It's SUMMER Dine Al Fresco!-Vegan Lemon Asparagus Pasta Topped with Cashew Cream

Wednesday, June 13, 2012


Oh wow a month has gone past since my last blog post! How time flies! We’ve been busy, as most everyone else, welcoming summer with open arms! We are loving the longer days, amazing Nor Cal weather, night breezes and dining al fresco. I have been feverishly planning our summer away trying to be sure we can pack in as much fun as possible. When I was a kid summer was the BEST! I never went to summer school or really even spent a minute inside. I was busy playing with my childhood best friend Megan and our animals (goats, sheep, chickens, horses you name it we had it) and planning our next great adventure while enjoying long summer horseback rides. When I was a kid, insert snide old person remark here, summer was long and filled with empty time waiting to be filled with whatever exciting project we would take on next, for example mud skiing behind a 4 wheeler wearing a swim suit, rubber boots and protective eye goggles. Our parents were never thrilled with the giant mud mess we made in the back pasture (!) but at least we thought about safety…well at least for our eyes.

Now… summer is gone in a blink of an eye! I stopped working two years ago in July. I had big plans…we were going to camp, and fish, and vacation at the beach more than ever before…I mean now we had the TIME. Over the last two summers we camped once and had one beach vacation. How did Megan and I have TIME to go on ALL of our adventures during the summer when we were kids, and now I can’t even manage to provide my kids with more than one camping trip in a summer?? I’m still learning how to fit it all in. But this year I’m ready, like the kind of ready crazy people are when they are fixated on something or someone. I’m ready to pack in the summer fun! I want my kids to LOVE summer the way I always did. I’m so ready this may possibly be the summer my children look back on as the summer their Mom went CRAZY and they were always exhausted! I don’t want to waste a minute of glorious summer freedom. No homework, No faith formation, No soccer, No volunteering and No teaching art! FREEDOM. I like to think of it as a cleansing of the mind, body and soul. TIME for everyone to recharge their batteries by soaking in the sun, smells of BBQ and funny stories read from a book, just for fun, under a shady tree.

So planning is key! You can’t just GO camping… So I’ve planned two camping trips, two beach trips, a few day hiking trips, summer BBQs, swim lessons, a girls trip to Vegas (Mamma needs to have to have fun too!!), picnics and summer play dates. Ready, Set, Go! Doesn’t sound cleansing you say? To me there is something cleansing or refreshing at least about only having organic responsibilities to take care of while planning for weekly fun! I have been so ready for the lightness summer offers that it has transcended TIME, and has been a lovely guiding principal for the past few weeks. Clothes are light and airy, beverages cool and refreshing and food cleansing….

Now I will admit my hubby doesn’t exactly LOVE the idea of vegetarian or vegan fare, he is a meat eater first and foremost, however he has come a long way from the guy who would order a burger “hold any produce” to the guy who devoured this vegan lemon pasta with shaved raw asparagus and cashew cream, ask for seconds and question what was happening with the leftovers… Even if you’re not a vegetarian or vegan you will flip over this dairy-free cream sauce, a staple I used in my raw vegan days. Raw asparagus paired with the acidy of the lemon pasta is a perfect marriage. Keep it light as is, or add some delicious grilled vegan bread! If you don’t have the time or the desire to make the pasta just buy some prepackaged vegan pasta Enjoy…

Pasta

1 2/3 cup all purpose flour (or 50:50 whole wheat/ AP)

Approximately 2/3 cup of water

1/2 to 3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp lemon zest, finely chopped

To Make the Dough:


In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt, then add the water and oil. -Stir the mixture with a fork until it starts to form a ball. Then you can use your hands to combine the dough. If it's too dry, add more water (very little at a time) or if it's too wet, add a touch more flour.

Turn the dough ball out onto a well-floured cutting board. Flour your hands as well. You'll need to knead the dough for about 10 minutes, or until it becomes smooth and pliable. If the dough or board is too wet, dust with flour. You should be able to work with the ball without having it stick to anything. You may have to add flour periodically through the kneading process. To knead, push the dough away from you with the heel of your hand. Then fold it over on itself, turn it and repeat.

To Make the Pasta:

After kneading let the dough rest, covered in plastic wrap for about 10 minutes. After the dough has rested, divide it into eighths. I roll mine into a long log, and then cut into 8 sections. Work with one piece at a time, leaving the others covered with a damp tea towel so they don’t dry out. Using a pasta maker roll each section through on the widest setting 8-10 times until the dough is silky. Cover and rest 30-60 minutes.

Crank each of the sections through the pasta machine decreasing the roller setting by 1 each time you pass the sheet though until desired thickness is obtained (mine was between 2 and 4 mm thick).

Sprinkle a wooden board or counter lined with wax paper with flour. Place pasta sheets on flour and allow to rest 10 minutes (dry to the touch but still pliant).

Now you are ready to cut noodles. I made hand cut tagliatelle noodles because I like the rustic look of hand cut pasta, but fettuccini made with the fettuccini plate on the pasta machine would be great too!

Cook pasta in well salted boiling water for 2-3 min until al dente.




