Chard & Vegetable Medley

*Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup water, divided
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 tsp Mrs. Dash Table Blend
• 1 tsp Spike no salt seasoning
• 4 small yellow squash, cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 2 bunches Swiss chard, red and green, coarsely chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Place garlic, onion, seasonings, and yellow squash in a large soup pot with 1/4 cup water. Bring to a high simmer. Cook until onion is soft, about 3 minutes. Add remaining vegetables, along with another 1/4 cup water, and simmer covered for about 12 minutes or until tender. Drain vegetables, reserving the liquid in a small sauce pan. Add balsamic vinegar to liquid and reduce over high heat until syrupy. Pour over vegetables.

 Cooking the veggies

Making the Balsamic reduction

Recipe adapted from Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman

Warm Black Bean Dip

*Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup tomato, diced
• 1/3 cup salsa (try using my salsa recipe)
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 cup shredded Dairy Free Cheese (cheddar or pepper jack)
• 1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 lime, juiced

Directions:
In a large nonstick skillet, sauté onion in oil until tender. Add garlic & cook 1 minute longer. Add beans & mash gently. Stir in the tomato, salsa, cumin, and chili powder. Cook and stir just until heated through. Remove from heat & stir in cheese, cilantro, and lime juice. Serve warm with chips.

Recipe adapted from http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Warm-Black-Bean-Dip

Baked Falafel

*Makes 4 servings (12 patties)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chickpeas, rinsed & drained
• 1 small onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 tablespoons parsley, fresh or dried flakes
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp tahini
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 4 tbsp flour

Directions:

In a food processor, chop onion and garlic. Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse to combine, adding additional flour one tablespoon at a time as needed until mixture holds together. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Form chilled chickpea mixture into 12 small patties. Place on a well-greased baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes on each side, until nicely browned – note, only the part touching the pan will become brown and crispy. Serve in a whole wheat pita with cucumber, tomato, spinach and hummus.

The goods

Before baking

After baking

The finished product!

Recipe adapted from http://eat-your-heart-out.net/2012/02/09/baked-falafel/

Curried Quinoa & Tangy Slaw Wraps

*Makes 3 wraps

Ingredients:

Curried Quinoa:
(pre-cooked ingredients)

• 1 1/2 Tbsp curry powder
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups dry, unrinsed quinoa
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 cup orange juice

Fold into cooked quinoa:
(post-cooked ingredients)

• 1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1/2 cup sweet onion, diced
• 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup tahini (add less for fluffier quinoa)
• 1/2 cup citrus juice (we used fresh orange, juiced)
• 2 Tbsp agave nectar
• pepper

Avo-Citrus-Tahini Slaw:

• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp orange juice
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1 cup shredded or matchstick carrots
• 1/2 cup shredded lettuce
• 2 Tbsp tahini
  
  3 whole wheat XL burrito wraps (truly whole wheat, no enriched or bleached flour nonsense)

Directions:
1. Prep your slaw and toss well. Place in fridge to marinate/chill until ready to assemble wraps.

2. First time cooking quinoa?

a) Rinse your dry quinoa in water before cooking. This removes some of the 'mush-promoting' grit on the grain.

 b) Most boxes of quinoa say to add 2 cups of water for every one cup of dry quinoa. I say that is too much! And remember if you are rinsing your quinoa you will be adding a bit more water anyways. For fluffy quinoa, less water is more. I do 1 part dry quinoa : 1 1/2 parts water ratio - then I rinse the quinoa and drain as much water as I can. Stir in curried quinoa "pre-cooked" ingredients.

c) In a large sauce pan, on high heat, bring quinoa mix to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for 12-15 minutes. Once you close that pot lid over your cooking quinoa - no peeking! And no stirring! You don't want to disturb the quinoa fluff factory bubbling inside.

d) After cooking and before you lift the lid, turn OFF the stove and in the words of Kelly Clarkson, "Just Walk Away." Let the quinoa sit for a good 5-10 minutes. Again - no peeking!

e) Fluff your cooked quinoa with a fork. No mush-enhancing spoons allowed.

3. Add the "post-cooked" ingredients to the warm quinoa. Mix well.

4. Remove your chilled tahini slaw from the fridge, grab your extra-large whole wheat wraps, and start adding ingredients…

Recipe adapted from http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2011/03/21/curried-quinoa-wrap-spring-peas/

Veggie Pasta

*Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 5 oz. cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/8 cup red onion, diced
• 1 small bell pepper, diced (any color will do, yellow is my favorite)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ cup salt-free or low sodium pasta sauce (I’m working on a homemade recipe)
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• Whole wheat noodles (look at the ingredients on the back of the package for "bleached" or "enriched" those are two things you DO NOT want in your food)

Directions:

Prepare noodles according to package and set aside. In a medium frying pan, sauté tomato and bell pepper in 1 tbsp pasta sauce over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add red onion and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes. Stir in the rest of the pasta sauce and the seasoning. Reduce heat to med-low and continue to stir until hot. Divide & combine noodles and sauce and serve. Delish!

