Kimchi Soup

Sometimes Kimchi is just too intense. Looking for a savory idea, I made a delicious cabbage soup that I will want to make again.  Also, this would be great served cold, like a Japanese-type gazpacho.

Yield: 4 cups, two servings 

Ingredients:

1 C Jongga Nappa Cabbage Kimchi 

1 C shredded green or white cabbage, any variety

1 TB Better Than Bouillion Reduced Sodium Vegetable Soup Base (1 tsp per cup of water)

3 C Water

Bring covered water to a boil with Soup Base, add Kimchi and cabbage.  On medium heat, heat covered soup to a boil, then lower temperature and simmer for ten minutes, until cabbage is thoroughly softened.

  

Banana Everything Cookies

 This is a recipe that I have modified from New York Times Cooking.

Cookie calories depends on the batch yield. Total Calories: 2196 without real sugar.

 Ingredients:

nonstick cooking oil spray

1 very ripe medium banana

⅓ cup Canola Oil

2/3 Alternative Baking Sugar (or Sugar)

1 tsp vanilla extract

¾ cup plus 2 TB all-purpose flour, or as needed

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

¼  tsp cinnamon

2 cups old fashioned oatmeal

½ C chopped walnuts

½ C chocolate chips (or less)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use Silpat liners or spray two baking pans with oil. 

Using one large bowl, mash banana well. Add oil, sugar & vanilla, and mix with a strong fork. Add flour, baking soda, salt & cinnamon, and mix until just moistened.

Add oatmeal, walnuts and chocolate chips. Using your hands or a sturdy spoon, mix well until oats are well moistened. (If dough is very slippery, add one or two extra TB flour.)

Using clean, wet hands, re-wetting as needed, roll dough into balls slightly smaller than a golf ball, about 1 ⅓” in diameter. Flatten slightly (important) & place 2” apart on a baking sheet.

Bake until lightly browned, 10-12 minnutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

11-01-2022 batch was 36 cookies, 61 calories each.   

 

Beginners Wine Vinegar Salad Dressing

 Calories: 28 calories per TB

Yield: ⅔ Cup = 10 TB

Ingredients:

½ C Seasoned Rice Wine Vinegar

1 TB low sodium Soy Sauce

1 TB Avocado Oil (or other neutral oil)

2 tsp Maple Syrup

1 TB dry minced ginger bits (or 2 tsp powdered ginger) or more

Mix in food processor or blender 

Refrigerate

Oil-Free Mustard Salad Dressing

 This recipe of from ordinaryvegan.net

Double up, it's that good!

yield: ⅓ Cup

ingredients:

¼ C water

1 ½ TB cider vinegar

1 small shallot or red onion slice, chopped

2 ½ tsp dijon mustard (or more)

2 tsp maple syrup

¼ tsp salt

ground black pepper

1 TB fresh parsley, chopped

Combine all ingredients except the parsley into a food processor or blender.

Process until smooth. Add the parsley, taste and adjust seasonings.

Cover. Refrigerate. Will keep 4-5 days refrigerated.

"Almond Flour Cake" Muffins

I baked a cake recipe in a muffin pan and they turned out great! Delicious, not too sweet and under 100 calories! This shouldn’t be a big deal. The original recipe is from King Arthur Baking, my source for many recipes and baking ingredients such as Baking Sugar Alternative, Almond and Coconut Flours. I was forewarned in the recipe's reviews that releasing the recipe from the pan can be problematic but my dough looked like a bread machine's kneaded dough ball! 

 It did take a while to put the ingredients together and into the pan for baking but that is true whenever you separate egg yolks, whisk egg whites and mix flours before combining with other stuff.  Put on your fav music and enjoy the process and aroma.

 

I am recording this recipe in steps using two mixer bowls for a stand electric mixer. A portable, hand-held mixer would work just as well to prepare the whisked egg whites. I didn’t turn on the oven or prepare the pan until I was midway through preparation. 

 

Yield: 12 small muffins or one 8” cake 

Ingredients:

 

-  4 large eggs, separated, at room temperature

-  ½ cup + 2 TB granulated sugar or Baking Sugar Alternative, divided ¼ C + ¼ C + 2 TB

-  1 tsp vanilla extract

-  1 ¼ cups almond flour

-  1 TB coconut flour (can be replaced with ¼ cup Almond Flour, exchanges ¼ cup = 1TB)

-  1 tsp baking powder

-  ¼ tsp salt

-  ¼ cup sliced raw almonds, for topping

-  Butter or Baking Spray 

 

Instructions:

 

Step 1  Whisk Dry Ingredients

 

 Whisk together the dry ingredients – flours, baking powder and salt.

