw sugar
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate (70 percent cacao)
2 cups spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
2/3 sugar
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1 large egg beaten
1 cup dried apricots chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Shave chocolate into large bowl.

In another large bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, ground ginger, and salt.
Heat butter, molasses, sugar and fresh ginger in a pan on medium heat.
beat egg, mix into warm mixture in pan. Note: The yolk is very deep in color, because they are organic and from a local east coast farm. It makes a big difference in flavor.
Chop dried apricots.
Pour mixture from stove over flour mixture. Add apricots. Stir.
Stir in chocolate.
Scoop dough with a spoon and roll into little balls. I dipped every other dough ball into sugar. Place each dough ball onto parchment paper cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool. Enjoy!

These Ginger Cookies definitely met all of my standards. They are made from all of the highest quality organic ingredients. They not only taste amazing because I made them from scratch myself, but they also made my whole house smell sweet and spicy.

So if you are in a sweet and spicy kinda mood… these are a must try!

What Sweet and Spicy combos are your favorite?

Farro Soup

January 13, 2013

Today, I woke up totally disappointed, to cold and fog, but it later cleared up and the sun came out, so of course I went for a run. Then once I got home, I started to cook up a storm. The first thing I baked was granola from scratch. (I will write a granola post tomorrow.) The second thing I made was an amazing vegan/vegetarian soup that even my boyfriend, the meat eater, gobbled up.

As you may know, soups are one of my favorite things to cook and eat. Soups can be so hearty and satisfying. They can warm you up on a cold winter day. They can cure the common cold.

This soup recipe is called Farro Soup, from my favorite cook book, Super Natural Every Day, by Heidi Swanson. If you don’t already have this cook book, you should get it asap. It is a must have… a kitchen essential.

Of course I put my own little twist on the recipe, so it is not exactly the same as the one from the cook book.

INGREDIENTS

olive oil
2 large yellow onions, chopped
1 large sweet potato peeled, diced
3 large carrots peeled, diced (This is not part of the original recipe. I added these. I love carrots in soup.)
sea salt
1 tablespoon Indian curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder (This is not part of the original recipe.)
1 teaspoon cumin powder (This is not part of the original recipe.)
a handful or semi-pearled farro
A little more than 1 cup of black lentils
6-7 cups of water
2 cubes of vegan vegetable bouillon
greek yogurt
lemon juice
lemon zest

DIRECTIONS

Add onions, sweet potatoes, carrots to a large soup pot, with heated olive oil.
When veggies are soft and golden add curry powder, turmeric, cumin, salt.
Add 6-7 cups of water and 2 cubes of vegan vegetable bouillon.
Add farro and lentils.
Bring broth to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer.
Simmer for 30 minutes.
Taste and season with more salt if needed. Taste and make sure farro and lentils are fully cooked.
In a side bowl, add yogurt, squeeze lemon, and stir.
Serve soup, top with lemon yogurt and sprinkle lemon zest.
The Final result!

This soup is super quick and really simple to make. It is also really hearty, super satisfying, extremely healthy, and very delicious. It is vegetarian, but if you are vegan omit the yogurt step.

Beans magically transformed into Vegan Chili

January 8, 2013

A couple Saturdays ago, I woke up to a gray sky and a light dusting of snow. Immediately, I felt like comfort food, but along with comfort food comes the butter, gravy, FAT. Finding something that would satisfy my craving for comfort, warm me up, but still be healthy, became my saturday mission.

My boyfriend had mentioned that Chili sounded really good, and that there was no need to run to the grocery store for ingredients. Among his stash of canned soup, canned fruit, and jarred spaghetti sauces, he had a gigantic can of chili waiting to be opened and warmed up in the microwave.

YUCK! Absolutely NOT! There is little to none, nutritional value in any canned goods. I don’t eat anything canned. Honestly, I don’t know why anyone would. Making soups and sauces are not only my favorite things to cook, but it is also one of the easiest things to cook.

So that snowy morning, I went to MOM’s Organic Market to pick up the ingredients I would need to make my homemade Chili.

I used the recipe Spicy Heirloom Been Chili from Rachael Tibbits as a reference. I did change it up a bit to put my own twist on things.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups of dried beans
salt
olive oil
3 yellow onions diced
1 green pepper
garlic cloves diced or minced
carrots
sweet potato
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. cumin
1 tbsp. oregano
1 can crushed tomatoes 28 oz. (In this case, it is okay to use a can, but only here. Canned tomatoes are full of flavor.)
chipotle in adobo peppers, diced. (I used 2. But use as many as you would like. The more you use the more smoky hot your chili will be. Illuminate seeds to reduce spice.)
1 tbsp. of raw cocoa powder
lime
cilantro
harissa

DIRECTIONS: Vegan Chili

When it comes to dry beans, it is better to soak them over night. However, if you didn’t plan in advance, you can fill 2 cups of dry beans, whichever you like or have on hand, with 4 cups of water. Tip you can also use a dry bean soup mix.
Do not salt the beans. Bring that water to a boil and then simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Try a few beans to make sure they are tender.
When beans are tender drain any extra water.
In a separate skillet, heat olive oil, saute onions, green pepper, and garlic over medium heat.

Add sweet potatoes and carrots to onions.

When tender and golden brown add these to the pot of beans.
Add chili powder, cumin, oregano.
Add 1 cup water.
Add tomatoes.
Add diced up chipotle in adobo.
Add cocoa.
Simmer for 1 hour.
Serve, topping the dish off with lime, cilantro, and harissa.

