Rustic Chipotle Cilantro Burgers

These are delicious, but not very sexy.....not flamboyant in any way, not pompous, just simple, delicious and nutritious.  They're kind of unassuming and shy, actually...but they hit the spot.  They can be eaten as is, out the door in a napkin, or between some home made bread, avocado, and lots of delicious sweet onion. 

If you like veggie burgers but you don't like the price, these are great for that reason also.  Filled with heart-healthy fiber, and packed with a kick, they are a snap to make...and to boot, they freeze well (which is why they are on my regular rotation).  

I regularly use my pressure cooker (1) because it's fun, (2) I feel like I'm using heavy machinery, (3) it's a gadget, and I love gadgets, and (4) it's so super cheap to make beans! And they always come out perfect.  Just make sure you soak your beans overnight and cook them with kombu in the pressure cooker, based on the manufacturer's instructions.  Otherwise, you can use canned beans (but please buy BPA free like Eden brand, and give them a good rinse).  

1 zucchini, shredded

1 onion, chopped fine

1 teaspoon coconut oil

1 teaspoon chipotle powder

3.5 cups cooked chickpeas

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped

salt and pepper, to taste

First, saute the zucchini and onion in the coconut oil until they start to sweat, about 5 minutes.  Place these in the food processor with the chickpeas, chipotle, & oats. Add the cilantro, and blend (not too much - you should still be able to see some of the cilantro vs. creating a green batter). 

By 1/3 cup full, create patties and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  These will be pretty sticky and will not want to leave your hands, but just pass them between your hands until they resemble a semi-flat shape (about 3/4 inch thick).  If this is too sticky for you, let the batter sit for 10 minutes and the oats will draw in some of the moisture and solidify the batter a bit more.  

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Enjoy!

I like to salt/pepper these right out of the oven.  The reason being that I want the salt taste to hit my tongue, rather than it being dispersed in the whole batter.  I end up using less salt that way. But you can salt as you'd like. 

Tangerine Cacao Chia Pudding

One of my favorite recent splurges was a tangerine essential oil from Young Living.  Worth every penny (and it cost a pretty penny!) At the beginning, I cherished it and dabbed a drop on the inside of my wrist and breathed in the amazing vapors.  More recently, I've adventure to include it in foods and let me tell you, it's out of this world.

Everyone has a good recipe for chia pudding, but this one, if I may say so myself, is out of this world. There's something about the combo of orange/tangerine and cacao.  Not sure what it is.  Perhaps I grew up with it in Romania, but I can't remember....for some reason, it hits a deep spot in me from my childhood.  I still have yet to place it but whenever I taste it, I love revisiting.  (Upon writing this story, I asked my husband if he could place it and he said..."I know what it is...Milano Cookies".  I can't believe he beat me to it! Hence the name...Thank you, Nate...)

Chia balances blood sugar, fills you up with fiber, anti-inflammatory omega 3's, and it's so fun to eat! Kind of crunchy, keeps you hydrated (since it absorbs at least 10 times its weight in liquids), and keeps you satisfied for a long time.  I love it - it's in my essential pantry items list (although I keep it in the fridge). 

This chia pudding pretty much makes itself.  The work is super minimal, but I highly recommend giving it a good stir so the seeds don't all get lazy on the bottom of the jar.

4 cups almond milk

3 heaping tablespoons cacao

4 heaping tablespoons chia seeds

2 tablespoons maple syrup

5 drops Young Living tangerine oil (link HERE)

Easy version (but might be more clumpy):  Mix all the ingredients in a mason jar and give it a good shake.  Please make sure you do this next step - once you've given it a good shake, stir it up a bit with a long spoon just to dislodge any chia that may have stuck to the bottom.  Keep it in the fridge for at least 4 hours, and give it a good shake (or stir) every so often. Some people weep when they eat this.  It's that good. 

Harder version, but worth it:  In a strong blender, combine the milk, cacao, syrup and tangerine oil until smooth.  Pour this out into a bowl and whisk to make sure it's all combined well (and just to look at it - it's so pretty :) 

 Add in the chia....

And mix well for about 5 minutes (yes, I said 5 minutes).  Then refrigerate from 4 hours to overnight and enjoy.  Mix well again before serving. 

Maple Amaranth Porridge

I love oatmeal as much as the next guy, but sometimes I like to mix up my grains a bit and get a little crazy.  Like this Maple amaranth porridge.  I was transfixed by how crazy little this grain is, and how packed with nutrition it is. I would highly recommend you try different grains, and start with this one for complete beginners.  Amaranth cooks down into this gelatinous beautiful goop. 

