 |
 |
 |
 |
Yep, more roasted veggies! What can I say, other than they’ve been deliciously fueling me through the winter. This time they’re roasted and paired with barley in a chunky tomato based soup. See those slightly charred edges; that’s the best part! Roasting vegetables before putting them in a soup brings out a whole new flavor. Try it and let me know what you think.
Get the recipe at Whole Living.
After the first uphill stretch, I can feel myself growing stronger, anticipating where each step takes me. I feel my hearts rapid, steady beating and the flow of air filling my lungs and I start to find my rhythm. I feel light and whole and my heart is soaring with so much emotion at the beauty before me that I can hardly share words to express this feeling. I am quiet. I don’t think about the worries and tasks of everyday life. I’m filled with complete happiness and I want to feel this way forever.
The wind blows hard and cold, but the sun is shining bright and I try to think of how I can make it possible for this to happen every day. Mt. Rainier, if you’ve never been, is as much a grand place as you’ve probably heard. I’ve grown up and spent my whole life in it’s shadow and yet, I’m still in awe every time I go back. I have this same feeling in any place where I am completely surrounded by nature, it’s addictive. Every time we leave I feel my time there was too short and the next adventure can not come soon enough.
The trail wound itself around a steep cliff where the wind gust were so strong you had to stop for a moment before resuming to maintain balance. The trail took us to two frozen lakes that sat just below the peak of the mountain. From every angle, and time of day or season, it looks different and I image the fiery red and brilliant blues of the wild flowers that will soon blaze across the meadows this June and July.
As the sun began it’s decent we made our way back to the cabin. By this time we were spent and ready for a hot meal. I made a batch of my favorite chili the day before heading up. It was the exact meal we needed. We ate in the dimly lit cozy cabin, in our long underwear and thick wooly socks. If I was to think of a perfect day this might just be it.
Spicy Smoky Veggie Bean Chili / serves 4-6
Adapted from Dana Treat
I’ve been making this chili every winter since spying it on Dana’s blog a couple year’s ago (in fact I just realized she posted it right around this time too, funny). It’s the perfect bowl of comfort with just the right amount of smokiness and spice to it. I’ve made it countless ways since then and for this version added in a few carrots and sweet potatoes for a little extra vegetable action. This chili begs for toppings too. We ate it unadorned this time around because of our location, but top it with cilantro, avocado, crushed chips, cheese, plain yogurt, green onions; the options are really endless, just go for it. Dana notes the importance of dicing everything the same size and I couldn’t agree with her more, so try chopping the veggies roughly no larger than the beans.
1-2 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
1 small sweet potato, peeled and diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 red bell pepper diced
1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 cup water
1 chipotle pepper in adobo, minced, plus 1 teaspoon sauce
2 cups cooked black beans or 1 15oz. can, drained
2 cups cooked chickpeas or 1 15oz. can, drained
1 4oz. can diced green chiles, drained
1/2 cup frozen corn
Heat a large pot over medium heat, once hot add the oil. Sauté the onion until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, carrots, and sweet potato and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add all the spices and salt, stirring to coat. Stir in the bell pepper, cook another couple minutes, then pour in the tomatoes and water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the chipotle pepper and sauce and reduce heat to a simmer.
Stir in the beans, green chiles, and corn and cook at a gentle simmer, partially covered, for 20-30 minutes. Serve warm. If making ahead let cool completely, then store in the fridge and re-heat when ready to use. The best part about making this ahead of time is how much the flavors develop and deepen. It also gets a tad spicier, so take that into account based on your preference.
Fall, Gluten-Free, Proteins, Soups + Stews, Vegan, Vegetables, Winter
I’ve never been one to crave potato chips, I’ve always been more of a sweets snacker than a salty or savory one. Don’t get me wrong though, if I do reach for the satisfying salty crunch of a chip, I can never stop at just one. The past few months though, I’ve been making a switch to craving all things savory versus sweet, to satisfy my snack attack. Go figure. So when I saw a lonely giant parsnip sitting in the crisper I had a hankering for some spiced up parsnip chips.
