Immersion Blenders

I love to make soup..... but its tends to be a lot of work.   My friend Avi introduced me to an amazing kitchen tool that I find absolutely necessary if you like to make soup.  An immersion or hand blender allows you to blend a soup right in the pot you are cooking it in.  No more mess, less to wash, so convenient.


Consumer search rates the Cuisinart Smart Stick CSB-76 as the best basic hand blender.  Most importantly it retails for around $30.

http://www.consumersearch.com/hand-blenders/cuisinart-smart-stick-csb-76

Carrot Soup with Ginger and Lemon

Last night I cooked dinner with Avi and TK.  Avi made an amazing carrot soup with ginger and lemon.  As well as a chipolte chili broccoli rabe!! I love carrot soup but don't make it very often because I haven't found an easy recipe that I really liked.  This recipe has filled that emptiness in my life. It does not have an overwhelming carrot flavor and is well balanced with hints of citrus and ginger.  Its very light and pairs well with fish or pasta in a white wine sauce.  It is also very easy to make, especially if you, like Avi, own a immersion blender.  (I must get one of these!)  This saves you from having to blend the soup in batches, and also means less mess.

Ingredients
1/4 cup Earth Balance Butter or EVOO
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 tbs finely grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 1/4 lbs medium carrots, chopped (about 3 cups)
2 tomatoes, chopped (about 1 1/3 cups)
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
3 cups vegetable broth
2 tbs fresh lemon juice

Method
Melt butter or heat EVOO in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add onion; saute 4 minutes.  Add ginger and garlic; saute 2 minutes. Add hopped carrots, tomatoes, and lemon peel; saute 4 minutes.  Add 3 cups broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover partially and simmer until carrots are very tender, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly.

Puree soup in batches in a blender OR blend right in the pot with an immersion blender.  Return to pot if using blender.  Mix in lemon juice.  Season with salt and pepper.

The Blue Room

This restaurant was so good.  Great environment, nice but unpretentious.  They focus on local ingredients...which I love, and are very accommodating to requests.  The other thing I loved was that they took note of the fact the people might be time constrained considering the "holiday" and were willing to get you in and out quickly.  While I was not in any hurry whatsoever, I really appreciated that they took that into account.  Our waitress was amazing, very friendly, and extremely knowledgeable about all the dishes and the wines.  She suggested the Nigl Blauer Zwieglet, an Austrian wine, which I had never had before but was amazing. They have a great cocktail list, with very creative drinks, but since it was a Monday I figured I should stick to the wine.  We ordered the fennel and chili marinated olives...delish.  My favorite dish was the vegetable antipasto, which was an amazing selection of local veggies cooked to perfection.  I recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a nice dinner in a laid back environment.

http://www.theblueroom.net/

Valentines Day Treats

The days surrounding Valentine's Day can be a huge challenge for those of us trying to avoid a candy/sweets overload.  Office treats, dinners, and gifts can be overwhelming temptations.  One trick for allowing myself to indulge but for making sure I have healthy treats is to make them myself and take them to work or give them as gifts. These peanut butter cups are sweetened with all natural sweeteners, which are much better for you then refined sugars.  I buy organic graham crackers sweetened with agave and use maple sugar, instead of white sugar.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

1/2 cup Earth Balance butter
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup maple sugar
1 cup grain-sweetened, nondairy chocolate chips
1/4 cup almond milk (unsweetened, vanilla)
1/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts or pecans

Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in the peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs, and maple sugar and mix well.  Remove the mixture from the heat.  Evenly divide the mixture, approximately 2 tablespoons per cup, among the muffin cups.

Combine the chocolate and milk in another pan.  Stir over medium heat until the chocolate has melted. Spoon the chocolate evenly over the peanut butter mixture.  Top with chopped nuts.  Place in the refrigerator to set for at least 2 hours.

(Recipe from The Kind Diet)

My favorite question: how do you get protein?

Answer (one of many): Sea Vegetables!

