Sesame Beet Salad

Tonight for dinner I made a simple and delicious salad out of some things we had around the house that we needed to use up.  I know that many people aren't big fans of beets, and I wasn't either until my friend Blue sliced up some raw ones to share. To me, raw beets taste totally different than cooked beets, and if you haven't eaten them raw, I I suggest giving them another try. They are similar to raw carrots, but sweeter and with a distinct earthy flavor. In addition to being tasty, beets are also really good for you. Some research has shown beets to be useful in preventing heart disease, inflammation, and colon cancer.  Beets are also a really good source of iron, vitamin c, folate, and potassium.
 In this recipe I used powdered ginger since that's what I had on hand, but I think this would be even better with fresh ginger. Also, during citrus season, I'd add a little fresh orange juice and maybe a little orange zest too. This salad is super easy to make if you have a food processor or some other kitchen device that grates things. If not, expect to have tired pink hands when you are finished!

Sesame Beet Salad
Dressing
juice of 2 limes
1 tsp tamari
1/2 tsp powdered ginger (or 1 1/2 tsp fresh)
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp olive oil
Salad
5 medium-sized beets, peeled and grated
5 medium-sized carrots, peeled and grated
2 green onions, finely sliced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro plus a little for garnish
a few handfuls of toasted sesame seeds
Combine lime juice, tamari, and ginger in small bowl. Add sesame and olive oils, both in slow streams. Mix with a fork or a whisk until well blended.  Set aside. Mix beets, carrots, green onions, and cilantro in a large bowl.  Add dressing and stir to coat vegetables. Serve in individual bowls and top with toasted sesame seeds and extra cilantro for garnish.

My New Roots+Forest Walk Cabbage Salad

Another website I've heard mentioned a few times recently is My New Roots, a whole foods recipe blog created by a nutritionist. She has assembled quite an array of lovely, tasty, plant-based dishes, and her site is full of recipes I want to try. Last night, I made the warm Forest Walk Cabbage Salad. I thought it was delicious, despite the fact that I made it a lot less attractive by substituting green cabbage for red (oh cooked green cabbage, you are so tasty, but really not much to look at).  I also substituted salty sheep feta for the goat cheese, which was a nice contrast to the tangy balsamic vinegar.

Forest Walk Cabbage Salad


from mynewroots.com

Ingredients:


2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil


1 red onion, diced


3 medium cloves garlic, minced


1 pound head of red cabbage quartered and cut into thin ribbons


1-2 crisp green apples, chopped into chunks


2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced


a couple handfuls golden raisins (or other plump, chopped dried fruit)


2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar


1/2 cup walnuts (or toasted hazelnuts, or pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds…)


fine grain sea salt


2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled (totally optional)

Directions:
1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and sauté the onion for a minute or two with a couple pinches of salt. Stir in the garlic, and the cabbage, and a few more pinches of salt. Stir and cook for just a minute or so, or until the cabbage softens up just a touch.
2. Then stir in the rosemary, most of the raisins, and the vinegar. (The cabbage will continue to get more and more tender even after you remove it from the heat, so keep that in mind, and do your best to avoid overcooking it – where it collapses entirely). Fold in half of the goat cheese, the apples, raisins and walnuts, then taste. Season with more salt if needed. 
3. Serve garnished with the remaining raisins, goat cheese, and walnuts, and perhaps a sprinkling of rosemary sprigs.

Blue Zones+ Sweet Potato and Black Bean Salad

In the past few weeks, I've had a friend and a couple of Co-op shoppers mention something called Blue Zones. Blue Zones are purported to be lessons in increasing longevity, health, and quality of life. From their website, "In 2004, Dan Buettner teamed up with National Geographic and hired the world’s best longevity researchers to identify pockets around the world where people lived measurably better.  In these Blue Zones they found that people reach age 100 at rates 10 times greater than in the United States. ...after identifying the world’s Blue Zones, Buettner and National Geographic took teams of scientists to each location to identify lifestyle characteristics that might explain longevity. They found that the lifestyles of all Blue Zones residents shared nine specific characteristics...

