I’ve had both nasty tahini dressing (really greasy) and really good tahini dressing. Here is a tasty and simple recipe for Tahini Dressing that I’ve recently fallen in love with:

1/4 cup tahini

1 clove garlic, minced OR for milder version, use 1/8 tsp garlic powder (or to taste)

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp tamari sauce

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp rice vinegar (can used seasonsed or regular)

Mix until blended. It will be a bit thick, but thins out when used. With salad dressings you can always adjust the ingredient amounts to suit your individual taste.

This dressing taste great with baby romaine lettuce and mandarian orange segements for a simple, healthy, and delicous salad.

Bean and Barley Soup

2 tsp olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

5 cups vegetarian beef broth

1/4 cup + 1/8 cup pearl barley

2 bay leaves

2 medium carrots, peeled and diced

1 medium potato, diced

1/2 a 19oz can red kidney beans

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, cook until soft. Add beef broth, barley and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to simmer for 40 minutes (or until barley is almost cooked). Add rest of ingredients and cook until vegetables are tender. Remove bay leaves and add salt and pepper to taste.

(Celery would be good to add to the soup too, I just didn’t have any.)

The Fruit Salad that started it all:

Serves 2
(all organic)
1 pear, chopped
½ banana, chopped
Juice of ½ orange
Sprinkle with raw sunflower seeds, hemp nuts, flax, and goji berries

Obviously, no local or seasonal fruit in this dish, except for the flax (for which the producer either had to drive to the farmer’s market to get picked up by local organic store lady, or he brought to her, which I then had to drive to, to purchase–and now that I think of it, I’m not sure if he grew it himself or just processed it). I did try to eat local and seasonal this winter, which meant I ate a lot more animal products than usual (it’s the most readily available), lots of cooked root vegetables, apples, and some greenhouse grown greens (lots of spinach). I still ate the occasional orange, and brown rice was still a staple in my diet. This kind of eating does fit the winter months, but I did not feel my best. My digestive system (colitis) doesn’t do well on that kind of diet. I tried to take probiotics and fish oil capsules (from god knows where) to help, but I still ended up having to go back on meds for a while (what is the energy cost of that?). This little experiment has showed me that I do best on my old diet, which is almost vegan, with lot of fresh fruit and veggies. I guess it’s back to vegan stir-frys for me (or at least “healthier”). This led me to question the pros and cons of a local diet versus vegan diet.

Here are some of the articles I found:

The localvore’s dilemma

On Soy Verses Meat

Environmental Tips for Individuals: Your Food

Can you reduce your carbon footprint with a vegan diet?

Food Riots Begin: Will You Go Vegetarian?

The Feminist in My Kitchen

I’m still at a loss. It’s so confusing. As much I like the idea, I don’t have time to grow my own garden and preserve enough for the winter and make everything from scratch and eat healthfully and have food that tastes good. I mean, I love good food, but not that much.

My tofu veggie stir-fry: organic, but not local. Good choice or pure evil?

Honey Mustard Dressing

Mix togeter 1/4 cup each whole grain dijon mustard, lemon juice, and honey.

Add 2 cloves of garlic, minced.

Store in a mason jar in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

The Camera

We never did find the missing battery recharger for our old camera. But we recently bought a new one so I hope to be back with more pictures and recipes soon–starting with homemade jam.

Easy Potato and Broccoli Soup

(4-6 servings)

2 medium potatoes (I used red potatoes), chopped

1 head broccoli, chopped into florets (about 4 to 6 cups)

4 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup skim milk

Cheddar cheese, shredded, for garnish

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Bring potatoes and chicken broth to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook until tender, about 15 to 20 minutes).

2. Add broccoli florets. Cover and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.

3. Remove from heat. In batches, blend until smooth in a blender.

4. Add pureed soup back to pot and return to heat.

5. Add milk and salt and pepper, heat through.

6. Serve garnished with Cheddar cheese.

(still missing camera battery recharger, so no picture!)

