Roasted Broccolini Salad with Smokey Maple Mustard Dressing (vegan)

Recipe from Nikki Vegan

Husband Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Makes 4 very generous servings

This makes a FANTASTIC salad, good enough to serve to your favorite people.  There are several reasons I think this salad is a winner.  It’s made with healthful ingredients.  It’s vegan.  It’s colorful and, therefore, it looks beautiful on your plate. But, most importantly, it’s flavorful and will make your tastebuds dance. Though I would prefer serving it fresh, it holds up in the fridge overnight if you have any leftovers.  The recipe for the dressing makes quite a lot, much more than you need for the salad, in my opinion. (I really don’t like over dressed salads.) But the dressing can be used for other salads.  In fact, I used the leftover salad dressing to make a great potato salad. (See photo below.) You will need to soak the cashews overnight in order for them to soften enough to blend into a very smooth dressing the next day.  By the way, I love Nikki Vegan’s website and YouTube channel.  Her recipes and how-to videos are a great way to learn how to incorporate a more plant-based diet into your life.

Smokey Maple Mustard Dressing:

1 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight in water, then drained and rinsed

4 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

2/3 cup water (or more to thin the dressing to your desired consistency)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Salad:

2 large bunches or 4 small bunches of broccolini 

4 Tablespoons olive oil (I used way less)

2 bunches kale, tough stems removed, leaves torn into bite sized pieces or 1 large bag of baby kale

1 large lemon

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

20 dried apricots, thinly sliced

1/3 cup diced red onion (about 1/2 small red onion)

1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Rinse and drain the soaked cashews.  Place them in a high speed blender along with the rest of the dressing ingredients.  Blend until very smooth.  Add more water, if needed, to the desired consistency.  Taste and season with more salt and pepper, if desired.  Set aside while you. Prepare the salad.

Preheat the oven to 375F.  Chop the broccolini into bite-sized pieces.  Place on a large baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.l. Roast for 15-20 minutes or until softened and charred around the edges.  

Zest the lemon and set aside the zest.

De-stem the kale, discarding the tough stems, and chop the kale leaves into small pieces.  (If using baby kale, you can skip this step.) Place the kale into a large bowl.  Add the juice of the lemon and a pinch of salt to the kale leaves.  Massage the kale for about 1 minute un til the kale turns bright shiny green and softens slightly.  Next add the onions, apricots, sliced almonds, and warm roasted broccolini to the kale.  Toss with 1/3 of the Smokey Maple Mustard Dressing and divide the salad between four plates.  Drizzle with more dressing, if desired, and sprinkle with the lemon zest and a bit of black pepper.  Serve.

The above photo shows a simple potato salad I made using the leftover Smokey Maple Mustard Dressing.  I just cooked some potatoes and added some celery, onion, peppers, and zucchini (cleaning out the fridge) along with the dressing.  Yum!

Almond, Prune and Apricot Breakfast Bars (Gluten-Free)

Recipe from The Bojon Gourmet adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

Husband-Tested in Alice's Kitchen

Makes 12 bars

While these were named breakfast bars, I think they make a much better snack or lunchbox addition or even a lovely gift for a favorite friend.  We loved everything about these bars.  The texture is tender and chewy with a bit of crunch.  The sweetness is the right amount, due to the dried fruit and the bit of honey.  And there's a little kiss of almond and orange.   

1/2 teaspoon zest 

3 Tablespoons fresh orange juice

1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped

1/2 cup prunes, chopped

2/3 cup sliced almonds, plus a few extra for the top

1 1/2 cups quick oats

2 Tablespoons ground flax seed 

2 Tablespoons oat flour

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 ground cinnamon

1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons almond butter

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup honey (One of the original recipe reviewers replaced the honey with maple syrup, which would make these vegan.)

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat the oven to 325F.  Line the bottom and sides of an 8" X 8" square baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Place the chopped dried fruit in a heat proof bowl.  Put the orange juice in a small saucepan and bring to a bare simmer over a medium flame.  Pour the hot orange juice over the dried prunes and dried apricots, stirring a bit.  Set this aside.

Spread the sliced almonds on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until fragrant, about 5 minutes.  Put the sliced almonds in a large bowl along with the oats, ground flax, the oat flour, salt and cinnamon.