Parsnips are pretty gnarly looking, but nothing compared to a few other root vegetables out there, so if you’re new to adding slightly less known roots to your diet, I would suggest this be one of your first. It resembles a carrot, but it’s flesh is white and I usually find them a bit larger than carrots, with a more distinct taper. They also have a slightly sweeter taste, especially when cooked, but if they are more mature they can sometimes even be a bit spicy. You can eat them raw or cooked, in pretty much any way you would a carrot, they’re a pretty versatile root.
Parsnip Chips / serves 4, unless you have a large appetite, as we do, then it serves 2
Adapted from Full Circle
It’s important to slice these pretty thinly and as evenly as you can. If you have a mandolin, use it, but a sharp knife and some patience works too. These are not as crispy as potato chips, but they were still seriously addictive (I probably could have eaten the whole parsnip if Scott wasn’t around).
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, toasted and ground
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chile powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 lb. parsnips, peeled and sliced no thicker than 1/8-inch
2 tablespoons coconut oil or other high heat oil
salt
Preheat oven to 475F. Have ready two rimmed baking sheets.
Mix the fennel, cumin, chile powder, paprika, and pepper in a small bowl and set aside.
Pat the parsnips with paper towels and place in a large bowl, drizzle with oil and toss with the spice mixture and season with salt to taste.
Place the parsnips in a single layer on the baking sheets (if you don’t have two you’ll have to do this in shifts). Roast for 15-20 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom half way through and flipping the chips over with a spatula. Baking time may vary depending on a lot of factors, so make sure you stick close by the oven and watch for burning.
This salad is really more about the lemon tahini dressing than the salad as a whole. I wanted to share with you more ways to use the dressing than on a traditional green salad (which is equally delicious) and since roasted root vegetables have been a weekly staple since well, late fall, that’s what I cooked up. A hearty winter root salad, livened up by a dressing you really must try.
I’ve been eating this dressing on everything for the last few weeks. Yes, every. Single. Thing. It’s just so good and I’ve found it so versatile too. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to share it with you.
It’s rich and nutty tasting, balanced by the tartness of lemon and spiced up from the garlic and cayenne. It’s super creamy and goes well over a sturdy salad made with Romaine and equally as well spooned over a wrap or for dipping your sweet potato fries in. I can hardly wait until summer arrives and I can drizzle some over eggplant or keep it thick and dip fresh veggies in.
Roasted Roots & Spinach Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing / serves 4
I’ve kept the roasted vegetable amounts below pretty loose. You’ll want roughly 4lbs for 4 meal sized servings. If you can find sunchokes, use them. They are absolutely one tasty little root, but other options could include parsnips and sweet potatoes. The dressing has been adapted from The Northwest Vegetarian Cookbook. It’s a great little book full of recipes from small farms all over the NW and I have little tags hanging out all over for new recipes to try.
4lbs. root veggies of your choice (I used red sunchokes, carrots, and yellow potatoes)
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
pinch of salt and ground pepper
1 bunch baby spinach, washed and dried
for the dressing
1/4 cup tahini
just and finely grated zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon white miso
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro or parsley
pinch of cayenne
water as needed
Preheat the oven to 425F. Have ready a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silpat mat.
Wash and scrub the vegetables well and roughly cut into even thicknesses so they bake at relatively the same time. Drizzle olive oil over the top and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Give everything a good toss and roast in the oven for about 30-45 minutes, depending on the thickness you cut everything. The vegetables should be tender and have lightly golden crusty ends.
Meanwhile make the dressing. In a small bowl whisk together the tahini, lemon juice and zest, miso, and garlic. Mix in the cilantro and cayenne and enough water to reach desired consistency. I like to thin mine out quite a bit for this recipe. You can also do this in a small food processor to make it quickly. Store in a covered container in the fridge for up to a week. Makes about a 1/2 cup.
