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Showing posts from January, 2019

Ginger Sweet Potato Soup with Crispy Farro

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Post sponsored by Bob's Red Mill. See below for more details. I feel like not much needs said beyond winter and soup. It’s almost a testament to how creative one can be during the cooler months: just how many different soups can I make? This sweet potato soup is minimal on ingredients but features one of my favorite things with leftover grains: make them crunchy. In this case, I’m using Bob’s Red Mill Farro . It brings the perfect warm, nutty flavor and it’s a great way to use up small amounts of leftover grains. Cream-based Winter Soups While I’m always down for a delicious creamy bowl of broccoli or cauliflower soup, my favorite is using brightly colored squash and sweet potatoes. The earthy flavor paired with solid spices and herbs is always a winning combination. However, you can easily swap out the sweet potato for something else. Try butternut squash or sometimes when I’m in a hurry, I like to pan-fry the garlic/ginger then use pumpkin puree (about 3 cups worth). Ginge

Magic Sauce

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I call this my magic sauce recipe. In part, because it makes everything it touches shimmer with deliciousness. It’s magic like that. Technically, it’s a riff on a chimichurri sauce – one that veered off the rails in a big way. Much tweaking has rendered it a distant second cousin. If that. In fact, the hallmark of that sauce, parsley, I skip entirely. But I love this. Love love love. And I use it a hundred different ways. Magic sauce, it’s real. Double Up Let’s just start by putting one thing out there. You’re best off making a double or triple batch. This is the sort of stuff you burn through in minutes. Not exaggerating. I cook eggs in it – scrambled, omelette, frittata, you name it. I drizzle it on soups. This time of year that means corn soups , brothy bean pots, or lunch time slurpy noodle bowls.  I can also attest it’s the sort of thing that makes baked potatoes even better than usual. And salads welcome it as well – particularly shaved salads, or ones made from spicy gree

VCIND

An Exceptional Ginger Carrot Dressing

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Blender dressings are great, in part, because they’re fast. Everything into one container, puree, and you’re set. This is a dressing I tend to make quite a lot in the fall, and then I just keep on going all the way through winter. It’s an incredibly versatile blend of favorite ingredients like carrots, turmeric, coconut milk, ginger, and sesame. Also, lots of shallots. Which, as we know from last week , I rarely skimp on. A Versatile Dressing & Ways to Use It I use this dressing on green salads, grain salads, and as an A+ finishing touch over sautéed, steamed, or simmered vegetables. It works nicely in cold, summery noodle salads, and as a dipping sauce for crudité. This is all to say, it’s great on many things. I’ll list of some specific ways I’ve used it recently below! Shredded Winter Salad: Add some winter citrus segments, to a bowl of shredded baby romaine, endives and radicchio, and toss with the ginger carrot dressing and lots of toasted sesame seeds. Noodle salad: T

10 Best Vegetarian Tacos Recipes

VEGETABLE TAGINE WITH APRICOT COUSCOUS

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It is a lot of recipes. It sounded manageable in theory; write four recipes each week for Sprouted Kitchen Cooking Club , keep up loosely here on the blog, my private chef job, occasional freelance work, try to keep up with instagram content anddddd my little family with two spirited wee people. It’s a lot of time in the kitchen, let’s just say that. I don’t idolize busyness, I try not to use that as a response to “how are you?” because it’s overused and self imposed. Being busy is not a state that makes me respect someone any more nor a flurry in which I wish to reside. I try to honor that, as I schedule activities and social plans for our family, but with two parents who have their own businesses which seem to keep birthing more mini side businesses, “busy” feels like a word I have to try really hard not to use. I was thinking about how there are likely a number of you who feel the same, perhaps with kids or a demanding job and the hamster wheel feels exhausting. I wanted to share

Crispy Cauliflower Tacos

Crispy Breaded Cauliflower

Using Caffeine for Improved Jiu Jitsu Performance

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This article was written by medical doctor and Black Belt Marc Barton, who is also the head instructor at  Jiu Jitsu Brotherhood London .   Jiu-Jitsu is commonly referred to as human chess, an incredible activity that requires the athlete to have a perfect blend of physical and cognitive skills to achieve mastery. This is why, in my opinion, caffeine is an ideal performance enhancer, as it has been proven to have beneficial effects on both muscular performance and the central nervous system. What is caffeine? Caffeine, also known as trimethylxanthine, is the world’s most commonly used stimulant, with 80% of Americans estimated to use it on any given day. The most well-known source of caffeine is the bean of the Coffea Arabica plant, which is used to make my favourite beverage, coffee. Coffee has been used in human society for hundreds of years, and is reported as being discovered in Ethiopia in 800 A.D. Caffeine is also present in other drinks such as tea and numerous soft drink

Chocolate Blueberry Smoothie

Coconut Baked Oatmeal

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Baked oatmeal is one of my signature breakfast and brunch moves, for all the typical reasons. Make ahead, check. Adaptable, check. Many five year olds love it, and most forty year olds too. Check, check. There are versions of it in my last two books, and I’m constantly riffing on the general concept based on what is in season, and what I have on hand. This version is extra special – banana, coconut, vanilla, coconut milk, and some winter citrus, all baked into fragrant, golden-topped magic.  The concept couldn’t be simpler. In fact, I suspect many of you have everything you need on hand right now. Butter your baking dish, layer of fruit, top with dry ingredients, finish with wet ingredients. Bake. SUBSCRIBE TO VIDEOS The secret wink I included in this version is a final drizzle of warm coconut milk accented with a splash of rose water. That said, you can absolutely play around with different flavors and variations – think citrus zests, or extract, or drizzles of infused oils. All

