Braised Artichokes with Thyme

It's artichoke season!  Eat them to your heart's content.


Braised Artichokes with Thyme

Ingredients:

6 Medium artichokes
18 Fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs
3 Tablespoons olive oil
8 Fresh thyme sprigs
1 Head garlic, cloves separated but unpeeled
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 Cup dry white wine
Parmesan Cheese to garnish (optional)

Instructions:

1. Prepare artichokes. Cut the top off and pull the center open gently. Remove choke and sharp leaves with a spoon. If the artichoke has a stem, trim 1/4 inch of it, but keep it attached. Peel the stem. Transfer to a large bowl filled with cold water.
2. Transfer artichokes to work surface, and place 3 sprigs of parsley in each. In a large pot over medium heat, heat 2 tablespoons oil. Add artichokes, thyme, garlic, 1/4 cup water, and salt and pepper. Cover. Let cook for about 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until artichokes are tender and lightly browned.
3. Transfer to serving platter. Add wine and 1/2 cup of water to the pot. Turn heat to high, bring to a boil and scrape up brown bits from artichokes. Let boil for about 1 minute. Transfer water to a bowl and stir in remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Squeeze the pulp of three garlic cloves into sauce, mashing with a fork. Drizzle sauce over artichokes. Remove peels from remaining garlic cloves. Serve with crusty bread and garlic.

To learn all about the health benefits of artichokes, visit my website: Artichokes. Perfect for Health. Great for Weight Loss

Recipe from Care2.com

Miso Marinated Mushrooms

Photo from www.yummly.com

Delicious, healthy and satisfying.  Portobello mushrooms are perfect to eat when you really want to sink your teeth into something with texture and substance. They are my vegan "go-to" food when I am craving something hearty and filling.

This dish is great as an appetizer, a meal served with a big green salad, or you can pile the mushrooms between two slices of hearty whole grain bread for a delicious sandwich.

Here's what you need:.


2 tablespoons red or white miso paste
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons juice plus 2 tablespoons thinly sliced zest from 1 lemon, plus 1 extra whole lemon, cut into wedges
4 portobello mushroom caps, stems and dark gills removed
4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
2 ounces arugula or other spicy greens
2 tablespoons toasted pistachios, roughly chopped or pressed in a mortar and pestle
Coarse sea salt such as fleur de sel or Maldon
Freshly ground black pepper

Here's what you do:

Combine miso paste, brown sugar, soy sauce, vegetable oil, and lemon juice in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Rub evenly over surfaces of mushrooms and transfer to a gallon-sized zipper lock bag. Gently press air out from bag, seal, and transfer to refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

When ready to proceed, adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 350°F. Remove mushroom caps from bag and wipe off excess marinade with paper towels. Place on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet gill-side-down and roast until top surface is dry and mushroom is tender throughout, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes to cool slightly.

Using a very sharp knife, cut mushrooms on a sharp bias into thin slices. Transfer slices to a serving platter or individual platters, fanning them as you go. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil. Sprinkle with lemon zest, pistachios, black pepper, and coarse sea salt. Toss arugula with remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil, squeezing one of the reserved lemon wedges over the greens. Top mushrooms with arugula and serve, passing remaining wedges.

Recipe from: www.yummly.com

Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes

Heirloom stuffed tomatoes.......
Gorgeous and protein packed.


Ingredients:

4 ripe large organic heirloom tomatoes
1 bunch of organic parsley
1 red organic onion
1 portobello mushroom
3 stalks of organic celery
2 cloves of organic garlic
1/2 cup of organic quinoa
1/2 tbs of organic virgin organic oil

Garnish: kalamata olives, walnuts, avocado, spinach and mango -

First take a half a cup of organic quinoa and rinse it well. Put the quinoa in a pot with a cup of water and bring to a boil, then simmer for fifteen minutes. When the quinoa has absorbed the water, fluff the quinoa take off the heat and let it stand until you are ready to fold in the other ingredients.

While the quinoa is cooking, hollow out the tomato. Put the inside of the tomato in a large bowl.....Now take the parsley, onion, portobello mushroom, garlic and celery and chop it up fine. Mix the chopped up vegetables with the tomato. Squeeze a whole organic lemon into the bowl with all of the vegetables and add 1/2 tbs. of organic virgin olive oil.........

Now, fold in the quinoa into the bowl with all the vegetables and blend well with a large spoon. Take the mixture and scoop it into the hulled out tomatoes.

Place the tomatoes on a glass oven dish and place in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the tomato skin starts to sear.

Take the kalamata olives and slice them along with chopped walnuts and sprinkle over the stuffed tomatoes along with fresh organic lemon juice.

Serve in a bed of fresh organic spinach and garnish with half an avocado and mango slices.

Recipe from: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Veganism/179286465450022

Ridiculously Easy Roasted Beets

YUMMY!  Roasted beets. The perfect food to help satisfy your sweet cravings and ridiculously easy to make. Roasting beets brings out their natural sweetness. Just toss them in the oven for about 20 minutes and they're done!

