Crispy, Roasted Kale

I’ve heard them called kale chips too. They can be roasted or dehydrated raw to get this crisp, practically preserved autumn leaf.

I grew a few plants in my new garden and now that the season is starting to chill, I couldn’t resist picking the biggest one. I know I was supposed to wait for the first frost, at the very least, but these were so worth the sacrifice. They literally only took minutes to prepare just to simply be left in a low oven.

Since NO ONE in my house would eat them but myself, I carefully dropped them into an oversized bag and brought them to my brother-in-laws birthday party last weekend. They were quickly identified and inhaled by the other guests, which certainly made up for my households curled noses.

Perfect as a snack but I could see these garnishing soup or even getting crushed and stirred into a fresh pot of mashed potatoes.

CRISP, ROASTED KALE CHIPS

1 Large Bunch Kale, stems removed
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Zest of ONE Lemon
Sea Salt

Pinch Sea SaltPreheat the oven to 250ºF.
To remove the stems of the kale, hold it up side down, stem side up with one hand and pinch the stem with your other thumb and forefinger to tear it up and away from the leaf.
Toss the leaves with the oil and lemon zest in a large bowl to coat evenly.
Lay the leaves out in a single layer on a baking sheet and lightly sprinkle with salt.
Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until crisp.
Cool on brown or  paper towel to remove any excess oil.

Raw For Dessert

For the longest time, I think I’ve misunderstood raw eating. The desire for it or the satisfaction from it was a bit of a mystery as most of my comfort foods (mashed potatoes and gravy, minestrone soup or ooey gooey, fresh out of the oven oatmeal chocolate chip cookies) are all well cooked items. Now, I could understand the desire to be vegetarian, but it wasn’t until tasting a brownie, of all things, did I get the raw idea.

It’s fresh. It’s alive an you can taste the foods! It just feels healthy.
…And this was all from a brownie! The hard day satisfaction wrapped in chocolaty goodness.

How wonderful (and intrigued I was) to be invited to flip through Jennifer Cornbleet’s newest creation: Raw For Dessert.
Her recipes are well thought out and all use fresh ingredients, which I love…. And a food processor, which I LOVE, LOVE!

I had to try her 10 minute, one bowl brownies. The recipe was clear, simple and of course, fast.

Everything into the food processor as directed and I still think I had a minute to spare.

With the cocoa and walnuts the flavour was extremely chocolaty but a touch bitter. I found the that the finished brownies stayed together, but were still crumbly when I tried to cut or most importantly, eat them. I’m not sure I ended up adding enough dates to sweeten and stick everything together. Perhaps if the recipe went by weight for the dates, rather than in numbers, I may have been more precise. Either way,  I was yearning for a perfectly placed dried cherry in each bite as that’s what seemed to help balance and sweeten my untrained for raw palate. Not for the kids, but   a m a z i n g   with an afternoon cup of coffee and practically guilt free!!!

Always wooed by photos, I wish there were more. Either way this is a book I’m holding on to. I’m itching to try at least another half dozen recipes! That being said, Jennifer has let me know that I can keep my copy and still share!

Leave a comment, tell me about your raw food adventures. If you’ve tried it, if you want to… Let me know your comfort food.
I’ll be randomly drawing to choose someone to have a copy of Raw For Dessert for your very own.
Tell your friends, let them enter and I’ll enter you twice!

I’ll give you a week.

Until then, here’s the recipe to indulge without indulging:

REALLY! ONE BOWL BROWNIES

Recipe courtesy of Raw For Dessert
By Jennifer Cornbleet

3 Cups Raw Walnuts, unsoaked
1/8 teaspoon Salt
16 Pitted Medjool Dates
2/3 Cup Cocoa powder, or raw cacao powder
1/2 Cup Dried Cherries, chopped
1/4 Cup Raw Cacao Nibs, optional ( I didn’t include these)
2 teaspoons Filtered Water

Place the walnuts in a food processor fitted with the S blade and process until coarsely chopped.
Remove 1/2 Cup of the walnuts and set aside in a small mixing bowl.
Add the salt to the food processor and process until the walnuts are finely ground.
Add the dates and process until the mixture begins to stick together.
Add the cocoa powder and process to incorporate. Add the chopped walnuts, dried cherries, optional cacao nibs, and water and process briefly, just until mixed.
Pour the mixture evenly into an 8-inch glass baking dish and press down with your hand to compact. Cut into squares.
Covered with plastic wrap, Really! One Bowl Brownies will keep for 5 days stored n the refrigerator or for 2 weeks stored in the freezer.

Yield: 16 small brownies (8 servings)

Mihl over at Seitan Is My Motor also reviewed this book. Check out her awesome blog and what she had to say…

Thanks for commenting and for waiting. After getting a number at random, we have a winner!
Congratulations Kelly! We’ll be in touch via email so I can get this great book out for you to enjoy too!

Quinoa Stuffed Zucchini

Where have I been having vanished with the summer?
Sheltering from the rain, I’d replaced my passé front yard with an edible garden.
I tried my luck with a few heirloom seeds and a few more old stand-by vegetables.
Summer may have squeaked by, but not without leaving me with a few baseball bat sized zucchinis.

I took company coming as the perfect opportunity to eat up the biggest one.  Of course there were cakes and something savoury for lunch as well.

We managed to eat half. (That was even with seconds!)

