Tamale Pie with Cornbread topping

We like tamale pie so much that we have two recipes for it.  This one has a cornbread topping that my children love.  It’s normally made with meat, but you could substitute beans if you prefer.  We often double the cornbread topping for the kids.

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef/turkey
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 chopped bell pepper
• 1 chopped zucchini
• 1 can cream of tomato soup, or 1 16-oz jar of salsa
• 1 cup water or stock
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp smokey paprika
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 bag frozen corn

Topping Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup whole milk (we use coconut milk)
• 2 Tbsp canola oil

Instructions:

1. Saute beef and onion.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 15 min.
2. Mix dry topping ingredients then add wet ingredients and mix only until dry ingredients are moistened.
3. Pour filling ingredients into a 2-quart casserole dish/pan (or better yet, cook the ingredients in a cast-iron pot like our Le Crueset so you have one less dish to wash), then cover with the topping mixture.  Don’t worry if it disappears into the filling as it will rise to form a bread crust.
4. Bake at 425 for 20-25 min, or until the bread topping is done (test with a toothpick).

Date Nut Bars

This recipe is modified from the book Beauty Detox Foods to make it easier.  Very tasty and dense.  A perfect quick snack when you’re on the go.  If you use raw nuts and dehydrate the bars, you’ll maintain many of the nutrients and enzymes in the nuts.  If you use roasted nuts and don’t have a dehydrater, you could bake them at a very low temp in the oven instead to dry them out so they can be cut.  Try variations too–like adding almond extract and dried cherries or cranberries instead of dates (which makes it taste like a buttery almond cookie).

Ingredients:

• 5 cups nuts (whatever combination you prefer of walnuts, pecans, almonds, and cashews)
• 3-4 fresh dates (pit removed)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Put the nuts in a food processor and process until chunky (not pureed into nut butter!)
2. Add the remaining ingredients and blend further
3. Place mixture into 8×8 pan and dehydrate for several hours to harden/dry it.  Can be enjoyed without this last step, but it will be hard to make bars.  Some toaster ovens have a dehydrate feature.
4. Cut into squares.

Southwest Corn Chowder

This is my own recipe for vegan corn chowder.  And it’s really good–I promise!

Ingredients:

• 1-2 onions
• 3 bell peppers (red, yellow, orange)
• zucchini (optional)
• potatoes, peeled and diced (I use about 1 small russet per person I’m serving)
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 1 bag frozen corn
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 box vegetable stock
• coconut milk (the beverage, not canned)  2-3 cups, or enough to reach the consistency soup you prefer.
• 1 tsp smokey paprika
• salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a soup pot and saute onion, bell peppers, and zucchini until soft.  Add garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add diced potatoes
3. Add the flour and cook for 4-5 minutes.  It was stick to the pot, but keep stirring.
4. Add the vegetable stock, coconut milk, thyme, and paprika.  Stir well to get all the flour off the bottom of the pot.  Bring to a boil and simmer until the desired consistency is reached.  It may takes 20+ minutes to get the potatoes to break down a touch and help thicken the soup.
5. Add the salt, pepper, and frozen corn towards the end (and heat just enough to keep the corn crunchy).
6. This is a super leftover, as it’s way thicker the next day!

Banana Ice Cream from It’s All Good

A few recipes from Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook It’s All Good were recently in a Self magazine article, so I decided to give one a try:  banana “ice cream.”  This is so stinkin’ simple and it really tastes like soft serve ice cream.  Brilliant!

Ingredients:

• 4 ripe bananes, sliced and frozen for 3+ hours
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 cup almond (or coconut) milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping ingredients:

• 1/4, or more, cups chopped nuts (she recommends almonds, we used pecans)
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• sprinkle of course sea salt (we used pink himalayan salt)

Instructions:

• After bananas are frozen solid, puree them in a food processor with other ingredients, until the consistency of soft-serve ice cream.
• Mix topping ingredients in a bowl, then spoon onto servings of the “ice cream.”

Green Smoothie

My sister-in-law sent a recipe for a kale smoothie that my kids loved.  I modified it slightly to make a version I drank while on my cleanse.  My kids enjoy it and so do I.  Really, it doesn’t taste like kale and spinach.  Try it!  It’s delicious for breakfast and a great way to sneak some raw green veggies into your family’s diet.