A native of Peru, Amaranth is packed with calcium and protein and it also contains "lysine", an amino acid which is not as common in other grains. It's known to lower cholesterol, is good for the heart, and it's gluten free.  It's an all-around winner, I say.

1 cup amaranth

3 cups water

Cook the amaranth in the water until most of the water is absorbed.  Cover and let cool.  You can make a big batch of this (as I do) and scoop out a portion to make for your porridge.

3/4 cups almond milk

maple syrup

cinnamon

Scoop out 1/2 cup amaranth into a pot and add about 3/4 cups almond milk, preferably home-made.  Let it simmer and thicken, just a few minutes.  You may use a whisk to break down the lumps of amaranth.  Pour out into a bowl, season with a little sea salt, maple syrup and cinnamon and enjoy.  

Easy Corn Cilantro Burritos on the Cheap

My son loves burritos, but I don't like the price of them, especially how quickly he goes through them.  They're a perfect after-school snack, but easily 3 or 4 in one week for almost $3 a pop is quite a hefty price for burritos.  For months now, I've been making these spiffy little guys and I feel much better about the fact that they're from scratch, no oil added, loaded with veggies and as fresh and wholesome as can be.  I hope you enjoy them as much as my son does!

He loves both cilantro and corn, so enter the perfect marriage of two wonderful flavors! These are a snap to make and you'll be set for about 2-3 weeks with enough burritos to feed a small army.  Or a growing son. 

You can adjust pretty much everything in this recipe, from the veggies you add,  the seasonings, to even doubling it and being set for weeks at a time.  I also use sprouted wheat tortillas with whole grains and loads of fiber, so there's added nutrition and digestibility there.  

I make my beans from scratch, but you can definitely use a can if you need to.  Just make sure it's EDEN, as they are BPA free, and remember to rinse them really well to freshen them up.

What's great is that I reuse pretty much everything - as soon as we unwrap a burrito, we save the parchment paper we wrap them in and put them back in the freezer bag.  When they're all gone, we reuse the bag and the parchment and start all over again.  Super cheap, super easy.  That's how we roll. 

Veggie mixture:

1 teaspoon coconut oil, optional

1 vidalia onion, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1 teaspoon cumin

3 large stalks kale, de-stemmed and chopped

Bean mixture:

3 cups black beans

1 scant teaspoon sea salt

Add ins:

1/2 cup organic salsa

1 heaping cup loosely packed cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup defrosted or fresh corn

1 seeded jalapeno, optional (adjust to your own heat preference)

Combine the veggie mixture (without kale) in a saute pan and either use the coconut oil if desired, or a little broth to get everything going, until soft. Add in the kale and just give it a quick stir for a minute until it wilts down.  Let cool. Process lightly in a food processor. Set aside.

In a food processor, process black beans and salt until it becomes a smooth paste.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the beans, veggie mixture until well incorporated.  Add in the "add ins" and mix well.  

Set aside your tortillas.  Add in about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the mixture in the middle.  

Flip the bottom side up over the mixture. 

Flip the left and right sides over. 

Flip the whole burrito over, keeping the mixture in as much as possible.  

Wrap in parchment or wax paper and place them all in a freezer bag.  

When ready to use, wrap in aluminum foil or even just leave in the parchment paper (don't use the wax paper for this step) and bake in a convection (or regular oven) at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes.  Enjoy with fresh tomato salsa, avocado, and raw cashew sour cream.  

Maple Apple Cranberry Chutney

Cranberry Sauce is one of my weaknesses, and until about a few years ago, it did certainly involve shaking out this crazy but fun gelatinous tube of "sauce" out of a can. I thought it was funny that it would remain in that solid blob, but I didn't mind. I'd just take a fork and go to town.  The taste of sweet and tart was undeniably irresistible, and I could eat the whole thing myself, with or without turkey.

After turning plant based, I realized that every department of my culinary life could use an overhaul, or at the very least, a huge improvement. Out went the turkey, but would the can of cranberry "sauce" follow? It was a personal decision for me, but yes, of course, it had to.  I guess formerly I didn't mind that I could save a can or two in my pantry and it would never go bad (insert vision of me eating cranberry sauce in the summer time, spring time, autumn, you name it).  Now that I know better (and have discovered the pop that fresh cranberries make when cooked) I'm hooked to a more mature version of this addictive concoction.  Enter the chutney.  