Cashew Cream


(makes 2 ½-3 ½ cups depending on desired consistency)

2 cups whole raw cashews rinsed very well under cold water, do not use roasted cashews

1 clove garlic, grated

Fresh squeezed lemon juice, to taste

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste 


To Make the Cream:

Cover cashews with cold water, cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight

Drain the cashews and rinse under cold water. Place them in a blender with enough fresh cold water to cover them by about 1 inch.

Add 1 clove of grated garlic to the blender. Blend on high for several minutes until very smooth. (If you do not have a professional high-speed blender, which creates an ultra-smooth cream, you may want to strain the cashew cream through a fine-mesh sieve.)

Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.

You can adjust the consistency of this cream by the amount of water used, adjust it to your preference.



Assembly:

1 lb fresh asparagus, rinsed and woody ends removed
Ice water

Remove the asparagus tips and reserve. With a vegetable peeler shave each asparagus stock from top to bottom, making beautiful little asparagus ribbons. Immediately place the asparagus ribbons in an ice bath. Blanch asparagus tips in salted boiling water for 1 min, remove and place in ice bath. Drain asparagus and pat dry. Combine cooked pasta and cashew cream in a large bowl. Top pasta with shaved asparagus and asparagus tips. Enjoy!


Waste Not Want Not Tip:

Never juice a fresh lemon without zesting it first! You can save the zest in the refrigerator in a covered container for up to a week. You can also add zest to a jar of sugar to create lemon sugar.
Posted by The Junk-Free Chef at 8:57 AM 0 comments

Faux Farming! Baked Asparagus, Artichoke and Goat Cheese Frittata

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Eggs! We love them and eat them all the time; breakfast, lunch or dinner – eggs always offer a wonderfully light nutritious protein option. For me, for now, I buy eggs that are from cage-free chickens fed organic, vegetarian food. I also rely on the kindness of friends who have chickens, and getting fresh eggs from a backyard chicken is my preference! My families love for the egg coupled with more recent headlines related to the unnatural way animals raised for consumption are being massed produced, led me to dig further down to my roots…I bought our family 5 beautiful little chicks, hens in the long run we hope!
So…did I mention I live in a suburban neighborhood in a small house with a backyard we affectionately coined the courtyard?  We moved into this house 7 ½ years ago just 10 days after my daughter Liv was born. The plan was to live in this house for 2 years then move back to the country…and so now nearly 8 years later we laugh and somehow make it all work. The biggest issue for me is I am a true country girl, so the lack of outdoor space makes me, well claustrophobic! I do what I can to maximize the art of suburban homesteading…I weave edible plants throughout all of my landscape front, back and side yards. I, of course, live by the genius concepts of “gardening by the foot” in my raise beds and I have worm composting bins in my garage right alongside the new baby chicks!

You see, I was raised in the country on a farm. We raised animals both for companionship and sustenance. Yes I named, groomed, exercised and loved the very animals we eventually turned into food. But this process gave me tremendous respect for life, food and the process of getting from A to B. There is something very special about knowing where your food comes from and the kind of life it lived. The best I could do for now is share what little space I have in my yard with some lovely egg producing hens; Maude, Maven, Molly, Mary and Morgan! This has also satisfied my kid’s recent request for a puppy, double win! While more animals will have to wait for more space (maybeJ), we can do a lot with fresh eggs.
Frittatas are so wonderful because they fit the bill for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner or a snack; you can make them super low fat and low calorie too! I like to make-over the traditional frittata with a lighter, healthier version. Thanks to my all-time favorite fitness-forward eating mogul Tosca Reno, clean eating is the term and concept I live by!!! She is amazing, if you haven’t done so already check out her website www.toscareno.com.When I know there is no real feasible way dinner can be made from scratch, frittatas are a simple, fun, go-to idea! I mean who doesn’t like breakfast for dinner? It takes no time to put together and 20-30 min to bake in the oven, the same time most of us take to check our email or help with homework. Sometimes I have it all ready and covered in the fridge with instructions for my hubby to throw it in the oven when he gets home if I will be a bit later with the kids. It’s great sliced up the next day in a lunch box too, for adults or kids for that matter. I use more egg whites to egg yolks and non dairy or non fat dairy milk for the base of this frittata and load it with yummy veggies and only a sprinkling of cheese to really lighten it up. Now it’s not as rich as the traditional frittata using all whole eggs and lots of cheese, but it is just as tasty and satisfying with no guilt! This one features asparagus, artichoke hearts and goat cheese, but get creative with any “mix-ins” you’d like!

