Posts by admin:
- 5 Roma tomatoes
- 2 small onions, diced
- 4 whole garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 1 Tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 Taza cinnamon chocolate disc
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander seed
- 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 6 Mulato chiles
- 5 Guajillo chiles
- 6 chicken breasts
- 4 bay leaves
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup corn oil
- 5 Tbsp chili powder
- 2 Tbsp ground cumin
- 2 Tbsp garlic powder
- 1/2 Tbsp black pepper
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 2 lbs instant corn masa
- 3 Tablespoons paprika
- 3 Tablespoons salt
- 1/2 Tablespoon ground cumin
- 3 Tablespoons Chili Powder
- 3 Tablespoons garlic powder
- 2 cups corn oil
- Chufa milk
- Coconut milk
-
Almond milk
Herbed Bread and Vegetable Stuffing
November 24th, 2009What to bring to a pre-Thanksgiving dinner potluck? That was the question of the hour last week when I was planning ahead. It has been tremendous fun looking for new recipes that are healthier using olive oil rather than loads of butter without removing the great flavor.
Since I have not been eating meat for 3 weeks, I decided to bring something safe to eat at a potluck. Usually everything is made with meat-based broths or loaded with dairy products so I decided to make this delicious stuffing. It is funny making a stuffing when you do not have the turkey to go along with it, but our hostess was in charge of making the turkey, which looked spectacular.
Please try this new stuffing. It is super flavorful and very hearty. It goes well with a side of vegetables, mash potatoes or even someone’s great recipe for stuffed mushrooms!
Herbed Bread and Vegetable Stuffing
serves 8
from Delicious Living
4 ounces fresh spinach leaves (about 4 cups packed)
3 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup diced celery (1/4-inch dice)
3/4 cup diced onion (1/4-inch dice)
3/4 cup diced carrot (1/4-inch dice)
2 cups stemmed, diced white button mushrooms (1/4-inch dice)
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves, or 2 teaspoons dried
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, stripped from stems
3 cups Ezekial sprouted low sodium bread (or multi-grain bread)
cubes (1/2-inch cubes)
½ cup reduced-sodium vegetable broth, plus more if needed
(I use vegetable bouillon cubes)
Steam spinach in a large, wide pot with 1/4 cup water over high heat, about 1 minute, until wilted. To retain its bright green color, drain and immediately plunge into iced water. Squeeze out water, then chop. Set aside.
Rinse and dry pot. Warm olive oil over medium heat. Add celery, onion, carrot, and mushrooms. Cover and cook for about 1 minute, until mushrooms release some of their water. Uncover and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. If vegetables begin to brown, reduce heat.
Stir in reserved spinach, salt, pepper, sage, and thyme. Cook 1 minute. Turn heat to low. Add bread cubes, then broth, stirring well. If bread is especially dense, add a bit more broth to soften to desired texture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, or turn stuffing into a baking pan brushed with olive oil. Cover and heat at 350˚ until heated through.
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Chicken and Vegetarian Tamales with Red Mole Sauce
November 23rd, 2009
This past weekend happened to be my hubby’s birthday. He requested a specific dish that I made 3 months ago and asked for only that. What was the dish you ask? Well, tamales. Even though I am 1/2 Mexican, I really did not learn how to cook authentic dishes at home. We mostly cooked dishes that were either concocted by my mother or it was Italian or Mediterranean.
When I decided to make tamales 3 months ago, I thought I would call my grandmother in Mexico and ask her specific questions about ingredients and assembly method. You know what she told me? “Honey! Don’t fret yourself. Go to the store and buy some already prepared. It is too much work.” I literally laughed out loud! I mean it is one thing not being in the same country where your maternal grandmother lives, but not to have these recipes to pass on to my kids! Well, the next step for me was to find a recipe and make it my own, adding ingredients that my grandmother would use.
Tamales are different depending on each region of Mexico. Northern tamales are normally made with corn husks and southern tamales are made with banana leaves. Yes, banana leaves. I know that the Asian culture also uses banana leaves for different dishes so there are many simliarities. Since I did not have banana leaves so I decided to use the corn husks instead with my own twist for fillings. The newer process to me was making a vegetarian version for myself. It was really easy and did not take so much time additional time.
Before I begin let me tell you that you need to set aside 2 days for the whole preparation. Of course if you start early on one day, you could get the tamales done in a day, but my process felt better with 2 days. The first day dealt with preparation and the second day focused on assembly and cooking time. The total time for the process is 5 hours total. If you do not want to make the mole sauce, then your time would be cut to 4 hours. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but this is the reason I told my hubby I would only make these for special occasions. Besides, the recipe gives you about 40 tamales and they freeze well. It is not a meal that takes SO much time and is immediately consumed. These are great leftovers!
