Green Feta Spread

This is a tangy spread that is nice on toast points. As with all cooking, play with the amounts if you prefer some flavors to be more bold and up front.

2 cloves garlic
1-2 c greens, washed, dried, and tightly packed (kale, spinach, or arugula are all nice)
3 oz tangy feta cheese or feta crumbles (i buy 365 in the white tub at Whole Foods. This is a nice tangy one; others can be way too mild and dry)
1/2 plain Greek yogurt (use whatever fat level you like. Since no cooking is involved, fat content is your prerogative)
1/4t lemon zest
1-2t lemon juice

1. Smash and peel the garlic. Set aside (for about 10 mins- I just learned from Dr. Jo Robinson, in her book "Eating on the Wild Side" that raw garlic is great once certain molecules co-mingle. Smashing, cutting, or chopping will enact the good stuff. See Eating On the Wildside for her resources. FYI, the 10 minute wait period is for when you are going to cook the garlic. BUT since this recipe mixes the garlic with other ingredients, I follow the 10 minute rule to ensure the good chemical reactions happen before I add the garlic to the recipe).

2. In a food processor, combine all ingredients till smooth (including the garlic, once it's been sitting for 10 mins).
TIP: food process the yogurt with some of the greens first. Then as the volume shrinks down from processing, add the rest of the greens (and even more if you want a nice phyto-nutrient punch) and the remaining ingredients.

3. Spread desired amount on toast points or other crunchy base (e.g., celery, endive live. Finish with the salt, pepper, and chiffonade of the green you selected.

Spinach smoothie

Ingredients:

1/2c light coconut milk (or dairy milk)
1/2-1c coconut water (or water or more dairy milk)
3c or more fresh spinach
2 t vanilla
1c frozen pineapple chunks
1 frozen banana (i peel then freeze once bananas are too brown or bruised to eat.
**frozen fruit means you don't need to add ice to this smoothie!)

1. Blend the coconut milk, coconut water, vanilla, and spinach until smooth. I blend for about a minute because I do not like getting a chunk of spinach in my drink.
2. Add the pineapple and banana, blend till smooth.
Serve immediately or freeze for frozen dessert.

Tip: when pineapples are cheap, i buy a few, and when they are practically over ripe, i chunk them up and freeze them. Frozen pineapple makes extra thick smoothies so you might need a bit more liquid.

Carrot Cupcakes

If you have a food processor, this is a very easy recipe and is fairly guilt-free. I'll post a picture next time I make them!!

Makes about 10 cupcakes at roughly 175 calories each. Add 2T of honey if you need them sweeter. But you won't.

- 5-6 uncooked cleaned but not peeled raw carrots (fewer if your carrots are on the large side; 6 if they're somewhat average... of course, if you've been buying baby carrots all these years, you might have a hard time remembering what a real carrot looks like!!)
- 2-3 very ripe raw bananas. 2 if the bananas are on the bigger side; three if they're somewhat petite. (hint, if you have some ripe bananas but not ready to use them, unpeel them and stick them in a freezer container till you do need them)
-6 T butter
-3 large eggs
-1 t vanilla
-2 t cinnamon
-1/2 t nutmeg
-1/2 t allspice
-3T minced raw ginger (optional and not recommended if you're making this for kids-ginger can be too bite-y for them)
-1t salt
-1/2 c old fashioned extra thick rolled oats (I use Bob's Mills, but any old fashioned ones will do)
-1/2 c whole wheat flour
-2 t baking powder
- 1/2c coarsely chopped dried sour cherries or other dried fruit (avoid grape-juice infused varieties)

1. Using one of the shaving/shredding accessories on your food processor, shred your carrots.

2. Put the carrots in a different dish so you can then switch to the regular food processing blade (the kind that has 2 sharp knives that sweep around in the bottom of your food processor).

3. Put the shredded carrots back into the food processor and process them till they're more minced and finely grained. They won't get pulpy without added liquid, but they'll be close.

4. While processing, drop in the bananas, butter, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, optional ginger, and salt.

