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Kale and White Bean Minestrone Recipe

I think that sports are awesome for kids. They’re fun! The kids get exercise, make new friends, learn about competition and trying your best, and lots of other life lessons which I am constantly repeating to my children to the point of annoyance. “It’s not over ’til it’s over!” “Today is a new day!” Love those.

Mr. Picky is 10 years old and he will basically play as many sports as his schedule and we will allow. I can’t possibly let him participate in everything that strikes his fancy because then I would truly have no life and he would be exhausted. He plays soccer all year plus basketball in the winter, baseball in the spring and tennis in the summer. But can I just vent for one second? Soccer, basketball, tennis — all good. Normal practice schedule. Short games. Love it. 10-year-old baseball? T-O-R-T-U-R-E.

Forget about the fact that I think baseball is dreadfully boring. I could watch any of my kids blow dirt and I would enjoy cheering them on. But there’s not a lot of action in baseball and we’re committed to two 2-hour games a week plus a 2 1/2 hour practice on Saturdays. Ugh. And, those Thursday night games on metal bleachers and wind blowing from the West. I am always chilled to the bone when I get home on Thursday nights. That’s why I bribed Mr. Picky not to play baseball this year. I offered my son cold hard cash if he would pick up lacrosse in the spring instead. “What are you talking about, Mom? I am definitely playing baseball.”

“Really, dude? There’s nothing I can give you to make you not play? Nothing?”

“I don’t even have to think about that. I’m playing.”

“Everybody has a price, little man. Just name it.”

“Mom, you’re acting weird. Please stop.”

So frustrating! “You know what, kid? You have NO future in politics! None! Remember that!”

Seriously, I would have offered him a THOUSAND dollars not to play and I honestly think he would have turned it down. Drat.

So, if you follow me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, you know I post my family’s dinner every night. I won’t promise high quality images, just the real deal. But you should start expecting slow cooker meals and/or soups and stews on Thursdays for the next 2 1/2 long months. Games are from 5:30 – 8:00 pm and I don’t expect my daughters to wait until 8:15 to eat (or at 4:30 for that matter.) So I need something that can stay warm for a few hours without drying out.

I know the first day of spring is this week and I couldn’t be more thrilled. But let’s face it, the temperature doesn’t all of a sudden go up by 15 degrees on March 21st. Soups are still in play! (That was a cheesy pun, but I couldn’t resist.) I love, love, love this kale and white bean minestrone. I taught this soup in my classes last month, but I have been making a version of this forever. It’s hearty and flavorful, but still light since it’s all veggies and beans. I make it with chicken stock very often, but also with vegetable stock. Sometimes Mr. Picky and I will eat something before the game like peanut butter toast and then have a bowl of hot soup like this when we get home. Really hits the spot. Because the beans add great protein, I’ll also reheat leftovers for school lunch the next day.

I think kale is amazing in this soup, but I have also made it with Swiss chard and I think collards would be great, too. Sometimes I’ll add a little extra tomato paste to make it more tomato-y. But I almost never make it without my secret ingredient, a rind of Parmesan cheese. This makes this soup so flavorful and rich without you actually eating cheese. Although I can never resist grating some fresh Pecorino on top.

Sadly, I think many of you are bracing for another snow storm. This soup’s for you!

5.0 from 2 reviews

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Kale and White Bean Minestrone

Author: Pamela

Serves: 6

Ingredients

3 Tablespoons unrefined, cold pressed extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 Tablespoons tomato paste ( I like Bionaturae)
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped (measure the rosemary, then chop)
3 ½ cups of cooked white beans (such as Cannellini or Great Northern) or 2 15-ounce cans, drained and rinsed* click here to learn how to make your beans from scratch
2 teaspoons sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (You will need about 3 teaspoons of salt if your stock is unsalted.)
piece of rind from Parmesan cheese (if you have it, otherwise don’t worry about it)
6 cups of chicken or vegetable stock, preferably homemade or 4 cups stock + 2 cups water
6 cups of stemmed, coarsely chopped kale or Swiss chard leaves*
Accompaniments: serve with garlic toast, a drizzle of olive oil and/or grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Warm oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add chopped onion, carrots, celery and garlic and sauté until tender and translucent, about 6-8 minutes.
Stir in the tomato paste and rosemary and cook for 2 minutes, or until fragrant.
Add the white beans, salt, pepper and parmesan rind. Try to mash a few of the beans in the pot. This will help thicken the soup later.
Pour in the stock. Raise the heat to high and bring soup to a boil. Lower heat so that soup gently simmers and partially cover the pot. Simmer for 20 minutes (or longer if you want), or until vegetables are tender.
Stir in kale leaves and simmer another 8 minutes or until kale is tender. Taste for seasoning and serve with or without desired accompaniments.