To assemble, place the spinach on a plate, pile with the roasted veggies and drizzle with the dressing and serve.
Fall, Gluten-Free, Salads, Sides, Vegan, Vegetables, Winter
I found myself with a lot of welcome down time this weekend. Scott and some friends decided going surfing up in the Straits was a good idea even though there were predictions of snow. So Saturday afternoon he headed North to meet up with them and Sunday morning they caught an early ferry across to the peninsula. I don’t blame him for his itch to get in the water, even when there is snow on the beach. It’s been at least since early fall that we’ve gone and surfing has this hold on you that’s hard to let pass by. The only reason I opted to stay home was the fear I’d loose all my fingers and toes to frost bite.
Instead I cozied up at home enjoying my own company alongside our cat Sofia. I put together a large batch of yeasty dough to make bread, caught up on some reading, started knitting a hat for Scott (á la Jacques Cousteau- as per his request), and went through a very large box of photo’s from my childhood that my mom had given me for Christmas. The photo’s all came from my grandmother’s albums (over 20 of them!) and when she passed away over a year ago, my mom scooped them up, took them home and went through every single one dividing every picture for my sister, cousins, and I to have and cherish ourselves, as much as she did. It was my favorite gift by far.
As I was going through the pictures, there were lots of smiles, big hugs, celebrations, and summer’s spent at our family cabin. Then I found a picture of my great grandfather holding me when I was about 2 years old. I stopped at this one for awhile. I didn’t really know my great grandfather or my great grandmother, both passed a way before I was 6 or 7, but they lived on the eastern side of Washington state, in a little town called Wenatchee. I used to call them great grandma and grandpa ‘natchee because that was my best pronunciation and it seemed to stick even after I could say it right.
I love the story this picture seems to tell and instantly fell in love with it and with the lifestyle I know he and my great grandmother lived. It took me back to a simpler time, before internet and before the constant go-go-go world we live in today. The expression on his face and mine is priceless, almost like he was just in the middle of telling me a tale, when someone decided they couldn’t pass up this kodak moment. I love that my great grandfather and I are the main focal point, but whoever took it definitely wanted to make sure and get those big, ripe tomatoes in the frame. They’re the kind of imperfectly perfect juicy tomatoes that only come from ones home garden and displayed out at the end of the harvest season; so it’s no wonder you’d want to show them off. I wish I could know them today, I know I could learn a lot from them and it would be lovely to eat a meal cooked from their kitchen.
Cumin-Scented Black Rice & Quinoa / serves 4
Adapted from Bon Appétit
This side dish would make a fantastic addition to any Spanish style meal, maybe something like this. I’ve kept it simple, but it also seems perfect to add too, I’m thinking fresh tomatoes and avocado in the summer and possibly even roasted root vegetables in the winter, maybe throw in some pinto or black beans too, make it yours. If you can’t find black rice you can swap it out for brown, but I really suggest you try it, it’s a delicious little grain. Although beware, it will stain everything it comes in contact with a purplish hue if you’re not careful.
1/2 cup black rice
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed well
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup salt plus more to taste
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
fresh ground black pepper
Bring rice and 1 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan. Once boiling, cover, reduce heat to low and cook until the rice is tender and water has been absorbed, about 25-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the quinoa, bay leaf, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 cup water in another small saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer until quinoa is tender, about 15 minutes. If you have any remaining water, drain, return to the saucepan and keep covered for roughly 15 minutes. Discard the bay leaf, fluff with a fork and transfer quinoa to a large bowl.
Heat tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cumin seeds and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes. Add the onion mixture to the quinoa. Add the cooked rice and mix everything well. Stir in the remaining 1-2 tablespoons oil (depending on preference), fresh lemon juice, cilantro, parsley, and chives. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve warm or room temperature and garnish with avocado slices and lemon wedges if desired.