Recipes

Easy To Make, Easy To Eat "Brociflower" Soup

The so easy to make, easy to eat Brociflower soup.  And you feel so full

and lose weight.

Such nice color change if you’re used to the PEERtrainer energy soup and

really nice, warm taste.  You can even sip on a cup of this for breakfast.

1 large (HUGE) head of cauliflower

3 smaller heads of broccoli

large box of organic vegetable broth

1 can of coconut milk

5 cloves of garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a large stock pot.  Bring to boil and then simmer

for 20 minutes.  Puree with smart stick blender and you are done!

Feel free to add any spices or taste that you think you might like.  I

liked it as a mild alternative to the other spicy soups I eat but you

might like some chives on top.  Or a bit of cayenne pepper.

For those counting calories or weight watchers points (but this is not exact)

It’s about 850 calories for the entire soup (that includes the vegetables)

and there are about 10 cup servings.  So it’s about 1 and a ½ to 2 points

per serving.

How To Make Baba Ganoush: Very Easy Recipe

After reading the pH Miracle I have been motivated to cook more food that is both nutrient dense as well as alkaline. I am experimenting with doing both approaches together. This is a very easy recipe, and it tastes great. You simply need to roast some eggplants in the oven and then you blend them with spices either with or without the skin. The skin has extra nutrients, but skinless you get a more subtle flavor.

I added the following: Lemon, cumin, little cayenne, salt, couple cloves of garlic and a tiny bit of olive oil. I eat it by dipping cucumber slices into it. Very good. Let me know your variations!

TNT's Veggie Weight Loss Soup

This is a soup recipe from someone who did not like my soup. So she made her own!

Ingredients:

Fresh -
2-3 zucchinis, sliced and quartered (about 4 cups)
1 8-oz. pkg. sliced baby bella mushrooms (about 3 cups)
6 stalks of celery, sliced (about 2 cups)

Frozen –
1 10-oz. box chopped spinach
1 16-oz. bag crinkle cut carrots
1 16-oz. bag cut green beans
1 14-oz. bag baby broccoli florets

Canned –

2 15-oz. cans stir-fry veggies (baby corn, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, water chestnuts), drained.
2 48-oz. cans of chicken broth (or vegetable broth, I suppose)

Dry –

1 16-oz. bag of lentils
Garlic powder (to taste)
Cayenne pepper (to taste)

Directions:

Cook the lentils by themselves in water & broth (half and half)

In a LARGE (8 qt.) pot, combine zucchini, mushrooms and celery. Sprinkle with garlic powder, stir, and add a cup or so of broth. Turn burner on high and cook veggies until zucchini and celery start to become translucent. (Don’t overcook!) Turn burner off, but leave pot on stove. Add stir-fry veggies (as-is). Then, one by one, microwave frozen veggies (per individual cooking instructions) then add them to the pot. Add all remaining broth and cooked lentils. Stir gently with a big spoon. Lastly, sprinkle with cayenne pepper and stir again.

Best when served piping hot! Made this way - approx. 50 calories per cup. Very yummy with oyster crackers or saltines crumbled on top – though, of course, that would add a few calories.

NOTE: It’s impossible (or very difficult, anyway) to ruin this soup. If you don’t like an ingredient, leave it out. Want something more, put it in! Don’t like lentils? Use brown rice or (maybe?) quinoa! Make it your own! I don’t think I’ve ever made this soup the same way twice, but it’s always delicious!

“Cream” of Swiss Chard Recipe!

Swiss Chard is one if the highest nutrient density food you can have.  It will fill you up, help you lose weight and the bonus is this:  it can taste great!  There’s not a bit of cream in this 3 ingredient ultra-creamy soup.   When you puree potatoes and Swiss chard that have been cooked together, the result is pure silk. 

This recipe is taken from the book Healthy 1-2-3 by Rozanne Gold.  Rozanne Gold, who began her career at the age of 24 as first chef to New York's Mayor Ed Koch, is a three-time winner of the prestigious James Beard Book Award and winner of the IACP/Julia Child Cookbook Award.

(***My side note:  Don't be embarrassed if you have no idea what swiss chard is.  I had no idea until last year!  just go to the supermarket and ask a produce person to help you.  They're usually happy to explain things and in my experience, no one has ever made me feel badly about not knowing what a vegetable is.)

