Latest Posts

Pistachio Fiddle-Head Fern

Published by

I’ve always wanted to try some fiddle-head ferns, so I picked some up at the market and blanched them up. They have a fresh and earthy flavor. Here they are complimented by pistachios and capers with an added brightness.

Total time: 8 hours 20 minutes

Prep time: 8 hours

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 4 Tbsp capers divided
  • 1 cup pistachios (without shells) divided
  • 1 cup almonds soaked for 8 hours or overnight*
  • 3/4 cup water + 2 Tbsp
  • 1/2 juice of one lemon
  • 6 cloves garlic chopped
  • 4 cups fiddle-head ferns blanched for 2 minutes
  • Pinch of sea salt
  • Cooked grain of choice (image of recipe is on a bed of rice)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
  2. Meanwhile spread pistachios onto a baking sheet
  3. Bake pistachios for 6 minutes until fragrant, then promptly move pistachios to a container to stop cooking
  4. While pistachios are cooking, heat a non-stick skillet to medium
  5. Move most (all but 2 Tbsp) pistachios to blender
  6. Add almonds, 3/4 cup water, lemon juice, and 3 Tbsp capers to the blender and puree for 45 seconds, scrape the sides of the blender and blend for another 15 seconds or until smooth
  7. Once skillet is warm, add 2 Tbsp water, garlic, and fiddle-head ferns
  8. Cook for 4-6 minutes stirring frequently until tender
  9. Finely chop the reserved 2 Tbsp pistachios
  10. Serve the ferns over some rice and top with the pistachio sauce, remaining 1 Tbsp capers, and chopped pistachios

Servings: 4

Notes:

*if you didn’t have time to soak almonds, then add an extra 1/4 cup water to the blender when pureeing

If you do try the recipe, let me know what you think in the comments 🙂

Delightful Lemon Dill Kale

Published by

Total time: 30 minutes
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 cup white rice rinsed
  • 4 cups vegetable broth divided
  • 2 bunches kale (I used Italian) rinsed

Cashew Cream:

  • 1.5 cup cashews
  • 1.5 cup water
  • 4 Tbsp dried dill weed
  • 1 tsp onion flakes
  • 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
  • Salt to taste

Directions:

  1. In a pot, bring the rice and 3 cups vegetable broth to a boil covered. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook about 20 minutes until done.
  2. Meanwhile remove the large stems from the kale and discard (or save for a veggie broth for later)
  3. In a large pot add kale and vegetable broth. Cook on medium heat for 12 minutes stirring occasionally until tender.

Lemon Dill Cashew Cream:

  1. Add water, cashews, dill weed, onion flakes, and nutritional yeast to blender and blend on high for 30 seconds or until smooth
  2. Zest one lemon and add to blender
  3. Juice the lemon and add to blender
  4. Puree for another 15 seconds
  5. Salt to taste (keeping in mind the veggies with vegetable broth may have salt)
  6. Serve immediatly or heat in a saucepan on low for 5 min then serve over the kale
    • Can be kept in the fridge up to 4 days

Refreshing Oregon Grape Tea

Published by

I went out on a hike today to harvest some spruce or Douglas fir tips for tea. The forest had different ideas. While there are a ton of plants to harvest, it is too early in the Pacific NW for evergreen tips. So, when I started snacking on the Oregon grape flowers, which were delicious and sweet; I thought why not pair the sweetness with an evergreen citrus bite of evergreen needles I could find.

They paired beautifully and I got this lovely fresh spring tea. I combined the Oregon grape flowers with Douglas fir needles and steeped covered for 20 minutes.

 

Thai Broccoli Rice

Published by

This is my vegan & soy-free version of Khao Man Gai. When I wasn’t vegan I ate the chicken version, and I now miss the amazing sauce that came with it. So, I of course needed to try to make my own vegan version. I originally tried this with tofu, but it came out with the very distinctive tofu flavor, so  I thought broccoli was a good, mild yet fresh, veggie to substitute. Soy free was just a bonus 🙂

p.s. the flowers in the picture are Oregon grape I found on a hike today. Very delicious

Total time: 50 minutes
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Seasoned Rice:

  • 1.5 cups white rice
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 inch ginger sliced
  • 2 inch celery root sliced

Sauce:

  • 3 Tbsp chopped ginger
  • 2 scallions roughly chopped with skin
  • 4 Tbsp coconut aminos
  • 4 Tbsp water
  • 3 cloves garlic with skin
  • 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
  • 3 tsp chickpea miso paste

Broccoli:

  • 2 pounds broccoli roughly chopped
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1/4 sauce

Steps:

Rice:

  1. Rinse the rice to remove extra starch. Then drain
  2. Combine ginger, celery, rice, and water in a pot and bring to a boil
  3. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook for 20 minutes or until done

Sauce:

  1. Add ginger, scallions, garlic, coconut aminos, water, and rice wine vinegar to the blender
  2. Blend on medium speed for 10 seconds
  3. Take 3/4 of sauce and heat on medium-low heat for 1-2 minutes to mellow garlic & scallions. Reserve 1/4 sauce.
  4. Let cool. Then add miso paste

Broccoli:

  1. Add broccoli, water, and 1/4 sauce to a pot on medium heat. Cover
  2. Steam for 10-15 minutes. Stirring occasionally
  3. Cook until tender. Then drain and serve

Pineapple Mint Smoothie

Published by

Here is my favorite smoothie recipe! Inspired by a trip to Belize with my family. This smoothie is a twist on a coconut mojito that I had on the beach. Hope you enjoy.

Ingredients:

  • 30 spearmint leaves
  • 2 cup fresh chopped pineapple
  • 6 Tbsp coconut milk
  • 2 tsp lime juice
  • 3/4 cup ice
  • 1/2 cup frozen mango

Directions:

  1. Add all ingredients to blender
  2. Blend on high for 45 seconds or until the mixture is smooth