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.

Easy Dinner

This is a classic meal in our household lately.  It's super easy, fast, hearty and healthy.  We don't have a lot of time to cook, let alone eat, so if we can just throw a bunch of healthy ingredients like this together, we call it a meal and enjoy.

Stuffed Peppers

A little bit of this and a little bit of that went into these stuffed peppers.  I decided last minute to make these and just threw a bunch of stuff in them.  Not too bad!

Wild rice blend
White beans
Sauteed kale and onions
Daiya vegan cheese

There you have it.

Native Foods!

I love Native Foods and when I received an email update from the saying that the weekly special was a Philly Cheese Steak, how could I resist!