Barley "Risotto" with Kale & Tomatoes

Ok, since I have the time, why not have two posts in one day??  And since this recipe is almost a week old by now....I thought I better post it already!

Tanya's Barley "Risotto" with Kale & Tomatoes:


1 cup hulled barley (rinsed)
3 cups broth (or water w/bouillion)
1 large tomato, chopped
1 cup packed kale
3 slices Teese mozzarella
garlic powder, black pepper


Put barley and liquid in a pot and bring to boil.  Turn to low, cover, and simmer about 1-1 1/4 hours.  Hulled barley takes longer to cook than pearl barley....keep this in mind if you're going to use pearl instead.  When the water is absorbed, mix in tomatoes, kale, and spices.  Let heat through for a few minutes, then mix in the Teese well until it's melted. Serve! 

Easy, no?

I recently read that hulled barley is better for you than pearl barley.....as in, it still has it's outer layer, or bran? I guess pearl barley is more like white rice and hulled is like brown? Is that right?  Anyway, it still tastes good, but it does take a lot longer to cook. But so does brown rice, etc....

Other things I've been eating:

Broccoli & Carrot salad with balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, & salt:

Pizza Potatoes (baked potatoes with Teese mozz & my red sauce: strained tomatoes, oregano, tomato paste, & salt):

Roasted asparagus with salt & pepper (roasted 15 min and added lemon juice when done):

That's it for today......

Eat smart,
T.

Greens and Sweet Rice

Sorry about the lack of posting lately.  We've been busy and out of town.  I'm back now with a few days off still until I go back to work (Mardi Gras vacation), so I've got some time to catch up.  I'll probably create more than one post today.

So back to Alicia Silverstone's "The Kind Diet".  I had some sweet brown rice that I'd gotten at the Asian market nearby, so the Barley with Sweet Rice and Corn sounded perfect.  The combination of barley with the rice was delicious.  (I still need to buy/make Gomashio) I served this with my Collards and Cabbage.

Tanya's Collards and Cabbage:


1 huge bunch collard greens, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
2 cups shredded green cabbage
2 tbsp rice cooking wine/mirin
1/2 onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
soy sauce
sesame seeds
ginger
salt


Saute the onion in a little water until soft.  Add the garlic and stir/cook for another minute. Add the collards. Cover and cook for about 2 minutes.  Add the cabbage. Cover and cook another minute.  Add soy sauce to taste and the rice wine.  Add spices to taste. Serve over cooked grains.


I made my own pizza again a few days ago.  I finally bought a pizza crisper(pan) and that did the trick for keeping a really crispy crust all over.  I also pricked the crust all over with a fork, before pre-baking it for 5 minutes or so in the oven.  It was soooo good, and crunchy, yay! You can find my original pizza recipe here.

Enjoy!  I'm out of vegetables (what???), because we were out of town and the next farmer's market isn't until Saturday......sigh.....I did break down and buy some broccoli at the store today.

Hope you all had a good Mardi Gras!
Eat smart,
T.

Weekend Market Goods and Quinoa

It was so sad to hear there won't be a market next Saturday, but on the other hand, this weekend's "box" was pretty darn full!  Especially the citrus....wow, the oranges, satsumas and grapefruits galore!

This week's stash: grapefruit, sweet oranges, navel oranges, satsumas, meyer lemon, mustard greens, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, turnips, red potatoes, sweet potatoes, green peppers, fairytale eggplants, tomatoes,  and spaghetti squash.  The stuff barely fit in my two canvas bags!!

And now for today's lunch.  I had some Red Quinoa sitting around in the pantry for a while, so I thought I'd give it a try.  I've never had the red kind....pretty similar to the other, except for the color.  I was supposed to rinse this one.....I didn't have a mesh strainer, so I think I lost a lot of the quinoa, pouring it through my hand.  Must put that on the shopping list!  Here's the recipe:

Tanya's Red Quinoa Skillet:


1 cup red quinoa
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock/broth (to cook the quinoa)


1 15 oz can of petite diced tomatoes
1 TB tomato paste
1 key lime, juiced
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 yellow onion, sliced thinly
1 small red pepper, cut into smallish pieces
1 green pepper, cut into smallish pieces
1 carrot, cut down the middle, then sliced thinly
1/2-3/4 cup corn (I had steamed, you can use canned)
chili powder
garlic powder
cilantro (I had freeze-dried)
salt & pepper

Cook the quinoa according to package directions, or boil the 1 1/2 cups of broth, then add the quinoa.  Cover and simmer about 20 minutes, until done.


