Black Bean and Edamame Salad

Do you go through stages with food? I tend to eat the same meals over and over again for months on end, then suddenly the food I am eating changes to something different and I eat that over and over for months and the cycle repeats. Last Spring when I embarked on my new food journey I found Clean Eating Magazine and quickly fell in love with the whole food recipes.

As I was browsing through the recipes I was drawn to a photo of a black bean and edamame salad in the gluten-free recipe section. I can eat edamame right out of the shells by the handful so imagine my delight upon finding this recipe. I scanned the ingredients for the salad, I loved both the salad ingredients and the simple dressing.

Black Bean & Edamame Salad
Serves 4 | 12 minutes

Adapted from Clean Eating Magazine (March 2012)

Ingredients:

• 1 can (15 ounces ) unsalted black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup fresh or frozen shelled edamame, thawed
• 1 small yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/3 cup diced red onion

Dressing:

• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons Nutiva Hemp Oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Method:

In a medium bowl, combine beans, tomatoes, edamame, pepper, cilantro and onion. In a small bowl, whisk dressing ingredients until combined. Drizzle over top of bean mixture and toss to combine. Serve immediately.

**The original recipe calls for fresh mozzarella, grape tomatoes, and a small Anaheim pepper. If you like some heat to your food, feel free to substitute the red bell pepper for the Anaheim pepper. Also, if you eat dairy, the mozzarella would be a delightful addition!**

Nutritional Bonus: Edamame are a great source of protein and fiber; just 1 cup of soybeans packs almost 16 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber!

Master Recipe: Reductions

Wait! Don’t let the word ‘reduction’ scare you away, it’s one of the easiest techniques to mater and will help you create deeply flavorful sauces for all kinds of dishes.

You simply start with a seasoned liquid, anything from balsamic vinegar to broth, boil it down to a fraction of its volume, and you’re done! What you will have is a concentrated sauce that’s naturally thick and redolent with flavor.

master recipe:
SAVORY REDUCTION
_________________________________________________
1) Sauté 1/4 cup chopped onion, green onion, and/or celery, plus 1 teaspoon ginger and/or garlic (optional) in 1 to 2 tablespoons oil or butter over medium-low heat until golden brown.
2) Add 1 cup broth, wine, or fruit or vegetable juice, plus fresh or dried herbs (sprigs work well) and/or spices.
3) Boil mixture, uncovered, until syrupy and reduced by at least half.
4) Strain, and discard solids.

Here’s a few reductions to get you started:

Demi~Glace
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 leek, chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 and 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon tomato paste
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup dry sherry
6 whole peppercorns
4 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves

To make Demi~Glace: Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add leek, carrot, and celery; sauté 10 minutes. Stir in flour; cook 2 minutes, or until flour begins to brown. Add tomato paste, garlic, broth, wine, and sherry and simmer 3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 30 minutes. Remove from heat, and cool 30 minutes. Strain mixture through sieve, and discard solids.
**Demi-glace is a classic French brown sauce with hundreds of uses, it can be spooned over roasted-vegetable dishes or used to flavor soups.**

Balsamic~Agave Drizzle
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon plus 1 and 1/2 teaspoon agave
3 allspice berries
3 whole peppercorns
1 sprig fresh rosemary

To make Balsamic~Agave Drizzle: Bring vinegar, 1 tablespoon agave, allspice, peppercorns, and rosemary sprig to a boil in small saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 10 minutes, or until reduced to 1/2 cup. Remove rosemary sprig and spices; stir in remaining 1 and 1/2 teaspoon agave.
**Gastrique is a culinary term for the reduced balsamic sauce, it can be drizzled it over parsnip fritters.**

Lemongrass~Orange Reduction
2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 large shallot, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon minced fresh lemongrass
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 and 1/2 tablespoons tamari

To make Lemongrass~Orange Reduction: Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallot, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, and pepper; sauté 3 minutes. Whisk in juice, broth, and tamari. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
**This bright citrus sauce makes a tasty topping for roasted squash.**

master recipe:
SWEET REDUCTION
__________________________________
1) Combine 1 cup juice, wine, or balsamic vinegar
and 2 to 8 tablespoons agave, sugar, or maple syrup in small saucepan.
2) Add herbs (rosemary, thyme, lavender, and lemony
herbs are good choices) and/or spices (cinnamon,
nutmeg, cloves, vanilla).
3) Boil mixture, watching it closely to prevent
scorching, until syrupy and reduced by at least half.
(Sweet reductions will thicken as they cool.)
4) Strain, and discard solids.