Chicken and Vegetarian Tamales with Red Mole Sauce
makes 40 tamales
Step by step instructions5 cups vegetable broth ( I used vegetable bouillon cubes)
On day 1, take a whole bag of dried corn husks and soak in cold water. It you want to make on the same day, it can be soaked for up to an hour, otherwise they can soak overnight. When removing from water, dry each husk with a paper towel and set aside. 
Fry 5 roma tomatoes, 2 small onions, 4 garlic cloves in 1/4 cup olive oil for 10 minutes or until the skins on the tomato start falling off. Cool mixture and remove tomatoe skins. See pic below.
Next, take 6 chile ancho peppers and 5 chile guajillo peppers and remove stems and remove seeds. Wash the peppers over cold water and dry. On a medium high, toast the peppers until a litle brown on the skin for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Place in a bowl and cover with hot water for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, toast 2 Tbsp of pumpkin seeds and 1 Tbsp of sesame seeds until browned. Place in a coffee grinder and grind until it looks like a seed meal.
After the thirty minutes have passed, drain the peppers and place tomato mixture, peppers, and 4 cups of vegetable broth or chicken broth in a blender.
Liquefy the mixture and pass through sieve. Sauce should be in a saucepan after going through sieve. Add 1 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 1/2 tsp salt, seed meal, 1/4 cup Taza cinnamon/chocolate pieces, 1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds, 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 tsp cinnamon. Simmer mixture for 30 minutes.
Boil 6 chicken breasts with 4 bay leaves and 3 garlic cloves for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and drain water. Cool and shred chicken. In a separate sauce pan, heat 1/2 cup corn oil, 5 Tbsp chili powder, 2 Tbsp cumin, 2 Tbsp garlic powder, 1/2 Tbsp black pepper, 1 Tbsp salt. Heat for 5 minutes and then pour over chicken and mix thoroughly. Cool and cover and refrigerate.
In a separate bowl, add 2 pounds of instant corn masa and place the following spices: 3 Tbsp paprika, 3 Tbsp salt, 1/2 Tbsp cumin, 3 Tbsp Chili Powder, 3 Tbsp garlic powder. Mix flour and spices well. Add 2 cups of corn oil to flour mixture. After incorporating oil, slowly incorporate 5 cups of vegetable broth. I use my hands so I can get a good arm work out. It is a lot of dough, but I guess it can be done on a dough hook on your Kitchen Aid.
For the vegetarian filling, saute the following ingredients for 10 minutes:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 pint mushrooms, chopped
1 zucchini, julienned
1 poblano pepper, chopped
3/4 cup leeks, chopped
1/3 cup cilantro
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
On day 2, assemble the tamales. It is so much faster if you add the masa to all the husks first and then add the filling. Cover 2/3 of the wider portion of the husk leaving the 1/3 space from the narrower section on top and side. See picture below. Masa should be 1/2 inch thick.
Add 1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp of chicken depending on size of corn husk.
Add 2 Tbsp of veggies to 12 tamales. I did not make as many for myself.
Roll each tamale, without overlapping the corn husk. It is like a taco on the inside.
Then fold the bottom portion to seal each tamale.
The sealed section should be facing down. Place in a double steamer with water that does not overflow into the steamer. The tamales cook for 2 hours, so continue to check the water and refill as to prevent evaporation. After 2 hours, remove tamale from steamer, let cool on a plate for 3-5 minutes and remove corn husk and serve. Add mole sauce and enjoy!
Mole Sauce:
Chicken
Masa (Dough)
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His and Hers Rustic Whole Wheat Pizza
November 19th, 2009
When it comes to pizza making, my hubby is the man. He has worked over a year and a half to perfect what he calls the best deep-dish pizza. I totally agree, so usually I do not touch that realm of cooking. Usually. OK. I lie. Here is a picture of his creation:
You know sometimes I prefer thin crust or the original hand-tossed pizza, because the deep dish tends to have to much breading. So I decided to tackle my own pizza with a healthy kick! Why His and Hers Pizzas, you might ask? Well I decided to have one pizza that was for the carnivore hubby and one that was vegetarian. It actually was not that much of a hassle to prepare for both pizzas since the dough was the same for both meals.
The toppings pretty much be what you choose. You can decide not to have tomato sauce as a base or you can have an olive oil / garlic base for the pizza. My pizza did not have cheese and was SURPRISINGLY delicious! I sprinkled some soy parmesan topping and presto, the pizza was complete! We even had enough leftovers for lunch the next day, so have fun and experiment with your own creation.
His and Hers Rustic Whole Wheat Pizza
Dough
recipe from Keep Your Diet Real
1 package of dry yeast
1 cup of warm water
1 tablespoon of honey
3 ½ cups of whole wheat flour
In a large glass mixing bowl, combine the water, yeast, and honey and allow it to sit for 10 minutes.
Add the flour and combine to form a ball. Place the ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. The dough should become more elastic.
Place the dough in an oiled mixing bowl and cover it with plastic wrap and a towel then allow it to rise for 1 hour.
Pizza assembly
Punch down the dough and split dough. 3/4 of dough for HIS pizza and 1/4 for HER pizza. Roll it out into the desired pizza shape.
