Spring Equinox Inspiration – Homemade Salad Dressings!

As a Florida native, the first day of Spring, or any change of season for that matter, was hardly discernible. Most days were sunny and hot, or sunny and slightly less hot. Now that I live in a state that experiences noticeable changes in the seasons, today, the first day of Spring is truly an exciting prospect!

Where there were once piles of snow, daffodils and other bulbous perennials are blossoming. The familiar whir of lawn mowers has returned to the neighborhood, admittedly, something I didn’t miss much. However, the most exciting prospect of Spring for me is the impending arrival of young, tender lettuces. I have been a slave to winter squash, cooking greens and lots of onions and garlic for the last three months and am giddy at the thought of some locally grown spring lettuces.

Hey, I know not everyone is nearly as enthusiastic about salad greens as I am, so in an attempt to spur on some pro-lettuce sentiment, I want to share some salad dressing recipes I recently made. Salads can range from the dull to the overly complex but if you want to get in your daily serving of raw veggies, a salad is a great option. There are a ton of creative approaches to making a satisfying salad but if you are in a hurry, or aren’t much of a salad eater, the best approach is to serve your greens with a delicious dressing.

It’s probably been years since I have bought pre-made salad dressing from the grocery store. We tend to whip up a quick vinaigrette for our salads which typically consists of olive oil, whatever kind of acid we feel like (balsamic, red wine, apple cider, kombucha, lemon juice, etc.) and some seasonings. Now, I really enjoy these homemade dressings but swapping out red wine vinegar for apple cider vinegar isn’t much of a stretch and doesn’t offer much variation in flavor. It’s easy to get burnt out on salads when it feels like you’re eating the same thing over and over again.

So, for a little salad inspiration, I hit up The Complete Book of Raw Food. Sure, there are some fantastic vegan raw food recipes in this book that aren’t salad, but the truth is there is a full chapter, 37 pages, dedicated solely to salads and dressings. The odds were in my favor for finding some interesting ways to dress a salad. I found four recipes from this book and went to my old standby, Nourishing Traditions, for a fifth non-raw/vegan salad dressing recipe. Here are the dressings I made:

• Premier French Dressing
• Sweet Basil Oil Salad Dressing
• Green Onion Dressing
• Creamy Cumin Salad Dressing
• Blue Cheese Vinaigrette

The only special equipment you’ll need to make these dressings is a blender or a food processor! A blender makes really quick work of these dressings and the high-speed blade helps to emulsify the oils which in turn, gives you a really thick dressing, which is very satisfying.

Although four out of five recipes that I made came from a raw food cookbook, some of the recipes call for honey – which is not vegan or soy sauce (tamari) – which is typically not raw. This cookbook was published in 2004, possibly before the current raw food standards were in place. No matter what your eating habits are, I guarantee one of these easy and delicious salad dressings will be right for you!

Premier French Dressing – The Complete Book of Raw Food

This dressing, created by Nomi Shannon, was the simplest to make and was one of my favorites. It’s the closest to the quick vinaigrettes I usually make and is furthest from the last French dressing I ate, which is fine with me. This dressing doesn’t call for any special equipment and you can whip it up in a bowl with a fork just before you sit down to eat. I doubled the recipe, to serve two. Here’s the modified recipe I used:

8 tablespoons flax seed oil

juice of 1 to 2 lemons

1 teaspoon grade B maple syrup

3 teaspoons soy sauce, tamari, coconut aminos or a pinch of sea salt

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil (optional)

Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl with a fork and pour over your salad. This salad dressing is one size fits all. It will be delicious with any salad you put together. I used this one in a green salad with roasted sweet potatoes, shallots, massaged kale and pumpkin seeds. Yummy!

Sweet Basil Oil Salad Dressing – The Complete Book of Raw Food

This dressing was Dan’s favorite. It’s so light and very tropical tasting. It reminded me of a delicious pesto in dressing form. If you are a fan of Thai food, this is a great base for an Asian-style salad. This recipe was created by Natt Amsden and yields three cups of dressing. Here’s the modified recipe I used:

1 cup coconut water

1/2 cup cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

1 cup fresh organic basil leaves

2 cloves garlic

juice of 2 lemons (or more to taste)

1/8 cup nama shoyu, soy sauce, tamari or coconut aminos

pinch of sea salt

1/4 cup organic medjool dates, pits removed

Put everything into the blender and mix until liquified. Taste and adjust seasoning to your preference. You can substitute the basil for mint, dill, cilantro or tarragon for a different flavor variation. This dressing is very thin because of the coconut water and lemon juice so won’t cling to you salad as much as a typical dressing would.

I used this dressing as a base for an Asian-style salad I came up with. Chop up bell peppers, red onions, carrots and cucumbers. Mince basil, cilantro and mint and add to the chopped veggies. Season with pepper, crushed red pepper, lime juice, sesame seeds, fish sauce (optional) and toasted sesame oil to taste. Let marinate and serve on a bed of green lettuce. Top with toasted cashew nuts. I also broiled some wild caught salmon to go with this salad. This one reminded me of a fresh roll, in salad form. Super tasty!

Green Onion Dressing – The Complete Book of Raw Food

This dressing is another great one for the spring season, since it uses green onions as the base of the dressing. This dressing is a fairly thick and robust dressing and yields about three cups. It was created by Jalissa Letendre. Here’s the modified recipe I used:

1 bunch of green onions

1 cup cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

2/3 cup raw apple cider vinegar

1/8 cup raw honey (or use alternative sweetener of your choice)

1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Put all of the ingredients into the blender and mix until creamy. I roughly chopped the onions up but used the whole plant, including the white root ends. If you aren’t a fan of slightly sweet dressings, I would omit the honey. I used this dressing in the green salad with roasted sweet potatoes, shallots, massaged kale and pumpkin seeds. Before I prepared the rest of that green salad, I massaged some minced kale with this onion dressing and added it to the other ingredients. Using two salad dressings in that salad make for a really complex and interesting meal. Massaging the kale with this dressing also helped to tenderize it and make it easier to digest!

Creamy Cumin Salad Dressing – The Complete Book of Raw Food

This dressing took the longest to make and really reminds me more of a dip than a dressing. It is super thick and creamy, uses only whole ingredients and is 100% vegan. The thickening agent in this dressing is soaked sunflower seeds! This dressing was created by Elaina Lova and serves six to eight people. Here’s the recipe I used:

3/4 cup raw organic sunflower seeds, soaked in water for 2 hours

3 cloves garlic

1 cup cilantro

2 teaspoons sea salt

2 lemons, juiced

1/8 cup flax, hemp or olive oil

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1 cup water

After soaking your sunflower seeds, drain and rinse. Add all ingredients to your blender and process thoroughly. This dressing is thick and will thicken even more in your refrigerator, you can add more water until you reach your desired consistency.

The suggested serving is over a green salad, which would be great, but my suggestion is to make a Tex-Mex salad with tomatoes, beans, corn, the works. Even better, this would be a great addition to a seven-layer dip (since it’s so thick) or even a great taco dipping sauce. The cilantro and cumin really stand out in this tasty dressing.

Blue Cheese Vinaigrette – Nourishing Traditions

Alright, alright I just can’t stay away from my favorite go-to cookbook, Nourishing Traditions. The thing is, this book always has what I’m looking for. I had a block of Roquefort cheese in my fridge for a month now and really needed to come up with some use for it. Instead of a traditional creamy blue cheese dressing, I wanted to give a vinaigrette a try. This recipe yields 2 cups of dressing. I combined a few recipes to create this modified blue cheese dressing:

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 cloves garlic, pressed

5 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 anchovy fillets

1 cup cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons expeller pressed flax seed oil

4 to 8 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese

Blend mustard, garlic, anchovies and vinegar in a food processor. While continuously running, add oils in a stream until oil is well mixed and emulsified. The dressing base will be very thick if you used a food processor. You can also do this by hand, if you are fast! Once emulsified, stir in crumbled blue cheese with a fork.

I made a healthy version of a steakhouse salad. You know the kind. While Dan broiled a grass-fed ribeye in the oven, I prepared a salad of spinach, mixed greens, red onion and (healthfully) candied pecans. I sliced the beef up thinly and tossed everything in the blue cheese vinaigrette. It was REALLY good.

I stored all of these dressings in mason-type jars with tight-fitting lids. Most will last for two weeks, some longer. Having a fridge full of dressings makes is great because most of the work is already done. If I’m not feeling creative, I can just rinse off some greens and toss with the dressing of my choice.

Many of these dressings would make fantastic marinades too once you’ve had your fill of salad. The Premier French Dressing and Sweet Basil Oil Salad Dressing are both great options for second round cooking.

Hopefully I have inspired a few of you to think outside the box when it comes to salads. I may not subscribe to, “Clothes makes the man” but I definitely can get behind, “the dressing makes the salad”.

Happy Vernal Equinox!

Geel Rys – Yellow Rice…er, Quinoa

The perfect accompaniment to a pot of curry is either a heaping pile of rice or some sort of fried flat bread whose purpose is to assist you in shoveling heaping mounds of curry into your mouth. Don’t get me wrong, I love bread and rice but really try to keep consumption to a minimum. I am one of those weirdos who prefer to use properly prepared pseudo-grains like buckwheat, amaranth and quinoa in my kitchen. When it comes to wheat, rice, oats and even pseudo-grains, I try to limit my use as much as possible. I get more than enough grains in liquid form via beer, one of my great loves.

This swap-out approach has backfired on me more than a few times. For example, trying to make a “healthy” version of chocolate cake with whole spelt flour and date sugar was a near disaster. I have learned that it’s best just to have an occasional bite of the “real deal” and skip out on some of these alternative preparations that taste like crap.

There are times, however, when you can easily replace one ingredient for another with great success. Swapping out rice for quinoa, a pseudo-grain closely related to beets and spinach, for has worked out well for me in the past. I really enjoy quinoa, which has that chewy bite you’re looking for with cooked grains and is also a complete protein. When I was looking for something to accompany my Quick Chicken Curry  I found a recipe for Geel Rys, which is a South African preparation of Yellow Rice. This recipe for yellow rice from The Africa News Cookbook  is really different from the standard Spanish approach and was the perfect side dish for my pot of curry. The list of ingredients was pretty short and I just swapped out the rice for quinoa, out one-for-one. Here’s the recipe I used:

4 tablespoons oil or butter

2 cups quinoa (or rice, if you prefer)

2 sticks cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 tsp turmeric

pinch of saffron (optional)

1 cup goji berries (or raisins)

This recipe can be made in a pot on the stove but I have always had great luck cooking quinoa in my rice cooker! It’s very little hassle and it can stay warm while you get the rest of your meal ready. If you are looking for a rice cooker, my recommendation is to find one with a stainless steel insert, rather than aluminum or non-stick. There are some food safety issues with both of those materials and stainless steel last much longer, anyway. If you aren’t interested in using a rice cooker, or don’t currently have one, just prepare this recipe on the stove. No problem!

Some people have gastric upset when eating grains. Quinoa, in particular, has a high saponin content which causes the grain to taste bitter and can upset your stomach. The traditional Peruvian preparation calls for a long soak in warm water, followed by a thorough rinsing to remove the antinutrients. Sometimes I do this, but generally I just give the quinoa a good rinse under running water. If you have a storied history with grains (pseudo or otherwise), I’d say give the traditional soak method a try.

In a pot over medium heat, or in your rice cooker, add the fat of your choice. I used ghee, but you can easily use a vegetable oil or skip out on it all together. Add the quinoa and mix thoroughly.

Once all of the quinoa is well coated with the fat, you can add the remaining ingredients. The recipe called for raisins, but I absolutely abhor raisins unless they are cooked in cinnamon bread. I used Goji berries instead. I actually don’t really care the the taste of Goji berries out of hand but they were perfect in this dish. Plus, Goji berries are the darling of the health food world. Often referred to as a super food, for what it’s worth.

 Combine all of the ingredients, add 2 cups of water and start up your rice cooker. If you are cooking on the stove, bring to a boil, cover and then reduce the heat to simmer.

After about 20 minutes, once all of the water is absorbed, your quinoa will be done! The quinoa will be tender but not mushy and the Goji berries will have plumped up. Give it a good stir and serve (hopefully with a delicious serving of Quick Chicken Curry)!

I really enjoyed this new quinoa recipe and it was every bit as satisfying as the rice that typically accompanies curry dishes. This South African-spiced quinoa worked really well with the spicy curry I made but would be great enjoyed with lots of other dishes. One thing I would recommend is to remove the cinnamon sticks once it’s done cooking, especially if you plan to keep it warm in your rice cooker. I came back the next morning to a heaping pile of cinnamon flavored quinoa. Still tasty, but more along the lines of something I’d eat for breakfast.

Another tasty recipe down! Only 90 more to go.

Kurma – Quick Chicken Curry

Curries. I love ’em. Thai, Indian, African – vegetarian or otherwise – they’re all so good. These perfectly spiced stews with complex flavors are one of my favorite meals. Truth be told, I haven’t had much luck making curry dishes at home. Inspired by some of my favorite dishes at local Indian or Ethiopian restaurants, my homemade versions always fall short of my expectations. Too spicy, too sweet or just missing some esoteric ingredient I can’t put my finger on, my curries have been edible but disappointing to say the least.

What’s even more frustrating is the time and super-long list of ingredients invested in making a fine curry. I seriously have more fenugreek seeds, cardamom pods and Garam Masala powder than I know what to do with. Buying in bulk at my local Indian grocery store seemed like the most cost-effective and logical approach…

After a recent inventory of my spice drawer, I felt it was time to give some homemade curry another chance. Maybe if I made a recipe that I had never eaten before, I wouldn’t be disappointed as there was no point of reference? Brilliant.

I do have a great Indian cookbook that I referenced for my very first recipe, but I remembered another cookbook in my collection that listed several curry dishes. The Africa News Cookbook  is another book of mysterious origin. I seem to remember borrowing it from someone years ago but can’t remember who. I remember briefly looking through this book for an Injera (Ethiopian flat bread) recipe but never got around to actually making that or anything else. So, like many other books in my collection, it sat unused, neglected (and unreturned to its rightful owner) on my bookshelf until this project.

I decided to make the Quick Chicken Curry Kurma of South African origin. This recipe caught my eye because it promised to be quick and had relatively few ingredients, most of which where already in my possession! Here’s the recipe:

1 chicken, cut into pieces

3 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)

1 large onion, sliced

1-inch piece of fresh ginger, grated

3 cloves of garlic, sliced

1 stick cinnamon

2 cardamom pods

2 small chili peppers

1 cup of water or chicken stock

salt and pepper

Now I’m overzealous in the kitchen and also fairly frugal, so typically buy whole chickens, rather than parts, when they are on sale. For recipes like this, I just break down a whole chicken myself. Whole chickens are so much cheaper and are also great to have around for roasting whole or making AMAZING chicken stock (with the addition of a few chicken feet, of course). I am absolutely NOT formally trained in chicken butchery and have just taught myself how to do this by watching videos or reading cookbooks. You can see how I take down a chicken here, or find other -likely more accurate- resources on the world-wide web. Another option… just buy the chicken parts at your local butcher or grocery store. I don’t expect everyone to be as crazy as me!

Cutting up the chicken was the hardest part of this recipe but not even really that hard. It’s a good skill to have and one that I hope to improve on for sure! If you’re in a hurry, I would just opt for the pre-cut chicken pieces but would recommend finding bone-in since the bones help to give the sauce a richness and impart valuable minerals and gelatin, not to mention killer flavor! As always, find the best quality chicken you can afford. I like to get organic, pasure-raised chicken and stock up when they’re on sale.

Now for the rest of the ingredients! Pre-measure all of your dry spices and set those aside.

Slice up your onion.

And garlic.

Grate the fresh ginger or mince it finely. I got this really cool ceramic grater years ago and it’s perfect for grating up ginger and other super-fibrous foods. I don’t really even bother peeling the ginger.

In a large, heavy pot add the ghee (or other fat of your choice) over medium-high heat. If you’ve never used ghee before, you should run out and buy some right away! It has a high smoke point, great for pan frying, but is also super tasty! It’s like butter-squared. It’s very digestible (because the lactose from the milk solids has been removed) and is also available in a cultured variety, for even better digestion. I’m addicted to this stuff.

Brown your chicken pieces in batches. I did this to render some of the fat out of the chicken and add a little more flavor to the curry. Since this is a stew and the chicken skin wasn’t going to stay crisp, I made an executive decision to eat some of the skin at its height of flavor and texture. This isn’t mentioned in the original recipe but it just seemed right.

Once all of the chicken is browned and set aside, add the onions, garlic and spices to the pot.

Next, add chicken pieces and cook, stirring constantly until contents are steaming. Reduce heat and add liquid. I used some chicken stock I had on hand but water is what the recipe called for. Cover and simmer until chicken is done.

The curry is done once the bones are easily removed from the chicken meat. I let my curry cook on the stove for a few hours but it was done much sooner than that. Here’s what you’re looking for:

If you can pull a bone out and it looks this clean, your curry is done!

The truth is, this and many other curries I have enjoyed over the years just don’t look pretty. There’s no way to style a pot of chicken meat and bones to make it look really appetizing but never you worry, this dish is a winner! I served it over a batch of Yellow Quinoa (up next) and some pan seared greens. It had a really complex flavor and was a welcome change to the usual disappointment I feel when attempting homemade curries.

