Kushari

Does anyone else actually make the recipes on the back of the food package?  I've done this several times, and they are always really good!  They're on the back of the package for a reason, right?  I bought a bag of Bob's Red Mill Kamut because I originally saw another recipe calling for the grain, but then I saw the recipe on the back and decided to make that one instead.  It says this dish is traditional Egyptian fare, so that's an added bonus.  Delicious and cultural! 

(From the Bob's Red Mill website)

Ingredients

• 1 cup Organic Kamut Berries
• 1 cup Lentils
• 1 cup Whole Grain Elbow Macaroni
• Water as needed
• 4 medium Onions, halved & thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil
• 4 Garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tsp ground Cumin
• 1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• 29 oz canned Tomato Puree
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

Step 1

Soak Kamut® berries in water overnight. Drain and rise berries.

Step 2

Place Kamut® berries and 3 cups water in a pot on bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer until soft, about 1 hour. Drain off excess water.

Step 3

Rinse lentils and place in a pot with 3 cups of water. Cover and bring to a boil. Let boil for 2 – 3 minutes then reduce heat to low and simmer until tender, about 25 – 30 minutes. Drain off excess water.

Step 4

Cook macaroni in plenty of boiling salted water until tender, about 6 – 7 minutes. Drain.

Step 5

While grains are cooking, prepare onions and tomato sauce.

Heat oil in a pan to medium-high and cook sliced onions until brown and crispy, about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Season with salt.

Step 6

In the same pan, add garlic, cumin and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add tomato puree and cook until heated through. Season with salt and pepper.

Step 7

To serve, combine cooked Kamut® , lentils and macaroni. Top with tomato sauce and crispy onions.

Makes 8 servings.

Dinkel Soup

Found this recipe on the package of Bob's Red Mill Spelt.

It called for chicken broth and sausage, but I just used vegetable broth and left out the sausage.  Pretty good for a cold(ish) winter night in San Diego.  Oh and I didn't put cabbage in it.

2 Tbsp Oil 1 cup diced Onion 1 tsp Celery Seed 1 tsp Caraway Seed 1 cup Organic Spelt Berries , soaked overnight 2 cups chopped Russet Potatoes 1 cup thickly sliced Carrots 6 to 10 cups Water or Stock 12 oz German Sausage, sliced 2 cups shredded Cabbage Salt and Pepper to taste Directions Step 1 Heat oil over medium heat in a soup pot. Add onions and cook until softened, about 7 minutes. Add celery seeds and caraway seeds and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add spelt berries, potatoes, carrots and water or stock. (If using uncooked sausage, add at this time.) Bring to a gentle boil and cook 30 minutes. If liquid appears low, add additional water or stock. Step 2 If using pre-cooked sausage, add it now along with shredded cabbage and cook until sausage is heated through and cabbage has softened, about 10 minutes. Makes 6 - 8 servings.

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 40 minutes Total Time: 50 minutes Servings: 6 - 8 Rating (Not yet rated)

Girl's Night!

I hosted a girl's night in with Arbonne party the other night and this was the spread:  all gluten-free, soy-free, vegan.

Spinach Artichoke Dip
Italian Nachos
Kale, spinach, and arugula salad
Veggie tray and hummus
White Bean Chili (not pictured)

The spinach artichoke dip was of course the favorite dish of the night.

For the Italian nachos, the recipe called for ground beef, but I just chopped up two portobello mushrooms and mixed that with marinara sauce.  Actually Megan made the Italian nachos, I just told her to use the mushrooms instead of beef.  She then spread the mushroom-marinara sauce over the corn chips and added arugula, basil and Daiya mozzarella.  

Pinto Bean and Sweet Potato Chili

This was supposed to be a black bean and sweet potato chili, but when I went to the pantry I only had pinto beans.  It was still delicious.  The avocado cream recipe came from my Martha Stewart magazine and instead of sour cream, I used cashew cream.

Avocado Cream

 

Ingredients

• 2 ripe avocados, pitted, peeled, and coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 1 to 2 limes)
• Coarse salt
• 1 pinch chili powder
• 2 jalapenos, ribs and seeds removed, finely chopped (about 3 tablespoons)
• 1/4 cup sour cream

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, lightly mash together avocados, lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and chili powder with a fork or potato masher. Fold in jalapenos and sour cream. Season with more salt and serve.

Spinach-Artichoke Dip

 
This is by far the best vegan spinach-artichoke EVER. 

Ever.

I made it for a Super Bowl party and it was a hit!  And it's totally vegan!  No one would have known, except I did put a label on it that drew attention to that fact that it was dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free, vegan.  I served it with cucumber slices to be super healthy, but I also ate it with some corn chips that someone else brought, and it was just as good!

I got it from this website, paleo spirit, and I plan to make it again and again, it is so good.  SO GOOD!  I keep repeating myself because I just don't know how else to explain how good it is.

Here is the recipe, copy and pasted from paleospirit.com, original post by the author Lea.

Spinach-Artichoke Dip

Ingredients

• 2, 10 ounce boxes frozen, chopped spinach
• 2, 14 ounce cans or jars of artichoke hearts (I used brined)
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt (adjust to taste and depending on how salty the artichoke hearts are)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (to taste)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 1/2 – 2 cups (approximate) cashew cream

Instructions

1. Defrost the spinach and squeeze out the excess water. Set aside.
2. Drain and roughly chop the artichokes.
3. Sauté the onions in the olive oil until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute.
4. Stir in the chopped artichokes, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper and cayenne and heat through.
5. Add in the spinach and lemon juice and stir until heated through.
6. Stir in the cashew cream.

How to Make Raw Cashew Cream

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw cashews (whole cashews, not pieces)
• fresh, filtered water

Instructions

1. Rinse the cashews well, place in a bowl with enough water to cover them by about an inch. Cover the bowl and soak the cashews for a MINIMUM of two hours but preferably overnight.
2. Drain the cashews, rinse under cold water and place into a food processor or high-speed blender with one cup of fresh, filtered water.
3. Process on high for several minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides, until you have very creamy texture. (It may take some time.)

Makes about 1 1/2 to 2 cups raw cashew cream.
For a thicker consistency, more akin to ricotta cheese, I suggest using half a cup of water and adding more if needed depending on your desired result.



This dairy-free spinach-artichoke dip is best served warm. We enjoyed it with slices of cucumbers and red bell peppers because they were good for scooping. It would also be great with some grain-free crackers and/or different veggies.