Baked Asparagus, Artichoke and Goat Cheese Frittata

4 whole eggs 
6 egg whites
¼ cup non fat milk (I use goat milk, but you can use whatever you like dairy, non dairy etc…)
12 oz of asparagus, the woody ends removed
12oz of artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
½ tbsp of lemon zest
4 oz goat cheese
1 tbsp fresh chopped herbs (basil, tarragon and thyme are my favorites for this)
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive or vegetable oil as needed

What To Do:

Preheat oven to 375 and mist or lightly grease a 10” pie pan with olive oil. In salted boiling water blanch asparagus for 1 min (do not go any longer or they will be mushy) immediately remove asparagus stocks and place in ice bath for 2 min. Cut asparagus stocks into 1 ½ inch pieces, set aside. Mix eggs and egg whites together add milk, herbs, lemon zest, artichoke hearts, salt and pepper. Pour mixture into prepared pie pan, arrange asparagus pieces throughout the dish in a single layer, and crumble goat cheese over the top. Place dish in the oven and bake for 20-30 min until eggs are completely set. Remove from the oven and let cool 10 min before slicing and serving. Enjoy!

Waste Not Want Not Tip:

Don’t throw out your egg yolks! You can freeze egg yolks to use in future recipes that call for only yolks. Make sure you stabilize the yolks prior to freezing; if they are not stabilized they will be thick and hard to mix. To stabilize egg yolks separate into two categories, sweet and savory; for savory mix 1 tsp salt per pint of egg yolks, and for sweet mix 1 tbsp of sugar or honey per pint of yolks. Freeze in ice cube trays for easy access.
Posted by The Junk-Free Chef at 9:14 PM 0 comments

Nutrition Packed Caramelized Banana and Dark Chocolate Chunk Pancakes

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Nothing warms my heart more than when I hear my children talking with their friends and explaining something (anything) I have taught them about life, faith, science, nutrition etc… It means they ARE actually listening! So it was pleasing to me when I heard my daughter explain to her friend the difference between a treat and a snack. When my daughters friend said she was hungry and suggested they eat some chips, my daughter responded “chips aren’t a snack they are a treat, let’s have an apple.” So they both ate an apple, laughing the whole time because they both only have half their front teeth, then they shared a small lunch-size bag of Doritos.  Now sure, I would love to say my kids don’t eat things like Doritos, but this is reality and they ARE going to eventually… So I am glad it was in my estimation only about 6 chips per girl and of course the apple first!
This concept of treats vs. snacks is something I work hard to keep consistent in our lives, so that my children understand that when they are hungry they need to nourish and feed  their body  with a healthful snack , preferably one that came from the earth and still looks like it did when it was in nature. I also recognize the need to satisfy a craving for something sweet or salty, so we call those treats and we typically don’t eat them when we are hungry, but rather when they sound good and in moderation. This is an important lesson for children, especially with all of the prepackaged “food” labeled as snacks, but really containing little to no sustenance, only empty calories which ultimately leave kids hungrier in the end.  I am not a fan of taking a healthy a snack like an apple, and then covering it in caramel or chocolate just so kids will eat it. If you are going to turn fruit into a dessert, which we do all the time, then call it what it is so kids learn to differentiate between treats and snacks.

Now sometimes I like to turn something with good solid nutritional value into a treat, especially on Sunday mornings! This last Sunday I made our family favorite Sunday morning breakfast treat; Caramelized Banana and Dark Chocolate Chunk Pancakes. Doesn’t sound nutritious you say? The base of these pancakes has no butter, dairy or sugar and boast nearly 20 grams of fiber! I use a 50:50 ratio of whole wheat to white flour to keep the pancakes from being too dense, and I eliminate the need to use butter or oil by adding ground flax seed. I use almond or soy milk to replace the dairy and raw agave nectar to eliminate the need for sugar.  Caramelizing the bananas really adds depth to the flavor of these luscious pancakes! And as if you need to explain why dark chocolate chunks make these pancakes just that much better, well the bitter sweetness of the dark chocolate adds an earthy balance to the sweet caramely bananas which altogether transform this healthful breakfast into a dreamy Sunday treat! Pair the pancakes with a 75:25 egg white to egg yolk scramble, some turkey bacon and fresh fruit and you have a healthy breakfast topped with a delicious treat! Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

Caramelized Banana and Dark Chocolate Chunk Pancakes   

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
3 tbsp ground flax seed
1 ½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 eggs
2 cups almond, soy or non-fat goat or cow milk
3 tbsp raw agave nectar (or ¼ cup raw unfiltered honey)
½ tbsp neutral oil (I use vegetable)
2-3 ripe but not mushy bananas, peeled and cut into rounds
½ cup dark chocolate chunks or chips (75% or higher, I use Valrhona but I’m a self professed chocolate snob)
What to Do:
Heat oil in large sauté pan, add bananas in a single layer and cook on medium-high heat until they begin to caramelize, about 5 min on each side. Remove bananas from pan and set aside.  Mix all dry ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl. Mix eggs, milk and agave nectar or honey together in another mixing bowl. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and mix with a wood spoon just until the dry ingredients are all incorporated. It is important to not over mix this batter or your pancakes will be tough and dense. Gently fold in the bananas and the dark chocolate.  On a non stick griddle or in a nonstick pan lightly sprayed with oil, I use vegetable oil sprayed from Misto, spoon batter in about ¼ cup scoops. Cook for a few minutes on each side until golden brown. Serve warm with butter and honey, or syrup or nothing at all because they are that good!! Enjoy!
Posted by The Junk-Free Chef at 12:22 PM 0 comments
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