Notes

*Or you can use 1 can of beans and 1 pound of chopped Yukon Gold potatoes.

**If you use Swiss chard, separate the stems from the leaves before starting the recipe and chop both. Sauté the chopped stems with the onions and add the chopped leaves at the end.

Green Muffins Recipe — Perfect for St. Patrick’s Day

I am too excited about this muffin recipe to wait until St. Patrick’s Day! I’ve had great luck in the past using pureed spinach to turn pancakes green, so I knew I could make a green muffin. Not only do I think these turned out fantastic, even Mr. Picky loved them, too. Although I did tell him a little lie and said I used green food coloring and he just lit up, eyes wide, “Really?! You did?! Really, Mom?! Like the unhealthy kind?!” Honestly, I’m a little disappointed that my son actually thinks I would use food coloring in a muffin. And just as disappointed that he would be excited to eat that same muffin. I had to lie again. Actually, buddy, it’s a natural green food coloring which gets its color from spinach. Bummed out face. I know for a minute there he thought I suddenly turned into an exciting mom, one who would take risks and dare to use carcinogens! “Oh. They’re still good, I guess.”

And they are good! These muffins are lightly sweet, moist, simple and BRIGHT GREEN because they are loaded with spinach! St. Patrick’s Day is a HUGE opportunity to get green foods into your kids because they are expecting them. You’re showing your spirit. On any other day, green muffins are you just trying to sneak leafy greens into your kids who are not fooled. But the closer we get to March 17th, green muffins are part of the fun!

This is a very basic muffin recipe. The spinach is undetectable and the banana is very subtle. But if you hate banana, you might be able to sub 1/2 cup of applesauce. I think adding walnuts or chocolate chips would be great, too. One of my daughters suggested cream cheese frosting, although then these become cupcakes which is fine, too. These tasted best the day they were made and the next day, too. They lasted just fine a few days on the countertop in a sealed container, but I would freeze what you don’t think you’ll eat within a couple days. Let me know if you make these and if you get lucky!

4.5 from 19 reviews

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Green Muffins

Author: Pamela

Serves: makes 12

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, white whole wheat flour or spelt flour (or use 2 cups of King Arthur Multi-purpose Gluten-free Flour + 1 teaspoon xanthan gum)
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine ground sea salt
1 large egg
¾ cup pure maple syrup (Grade A or Grade B)
¾ cup dairy or non-dairy milk (such as almond milk)
¼ cup unrefined coconut oil, melted
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 5- or 6-ounce bag of fresh baby spinach leaves
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with unbleached parchment liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a blender add egg, maple syrup, milk, oil, vanilla and spinach. Process until pureed.
Add spinach mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in the mashed banana.
Scoop batter into prepared muffin tin, filling cups about ¾ full. I like to do this with a large ice cream scooper. Bake about 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Store at room temperature up to 3 days. These freeze nicely!

banana maple syrup spinach vanilla whole wheat pastry flour

Pasta with Shredded Grass-Fed Brisket Recipe (slow cooker version, too!)

Just because I don’t eat meat, doesn’t mean my family doesn’t love it and ask for it. So I will make it on occasion, but my rule is that it has to be grass-fed. Read my other brisket post about why. I make beef more in the winter than in the summer because it has a very warming thermal nature, and becomes even more warming when cooked with onions, which means it can actually raise the thermostat in your body and heat you up a little. Perfect these chilly nights, and I know so many of you have been suffering through the worst winter ever! It’s almost over! (I hope!)

