Green Spring Balance Bowl (Vegan + Gluten Free)

I tested this lovely salad out for a Spring birthday dinner party.  Not only was it very beautiful, but it was absolutely scrumptious.  This is a keeper for sure.

Serves 4
Recipe from Good Eatings 
Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Herby Quinoa:

¾ cup quinoa

1 ½ cup water

Packed ½ cup fresh coriander

Packed ½ cup fresh flat leaf parsley

1 lemon

1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon herbal salt

Black pepper, to taste

Roasted Asparagus:

1 bunch asparagus

1 Tablespoon olive oil

Salt and black pepper, to taste

Bean Salad:

1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 cup shelled edamame beans

1 Tablespoon chili oil with “bits”

Basil Dressing:

1 ½ cup fresh basil leaves

1 cup baby spinach

1 lemon, juice only

1 shallot

1 garlic cloves

¼ cup nutritional yeast

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 Tablespoons tahini

3 Tablespoons water

1 teaspoon maple syrup

Salt, to taste

To Serve:

4 large handfuls mixed baby greens

2-3 cups sugar snap peas, sliced in half

A handful of microgreens, optional

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400F. Rinse the quinoa if you wish and then transfer it into a sauce pan along with the water. Season with salt and cover with a lid. Bring it to a boil and then reduce to a simmer until all the water has been absorbed by the quinoa. This usually takes about 20 minutes.

While the quinoa is cooking trim the woody ends off on the asparagus and place it in an oven safe dish or on an oven tray. Drizzle with oil and season with salt and black pepper. Toss to coat. Roast in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until tender. Then prepare the bean salad simply by draining and rinsing the chickpeas and mixing them with the edamame beans and chili oil until well coated. Set aside.

Also make the dressing while the other components are cooking. Combine all the ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until smooth. Refrigerate until you are ready to use it.

To finish off the quinoa, once it is cooked, finely chop the fresh parsley and coriander and add to a bowl along with the quinoa. Use a Microplane or box grater to zest 1 lemon into the bowl and then squeeze in the juice of half of it. Drizzle over the oil and season with herbal salt and black pepper. Mix well to combine. To assemble the bowls start with a bed of mixed baby greens followed by the sliced sugar snaps. Then layer the herby quinoa and bean salad on top. Drizzle the dressing over it all and finish with the roasted asparagus.

 

Curried Tofu and Green Beans (or Sugar Snap Peas)

Recipe from Everyday Food Magazine

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

I’m always on the hunt for a yummy, easy-to-make meatless meal.  My husband and I gave this one a big thumbs up.  He said this one was his favorite way with tofu.  I chose to make this using sugar snap peas because they had some lovely fresh ones in the produce section. Other reviewers suggested adding ingredients like cayenne, water chestnuts, lime juice, cumin.  Obviously, this recipe is quite forgiving and you could change it up as you see fit. This dish will definitely be in our regular Meatless Monday rotation!  (If you've never prepared tofu before, never fear!  It's quite easy.  I've provided instructions in the links below.)

1 container (14 ounces) firm or extra-firm tofu, drained

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 Tablespoon curry powder

Coarse salt and ground pepper

4 garlic cloves, minced

½ cup half-and-half OR coconut milk (Using coconut milk will make this dish vegan.)

½ cup water

1 box (10 ounces) frozen green beans, defrosted (I used sugar snap peas instead.  I think broccoli and/or asparagus and even red pepper would make good substitutes.)

4 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces (3 cups) (I used 3 regular tomatoes. I think a couple of cups of cherry tomatoes would be tasty substitute as well.)  (I've tried this with a 15 oz. can (drained) of tomato bits and it works great!)

Cooked brown rice, for serving

Halve tofu horizontally; then crosswise. (You should have 4 equal squares). Cut each square diagonally into 2 triangles. (You can also cut the tofu into smaller triangles.)

Heat 1 Tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add tofu, and cook, turning once, until golden-brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from pan to a plate. Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining tablespoon oil, onion, and curry powder. Season generously with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Reduce heat to medium-low. Add half-and-half or coconut milk and 1/2 cup water; bring to a gentle simmer. Return tofu to skillet. Add green beans (or sugar snap peas) and tomatoes, cover, and cook until tender, about 4 minutes. Serve over rice if desired.