5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, and baking powder. Add the wet ingredients and fold together till blended. Add the dried fruit.

Using a large ice cream scoop, fill lined cupcake tins to about the top, if not with a little heaping hill on top.

350 degree oven, about 20 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

These are delicious and moist as-is. If they're not sweet enough for you, add 2 T of honey, but seriously, carrots and bananas do it for me and the cherries give a punch of sweet.

You can ruin the whole point of low- or no-sugar "cupcakes" and frost these with cream cheese frosting: 1/4 stick of butter, 1/2 cream cheese, 2-3 c powdered sugar, 1 t vanilla OR 1 teaspoon lemon juice plus some grated lemon peel.

Fava beans with pear and figs

2-3T olive oil
1 cooking onion
1 pear, coarse chop
2 stalks of fennel, diced. Fronds in that are ok
4-5 cloves garlic
6 or 7 dried figs
1-3 carrots, coarsely chopped
2 guajillo chilis (this only adds to the flavor profile but will not add spice. Use a whole fresh jalapeno to add spice)
2 cups dried fava beans*
2 c dry white wine (I used a sauvignon blanc)
1 quart veggie broth

Saute the onion in olive oil in the bottom of a heavy dutch oven (e.g., le crueset) until it starts to brown a little. Add the pear and cook another minute.till the pear softens just a bit. Add the fennel and whole garlic cloves, carrots, cook another minute till the fennel green brightens. Deglaze the pan with the wine.  add the rest of the ingredients and be sure the beans are fully covered by the liquid. Cover, place in 300-350 deg oven for 2-3 hours, till beans softened but not mushy. Check halfway through cooking time to ensure there is enough liquid for the beans.

Once finished, look around for the garlic cloves, mush them, and incorporate them.

*variation- if you prefer a "creamier" bean texture, use large lima beans (gigantes). The favas were more al dente when I followed the above recipe, which was nice.

I didn't salt or pepper my recipe, I find there is enough salt from the broth. That's a taste thing, too!
Please add suggestions or variations below!

Quinoa Stuffed Poblano Peppers

These are a healthy twist on Chile Rellenos and could easily be done dairy free. Here's the dairy version:

1/2 cup dried quinoa
1 c water

8-12 Poblano peppers (they range in size, but leftover stuffing makes a great salad; leftover peppers are good to add to other recipes, so no hard and fast rule here)

1 ear of corn
1 yellow or orange bell pepper (about 1c chopped)
1/2 red onion (about 1/2 c chopped)
1/4 chopped fresh cilantro
1c black beans
2-3 ounces cheese (I use cheddar but even a crumbled feta would be terrific. go with what you love)
salt and pepper to taste
plain nonfat Greek yogurt

Quinoa: it's about a 2-1 ratio, water-to-quinoa. I put dry quinoa in the bottom of my pan and toast it first before adding water. This gives it a nice nutty flavor. It takes a few minutes but you'll eventually smell a warm nuttiness to the grains. At that point, add water and a pinch of salt. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the quinoa grains' skins swell and only partially cover the grain. The water will be gone. I do not cover but I do cook them on low.

While you've got the quinoa cooking:
Prep the peppers: Fire roast them to remove the skins. To do so, grill, broil, or place right on the gas burner of your stove and, turning every few minutes, roast them till their skins are brown/black. Don't do longer than 10 minutes or they'll get a mushy texture. Once blackened, place in a heavy ceramic, glass, or pottery bowl (i.e., one that will hold their heat- metal doesn't) and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Set the peppers aside while you're chopping the other ingredients.

Grill the corn: Same procedure as the peppers- grill or place on grate of gas burner stove. Don't blacken, though! Just turn till you get some nice golden/brown color on 3-4 "sides" (of course I know a round object doesn't have sides. Lighten up). To cut off the kernels, I lay out a clean kitchen towel, place the ear vertically in the middle, and cut the kernels off with a chef's knife. Then use the towel to pour them into the bowl you'll use for the chopped veggie and quinoa mixture.