I’ve been making a version of this recipe for about 15 years, and my grandmother made something similar which everyone loved. Of course grandmothers never write recipes down because they don’t measure anything (a pinch of this, a sprinkle of that.) Thank goodness for google which helped me come up with a great roadmap for one of my family’s favorites. In fact, my older daughter has requested this dish many times for her birthday in past years!

This is different from the brisket I learned how to make for Jewish holidays. That brisket is braised in an oniony sauce as well, but it’s sliced whereas this one is shredded and the sauce is more tomato-veggie, much more Italian. We used to eat this over wide pasta, like pappardelle or fettuccine or egg noodles. But spaghetti and even orecchiette are great. Since I don’t make as much pasta as I used to, we have been enjoying this more over cauliflower mashed potatoes or polenta. For those of you who are hooked on spaghetti squash, I think this would be great on it!

Brisket is one of those very tough cuts of meat that can only be made meltingly tender by cooking it low and slow for a long period of time with lots of moisture. Don’t try and grill, sear or stir-fry brisket. You’ll end up with the toughest, chewiest meat ever. Yuck! You can also use chuck roast in this recipe since that cut also needs a long, low and slow preparation. Since it takes three hours minimum to cook, you’ll need to get this going early in the day or do it in a slow cooker, or make it the day before and reheat it. All methods will result in a super soft, very flavorful brisket and sauce. Although I personally think the flavor is a little better the next day. And, this will freeze beautifully! I think this sounds like a good weekend project for those of us who will be stuck inside from monsoon rains (not complaining, just saying) or the bitter cold. Hoping this can help you find a way to stay cozy this weekend!

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Pasta with Shredded Grass-Fed Brisket

Author: Pamela, adapted from epicurious.com

Serves: 6

Ingredients

2 ½-3 pound piece of brisket, preferably grass-fed
sea salt or kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 Tablespoons unrefined olive oil, divided
2 large onions, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 medium stalks of celery, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup dry red wine
2 cups rich chicken stock or beef broth (use whichever you have that’s homemade)
1 14- to 15-ounce can diced tomatoes or 18-ounce glass jar
2 bay leaves
1 pound pasta, cooked and drained

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Pat brisket dry and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Heat 1 Tablespoon of oil in a large oven-proof pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Sear the meat on both sides until nicely browned, about 12 minutes total.
Transfer meat to a platter. Add 2 Tablespoons oil to the pot and then add the chopped vegetables and garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté over medium heat until tender and golden.
Stir in the wine, stock, tomatoes and bay leaves and deglaze the bottom of the pan by scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil and place brisket back in the pot. Cover and transfer pot to the oven. Braise the meat for 3-4 hours or until tender enough to shred with a fork.
Remove from the oven and transfer meat to a cutting board. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Remove excess fat from the meat, cut into 2-inch chunks, and shred with two forks.
If you would like a smoother sauce, pureé the vegetable mixture either directly in the pot with an immersion blender or in a food processor or blender. Otherwise you can leave it chunky. This can be done a day before and reheated in the same Dutch oven over medium heat on the stove.
Add the shredded meat back into the sauce and stir together. Serve over cooked pasta or polenta, millet-cauliflower mash, mashed potatoes or cauliflower-mashed potatoes.

Notes

Use less liquid if you want less of a sauce.

SLOW COOKER VERSION
-Sear meat on both sides in a skillet or Dutch oven. Transfer to slow cooker.
-Saute vegetables until tender. Season with salt.
-Deglaze pan with ⅔ cup wine, 1 ½ cups stock and same amount of tomatoes as stove-top recipe, making sure to scrape all the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Transfer contents plus bay leaves to slow cooker.
-Cover and cook on LOW for 7-9 hours or HIGH 4-5 hours. Proceed with remaining steps 4-6 above.

beef carrots celery chicken stock garlic onions red wine tomatoes

Couscous with dried apricots and herbs

We had such a lovely getaway in Palm Springs with the kids this weekend. My husband, who designs and builds houses, likes to go to a few days of Modernism Week every year and we decided to make a little family trip of it this time. My kids are exposed to a lot of talk about food because of what I do, but my husband also discusses his business with them, too. I wouldn’t say they could go out and build a house tomorrow, but they have an understanding of architecture and design.