Spiced Zinfandel Syrup with Fruit Compote
3 cups dry red wine
1/3 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
16 whole pitted prunes or dried plums
16 whole dried figs
16 whole dried pitted apricots
1/4 cup dried pitted cherries

Bring wine, 1 cup water, sugar, cinnamon stick, and vanilla bean to a boil in large saucepan. Add prunes, figs, apricots, and cherries, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 1 hour. Cool. Remove cinnamon stick and vanilla bean, and chill 3 hours.

Other Master Recipe Posts:

• Master Vinaigrette Recipe

{Source: Vegetarian Times, October 2012}

Weekly Rewind~Top 5 Recipes Edition

This week’s rewind is all about FOOD! These are the top 5 most viewed recipes on my site.

5th Place: Kitchen Scraps Homemade Vegetable Broth-I eat a lot of veggies and end up with a lot of vegetable scraps. I like to save money every way I can and I also like to have homemade versions of convenience items as much as possible. It is super easy and economical to make your own broth. I like to use veggie broth when I cook, either because the recipe calls for it, or to add nutritional value to things like pasta, rice, and other grains.

4th Place: Meyer Lemon Blueberry Muffins-The Meyer lemon in these muffins give them an incredible lemon fragrance and flavor that is unbelievable. This recipe would be great with raspberries as well.

3rd Place: Strawberry-Goji Muffins with Mini-chocolate chips-The recipe for these muffins came from Let Them Eat Vegan by Dreena Burton. The goji berries are used in a creative way and lend a depth of flavor to this healthy muffins while the mini-chocolate chips add a delicious hint of sweetness and indulgence.

2nd Place: Soft Pretzel Bites with Sesame Seeds-These pretzel bites are reminiscent of the big soft pretzels that you can find at the mall. They are super easy to make and highly customizable.

1st Place: Cookie Butter Banana Bread-It comes as no surprise to me that this is the most viewed recipe on my blog by a landslide! In my opinion, cookie butter makes everything better and this bread is no exception. If you haven’t made it yet, I highly encourage you to make it as soon as possible!

What’s your favorite recipe on my blog? What recipes would you like to see in the future?

Weekly Rewind~Easter Edition

Are you excited for Easter weekend? I know my kids sure are! This week’s rewind is all about Easter. I’ve included both vegan foods as well as some other cute stuff I found around the internet. For even more Easter themed fun, check out my Easter Pinterest Board!

How cute is this guy? This zombie-style Easter bunny plush by HenryStMartin is a humorous addition to your Easter collection. You buy the zombie plush separately, but to add an Easter holiday touch to it, you can buy the zombie’s costume for $12 + shipping.

Super cute, super easy hats for your kids (or kid at heart)! Head on over to One Perfect Day for complete instructions and a free template!

Who doesn’t love chocolate and peanut butter? Check out this awesome vegan peanut butter egg from Sjaak’s Organic. Yum, yum!

Look, it’s a vegan bunny and eggs! Allison’s Gourmet doesn’t disappoint with this adorable vegan chocolate bunny speckled with rice crisps and flavored solid chocolate eggs.

These savory herbed shortbread with pesto filled thumbprints from Glue and Glitter sound like the perfect Easter appetizer to me.

Avocados are a staple in all vegan diets and this Chilled Avocado Soup from She Knows Vegan looks amazing!

I don’t think that lasagna is a traditional Easter dinner but it should be! This Vegan Lasagna with Basil Cashew Cheeze from Oh She Glows is incredible! My omnivore family devoured the whole pan.