Here's what you need:


4 beets, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves (optional)
1 pinch sea salt, or to taste

Here's how to cook them:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Toss the beets, olive oil, and thyme in a bowl until beets are coated, and arrange pieces of beet on baking sheet so that they don't touch. Sprinkle the beets with sea salt.

Roast in the preheated oven until the beets are tender, 10 to 20 minutes. A fork inserted into a beet cube should come out easily.

Enjoy!

Want to learn more about how good beets are for your health, wellness, and weight loss efforts? Read this:
Beat it with Beets! 

The Easiest Carrot Soup in the World!

I love carrots.  They are naturally sweet and highly nutritious. When I am in a snacking mood, I munch on raw, organically grown carrots because they're crunchy and take a long time to chew.

I include carrots in just about everything I cook.  I love them raw, in salads.  I add them to soups, stews, and stir fries.  I toss a handful of freshly grated carrots in to my marinara sauce and homemade muffins and cakes. Carrots lend glorious color, extra vitamins, and natural sweetness to any recipe.

Cooked carrots are especially sweet and perfect to eat when you are craving sugar.  Now that the weather is getting cooler, a great way to satisfy your sweet-cravings without sabotaging your weight loss efforts is to make a nice big pot of carrot soup.  Here is the easiest and most delicious Carrot Soup recipe in the world:


5 cups organically grown carrots
Pinch of salt
Dash of freshly ground pepper
Fresh dill

Scrub the carrots well.  I highly recommend using vegetable brush for thoroughly cleaning root vegetables.  If the carrots are organically grown, it is not necessary to peel them. Slice the carrots and place in a pot with an equal amount of boiling water. Cook al dente, about 15 minutes.

Purée in a food mill, blender or food processor. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Before serving, add some more fresh dill.


Yield: 4 servings

Watermelon Whole Fruit Popsicles

Good eating doesn't get any healthier or more gloriously gorgeous than this............
.


3 cups watermelon puree (about 1/4 to 1/2 a watermelon)
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup chopped fresh strawberries
1 kiwi, peeled and sliced
1 peach or nectarine, diced small
handful fresh cherries, pitted and chopped

Cut the watermelon into chunks and then puree it in a blender until smooth. Set aside.

Set out about 1 dozen popsicle molds (amount needed will vary depending on size of molds). Fill each one with the chopped fresh fruit. Then pour in the watermelon puree until each mold is full to the top. Place a popsicle stick into each one. Place into your freezer and freeze for about 6 to 8 hours.

When ready to serve, run the popsicle molds under warm water for a few seconds and then pull each one out.

Source: Raw Food Revolution

Waste Not. Want Not. Home Made Bread Crumbs

After reading an article about how much food Americans waste; I was appalled, ashamed and convicted.  There are so many starving people in the world yet we throw away more food than any other nation in the world.  That's a little sickening.  I am guilty of waste.  I am also the type who can stand in front of an over-flowing fridge or pantry and whine about having nothing to eat.  That's the real tragedy. I have no idea what it's like to be really hungry.  I sincerely hope I never do.

Here's the article I read, in case you're interested in seeing just how much food we are actually wasting.  Americans Toss Out Food.

I posted the article publicly.  Many people responded. Some folks are so creative and find clever ways to use left overs. They don't let anything go to waste. I applaud you. I really do.  Others admitted that they throw so much food away, despite their good intentions.  I am always full of good intentions myself,  but I often buy too much and if I don't cook it immediately or toss into the freezer; I have no choice but to toss it.

What I decided to do is address this whole issue with a series of tips for shopping and ideas on how to put our left-over scraps of food to good use so we don't waste as much.  One of the biggest complaints I heard was about bread. Unless you're buying those heavily processed, preservative laden, cellophane wrapped loaves (and I sincerely hope you're not), bread becomes stale and inedible so quickly. Here's a tip: the longer your bread remains fresh; the more crap that has been added to it.  Do you really want to be ingesting all those chemicals and preservatives? A real loaf of good, healthy bread will become as hard as rock in about a day or two. Most people shy away from that sort of bread because they end up throwing most it away. You don't have to do that.  There is never an excuse to toss it.  The possibilities of putting that stale bread to good use are endless.

Here's the easiest thing to do with your day old bread: transform it into seasoned breadcrumbs. This is frugality at its best.  These breadcrumbs are also better for you and so much tastier than anything you can  buy in those canisters at the grocery store. Read the labels. They contain preservatives. How else do you think they can remain in your pantry for months?

Here's how to make your own homemade breadcrumbs:

Ingredients:


1 lb. day old bread
2 tablespoons dried oregano or thyme
2 tablespoons dried basil or parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Preparation:


Preheat your oven to 300° F (150° C).

Cut the day old bread into cubes, and process the cubes in a food processor to make coarse crumbs.

Spread the crumbs on a baking sheet – use two baking sheets if necessary – and dry the coarse crumbs in the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring halfway through the baking time. Allow the crumbs to cool completely.

Return the dried crumbs to the food processor, add the seasonings, and pulse until the crumbs are finely processed and well-mixed with the seasoning.

Be certain the seasoned bread crumbs are dry and cool before storing in an airtight container.

This is so easy!!