So it was kind of funny to me when my kids would walk into a home on a tour this weekend or a show, and people would be shocked to see them. “Oh my word! We have children here!” The first time I heard this, I figured the kids weren’t welcome. But I was very wrong. “How nice to see children appreciate design!” I was proud of the kids because they were well-behaved and seemingly interested. And it made me think about how the experience was a little analogous to food and eating. I always tell my students that part of the process of creating a healthful eater is simply exposing the kids to a wide variety of nutritious food. Another critical part of the process is modeling good eating habits. One day it will all click with them and they’ll end up surprising you!

I am flexible with Mr. Picky though. Sometimes I will make something like this couscous with dried apricots and herbs for dinner, but leave a little plain couscous and apricots for him on the side. I usually encourage, but often insist, that he at least try the dish with all the herbs and such. Sometimes he will and sometimes he won’t, but this strategy works well for me since I can accommodate him a little without my having to make a second meal. And the message that I am sending is that eventually he will eat like the rest of us.

Mr. Picky happens to like couscous and dried apricots and if he’s really hungry, he’ll eat the herbs and all. He won’t eat it mixed with the Moroccan chicken I posted on Friday. He will eat them separately though. No problem here, although I personally like couscous as an accompaniment to soak up something juicy and saucy. Other than that, my girls will take leftovers in their lunch boxes with some feta and maybe a little extra lemon juice and olive oil. Yum!

Couscous is like a busy person’s dream come true. You pour really hot water or stock on it with a little salt and perhaps some olive oil and presto! Ten minutes later you have a nice fluffy side dish. I know that couscous is processed durum wheat flour and not a whole grain, but there’s still a decent amount of fiber in it and you can also find whole wheat couscous if that’s important to you. Of course you can also make this recipe with quinoa if you want a gluten-free version which I have done many times. In fact, I’ve often said to people who haven’t tried quinoa that you can take your favorite couscous dish and sub quinoa. Only you cook them differently. But you knew that. And there are other ways to mix this recipe up — dried cherries or raisins instead of the apricots, pistachios or chopped almonds instead of the sliced almonds, parsley instead of the cilantro or just use all of one herb. This is an easy recipe to let your personal taste be your guide!

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Couscous with Dried Apricots and Herbs

Author: Pamela

Ingredients

1 10-ounce box of couscous (1 ½ cups couscous)
½ cup dried unsulphured apricots, sliced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 ½ Tablespoons unrefined extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups HOT (even boiling) chicken stock, vegetable stock or water
½ lemon, juiced
¼ cup whole almonds, toasted and chopped
2 scallions, green parts only, chopped
½ cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
½ cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

Instructions

Place the couscous, dried apricots, salt and olive oil in a medium bowl and cover with HOT stock. Stir with a fork to combine. Cover and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Uncover and fluff with a fork.
Pour lemon juice on top and toss to combine.
Add the almonds, scallions, mint and cilantro to the couscous and toss gently to combine.

Notes

Pomegranates are a delicious addition when they are in season (December-February)

cilantro couscous dried apricots lemon juice mint

Moroccan chicken with dates recipe (slow cooker version, too!)

You all know I live in Southern California and perhaps you know we are having a very mild, but super dry winter. We actually have a serious drought happening here. And you might also know that 99% of my entire family lives in the New York/New Jersey area. And they’re having a veerrryy different kind of winter.

So most of our phone calls the last few weeks have been kind of like this:

Me: “Hi! It’s me. What’s new?”

Sister/Mother/Father: “It’s snowing. AGAIN. The kids are off from school. AGAIN. It’s absolutely freezing out there. Seriously, this is the worst winter EVER!”

Me: “Bummer. But I asked, ‘what’s neeeewwww?'”

Same old, same old. I miss the talks we used to have about currents events, movies, what we’re making for dinner, what we ate for lunch. Interesting, riveting stuff. Instead, it’s all blizzard all the time! Thankfully, winter doesn’t last forever and they’ll all be able to get back to business before we know it. Easy for me to say, I’m sure.

