Pesto Quinoa

Sorry I have been delinquent in posting for the last few weeks - too much work and campaign stuff going on. To apologize, I have one of my favorite recipes to share with you. I first made it several summers ago from 101 cookbooks, and have loved it ever since. It is a particular standout in that not only is it delicious and healthy, but also vegan and gluten free (and highly acceptable to those who are neither).

There is some flexibility in the ingredients if you don't have or don't like them, but I find the flavors here are great as is (except for the 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds called for in the original which I have never once remembered to include).

Pesto Quinoa (Adapted from Heather's Quinoa at 101 Cookbooks)

Serves 6

Ingredients

several splashes of extra-virgin olive oil

a pinch of fine grain sea salt

1 shallot, minced

2 cups dry quinoa [you could probably use brown rice, bulgar wheat, or another grain if you want]

1 cup corn, fresh or frozen, removed from the ear (raw and cooked both work)

2 cups kale, finely chopped [you can use spinach or another green if you want]

2 blocks extra-firm nigari tofu

1/3 cup pesto

2/3 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes

Parmesan cheese to garnish (optional)

Equipment

Knife and cutting board

Medium saucepan

Medium pot with lid

Wooden spoon or silicone spatula

LARGE pot for easy reheating, or a bowl in a pinch

Instructions

1.Rinse dry quinoa in a fine-meshed strainer or bowl. In a medium pot heat the quinoa and 4 cups water until boiling. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until water is absorbed and quinoa fluffs up, about 15 minutes. Quinoa is done when you can see the curlique in each grain, and it is tender with a bit of pop to each bite. Drain any extra water and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, slice tofu into medium sized chunks and pat dry. Brown in a saucepan over medium heat with a little olive oil until golden and crispy on all sides (this is important because it keeps the tofu from crumbling when you mix it with the quinoa). Remove the tofu from heat and set aside.

3. Add a bit more olive oil and salt to the saucepan, still on medium heat, then stir in the shallot and cook for a minute or two. Add corn and kale and continue cooking until kale is wilted and corn is cooked, 2-3 minutes.

4. To the large pot, add cooked quinoa and pesto, mixing until the pesto is distributed throughout. Add the browned tofu, shallot/corn/kale mixture, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes and stir again to distribute. Serve warm, with grated parmesan if desired.

Roasted Butternut Squash

If you thought the curry was easy, this recipe will knock your socks off. Roasted veggies in general are unbelievably easy. Basically you cut them into smallish pieces, toss with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and roast at 400 degrees for as long as it takes to cook and start to get crispy. That's it.

Butternut squash is particularly good roasted because as it cooks it caramelizes. The end product is squash that tastes like candy (no, really).

Roasted Butternut Squash

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash (You can buy pre-cubed if you're lazy or don't own good knives. Seriously, don't hurt yourself by trying to cut a squash with bad knives.)

3 Tbsp olive oil

sea salt to taste

Equipment

A big knife

Cutting board

Vegetable peeler

Metal spoon

Measuring spoon

Silpat/foil

Baking sheet

Oven

Tongs/fork

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Peel your squash with the vegetable peeler, making sure to get the whitish part underneath the shiny skin peeled off too because it's kinda hard and flavorless.

3. Chop your squash in half lengthwise and scrape out and discard the seeds and stringy bits. Chop into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes.

4. Spread squash cubes on foil or silpat lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Use your hands to toss and coat evenly. Sprinkle with salt.

5. Place squash in oven and cook for approximately 40 minutes until cooked through and beginning to brown, removing every 15 minutes to turn the squash with the tongs so they don't get stuck to the bottom or burn. Enjoy warm or cooled.

Thai Coconut Curry

I am a big fan of Thai food, and have been experimenting with making it myself at home. This recipe is really easy (Kenzie, I'm looking at you), tastes great, is incredibly versatile. I made it with frozen shrimp because that's the protein I had in my apartment, but you can make it just as easily with tofu, chicken, pork or beef, or even some combo of them. Likewise, I used the veggies I had around, so don't feel constrained by my choices; you can mix it up - add broccoli, snow peas, cauliflower, tomatoes, or shredded carrots. I would say you probably want sturdier veggies because something like spinach will just fall apart, but it's really up to you.

Thai Coconut Curry with Shrimp

Makes 5 large servings

Ingredients

1 can coconut milk (1 2/3 cups)

~3 Tbsp curry paste (I used yellow, you can use red or green if you have it)

~12 cups chopped veggies [I used 2 large red bell peppers, 2 large green bell peppers, 1.5 yellow onions, a can of bean sprouts, a can of water chestnuts, and half a container (about 3/4 cup) mushrooms]

1 lime

2 Tbsp chopped ginger

5 portions of protein (I used 50 medium-large shrimp, you could also use about 1 1/2 blocks of tofu, 4 chicken breasts, etc.) + 1/2-1 Tbsp oil to cook it in

Equipment

Cutting board and knife

Large pot (Dutch oven is ideal)

Can opener

Measuring spoon

Small saucepan (if protein isn't cooked)

Instructions

1. Cut your protein of choice into cubes (you can keep shrimp whole) and saute in a pan with oil if not cooked yet.

2. Wash, then chop/slice veggies into bite size pieces. Rinse any canned veggies (this helps wash away some of the sodium, which is almost always more than you want).

