Ingredients:
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 large bay leaf or 12 fresh curry leaves
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 serrano chili, finely diced
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4½ cups water or stock
1½ cups red lentils, rinsed
1 14-ounce can coconut milk
1½ teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon ground turmeric, or fresh if you have it
2½ cups cubed, peeled butternut squash
2 cups Romanesco cauliflower florets or more
1 large Yukon gold potato, cut into ½-inch chunks
½ of a celeriac, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes or pieces
1 teaspoon garam marsala
2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice
Directions:
1. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large pot. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and bay or curry leaves and cook until the seeds begin to pop, about 20 seconds. Add the onion, chile, garlic, and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is starting to brown, about 5 minutes.
2. Add water or stock, lentils, coconut milk, salt, and turmeric to the pot. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, to make sure the lentils don’t stick to the bottom. Add the squash, Romanesco, potato, and celeriac; return to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are just tender when pierced with a fork, 20-25 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat; stir in the garam masala and lime/lemon juice. Adjust seasonings to your taste.
Serves 6
This is a chutney recipe I worked on over the holidays when the days were so cold. The use of the Indian spices are thermogenic, which means they heat up and stimulate our metabolism helping us to feel warm and burn calories. This chutney is a little spicy, with a kick. You can moderate the amount of cayenne to suit your palate. The Fuji apples are sweet, so you might not want to add all the sugar. Just taste and adjust to your liking. This is so much fun to make because you put everything in one pot and cook! Hope you enjoy this new creation.
Ingredients:
6-7 apples, cut into small chunks
1 onion, small mince
2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger (or more, to taste)
1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
¾ cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup brown sugar
¾ cup golden raisins (sometimes I use other dried fruit such as cranberries or cherries)
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon plus ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
1 tablespoon minced garlic
pinch of sea salt, to taste
Directions:
1. Prepare and measure all the ingredients. Mix all the ingredients in a large pot. Bring to almost a boil and immediately turn the heat to a medium–low and partially cover, stirring occasionally.
2. Cook the chutney for about 20 minutes, then remove the lid and continue to cook, stirring frequently. Cook the chutney until the apples start to become tender and break down. You can cook this for a long time, but the apples will turn to sauce. Full cooking time is around 45 minutes, depending on the texture of the apples.
3. Remove from the heat and let cool. When at room temperature, put the chutney in jars and seal tightly. Refrigerate. It will last for several weeks refrigerated. You can serve it at room temperature or chilled. There is more flavor when it comes to temperature.
Makes about 3 cups
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons white miso
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, divided
3 pounds Japanese turnips with their greens
1 1/3 cups water
2 tablespoons mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine). You can substitute rice vinegar
Directions:
1. Stir together miso and 2 tablespoons butter.
2. Discard turnip stems and coarsely chop the leaves. Halfve the turnips (leave whole if tiny) and put in a heavy skillet with water, mirin, remaining butter, and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then boil, covered for 10 minutes, or until turnips are barely tender.
3. Add the greens by handfuls, turning and stirring with tongs and adding more as volume in skillet reduces. Cover and cook for 1 minute. Uncover and continue boiling, stirring occasionally, until turnips are tender and liquid is reduced to a glaze, about 5 minutes. Stir in the miso butter and cook 1 minute.
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
4 Japanese turnips
¼ cup pecans halves or pieces
3 ounces bacon (optional)
1 green onion, sliced on the bias
sea salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Remove greens from turnips. Tear leaves with your hands into medium to large pieces and set aside.
3. Slice the turnips as thin as possible (use a mandoline if you have one). Put into a bowl of iced water.
4. Toast the pecans in the oven just until they start to brown. Remove from the oven and set aside.
5. In a pan, sauté the bacon, if using, until crunchy on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside. Reserve the fat.
6. Prepare a simple vinaigrette: combine vinegar with a pinch of sea salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle in about 1-2 tablespoon olive oil. Set aside.
7. Heat the bacon fat in the same pan or if not using bacon use a teaspoon of olive oil. Once hot, add the greens and green onion, season with sea salt and just a splash of balsamic vinegar and cook until they are wilted.
8. Remove the sliced turnips from the iced water bath, dry, and toss them with the vinaigrette.
9. Arrange the turnip slices and greens in a mound and sprinkle with the bacon, if using, and pecans.
Serves 4
Modified from original recipe found on bigoven.com
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar [organic cane, raw, something good]
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup butter [half a stick]
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 beaten egg
1 cup chopped ripe pineapple guavas (feijoas)
Crystallized ginger (optional)
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare muffin tins [butter them, line them with muffin wraps; whatever your preference].