But if I were in the middle of a polar vortex, ~~I would quickly buy a one-way ticket to L.A.~~ I would make super-warming foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We may not be able to control the weather, but we can control the thermal nature of what we eat. And I say, heat me up! High on my list would be this Moroccan chicken with dates which I taught in my classes last February. I know it seems like there are a lot of ingredients in this recipe, but half of them are spices, all of which are warming to the body, and anti-inflammatory, too. These spices, including ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, cumin and a pinch of cayenne are also quite flavorful and make this otherwise simple chicken dish, something very special. There’s also a little bit of sweetness from the cinnamon and from halved dates which rank as one of my favorite foods on the planet. A little earthy, a little sweet, a touch spicy and a little tart — it’s one of my favorite chicken recipes!

In these images, and for dinner last night, I served this with an apricot couscous (I’ll post the recipe next week.) This will have a very tasty, but brothy sauce which just begs for something to sop it up. Couscous, which is pretty dry, is the perfect side dish. But you don’t need to make it with any seasonings or herbs. Even plain would be just the right side for this dish. Otherwise, if you’re gluten-free, steamed rice, quinoa or millet would be amazing here. I also served it for dinner with simply sautéed Swiss chard, but check out this recipe for raw grated carrot and beet salad. That would be fabulous, too.

I have made this recipe in the slow cooker, as well. Please read the directions for how to adjust this recipe for the slow cooker. Both versions are amazing and will help warm up your core. At least until the next snowfall or tomorrow, or both, as the case might be!

5.0 from 9 reviews

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Moroccan Chicken with Dates

Author: Pamela, adapted from epicurious.com

Serves: 6

Ingredients

3 ½ pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken parts such as breasts (I like them split), thighs or drumsticks, seasoned with 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt when you get home from the market or brined for an hour (1/4 cup kosher salt + 2 cups water) EXCEPT if you use kosher chicken. See this post for how and why to brine chicken.
1 Tablespoon unrefined coconut oil or olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled and cubed
3 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground turmeric (feel free to add more if you like it)
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1 ½ cups chicken stock
5 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
12 dates, pitted and halved
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro, if you like it

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and add to the pot in one layer. Do not overcrowd. Cook until browned on the underside, then turn over and browned on the other side, about 15 minutes total. Transfer chicken to a baking sheet or platter and repeat with remaining chicken if there’s some still left to do.
Add onions and carrots to the pot and sauté until tender and translucent, about 6 minutes.
Add cinnamon sticks, salt and remaining spices. Sauté about 1 minute, or until fragrant.
Add stock, 3 Tablespoons lemon juice and dates. Deglaze the pan by scraping the brown bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil, add chicken pieces back to pot skin-side up and cover. Lower heat and simmer until chicken is completely cooked through, about 40-45 minutes. An instant-red thermometer should read 165 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the breast.
Add lemon juice to pot and stir to combine. If sauce needs thickening, transfer chicken to a platter and simmer sauce until it is reduced. Sprinkle everything with cilantro and serve.

Notes

SLOW COOKER VERSION:

Use bone-in, skinLESS pieces of chicken
Use a skillet to brown chicken, and sauté vegetables and spices. Add only ¾ cup of stock to the pan and the same amount of lemon juice as in the original recipe to deglaze the pan. Do not add the dates until 20 minutes before serving.
Transfer the browned chicken, and the vegetable, spice, stock and lemon juice mixture to the slow cooker and cook covered on LOW for 7-8 hours or HIGH 4-5 hours.
20 minutes before serving, stir dates into the slow cooker. Add remaining lemon juice and garnish with cilantro, if desired.

carrots chicken chicken broth cinnamon cumin dates ginger lemon juice cilantro onions turmeric

Gluten-free fudgy brownies recipe (refined sugar-free)

Have you ever noticed that the best food images are usually of desserts? Every time I go on Tastespotting, it seems like half the photos are sweets. The irony is that I think desserts are the easiest things to make look and taste good. Throw together some sugar, butter and chocolate and it’s probably going to be delicious. Ok fine, I’m simplifying a bit, but I think I’ve tried more new dessert recipes with success than savory. Anything with the word “crisp,” “cobbler,” “crumble,” or “buckle” is going to be great. But chicken recipes don’t always provide the same guarantees, don’t you agree?

I also feel that way about dessert recipes using unrefined ingredients, especially in the sweetener department. Show me a chocolate cake using maple syrup and whole grain flour and you have my attention! It’s not so easy.

