Cuisine for Love

Last weekend some local friends and our family had a surprise baby shower for my friend Joy as she prepares for the upcoming birth of her third child.

Joy's family has some food sensitivities such as gluten intolerances and dairy as well.
So trying to come up with good menu's to bring to get togethers sometimes challenges me because I don't have alot fo education in this area.
So I pulled a few things together and wanted to share my 2 favorites of the evening.

Quinoa Salad

Cook quinoa as directed on the package. I ahve alwasy cooked it like rice, 1 cup to 2 cups boiling water until done.
Thinly slice cabbage..about half a cabbage or more
Cut a red pepper up into chunks
a little thin sliced onion
Kalamata olives cut up
Minced fresh parsley
Mix well and then add the dressing which is a famous recipe of my friend Kathy Jo.

1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar (in this case it was nettles infused I think)
1/3 cup Braggs
2 tbsp maple syrup
3 garlic cloves in a garlic press

Let this mingle for awhile. best if made the day before I feel but whatever you have time for will work.

Add just enough of this dressing to lightly coat the quinoa and cabbage.
Toss lightly to incorporate the dressings.

Sprinkle sunflower seeds on top and your done:)
It is really good.

Ok then onto this delightful sweet desserty treat.

Strawberry Melon Salad

1 ripe honeydew melon, seeded and cut into chunks
1 pint strawberries, cored and halved (use a straw to core, taking it through the bottom of the strawberry all the way to the top)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 ½ cup nonfat plain yogurt
3 tbsps. sugar
1 tablespoon freshly grated lime zest
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Combine melon, strawberries, lime juice and 2 tablespoons of agave nectar in a large bowl
Chill for 15 minutes.

I LOVE LOVE LOVED the fruit dessert completely. But this is my personality. I love things like this that have lemon or lime. The honeydew woudl have been easily replaced with cantelope or any other fruit really.

Let me know how it turns out if you take your hand at either of these recipes.
Peace~

Nettles...its whats for dinner

Sharing the harvest, prior to creating a delicious meal.

Sauteed fresh farmers market onion and crushed garlic in a bit of coconut oil. So yummy.

Added poke in after cooking in a few changed of water.

I added just a bit of vinegarette to flavor.

Enjoy

Salad Eggs

Here is a variation of Deviled Eggs we made using the guidelines in this recipe-And if I may add, I do brush Olivia's hair...:) But often when we do these videos it is on the fly after we work or play hard. So what you get here is the real deal...and sometimes...well...we have bad hair:)




This comes again from Kalyn's site

Chipotle-Lime Deviled Eggs
(Makes 12 deviled egg halves, can easily be doubled. Recipe created by Kalyn.)

6 eggs (preferably about a week old)
2 T mayo
2 T fat-free plain yogurt (I used my favorite Greek Yogurt)
2 T fresh lime juice
1 T yellow mustard (not Dijon)
1/4 tsp. ground Chipotle chile powder (I used Penzeys. Use more or less to taste. Could substitute hot paprika for a slightly different taste.)
1/2 tsp. salt (I used Vege-Sal.)
2 green onions, green part only, finely chopped


First, make perfect hard-boiled eggs. Let eggs cool, then peel and cut in half crosswise. While eggs are cooling, slice green onions, and finely chop with chef's knife. When eggs are quite cool, carefully remove yolks and put into small bowl. Mash yolks well with a fork.



Mix together lime juice and Chipotle chile powder. (If you don't do this, you'll have large flecks of chile powder in the deviled yolk mixture. The chile powder won't dissolve completely, but adding it to the lime juice does make it blend in better.) Add lime-Chipotle mixture to mashed yolks, then stir in mayo, mustard, plain yogurt, salt, and half the chopped green onions. Taste for seasoning to see if you want more mustard, Chipotle chile powder, or salt. Stir until mixture is well combined.

Arrange eggs white halves on serving plate. Use a rubber scraper to scoop yolk mixture into a small plastic bag. Cut a small piece off one corner of the bag and squeeze from the top to force the yolk mixture out the hole, into the egg halves. (This can also be done with a spoon or a cake decorating tool.) When all egg white shells are filled with deviled yolk mixture, sprinkle with remaining chopped green onions. Serve immediately.