How to Prepare Tofu:  (Click on the link to the left to see a photo how-to.) Arrange tofu in one layer on a baking sheet lined with 3 layers of paper towels or a clean kitchen towel; cover with three more layers of paper towels or another clean kitchen towel. Place another baking sheet and a weight on top. Let tofu drain until towels are soaked, about 20 minutes.

Here I have all the ingredients prepped and ready to go.  You'll also see my
veggie broth scrap bag that I have out to fill with veggie scraps as I prep.
When the bag is full, I'll have enough to make Homemade Vegetable Broth.

Sugar Snap Pea Salad with Sesame Dressing

Serves 6
Recipe from http://www.epicurious.com
Adapted and Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

I was craving something green, healthy and crunchy. Lost River Market & Deli had some really nice sugar snap peas, so I purchased them and searched one of my favorite cooking websites for a recipe to try. The original recipe called for fresh peas, but I had frozen Edamame in the freezer so I used those. I added carrots for color. I also followed some of the reviewers suggestions by adding scallions, sesame seeds and ginger, which are ingredients I usually have on hand. This turned out quite pretty to look at. I took this dish to a small dinner party where everyone seemed to like it. I had just enough left over for a nice light lunch.

Salad:
3 cups fresh shelled peas or 1 10 oz. package frozen Edamame (I used Edamame.)
2 thin carrots, peeled thinly sliced
2 to 3 cups fresh sugar snap peas, trimmed
3 scallions, thinly sliced

Dressing:
2 Tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon oriental sesame oil
1 Tablespoon (packed) golden brown sugar
½ teaspoon grated ginger (I used the kind in a jar.)
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

Cook the Edamame according to the package directions. Using a steamer basket, steam the sugar snap peas and carrots until crisp tender (2 to 4 minutes) (You can also blanch the vegetables.) Drain; rinse under cold water and drain again. Transfer to large bowl. Add the scallions.
Whisk vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, salt, and pepper in small bowl to blend. (Peas and dressing can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Let stand separately at room temperature.) Pour dressing over peas in large bowl; toss to coat. Season salad to taste with more salt and pepper, if desired. Sprinkle the salad with sesame seeds. Serve at room temperature.

Fish Fillet Dinner in Parchment

Recipe from Bon Appétit | April 2008
Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Cooking in parchment, otherwise known as "En papillote" (pronounced poppy yote,) gently steams the food in its own juices right inside the parchment paper package. The packages can be made individually and will have a real wow factor when entertaining because everyone gets his “food gift” to open at the table. When the packet is opened, the fragrance of what’s inside wafts up towards the diner’s nose making his mouth water with anticipation. There’s little clean up. Cooking in parchment is just fun plain to do. So, if you like to play with your food, give and receive gifts, give this a try at home.

4 (15x15-inch) squares parchment paper
Olive oil spray
1/2 pound Yukon Gold potatoes (about 2 medium), sliced very, very thinly
4 (5-to 6-ounce) fish fillets (I used Pollock fillets. Tilapia, halibut or cod would work too.)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
12 fresh tarragon leaves (I used fresh thyme sprigs.)
1 tablespoon butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 pound asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces or 2 cups sugar snap peas
Zest of one orange (You could substitute lemon.)
4 tablespoons orange juice (about 2 small oranges) (You could substitute lemons.)

Preheat oven to 400°F with two sheet pans on the bottom and middle racks of the oven. (Be sure there’s enough room between racks for the packets to “puff” up.)

Place parchment squares on work surface. Spray half of each parchment piece. Divide the ingredients equally for the four parchment pieces. To make a packet, begin by layering the following on the sprayed half of each parchment piece. Layer the sliced potatoes and 1 fish fillet. Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper; top each fillet with 3 herb sprigs, then 1 piece of butter, and then orange zest. Arrange asparagus or sugar snap peas on each fish fillet; sprinkle 1 tablespoon orange juice over each. Fold parchment over fish mixture, folding and crimping edges tightly to seal and enclose filling completely. (For directions with photos, go to http://www.sundaysupper.com/folds.htm ) Place on the 2 rimmed sheet pans, two packets on each sheet pan, spacing them apart.
Bake fish packets 17 minutes. Slide packets onto plates and serve.

Here are just a few other websites with information about cooking in parchment paper:
http://gourmetfood.suite101.com/article.cfm/en_papillote__cooking_in_parchment
http://www.sabat.com/cat/clips/parchment.html
http://cookingfortwo.about.com/od/maindishes/ss/enpapillote.htm