I recently made Ina Garten’s Outrageous Brownies for a large group meeting because they are perfect and it’s what everyone expects out of a brownie — that fudgy flavor and the flaky, crackly top. (Although how in the world she only gets 20 brownies out of a 12 x 18 pan is a mystery. I think I got close to 50.) Unfortunately, I can’t duplicate that texture with honey, coconut sugar or stevia. I am really committed to using ingredients that are less inflammatory and lower on the glycemic index than white flour and white sugar. Of course, like I ALWAYS say in my classes, that doesn’t mean higher quality sweeteners are “good” for you or even health supportive. Your body is just less offended by them. You should still consume desserts in moderation whether they are made with honey or with sugar.

My kids and my husband are always the best judges of my cooking because they are brutally honest and they still have a taste for junk. (People who eat health food 24/7 are much easier to please!) But what I’ve learned to do is just call it like it is — no sneaky business, no tricky semantics. These brownies aren’t like Ina’s, but you know what? They would satisfy any chocoholic’s craving any day. They’re super moist and fudgy with a rich chocolate flavor. But they’re sweetened with my two favorite sweeteners, dates and coconut sugar. I am very sensitive to refined sugars and these brownies don’t affect me at all! Plus, they’re made with gluten-free oat flour. Double awesome. But if you like cake-y brownies, sorry. This recipe is not what you’ve been waiting for.

I ate one of these brownies warm right out of the pan with some sliced strawberries to cut the sweetness a bit and thought it was fabulous. Although I wouldn’t argue with you if you wanted to top one with some ice cream. After a day or two, I pop any extras into the fridge and they are absolutely divine cold. I taught these brownies in a class last year and I remember making sure I gave all of them away before every class ended because I didn’t want to be left alone with them! But what you all want to know is — does Mr. Picky like these? TOTALLY! In fact, I told him these were gluten-free brownies with dates and he said, “I don’t even care!”

I think these are best cut into small bites. And if you have a mini-muffin pan, that would be a great way to go, too. With Valentine’s Day coming up, these fudgy brownies are perfect for all of your sweethearts!

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Gluten-Free Fudgy Brownies

Author: Pamela

Serves: makes an 8 x 8-inch pan

Ingredients

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter or unrefined coconut oil (does infuse a hint of coconut)
8 ounces bittersweet or dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
10 pitted dates (buy the moistest ones you can find), about 1 cup
½ cup hot water
¾ cup coconut palm sugar (or cane sugar)
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup GF oat flour
½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
½ teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
¾ teaspoon instant coffee powder (optional, but makes the brownies taste more chocolate-y)

Instructions

Place butter in a large heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water; dip a pastry brush in the melted butter and use it to grease the bottom and sides of an 8 x 8-inch baking pan. Add the chocolate to the melted butter and stir frequently until chocolate is melted. Remove bowl from heat; let cool about 10 minutes.
Place the dates and the hot water in a medium the bowl and allow to soak for at least 10 minutes while you prepare everything else.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on two sides. Set aside.
Transfer the dates and water to a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process until a smooth paste forms. Add the palm sugar and process until smooth. Alternately you can do this in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat with the paddle attachment. However, the food processor will make the date paste much smoother.
Add the date-sugar mixture to the butter and chocolate mixture and blend well. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Whisk in vanilla.
Stir in flour, salt, baking powder and instant coffee powder until just combined.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs, but not wet. Do not overbake! Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely. They taste best if they have been allowed to sit at least an hour.
Run a knife or offset spatula around the edges of the pan. Pull on the edges of the parchment to lift brownies out of pan. Transfer to a cutting board; cut into 2-inch squares.

Notes

You can fold in ½ cup chopped or halved walnuts and/or ½ cup chocolate chips after the flour.

butter chocolate coconut sugar dates eggs oat flour

Roasted Vegetable Buddha Bowl with Lemon-Tahini Dressing Recipe

We all have those recipes we love but don’t make very often (for me it’s chicken pot pie and spanakopita.) And then there are the recipes you rely on when you don’t want to think about what to make. Those are your go-to, no-fail, everyone-loves-this recipes. I wish I had an endless supply of those. But I am going to share one of my-go’s with you today! This roasted veggie buddha bowl is just that. I swear I could eat this every day. I taught this recipe in my classes in January and I actually did eat it every day and I never got tired of it.