While the quinoa is cooking, roast the peppers, yellow onion and carrot in the oven on 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. 


About 5 minutes before the quinoa and roasted veg are done, put a 1/2 cup water in a large saute pan.  Cook the green onions and celery on medium heat for about 3 minutes.  Add tomatoes & corn.  Stir and add the roasted vegetables.  Add the chili powder and garlic powder to taste.  Add the cooked quinoa and mix all together.  Add cilantro and tomato paste and stir.  Then add the salt and pepper to taste. Add the lime juice at the end, before serving.

Very filling lunch and quinoa has a lot of protein.  I thought of adding kidney beans, but that would've just added more calories and since it already had protein, we didn't really need it.  But you can go ahead and try!

Must work today.....last opera of the week, then it's time to prepare my pre-Thanksgiving!

Eat smart,
T.

Bread and Rice

Guess what?  I just tasted my first bread out of my new bread machine!  Mind you, it wasn't quite 100% whole grain, because I wanted to do a test bread....but it was mostly whole wheat with some high gluten flour added.  I also used demerara sugar, as the machine booklet called for sugar.....next time, I might try something different!

The bread is very good.  Slightly crispy crust....although the top of the bread (as you can see) was quite light.  Not sure why the top didn't darken.  I didn't use any oil in the bread. The inside is nice and soft.  And the size will be good for sandwiches.  Oh how I wanted to slather on some Smart Balance and let it melt right on there......but that's not on my current diet.  Well, I suppose bread isn't either, but who's counting??  :)  I've gotta decide where I'm gonna splurge.  I'll take processed wheat (flour) and calories over fat these days.

Oh and I have to say the machine was very quiet!  That's a big plus.

For lunch I made a simple rice salad, since I'd made a bunch of rice yesterday.

Tanya's Rice Salad: 


3-4 cups cooked brown rice (I used just a little white, since it's locally grown)
1-2 bell peppers, any color
sprouts and/or pea shoots
3-4 sticks celery, chopped
2-3 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup chickpeas (or kidney beans)
balsamic vinegar to taste
fresh dill & basil
garlic, salt, pepper


Mix all together! Done!


I'm not swearing by my measurements either.  So it's up to you.....if you want more veggies, add more.  Pour in the vinegar until it looks and tastes about right.

Well, we didn't get any rain from Ida.  In fact, we didn't get any rain from anywhere!  There was a rain storm to our West, and Ida to our East......neither hit us. Weird.  We got about 30 mph winds and that's about it.  Power stayed on too!

Stay tuned for more eats :)
Eat smart,
T.

Millet!!

I finally cooked millet....yay!!  Thanks to happyveganface for a wonderful recipe.  You can find the great recipe for Spicy Mexi Millet here.  This is the first time I've ever made millet and I'm so making it again!  To me, this is the kind of recipe I'll keep on hand for relatively quick and delicious meals.

I did however make just a couple of changes, due to the fact that I didn't have some things.  I used the juice of a whole lemon.....didn't have any more of those great key limes from the market, sniff.  I used dark red kidney beans, because it was either that or black beans, which I guess would've been good too. And lastly, I didn't use any jalapenos.  They freak me out.  Not because of the spice (I don't mind some spice.....but my husband loves extra spicy), but because the last time I handled them, my hands broke out in a rash and got really itchy.  I did end up using gloves for a while to handle them, but that's kind of a pain.  Maybe one day I'll break down and get jalapenos again.

So I give this recipe a 10, because it's so good, and it's pretty darn easy.  Who knew? Thanks happyveganface!! :)

Ahhh....back to work tomorrow.  Was thinking of roasting some root veggies tomorrow......need to use up the market turnips.  We'll see.