This recipe is an adaptation of one I first made about 30 years ago (in my vegan days) from The American Vegetarian Cookbook from the Fit for Life Kitchen by Marilyn Diamond. Better hot but also good cold IMO!
There have been many incarnations of this soup in my life, including as a staple at the health food deli where I worked–along with a catering job–to finance an 8-week trip to an ashram in India (that, my friends, is a story for another time.)
Lately I’ve simplified the soup to the bare bones for a quick and delicious low allergen side dish. Sometimes I have this with a side of tempeh, sometimes chicken, and it’s a really great side with salmon.
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Little so likely to be disappointing as a new gluten-free cracker. But alas, Oregon Cracker has beaten the odds! These new crackers carried by our local coop are actually delicious. So delicious, as a matter of fact, that I’ve been sitting at my computer dipping them in Earth Balance soy-free spread (we’re out of real butter) for the better part of the last half an hour. They’re not mealy, not too sweet, and best of all no nasty after taste. Gluten, soy, dairy, and corn-free to boot. My kid is allergic to rice, oddly, so he can’t eat them but the more the merrier for mom and dad.
I’d pair them with a hard cheese if I ate cheese. Ooh, a hard cheese and some quince paste. Hmmmm…
It would have made me a little happier if they had a bit more fiber but that’s a common problem with gluten-free crackers. But that is my only complaint. They’re available at People’s coop, Food Front coop and Alberta coop all in Portland. Oh, they’re locally made, in Corvalis. Bonus.
Warm and fresh straight out of the oven.
The granola at the market is always a bit too expensive and a bit too sweet for my taste. I started making my own just last year and then it fell out of rotation. My almost-five year old has been asking for granola of late so I decided to make it again tonight. I always forget how easy it is.
Ingredients
- 3 cups organic rolled oats- gluten free if you choose not to do gluten
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 6 TBSP canola oil* or coconut oil
- 1/2 cup any old chopped nuts
- 1/2 cup any old chopped nuts of another sort
- 1/2 cup raisins or other dried fruit, less if you want less sugar
- 1/4 cup flax seeds
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (we get recycled parchment paper from the local coop.)
3. In large bowl mix oats, cinnamon and salt.
4. In medium bowl mix honey, vanilla and oil.
5. Slowly mix the honey mixture into the oats. I like to use my hands to make sure that all the oats are coated well with the liquid.
6. Pour the mixture onto the two baking sheets and arrange in a thin layer. Bake for 7 minutes or until just golden brown. Pull the trays out and sprinkle nuts on the oat mixture then toss with a spatula and rearrange into a thin layer again. Bake another 3-5 minutes and pull out when golden brown.
7. Let cool then sprinkle on the raisins and flax seeds.
We store ours in a canning jar, though it is usually gone in a few days! Although we don’t eat dairy I would recommend sprinkling a bit on plain goat milk yogurt if you do.
Enjoy!
-Dr Samantha
*Please note you should ALWAYS keep vegetable oils in the fridge. If you have any in the cabinet throw it away. Now.
I had another lemon-walnut green bean recipe up a few months back but the original poster took the recipe down. I decided to make some changes and ended up with this deliciousness. Please note there is no accompanying photo because when I tried to take one it looked awful. Trust me though, they are delicious and don’t look that bad. Really. (Edited to add: I made this again this week because I wanted to try to figure out how to make it look better! The first time I didn’t use an ice water bath for them and this time I did. Night and day. The color is stunning so I added the photo.)
- 1 ½ lb organic green beans with tips trimmed
- Zest of one lemon
- 3 TBSP lemon juice (usually 1-2 lemons)
- 1 ½ tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2+ TBSP minced shallots
- 1 TBSP finely minced chives
- 1 cup toasted walnuts
Beans:
- Steam or boil green beans to desired tenderness. I like them slightly al dente.
- As soon as they are done either rinse in cold water or if you want to bother, you can drop them into a bowl of ice water to quickly blanch them. The color of the green beans is much more vibrant if you do this.
- Drain them in a colander and pour out onto a dish cloth to let them dry off a bit before you mix them with the dressing.
Walnuts:
You can either lay the nuts out in a single layer on a baking sheet and put them under the broiler for a few minutes (tossing when they begin to turn golden-brown.) Or, you can cook them in a dry pan over medium heat also tossing as they start to brown. Either way you have to pay close attention that they don’t burn. I always go with the pan technique due to a still-fresh memory of one unfortunate incident a few years back that involved my oven, a few cups of crushed hazelnuts and an expired fire extinguisher. Oh, and if you cut them up before you toast them you will find that little skin bits burn. I like the slightly burned taste so I do it this way but if that’s not your preference, toast them whole then chopthem up.
Dressing:
- Zest one large lemon and put aside.
- Whisk together lemon juice, mustard, olive oil and shallots.
Putting it together:
- Toss the beans with the dressing.
- Add zest.
- If you are eating it all right away go ahead and add the nuts and then sprinkle chives on each serving. Otherwise, put aside the part you want now, add the appropriate amount of nuts and chives (proportionally) and store the rest in the fridge in separate containers until you’re going for the leftovers. If the nuts sit in there they get pretty soggy…ick.
Enjoy!