Ingredients:

• 1 can light coconut milk
• 1 cup frozen pineapple
• 1 cup frozen mango
• 1 banana
• Handful fresh kale (washed with ribs removed)
• Handful fresh spinach leaves (washed)
• Pineapple juice, to taste (use as a sweetener)
• Optional:  Stevia (as a sweetener), Chia Seeds (for extra fat, fiber, and omega-3’s)

Instructions:

• Add to blender and puree for at least a minute, until very smooth.  Makes 24-32 oz, so modify the recipe if you only need one serving.

 

Making almond milk

As part of my 3-week cleanse, I’m supposed to make my own nut milks.  I’ve been wanting to do this anyway because of the prevalence of carrageenan in every organic almond and coconut milk I can find (it’s also in soy milk, but we hardly use that anymore).  Carrageenan, derived from red seaweed, is a vegan substitute for gelatin and is used in almost every milk we buy as a thickening agent.  However, some research suggests that it irritates the digestive tract, causing inflammation and even ulceration.  Obviously this is the last thing you want to do to your GI tract during a cleanse.  And I don’t really want to do that even when I’m not on a cleanse, and especially not to my children’s little digestive systems.

The last time I did The Clean Program, I thought it was ridiculous to make your own nut milk.  It seemed like way too much work.  But this time, I gave it a try, and it wasn’t bad at all.

Fresh Almond Milk:

1.  Soak 1 cup organic, raw almonds in filtered water for 2-8 hours.

Yummy veggie enchiladas

I’ve been making a version of these enchiladas almost every week for the past year.  They are so tasty and you can really tweak the recipe to work with whatever ingredients you have.  I think this recipe proves you don’t need meat to feel satisfied!  I list very few quantities to keep the recipe flexible.

Ingredients:

• Whole wheat tortillas (I usually use 10)
• onions
• bell peppers
• zucchinis
• sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
• fresh corn
• garlic
• cumin
• paprika (smokey is delicious, but sweet works)
• mexican seasoning
• Eden Foods canned beans (pinto or black)
• jar of salsa
• Robertos enchilada sauce (or more salsa/tomato puree for the non-spicy kid version)
• monterrey jack or cheddar cheese
• avocado, or guacamole

Easier, faster, healthier eggplant parmesan… from scratch!

Lately, I’ve had to find a new way to cook.  I just can’t find the time to pick weekly recipes, make grocery lists, and shop for specific items.  Rather, I have been memorizing my favorite recipes, going to the store list-less, seeing which ingredients are available, and buying what’s needed to make a seasonal recipe.  Probably how my grandmother has shopped and cooked her whole life. Currently, eggplants, tomatoes, and basil are in season which means I’ve been making a lot of eggplant parmesan.  This is one of my favorite recipes, but it is time-consuming and usually quite complicated.  So I’ve created an easier, faster, and healthier version.  Memorize it and make it!  Quantities in parenthesis are what I use to make enough for approximately two dinners for 5 people.

Ingredients:

• eggplant (3 large)
• tomatoes (approximately 5 to 10–fresh are best, but you can use strained jarred tomatoes if you must)
• onions (2)
• garlic (3 bulbs)
• basil (I like a lot!)
• olive oil
• salt
• parmesan cheese
• mozzarella (about 8 oz of the fresh stuff, if possible)

My favorite Greek baked fish

This is one of the tastiest fish recipes I have ever had.  We make it with orange, but the original recipe calls for lemon.  If you have access to a whole fish, this should be your go-to recipe for it!

Ingredients:

• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced
• 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
• 2/3 cup dry white wine
• 14 oz canned chopped tomatoes in juice
• pinch of sugar
• 1-2 large oranges, sliced
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tsp chopped fresh marjoram (optional)
• 2-3 lbs whole fish, such as sea bream, bass, tilapia, red snapper, red or gray mullet.  Make sure fish is scaled and gutted.

Homemade granola

I’ve been making this granola recipe for a couple months now.  It literally takes 5 min to assemble, just over an hour to bake, and is so delicious.  This is way cheaper than buying premade stuff and so much tastier.  Make sure to add dried fruit after you bake the oats and nuts.  Try changing things up a bit–I love cherries and walnuts instead of almonds and raisins.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 1 cup cashews
• 3/4 cup shredded sweet coconut
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup raisins