I’ve always been intimidated by risotto, especially after watching Hell’s Kitchen and hearing Gordon Ramsay yelling at the chefs every. episode. that the risotto is CRAP! However, Jackie from Vegan Yack Attack assures me that this Asparagus Portabella Risotto is not to be feared.

I think every vegan eats tempeh or tofu on a fairly regular basis, so Easter should be no different. These Miso Tofu or Tempeh logs from Kathy Patalsky look mighty tasty to me.

We can’t have a complete Easter without delicious desserts now can we? Isn’t this cake gorgeous? The original post is in Finnish so some of the ingredients are probably hard to find in the States, but I fell in love with the photos, so here is the cake!

These Cinnamon Swirl Caramel Cheesecake Bars from Chef Amber Shea should not even be legal! Seriously.

What are your plans for Easter? Do you have an Easter Egg hunt? Do you host a big brunch or dinner for your family?

Meyer Lemon Berry Muffins {vegan}

So I’d been seeing all these gorgeous recipes using Meyer lemons all over the blogosphere lately and was lamenting that I would most likely never get a chance to try one of the elusive Meyer lemons. You see, I live in a very small rural town. Most people have never heard of kale or beets or even avocado! To think that I would find a Meyer lemon at the grocery store seemed like a far fetched dream. So I browsed recipes and drooled and dreamed, one day maybe…

Imagine my delight and surprise when I saw a bag of Meyer lemons at the local Wal-Mart! I had to pick one up, there were so many recipes I wanted to try! I began pinning lemon recipes like a crazy lady and finally settled on a bread recipe as the first one to tackle. I was in the mood for muffins so adapted the recipe to my liking.

Meyer Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Adapted from Flour Mayhem

Ingredients:

• 2 cups bread flour
• 2 Meyer lemons, zested and juiced
• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 unsweetened almond milk
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425º F, you will turn the temperature down to 375º F after 5 minutes of baking the muffins. This “sky-high muffin” trick is one of Sally’s secrets to beautiful muffin tops.
2. Fill muffin tin with liners or spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.
3. In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest
4. In a medium bowl combine milk, applesauce, sugar, agave and lemon juice.
5. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
6. Fold in the blueberries.
7. Spoon batter into muffin tins, it will be too thick to pour. Make sure to fill the tins ALL the way to the top for best results.
8. Bake muffins at 425º F for 5 minutes then lower the temperature to 375º F for 18-20 minutes.
9. Remove muffins from oven and allow to cool.
10. Eat and enjoy with a pat of Earth Balance!

Strawberry Goji Muffins with Mini-Chocolate Chips {vegan}

I love muffins! But unfortunately most of the muffins that call my name at the bakery are not so healthy or good for me. Imagine my delight when I bought Let Them Eat Vegan by Dreena Burton and discovered that she had 7 muffin recipes, all vegan and all packed full of nutritious goodness.

As I was browsing the muffin recipes, the Strawberry Goji muffins caught my eye. I recently bought a bag of goji berries and had been tossing them on my salad. Using them in muffins seemed ingenious. Did you know that goji berries are the most nutritionally dense fruit on Earth? It’s true!

They are a member of the nightshade family (Solonaceae), which contains many other common vegetables such as potato, sweet potato, tomato, eggplant, and pepper, as well as some poisonous plants like belladonna and deadly nightshade. Native to the Himalayan Mountains of Tibet and Mongolia, the goji berry is now grown in many other countries as well.

Although they have only been introduced in Western countries in recent years, gojis have been used for thousands of years in Tibet and China, both as a culinary ingredient and medicinally.

Unique among fruits because they contain all essential amino acids, goji berries also have the highest concentration of protein of any fruit. They are also loaded with vitamin C, contain more carotenoids than any other food, have twenty-one trace minerals, and are high in fiber. Boasting 15 times the amount of iron found in spinach, as well as calcium, zinc, selenium and many other important trace minerals, there is no doubt that the humble goji berry is a nutritional powerhouse.

This amazing little superfruit also contains natural anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal compounds. Their powerful antioxidant properties and polysaccharides help to boost the immune system.