This maple apple cranberry chutney isn't too sweet, too tart, it just...lingers.  Like a good sunset or a fabulous book.  It takes a little while to taste all the flavors, but it is well worth the wait.  Just use a grown up fork and again, go to town (but in a civilized way, of course).

1 bag fresh cranberries

2 medium sweet apples, such as honeycrisp, diced

Juice from one or two large oranges 

dash cinnamon

dash ground cloves

dash nutmeg

1/3 cup maple syrup, or more or less to taste

sea salt, to taste

Combine all ingredients (except for the maple syrup and salt) and heat over medium until bubbly.  Lower the heat and cook until thickened.  Add the syrup and salt and taste to adjust to your liking.  Eat it hot, warm, or cool, with a big spoon.  

Curried Peanut Pumpkin Soup

Today marked our first Purple Dragon CSA deliver at our home....we've waiting for this for some time now, ever since we agreed to host a few weeks ago.  This entailed painting our garage, and creating these beautiful barn-like doors (courtesy of my husband's creativity and vision), shopping around for boxes, coordinating contact info and sign ups.  And lo and behold, 5:00 am they arrive in all their glory - fresh fruits and vegetables, organic, mostly local, and absolutely brilliant.  Despite my lack of sleep, I was ecstatic and running with energy. 

I think the trick is to literally be in love with health and good food.  Carrots, apples, pears, cilantro, onions, too many to name...unpacking everything I slowly began to realize what it actually takes to get this food to our table. How many hands has it passed, labor, time, money, distance.  I fell in love with it all over again, the whole process of farming, gardening, growing food, ensuring that it's organic, alive, real. I have a deep respect for food since for me, it really is my medicine.  

So medicinally, this morning I needed soup. And I also had this monstrous chunk of a cheese pumpkin that I had to put into effect pronto, mainly for the reason that my fridge couldn't house it.

This recipe was pretty haphazard...I don't quite exactly remember the quantities, so you might have to make some adjustments for your taste buds.  But it's simple, quick, and utilizes the bounty of today's harvest from Purple Dragon.  

1 tablespoon unrefined virgin coconut oil
1 hefty carrot, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
5 cups peeled, seeded and cubed "cheese pumpkin" meat
3 potatoes (white or sweet potatoes are both great), cubed, with skin
1 medium apple, with skin, chopped
2 heaping tablespoons almond or peanut butter
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin
cilantro and pumpkin seeds to garnish

Saute the carrot, onion, and celery in the coconut oil on medium heat until translucent.  Add in the pumpkin, potatoes, apple and enough water to cover by about 1 inch or so.  If you like your soup thick, add less - if more thin, add more.  

Simmer about 40 minutes until all of the vegetables are soft.   Add in the peanut/almond butter, and spices, and blend with an immersion blender until smooth.  Season with salt per your taste, and decorate with cilantro and pumpkin seeds.  Enjoy!

Here's to more pure food, a connection with where it comes from, and community supported agriculture. To your health!

Chocolate Buddha Bowl

Lots of people ask me what I have for dessert, and truthfully it always changes, but when I find something truly magnificent and easy I tend to stick with it for weeks.  Enter the banana berry chocolate buddha bowl.   It has an unusual mix, a hodge podge of good-for-you ingredients, and you get to drink "chocolate milk" at the end.  It's like those cocoa crispies cereal I used to eat as a kid (I know, right?) but better.

Use whatever is in season (this photo was taken when blueberries hit the stores, July), and work your magic. I also used mulberries from our backyard tree, and that was a completely beautiful experience (I grew up with them and think everyone should have a mulberry tree!) Peaches were good for august.  I'm adding apples in September.  You get the idea. It can morph to fit what nature provides each month.

Cacao paste is this new product I found which is literally divine (albeit expensive) but worth every penny. Plus it lasts you months and you only need a little at a time since it's so concentrated. 

The hemp offers superior protein for that little sugar spike you get from the banana, blueberries are full of superfood antioxidants, nuts give you heart healthy and omega-3 fats, and you're good to go.  I have to admit, I have this for breakfast sometimes.  Very naughty, but not really....

Eat, chew, breathe, and be good to your body. 

1 banana sliced
hand full blueberries or berries of your choice
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
1 tablespoon cacao paste, crumbled
1/4 cup mixed nuts (I used cashews, pecans and walnuts, but your choice)
pinch salt
1/3 cup water (yes, I know, but trust me its so delicious)
small drizzle of local honey

Combine ingredients together and enjoy!