 

Step 2  Wet – Egg Yolks

 

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the egg yolks, ¼ cup of sugar, and vanilla until smooth.

 

Step 3  Wet – Egg Whites

 

Using an electric mixer, whip the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Slowly beat in the remaining ¼ C sugar. 

 

Step 4  Set oven temperature, prepare pan

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin cups, bottoms and sides, with Baking Spray (or lightly grease with butter). Sprinkle 2 TB of sugar into the bottoms of the muffin cups.

 

Step 5   Form Dough: Combine Dry Ingredients and Egg Yolks

 

Stir together the dry ingredients from Step 1 and Step 2 – Wet – Egg Yolks to form a thick dough.  

 

Step 6  Form Batter: Combine the Dough and Egg Whites

 

The original recipe states ‘Fold in the egg whites, ½ c at a time, incorporating them fully between each addition.  The final addition should result in a smooth fluffy batter dough.”

This did not work for me because my thick dough ball could not be manipulated by folding.

 

This is what I did next with the dough in the stand mixer’s bowl.  I poured the egg whites into the bowl and using the necessary speed setting, I combined both into a frothy mixture. It looked like the dough was in pieces afloat in the egg white foam.  Do not worry -this will work!

 

Step 7  Fill the muffin pans and sprinkle the almonds on top.

 

Step 8  Bake for 20 minutes or until the tops are lightly “golden” brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

 

Note: I baked these for low calorie (95 cal.) snacks but they would be great alongside a scoop of yogurt, ice cream, sliced fresh fruit or as a base for strawberries with whipped cream.

Leftover Omelet

 

I look forward to finding leftovers in my refrigerator. Inspiration always surprises me.  This is a lower calorie lunch meal with freshly steamed kale and half of a leftover roasted russet potato.   Living in LA, I often camped in the wilderness. slowly roasting vegetables wrapped in foil nestled under logs burning in a campfire ring.  The next day, those leftover veggies would be a real treat hiking to the mountain top. 

My usual omelet is one whole egg and two egg whites, mixed in a mini food processor with salt, pepper and fresh herbs. I steam the kale in the microwave for a few minutes, and before the kale was done, added the leftover roasted potato slices to reheat.

Cooked the egg mixture in a nonstick pan, with a spray of oil. When it was nearly cooked through, added the cut up potato slices and kale along with ¼ C of whole milk ricotta cheese.  While the eggs were still soft, folded the omelet in half. The potato pieces did give the small omelet substance. Next time, I’ll add chopped scallions or red onion, parsley or watercress, mushrooms, squash or broccoli bits, always a different combination.

 

Charred Cauliflower with Anchovies, Capers & Olives

 

 

This recipe is on The New York Times Cooking site developed by David Tanis who writes “You can serve it room temperature as an antipasto, as part of a buffet or warm as a nearly vegetarian main course with rice pilaf, roasted sweet potatoes or pasta.”

My appetite has definitely been reset by the intensity of these flavors and now I'm inspired to invest the time to make my meals more flavorful. The combination of anchovies, capers, olives, lemon juice, garlic, parsley and olive oil is so delicious that I am thinking of other foods that would be delicious in this mixture such as garbanzos or edamame beans. Following are some process photos to see how interesting it looks in the bowl; food prep can be fun.

 

Look how saucy it is from the oven.

And the next day, I added a few more anchovies and olives and this cauliflower was great over mixed greens, hardy enough for some kale, romaine, parsley and watercress.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

1 medium cauliflower (about 1 ½ pounds)

2 garlic cloves, minced (I used chopped garlic from a jar)

4 to 6 anchovy fillets, rinsed, patted dry, finely chopped

½ cup roughly chopped good-quality green or black olives 

1 TB capers, rinsed, patted dry, rough chopped

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 TB lemon juice

1 TSP grated lemon zest

½ C roughly chopped parsley

3 TB chopped scallions

Omitted from the original recipe and optional:

salt and pepper

red-pepper flakes, ½ TSP

 

Preparation:

1. Put a large pot of water on the stove, bring to a boil. Meanwhile, with a large knife, cut the cauliflower into quarters. Cut off the tough core at the stem end of each piece. Cut cauliflower quarters into rough ½ inch slices. Cut larger pieces into several pieces, so all the chopped cauliflower is about the same size. 