the key to getting the extra 10 years we’re missing is to follow the lessons from world’s longest-lived people and create environments of health." The website is certainly interesting and has concrete recommendations for increasing health and longevity. It also has a recipe section, and that was the reason for my visit there today. On Saturday, a Co-op shopper was raving about a recipe he'd just made from the site, so I decided to check it out. It turned out pretty well despite the fact that I didn't have a key ingredient-pecans. When I make it again, I will include them, I think their crunch would make this dish perfect.
This dish has also inspired goal#33- to eat at least one sweet potato a week. Sweet potatoes (also called "yams" in the U.S.) are a good source of fiber and potassium, and a great source of Vitamin A and Vitamin C. They're also relatively super tasty, cheap, filling, and easy to prepare, so this should be an easy goal to meet!

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Salad

from bluezones.com
(This recipe makes a huge dish. I recommend halving it unless you are feeding a lot of people)

Ingredients:

4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks (I didn't peel mine)

2 15-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup chopped yellow bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped red onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup (or more) chopped fresh cilantro

2/3 cup toasted pecans

Dressing:

Combine all ingredients:

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation:

Roast the sweet potatoes–place diced sweet potatoes in a single layer on a large baking sheet, toss with olive oil, bake at 375 degrees for about 30-40 minutes.  Let cool to room temperature.

Combine beans, bell pepper, onion, celery and cilantro in a large bowl.   Pour dressing over salad.  When the sweet potatoes are cooled, toss them gently into salad.  Pour pecans on top.

Hilda

A few days ago, I saw a post on Metafilter, a website I sometimes visit. The post was about a pin-up girl created in the 1950's by artist Duane Byers. The character he created is named Hilda (some images slightly NSFW), and in his paintings, she is depicted as playful, goofy, and very curvy. What struck me when I saw his paintings is how rare it is to see women with bodies like mine depicted as happy, healthy, and sexy. In fact, I can't ever remember seeing "sexy" drawings of a woman with a body like Hilda's (and mine). In many of the drawings of Hilda, she is doing active things- swinging on a rope swing, hanging upside down from a tree, riding her bicycle, etc. Her arms and legs are strong and muscular looking, but also round and curvy. When she is sitting down, she has creases in her stomach and folds on her back just like I do.  She seems happy and comfortable with herself and isn't shy about showing off her body. I wish that I had seen these drawings when I was twelve or thirteen, so that as my body developed, I could have seen that it is possible to be shaped like me and beautiful because of it rather than in spite of it. Hilda is a real beauty, and every time I see her, she inspires to me to appreciate my body just as it is.

Lemony Cucumber and Avocado Salad

This is one of the simplest salads around. It's great to make on a hot summer afternoon when you want something refreshing and easy. It's also a great way to use up cucumbers when you have lots of them ready to eat in your garden.

Lemony Cucumber and Avocado Salad
serves 2
2 cucumbers, chopped into small pieces
1 avocado, cut into chunks (see note)
juice of 1 lemon
salt&pepper

Mix cucumbers, avocado, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Enjoy!

A note on avocados: This great video demonstrates the easiest way to cut avocados into chunks or slices. If you are only making one serving of this salad, the leftover avocado half will stay much fresher in the refrigerator if you leave the pit in.

More Mysteries of the Deep

(Photo from TESC's invertebrate zoology webpage)

 I went out for a beautiful paddle on Monday morning. When I launched, the tide was extremely low, and I was able to see some marine life that I haven't had the opportunity to see before. There were lots of the amazing creatures pictured here. When I saw them, I assumed they were some kind of anemones, but thanks to David Jamison's fabulous webpage, I was able to identify what I saw as Northern Feather Duster Worms. WORMS! There is a video here of this thing in action, and it is pretty amazing. I think I've written about David Jamison's site before, but I want to mention it again, because it is  incredibly cool to be out paddling, see an animal or plant, and have such an easy to use and detailed resource to help me identify it. In addition to the spectacular worms, I also saw a lot of Purple Sea Stars. Even though being out during such a low tide was kind of weird (my paddle hit the bottom in the middle of the sound!), it was fantastic to get the chance to see some of the animals that live a little further down than I usually get to see.

