woah now romanesco!

i have never seen a crazier looking vegetable than this one. so i ignored romanesco for awhile, i dismissed it as a veggie trend with all of it’s neon coloring and psychedelic shapes- too fancy for this girl. but yesterday, i broke. i bought a head. it was sitting next to some purple cabbage and i had some oprah aha moment where i pictured it mixed into a stir fry all colorful-like.  and i knew, we’re going to be friends, this bizarre vegetable and I.  and so we are. it’s delicious, and funky and has a great texture. i’m a fan, romanesco, i’ll stick with you even when neon isn’t cool anymore.

the what:

1 head of romanesco broccoli, chopped

1 cup (dry) forbidden rice

1/2 of medium/large purple cabbage, sliced

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

2 tablespoons of ginger, peeled and finely chopped 

1 tablespoon of dark toasted sesame oil

3 tablespoons shoyu (or substitute a little less soy sauce)

juice of one lime

2 green onions, sliced for garnish

siracha (optional)

the how:

prepare forbidden rice (i rinse thoroughly and then cook 1 cup of dry rice with 1 1/2 cups of water in our rice cooker).  this can be done in advance or be cooking while you’re prepping the veggies.

heat sesame oil in a wok over medium heat. add onion, ginger and garlic and cook for 3-5 minutes minutes. the onion should be softening.

add romanesco broccoli, one tablespoon of shoyu and the juice of 1/2 of the lime. mix it all up, cover and cook for 2 more minutes.

add cabbage, one tablespoon of shoyu and second half of lime. cook until the cabbage and romanesco are to your liking (I prefer a little crunch, but cook longer if you like a softer stir fry). When veggies are almost to your preference, add forbidden rice and one final tablespoon of shoyu (taste first and omit if you prefer it with less shoyu).  I also add a few squeezes of siracha for some heat!

garnish with green onions. serve to amazed friends and family & enjoy!

hearty & spicy winter salad

another day, another delicious salad for lunch!  this time with rye berries.  as it turns out, they’re pretty stinking good- for berries that aren’t filled with sweet juice. i like a lot of kick in a salad lately, so i went for the arugula and spicy balsamic combo. with the sweetness of the currants and roasted root veggies it was pretty much perfect! how-to below, if you’re curious.  

INGREDIENTS

celery root

carrot

parsnip

red onion

dried currants

rye berries

arugula

balsamic vinegar

olive oil

red pepper flakes

sea salt 

HOW TO

soak 1 cup of rinsed rye berries overnight, then drain and cook in rice cooker with 1 3/4 cups of water.

chop the celery root, parsnips, carrots and red onion into bite size pieces.  lightly coat in olive oil, sprinkle on a couple shakes of sea salt and roast at 350 degrees until soft.

for the dressing: mix olive oil, balsamic vinegar,red pepper flakes and sea salt, to taste. i prefer mine of the tangy side, so lots of vinegar and a fair amount of red pepper flakes. spicy!

pile the arugula onto a plate, a healthy spoonful of rye berries and an equal amount of roasted veggies. add a spoonful (or two!) of currants, balsamic vinaigrette and if you’re lucky, a hunk of crusty bread.

easy, delicious, satisfying even on a cold day. oh, and extra healthy to boot. hope you love! 

lunch with us, will you please

when i was recovering from this and eating the cleanest/healthiest way possible, my friends and family used to ask me “what are you eating?!”. i could see the worry in their eyes. and when i gave them my answer (mostly whole grains and vegetables). I knew they pictured me with a boring plate of brown rice and steamed broccoli, plugging along through each meal and suffering like a modern martyr. and they were right, for a minute. preparing meals using only grains and veggies was a new thing for me- i ate a lot of boooorrring food at first. but then i started to play around with whatever seasonal veggies we brought home and imagining up the most delicious meals. like this one, our lunch today: a garlicky pile of sauteed collard greens topped with last nights roasted vegetables, some freshly cooked quinoa, heaps of avocado and dressed with our favorite homemade spicy balsamic vinaigrette. sweet, salty, spicy, WINNING!

i guess the cat’s out of the bag, no boring plates ’round these parts! eating healthy, organic, local vegetables with lots of whole grains doesn’t have to be a snoozefest, you just have to figure out how you love them most. and the possibilities seem endless: roasted, sauteed, raw, steamed, chopped, turned into soup, made into casserole, mixed into salad, piled into a bowl, baked into a patty, turned into a drink, inside outside upside down, wheeeeeeee!

choose your own adventure muesli

one of my favorite breakfasts lately is muesli, piled high with blueberries (and the occasional sliced banana), sprinkled with cinnamon and drenched in soy or almond milk. rather than shell out $7 for a box of organic muesli at whole foods i make my own at home, for {what i know in my heart but have no actual evidence of} DRAMATIC SAVINGS. two fantastic things about muesli: 1. you can mix and match what you have in your pantry like a mad scientist 2. it’s almost impossible to fuck up. ok, one more great thing: if you start your day off with something this healthy, it’s pretty much ok if only a half hour passes before you’re popping one of these suckers into your mouth. 

the what and how:

i store our muesli in a giant glass jar in our cupboard, and i make a batch to last a week or two.  start with a 3-4 cups of whole rolled oats and then add in whatever sounds most tasty to you from the list below. or leave other suggestions in my comments, i’d love to hear what you’re putting in your breakfast cereal!

-dried cranberries

-roasted sunflower seeds

-chopped almonds

-shredded coconut

-raisins

-dates

-currants

-walnuts

-chia seeds (warning: the consistency of these when wet is questionable, but C’MON, they’re some kind of superfood and the Aztecs swore by them)

-pepitas

- rye or bran flakes

- i think sometimes vegan chocolate chips sneak into muesli. not saying i recommend, but if it happens… 

* i convinced lou to partake in this healthy breakfast by mixing in some of his grapenuts.  now he’s getting some serious nutrition in his breakfast and still eating what he loves- making for a happy family.

his favorite drink

if you need a drink first thing this monday morning, i’m not judging. so let’s start off this week with a doozy, lou’s favorite drink the sazerac. i consider this a “man’s drink” but it’s not JUST for men. it’s not got the fruit or fizz to make me fall in love with it, but i have girlfriends that drink these and i’m always a little jealous, i would love to be a girl who can sip on a sazerac with the guys. lou loves this drink like i love shopping for shoes. so i thought it might make a cute valentine’s day present for those of you that are starting to prepare for the most candy coated of all holidays. buying all the ingredients and perfecting a sazerac for your whiskey loving man might just be the best present he gets all year. i think lou would have married me two years earlier if i had pulled that trick out of my hat. happy monday, and happy mixing my friends!

the what:

rye whiskey (lou prefers jefferson’s)

absinthe 

peychaud’s bitters

angostura bitters

sugar cubes

lemon

ice

shaker

chilled rocks glass

drink stirrer

the how:

1.place sugar cube into the shaker and saturate the sugar cube with peychaud’s bitters (just enough of it to make the cube turn red)

2.  add two drops of angostura bitters and muddle the sugar cube until it is fully dissolved

3. add 2 oz of jefferson’s rye whiskey and mix

4. fill shaker halfway with ice and stir vigorously. let sit 

5. pour 1 tablespoons (roughly) absinthe into the chilled glass and swirl it around to coat the glass.  dump out liquid.

6. return to shaker, stir vigorously again and let sit.

7. cut an inch or so of lemon rind and bend/roll to release flavor. place lemon in chilled rocks glass.

8. stir liquid in shaker once again and then strain into chilled glass. 

enjoy!

photo and recipe by lou!