Sea vegetables are high in vitamins, minerals, and protein, they are also alkalizing and detoxifying to the blood.  Most important, they anti-inflammatory, antiviral, reduce blood pressure, and make give you glowing skin, hair, and healthy nails.

Favorite sea vegetable recipe? Answer:  Gingered Green Beens with Hijiki

3 tbs dried hijiki
1 tbs shoyu
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup sliced onion
1 tbs finely chopped garlic
pinch of SI sea salt
1 cup fresh green beans
juice from 1 tbs grated ginger (grate and squeeze the ginger to extract the juice)

Place the hijiki in a small bowl, and cover with hot water.  Soak for 20 minutes, then drain and rinse thoroughly.

Combine the hijiki with the shoyu and water to almost cover in a saucepan.  Cook, uncovered, over medium heat until the water has nearly evaporated.

While hijiki cooks, heat the oil with a few tablespoons of water in a skillet, add the onion and garlic and salt, saute until translucent.  Cut the tips from the green beans, and add to the onions.  Cook, covered, until the green beans are tender, 3-5 minutes.  Add the hijiki and ginger juice.  Mix well, and cook for another 1-2 minutes to marry the flavors.  Serve immediately.

  

Waterville Valley Review

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to get to ski Waterville Valley for my first time.  Waterville is located in NH about 2-3 hours from Boston.  While the mountain is relatively small there are a ton of great things about this mountain.  First, they have cubbies. I always pack a lunch and hate having to carry it in a backpack all day.  The cubbies at Waterville are big and free, my favorite kind.  Second, unlike lots of west coast resorts they opened the mogul course to the public while they were not training.  I love perfect moguls and got some serious practice in on Saturday.  They also have tons of terrain parks.  A small mountain can be so much fun with the right amount of jumps, boxes, and rails- I also got some needed practice in at the park. Oh, and they have amazing lift line organization.  If you leave people to figure it out on their own life lines can become a disaster, however when you have a person telling you where to go and when the life line is incredibly quick.  Last, they gave out vouchers for free hot chocolate and coffee...anywhere on the mountain.  So we went to the Schwendi Hutte!!!! It was awesome- lots of vintage ski memorabilia and tons of great snacks.....including grogs (alcoholic beverages)!!!  So even though I skied the same trails all day this place gets a return rating from this seasoned west coast skier!!!

My favorite run...True Grit!

Quadzilla....sweet!

Hutte.....note "grogs"!!!!!

Chocolate Almond Butter

I have always been a big fan of nut butters, especially almond butter.  Justin's Almond Butter is by far the best I have found.  I comes in convenient single serving packets, which are ideal for hiking, skiing, camping, or any other activity as you may find the need for easy travel almond butter.  Justin's also makes peanut butter.  Their nut butters come in original, maple, and honey.  And now they have chocolate!!!! Now typically would not have bought chocolate almond butter had I seen it in the store, but it came to me by mistake, so I figured I'd give it a try.  Let's just say, chocolate almond butter on an orange or apple it an amazing dessert!!!! I suggest this to anyone with a sweet tooth that is trying to cut out chocolate bars.

Lunch time dessert while skiing this weekend!

Flirting with Fish

So I have been completely vegan for over a year now. I follow macrobiotics, as best as I can, focusing on whole grains and tons of veggies.  However, many macrobiotics eat fish, although it is optional and based on preference. Fresh fish and sea foods (seaweed and sea vegetables) are an important part of the macrobiotic diet. Fish (including shellfish) is a reliable source of protein, minerals (iron, selenium and iodine), vitamins and essential fatty acids. The livers of white fish (cod and halibut) are a particularly good source of vitamins A and D.  I have decided to work a little fish back into my diet.  I am a particularly active person and have noticed that during the winter months it does take quite a bit to get to that satisfied feeling when eating. I have been skiing and taking spin a ton in the last few months and feel like an extra serving or two of fish a week will really help me keep from overeating. So, I was inspired by Blake Sachs and Austin Lin to try a fish in foil recipe. Austin has been raving about it for as long as I can remember and Blake just posted a recipe on her blog (http://binanutshell.blogspot.com/) so I figured I'd give it a go.