This is a great way to stretch out a whole chicken and the perfect use for those cinnamon sticks we all have hanging around our pantries, likely from some cider mulling recipe we never followed through with from the holidays. If you are following a Paleo lifestyle, this recipe packs a ton of flavor with none of the no-nos. Skip the quinoa and serve this on a bed of steamed greens! This would be a great crock-pot meal for my friends who don’t want to deal with the stove.

I’ve never ordered anything like this from a menu but am so happy I gave this one a try and can finally make a decent curry in my own home. It’s not Chicken Tikka Masala, or Massaman Curry but it’s fantastic and will definitely make another appearance on my dining table sooner rather than later.

By the way, if this is your cookbook I have, ahem, borrowed, please let me know and I’ll send you a new one!

Chicken Pepperonata – Fastest. Meal. Ever.

It’s no secret that I love to eat good food. Furthermore, I actually like being in the kitchen so don’t mind taking the time to prepare delicious, and some would say, overly complicated food in my own home. Since I have no children and a flexible work schedule, I probably do spend more time preparing food than the average American. Possibly even more than the average “foodie.” Even so, there’s nothing better than putting together a really quick meal that’s healthy, affordable and tasty to boot.

My friend, Herb, requested that I make some meals this year that are quick and easy, so he inspired me to dust off a few books that illustrate how to do just that. Long before the Rachel Ray 30 Minute Meals franchise, a cookbook called 365 Great 20-Minute Recipes was published. Take that, Rachel, 10 minutes less.

I’m sure I’ve never opened this book before this experiment and haven’t the foggiest where it came from but I have to say, this one was a pleasant surprise. As the name suggests, there are 365 recipes that take 20 minutes or less to prepare. There are the usual suspects: soups, salads, sandwiches and pasta, which are the obvious choices for a quick meal but there are several recipes that don’t fall into these categories. I found a recipe for Chicken Pepperonata that sounded really good to me, only took 14 minutes and required a handful of ingredients that I had on hand. This recipe is perfect for my busy friends with kids and might I add, is also Paleo-esque, for my CrossFit friends! I made a few modifications outlined here:

1 pound chicken breasts

1 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon (or more) crushed red pepper

1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 small onion, thinly sliced

3 large cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup balsamic vinaigrette

1 1/2 tablespoon drained capers (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

The recipe called for 1 pound of chicken tenders but I never buy them because it’s cheaper to get chicken breasts or thighs. My suggestion, just get the chicken breasts and either cut them into strips or butterfly the breasts to create more surface area. Season both sides of your chicken with the Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper.

Slice up your red bell pepper and onion. The recipe didn’t call for this but I would also suggest mincing up some fresh garlic as well. Garlic makes everything better. Duh.

In a large skillet, pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. If you don’t have a pan large enough to cook all of your chicken at once, you can cook it in batches.

Brown each side of the chicken breast. This should take a few minutes per side. If you are cooking the chicken in batches, please continue to cook the chicken until fully done, then set aside. If you are able to cook everything in one large vessel you can leave the chicken in the pan and continue on.

Make a little room and add the garlic, onion and bell pepper to the pan. Add salt and pepper to the veggies. Stir occasionally until the vegetables are slightly softened. About 2 to 3 minutes. If your pan is smaller, remove the fully cooked chicken before adding the veggies.

Once the veggies are slightly softened, reduce the heat to medium low and add the vinaigrette and capers. Cook until chicken is done and the vegetables are crisp-tender. I don’t use pre-made balsamic vinaigrette so just made a quick dressing of balsamic and olive oil. The general ratio for that is 3:1, three parts oil to 1 part vinegar. I usually go heavier on the vinegar. Go with your gut!

Give everything a quick stir and you have yourself a batch of Chicken Pepperonata!

This is definitely one of those recipes you can really play around with. If you want it spicier, just add more crushed red pepper. If you want it a little tangier, just add a little more vinegar or try it with a red wine vinegar instead of Balsamic. If you don’t like capers, just leave those little guys out! I think this would be really tasty with some mushrooms added in, maybe I’ll try that next time.

The sweetness of the peppers and Balsamic are a great contrast to the salty brine of the capers and bite of the crushed red pepper. This meal came together really quickly and was really inexpensive too.  I served it with the equally quick to prepare, Arugula and Fennel Salad and enjoyed fast and healthy dinner in less than half an hour!

Next time you are tempted to swing by a drive through or order a pizza in, I hope you’ll give this recipe a try instead. More yummy 20-minute recipes are definitely in my future. Thanks for the inspiration, Herb!