Falafel

Chickpeas are so versatile, they are great protein and they can be made into so many things... hummus, put into soups, top salads, baked with seasoning on them for a snack, and falafel

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups washed chickpeas
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp crushed coriander seeds
3 crushed garlic cloves
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup flour
oil for frying


Directions

Soak chickpeas overnight in 10 cups hot water and baking soda. Drain. Grind in a blender or food processor until fine. Add spices and flour.If mixture is too dry, add a few drops of water. Make small balls about the size of meatballs. Heat the oil and deep fry a few balls at a time for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel. Keep warm.

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You can serve the falafel with any sauce you like, but I recently came across a really spectacular sauce in a wonderful book called FRESH FROM THE VEGETARIAN SLOW COOKER by Robin Robertson. She suggests pairing it with toasted French bread, but I think it goes very well with falafel!


Thyme-Scented Duxelles


Ingredients


¼ cup olive oil
3 medium-size shallots, minced
2 pounds white mushrooms, stems trimmed and wiped clean
2 tsp. minced fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp. dried thyme
½ tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
¼ cup cream cheese
3 tbs. dry white wine


Directions


1. Place the oil and shallots in a 4-quart slow cooker. Cover and turn the setting to high to soften the shallots while you prepare the mushrooms.

2. Using a food processor or by hand, coarsely chop the mushrooms. Add them to the slow cooker and change the setting to low. Cover and cook until the mushrooms are very soft, 6 to 8 hours.

3. After the mushrooms are cooked, strain the excess mushroom liquid into a bowl and reserve for use in another recipe.

4. Transfer the mushroom mixture to a food processor; add the thyme, salt, and pepper, and pulse to combine. Add the cream cheese and wine and process until blended. Taste to adjust seasoning.

Hummus and Pita chips

When looking around for a light snack or a small meal on a hot day, what could be better than chips and dip? Since I am aiming for low/no sodium for heart healthy reasons, I can't dive to the bottom of a bag of Lay's or Pringles.... and ranch or french onion dip is out of the question for similar reasons.... so I scampered into my kitchen to see what I could concoct....

I have frozen pitas from the last time I made a batch.... I can make chips out of those rather easily by cutting them like a pizza into 6 or 8 peices and baking them till crisp in the oven... great, I have chips, but what to dip them in?!

I looked to the Mediterranean cuisine for an answer..... and found several answers, eggplant dip, brucchetta, olive oil, and.... HUMMUS! Yum! that sounds fantastic!

Now to find a recipe that I like, hummus is basically pureed chickpeas (garbanzo beans) flavored in some way, usually with garlic, lemon, and tahini.... but I wanted a more robust flavor so I came up with my own recipe!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
  
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 cup fresh spinach
• 3 oz, crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cups red pepper flakes
• 1/2 of a 1 lb. bag of chickpeas, soaked and cooked till soft

Directions

Puree the chickpeas in batches, there are a lot of them! After the chickpeas are finished, puree the remaining ingredients together, then stir the mixture into the pureed chickpeas.

Add water to achieve the desired texture.

ENJOY!!!

Crockpot Oatmeal

Everyone could use a wholesome breakfast that you can simply grab in a hurry, right? I know I can! This one takes all of 10 minutes to throw together at night and the next morning you have a wholesome, hot, and delicious breakfast that will stick to your ribs till lunchtime! Whoever invented the crock pot was a genius!

INGREDIENTS

2 cups rolled oats
6 cups liquid (can use all or part apple juice, milk or other liquid)
Spices/flavorings to taste
1-2 cups fruit, either dried or fresh, cut
½ cup honey

DIRECTIONS

Throw all the ingredients into your crock pot, if using fresh fruit, add it just before serving in the morning.... Cook on low overnight.

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To make this yummy meal pack more of a nutritional punch, you could add a tablespoon or two of flax meal, nutritional yeast, wheat germ.... you get the idea....