Chilean Sea Bass in Tin Foil

2 4-oz pieces of Chilean sea bass

1 lemon

1 shallot

2 tbs. white wine

Salt and pepper

Fresh rosemary

1 tbs. earth balance butter

Preheat over to 400 degrees. Prepare 2 pieces of tinfoil large enough to wrap up the salmon. Place sliced lemon wedges on the bottom, place fish on top.

Season the salmon with salt and pepper. Cover with shallots and rosemary. Place white wine and lemon juice over the fish and shallots. Place a dollop of Earth Balance butter on top and wrap in foil. Cook on a baking sheet in oven for 20 minutes.

Side Dishes

Pasta with blanched broccoli
 in a garlic white wine sauce-
By Chef TKC!

Watercress salad with
 pressed radishe and toasted pine nuts,
in a mustard red wine vinagrette.

Crepes and Skiing- What Could Be Better?

This weekend I had my first ski date with Sunday River in Maine. While it was unusually cold this weekend, that did stop the fun.  We skied all day Saturday, when I wasn't warming up my feet and then made an amazing dinner Saturday night.  My amazing friend Francois, who is French, offered to make authentic crepes for our entire group.  His authentic recipe included eggs, so I found a substitute batter for vegans. Everyone brought their own fillings!  I hope you enjoy it!

Vegan Crepes- Batter

1 c. flour
1/2 c. soy milk
1/4 c. earth balance, melted
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tbs. sugar (optional, for sweet crepes)
1 tbs. vanilla (optional, for sweet crepes)
2 tbs. brandy or other liquor (optional, for sweet crepes)

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer until blended.  Pour into a 2 cup measuring cup and refrigerate for 20-30 mins. Heat a non stick or stainless steel frying pan to medium heat with a drop or two of vegetable oil. (Too much oil and your crepe will slide all over the pan and not take shape).  Pour your desired amount of batter into the pan and tilt the pan to coat the base of the pan. (See pic that follows). Cook until golden and flip.  Add fillings and fold closed. Enjoy!

Chef Francois and his assistant Allie A. 

Wild Mushroom and Wilted Frisee (Curly Endive)

Saute your choice of wild mushrooms, I choose royal trumpet and chanterelle, with earth balance butter and oilive oil.  Add a dash of SI sea salt and fresh rosemary.  Saute until translucent.  Place your desired amount of Frisee in the pan atop the mushrooms and cover, letting the Frisee wilt.  About 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Final Product- YUM

Ski House Cooking!

Now that I'm in my third year of law school I have finally been blessed with more time on the weekends.  As such, I have been skiing quite a bit.  Two weekends ago I was lucky enough to be invited to ski with some friends in VT. As a side note, I have very few friends that are vegan but I love to cook, even if it means cooking meat.  That said, I typically limit my cooking of carnivore meals to meat sent to me by my mom.  My mom does some outfitting up the White River in Colorado and sent me some fresh elk from this season's hunters. So, during my this ski trip we combine forces and made one amazing meal.  We cooked an elk tenderloin my mom sent me, seasoned with sea salt and pepper then rubbed with fresh thyme and rosemary and grilled rare.  The "master chef" CI made an amazing arugula, radish, and toasted pine nut salad with a light dijon, lemon, and red wine dressing.  I also made a roasted butternut squash soup with a cashew cream and mushroom cakes.  Last, our amazing grill master cooked up some asparagus with fresh garlic.

MUSHROOM CAKES: saute a variety of your favorite mushrooms in earth balance butter with fresh rosemary, I used crimini and shiitake.  Take half the mushrooms and blend in a blender or food processor with a few tablespoons of almond or soy milk.  Add the processed mushrooms with the remaining sauteed mushrooms in a bowl, mix in panko bread crumbs until thick and you can make patties.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, then lightly pan fry, serve hot.