7 Minute Lunchtime Salad

Today I came home to make a quick lunch before heading back to work for a meeting. I didn't have a lot of time, but I wanted to eat something fresh and reasonably healthy. I decided to throw together a quintessential NW pub salad (greens, fruit, nuts, and a little cheese. If you want to get really NW, you can throw on some smoked salmon too). For my salad I used fresh arugula dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette, nectarines, smoked almonds, and goat cheese. A salad like this will usually cost $12- $14 in a restaurant, but you can make it at home for next to nothing and in almost no time.

Arugula, Nectarine, and Smoked Almond Salad with Goat Cheese
serves 2
1 large bunch arugula, washed and torn into small pieces
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tsp jam (I used strawberry, but any kind is fine)
1 nectarine, sliced
1 handful smoked almonds, chopped
some crumbles of goat cheese for each salad

Pour a little balsamic vinegar into a large bowl. Add the jam, a few shakes of salt, and a few grind of pepper. Whisk together until jam is dissolved. Add a little olive oil in a stream and whisk until you have a desired consistency.  Place arugula in the bowl with the dressing and mix well with your hands or with salad tongs. Divide the dressed arugula between two plates. Top with nectarines, almonds, and goat cheese. Serve immediately.

Easy Sesame-Ginger Cabbage Salad

A simple summer salad that can be made in minutes- easy, fresh-tasting and delicious.

Sesame-Ginger Cabbage Salad

adapted from Bon Appetit, August 1998

8 cups very thinly sliced green cabbage

4 carrots, peeled and shredded

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1/4 cup toasted sesame oil

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger

2 teaspoons tamari

1 1/2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

1/2 cup peanuts toasted

fresh cilantro, chopped

fresh green onions, finely chopped

Sriracha or other chili sauce

Combine cabbage and carrots in large bowl.

Whisk vinegar, oil, sugar, ginger and tamari in medium bowl until sugar dissolves. Add a little chili sauce if you want a spicier salad.

Toss cabbage mixture with dressing. Mix in sesame seeds . Serve topped with peanuts, cilantro, and green onions. Include Sriracha or other spicy chili sauce on the side for folks who like spicy food. I also sometimes add cooked edamame or tofu for protein.

Incredible Cilantro Yumminess

This is a recipe for cilantro fans, and most especially gardeners who find themselves with too much cilantro and a need to use it up quickly. I have found several variations of this over the years, but this is the one I made to go with the dinner I wrote about yesterday.  You can vary the ingredients to taste, and omit or add other things as you see fit. The staple things you need are lots of cilantro, lime or lemon juice, olive oil, toasted sesame oil, and salt.

Simple Cilantro Pesto
2 large bunches cilantro, washed and chopped

4 tablespoons fresh lime juice

3 green onions, chopped

2 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger

a generous squirt Sriracha sauce

6 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

2 teaspoons soy sauce

salt to taste

Puree all ingredients in food processor. Makes a medium-sized bowl of pesto. Delicious served over fish, rice, vegetables, etc.

Super Summer Supper

 Last night Zach and I had my parents over for dinner on the deck. The food turned out really well, and we had a lot of fun too.  Cooking for loved ones and friends is something I enjoy immensely. I have a great time picking out the recipes, getting all the ingredients I need, and putting it all together. I think I will make it a goal to have someone(s) over for dinner at least every other month, since it is something that makes me feel really happy and proud. In terms of last night's menu, we had roasted cod with crimini mushrooms and green beans, brown rice, cilantro pesto, and a gingery cabbage salad. I'm breaking the recipes into three separate blog posts, since all of them could stand alone or be incorporated into other meals. The cod with green beans and crimini mushrooms is an adaptation of a recipe I found on epicurious. The original calls for halibut and shitake mushrooms. After reading the reviews, I made some changes which led to the recipe below.  The original also includes an awesome cilatro pesto recipe which I'll post tomorrow.

Roasted Cod with Crimini Mushrooms and Green Beans

apapted from a recipe in Bon Appetit, March 2006

4 tablespoons olive or other vegetable oil

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

4 teaspoons soy sauce

1 1/2 lbs cod or other white fish, skin removed

4 cups green beans, tailed and halved

4 cups sliced crimini mushrooms

salt and pepper

preparation

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add green beans and boil until just crisp-tender, about five minutes. Drain well. Next, place fish on one rimmed baking sheet, and green beans and mushrooms in single layer on another rimmed baking sheet. Whisk 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, and 2 teaspoons soy sauce in bowl to blend. Pour over fish. Repeat previous step to make another bowl of marinade and pour over beans and mushrooms; toss beans and mushrooms to coat. Sprinkle both fish and vegetables with salt and pepper. Roast until fish is opaque in center and beans are crisp-tender, about 15 minutes. Divide fish and vegetable mixture between plates. Serve with brown rice or quinoa.

Sweaty Selfie

I had a great workout at the gym tonight, and I was proud of my efforts. You can't really really tell in the picture, but I am absolutely drenched in sweat here. That is partially because I was really pushing myself and partially because the downtown YMCA is not air conditioned, so it is hot as Hades in the summer. I had a funny moment tonight when I was working out, where I felt like a total fraud, and thought that all of the other gymmies were looking at me and thinking "What is she doing here?", but as I kept going and my endorphins started kicking in, I felt like I totally owned the place. This is my 3rd YMCA workout this week. Say what you will about the rain,  but nothing like foul weather to motivate me to spend time at the gym!

Smoked Salmon Quinoa

I didn't get a great picture of this, but for lunch yesterday I made a quinoa salad that turned out really well. This one had lemon, smoked salmon, fresh basil, pecans, and a little parmesan. If I made it again, I would add some fresh dill to it as well. Quinoa salads are so great because they taste spectacular cold, but are also wonderful warmed up as a side dish. And as I've said before, part of the beauty of the quinoa salad is that quinoa+basic citrus vinaigrette+just about anything=a tasty and easy meal.

Smoked Salmon Quinoa 
1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 cups water
juice of 1 lemon
olive oil
pepper
salt
3 oz smoked salmon (about the size of a deck of cards)
1/4 cup pecans, toasted
handful of fresh basil leaves, sliced into ribbons
handful fresh dill, finely chopped
handful of fresh shredded parmesan or other sharp cheese

Combine the quinoa and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low and partially cover. Allow quinoa to cook for 15 minutes. While qunioa is cooking, make the dressing- put the lemon juice in a large bowl, add some pepper and a little salt and stir. Add some olive oil in a thin stream, stirring with a fork or a whisk to create an emulsion.  I didn't measure the oil, and you can add it to taste, but you want the dressing to be light and fresh and not too oily, so keep that in mind. Next, cut the salmon into small pieces. Be sure to look for any bones and pull them out and discard them- getting fish bones in a salad is no good at all! Toast your nuts and chop your herbs if you haven't already done so. Once the quinoa is done, mix it with the dressing in the large bowl and then add all of the other ingredients and stir. Cool in the refrigerator if you want to serve it cold or eat immediately for a tasty warm dish.
'

Fresh Summer Salsa

This week we got in some beautiful NW grown Roma tomatoes at the Co-op, which are, in my opinion, some of the best tomatoes for making fresh salsa. Zach brought home all the ingredients for salsa making yesterday, and this morning I whipped some up. If you have a food processor and like finely chopped salsa, you can make this salsa in no time at all. I like a chunky salsa, so I chopped everything by hand, which took a little time. I then pureed just a little bit and stirred it back in to give some nice textural contrast. I think it is also nice to drain the tomatoes in a colander after you've chopped them to keep your salsa from becoming too watery.