2. Salt boiling water generously and add chopped cauliflower. Cook for two minutes, then drain and spread out on a baking sheet to cool.

3. In a large bowl, put garlic, anchovies, olives, capers, olive oil, lemon juice and lemon zest. 

At this point, I want to add to this recipe, step back, admire your work.  It is so aromatic and beautiful!

Whisk ingredients together and taste. Adjust salt or lemon juice as necessary. 

4. Add blanched cauliflower to the bowl. Optional: Season lightly with salt and pepper, add red pepper flakes to taste. Toss the cauliflower with your ands to coat evenly with the dressing.

5. Transfer mixture to a shallow baking dish. (Recipe may be prepared to this point several hours ahead of baking.)

6. To finish, heat oven to 450 degrees. Bake cauliflower uncovered, for about 20 minutes, until top is browned and beginning to char in some places. For extra char, pale dish under broiler for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve at room temperature with a sprinkling of parsley and scallions. Drizzle with a little more olive oil, if desired.

 

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Tasty Fake Rice - yes, Cauliflower

 

You know what it looks like. Boring made good. This is oven roasted from a bag of frozen cauliflower rice that had been thawed. Tossed in a medium sized bowl with a little olive oil and a tablespoon each of minced ginger (from a tube) and chopped garlic (from a jar).  

Roasted at 350 degrees spread out in a thin layer on a foil wrapped sheet pan, 20 minutes. DELICIOUS.

When is the roasting done? Not sure. Heated through? Brown at the edges?

Next time, I’ll try roasting at 375 degrees a little longer just to see if it will brown some more around the edges.  I think if I used more oil, it would get crispy or put it under the broiler for five minutes.

Served this with pan sautéed Cod and roasted Brussels Sprouts. Lovely.

Black Beans with Calabaza Squash

A local supermarket has vegetables from around the world and this squash was sold in cellophane wrapped packages in huge chunks with the outer rind.  It looks a lot like butternut squash.  Substitute any winter squash in this simple, inexpensive and filling recipe.  The squash is roasted and then combined with the other ingredients - a great Fall/Winter one-dish meal.

makes 4 small servings that includes ½ c beans each

Recipe:

2 pounds or more Calabaza Squash, seeds removed

1 can/2 cups Black Beans, drained and rinsed

1 lb. mushrooms

1 large Vidalia onion, chopped

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp cayenne 

olive oil

Optional:

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 jalapeno seeded and chopped instead of red pepper flakes

Roast squash in 400 degree oven until a fork slides in easily, 20-40 minutes, depending on the size of the chunks - large chunks take longer.  Turn over every 10-15 minutes during roasting time. Let cool, remove outer rind,  cut in bite size chunks. Set aside.

In large saucepan, add olive oil and when warm, add garlic (optional), thoroughly cook the chopped onions to soften, then add the mushrooms. Saute the onions and mushrooms until done, then add remaining ingredients, season, stir well and finally, combine with the chunks of roasted squash. Heat thoroughly.

Note: if adding canned tomatoes along with the other ingredients, after combining with the squash chunks, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.

 

 
 

Black Bean & Eggplant Stew

Looking for something a little different for long Asian eggplants and beans, this is a delicious vegan stew if you are patient to cook this slowly. 

Makes 4 portions

Ingredients:

1 can black beans & liquid

1 large onion, chopped

1 green pepper, small ½” dice

1 pint, 2 cups,  portobello mushrooms, quartered

2 long Asian eggplants, halved and sliced

1 cup tomato sauce, pasta sauce or 1 can diced tomatoes

2 garlic cloves, minced 

Olive oil

Directions:

Sauté olive oil and garlic to season pan. When garlic is lightly browned, add onions and cook until softened. Add tomato sauce or tomatoes, eggplant, mushrooms and peppers. Continue to cook on medium heat with some of bean liquid, if needed.  Cover and cook for about 20-30 minutes until well done.  

This stew is very tasty, very brown and looks good served with salad or a brightly colored vegetable and/or rice or sweet potatoes.