Smoky Butternut Squash Sauce with Pasta and Kale. {OhSheGlows}

Another yummy one from OhSheGlows. Yummy AND creamy!! They all loved it, except Ava.... but what else is new. Picky little girl.

Hail to the Kale Salad. {Chef AJ}

Love this Chef AJ salad. And love kale. Who'd a thought?! Chef AJ says, "Like a woman, this only gets better with age." I'd have to agree. On both accounts. You can watch her make it on YouTube here.

 

salad

2 large heads of kale

chopped almonds

tomatoes

 

dressing

1 cup raw almond butter (unsweetened and unsalted)

1 cup coconut water (or regular water)

1/4 cup fresh lime juice & zest (about 2)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 inch ginger, fresh, peeled & grated (or to taste)

2 tablespoons low-sodium tamari

4 pitted dates (soaked in water if not soft)

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

 

In a  high-powered blender combine all ingredients until smooth and creamy.

 

Remove the thick, larger stems from the kale, chop and place in a a large bowl. Pour 2 cups of the dressing over the kale and massage the dressing into the kale.

 

Sprinkle with seeds or nuts, and any other salad toppings before serving.

 

Chef's Note: It is also delicious when made with peanut butter and you throw some shredded raw beets and carrots into the salad. If you have a dehydrator, dip kale leaves in dressing and dehydrate for delicious kale chips. If you are allergic to nuts, use tahini (sesame seed paste) or sunflower seed butter in place of the nut butter.



Disappearing Lasagna. {Chef AJ}

I don't care who you are... meat-eater or a plant-eater... this stuff is gooood! While we eat our plant-based dinners, my husband and I are always asking ourselves if this meal would satisfy a "normal" meat-eater. This is a for sure, a yes. It's from Chef AJ's book Unprocessed... and is the best nonmeat lasagna I've had. And I've made a lot. And it quite possibly could beat out my meat one. You for sure don't have the cheese and meat hangover with this one.

 

It is somewhat of a pain to make because of the long ingredient list and the different steps. BUT, I make double and freeze the other. It does awesome being baked right out of the freezer too.

2 boxes of no boil rice lasagna noodles (or whole wheat)

6 cups of your favorite marinara sauce

 

"ricotta"

2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed OR 1 box extra firm water packed tofu (19 oz. each)

2 ounces of fresh basil

1 cup pine nuts, raw cashews or hemp seeds

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup low-sodium miso

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 pounds frozen, chopped spinach  OR 1 pound frozen kale (defrosted, drained with all liquid squeezed out)

 

Mushroom Mixture "Meat"

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 pounds mushrooms, sliced (love crimini here)

1/4 cup low-sodium tamari

1 large red onion, finely diced

 

1 4oz. can sliced olives, rinsed and drained

faux parmesan (optional)

 

To make the "ricotta" filling in a food processor fitted with the "S" blade add the beans, basil, garlic, lemon juics, miso and nutritional yeast, pine nuts and red pepper flakes. Process until smooth. Add drained spinach/kale and process again.

 

In a large non-stick saute pan, saute the onion in 2 tablespoons water until translucent; about 8 minutes. Add more water if necessary. Add 2 cloves of garlic, the mushrooms and tamari and saute until browned. Taste mixture and add more garlic or tamari according to your taste. Cook until mushrooms appear to be glazed and there is no or very little liquid in the pan.

 

Pour 3 cups of the marinara in a 9x13 pan. Place one layer of the noodles on top. Cover the noodles with half of the ricotta mixture, then with half of the mushroom mixture. Place another layer of noodles on the mushroom mixture and add the remaining half of the ricotta and the remaining half of the musthroom mixture. Place one more layer of noodles on top of the mushroom mixture and smother evenly with the remaining marinara sauce. Sprinkle the sliced olives on top of the sauce alond with a liberal sprinkling of faux parmesan.

 

I like my dumbed down version...

3 cups marinara

noodles

1/2 ricotta

1/2 mushroom

noodles

1/2ricotta

1/2mushroom

noodles

remaining marinara

olives/faux parm

 

Bake uncovered in a preheated 375*F oven for an hour. Let sit 10 minutes before slicing. 

And... you're welcome! And Thank YOU Chef AJ!!

Wild Mushroom-Barley Soup.

 Another Rachael Ray....

1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms or mixed wild mushrooms

1 quart vegetable stock

3 cups water

3/4 pound cremini mushroom caps, wiped clean and quartered or sliced
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
2 leeks, trimmed, sliced, washed and dried or 2 medium onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped or grated
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons fresh sage, very thinly sliced
2 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped
1 15-ounce can diced, fire roasted tomatoes
1 cup pearl barley
1 bunch kale or dinosaur kale, leaves stripped from stems
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

3 tablespoons fresh sage, very thinly sliced

splash of liquid smoke (optional)

Place dried mushrooms in a medium pot with stock and 3 cups of water. Bring to a bubble and reduce heat to simmer.