Black Olive Red Lentil Pasta

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Post sponsored by Barilla. See below for more details. When it comes to vegetarian pasta dishes, it can feel a bit harder to get protein into the meals. I typically opt for making a side salad loaded with chickpeas and occasionally I’ll make a version of lentil Bolognese. However, sometimes I just want a simple, 20-minute dinner that doesn’t take any fuss. Enter this black olive lentil pasta using at Barilla Red Lentil Penne. Alliums I love shallots, but I know they can be a bit of a pain when it comes to mincing. Swap out shallots for minced garlic or minced onion. If you want to make this during the spring, this is also an opportune time to use green garlic. Olive varieties I typically reach for kalamata, primarily because we pick up olives from the olive bar quite frequently. However, using black or green olives would work as well. We keep a couple cans on hand for quick meals, and this would definitely be one of those quick meals! Barilla Red Lentil Penne Up to now, I’ve s

Healthy Super Bowl Recipes to Wow Your Friends

Game Night Crispy Potato Bruschetta

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Do you ever feel like you’re on the verge of a breakthrough, but you’re not quite sure how you’ll do it? This has been my mindset lately. I’ve been so inspired in different areas of my life to create meaningful change. Personal growth, career dreams, family life, etc. You could say that a little self-help inspo has struck me! I’ve felt stuck with indecision and fear for a while now, and the motivation finally hit me to actively do something about getting unstuck. It’s easy to just go through the motions each day. For most of my life, I’ve always been trying to “fix myself”…this can be a positive thing (such as when I’m trying to be the best version of myself I can be), but it can also turn into a very toxic mindset. It’s easy for me to veer to the dark side of self-improvement and lose sight of my qualities and self-worth. Anyone who suffers from this tendency knows that it’s not a particularly fun way to live. You never feel “ready” because there’s always something to fix or a goa

Beer-Roasted Cauliflower with Pasta

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Hang in there with me on this one. It’s a study in efficiency, and with some faith, it all comes together in the end. In short, poach a whole head of cauliflower in an olive-oil dappled, chile-spiked, beer-based broth, then wedge it & roast it until golden-crusted and butter tender. At the last minute, use that same broth to cook your favorite pasta. Serve it all up in a bowl with a shower of fresh herbs.  PRO TIP: Only add as much pasta as you’ll eat to the broth. It’s not great for leftovers. Use whatever pasta you like – I used a whole wheat fusilli here, but you could use penne, or one of the alternative grain or legume pastas. I started working on this recipe just before leaving San Francisco. It’s the perfect hearty bowl for cold nights, wintery weather, or summer in SF.  A squeeze of lemon brightens everything up. Continue reading Beer-Roasted Cauliflower with Pasta on 101 Cookbooks from 101 Cookbooks http://bit.ly/2FZGksN Heidi Swanson January 26, 2019 at 10:2

The Ultimate Vegan Nachos

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Let’s do nachos today. I know the title says vegan nachos, but whether you’re vegan or not, when you need a nacho fix, this is how you should roll. At least once. Just to see if you like them. I mean, nachos are always a crowd pleaser, and this is no exception, I promise. Chances are, you won’t even miss the classic cheese bomb version. On the flip side, your body will thank you because the “cheese” in this version is non-dairy, vegan, packed with beneficial spices, cashews, garlic, and grated sweet potatoes, and lasts up to a week refrigerated. All About the Cheese Sweet potato nacho cheese is a thing for good reason, it behaves a lot like a classic nacho cheese, it’s the right color even, but(!) it’s arguably more delicious, and made from natural ingredients. I incorporate a bunch of short-cuts in my version to speed things along, like grating the sweet potato. Also, if you make the sauce a day or two ahead of time, you can have a pan of nachos ready to go in a flash. Ready? Let’

Chickpea Crepes with Roasted Vegetables and Chipotle Compound Butter

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I love recipes like this one. There are three components, all in their own way delicious and solid. Straight-forward roasted vegetables look like the star but I actually think it’s the chickpea crepes and the chipotle compound butter. Compound butter and do a little dance There’s nothing quite like compound butter. Butter is pretty fantastic as it is but when you start playing with flavors that like to tango with the creamy fat, it’s a new level. What can you add to butter? Truly a lot. Garlic, ginger, herbs, spices, truffles, and sun-dried tomatoes just to name a few. From there you can use these butters on bread, tossed with roasted vegetables, as a pasta addition, added to steamed vegetables, or tossed with homemade french fries (a favorite of mine). I think what I love most about this particular butter is that it’s smoky without being overly spicy. The chipotles add just the right amount of heat that helps to balance some of the butters richness. The butter makes more than y

The Madrid Panel

Orange Pan-glazed Tempeh

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This might be the best tempeh recipe I’ve highlighted to date. It features a simple ginger and garlic-spiked orange glaze that plays off the nutty, earthiness of pan-fried tempeh beautifully. Unlike many other tempeh recipes, there is no need for a long marinade time with this one, making it great for a last-minute weeknight meal. The recipe comes with a bit of a story, originates in a book I suspect many of you haven’t seen yet, and started with an email I received one morning last September from Australian cookbook author (and natural foods enthusiast) Jude Blereau . It read, Dear Heidi, My name is Jude Blereau and I’m a Natural Foods Chef and author from Western Australia. I’m currently in San Francisco, having a fabulous time(…) I’d love the opportunity to have a chat with you and meet you. We do similar work I think, though with our own different slant. Hoping we can meet… The name sounded quite familiar to me, I did a quick scan of my cookbooks, and spotted her book immedia