They didn't last long. The kids did a great job!

Mexislaw, Quinoa Salad, Salmon Terrine

Mexi Slaw recipe from Kalyns Kitchen
4 cups thinly sliced green cabbage
2 cups thinly sliced red cabbage
(You can use all green or all red cabbage.)
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (or more)
4 T mayo
3 T fresh lime juice (more or less to taste)
hot sauce to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp. green Tabasco sauce)
salt to taste (I used Vege-Sal)


Thinly slice cabbage, using a mandoline or food processor if desired. Slice green onions, and wash, dry and chop cilantro. (I use a Mini salad spinner to wash herbs and spin them dry.) Combine cabbage, green onions and cilantro in large salad bowl.



In small bowl, wisk together, mayo, lime juice, and hot sauce. (You may want to start with less than the full amount of lime juice and hot sauce and keep adding until you have the desired blend of sour/hot flavor.)



Use a wooden spoon to mix dressing into cabbage mixture. Season to taste with salt and serve immediately, or chill for a few hours.



This salad will keep well overnight in the refrigerator, but the lime juice will cause the red cabbage to bleed color and turn the salad slightly pink. If you're making extra you might want to use all green cabbage, although I didn't mind the pink color at all when I ate the leftovers!






Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
1 cup quinoa, rinsed

2 cups water

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 cup chopped scallions

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup cucumber, chopped

1/2 cup radish, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped

2 tablespoons coriander / cilantro, chopped

1 cup finely chopped parsley

1 small bunch watercress, chopped

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup black olives, pitted

salt and pepper, freshly ground to taste

1. Bring quinoa and water to boil, cover and simmer on a low heat for 20 mins. Let quinoa cool to room temperature, then transfer to a serving bowl.

2. Mix the garlic and scallions thoroughly with the quinoa and add the remaining chopped herbs and vegetables. Stir in the lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil. Finally, mix in the feta cheese and olives and season with freshly ground salt and pepper.

3. Set aside for at least 30 mins before serving to allow the flavours to develop and blend.

Serves 4

Per serving - 384 calories, 22g fat of which 5.2% saturated, 39g carbohydrates, 11g protein, 6g fibre, 198 mg calcium, 7mg iron and 388mg sodium




I dont have my recipe because ONCE AGAIN I left my recipes papers in French cooking class.
Karen came up with such a delightful menu~
Salmon & sweet pea terrine served with a court bouillion reduction sauce
Sautéed asparagus with brown rice
with leeks & braised red cabbage with red wine
Carrot & almond cake

This picture is of the Terrine. I love the classes and time with Karen.

Excellent Chickweed Vinegar Recipe

Our sweet Jack (rabbit) loves to cruise around the yard and nibble. Trying to keep him out of my chickweed patch ins't easy. He is like a dog, he sees me there and he comes running.



Recently, an woman I have come to know online came through the area and paid us a visit with her family. Youmay have seen pictures from earlier in the month.

Her name is Kathy Jo, and I was blessed to have her make her famous salad dressing for me. She knows I love good clean food.

So I used her recipe with what I have here and I gotta tell ya, this is the way to use our herbal vinegars! So yum

Basically the recipe is divided into thirds.
1/3 salty ( any of these- Shoyu, tamari, soy, braggs)

1/3 oil (any of these- ex olive, expeller pressed safflower, tahini)

1/3 sour THIS IS WHERE HERBAL VINEGAR COMES IN HANDY or lemon juice, balsamic, etc...

2 TBSP sweet (any of these works maple syrup, agave nectar, jelly or jam)

and optional seasonings like garlic cloves, ginger, other herbs.

So here is what I am doing with my chickweed vinegar


I get 2 pint jar and eyeball the thirds.

I use 1/3 tamari because I have that right now. Shoyu would probably be my choice
1/3 Sicilian extra virgin olive oil that has such a delightful flavor
1/3 chickweed vinegar
3 cloves garlic gone through the press
and that is all!You dont need much else.