In a large soup pot over medium-high heat add mushrooms and bay leaf. Cook 10-12 minutes to soften and darken the mushrooms. Add leeks or onions and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook 5 minutes more. There should be enough water from the mushrooms for it to not stick, if not, add some water. Add sage, rosemary and tomatoes.

Remove softened dried mushrooms from the stock and chop. Add them along with their cooking liquids to the soup pot, taking care to leave behind any grit from the mushrooms. Stir in barley and kale, add a little freshly grated nutmeg. Bring soup to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer. Add splash of liquid smoke. Cook 20 minutes.

Taste to adjust seasonings and serve in shallow bowls.

Belly Biters

Ava - not.a.chance, Nolan & Coco - tore.it.up, Shayne & I - liked it

Fruity Kale Salad with Coconut Lime Dressing.

When I saw this on Crysta's blog, I immediatly wanted to try it. It sounded so, so good. And it was. I was totally worried about the kale tasting bitter... but knew being soaked in the lime juice for a while would break it down. I didn't know how my kids would like it... but knew there was enough of what they like in there they'd be happy. And then for Shayne... he's a man... and salads typically aren't a main meal for him - but he really liked this.

6 large leaves of fresh kale, rinsed and dried

1 banana, chopped
3 strawberries, sliced
4 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 half of an avocado, cubed
1 clementine, or half of an orange peeled and divided
1 apple, chopped
1 tablespoon cilantro (chopped fresh is best, but can use dried)
toasted & sliced almonds {my addition}


dressing
1/4 cup dried coconut
2 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoon agave
1 teaspoon flaxseed

Chop up kale into bite sized pieces and toss with a pinch or 2 of salt. Mix up the ingredients for the dressing in a separate small bowl until well blended.

Massage the dressing (using your very clean hands) into the leaves until the kale becomes wilty and well coated with the dressing.

Now, in a separate bowl, take all of the chopped fruit (except for the avocado) and toss with cilantro. Mix fruit with the wilted kale.

Top with the chopped avocado and a little more of the dried coconut & toasted almonds.

from my friend Crysta who got it from ManifestVegan

Red Lentil Soup.

This soup is from my friend, Brooke's "Simply Real Food" food blog. It's yummy. It's also the soup that my Coco-koala climbed up the spindles on our kitchen chair to get to. It's also the soup that she ate so fast I wondered if she even chewed anything up. Basically, it was really good. Thanks Brooke!

1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 carrots, chopped (1 cup)
1 can diced tomatoes (or use fresh to equal about 1 1/2 cups)
1 celery rib, chopped
5-6 kale leaves, stems removed, finely chopped
1 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1 cup dried red lentils
1/2 cup millet, optional
5 1/2 cups water
2-3 vegetable bouillon cubes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Steam fry in a 4-5 quart saucepan over med high heat, onion, stirring until golden. Add garlic, carrots, tomato, celery, kale, cumin, coriander, and salt and saute 2 minutes. Add lentils, millet, water, and broth and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until lentils are tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in parsley, season with salt and pepper as desired, and serve.

Vegan Zuppa Toscana

I love, love... love this soup from the Olive Garden. And fell back in love with it when Shayne took me out on my post half marathon date. Although I just about barfed once I realized all the cream that I had had in the meal. So, I decided to vegan up this recipe and see how it went. It was awesome! Shayne couldn't taste the difference. And the kids loved it!!

1 lb. vegan sausage + 1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seed {omit 1 lb ground Italian sausage}

1½ teaspoon crushed red peppers (i reduced so it wasn't too much for the kids)
1 large diced white onion
1 teaspoon of smoked sweet paprika {omit 4 tablespoons bacon pieces}
2 teaspoons garlic puree (2 cloves, minced)
10 cups of vegetable broth {omit 10 cups water and 5 cubes of chicken bouillon
1 cup cashew cream {omit 1 cup heavy cream}
1 lb. sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes
1/2 of a bunch of kale (stems removed and chopped}

1. Saute sausage and crushed red pepper in pot. Drain excess fat (there won't be any with the vegan), refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.

2. In the same pan, saute onions and garlic for approximately 15 minutes, or until the onions are soft. Add in the smoked sweet paprika.

3. In a stock pot put in the vegetable stock, then add the onions/garlic mixture and cook until boiling.

4. Add potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.

5. Add cashew cream, sausage and kale and cook until heated through.