By the way, for those of you with children who HATE eating their veggies, this recipe is a great opportunity to add some veggie goodness! Because carrots have a natural sweetness, only use half of the honey called for in the recipe, puree a cup of peeled carrots and add it to the crock pot about 10 minutes before serving... voila, veggies al la secret!

Black Bean Lime Salsa

Everyone needs a snack food from time to time, right? RIGHT!

This is one of my favorites! I found this recipe in the Spring 2008 issue of Clean Eating Magazine (pg. 74). Clean Eating Magazine is chock full of FANTASTIC recipes and great information about food and living a "clean" life. Clean Eating is also one of only two magazines I subscribe to! (The other is The Ensign, a magazine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

I did make some modifications to the recipe, my changes show up in orange next to the original recipe instructions. I love making new recipes, but I always use what I have on hand, rather than being wasteful.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup black beans (cooked or sprouted)
1 tomato, diced
1 lime, cut into small pieces (I used lime juice instead of fresh lime)
½ small onion, diced (I used a red onion)
1 tbs. balsamic vinegar
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup cilantro chopped
½ tsp. cayenne pepper (I used considerably more, didn't measure)
½ tbs. hemp oil (I used olive oil)
½ tbs. flax oil

DIRECTIONS

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. If allowed to sit for a few hours, the ingredients will infuse each other with flavour for an even more delicious mixture.

Fruit Cobbler

Since I have been posting recipes, I have posted no
desserts.... I realized my error a few days ago, and
thought I would post this Berry Cobbler recipe that
I make frequently.

Ingredients:
1 cup dry rolled oats (NOT instant oatmeal)
3 Tbs. flaxseed meal
1 tsp. olive oil
assorted berries/fruit of your choice
1 tbs honey (optional, see recipe)
1/2 cup flour of your choice

Mix oats with flaxseed meal and olive oil. Set aside.

Mix however many berries, apples, pears, whatever you
like that you can fit into a cobbler dish with honey,
IF using tart fruit, and flour.

Put part of the fruit mixture in the dish and top with
crumbled oatmeal mixture, repeat layers till all used,
ending with oat mixture. Bake at 350 F. until the top
is browned.....

SOOOOO GOOOOOOD!!!!

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I use a two quart dish. Use a whole grain flour if
possible as it is more nutritious... whole grain wheat
flour or whole grain rye flour are my favorites.

Most berries are pretty sweet on their own... if they
are not sweet enough, don't eat them till they ripen
a bit.  If you are up against a wall and NEED a sugar
fix, you could use a small amount of honey to sweeten
the tart fruit....

Vegetable Soup

This veggie soup is perfect with the Medieval Herb Bread that I listed below. It is great served over brown rice as well!

Ingredients

½ medium onions
2 cloves garlic
1 Anaheim chili
1 medium zucchini
1 medium carrot
2 ripe tomatoes
1 cup cooked beans of your choice
1tsp parsley
1 tsp basil
3 cups water

1. Prepare the vegetables:
Onion: Peel and chop
Garlic: peel and chop finely
Zucchini: Halve lengthwise and cut into thin semicircles
Carrot: Peel, then as for zucchini
Tomatoes: peel and deseed if wished. Chop finely

2. Place the onion, garlic, and chili in a large pan with 1 cup of
water. Bring to a boil, and then boil off almost all the liquid,
stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft .

3. Add the zucchini, carrot and tomato and reduce the heat slightly. Very soon these vegetables will begin to give off liquid, so turn up the heat again and boil it off, stirring constantly, until the vegetables have begun to soften.

4. Add 2 cups of water bring to a boil, cover, and cook for 10 minutes until vegetables have softened but are not mushy.

5. Remove half the vegetables, recover and cook remaining portion for 5 minutes more. Puree the remaining portion, and add it back to the removed portion. Add cooked beans and herbs, reheat, serve

Mediteranean Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

Salad
2 cups quinoa
4 cups water
2 cups frozen peas
1 bag frozen sliced bell pepper and onion mix
1/2 cup kalamatta olives
1/2 cup Mediterranean seasoning

Dressing
2 tablespoons Sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1 clove Garlic, minced
1 pinch Pepper
1/3 cup Extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

Boil water. Add quinoa, return to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer and cook till all water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and add remaining salad ingredients. Cool completely.