I did vary it this week by adding some tahini and mixing it in one salad worth and I made some spring rolls and the kids used what was left as a dipping sauce.

Last week I marinated meat in it.

Thank you KJ for something I see I will be using ALOT!

March Blog along wILd eGgS

Well I could not leave our March food blog along without wild foods. Spring is abounding here in the Ozarks and I am so blessed with this abundance at my fingertips.
On Sunday I ran out to snip wild nettles, chickweed and dandelion leaves from our property and sauteed them with a bit of wild onion tops.
Then added the last 4 eggs I had along with some smoked tofu and a slice of bleu cheese.

I have to be honest, it was not my favorite wild food meal, but our local My Brothers Salsa livened things up. I think parmesan or cheddar would have been better with this combination.

Tonite, again wild foods with polish sausage that has been simmering this evening with dock greens, henbit, dandelion leaves and chickweed that has been cooked in a coupel changes of water and then blenderized. Then I added some rice to that and it was very good.

Tonites meal cost me all of $2 and fed 4 people until very satisfied.

I look forward to whipping up more meals with our wild foods.

I actually decided that most of our wild roses will stay. I will try to get them in control better to keep them out of the play areas, however I know if I uproot them all I will regret not using their new leaves and flowers in tea and facial toners.

Thanks to all that joined the blog along. I loved the ideas. I even tried some vegan fare too which I did enjoy.

Molasses Crinkles and Easter Lamb dinner

Mix 3/4 cup soft butter
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
in a decent size bowl because you are going to add this to it
Mix together
2 1/4 cup flour
2 t soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 t cloves
1 t cinnamon
1 t ginger

Stir them together and add to the above ingredients. Chill dough.
Roll into balls the size of large walnuts. Dip top in sugar. Place sugar size up 3 inches apart on greased baking sheet. Sprinkle each cookie with 2 or 3 drops of water to produce a cracked surface.

Bake until soft, not hard at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes.


We had a glorious Easter dinner with the Gros family. Patrice is French, an organic farmer, and his wife Karen is a personal chef and amazing cook and woman.
There were 4 families present and all of us self employed. The evening started off Euro style with exquisite champagne and the kids had an egg hunt.
We talked and helped in the kitchen for awhile.



Then we were seated and had our meal of Farm fresh raised lamb



Farm Fresh Swiss Chard Tarts



Easter Bread




Roasted Veggies
I made this-you clean your produce and dry. Cut into bite size peices of quarters.
I used-red cabbage, beets,cauliflower, broccoli,green beans all tossed ina bowl with extra virgin olive oil, garlic powder, spike, nutritional yeast and kale.
Baked at 350 for about 45 minutes, with foil on top, then uncovered about 15 at 450 to get things brown. Added Fried onions in there too.



Dessert

Plenty of wine and champagne.

A little song Manon Sang of Edith Piaf which now makes me want to rent Avignon Rose.



Here are the children



I answered the phone once and on the other line was a French woman:) So I handed the phone to Karen who speaks fluently

It was a wonderful time for all of our family!
And a special blessing because Friday kicked off another local gathering at my friend Michelle's. Ray was feeling under the weather so he stayed home with Liv.
The boys shot fireworks all night which is such a thrill for any young lad:)
The food and atmopshere was lively and joyful and it was good to visit with Michelle whom I had not really talked to in a very long time.
I am so blessed to see how they are progressing in their dream of land, animal ownership and gatherings. Here are the boys showing thier body paintings from that party.