Slightly Smoky Spinach Omelet

Serves 2

2 small shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 tbsp red pepper, diced
2 tsp olive oil

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a non-stick skillet. Add mushrooms and red pepper. Sautee until tender. Remove from skillet and set aside.

3 eggs
½ tbsp skim milk
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tbsp olive oil

Beat 3 eggs together in a bowl. Add ½ tbsp skim milk. Season with freshly ground sea salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in the skillet. Pour eggs into the skillet. Turn down heat to medium-low. When the edges are set, gently lift the edges of the omelet with a spatula.

½ cup spinach, chopped
½ cup smoked Gouda, shredded

When the eggs are almost set, add cooked mushrooms and red pepper on top, spread evenly down the middle. Add the spinach and Gouda evenly down the middle. Cook for about a minute. Gently fold over one side of the omelet using the spatula. Let cook for another minute, or until the cheese melts.

Slide onto a plate and cut in half.

(First of all, there will be no pictures, perhaps for a while, because the camera battery is dead and the hubby has lost the recharger.)

Ok, so it’s not a great idea to bake cookies right before preparing supper, but that is what I did. It wouldn’t have been such a problem if the dough wasn’t the best, most soft, “doughlicious” dough ever! But it was, and I ate quite a bit of it. So now I feel that “ickyness” in my belly that comes with such behavior.

As I write this, I’m drinking mint green tea to aid digestion, while my “cure-all” soup is simmering on the stove. I’ll be having a fresh green salad on the side with nothing more than a little lemon juice for dressing. I think that should make for a nice balance to my earlier indulgence!

Here is the recipe for the soup–it’s one of my favorites. It makes your kitchen smell great too.

Simple Golden Broth – Serves 6
(From The Peaceful Palate by Jennifer Raymond; vegan cookbook)

1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup yellow split peas
½ tsp turmeric
4 cups water or vegetable stock (I use stock, and therefore, less added salt)
½ – 1 tsp salt

Place the onion, garlic, split peas, turmeric, and water or stock into a pot. Bring to simmer, then cover and cook until peas are tender, about 50 minutes.

Puree in a blender until smooth. You can strain it for a thinner broth, but I never do that. Add salt to taste.

Per serving: 53 calories; 3g protein, 10g carbohydrate 0g fat, 0g cholesterol. 

(I definitely eat more than 1 serving of this soup! Probably 2 or 3)

Mixed Vegetables with Capers and Olive Oil
(Adapted from: Vegan Italiano)

1 medium red potato, cut into bite sized chunks
1 large carrot, peeled and diced into ¾ inch slices*
1 medium zucchini cut in ¾ inch slices
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp capers, drained
1 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Coarse salt and pepper to taste

Bring medium sauce pot filled with salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and carrots and reduce heat to medium-high; cook, partially covered, for 10 minutes. Add zucchini and cook, partially covered, for 5 minutes or until all vegetables are tender, but still somewhat firm. Drain well and transfer to a large serving bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss to combine. Can be served warm, at room temperature, or chilled (refrigerate a least 3 hours, or up to 1 day).

Makes 2 side dishes

*My organic carrot was yellow, so the color isn’t as vibrant in the photo.

Eaten with: Lemon Pepper Rosemary Roasted Chicken (olive oil, McCormick’s Citrus and Pepper seasoning, crushed dried Rosemary, coarse sea salt).

I don’t know what possessed me to make such a large taco salad today for lunch. Needless to say, I did not end up eating the whole thing (I ate about a third). Still, I did eat past fullness, but I was very much aware that I was doing it, and I made the choice to do so.

On one slice whole grain bread, spread on mayonnaise, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Top with ½ cup broccoli sprouts, thin slices smoked Gouda (or other favorite cheese), ¼ avocado sliced. Sprinkle salt on top of avocado. Place other slice of bread on top, cut in half.

2 half servings, or 1 whole serving.

All together, my post-workout lunch: