While going through nutrition school we study 100 dietary theories and what happens with most students is we try many of the diets to see how well they work, or to test a theory in order to help our clients. This is how this recipe came about.
I was testing a diabetic diet, eating no animal products, and no fat. I was also mostly gluten free so I needed lots of vegies and gluten free meals. I made this meal without the oil, I just sauteed it in water. And I found rice noodles that I could use in place of the more traditional wheat noodle.
I find if I have a little starchy carb in the meal I am much more satisfied. If I try to eliminate all starchy carbs from my diet I'm hungry again in an hour and then I am looking for a snack. It's better for my body to just eat the carb and be done with it.
This dish is filling, full of vegies, and has a tiny bit of heat with the sambal. Of course if you prefer no heat at all just eliminate the sambal.
Ingredients:
6 dried chinese black or shiitake mushrooms
2 tbsp tamari
1 tsp sambal
7 ounces rice noodles
1 tbsp coconut oil
4 tsp minced garlic
4 tsp minced ginger
1 onion, chopped
4 large bok choy stems and leaves, sliced into 1 inch strips
2 carrots, sliced thinly
1 small head broccoli, cut into 2 inch peieces
Salt
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tbsp chopped cilantro for garnish
Put dried mushrooms into a small bowl and cover with warm water. Allow to soak for 20 minutes until soft. Remove from the bowl and chop mushrooms into small pieces. Strain the water through a fine seize and put into a medium size bowl. Add the tamari and sambal to make a sauce.
In a small bowl add the cornstarch to 3 tablespoons of water and stir to disolve.
In a large pot boil some water and cook the rice noodles according to package directions. Mine took 4 to 5 minutes but check the package for guidance.
In a wok or large saute pan heat the coconut oil, add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute. Add the onion, carrots, broccoli, bok choy, mushrooms and salt to taste. Stir fry about 4 to 5 minutes or just until the vegetable get slightly soft. Add the sauce, cornstarch water and noodles and toss well to heat through and coat all the vegies and noodles.
Remove from heat and plate. Top with chopped cilantro.
If you have no issues with fat and want a little more flavor you can also garnish with a drizzle of sesame oil.
The package of rice noodles I purchased contained 14 ounces in total and I used half the package for this recipe and it made two large servings.
You can also use baby bok choy instead of the traditional large size.
How did all this start? I ask myself that question often. I start what I think is a great project, and then a couple months later I am questioning myself.
It all started because I was using vanilla in my morning smoothie. Every day. Each and every day. Do you know how expensive vanilla is? Let me tell you. I shopped for vanilla at every store I could find. I compared prices and read about artificial vs natural. I was shocked to find out that even some of the artificial stuff was expensive. I was like WTH? And the good stuff was well, lets just say I would need to take out a second on my house if I continued down that road. It's one thing to use a good quality vanilla every so often when you bake but to use it everyday? No going to happen. With that in mind another idea is born. Make my own vanilla.
I knew it was easy so off I went to buy vanilla beans. The price of these fluctuates also. I finally found the cheapest ones I could find and then proceeded to buy 12 of them. Yickes! I split them down the center and put them into the jar then filled the jar with vodka.
Oh yeah that reminds me, the question of what vodka to use came up. I didn't really want to use the expensive stuff, but if I decided to buy one that was a little cheaper I had to spend money on that, and then I would have lots left over which we would have to drink. Oh darn! Just kidding. We usually buy premium vodka so I really did not want to have some cheap stuff laying around, so in the end I used the good stuff.
I put the jar in the corner of my kitchen where it is dark and cool. I can't remember how long it was supposed to take before it was vanilla, something like a month. Whatever it was it was too short! I checked the bottle every few weeks and there was no way it was vanilla. It smelled like vodka with vanilla beans. So I finally figured that either this project was a bust or I had just wasted a whole bunch of money only to throw it out. I left it in the corner of my kitchen and completely forgot about it, and went on my merry way without homemade vanilla.
Here we are many months later and it finally looks and smells like vanilla. The moral of this story is if you are in, you gotta go in for the long haul. This is not a quick recipe you can whip up and use right away. But if you are curious, and have the patience, make a bottle, but be prepared to put it up for several months. In the end you will have a big jar of homemade vanilla to use any way you want. Even in your morning smoothie.
Mushrooms have been used for thousands of years both as food and for medicinal purposes. The Pharaohs prized mushrooms as a delicacy, and the Greeks believed that mushrooms provided strength for warriors in battle. The Romans regarded mushrooms as a gift from God and served them only on festive occasions, while the Chinese treasured them as a health food.
Shiitake mushrooms have been used for centuries by the Chinese and Japanese to treat colds and flu. Lentinan, a beta-glucan isolated from the fruiting body of shiitake mushrooms, appears to stimulate the immune system, help fight infection, and demonstrates anti-tumor activity.
Now if a food has that kind of effect on the body don't you think we should be eating it on a regular basis? Of course we should. With that in mind I made a batch of mushroom soup. Here is the recipe.
Ingredients
1 tbsp grapeseed oil
1 jalapeno, minced
1 tbsp ginger, minced
2 bunches scallions, green and white part sliced, reserve 2 tbsp for garnish
1 lb shiitake mushrooms, sliced
3 quarts low sodium chicken stock
2 tbsp tamari
1 block silken tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 cups shredded carrots
freshly cracked pepper
In a large pot heat the grapeseed oil, add the jalapeno, ginger and all but 2 tbsp of the scallions. Saute for about 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and saute about 2 minutes until softened.
Add the stock, bring to a simmer and cook uncovered about 5 minutes to reduce by 20%. Add the tofu and carrots and cook gently for 2 minutes until the tofu is heated through. Season with pepper.
Ladle into bowls and garnish with reserved scallions.
A word about chili's. Most jalapenos are mild but by adding the seeds you get a little more heat. Test the heat by tasting a small piece. If too hot for you, cut back on what you add to the soup. If you want more heat add more chili, or a hotter variety of chili. I like a slight heat, I want to know it's there, but I don't want it to be so hot that I can't enjoy it fully. Use your best judgement.
My suggestion would be to make a pot and serve a cup full for dinner everynight until it's gone.
I have grown to appreciate kale. Over the past several years I've tried all the greens I can find and tried to figure out how to get them into my diet on a regular basis. The thing with kale is that can be tough so I usually saute it or use it raw with other greens. Adding a little bit to a salad is fine but I have never used all kale for a salad. No time like the present right? Now that I am a health coach I want to try all kinds of healthy recipes to make them available to my clients.
This recipe serves 4 to 6. I made a large bowl of it and I was only able to eat a small bowl full. But my husband loved it and eat the other large bowl full. So I would say it would appeal to some and not others. I would serve this are part of a buffet with other dishes because each person would take a small serving.
Ingredients
4 cups packed firmly finely chopped kale
1 large apple, chopped
1 cup thinly sliced celery
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp raisins or cranberry's
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
2 tbsp dijon mustand
2 tbsp water, more if needed
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/8 tsp salt
Place kale in large bowl. Add half the apple to the kale along with the celery, 1/4 cup walnuts, and 1/4 cup raisins.
Put remaining apple in blender along with remaining 1/4 walnuts, 2 tbsp raisins, the mustard, vinegar, water and salt. Blend well until smooth. Add more water if it is too thick. Pour over salad in bowl and toss well.
Allow to sit in the refrig for a least 15 minutes so the kale absorbs some of the dressing.
