Thursday, May 28, 2015

Banana Oat Granola Bars


Ingredients
1 cup dried cranberries (or other fruit)
½ cup peanut butter (or other nut/seed butter)
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup kamut puffs (or other unsweetened cereal)
¼ cup sunflower seeds (or other seeds)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Roughly chop dried cranberries. Mix peanut butter and mashed bananas together until a paste forms. Add all other ingredients and stir to mix.

Spread mixture out on an 8x8 greased pan (or muffin tin). Bake for 18 minutes or until set and slightly browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before cutting.

Slice into bars and wrap each in plastic wrap for longest storage time.

Nutrition
makes 10 granola bars
215 calories  |  15g fat  |  28g carbs  |  8g protein

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Ultimate Breakfast Fry Up

Ingredients
2 tomatoes
assorted dried herbs (basil, oregano, dill, etc.)

12 oz extra firm tofu
1/2 yellow onion
1/2 green bell pepper
8oz mushrooms (crimini, white, or other)
4 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon turmeric
4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
4 cups baby spinach, washed

8oz organic flax tempeh
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons tomato ketchup
1 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring

Directions
Broiled Tomato: Slice tomato in half. Season with dried herbs, salt, and pepper. Place cut-side up in casserole dish. Broil on High for 20 minutes.

Tofu Scramble: Spray pan with non-stick spray, heat to medium. Add onion, garlic, and pepper to pan, stir fry until onions begin to turn translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in mushrooms, fry for another 5 minutes.

While vegetables are cooking, mash with a fork tofu in a medium sized bowl. Stir turmeric and nutritional yeast into tofu. Once vegetables are browned, add tofu mixture to pan. Combine and fry mixture until tofu is consistently heated. Stir in half of the baby spinach, cook until spinach is bright green, only a minute or two. Serve tofu scramble over remaining spinach leaves.

Tempeh Bacon: The day before, slice tempeh block into bacon-sized strips. In a small bowl, stir together soy sauce, ketchup, and liquid smoke. Marinate tempeh strips in mixture overnight, or at least 2 hours. When you're ready to cook, fry strips on pan with non-stick spray until browned; this should only take a few minutes.

Nutrition
makes 2 breakfast heaps
460 calories  |  16g carbs  |  39g fat  |  43g protein

Single Cinnamon Roll

 Ingredients
Dough
1/4 cup brown rice flour
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
flax egg (1 tsp ground flaxseeds + 1 tsp water)
2 tablespoons almond milk
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon white vinegar

Filling
1 tablespoon brown rice syrup
1 teaspoon earth balance butter
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1 tablespoon chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 420 F. Grease a medium ramekin.

Mix dry ingredients for dough. Stir in wet ingredients one at a time, until you have a consistently sticky mass of dough.

Stir together the filling ingredients in a separate bowl.

To assemble your roll, first dust a patch of clean counter with some brown rice flour. Place dough on counter, and use your hands to pat out into a long, thin rectangle, about 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick. Layer the filling mixture out across the top of your dough, and roll up into cinnamon roll shape. Carefully place roll into the greased ramekin.

Place ramekin in center rack of oven for 20 minutes.

Nutrition
makes 1 roll
770 calories  |  34g carbs  |  108g fat  |  9g protein

Friday, May 8, 2015

Peanut Soba Noodles

Ingredients
Noodle Bowl
120g buckwheat soba noodles (2 servings)
1 head of broccoli (about 2 cups, chopped)
120g edamame
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Sauce
1 tablespoons plain soy yogurt
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 tablespoon sweet chili garlic sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons rice vinegar

Directions
In a medium saucepan, boil enough water to cover the soba noodles. Add dry noodles to boiling water, and stir. Allow to cook for recommended time on package, probably about 3-5 minutes. Strain noodles and allow to cool (place in refrigerator, if you have the time).

In a separate pot, add a small amount of water to cover the bottom. Cover pot and heat until lightly simmering. Add chopped broccoli, and steam for 3-10 minutes, depending on how crunchy you like your vegetables. Once steamed, add to noodles in refrigerator.

Prepare edamame. If frozen, microwave for recommended time on package, or about 1-1/2 minutes. Add these to broccoli and noodles.

Prepare the sauce be combining yogurt, peanut butter, chili sauce, soy sauce, and rice vinegar in small bowl. Whisk together. Add some garlic powder and/or ginger powder, if you'd like.

Toss sauce with noodle bowl, and allow to cool. Serve chilled, with sesame seeds for garnish on top.

Nutrition
makes 2 servings
405 calories  |  12g fat  |  56g carbs  |  24g protein

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Southwest Kale Salad

Ingredients
80g shredded kale, stems removed (about 1/3 head of kale)
140g fresh mango, diced (about 1/2 mango)
1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1 medium tomato, diced
1/4 cup salsa
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
To eat immediately: toss all ingredients in a large bowl. Serve.

To make for lunch the next day: pack shredded kale into an air-tight container. Toss mango, black beans, tomato, and salsa together in a separate jar. At lunch time, combine the kale with the toppings and shake together.

Nutrition
makes 1 serving
292 calories

Monday, May 4, 2015

Bistro Linguine

Ingredients
6 oz linguine (dry pasta)
fresh herbs: thyme and/or rosemary
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
5 cloves of garlic
1 shallot, sliced radially
1 head of kale, chopped with stems removed
8 oz oyster mushrooms, diced into large cubes
1/2 cup vegetable broth
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Prepare pasta: bring several cups of water (enough to cover the pasta) to boil in a large pot. Add pasta, 2 garlic cloves, thyme, and rosemary sprigs to boiling water, and cook according to package directions until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water, then drain pasta.

Prepare the kale and mushrooms: While pasta is cooking, pour oil into a fry pan heated over medium-high heat and when it begins to glisten, add the shallot, garlic, and turmeric and stir to combine. Cook until shallots are translucent, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the oyster mushrooms and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the kale, try to get as much of the garlic and shallot as possible off the bottom of the pan and on top of the kale. Pour in the stock, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and cover. Cook covered for another 5 minutes, until the kale turns bright green. Remove the lid and season to taste with salt.

Toss kale and mushrooms with cooked pasta. Stir some of the reserved pasta water to moisten mixture. Ready to serve.

Nutrition
makes 2 servings
480 calories  |  10g fat  |  86g carbs  |  21g protein