While salad is cooling, wisk together dressing ingredients and set aside till salad is completely cool.

Combine salad with dressing and serve over warm pitas.

Moroccan Grilled Chicken with Bulgur Salad

Ingredients

Chicken

½ tbs. curry powder

½ tbs. ground ginger

1 tsp Garam Masala

3 chicken breasts

Olive oil

Salad

2 eggplant

1tsp olive oil

1 c. bulgur

2 cups water

1 c. cherry tomatoes

2 green onions, chopped

½ cup Mediterranean Seasoning

Dressing

¼ cup lemon juice

2 tbs. olive oil

2 cloves minced garlic

Pepper

Directions:

Mix chicken seasonings together, brush chicken with olive oil
and then coat with seasonings, set aside.

Boil water. Meanwhile, slice eggplant into strips, coat with oil and pepper, set aside. Pour boiling water over bulgur, cover and let stand 30 minutes. Drain well, transfer to a large bowl. Stir in tomatoes, onions and Mediterranean Seasoning.

Wisk together dressing ingredients and stir into salad.

Grill or Broil chicken, turning occasionally until cooked through. Grill or Broil eggplant 2-3 minutes on each side till marks form on them.

Stir eggplant into salad.

Serve hot.

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

I thought to myself, I have been talking a lot about pitas, and
I haven't posted my recipe... Well that's kinda silly of me!
So here it is....

Ingredients
3/4 cup milk (or 2 1/2 tablespoons of dry milk powder and 3/4
cup water) YOU CAN USE NON-DAIRY MILK (I used almond
milk for this once)
1tbsp olive oil
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup bread flour
1 tsp sugar OR honey
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast or bread machine yeast

OPTIONAL ADD-INS:
1 tsp. DRIED herbs/spices (I have found that if you use fresh
herbs, the pitas will be a little soggy after baking)

1/4 cup slivered sundried tomatoes, dried fruits...etc. ..

These don't have to be savory, they can be sweet too, I really
like the cinnamon raisin ones I made once... really great with a
cream cheese/fruit filling

I like to stuff these with lots of different things... some of my
favorites are: barbecued pork, chicken salad, or taboule just
about anything you could imagine on a tortilla works well in a
pita, and then there are regular old lunchmeat sadwiches... . a
perk about pitas (if you never had one before) is that they
don't leak from the bottom, so you can use saucy foods to stuff
them with...

Directions:

1. Mix ingredients as you would for any bread dough OR my
personal favorite, since I have a child who does not like me to
be in the kitchen too long: add ingredients to the bread
machine, select the "dough cycle" and start.

2. After the dough is made, set it aside and cover with a large
bowl. Let it rest for about 10 minutes.

3. Divide the dough into seven equal portions and shape each
into a smooth ball. Now flatten the dough into circles that look
like pita bread you might buy from the store (use your hands,
a rolling pin, or a smooth tall glass). Try to keep from making
some places too thin/thick, you want them to be around 1/4
inch thick. Cover the circles and let them rise for about 30
minutes or until they puff slightly.

4. Place 2 to three dough circles on a lightly greased baking
sheet. Bake in an oven at 450 degrees for about 3 minutes,
turn the dough once, then bake for an additional 3 or 4
minutes, or until the bread is puffed and the tops are beginning
to brown.

5. Remove the pita rounds from the oven and let them cool on
a rack, and repeat with the remaining dough circles. You
should end up with 7 to 10 pita rounds.

6. To serve (just in case you never experienced a pita before)
cut the pita in half and open one side up like an envelope... fill
the inside with the filling of your choice, or just wrap the uncut
pita around the desired filling.