Ingredients:

• 3 large potatoes, red or Yukon Gold, about 1 1/3 pounds.
• 1 large bunch Swiss chard, about 1 ¼ pounds
• 2 ½ Tablespoons unsalted butter
• kosher salt
  

*** (Another side note:  You can always substitute the butter for olive oil or unsweetened coconut milk.  I love the coconut because my husband can't eat dairy.  The recipe is so easy that you can experiment. I must admit that the butter tastes the best.)

In a 4 to 6 quart pot (****You always need a great pot in your kitchen.  I've seen people love this Creuset; it makes your kitchen feel so homey), bring 8 cups of water and ½ tablespoon kosher salt to a boil.

Peel potatoes. Halve the potatoes lengthwise and cut halves into ½-inch-thick slices.  Add to boiling water.  Lower heat to medium-high and cook, covered for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, wash Swiss chard thoroughly.  Cut off bottom 3 inches of stems and place in a small bowl for later.   Tear leaves into small pieces. Add leaves to pot after potatoes have cooked for 20 minutes.  Cook for 10 minutes longer.  Do not overcook or chard will lose its bright green color. 

Pour 3 cups cooking liquid from potato-chard mixture through a colander or course-mesh sieve.  Set aside.  Put potatoes, chard, and any remaining liquid in bowl of a food processor (****If you don't have a Cuisinart, you need one and here's a great one on Amazon. I don't know what I would do without my mini.)  Process until smooth.  Add butter and process for several minutes, until very smooth. 

Return blended mixture to pot.  Slowly add up to 3 cups of reserved broth, stirring, to make a smooth, thick, and creamy consistency.  Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

Cook for several minutes over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Blanch (***This just means throw into boiling water for a minute) reserved chard stems in a small amount of boiling salted water until tender, about 5 minutes.  Cut into small pieces and scatter over each serving of soup.  Serve hot. 

Makes 6.5 cup.  If you're on Weight Watchers, one serving has about 2 points.  This could be your soup for almost a week!

~Emily

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Acorn Squash Supreme

 

Who wouldn’t like a tasty acorn squash with fruit and nuts?  This comes from the Eat to Live cookbook by Joel Fuhman, M.D.

 

 

Ingredients:

• 1 large acorn squash
• 4 Tablespoons diced, dried apricots
• 2 Tablespoons chopped raw cashews
• 1 (15-oz) can unsweetened, crushed pineapple, juice reserved
• 2 Tablespoons raisins
• cinnamon

 

Cut squash in half, remove seeds, and bake face down in ½ inch of water for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

 

Cover the apricots in a bowl with some of the pineapple juice.  On top, add the pineapple, raisins, and cashews.  Let stand and soak while the squash is cooking.

 

After the squash has cooked, mix up the fruit in the bowl and scoop it into the squash’s center.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake covered for an additional 30 minutes.  Sprinkle with cinnamon, then put it back in the oven for 5 more minutes.

 

 

~Emily

 

 

Black Bean Salsa

This is quick to fix, full of protein and good flavor, and goes well with any Mexican-style meal or by itself as a dip served with chips.  You can also add avocado to this recipe, or red pinto beans in place of the black beans. 

 

This recipe comes from the book, The Gluten-Free Vegan: 150 Delicious Gluten-Free, Animal-Free Recipes by Susan O'Brien

 

Ingredients:

• 1 (15-oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 small jalapeno, seeded and chopped finely
• 1 medium-sized red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 small red onion, chopped finely
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 2 cups diced or chopped tomatoes
• ¼ cup orange juice, freshly squeezed if possible
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ¼ cup lime juice, freshly squeezed if possible

 

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and stir to blend everything together.  Place, covered, in the refrigerator until chilled.

 

-Emily

Jicama, Papaya and Avocado Salad

A simple salad with 3 primary ingredients and lettuce.  How pure and beautiful is this.  From the book Dining Al Fresco, The Wolf Trap Picnic Cookbook.  I’m thinking of adding  some halved walnuts for variety.

 

Ingredients:

• 4 large leaves lettuce
• 1 small jicama (about 1 pound)    
• 1 papaya
• 2 avocados
• ¼ Cup walnut (or olive) oil
• 1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• White pepper

Arrange lettuce leaves on four salad plates.  Peel the jicama and slice thin, then cut slices in half.  Divide slices amount the four plates.