Chop the veggies: While your peppers are set aside, chop the vegetables and grate the cheese. Put the veggies and beans in a bowl where you'll add the cooked quinoa (I add the quinoa straight from the stove- it wilts the veggies ever so slightly). If you don't like raw onions, wilt them in a pan with some spray olive oil then add.

Combine to make stuffing/quinoa salad: If you do fewer or smaller peppers, you'll probably have extra quinoa salad, so use only as much as you estimate is needed to fill the peppers. THEN add the cheese (i.e., if I have extra quinoa, I don't like to add the cheese to the whole thing because then it's not as interesting a salad- when I use the extra for a salad. I'd rather have crumbled goat and toss some avocado in there with lots of lemon juice and olive oil).
Salt and pepper to taste. I use about 1/2t course sea salt and about 1/2t black pepper. A nice substitute for black pepper is Aleppo pepper, which adds a warm heat.

Returning to the peppers:
- Now remove the skins. If you blackened them properly, they'll pull off fairly easily with your fingers. Don't be neurotic- if some of the skin sticks, that's fine.
- Remove the insides but keep the stems for beauty at the table. To do so, use a paring knife to make a slit down the length of the pepper. Then cut a "T" across the top of the pepper (just below the stem). Now you have a little opening where you can pull out the seeds and membrane. I wear non-powdered neoprene doctors' gloves so the spicy just doesn't soak into my hands and eventually make it to my eyes, which then burn. I wear those, actually, any time I use my hands to prep food.
- Stuff the peppers with the quinoa and cheese mixture.

Arrange on an oven-save platter broil for just a few minutes to get the cheese melted. Serve with a dollop of cool, nonfat plain Greek yogurt.

Prep time: about 30-45 minutes.
Yield: if main course, then 3-4 servings; nice for appetizer course or tapas, in which case, it yields as many peppers as you make.

Variations:
- if dairy free, you would want something to give it moisture/density (e.g., avocado). If you use avocado, cube it and toss it in lemon or lime juice. Do NOT heat the peppers, either- they'll be terrific at room temp!
- try other veggies like chopped zucchini and/or tomatoes and/or any veggies you like in a salad but can hold up to cooking. If adding spinach, wilt it first to get rid of excess water.

Chickpea spinach ricotta balls

I had these at a tapas restaurant called Polpo in London and tried to replicate. Experiment with proportions and spices... Next time i make them i will use oregano and a teaspoon of lemon in the mixture but as listed below, they were very delicious, too!
Makes about 15 balls, use canola oil or cut olive oil with canola to raise smoke point.

**NOTE: I updated this recipe on April 13-- i cut the egg and increased the ricotta***
For the balls:
2 cans drained, rinsed, and dried chick peas (i use trader joe's brand bc they are more al denti... Mushy overcooked ones would be gross.
2-3 c packed fresh spinach. Not baby spinach-- the real bunch spinach that tastes more robust and has a thicker leaf
1 c ricotta
1 t indian ground cumin
1 t lemon juice
1 t oregano
Salt and cracked pepper to taste

For the dredge: 2c panko, 1t salt, 1/2 t pepper, 2 t garlic powder, 1-2T smoked spanish paprika

Food process the cheese, chick peas, spinach, cumin, lemon juice, oregano, salt, pepper. The mix can be smooth or rustic and chopped.

Combine dredge ingredients into a separate bowl.

Using a small ice cream scoop, drop a spinach ricotta mixture ball into the dredge. It will be loosey-goosey but it will delicately stay together and rolling it in the panko will help in that regard. Just lightly toss it around the dredge till coated. Repeat till finished. Place on olive-oil sprayed baking sheet and leave a bit of air between each. Then, lightly spray their tops, too.

350 degree oven till the bottoms are golden brown. Don't bother turning them all. Instead, crank up to broil to lightly brown their tops.

Serve warm and use your favorite sauce for dipping. I use fire roasted crushed tomatoes with some oregano and fresh basil. Easy tapas appetizer! Keeps nicely in the refrigerator- but reheat in 350 oven for preserving the crunch before serving. No need to broil in reheating stage. Could be done in advance by 2 days.