The recipe I used came from the Forks Over Knives cookbook, which is available at the library if you want to check it out. It has lots of easy and quick plant-based recipes.  The salsa recipe from this cookbook is really good, I just tweaked it by adding a little extra garlic and some vinegar.

Fresh Tomato Salsa
9 Roma tomatoes or 3 large slicing tomatoes, chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
1-2 jalapenos, seeds removed and minced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
juice of 1 lime
1 tsp white vinegar
salt to taste
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Store refrigerated until ready to serve.

My Sweet Ride #2

 This post is an ode to my beautiful paddleboard. I took it out on the Sound today, and the whole time I was out there, I kept thinking "Man, I love this board!". My board isn't the fanciest, or the sleekest, or the most expensive board out there, but it's perfect for me. It's long enough and wide enough to deal with the small waves and boat wake that are frequently present in the Sound, yet it's light enough for me to lift it onto my car fairly easily. I love the way it feels under my feet, and when I am on it, I feel stable, strong, and athletic. I can move through the water quickly and easily maneuver and turn the board when I need to. Plus, it's just so darn pretty. I love you sweet paddleboard. Thanks for taking me out to places I used to only see from the shore!

New Adventures

Today I went on a fun adventure, and had a completely new experience- something that just doesn't happen often enough anymore. Zach and I went sailing with some friends who are fairly experienced and they showed us a great time. We rented a sailboat from Boston Harbor Marina and headed out into the sound. There wasn't a lot of wind for much of the day, so at times it was pretty slow going, but when the wind was in the sails and we were moving along at a nice clip, it was pretty amazing. We brought some delicious picnic food, listened to  great music, and had a lot of fun relaxing in the sun (with sunblock, hats, and sunglasses of course!).  It was also interesting to be able to get a view of the sound from a boat- I now have a better idea of how visible I probably am to most boats when I'm out paddling. Even though sailing isn't something I plan to do regularly, I really enjoyed doing something new, and this makes me want to add to my list of goals. Goal #30: Try at least one new activity before the end of the year. This can be anything, as long as it is trying something I've never done to keep my life fresh and interesting.

Fallstalgia

Today I was so happy because...IT FELT LIKE FALL! Fall is my favorite time of the year, and it was nice to have an  unexpected fall-like day in the middle of the summer. Don't get me wrong, I've been loving the lovely, clear, sunny weather we've been having, but it was such a treat to have a reminder of a few fall things I really love- watching the rain through the windows, making soup, and cuddling with my sweetie under a warm blanket. For dinner, I made us a simple soup. This is a great soup if you're feeling under the weather or don't have a lot of time or energy but want something warm and delicious to eat.
Erin's Simple Rainy Day Soup
olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 potatoes, chopped into small pieces
3 bouillon cubes, dissolved in a little hot water
8 cups water
2 cans white beans, drained and rinsed
1 bunch spinach, sliced into ribbons
2 Tbs. fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
fresh black pepper

Pour a little olive oil into a soup pot and heat over medium-high. Add the onions and saute until almost translucent. Next add the garlic. Saute briefly, then add the celery, and saute until celery is nearly soft. Add carrots and saute a few minutes more. Add the potatoes, dissolved bouillon, and the 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 15 minutes or until all vegetables are soft enough to pierce with a fork. Add the beans, spinach, and parsley. Cook for 3 more minutes. Serve with lots of fresh-ground black pepper.

Live and Learn

I wanted to do an update on my last post about doing yoga with weights. I woke up the next morning with a terribly sore neck and back. My neck was so stiff it was hard to turn my head. Luckily, I was able to get in to see Miracle Merey, the incredibly gifted massage therapist I've written about before. She got things loosened up and I'm feeling much better now, but it was a good learning experience for me- maybe doing yoga with weights isn't such a great idea after all. It's possible that I just slept funny or that my muscles were already taxed from working and that I just overdid it, but I think for a little while anyway, I might just stick to regular yoga. I'll guess I'll have to keep things interesting by changing the music I'm listening to or doing yoga outside.