 

Peel papaya and cut into quarters, discarding the seeds.  Cut in ¼ inch slices, keeping its shape as well as possible.  Place slices over jicama.

 

Peel and split the avocados in half and place next to the papaya.  If not serving immediately, brush avocado with a little lemon juice to keep it from discoloring.  Mix oil, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper and spoon over each of the salads.  Serves 4

 

-Emily

Favorite Hot Chocolate

 

This is a recipe from Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe by Mollie Katzen.   Mollie Katzen has over 6 million books in print and is listed by the New York Times as one of the best-selling cookbook authors of all time. A 2007 inductee into the prestigious James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame, and largely credited with moving healthful vegetarian food from the "fringe" to the center of the American dinner plate, Ms. Katzen has been named by Health Magazine as one of "The Five Women Who Changed the Way We Eat."

There are some days—and some moods—when hot chocolate is just simply the answer. And there might not even have been a question! This recipe hits that indescribable spot.

Yield: 2 servings (easily multiplied)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• ¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3 cups milk
• A pinch of salt
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

OPTIONAL TOPPINGS

• Whipped cream
• Cinnamon

Directions

1. Combine the chocolate chips and sugar in a medium-sized saucepan. Pour in the milk, then add the salt and vanilla.

2. Place the saucepan over medium heat, stirring slowly as the mixture heats up and the chocolate melts. Don’t let it boil.

3. Serve hot, topped with whipped cream and a light sprinkling of cinnamon, if desired.

Notes

Soy milk–or a combination of milk and cream–can be substituted for the milk.

Mollie Katzen is best known as the creator of the groundbreaking classics Moosewood Cookbook

-Emily

Shrimp, Grapefruit, and Avocado Salad

This is a  tangy salad to satisfy seafood lovers.  It’s simple enough for a weekend brunch, but special enough to serve to dinner guests.  It comes from The Illustrated Kitchen Bible by Brigitte Hafner and Victoria Blashford-Snell

Yield: makes 6 servings

Prep Time: 15 mins

Ingredients for the Dressing:

• 3 tbsp Asian fish sauce
• 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp avocado or olive oil

Ingredients for the Salad:

• 30 large shrimp, cooked, peeled, and deveined
• 2 large pink grapefruit, segmented
• 3 red radishes, thinly sliced
• 2 avocados, peeled, pitted, and cut into chunks or slices
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 6 oz (175g) baby salad greens (mesclun)
• bunch of watercress, thick stems discarded
• 6 sprigs of mint leaves, stems discarded, leaves torn

Directions:

1. Make the dressing by combining all of the ingredients together in a jar, and shake until blended.  (The dressing can be made several days in advance and refrigerated.)

2. Pat the shrimp dry with paper towels, and place in a bowl. Add 2 tbsp of the dressing and toss.

3. Toss the grapefruit, radishes, avocados, scallions, greens, watercress, and mint leaves in a large bowl. Divide among 6 dinner plates. Arrange 5 shrimp on top of each, and drizzle with the remaining dressing. Serve immediately.

- Emily

Beet Salad with Goat Cheese

This recipe which received 5 out of 5 stars from people rating the cookbook Top Chef The Cookbook by The Creators of Top Chef and Tom Colicchio is an extremely attractive salad and very healthy too.  This cookbook is currently on the best seller's list, along with the hit TV show, Top Chef.

 

 

Beet Salad:

4 large red beets

4 large yellow beets

Drizzle of olive oil

A few caps balsamic

Salt and pepper to taste

Chives to taste

A few leaves tarragon

1/2 log Boucheron goat cheese

A few tiny leaves basil stem

A few bunches chervil

A few tangles yellow frisee

1 knob ginger root, crushed

 

 

 

Ras El Hanout Spices with Honey:

1/2 cup mustard seeds, toasted

Cumin to taste

Fennel to taste

Coriander to taste

Drizzle of honey

 

 

Directions: 

Roast beets (reserve 1 quart reduced beet juice), dice and mix with olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper, chives and tarragon. Slice cheese and dress with beets. Toss basil, chervil and frisee with olive oil and serve. Drizzle on reduced beet juice with ginger.

 

 

Ras El Hanout Spices with Honey:

Blend mustard seeds in spices and honey

 

 

-Emily