________

As with any breads, pitas freeze well, so I make a double or
triple batch and use enough for one meal and freeze the rest,
they are all ready to eat in convenient single serve portions...
just make sure that they are COMPLETELY cooled off from
the oven before you freeze them or condensation will collect on
them and you will have soggy pitas... when you want one you
can set them out to come to room temp, throw them in the
microwave or warm them up in a dry skillet, no oil needed my
preferred method, especially if they got put in the freezer too
soon...

Chickpea and Spinach Curry

This is really great to serve on warm home-made pita bread
for a light lunch or dinner. It takes a bit of planning though for
those of us who don't eat canned food... If you do eat canned
foods, you can use a 19 oz. can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
instead of soaking the beans overnight.

Ingredients
1 cup onion, chopped
1 1/2 tbs. ground ginger
1 tsp. olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. honey
1 1/2 tsp curry powder (sodium free)
1/2 to 1 cup dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
2-3 tomatoes, diced, with juices
4 cups fresh spinach, stems removed
1/2 cup water (reserved from cooking beans if not using
canned, otherwise just regular water)

extras (optional)
1/2 cup plain yogurt
thinly sliced lemon wedges

Directions
The night before - put dried garbanzo beans in plenty of water
and cover tightly. Refrigerate overnight.

The next day - drain and rinse beans, boil garbanzo beans until
softened. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid for recipe.

Combine onion, ginger, honey, and curry powder and saute in
oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until onion is
slightly softened (about 3 minutes). Add prepared chickpeas
and tomatoes and simmer for about 5 minutes. Stir in spinach
and water and cook just until spinach is slightly wilted.

Serve warm.

Caribbean Tilapia and Bell Pepper Risotto

Dinner for two + a baby :)

I wanted to create a recipe that my husband and I could enjoy
together, and being that I love to use what's on hand rather
than go buy some new expensive ingredients from the store, I
searched my freezer.

I found some frozen Tilapia... oh, I can use some Caribbean
seasoning and some lime juice... now what could go with
Tilapia? Well, what do I have in my pantry? OOOOOHHHH, I
have rice, and here in my freezer I have some bell pepper, I
can make that yummy risotto, my son absolutely adores that
risotto and will eat lots of it...

Thus a new family favorite is born!

Caribbean Tilapia

2 Tilapia Filets
1 tbs. Olive Oil
2 tsp. Caribbean spice (from http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/)
2 tbs lime juice
pepper to taste

heat oil on med-high heat in a small skillet, place fish in skillet
and sprinkle with half of the spices and lime juice, fry for about
4-5 minutes, gently turn fish over and sprinkle with remaining
ingredients. Fry till fish flakes easily with a fork.

Bell Pepper Risotto

1 cup Arborio Rice
2 1/2 cups water or chicken broth
1 tbs dried minced onion
1tbs. olive oil
1 bell pepper (color doesn't matter)
or
1/2 bag of frozen bell pepper strips.


place rice, liquid, and onion in a rice cooker (or cook rice, liquid,
and onion according to rice package instructions) , chop and
seed bell pepper and place in the steamer basket of the rice
cooker. Turn on cooker and wait for it to "pop". When rice is
finished, and bell pepper steamed to soft state, puree the bell
pepper with the olive oil in a blender and stir puree into rice.

Serve hot.

Medieval Herb Bread

This bread is fantastic! It turns out very crusty and has a delicious flavor. I love to serve it with soup.

Ingredients

5 tsp. yeast
2 cups warm water
6 eggs
1 1/4 tsp salt
6 TBS oil
1 1/2 tsp rosemary
2/3 cup parsley
8 cups flour
1 egg for top

Directions

1. Dissolve yeast in water.

2. Combine eggs, salt, oil, herbs and 3 cups flour.

3. Add yeast and mix well.

4. Add more flour to make dough and knead on floured
board for 10 minutes.

5. Place in greased bowl and cover and let rise for 1 1/2 hours
in warm place.

6. Shape into two loaves on cookie sheet.

7. Cover loosely and let rise for 45 minutes.

8. Brush with egg and bake for 50 minutes at 375 degrees F.



This recipe makes two loaves. You can bake them both or you
can prepare the loaves, up to step 7, wrap in plastic wrap, and
freeze one for later.

