Vitamix

I am now the proud owner of a Vitamix. I am very excited!

Here i am trying out my first smoothie: grapes, pineapple, celery, basil, spinach, lime, and basil.

Green Monster!

I can't wait to try out some other recipes

Thai Peanut Sauce

Dinner tonight was so good. It was simple, fast, and tasty. Plus side, these are all ingredients I have around the kitchen. This sauce is definitely going to be made again and again.

2 cups coconut milk
1/4 cup Thai Kitchen red curry paste
3/4 cup Natural Peanut Butter (the stuff that is just peanuts, with nothing added)
1/4 cup tablespoons honey (or agave)
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Put everything into a medium-sized pan. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly for about 5 minutes. Turn heat to low and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and let sauce cool slightly.

Pour sauce over steamed vegetables and rice. Enjoy!

Sauce can be kept in fridge for a few weeks, or frozen for future use.

Review from NATHAN: "That peanut sauce was probably the best thing I've ever eaten ever. I couldn't get enough. Nice work!"

Regrowing Green Onions

These are growing a lot faster than the celery...

Here they are starting out the day after I first cut them:

Here they are a week later. Ready to use!

Easter Dinner

Nathan and I decided to go the non-traditional route for Easter dinner and focus on whole-plant based foods (aka vegan). Here is what I came up with. We were actually very pleased with how everything turned out.

Here is the world's largest asparagus that I got at the farmers market this week:

Easter Menu:

Ginger Carrot Soup

Sweet Potato Salad with Lemon Dijon Dressing

Cauliflower with Nut Topping

Citrus Asparagus Salad

Vegetable Stuffing

Wild Rice

Raw Fruit Pie

Ginger Carrot Soup (not pictured)

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, pureed
• 1 piece fresh ginger, pureed
• 4 cups chopped and peeled carrots (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 3 cups vegetable broth

Preparation:

Puree onion and ginger. Saute in large pot. Add carrots and broth and reduce heat to medium. Simmer for about 45 minutes or until carrots are soft. Using a food processor or blender, process soup until smooth.

Cauliflower with Nut Topping

1/2 cup breadcrumbs 1/2 cup nuts  (I used Walnuts) 2 tablespoons dried parsley (could also use fresh) 1 teaspoon paprika  2 pounds cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets (I used two bags, frozen) 1/2 cup vegetable stock Salt and pepper to taste	1. Combine and process breadcrumbs, nuts, parsley, and paprika in food processor. 2. Place the cauliflower in a skillet with 1/2 cup stock. Let the cauliflower steam until soft, stirring often. 3. Transfer to serving dish and cover with nut topping.

Vegetable Stuffing 

This can be made ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to cook

1 loaf of a hearty bread (mine had seeds, nuts, and cranberries in it) torn into pieces 1 garlic clove, pureed 1 onion, pureed 1 cup peeled and chopped carrots 1 bunch asparagus, finely chopped 1 cup peas  6-7 green onions, finely chopped 1 tablespoon parsley 1 teaspoon oregano salt and pepper to taste 2-3 cups vegetable brot

1. Tear bread  into chunks and toast in oven to harden it up.  2. Preheat oven to 400F (if going to cook it right away). 3. Puree garlic and onion. Add to hot skillet.   4. Add carrots and asparagus and sauté until just tender.  5. Add seasonings.  6.Add peas and green onions and sauté until heated through.  7. Add bread and broth. Stir to combine.  8. Transfer to baking dish, cover, and bake for 30 minutes at 400F.   Add more broth as desired.

Citrus Asparagus Salad

1 large bunch asparagus 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (or a handful of roasted almond slices) 1 can mandarin oranges (fruit and juice) 2 tsp apple cider vinegar 1 tbs dijon mustard salt and pepper to taste	1. Cut asparagus in bite size pieces, and then blanch asparagus in boiling water. Run under cold water to stop the cooking process. 2. Add asparagus and oranges to bowl 3. Mix together the mandarin juice, vinegar, dijon mustard, salt and pepper.   4. Toss dressing with asparagus and sprinkle seeds/nuts over top

Sweet Potato Salad with Lemon Dijon Dressing

2 sweet potatoes 1/2 cup cranberries green onions, finely chopped Sunflower seeds Dressing 1/2 lemon juice 2-3 packets of Truvia (or 1/4 cup sweetner of choice) 3 tbs dijon mustard	1. Cook sweet potatoes in microwave, 4-6 minutes on each side (make sure you make slit in potato before cooking 2. Peel and cut into bite sized pieces 3. In a small pan, cook cranberries until they have softened 4. Chop green onions 5. Assemble salad ingredients in bowl. In separate container, mix dressing 6. Add dressing as desired, and eat

Raw Fruit Pie

For the crust: 12 dates, washed and pitted 1/2 cup walnuts 1/2 cup cashews 1/3 cup almond meal/flour 1 tablespoon vanilla Filling: 2 bananas, sliced 1 cup strawberries, sliced 3/4 cup strawberries, pureed 1/4 cup rasberries 1 can mandarin oranges 1/4 cup blueberries	1. Blend crust ingredients together in food processor 2. Press blended crust ingredients into pie plate.  3.Arrange fruit in this order:bananas, strawberry slices, strawberry puree, rasberries, mandarin oranges, blueberries. 4. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour before serving.

Peanut Curry

I made this curry for dinner last night, making it up as I went. It turned out pretty tasty, but I did not get a picture of it. I made it a vegetarian curry, using cauliflower, but you could easily use another vegetable, or chicken instead.

1-2 tablespoons Sesame Oil (or other oil)
6oz can tomato paste
2 lbs cauliflower (I used frozen). Can use other vegetable of choice, or use chicken (brown first)
~¾ cup milk ( I used almond milk) - depending on how think you want your sauce
¼ cup water (or use more milk)
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon clove
1 tablespoon garlic
1 onion, minced
¼ cup sesame seeds
¾ cup peanuts, unsalted
3-4 inches fresh ginger
1-2 chili peppers, to taste

Blend together into paste- all ingredients except cauliflower and oil.

Heat oil in pan, add cauliflower (or whatever) and curry sauce. Mix together, and cook until vegetables are tender and heated through.

Regrowing celery

I'm not a big fan of celery. I only like it if it is cooked. All too often I will buy celery and then it will go bad because I only use a stalk or two in a soup.

Pinterest gave me the idea to regrow celery, so I am trying it out. You cut off the bottom and then stick it in water (or plant it), and stalks will regrow. Here you can see new stalks coming up. This is about a week's worth of growth. We will see how long it takes to be usable, and how it works out.

I would love to one day have a vegetable garden, so I guess this is a start LOL!

Chana Masala

An easy, yummy dinner tonight. This meal used ingredients that I already had in my cupboard - chickpeas and diced tomatoes (which I pureed a bit since I don't like chunks).

Chana Masala - Chickpea tomato curry