What a beautiful weekend! The best is yet to come~

Meeshi and some other awesome foodie mama's

My online buddy Meeshi has shared these recipes this week and what joy to see something so simple and nutritious be enjoyed by all.
She shared pics of the kids making the muffins, they were that easy and I suspect the original muffin recipe could be a spin off of a famous recipe by Sandi called Pumpkin Muffins.
The food blog this month has been so fun. Lots of great ideas and different eating styles. I know Meesh is vegetarian, we also have a Vegan, and a Korean (I think she is Korean-she lives in Hawaii) and a few other American girls participating. So this well rounded handful of mothers makes it so interesting.
I gotta say, Sandi made a key lime pie and lime merangue pie too I think it was for St Patty's...very cool indeed.
I would share links but these are families and I try to get permission first.
Here is Meeshi's recipes today. I want them in my archives!!! lol

Honey Baked Lentils
1 cup lentils
2 cups water
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp soysauce (I used Braggs)
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp ginger (I omitted this)
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
salt & pepper
In a baking dish (I use a loaf pan) combine all ingredients. Cover with foil. Bake at 350 until tender, about an hour. I stirred at least once during baking because the onions tend to rise to the top. We serve with rice and like it all stirred together.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Apple Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (we substited a shake of clove, nutmeg and cinnamon)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup canned or cooked pumpkin
1/2 vegetable oil
2 cups finely chopped apples
In a bowl, combine the first five ingredients. In another bowl, combine the eggs, pumpkin and oil, stir into dry ingredients until just moistened. Fold in apples. Fill paper-lined muffin cups 2/3 full.
For a crumbly topping, combine 2 tbsp of sugar, 2 tbsp flour, a shake of cinnamon and 4 tsp of cold butter or margarine. Use a fork to combine and sprinkle over the tops of muffins. This recipe made 12 muffins, plus had enough batter left over to make a little cake.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Oui Oui..but no recipe

A day assisting Cuisine Karen
Cuisine Karen
Well darnit I left the recipes at her house...hopefully I can still get them when we see her next week when I might present you with our Easter meal pictures. (we are spending Easter with the Gros family)
The meal was amazing. The pictures dont do any justice. The flavors were light and beautiful. It was a special treat to be part of the class.
Karen had a cooking class this month with:
Blue cheese tartlets
Tartelets aux Roquefort

Roast rabbit with Dijon mustard sauce, carrots & olives
Lapin à la moutarde aux olives et carottes

Now, I wasn't sure I would like rabbit all that much, but it was very good. I also thought the blue cheese tartlets would be wierd, but whoa...amazing.
The first cuttings of Patrice's greens were also served with homemade vingarette.
So this is my special food blog Monday for you (posting early because tommarrow I need to get started on my tax paperwork)





This is the marinated rabbit in a white wine marinade.

Dredged rabbit is now browned to be roasted in the oven.

Tartlets being ready to bake


The supper once completed and honestly this picture does not do justice at all!

And since I have no recipes for you, I will share a pic we took today. Ben and I made our Milk Chocolate truffles.
2 oz unsweetened chocolate..melt and allow to cool to room temp
4 TBSP butter room temp
Once both are about the same temperature, mix together. Add 4 TBSP cream, a dash of stevia and a good squeeze agave nectar (or whatever you like to sweeten your foods with)
Add 2 tsp vanilla extract and mix again.

We spread out onto parchment paper, added pecan halves and let set up. Cut into chunks and put into a plastic bag in the freezer. This is a great sweet tooth releiver for our family.

Chickpea

These recipes were obtained by Kalyns Kitchen
I love her recipes and we loved this soup. I over cooked the garbanzo's in the roasted chickpea recipe, it was still good but it could have been better. This was delicious though and we will be making this again. Hope you like:)

Chickpea (Garbanzo Bean) Soup Recipe with Spinach, Tomatoes, and Basil
1 cup dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans), soaked at least 8 hours or overnight in cold water
6 cups homemade chicken stock or 4 cans chicken broth (you could make this a vegetarian soup by using vegetable broth)
1 yellow onion, diced
6-8 cloves garlic, diced very small
1 T olive oil (or less, depending on your pan)
1 can diced tomatoes with juice (I like Muir Glen Organic Tomatoes)
3-4 cups chopped baby spinach (measure before chopping)
2-4 T chopped fresh basil (I used my frozen basil)
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste


Soak chickpeas overnight or for at least 8 hours in cold water. Drain chickpeas and discard water, and pick out any loose skins that have come off.

Put chickpeas in heavy soup pot with chicken stock, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until chickpeas are tender. This will depend on how fresh the dried chickpeas were, but for me it took about an hour. Use a spoon or stock skimmer to remove any foam that appears.

