A Rouxbe Experience....A lesson in eating your homework.

 

I've taken a break this summer from posting since I've been a busy bee - mainly, eating my homework. I've recently graduated from Rouxbe's online Professional Plant-Based Certification Program, and we've been busy creating food and eating food, creating, and eating....it's been enlightening to say the least, and an amazing experience.

This has everything to do with going back to the basics. Going back to the things you think you know, to learn them in a totally new and inspired way. Chopping. Knife skills. How big is a small dice anyway, and how do you sharpen your knives, hold your guide hand, know when a pan is ready for a sautee. Chemistry, science, art, and total joy.

We've had so much fun with the plant-based recipes, and we've totally indulged this summer: hand made manicotti with tofu ricotta filling and fresh marinara, chocolate genache torte, soups, stews, bean salads, desserts, smoothies, and so much more! 

My favorite part of the course was the intended "mise en place" for each recipe, or rather, the idea of "everything in its right place" before you proceed with the recipe. So many meals have been ruined due to overcooking, leaving the stove for an ingredient, not timing things correctly, and mise en place allows you to have everything in the right place, chopped, measured, ready to go, so that you can ENJOY the process of cooking and be in the present moment. Symbolic, right? 

Here we go. 

Enjoy the gallery of plant-based nutritious cooking, where nothing is missing....except the junk. This is how we loved ourselves up this summer, with beans, grains, veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, super foods, and all the lovely indulgences that these create, with whole foods. 

Knife skills!

Mise en place for roasted lemon cauliflower.

Spring asparagus rissotto. 

Mise en place for an arugula quinoa salad.

Coconut chickpea stew.

Penne carbonara (the vegan way)

Thai noodle soup.

Tofu chocolate mousse pie.

Braised seitan au jus with garlic greens.

Handmade manicotti, tofu ricotta, and marinara.

Handmade udon stir fry.

Mushrooms and beans.

Purslane and flower salad.

Chocolate genache pie with cherry/black pepper sorbet.

Mock tuna pate in collard rolls.

Mise en place for tempeh brocoli stir fry.

Polenta and broccoli/tempeh stir fry and heirloom tomatoes.

Cauliflower chimichurri.

Here are some photos of our last Rouxbe Assignment, which was to host an event with little canapés. So much fun enjoying good food and family and friends. 

Sweet pea and jimaca coconut samosas (raw) with lime creme.

Mini samosa burgers with onion and mango chutney.

Healing turmeric tomato soup, sweet potato crackers, borage.

Mini chocolate genache tortes with berry sorbet and coulis.

Fruit kabobs - can't have enough fruit kabobs!

Amazing best friends and family.

Best of late Summer Green Smoothie

If you're like me, you have a plethora of collards in the garden now, getting big and getting ready for a delicious fall. They are wonderful for making wraps (instead of tortillas), chiffonade into salads, massaged into more salads, but still, I find that I run out of ways to use them; so we get creative. Adding them to your smoothies is a super easy way to get 4 or 5 large leaves (and I'm talking a little under a foot long). They are crisp, green, and filled with fiber and nutrition. 

Also, these smoothies are a great way to get in more mint as well. Mint is refreshing, cool, fresh, and bold and mixes really well with summer fruits. So why not? Indulge in a late-summer minty fresh smoothie. 

3-5 large collard leaves, washed, destemmed and torn
1/2 bag of frozen organic strawberries
2 cups loosely packed mint (about 10 sprigs, without stems)
2 frozen bananas, in chunks
water to fill vitamix pitcher 1/2 way

Blend away and enjoy. This also keeps really well, so I make a big pitcher in the morning and drink a large glass, and then save the rest for the afternoon.