His Pizza
3/4 cup seasoned tomato sauce
3/4 cup sauteed onions, garlic, asparagus tips and Italian seasonings
1 cooked, seasoned chicken breast, diced
1/2 cup black olives
3/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Saute 2 small onions diced with 4 cloves of garlic, diced for 5 minutes on medium high heat. Add 1/2 tsp salt, pepper, and 1 tsp Italian seasonings. Add 1 cup asparagus tips at the end. Do not overcook green veggie. 
Her Pizza
3/4 cup seasoned tomato sauce
3/4 cup sauteed onions, garlic, asparagus tips and Italian seasonings
1 cup radicchio, chopped
1/2 cup Kalamata olives
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
Soy parmesan for sprinkling
Saute 2 small onions diced with 4 cloves of garlic, diced for 5 minutes on medium high heat. Add 1/2 tsp salt, pepper, and 1 tsp Italian seasonings. Add 1 cup asparagus tips at the end. Do not overcook green veggie.
In a bowl, place chopped radicchio, sunflower seeds, olives, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 Tbsp olive oil and toss.
Preheat oven to 425F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll out each dough to 1/2 inch thickness and place on cookie sheets.
HIS pizza: Spread sauce, veggie mixture, chicken, olives, cheese
HER pizza: Spread sauce, veggie mixture, radicchio mixture, soy parmesan.
Bake for 12-15 minutes. HER pizza should not be TOO overdone since radicchio is very sensitive. Enjoy with a side salad.
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Pomegranate Power Mix
November 17th, 2009There was a nice theme tonight as I am getting better with this DARN cough! My honey was out on business meetings and I was left to have fun on my own! It felt very much a night full of red themes. On a grocery run yesterday, I picked up 4 beautiful POM pomegranates to have as dessert or breakfast options. Since I had some time on my hands, I peeled and seeded these beautiful gems. I was happy to know that it took me 20 minutes to peel all 4 pomegranates. I actually planned on having them sealed and refrigerated for the morning treat, but since I knew I had dinner earlier I knew I would want some sort of fruity dessert later. What kind of dessert could I prepare that would not require cooking or much preparation?
2 weeks ago I purchased a nice bag of Organic Chocolate-Covered Cocoa Nibs made by TAZA chocolate.
I have been reading how they process their chocolate and all the wonderful natural ingredients they use to provide such a delicious product. A guy at the health food store assured me that I would not be sorry. Boy was he right! This little baggie lasted me two weeks because with a nice chocolate craving, a teaspoon or two of these little morsels will keep your sweet tooth satisfied. It was 67% chocolate, which happens to taste somewhat dark and bitter. My favorite! I am looking forward tasting other products of theirs.
Where was I? Oh yes, creating my perfect dessert. I took God’s lovely red gems and mixed it with these lovely nibs and what did I get? A power dessert! It tasted so healthy and I felt energetic afterwards too! Please try it and see if you do not think the same. Enjoy!
Pomegranate Power Mixserves 1
3/4 cup pomegranate seeds
1/4 cup Taza Chocolate-covered Cocoa Nibs
2 Tbsp sliced almonds
2 Tbsp shredded sweetened coconut
Peel a pomegranate and combine ingredients and totally enjoy!
Here is one of my newest creations completed last night. I told you it was a red themed evening for me! This little beauty is red coral on red silk thread with matching earrings. If anyone is interested, let me know. It is for SALE!
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Cherry-Apple Almond Oatmeal Bake
November 16th, 2009
We have lately been having hearty breakfasts in the morning in order to build up our immune systems. In the mornings I usually wake up in the morning and prepare my hubby’s lunch, but knowing that we both like oatmeal and do not usually have the time to prepare it, I decided that after stumbling across a recipe on Foodbuzz, that it was an excuse not to be able to have a delicious and healthy breakfast.
Chufa milk, otherwise known as Horchata de Chufa or Tiget Nut Milk, is one of my favorite nut milks. Ever since I tasted this drink in Spain, I knew I would have to get my hands on it soon. My sister brought me some from Spain a while back and I quickly put it to good use. The oatmeal came out creamy and nutty and OH so delicious!
Cherry-Apple Almond Oatmeal Bake
serves 4
2 Cups Old Fashioned Oats
4 Cups almond milk
1/2 Teaspoon Almond Extract
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Sliced Almonds
1/2 Cup Dried Cherries
1 cup stewed apples
Start by pre-heating your oven to 350 degrees. Peel and core 8 Gala apples and semi-cover with water. Add 2 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp nutmeg. Boil for 20 minutes.
Mix the almond extract with your milk. Then sprinkle the oatmeal in a greased glass casserole dish and pour the milk on top. Next, layer the remaining ingredients on top of the oatmeal.
Next, CAREFULLY add the casserole to the oven. It will be a little liquidy until the oatmeal soaks up the milk. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes, scoop and serve!