To bake a frozen loaf, pull the loaf out of the freezer and let it
come to room temperature and rise a bit. Then continue from
step 8.

You could prepare the dough in a bread machine and remove
the dough from the bread machine and bake as directed.

DO NOT BAKE THIS BREAD IN A PAN OR BREAD MACHINE
it needs to be baked on a cookie sheet as directed.

Spinach and Pesto Stuffed Sole

Ingredients:

2 Dover Sole Filets (or other white fish)
2 tbs. olive oil
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 tbs. minced fresh garlic
1/2 cup fresh spinach, stems removed
1 or 2 tbs pesto
2 tbs. lime juice
2 tbs. feta cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Spray a 2 quart round baking dish with nonstick cooking
spray.

Heat oil in skillet; saute mushrooms and garlic about 3 minutes
or until tender.

Add spinach and continue cooking about 1 minute or until
spinach is barely wilted. Remove from heat; drain liquid into
prepared baking dish.

Add pesto to drained sauteed vegetables; stir to mix
ingredients.

Divide vegetable mixture evenly between fillets, placing filling
in center of each fillet.

Roll fillet around mixture and place seam-side down in
prepared baking dish.

Sprinkle with lime juice, then feta cheese. Bake 35 minutes or
until fish flakes easily. Lift out with a slotted spoon.

*******

I served this with some brussel sprouts, and it was so
delicious! I will definitely make it again!

This is not an original recipe from me. The original recipe can
be found on SparkPeople.com but, since I modified it, I post it
here the way I made it.

Mediterranean Pizza

Dough

* 1 Package active dry yeast (2 1/2 tsp)
* 2 teas. honey
* 1 1/4 cups Warm water
* 2 3/4 cups All-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
* 3 tbls. Olive oil + 1 tbs. for top
* 1 teas. Salt
* 1 tsp powdered garlic

1. Sprinkle yeast and sugar into warm water in small bowl; let stand
until foamy, about 5 minutes.

2. Mix flour, cornmeal, oil and salt in a large bowl; make a well in
the center
and add yeast mixture. Stir to form a soft dough, adding more flour if
necessary. Turn onto a floured board and knead until dough is supple
and elastic, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl, cover and let rise
in a warm spot until dough has doubled, about 1 hour. Punch down. Roll
dough to a circle big enough to fit your pizza pan + 1 inch for crust
fold-over.

3. Dust the pizza pan with cornmeal.

4. Transfer dough to pizza pan, folding the excess over to make a
small rim.

5. Poke holes in dough with fork, (let it rise for about 20 mins if
you like deep dish)

6. Mix 1 tbs. olive oil with 1 tsp garlic and microwave for 30
seconds. brush crust with olive oil mixture.

7. Bake in a 400* oven for about 10 mins or until the crust is
bubbling and slightly speckled with brown spots. Take it out and top it.

This dough recipe makes 2 16-inch pizzas, so I make it up and
half it and freeze half the dough for later and make one
16-inch pizza for my family.



For the topping:

* Olives (chopped) to taste (optional)
* 6 or 7 sun-dried tomatoes (chopped)
* 1 chicken breast (chopped)
* a small handful of fresh spinach leaves (remove stems) broken if wished, I don't break them...
* Feta cheese to taste, I use about a cup for a 16-inch pizza
* garlic to taste
* olive oil to drizzle over top

I just throw ingredients at it till it looks right then bake it in the
400* oven till the feta is melty... oh if the crust around the edge
seems to get brown too much you can wrap foil around it or brush it
with more of that oil from the dough recipe....

SOOOOO GOOOOD!!!!!

The Kitchen is Open!

I have been listing my favorite recipes on my personal blog at http://choicespirit.blogspot.com/ for some time now, but the page seems to be getting longer and longer...... and I don't know about you, but I hate browsing pages that take forever to load because they have no end, so I have created this blog to post my favorite recipes.... enjoy!