When chickpeas are tender, heat olive oil in heavy frying pan, then saute onions about 5 minutes, until fairly soft. Add garlic and cook 2-3 minutes more. Add onions and garlic to soup pot with diced tomatoes. Let soup simmer on low heat about 30 minutes.

Add chopped spinach to soup (adding a bit more water or chicken stock if needed) and simmer 15-30 minutes more. I used my beloved Braun Immersion Blender at this point to slightly break up the ingredients. If you don't have an immersion blender, you can put about 1/3 of the soup into a food processor or blender and pulse a few times. You can skip this step completely too, if you'd like a chunkier soup.

Stir in chopped basil and cook 5 minutes. Season soup with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste and serve hot. This is wonderful topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese. (If you have some parmesan rinds, throw them into the soup while it's cooking for even more flavor.)



Crispy Roasted Chickpeas with Moroccan Spices

1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 T olive oil
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. Moroccan Spice Mix
salt to taste (I used about 1/4 tsp. kosher salt)

Spice Mix:
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. chile powder (I used Ancho chile powder from Penzeys)
1/2 tsp. sweet paprika
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
(recipe called for a pinch ground cloves, which I did not have.)


Preheat oven to 350 F. (I was making this in my favorite Oster Toaster Oven, If you're using a regular oven, I'd double the recipe and use a large cookie sheet.)



Drain garbanzo beans into a colander and rinse well with cold water until no more foam appears. Let beans drain for 5-10 minutes, then pat dry with a cloth of paper towel if they still look wet.



While beans drain, make spice mix. (This is great on many veggies, so make the full amount and store in a glass jar.)



When beans are well drained and dried, toss with olive oil, spice mix, and salt. Arrange in single layer on baking sheet. Roast 40-50 minutes, or until they are slightly browned and make a rattling sound when you shake the baking sheet. (I roasted these for 50 minutes, but next time I would take them out a tiny bit sooner.) Serve warm or let cool.

(I think there are a lot of different spice mixtures that would taste good on chickpeas roasted like this. If anyone has a variation that turns out to be tasty, please leave the link in the comments.)

March Food Blogalong-Soup-Cake-Coleslaw by Mom and Liv

One Pan Cake as you see Liv stirring is made with
2 1/2 c flour (we used whole wheat)
1/2 cup cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup veggie oil (we used safflower expeller pressed)
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 Tbsp Vanilla
2 Cups cold coffee (we did half coffee and half herbal infusion as we did not have enough coffee-but you can use just water)
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Stir together flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, cocoa, soda and salt in an ungreased 12 X 8 inch baking pan.

Make 3 wells in the mixture;pour oil in one, vinegar in one, and vanilla in one.
Pour in coffee or water or wahtever liquid you decided on adn stir with a fork until well mixed. Spread into an even layer.
Combine 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle half over batter.
Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.
Sprinkle remaining cinnamon sugar over hot cake. Cool 15-20 minutes before cutting. Makes 6-8 servings.

I also added ricotta cheese that we needed to use up.

The flavor of the cake was not too sweet (which we like) so for those that like sweet, a nice cream cheese of vanilla frosting would work well here too. Or adding nuts would be good too.

Cole Slaw
6 cups chopped cabbage
2 cups sliced red or green peppers (or both) (we did not have)
1 1/2 cups sliced celery
1 cup chopped onion (I only did half-Ray is not into raw onions)
3/4 cup shredded carrot (we did not have)
1/2 cup veggie oil (we used expeller pressed safflower)
1 1/2 tsp celery salt (we did not have so we used regular)
1 tsp cracked pepper
1/2 tsp celery seed (again no have)
2 tbsp sugar (we used agave nectar)
3 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 Tbsp dry mustard (oops -no havee either)

Toss veggies togheter in a large mixing bowl. Combine remaining ingredients;pour over vegetables. Toss to mix. Refrigerate several hours or overnight to blend flavors.

The soup as the video states and then added spices later -basil and oregano and a can of organic diced tomato and vinegar, but with vinegar and no tomato it wasn;t as good.