Roasted Southwest Salad

Roasted Southwest Salad

Ingredients

1 yellow onion

2 red bell peppers

2 c frozen corn

1 15-ounce can salt-free black beans, drained and rinsed

1/3 c extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp cumin

2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Chop onion and peppers into approximately 1/2-inch pieces. Pile half the onions and peppers onto one rimmed baking sheet, the other half on another sheet. Pour 1 c corn onto each baking sheet. Drizzle each sheet with some of the olive oil (reserving about half the oil) and toss well.

Roast vegetables for about 30 minutes, tossing 3-4 times. Leave in longer if you want the vegetables to get more charred.

Remove from oven and let cool a bit. Using a rubber spatula, scrape vegetables and any charred bits and juice into a large mixing bowl. Add black beans, remaining olive oil and spices. Stir well.

Notes

Serve with fish tacos, taco salad, or on top of grilled shrimp or salmon. Keep refrigerated and consume within 3 days.

For an extra dose of protein, add cooked quinoa to this salad. 

Massaged Kale Salad

Massaged Kale Salad  

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Original recipe found here!

Ingredients

1 bunch kale

½ tsp salt

1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped (see note)

½ cup currants

1 apple, diced

¼ c extra virgin olive oil

2 T red wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)

½ c gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

Directions

Wash kale well and shake dry. De-stem kale (see note) and cut entire bunch into ribbons, about ½ inch thick. Stack all the leaves and squish them together to do this all at once. Put kale in a large mixing bowl.

Add salt and massage the kale for 2-4 minutes, just like you would knead bread. The kale will become darker and wet, wilting a bit.  I massage mine until the volume of kale is reduced by about half.

Stir in walnuts, apple and currants. Drizzle with oil and vinegar, mix well. Gently fold in cheese. Enjoy! 

Notes

This salad keeps very well in the fridge for a couple days, and is almost better the next day.

Toast nuts in a small, dry skillet over medium heat. Toss regularly. Heat for about 3-5 minutes, or until fragrant.

To de-stem kale, fold leaves in half and “slide” leafy greens off with your hands. Alternatively, you can cut the leaves off using a paring knife along the stem, but I find this takes longer than necessary. Ripping the leaves off is just great.

Gluten free? Some soft cheeses are on the 'no' list. Change the gorgonzola out for feta, or make without the cheese...it's still great.

People that "can't stand" kale love this salad, just sayin'. 

Sweet Potato Soup

Sweet Potato Soup

Adapted from Food Network, original recipe here

Ingredients

1 T extra virgin olive oil

1 small or medium sweet onion, chopped

1 T flour

1 T butter

1 T brown sugar

1 ½ c low sodium vegetable broth

2 sweet potatoes, cooked, peeled and cubed (see note)

¼ tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1 c milk of choice (see note)

Ground pepper

Directions

Heat olive oil in large pot on medium heat and sauté onions until soft and beginning to yellow.

Adjust heat to medium-low. Have broth measured and ready, then add flour and butter to onions, stirring constantly until the mixture begins to brown…about 1 minute.

Add broth and brown sugar. When mixture boils, stir in the sweet potatoes and spices. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and blend the soup using whatever you have on hand – immersion blender is ideal, but a blender or food processor works, too. You might have to work in batches to blend all the soup, and please…vent your blender/processor so the steam can escape!

Once soup is pureed, add the milk and return to heat until steaming. If soup is too thick for your liking, add more broth until you reach your desired consistency. Season with ground pepper and serve, or let cool and refrigerate for later enjoyment. For some extra nutrients top with pumpkin seeds or pecans.

Notes

Sweet potatoes can be cooked in the microwave! Wash and poke the potatoes then cook about 3 minutes, flip then 3 minutes more. Times may vary based on your microwave. Once sweet potatoes are soft, remove from microwave and split them into quarters so they cool faster. Once cool enough, “pinch” the skin off the back and give the orange flesh a rough chop to use in the soup.

This recipe can be made with dairy milk, almond milk, soymilk or really any other milk you like. Your soup, your choice.  

Do things that make sense…this is a great piggyback recipe! Plan your menu to have salmon, baked sweet potatoes and green beans one night for dinner, cooking 2 extra potatoes. Plan to make this soup with your already cooked, leftover sweet potatoes later that night or the next day.

Butternut Salad with Wheatberries and Pepitas

Butternut Salad with Wheatberries and Pepitas

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen Original recipe here!

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash
6 T extra virgin olive oil, divided
½ tsp Black pepper
1 c wheatberries
½ c toasted pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds)
¾ c feta cheese
2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey mustard, like Honeycup

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Peel, halve, and remove seeds from squash. Cut into 1 inch cubes and spread on two large rimmed baking sheets. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with pepper, tossing until well coated with oil. Roast for 20 minutes, toss with spatula and roast 15-20 more minutes until squash is tender and starting to brown. Let cool.

While squash cooks, boil wheatberries according to the directions on the package. If you bought them in bulk, you’ll need to boil them about 50 minutes, or until they are tender but not mushy. Drain and cool.

While wheatberries boil, in a large bowl combine 3 T olive oil, mustard and vinegar. Pour cooled wheatberries on top and stir. Once squash is done, add squash, feta cheese and pepitas and toss gently to combine.

Serve warm, hot or cold. This salad keeps 5-6 days in the fridge so it's a great make ahead breakfast or lunch.

Notes

Don’t want to mess with a butternut squash? This recipe is great with 3 sweet potatoes as well! Just peel, cube and roast following the same directions as the squash above.

Feel free to change the grain! This is great with faro and barley as well. I’ve tried quinoa and it was OK, but I missed the chewiness the larger grains provide.

Find wheatberries in your supermarket near the boxed/bagged rice or in bulk at a local health food stores. Nourish Market in Grand Rapids, MI is a great place for buying organic bulk grains!