Fisherman’s Pie Anyone?

What is it they say?….’You can take the boy out of England, but you cant take England out of the boy.’  Matt continues his quest to perfect (and convince me to enjoy) the traditional Fishermans Pie.  Here, he substituted sweet potato for regular potatoes, and topped it off with a bit of cheddar cheese. Happy Thursday all – go ahead and get your pie on, winter is just about over!

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 1-2 small fillets of haddock (or cod works too)
• 1/2 peas
• 1/2 roasted or sweet corn
• olive oil
• 2 tbsp sourcream
• 1 tbsp Earth Balance
• juice of a lemon
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Sweet Potato Mash Prep: Heat oven to 350F and bake sweet potatoes for about 30 minutes (or until soft).  Once they are soft, the skin will peel off fairly easy.  Mash in a bowl, season with salt and pepper if desired, and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat oil in fry pan, and saute celery, onion, garlic until soft.  Then add haddock, corn, peas, sourcream, butter and lemon juice and continue cooking until fish is cooked through.  Season as desired.  Once the fish is cooked, with a fork begin to chop up into smaller bite-size pieces so the mixture resembles a filling.

Next, spoon haddock mixture into french onion soup bowls and top with a layer of sweet potato mash and sprinkle with cheddar cheese.  Broil in the oven for 4-5 minutes or until browned.

Serve with crusty bread or not!

mangia!

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

Its been a while, and Ive got alot to catch up on, so Ill start with this delicious bread recipe I made for Meggies birthday feast.  It was inspired by this wonderfully cute 101cookbooks recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups warm water (105-115F)
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast (one packet)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted, for brushing

Instructions

In a medium bowl, sprinkle the yeast onto the warm water and stir until the yeast dissolves. Stir in the honey and set aside for a few minutes.

In the meantime, mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir well.

Brush a loaf pan with some of the melted butter. Place the dough into the tin, cover with a clean, slightly damp cloth, and set in a warm place for 30 minutes, to rise.

Preheat the oven to 350F.  When ready, bake the bread for 35-40 minutes, until golden and pulling away from the sides of the pan.  Remove from oven, and remove the bread out of the pan fairly quickly. Let it cool on a rack so it doesn’t steam in the pan. Serve warm, with butter and jam.

Makes 1 loaf.

mangia!

Black Out Smoothie

I dicovered this at Yola, a cute new yogurt/juice/salad bar in DC.  Red, Matt and I made it yesterday for breakfast, but it could easily be dessert!

Ingredients

• 1 avocado
• 1/2 cup frozen cherries
• 1/2 cup fresh strawberries
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1-2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Blend in bullet or blender and enjoy!

mangia!

 

Eat Your Greens!

These are a couple of my go-to salads lately.  They are fairly simple to put together and have quite a bit of flavor, crunch and texture.

Super Green Salad

Ingredients

• 1 stalk romaine
• 1-2 cups kale
• 1/2 cup roasted corn (I like Trader Joes frozen)
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 avocado
• olive oil

For the Dressing:

• salt, pepper, cayenne
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional)
• 1 lemon
• olive oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F.  Drizzle kale with olive oil, salt and pepper and place in oven for 7-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop all ingredients in place into a bowl.  When kale is crispy, add to the salad.

For the dressing: Mix olive oil, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt, pepper and cayenne until blended.  Pour over salad and give it a shake so the salad is coated with all the dressing.

Sweet Asian Salad with Soy-Lime Dressing

Ingredients

• 1/4 head red cabbage
• 1-2 cups crispy kale (roasted as explained above)
• 1 stalk romaine
• 1 cup strawberries
• 1-2 pears
• 1 avocado
• fresh parsley

For the Dressing:

• 1 lime
• Soy Sauce
• Olive Oil
• Rice Vinegar
• Honey
• Salt, pepper, cayenne

For the salad: Prepare the kale as explained above, and chop the remaining ingredients.  Add the kale to the salad.

For the Dressing: Blend all ingredients together and then pour the dressing over the salad. Shake and coat and enjoy!

mangia!

Juice For All!

I’ve been into juicing for a while now, but recently Matt has gone a little juice crazy.  We drink a green juice almost every morning, but as of last week we’ve been experimenting with all sorts of combinations. Some of you have been asking for recipes, so I thought it would be helpful to post some of the delicious combinations we’ve come up with.  Also, if you are interested in why juicing is good for you, check out ‘Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead‘ or read Kris Carr’s ‘Crazy Sexy Diet‘.

Note: To make this juice, you will need a juicer.  The Breville Ikon Juice Fountain is a good middle-ground juicer, but depending on your budget there are others that work nicely both more expensive or cheaper.

All these recipes make about 16oz of juice.

