miso mustard cabbage slaw

i recently came across some shiro (white) miso on sale, and have been lovin' the new recipe options. you can find miso at most health food stores, or for a cheaper option, the oriental or asian markets carry it too. i made this slaw for lunch one day and fell in love...

• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon water
• 2 cups cabbage/carrot mix

for the dressing:

• 1 tablespoon water
• 3/4 tablespoon mild miso (yellow or white)
• 3/4 tablespoon mustard (whole seed preferred)
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1+ teaspoon bragg's aminos

in a medium skillet, heat sesame oil on medium. add the cabbage or slaw mix, and saute for about 3-5 minutes. turn heat to high and add a teaspoon of water. cook the cabbage for about 1-2 minutes more until it starts to turn translucent, but not wilted.

in a separate bowl, mix up the dressing ingredients. start with the miso and water, and whip with a fork until the miso is emulsified. the combine the rest of ingredients, adding as much bragg's as you see fit. i used arran original mustard, with whole brown and yellow mustard seeds. pour cabbage out of skillet, and coat with dressing. serve warm.

cheesy quiona and bbq veggies

currently, the hippest grain on the block is quinoa. i've made some successful and some not-so-successful dishes in my attempts to master it. below is my latest recipe that i'm chalking up in the successful category.

• 3 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 cup mixed bell pepper strips
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1/2 cup of your favourite barbecue sauce

for the cheese sauce:

• 3/4 cup soy milk
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1½ teaspoon onion powder
• 1½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon white miso
• 1 tablespoon stoneground mustard
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 tablespoons fat free nayonaise

i wanted to grill my veggies, but it's about 10 degrees here so i went about it another way. spread the bell peppers and broccoli florets in a glass baking dish and coat with barbecue sauce. bake for about 20 minutes at 400°f, until they start to roast. flip halfway through.

right after you pop the veggies in the oven, start cooking quinoa. to cook: soak quinoa in hot water for about 5 minutes, then drain and rinse. add 2 parts water to 1 part quinoa, bring to a boil, and then simmer for 15 minutes or so.

while everything is cooking, get out the magic bullet or blender and whip up the cheese sauce by blending all the listed ingredients. after the veggies have finished roasting, flip the oven to the broiler setting, and broil the veggies for about 5-10 minutes until the edges start to brown.

finally, combine quinoa and cheese sauce, and fold in the barbecued veggies.

untraditional gazpacho

traditionally, gazpacho is served cold, but i like mine at room temperature. traditionally, it's a refreshing summer dish, but i like it in the winter too as a counter to all the heavy meals. traditionally, bread crumbs are almost always in the recipe, but i omitted them because really, they just seemed unnecessary. no offense to other gazpacho chefs - i'm sure there are plenty of great recipes with breadcrumbs, but this is untraditional gazpacho, after all.

• 2 14oz. cans fire roasted tomatoes (drained)
• 1 jar of roasted red peppers (drained)
• 1/2 can whole kernel corn
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled
• 1/2 green bell pepper
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons onion powder
• 1 ½ tablespoons ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• hot sauce to liking

just throw everything in a food processor and pulse until you have a well blended chunky gazpacho. you may need more vinegar or hot sauce to help liquefy everything.

makes several bowls.

mediterranean pasta

i love this pasta dish because it changes up the standard noodle and sauce combo. it wants to be a pasta salad, but has enough weight to make it a full meal. plus, i'm sucker for anything with artichoke hearts.

• 8 oz. ziti or rigatoni
• 1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz)
• 1 small can tomato sauce (8 oz)
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 can black olives
• 1 can artichoke hearts, quartered

as an italian, i must encourage you to use fresh tomatoes if you have them. alas, it is winter here in the midwest, and we don't have fresh tomatoes around too often. so heat your tomatoes (canned or fresh) with tomato sauce for about 10 minutes on medium-high. start boiling the ziti according to directions on package. after sauce has just started to simmer, add black olives, garlic and artichoke hearts. simmer on low for about 5-10 minutes more, until the ziti is done. mix the sauce, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and rigatoni together.

makes about 3 dinner servings.

beginner's green smothie

if you haven't tried a green smoothie, i suggest you give it a shot. they are uber-delicious and super nutritious. there are quite a few recipes online (just google 'green smoothie') - some are more complicated than others. this was the first one i ever made, and it remains one of my favourites. it tastes like yummy orange julius.

• 1 banana
• 1 orange
• 1½ cups fresh spinach
• 4 ice cubes
• 1/3 cup water

since there is no added sugar, use a ripe banana - with the little brown specks. if it is under-ripe, the smoothie will loose some of the natural sweetness.

put orange, banana, and water in a blender. blend fruit until creamy, then add the ice and spinach. blend until you have a nice thick smoothie (about 30 seconds). usually 1/3 cup water works for me, but add more water if your blender has trouble with the spinach and ice.

serve in a pink elvis glass, if possible. :)

simple spicy stir fry

i'm a spice maniac. seriously. my stomach must be made of steel because i love superhuman hot-ness in my foods. this dish will definitely clear the sinuses. i'd suggest modifying the chili paste based upon what you prefer. best of all, it's really low fat and low calorie if you stick to the oil measurements below.

• 7 oz. frozen broccoli
• 1 cup shredded cabbage and carrots
• 2 tablespoons chili paste
• 1 tablespoon chili oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons nama shoyu (or soy)
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon ginger, minced
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons ground sichuan peppercorns

heat oils and chili paste in a wok on high (about 400°). add in the broccoli, shoyu, galic and ginger and stir fry until well heated (about 7 minutes with frozen broccoli). add the rice vinegar and cabbage mix (i used bag coleslaw mix) and cook for about 5 minutes. toss in the ground sichuan peppercorns about 30 seconds before you finish stir frying.

this recipe only makes one bowl- perfect for the solo spice lover.

black-eyed pea and soyrizo stew

it wasn't until a couple years ago that i heard about eating black-eyed peas on new year's day for good luck. until this recipe, i hadn't had them except all mushed up like a bean dip. i actually made my own soyrizo for this recipe, but i'm still tweaking the recipe. it didn't hold together as well as i had hoped, so i rolled with it and ended up with yummy soyrizo crumbles. once i get the recipe down pat, i'll post it, but in the meantime you can find soyrizo at most health/nature food stores. happy new year!

• 2½ cups cooked black-eyed peas, cooked
• 1½ cups white northern beans, cooked
• 2 cups soyrizo (mine was crumbly)
• 2 cans stewed tomatoes
• 2 cups chopped potatoes
• 2 tablespoon onion powder
• 2 clove garlic, minced
• 3 cups water
• 1 veggie bouillon cube

dissolve a bouillon cube in hot water, and then combine all ingredients in a crock pot. my soyrizo was already pretty spicy, but if yours isn't, you may want to add some red pepper flakes to kick it up.

stew in the crock pot for 6+ hours. be sure an add additional water if too much cooks off.