2) Combine dry ingredients [flours, sugar, baking powder and soda, ginger, salt]. Cut butter into small pieces and rub into flour mixture until it resembles fine bread crumbs.
3) Combine wet ingredients [milk, vanilla, egg], add to dry ingredients and mix in feijoas until just combined. Divide batter between muffin cups, top with optional bit of crystallized ginger, then bake for 15 minutes.
Makes 12 muffins
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 tablespoon chili oil
1 onion, sliced
1-inch piece ginger, grated
1 small head romanesco, cut into florets
2 carrots, cut into short sticks
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into squares
2-3 beets, steamed, peeled, and cut into bite-size pieces
Dressing:
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 teaspoon chili
Directions:
1. Heat the oils in a wok or large skillet and sauté the ginger and onion for 1-2 minutes, until they start to soften. Add the vegetables, except for the steamed beets, and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes more, until they have softened slightly. Stir in the beets. Remove from the heat and set aside.
2. Mix the dressing ingredients together. Transfer the vegetables to a serving platter and drizzle the dressing over. Serve warm immediately, or let the flavors develop and serve cold.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
3 cups mizuna
3 cups arugula
6 radishes, sliced thinly
¼ cup toasted pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
¼ cup chopped fresh herbs; such as cilantro, flat-leafed parsley, mint, and basil
Dressing:
4 tablespoons olive oil
juice of ½ lemon
1 clove garlic, crushed
sea salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Wash the greens and discard any thick stems. Dry and put into a salad bowl. Add the chopped herbs.
2. To make the dressing, whisk together the oil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Taste and add more lemon juice or oil if necessary.
3. Just before serving, add the pumpkin seeds and cranberries. Whisk the dressing; pour over the salad leaves, toss gently and serve.
Serves 4-6
Romanesco is so extraordinary – this makes a grand presentation, as well as being delicious!
Ingredients:
1 red onion, peeled and sliced
5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 large head of Romaneso, outer green leaves discarded, stalk chopped
olive oil
a handful of black olives, pitted
4 good quality salted anchovy fillets, drained and sliced
a handful of fresh flat-leafed parsley, roughly chopped, stalks finely chopped
2 8-ounce cans of good quality plum tomatoes
red wine vinegar
pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
Directions:
1. Find a pan that will fit the whole head of cauliflower, leaving an inch around the outside of it. This is important, otherwise it won’t work and cook the way it is supposed to.
2. Add the onion, garlic, chopped cauliflower stalks and a good drizzle of olive oil to the pan and slowly sauté for 10 minutes until softened with a little color. Add the olives, anchovies, and parsley stalks and sauté for another couple of minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes, red pepper flakes, if using, then half fill one of the cans with water and add that to the pan. Add a good pour of the red wine vinegar. Stir everything together, breaking down the tomatoes with a spoon to make sure that there are no big lumps. Bring to a boil.
4. Take the romanesco and gently push it down into the sauce. Half of the cauliflower will be in the sauce, half above it. Drizzle with olive oil, put the lid on and let it simmer on low heat for 50 minutes. Serve sprinkled with the parsley leaves.
5. You can make this vegetarian by taking out the anchovies.
Serves 4 as a side
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons arrowroot or organic cornstarch
¼ cup water
1¾ cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 pound Brussels sprouts
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Directions:
1. Dissolve the arrowroot or cornstarch in water. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the stock to a boil. Add the Brussels sprouts and cook until just tender. Strain, reserving the stock, and place the Brussels sprouts on a serving dish.
3. Return tock to the stove and, stir in mustard (you can use more mustard if you like it spicy), and lemon juice. Cook and stir until thickened. Pour over Brussels sprouts to serve.
Serves 6
Rarely do I use bacon, but it is the holidays and I know some of you must like bacon – this is really yummy!
Ingredients:
½ pound apple smoked sliced bacon (Corralitos Market has the best, in my opinion)
¼ cup butter
2/3 cups pine nuts
2 pounds Brussels sprouts, cored and shredded
3 green onions, minced
pinch of sea salt, to tase
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until crisp. Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons grease, crumble and set aside.
2. In the same skillet, melt the butter in with the reserved bacon grease over medium heat. Add pine nuts and cook, stirring, until slightly browned. Add the Brussels sprouts and green onions to the pan, and season with a scant pinch of salt and a good grind of pepper. Cook over medium heat until the sprouts are wilted and tender, 10-15 minutes. Stir in the crumbled bacon just before serving.
Serves 8