Super Green Juice

• 1 cucumber
• 3-4 stalks of celery
• 3-4 carrots
• 2 apples/pears (or 1 of each)
• 1 inch ginger
• 1 lemon or lime
• parsley

Purple Sunrise Juice

• 1/2 head red cabbage
• 1 beet
• 1 apple
• 3-4 carrots
• 1 inch ginger
• 1 lemon

Spicy Green Juice

• 1 green chile pepper
• 1-2 cups kale, chopped
• 3-4 stalks celery
• 2-3 carrots
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 lemon

Rainbow Juice

• 1/2 head red cabbage
• 2-3 carrots
• 2-3 stalks celery
• 1 green apple
• 1 inch ginger
• 1 lime

Apple Pie Juice

• 1 butternut Squash
• 1 sweet potato
• 2 apples
• cinnamon
• nutmeg

I scream for Ice Cream!

Niki got me an ice cream maker for Christmas. I love ice cream, but what I love more is that now I can make whatever flavor I want. I typically do this on a Friday night (wild).  Since January, Ive experimented with four recipes.  The first, I decided, had to be simple and classic – Vanilla Cardamom. I’m obsessed with Cardamom, so I thought it sounded like a delightful combination with the classic vanilla.  The second, I went for the dynamic choc + PB combo when I whipped up a batch for our reunited Supper Clubs! – Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel.  The third was a bit of an experiment – Coconut Ginger Almond  (got rave reviews from this one.)  The most recent batch I made was to celebrate the 29th year of Meagan Metzger.  In honor of her love of coffee I tried out a Cappuccino Chunk.  I have to admit, this process of ice cream making will definitely take some work, but I was able to conjure up a helpful tip from Betty Wilson, Meggie’s southern-cookin grandma who lives in North Carolina….Put a dash of alcohol in the ice cream because it lowers the freezing temperature and make its smooth and creamy to serve.  We shall see! I have yet to try it out, but will do soon.  Recipes are below and all inspired from ‘The Vegan Scoop’ by Wheeler del Torro.  I know what you are thinking, I’m so wild and crazy these days. Well at least you got some ice cream recipes out of it!

Vanilla Cardamom

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, divided
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
• 2 cups soy creamer
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon ground cardamom

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup almond milk with arrowroot powder and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, remaining almond milk and sugar in a saucepan and cook over low heat.  Once the mixture begins to boil, remove from heat and immediately add the arrowroot mixture.  This will cause the liquid to thinken fairly quickly.

Add vanilla extract and cardamom.

Refrigerate mixture until chilled, approximately 2-3 hours (This step is pretty important.  The mixture has to be very cold before putting it into the ice cream maker).

Place the mixture into your ice cream maker, and follow manufacturers instructions from there.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsweetened (or chocolate) almond milk, divided
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
• 2 cups soy creamer
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter
• 1 cup chopped chocolate covered pretzels

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup almond milk with arrowroot powder and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, remaining almond milk, sugar and cocoa powder in a saucepan and cook over low heat.  Once the mixture begins to boil, remove from heat and immediately add the arrowroot mixture.  This will cause the liquid to thinken fairly quickly.

Add vanilla extract.

Refrigerate mixture until chilled, approximately 2-3 hours.

Place the mixture into your ice cream maker, and follow manufacturers instructions from there.  Just in the last minutes of churning, swirl in the peanut butter and pretzels.

Coconut Ginger Almond

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups coconut milk, divided
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon coconut extract (optional)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup crystalized ginger pieces, chopped
• 1 cup slivered almonds

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup coconut milk with arrowroot powder and set aside.

Mix the remaining coconut milk and sugar in a saucepan and cook over low heat.  Once the mixture begins to boil, remove from heat and immediately add the arrowroot mixture.  This will cause the liquid to thinken fairly quickly.

Add vanilla and coconut extracts.

Refrigerate mixture until chilled, approximately 2-3 hours.

Place the mixture into your ice cream maker, and follow manufacturers instructions from there.  Just in the last minutes of churning, swirl in the ginger pieces, coconut and almonds.

Cappuccino Chunk

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, divided
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
• 2 cups soy creamer
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup espresso
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp cocoa powder
• 1 cup chocolate chunks

Instructions

To make cappuccino:  Make espresso and then place into a saucepan with cinnamon and cocoa powder.  Stir until boiling and set aside.

To make ice cream: In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup almond milk with arrowroot powder and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, cappuccino, remaining almond milk, and sugar in a saucepan and cook over low heat.  Once the mixture begins to boil, remove from heat and immediately add the arrowroot mixture.  This will cause the liquid to thinken fairly quickly.

Add vanilla extract.

Refrigerate mixture until chilled, approximately 2-3 hours.

Place the mixture into your ice cream maker, and follow manufacturers instructions from there.  Just in the last minutes of churning, swirl in the chocolate chunks.

mangia!