In another bowl, put the orange zest, add the almond butter, olive oil, honey and almond extract and whisk to combine.

Add the almond butter mixture and the dried fruit mixture to the oat mixture and stir until well combined.

Scrape the mixture into the lined baking pan.  Use moistened fingers to press it firmly and evenly into the pan.  Sprinkle with the extra almond slices and press them in a bit.

Bake until the top is golden, about 25-30 minutes.  Place the pan on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before removing with the parchment paper "handles" to a cutting board.  Use a sharp large chef's knife to cut the bar into 12 pieces.

The bars will keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

Nutritional Information: (1 of 12 bars) 222 calories; 25 g carbohydrates; 5 g protein; 13 g fat; 1 g saturated fat; 99 mg sodium; 274 mg potassium; 4 g fiber; 12 g sugars; 255 IU vitamin A; 1.7 mg vitamin C; 54 mg calcium; 1.4 mg iron

Energy Bars

Recipe from The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger

Husband-Tested in Marimar’s Kitchen (Alice’s daughter-in-law)

Makes 24 bars

Back when our son first got married, I was delighted to find that he had chosen an excellent cook for his lifetime mate.  She and I enjoy cooking and baking very much and have shared recipes over the years.  This recipe came from a cookbook that I had given her (I own a copy too).  She made these bars for us to snack on during a recent visit to their home in Mexico.  I love that they are not too sweet.  They are chewy and slightly crunchy and perfect with a cup of coffee or tea and a piece of whole fruit for a mid-day pick-me-up. 

Cooking spray

1 cup quick-cooking oats

½ cup shelled unsalted raw sunflower seeds

½ cup toasted wheat germ

¼ cup whole-grain pastry flour or whole-wheat flour

½ cup dried apricots

½ cup raw almonds

½ cup raisins

½ cup pitted dried dates

½ cup nonfat dry milk

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup pure maple syrup (not pancake syrup)

2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Coat a 9” X 13” baking pan with cooking spray.  Place the ingredients, except the maple syrup and the eggs, in a food processor and pulse until everything is finely chopped.  Add the syrup and the eggs and pulse until the mixture is well combined.  It will resemble a coarse paste.  Transfer to the baking pan and spread evenly to cover the bottom.  Bake until lightly browned, about 20 minutes.  Allow to cool for 15 minutes, then cut into 24 bars (each about 3” x 1½”.)  Store in an airtight container at room temperature for about 3 days or wrap individually and freeze for up to 3 months.

Nutritional Info: (per bar) 133 calories; fat 5 grams (1.8 g mono; 2 g poly; 0.6 g sat.); protein 5 grams; carbs 20 grams; fiber 2.5 grams; cholesterol 21 mg; sodium 19 mg.  Each bar is an excellent source of manganese and a good source of fiber, phosphorus, protein, and thiamin.

Orange-Pistachio Granola

Recipe from Josh Miller via Cooking Light  Magazine August 2018

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Makes about 6 cups

We love granola. I like making my own mainly because store-bought granolas can be so sweet that they would fit better in the candy aisle.  I have my favorite that I make once every couple of weeks. I had some pistachios left over from another dish and so I gave this recipe a try.  It’s quite delicious and tastes especially nice atop some yogurt and fresh orange segments.

4 Tablespoons honey

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

4 teaspoons fresh orange zest

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

4 cups regular old-fashioned rolled oats

1 large egg white

1 cup chopped roasted salted pistachios

2/3 cup chopped dried apricots

Preheat the oven to 325F.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. Heat the honey, butter, orange zest and cinnamon in a small saucepan on low until the butter is melted.  Place the oats in a large bowl.  Mix the honey-butter mixture well and pour over the oats.  Toss to coat.  Whisk the egg white until frothy.  Pour over the oat mixture and toss to coat well.  Pat the mixture in an even layer on the parchment paper-lined pan.  Bake at 325F for 25 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring the mixture halfway through the baking time.  Let cool on a wire rack.  Pour the toasted oat mixture into a large bowl and toss with the pistachios and dried apricots.  Put the granola into an airtight container.

Nutritional Information:  By my calculations, ¼ cup of the granola = about 124 calories