3. Pour coconut milk into large pot set over medium heat. Refill empty can with water and pour into the pot too. Add the ginger and curry paste and stir to combine.

4. Add chopped veggies and simmer in coconut milk mixture until cooked through (time will vary depending on what veggies you use). When veggies are mostly cooked, add cooked protein and stir to distribute.

You can eat the curry plain, or over rice. It reheats very well, and also freezes well.

Curried chicken/tofu salad

This is an easy recipe that packs in lots of protein, healthy fats, and fiber, and also tastes great. You can make it with cubed pan sautéed chicken or tofu, and in the later case it's vegan. I served it cold over greens but it would also be great on a sandwich or warm on rice.

Ingredients
3 chicken breasts/1.5 blocks extra firm tofu
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1.5 ripe avocados
1/2 yellow onion
2 granny smith apples
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp curry powder
3/4 tsp powdered ginger
1/2 tsp turmeric
1.5 tbsp lemon juice

Equipment
Knife and cutting board
Strong fork
Large bowl
Medium saucepan
Stove
Measuring spoons

Instructions
1. Cut chicken or tofu into cubes and sauté in olive oil over medium heat until cooked through for chicken and until a golden crust forms for tofu.
2. Chop onion finely. If you want, peel the apple, them chop into smallish pieces (the size of the tip of your pinky or smaller).
3. Peel and remove pit from avocados, then mash in large bowl with a fork until smooth.
4. Add spices and lemon juice to mashed avocado and mix thoroughly with the fork.
5. Add onion, apple, and cubed chicken or tofu and toss to coat with avocado mixture. Eat immediately or refrigerate (note: the avocado will brown quickly but still taste fine for a few days in the fridge). Serves 3-4.

Eat More Kale (Kale Salad and Kale Chips)

Last weekend I gave you ice cream, so it's only fair that I do something healthier this weekend. And kale isn't just healthy, it's awesome. If you missed it, kale is so great that the people at Chik-fil-a felt threatened and tried to shut it down. Really.

My great discovery of the week was kale salad. What is that you might ask? Basically you replace your regular lettuce (or arugula for the snobbish among us) with strips of raw kale. You need to marinate the kale in an acid to break down some of the fibrousness, but at the end, you get a delicious salad made with a superfood. I had my kale salad plain, but I bet it would be amazing with dried cherries, toasted pecans, and crumbled goat cheese, or with avocado and tomato. You can also add any sort of protein you like - shrimp, chicken, tofu, tempeh, slices of lunch meats, etc. - to make it a full meal.

Delicious Kale Salad

A previous, but no less exciting discovery, was homemade kale chips. You can buy them at stores like Whole Foods, but they're ridiculously expensive, and a large head of kale costs about $2, so you decide. Kale chips don't taste or have the exact same texture as regular chips, but they're pretty good in their own right.

Kale Salad

Ingredients

Kale

Olive oil

Lemon juice or balsamic vinegar (or other vinegar you like in your salad dressing)

Sea salt (optional)

Other salad toppings if desired

Equipment

Cutting board and knife

Large bowl

Instructions

1. Wash your kale and shake off the excess water. Cut off the tips of the stalks if they look brown or dried. Then slice the kale into 3/4 inch ribbons and place cut kale into the bowl.

2. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice or balsamic vinegar. I just did it by eye, but I would say if you need quantities, about 1 Tbps of acid and 1 Tbsp of olive oil is good for a very large salad for one person or a regular sized salad for 2.

3. Massage the oil and vinegar or lemon juice into the kale leaves with your hands to get it thoroughly mixed. Let sit for 15-20 minutes (now is a good time to prepare your other salad toppings if you have them).

4. Sprinkle with sea salt if you want (I have found this adds some great flavor, but you really don't want too much), then add any toppings you might have, and enjoy.

Kale Chips

Ingredients

Kale

Olive oil

Sea salt

Spices (garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, paprika, or whatever other flavorings you want)

Equipment

Salad spinner or towels to dry the kale

Cutting board and knife

Baking sheet (lined with a silpat if you have one or parchment paper)

Oven

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Wash your kale and shake off excess water. Use your knife to de-stalk the kale - cut along each side of the thick stems to separate them from the large leaves. [The stems won't cook into nice thin crispy chips so you want to take them all out. But don't throw them away - save the stems, cut into 1/2-3/4 inch pieces and saute with olive oil and garlic for a great and easy side]. You can also even use your hands to rip the leaves from the stems. Then use your knife or hands to cut p kale into chip-size pieces.

3. Dry the kale leaves in the salad spinner or with towels [you need as much moisture gone so they will get crispy when you bake them].

4. Place kale on the lined baking sheet so that the leaves, when spread out, don't overlap (you will likely have to bake in multiple rounds or with multiple baking sheets at one time). Drizzle with olive oil (probably about 1 Tbps per sheet) and toss with your hands to coat all the leaves, or you could spray with cooking spray, ideally olive oil cooking spray, to coat evenly. Sprinkle with sea salt and any spices (I've used garlic and onion powder and liked that, but the plain are good too).

5. Bake until edges are brown but not burnt (about 10-15 minutes).

6. Eat still warm from the oven for the best chips, or allow to cool fully before placing into an airtight container (tupperware or ziploc bag), in which you can store them for a week or so.