A Buddha bowl is really just a simple combination of (usually) lightly steamed vegetables on top of a gluten-free grain, like brown rice, and often topped with a sauce or dressing of sorts. It is a very clean and healthful meal, but very satisfying. Personally, I prefer all my meals in a bowl. I love when all my food gets combined and every bite has a little bit of everything. It’s Mr. Picky’s worst nightmare.

A Buddha bowl is flexible. Clean out of the vegetable crisper and use what you’ve got. Not in the mood for rice? Use quinoa or millet. Soy or peanut-based sauces are very popular on Buddha bowls, but I am kind of obsessed with my lemon-tahini dressing from this salad, so I adapted that for this recipe. And even though I said a Buddha bowl is usually made with steamed vegetables, who says you can’t roast them? Like with a little coconut oil until the edges are just a bit crispy. Heaven!

I make dinner for my family every night (and if you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you would know exactly what that looks like!) Even though I am a big proponent of one meal for all, there always those days I ate a late lunch after a class and I’m not feeling like the roast chicken and potatoes I am making for dinner that night. This Buddha bowl is my go-to on nights like that. I’ll make a big pan of roasted veggies for all of us and then whip up this dressing and a pot of steamed quinoa and voila! I have something a little lighter and I’m a happy camper. That’s not to say that my husband and my kids don’t like Buddha bowls. They all really do, especially my girls. As you would imagine, Mr. Picky doesn’t exactly eat his in a bowl. Rice in one separate, distinct area on a plate, roasted veg in another and hold the dressing, please. No problem, dude.

If you decide to make this dressing for your Buddha bowl, you really have a nice vegetarian meal no matter what grain you use since tahini is basically just sesame paste. Sesame seeds are high in protein, good fats and did you know, calcium? Just good to know if you’re looking for non-dairy sources of calcium. And if you make this with broccoli and kale, you have a very calcium-rich meal. I also like to sprinkle ~~everything~~ my Buddha bowl with gomasio, a macrobiotic condiment which is just a mixture of sesame seeds and sea salt. The one I use by Eden Organic also has seaweed in it. If you have all the other ingredients, but not the gomasio, make this anyway — you will love it and you will feel awesome after eating it. Have a lovely weekend!

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Roasted Vegetable Buddha Bowl with Lemon-Tahini Dressing

Author: Pamela

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

Dressing (makes about 2 Tablespoons/serving):
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice, about 1 small lemon
2 small cloves of garlic, grated or minced or just smash the cloves if you don't actually want to eat the garlic, but still have a subtle garlic flavor
¼ cup raw tahini (roasted tahini is fine, but raw is a little milder)
3-4 Tablespoons room temperature or warm water
¼ cup unrefined, cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil
¾ teaspoon sea salt + more to taste
pinch of cayenne (optional)
8-10 cups mixed vegetables such as 1 head of broccoli, cut into bite-sized florets and stems, trimmed and chopped AND 1 head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets*
2 Tablespoons melted unrefined coconut oil or unrefined olive oil
3-4 large leaves of kale, washed, dried, stems removed
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Steamed brown rice, millet or quinoa for serving (optional)
Plain or seaweed gomasio for sprinkling on top (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper.
Make the dressing (or you can make while the vegetables are roasting): in a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, garlic, tahini, water, olive oil, salt and cayenne until well blended. Just use the amount of water you need to get the consistency you want.
In a large bowl, toss the broccoli and cauliflower with the coconut oil. Don’t wash the bowl yet. Place the broccoli and cauliflower in one layer on the prepared baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Roast for about 20-30 minutes, or until tender and golden in spots. I like to turn the vegetables after about 15 minutes.
Take the kale leaves and rub them around the bowl with any remaining coconut oil until lightly coated. Tear until large pieces and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper. Place on top of the broccoli and cauliflower in the oven and roast until the kale is just crispy, about 5-10 minutes.
If you’d like to eat this as a “bowl,” place a scoop of rice/millet/quinoa in a bowl and top with the vegetables. Spoon some sauce over everything and sprinkle with gomasio, if desired.