-Dr Samantha
Two thumbs up.
We had a few double cut pork chops in our freezer from, oh, about 9 months ago. Even though we had used the Seal-a-Meal Food Saver I was worried they’d be too old. Not so! They didn’t even smell a little bit like freezer. I have to add here that the Food Saver is a fabulous investment. For us it has been great not only for keeping food fresh a little longer but also allowing us to always have a healthy meal or two on hand, a must for a full-time doctor mama whose part-time architect husband isn’t exactly independent in the kitch.
But back to the pork chops. I honestly haven’t enjoyed a meal this much in ages. It was hit for everyone. I even got a double thumbs up from my 4 year-old. He reserves this for only the most “abominable” (phenomenal) dishes.
The most complicated part of this dish by far was cooking the pork chops on the grill- and I won’t take credit for that, my husband is the family grill master. This makes me very happy (both of the above.)
We served the chops with Romaine, Avocado and Smoky Corn Salad with Chipotle Dressing and quinoa. I’ll post the salad recipe later this week if I can get to it. And for the record the boy piled up the sauce and quinoa on the slices of pork. He also helped himself to several spoonfuls of the sauce (twice) which he ate as a side dish.
The recipe is from epicurious.com
As past visitors know, I usually mess with recipes but I did this one almost verbatim (cut and pasted below with my changes in parentheses.)
For pork chops
- 3 tablespoons ground coriander
- 3 tablespoons ground cumin
- 2 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons black pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 (2-inch-thick) loin pork chops (each about 1 lb)- we had 2 in the freezer, so that’s what I used
For tomatillo and green apple sauce
- 1/2 lb fresh tomatillos (about 5), husks discarded and tomatillos rinsed (I used 3/4 lb.)
- 2 medium Granny Smith apples
- 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro sprigs
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 cup apple juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon mild honey
- 1 teaspoon minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo (I used a little less because we were serving this to our 4 year old. It was still spicy, just-right spicy.)
Marinate chops:
Stir together coriander, cumin, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, then add oil and stir until combined well. Rub spice mixture all over chops. Let chops marinate while making sauce and preparing grill.
Make sauce:
Simmer tomatillos and 3 cups water in a 2 1/2- to 3-quart saucepan, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tomatillos are just soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and cool 15 minutes.
While tomatillos are cooling, core apples and cut into 1/4-inch dice (I cut them smaller than that). Purée tomatillos with remaining sauce ingredients except apples in a food processor. Transfer to a bowl and stir in apples.
To cook pork using a charcoal grill:
Open vents on bottom of grill. Light charcoal (80 to 100 briquettes) in chimney starter. Leaving about one quarter of grill free of charcoal, bank lit charcoal across rest of grill so that coals are about three times higher on opposite side.
Charcoal fire is medium-hot when you can hold your hand 5 inches above rack over area where coals are piled highest for 3 to 4 seconds. Sear pork on lightly oiled grill rack directly over hottest part of coals, uncovered, turning over once and, if necessary, moving around grill to avoid flare-ups, until well browned, 10 to 12 minutes total. Move pork to coolest part of grill, then cover with inverted roasting pan and grill, turning pork over once, until thermometer inserted diagonally into center of each chop (avoid bone) registers 150°F, 10 to 12 minutes total. Transfer pork to a cutting board and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 15 minutes (temperature will rise to 155°F).
To cook pork using a gas grill:
Preheat all burners on high, covered, 10 minutes. Sear pork on lightly oiled grill rack, covered with lid, turning over once, until well browned, 10 to 12 minutes total. Turn off 1 burner (middle burner if there are 3) and put pork above shut off burner. Reduce heat on remaining burner(s) to moderate and grill pork, covered with lid, until thermometer inserted diagonally into center (avoid bone) registers 150°F, 12 to 16 minutes. Transfer pork to a cutting board and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 15 minutes (temperature will rise to 155°F).
Serve pork:
Cut pork away from bone, then thinly slice and serve with sauce.
Enjoy!
Dr Samantha
I was skeptical about this cereal because of the whole Chia pet thing. I mean, you eat that?
But, as it is it’s my job to taste all things healthy I went ahead and bought Chia Goodness Cereal to give it a try. And I’ll be…it’s actually good!
Chia, or salvia hispanica is an extremely nutritious seed with high levels of fiber and omega-3 fatty acids. The brand Chia Goodness has mixed chia seeds with various things to come up with some mighty delicious cereal. The only deal breaker here for some may be texture. If you like tapioca you’re all good but if that texture doesn’t work for you, you should skip this cereal.
My son likes the apple almond cereal which has chia, buckwheat, hemp, dried fruit, a little bit of sweetener and of course, cinnamon. You prepare the cereal by adding milk (or milk alternative) and letting it soak for about 5 minutes before you eat it- I prefer to add double the amount of milk they recommend. We use unsweetened Tempt vanilla hemp milk and it is just the right amount of sweet. Personally I like this flavor mixed with the plain unsweetened version. There is also a chocolate/cocoa version that is delish…but that’s dessert, not breakfast.
You can add additional nuts, or a dollop of yogurt…or even some extra dried fruit if you’re they sweet type.
Gluten free, even.
Enjoy!
-Dr Samantha
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