QUINOA STUFFED ZUCCHINI

1 Tablespoon Oil
1 Shallot, minced
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Cup Red Quinoa
1 Large Zucchini, very large in my case
1 Cup Yellow Pear Tomatoes
A big handful of herbs of your choice. I used mostly basil, some parsley and thyme, finely chopped
salt+pepper

Rinse the quinoa well and leave it to soak in a mesh colander for about 3 minutes.
Combine the drained quinoa with 2 cups of boiling water in a medium saucepan.
Cover and reduce to a simmer for about 7 minutes.
Lift the lid and check in on the quinoa. The water should be mostly absorbed and appear fluffy. If not, cover again and continue to cook for a couple of minutes more.
Once the water has been absorbed, fluff with a fork and leave it to cool while you prepare the remainder of the stuffing.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
In a large frying pan, heat the oil and sauté the shallots. Once they’ve softened, add the garlic but be careful not to burn it.
Half the zucchini lengthwise and remove the seeds. Trim the ends and remove the bottom of one half just so it will sit without toppling over. Dice the other half until you’ve measured 2 Cups. (If there’s still some left, here’s a recipe for scones.)
Add the chopped zucchini to the shallots and continue to sauté until it’s softened.
Slice the tomatoes and add them to the zucchini.
Remove from the heat and add the prepared quinoa and chopped herbs.
Combine well and add a good amount of salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
Place the seeded, trimmed zucchini half in a baking dish which has been lightly oiled.
Pack the stuffing into the crevice. Drizzle with olive oil and cover lightly with foil.
Bake for approximately 1 hour or depending on your zucchini’s size and thickness, until it’s tender. (Begin checking at 40 minutes if it’s more of a slender forearm size:)

Strawberry Breakfast Cake

Seems late for strawberries, but this year the weather went from hot to cool and rainy then back again. It may leave me with not being able to pack my long pants away but at least I have more time to visit the strawberry field. Usually the year’s weather will determining the look (and taste) of the strawberries for the season, however this year they were all over the map. I suppose you could say, kind of like that weather.

The cooler sunny days seemed to make them smaller, sweet and abundant. Of course you won’t hear any complaints from me.

After picking several pounds of them, I naturally feasted, making full meals while hulling sinkside. I revisited my recipes of past years, I even shared a few baskets. With my last two pints in the fridge, I wanted some for snacking but I was also left craving something a little less sweet and perfect for a Sunday morning, or anytime. This is strawberry season of course.

STRAWBERRY BREAKFAST CAKE

1 Cup Self Rising Flour
1/3 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 Cup Quick Oats
1/3 Cup Semolina
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
¼ teaspoon Salt
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1 ½ Cups Soy Milk
1 Banana, well mashed
3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 Tablespoon Orange Zest, about 1/2 an orange
1 Pint Strawberries, divided

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Prepare a 9” round cake pan with oil and a dusting of flour.
Hull the strawberries and roughly dice half of the pint, equally 1 Cup.
Slice the remaining strawberries and reserve for serving. Macerate strawberries in orange juice, sugar and Contreau, if desired and it’s brunch, not breakfast:).
In a large bowl combine the flours, oats, semolina, baking powder, soda, salt and sugar.
In a pourable measuring cup, mix the soy milk, mashed banana, oil and vanilla.
Add the milk mixture to the dry stirring just to moisten and combine.
Fold in the orange zest and chopped strawberries then pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a cake tester can be removed cleanly from the centre of the cake.
Cool to remove from the pan and serve with reserved strawberries.

Not Your Aunt’s Creamy Potato Salad

The bounty cometh, it is summer after all. Not only is it the season for all things grown fresh it’s also BBQ, picnic, firework celebrations and stay up late season.

With company on it’s way, I wanted a classic tasty side to go with all things grilled and what summer meal would be complete without a potato salad? I’ve made a potato salad with a vinaigrette before but this time I was more craving the old fashioned creamy style only lighter.

I like potato salad when it’s still barely warm, but this can easily be cooled and packed perfectly for a picnic.

CREAMY POTATO SALAD WITH AVOCADO

1 1/2 Lbs New Potatoes, scrubbed
1 Large Ripe Avocado
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt, or to taste
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
2 Tablespoons Mixed Chopped Herbs, Try dill&chives, cilantro&scapes or parsley&tarragon – or mix and match them all together.

Steam the potatoes until they are just fork tender but al dente.
Cool until the potatoes can be handled, then quarter.
Peel and dice the avocado and combine with the potatoes and lemon juice in a large bowl.
Stir in the herbs, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
Toss well to coat everything and to break down some of the softened avocado.

Serves 4-6

Mulitgrain Waffles

It was a breakfast built Father’s Day feast. Especially when the kids are making it.
Really super easy, the batter isn’t a whole lot different than my go-to pancake recipe. Of course, you’ll just need the waffle maker for those tell-tale syrup catchers.

VEGAN MULTIGRAIN PANCAKES

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
2/3 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/3 Cup Quick-Cooking Oats
1/3 Cup Ground Flax Meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups soy milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for brushing
1 tablespoon Sugar

In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together.
Add the soy milk and oil, blending until the dry is just wet and most of the lumps are gone.
Heat your waffle maker and lightly brush with oil.
Depending on your waffle makers griddle size, pour appropriate amount of batter onto griddle for each waffle.
Close and cook as per your makers directions.
Brush griddle with more oil as needed and repeat.

Makes about 8 waffles.

Meanwhile
Serve with syrup, berries or rhubarb compote.