Notes

*Other roasted veggies that would be great are beets, carrots, and sweet potatoes!

broccoli carrots cauliflower lemon olive oil quinoa rice sesame seeds tahini

Homemade ranch dressing recipe (dairy-free and vegan-adaptable)

For all of you out there who were like me and just hoping for a good game last night, was that a disappointment or what?! We started counting how many times someone in the room said, “Are you kidding me?!” At least the commercials and the half-time show were entertaining and eats were tasty. We kept everything very simple with a taco bar, Mexican chopped salad and pizzas. For snacking during the game, we had lots of guacamole, salsa and chips, naturally, and a huge raw vegetable platter with hummus, spinach dip and this homemade Ranch dressing. I was very happy to fill up on lots of veggies so that I didn’t overdo it on pizza and tacos later.

I had to come up with a cleaned up homemade Ranch dressing years ago for my husband because it’s his favorite on salads and I just can’t handle buying the bottled version. Just read the ingredients on a label of Hidden Valley Ranch and you’ll understand why. Even though I prefer a lemon juice or apple cider vinegar-based salad dressing, I think Ranch can sometimes really hit the spot and I do like it as a dip for crisp vegetables, too. I taught this dressing in a summer cooking class over big slabs of ripe tomatoes and avocado with some raw corn. So good! And I love the idea of pouring a dressing into little cups with a few raw vegetable sticks for a party appetizer.

Traditional Ranch dressing is herby and contains buttermilk and usually sour cream. But I make mine with Greek yogurt, Vegenaise and kefir (pronounced kee-fer,) a fermented dairy product which is a little like a liquidy yogurt. You can definitely use buttermilk and regular mayonnaise if you want. But my girls really like kefir in the their smoothies and I usually have some in the refrigerator. I also think it’s a bit better than buttermilk from a nutritional perspective. Here’s an excerpt from Sally Fallon’s book Nourishing Traditions which is very interesting: “Kefir is a cultured and microbial-rich food that helps restore the inner ecology. It contains strains of beneficial yeast and bacteria (in a symbiotic relationship) that give kefir antibiotic properties. A natural antibiotic–and it is made from milk! The finished product is not unlike that of a drink-style yogurt, but kefir has a more tart, refreshing taste and contains completely different organisms…kefir does not feed yeast, and it usually doesn’t even bother people who are lactose intolerant. That’s because the friendly bacteria and the beneficial yeast growing in the kefir consume most of the lactose and provide very efficient enzymes (lactase) for consuming whatever lactose is still left after the culturing process…kefir is mucous forming, but…the slightly mucous-forming quality is exactly what makes kefir work for us. The mucous has a clean quality to it that coats the lining of the digestive tract, creating sort of a nest where beneficial bacteria settle and colonize.”

If you can’t tolerate any dairy, even fermented ones, I do have a great vegan version of this recipe that you can follow below. And if you don’t have fresh chives and parsley for this recipe, even half the amount of dried will do. Like most dressings and vinaigrettes, Ranch can be enjoyed all year long. However, keep in mind that creamy dressings go better with sturdier, more crispy lettuces like romaine. No matter how you enjoy it, I think you’ll agree this is the freshest, best-tasting Ranch you’ve ever had!

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Homemade Ranch Dressing

Author: Pamela

Serves: makes about 1 ¾ cups

Ingredients

½ cup soy-free Vegenaise or good quality mayonnaise
½ cup full-fat Greek plain, unsweetened yogurt
½ cup buttermilk or plain, unsweetened kefir
1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 medium clove garlic, grated or minced
1 teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper
2 Tablespoon chopped fresh chives or 1 scallion, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped

Instructions

Whisk all the ingredients together in a medium bowl until smooth. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 week.

Notes

To make this dairy-free and vegan:
¼ cup vegenaise
¾ cup raw cashews soaked in water for 3 hours, then drained
1 cup fresh water
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 medium clove garlic, grated or minced
1 teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper
2 Tablespoon chopped fresh chives or 1 scallion, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped

Place everything except the herbs into a high-powered blender or food processor and blend until creamy. Stir in the herbs by hand and transfer to a container.

buttermilk chives Dijon mustard garlic kefir parsley yogurt