The finished result.

So my boyfriend refused to eat vegan chili so I had to make him a side of meat. This is how I added meat to his meal with out contaminating my vegan chili.

DIRECTIONS: A side of meat for the meat lover!

The ingredients for this was bought at the local grocery store, not an organic market.

Fry bacon over the stove in a large skillet. Once bacon is crispy remove from heat and set aside. Pat dry access oil.
In the same skillet, saute diced onions, green peppers, and garlic.
Add corn.
Add ground beef
Once everything is cooked add bacon in cut up pieces.

For your meat lover. Put meat mixture at the bottom of a bowl. Layer it with the Vegan Chili. Top off with cheese and sour cream.

BEANS I use to hate them…

It is funny how our taste buds change, or maybe, it is just our personalities maturing, but as a young adult I never cared much for beans. I never liked Chili. I never put beans in my burritos. When eating out at a Mexican restaurant, I always substituted my side of beans for an extra side of rice. However, now that I am eating mostly a plant based diet, I am exploring the wide variety of beans that are out there. And the more I branch out the more I am finding that I am not only enjoying them, but actually loving them.

Also beans are super nutritious. They are low in Saturated Fat, Sodium, and Cholesterol. They are a good source of Vitamin B6, Iron, Magnesium, and Potassium. They are rich in Protein and Fiber. They are also a mild inflammatory. Lean the difference nutritional value between canned beans vs. dried beans here.

As you may know, ever since I bought the cookbook Super Natural Every Day, I am now currently obsessed with recipes by Heidi Swanson. One of my favorite quotes of the book is…

“I like to get to know each individual type of bean, and when I’m trying a new one, I prepare it simply so I can acquaint myself with its unique flavor, texture, and personality. This helps me develop a sense of what I might do the next time to highlight the uniqueness of the bean. Some beans are thin-skinned, some are thick, some lend themselves to a pureed soup, while some are better whole.”

This year as I continue on with my last year’s New Years resolution- trying one unique food a week. I am now going to try more varieties of dry organic beans. I have a feeling that this will lead me to many stored mason jars of different types. Call me a nerd, or maybe I am becoming a true foodie. Who knew my interest in vegan cooking and nutrition would lead me to a collection of beans.

Questions for You…

What is your favorite comfort food?
What is your favorite beans?

super natural every day

December 30, 2012

Does anyone else get super overwhelmed with Christmas shopping? It should be fun, right? Because my family is childless, the idea of adults buying presents for adults seems kind of silly. However, I am a knitter, so I almost always hand make most of my gifts. But this year, I found myself on a desperate hunt for that special something, which holds the qualities of unique and creative, but also thoughtful and useful. The problem was I kept finding that special something that would be unique and useful for me…

For example, I was in Anthropologie and I found Super Natural Every Day, a cookbook written by Heidi Swanson. She opens this book telling us about her home San Francisco. Her descriptions are so lovely, it made me want to move there asap. She also gives us a peek inside her cupboard and pantry. She tells us where she shops for food, as she teaches us the ultimate definition of Natural.

foodbook

As I said before, I was in search for something unique and useful. This book meets those qualities because in this country every day is a challenge to eat organic and vegetarian.

Changing the subject now…

My New Year’s resolution for 2012 was to eat one unique exotic food I had never tried before, every week. This made me on a constant quest to seek knowledge on these new foods I discovered. It forced me to go to local farmers markets, my favorite one being the Crystal City Farmer’s Market. I would rush over there on Tuesday, during my break at work. What I loved most about this market is that it was on a weekday so most of the time the farmers were there themselves working the stand.

I also started to explore some of the organic grocery stores, becoming a regular shopper at Whole Foods, MOM’s Organic Market, and rarely, but sometimes Trader Joe’s. Although, they are expensive, my health is worth the money, (and so is yours!)

When it comes to Whole Foods verse MOM’s, Whole Foods is much bigger and has more options. However, MOM’s has less imported things, most of their products are more locally grown. It is smaller, but their selection is more exclusive. When it comes to Trader Joe’s, I like it, but I feel like the store has a lot of packaged items, which is not really my thing. I don’t snack much, and although packaged products can be organic or vegan, I much rather get the whole food.

back to the book…

So lets get back to the fabulous cookbook, Super Natural Everyday. The title of this book says it all. This is the way I want to eat, cook, live. Every attempt, I have made at being vegetarian has failed in the past because I simply didn’t feel full with out animal protein. This September when I decided to give it a try again, I decided I am not going to label myself as anything. I simply decided to ease into it by having meatless and dairy-free days. Now I am buying fabulous cookbooks like this one, and learning how to cook more vegetarian/vegan meals.

The meal I decided to try was her stuffed tomatoes, but instead of using six tomatoes, I used three tomatoes, two green peppers, and two portobello mushrooms. I actually ended up liking the portobello mushroom best.

Simply wash them, and clean out the insides only saving the tomato insides. Put those a side in a large mixing bowl.

Add shallots, garlic, basil, harissa, olive oil, salt, yogurt, couscous. Stuff the vegetables to the top and cook them for 50-60 mins in a 350 degree hot oven.

Now this is what I am talking about! This is a must try delicious recipe, and the best part is that it is a filling satisfied vegetarian dish.

For more info on Heidi Swanson you can check out her personal site here. You can also purchase her book, Super Natural Every Day, at Anthropologie.