Source: The Heatlhy Eating Site

Looking over the ingredient list I realized I had every item already at home. Dreena suggested adding dark chocolate chips to the muffins, so of course I did

Strawberry Goji Muffins with Mini-Chocolate Chips
Makes 12 Muffins
Recipe Source: Let Them Eat Vegan by Dreena Burton

Ingredients:

• 1 cup oat flour
• 1 cup sifted spelt flour
• 1/3 cup unrefined sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom (or cinnamon)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1/2 cup + 1 to 2 tablespoons plain unsweetened almond milk
• 1/4 cup dried goji berries
• 1/4 pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder (I used cornstarch)
• 2 tablespoons neutral-flavored oil, such as grapeseed oil
• 1/4 cup mini-chocolate chips, optional (I used Enjoy Life Brand)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425º F, you will lower the temperature to 375º F after the muffins have baked for 5 minutes. I learned this trick from Sally, she calls it her sky-high muffin trick. I highly suggest you try it.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, salt, and cardamom, sifting in the baking powder and baking soda. Stir to mix well.
3. In a blender, combine the strawberries, milk, goji berries, maple syrup, lemon juice, and arrowroot powder (you may want to let these ingredients sit for a few minutes to help soften the goji berries). Puree until fully smooth.
4. Add the blended mixture, as well as the oil, to the dry ingredients. Mix until well combined. Fold in the mini-chocolate chips.
5. Spoon the batter into lined muffin tins, you want to fill them all the way to the top in order to achieve your high-domed muffin tops.
6. If desired, sprinkle some whole goji berries, sugar, or mini-chocolate chips on top of the muffins.
7. Bake at 425º F for 5 minutes then lower the temperature to 375º F and bake for 14 to 19 minutes, until the muffins are set in the center.
8. Remove from oven, let cool for a few minutes in the muffin tins, and then transfer the muffins to cool on a cooling rack.

Have you ever tried goji berries?

Saturday Morning Fitness Motivation and Avocado-Mango Smoothie Recipe

Avocado-Mango Smoothie

Serves 2 | 30 minutes or fewer

1 and 1/4 cups coconut water
1/2 medium avocado, pitted, flesh scooped out
2 tablespoons walnuts
1 and 1/2 teaspoon lime juice
3/4 cup frozen mango chunks

Place all ingredients in blender in order listed, and blend 30 seconds, or until smooth.

Per 1-cup serving 179 cal; 3 grams protein; 10 grams total fat (1 gram saturated fat); 22 grams carbohydrates; 0 mg cholesterol; 160 mg sodium; 6 grams fiber; 15 grams sugar

Saturday Morning Fitness Motivation and Blueberry Chia Blaster Smoothie Recipe

{Source}

Magic Mushroom Soup and Gravy {vegan}

No, no, not that kind of magic mushroom!
I have made this soup numerous times, tweaking and adjusting each time, until I felt that I have finally found the perfect recipe. You will find that this soup is magical because it can also be used as a gravy, simply reduce the amount of liquid you add.

I’ve made this as a gravy and poured it over millet for a hearty winter-y meal, though any grain such as brown rice or quinoa would work wonderfully as well. This magical soup & gravy is a great vessel for greens too. I’ve used both kale and spinach successfully, you could use collards or chard, if that is your preference, simply add the greens in at the end of cooking.

Ingredients:
Adapted from New York in Green
Makes 4 to 8 servings

• 1 small onion; chopped
• 1 (4 oz.) container of wild bunch mushrooms (shiitake, cremini, oyster), sliced
• 1 (8 oz.) container of baby Portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 1 (8 oz.) container of button mushrooms, sliced
• 1/8-1/4 cup Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (add amount based on your preferred saltiness)
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary**, chopped
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 2 cups unsweetened plain almond milk
  

Method:

• Sauté the onions in a little oil until they are soft and translucent, I used coconut oil.
• Add in all of the mushroom slices. Cook them down for several minutes; then add the Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, rosemary, lemon pepper, and paprika.
• Once the mushrooms are cooked down,stir in your flour. Do this quickly and once it is in don’t delay, stir it to ensure to no clumps form, creating a mushroom paste.
• Add in the stock once you get your paste at an even consistency, about 1/2 cup at a time. Bring the mixture up to a simmer.
• Keep adding the stock,1/2 cup at a time, bringing to a simmer each. Follow the same procedure with the almond milk, adding 1/2 cup at a time. Be careful always to only bring to a simmer, never to a boil. If the soup boils, it will “break” – the flour will separate from the oil it has bonded to, and each will float at the surface of your soup in weird little bubble pods instead of infusing it and making it creamy.
• Once all four cups of liquid have been added, let the pot simmer (simmer not boil!) for ten to fifteen minutes.
• Turn off heat; let sit five to ten minutes before serving.
  

**If you have dried dill, I highly recommend you try using it instead of the rosemary. Both will work beautifully, but I prefer the dill to the rosemary.**

Are you a mushroom fan? I love mushrooms. I will eat them any way I can get them, but this soup has become a favorite.

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You can check out even more great recipes at Buns In My Oven!

Polar Bear Series~10 Miles

The Polar Bear Series 10 mile race was the farthest I’ve ran so far as a runner. It was a gorgeous day, the sun was shining and the temperatures were in the high 30’s. About an hour and a half before the race start I made myself a juice that I’m calling, “Go Get ‘Em Green Juice” (recipe below). I also ate a bowl of my homemade Maple Sunbutter Granola with almond milk and a banana.

For once I actually managed to get my phone started on time and my music was turned up! I had come prepared with an extra layer consisting of a jacket and a fresh pack of Hot Hands. About a mile into the race, I shoved the Hot Hands in my pocket. I unzipped my extra jacket around mile 2 and thought about taking my hat off because I could feel myself sweating, but decided against it since I knew that the middle miles are in shade and colder. Around miles 1-2 I passed my husband and several other racers. My ankles started to ache a bit around miles 2-3 but not too bad and I ran through the achy-ness. I skipped the first water station and felt like I was keeping a good pace. I passed a couple more racers between miles 3-4. I like to pick a person or two ahead of me to try to “catch” and pass them.

Around miles 4-5 the leaders started passing me heading back towards the YMCA. I was hoping that the turnaround was coming up soon, but it seemed to take forever before I saw it. This portion of the race was all uphill, a L.O.N.G gradual uphill, it sucked. At the turnaround I grabbed a water and took a few sips. Now I got to run back down the hill and picked up my pace quite a bit.

I passed this one guy I’d been aiming for the past mile or so at this point. He slowed to a walk to drink his water. Next up was a woman in a pink jacket. It looked like she was quite a ways ahead of me and I feared that I may not be able catch up to and pass her. At miles 7-8, I was close enough to pass her and made my move. At this point there was no one else ahead of me to try to pass, I figured all the fast runners were way ahead of me and had probably finished by now.

I tried to pick up my pace for miles 8-10, however, my left IT band started to tighten up and really hurt at this point, but I refused to slow down and walk this close to the end, I pushed through the pain. Around 9.5 miles  I saw some runners who had already finished cooling down. I turned the final corner, about 1/4 mile left to the finish, and pushed myself into high gear. I ran as fast as I could to the finish line. My time was 1:33:53! (The splits shown below don’t give the official finish time due to me starting my phone timer prior to the official start of the race).

I was pleased with this time, my guesstimate had been about an hour and a half. This was my first longer distance race and I could not have asked for a better run. I felt really good the entire time and kept a steady pace, averaging 9-9:30 minutes per mile.

Go Get ‘Em Green Juice

3 Romaine Leaves
1 cup spinach, baby bok choy, baby red & green chard blend
1 celery stalk
1 apple
2-3 inches of an English Cucumber
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1/2 inch knob of ginger
1/2 of a lemon

Check out my other races on the Herbivore Triathlete Race Results Page
Previous Races in 2013: Polar Bear Series 5K & Polar Bear Series 10K
Next Race: Polar Bear Series Half Marathon–March 10, 2013