Sometimes I like to make mine a little spicy by adding 1 tsp sriracha sauce & 1 tsp red pepper flakes… gives it a nice kick.

Hummus (traditional style)

*Makes 4 cups

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked chickpeas (1 15 ounce can or 1 ½ cups dried)
• ½ cup tahini
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp salt free seasoning (ex. Mrs. Dash Lemon Pepper. If you want to change up the flavor, you could add red pepper flakes or Southwest Chipotle for a spicy hummus)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp ground paprika
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• ½ – 1 cup water, depending on desired texture

Directions:

In a food processor, puree the chickpeas until fairly smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend to your desired texture. Take a little sample bite & add any additional seasonings to taste. Serve with anything! haha. I'll put hummus on, literally anything!

Whole wheat flour Tortillas

*Makes twelve 8 inch tortillas

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons seasoning of your choice (we used 1 tsp 'Mrs. Dash' Fiesta lime & 1 tsp Table blend. Her spices are salt free)
• 2 teaspoons flax seed
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup warm water

Directions:

Combine the flour, salt, seasonings, and flax seed in a medium mixing bowl or a food processor and mix together. I used the food processor and it worked great. Add the oil and mix into the flour thoroughly. Mix in the warm water (with the machine running, if you’re using a food processor). Depending on the flour’s moisture content, you may need to use more or less water. You’ll want dough that’s a bit sticky. Once you’ve mixed the dough, let it sit, covered, for 20 minutes.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface, knead it a few times, and pat it into an even disk. Cut the dough into 12 pieces, and roll each piece into a ball. Cover the balls and let them rest for 20 minutes.

Heat a heavy, ungreased griddle or skillet over medium-high heat. Take one of the balls and flatten it into a small disk. Using a floured rolling pin on a lightly floured work surface, roll the tortilla into a very thin, flat round about 8 inches in diameter. Toss a tortilla onto the griddle or skillet and let it heat on one side for about 1 minute, then use a spatula to lift and flip the tortilla to bake it on the other side, about 1 more minute.

While the first tortilla is baking, roll the second one. Transfer the baked tortilla to a plate and toss on the next tortilla. Repeat until all the tortillas are rolled and baked.

We kept six as tortillas and then baked the other 6 into chips. To make the chips, preheat the oven to 325. Once the oven is preheated, place the tortillas on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until crunchy. When they're done, break them into chips.

Mole Mole (guacamole)

*Makes about 3 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 can (15 0z.) no salt added peas, drained and rinsed
• 2 avocados
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• ¼ cup red onion, diced
• 1 small jalapeño, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
•  ¼ cup cilantro, finely chopped
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 lime, juiced

Directions:

In a 1 -2 quart bowl, mash peas with a fork or potato masher. Add avocado and mash together. Stir in garlic, cilantro, spices, and lime juice, mix well. Add tomato, red onion, and jalapeño. Stir and serve with chips, on a burrito, veggie burger, or salad.

The goods

The finished product

Now serve with chips!

Salsa

*Makes 4 cups (that's 2 (16oz) jars worth of salsa for $7, at the most)

    Ingredients:

• 3 medium tomatoes, sliced into wedges
• ½ cup red onion, diced
• ¼ cup cilantro, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium jalapeño, diced
• 1 lime, juiced
• Optional: 
• 1 Serrano pepper, diced
• 1 SMALL habanero pepper, carefully diced (these things are mean!)
• 1 tsp seasonings – cumin, garlic &herb blend, lemon or lime pepper, etc.

Directions:

In a food processor, layer ingredients, in order of listing, and pulse to desired consistency. Pour into a bowl and stir, if necessary.

Question Mark

Well, here I am, writing a blog & I have no idea what I'm doing. I guess on this first post I should share a little bit of what I'm all about. I just recently recovered from a 9 month battle with Leukemia. It hit me, out of nowhere, like a ton of bricks... BAM!

 The day after a routine visit to the doctor for some migraines, I got a call from my doctor, "your blood tests came back and they don't look good", he said. "Your white blood cells are 4 times what they should be & your red blood cells are less than half of what they should be." I don't know about you, but I had no idea where he was going with this. "You have cancer of the blood. Either leukemia or lymphoma." You know on movies when the camera zooms in, from really far out, on to a persons eye with lightening speed & a loud ringing sound? That's about right.

 One week I was making coffee, working a job, cooking dinner, living on a boat, & running around with my boyfriend & baby puppy dog. One phone call & 2 hours later, I was in a hospital bed getting blood taken out, then getting some put back in. Having my bone cut out and marrow plunged out. Getting a permanent line put in my arm that allows blood, medicine, & chemo to go straight to my heart.

 They told me that my blood was 95% leukemic cells & that I had to start treatment immediately or I would die within 1 week. I didn't even really understand what leukemia was, but I had to make a decision that would change my life forever. So, staring death in the face, I did what any young, cancer-clueless person would do: I chose chemotherapy. What a whirl wind of events. Fast forward through 9 months of chemotherapy, & I've got some serious lifestyle changes to put in to play.