This recipe was inspired by my love of two great dishes — tabbouli salad and hummous!  And, I had A LOT of broccoli in the fridge.  The tabbouli-inspired flavors are the mint-cilantro-parsley herb mixture and the tomatoes.  The hummous-inspired flavors were the lemon-tahini-olive oil-garlic, and of course, the chickpeas!  Super-easy to make, and delicious.  We even got two thumbs up from a self-professed “broccoli hater”.

You can choose the degree to which you cook the broccoli — I steamed mine in a vegetable steamer for about 12 minutes, and it was quite well cooked.  If you like, you could just lightly steam (perhaps 6 minutes?) and then mix it all together to marinate in the dressing for an hour or so before serving.  My broccoli was too soft to mix together until just before I served it.  Of course, if you prefer, you can use the broccoli raw; I feel it is easier to digest if it is cooked a bit.

In order to keep the recipe vegan, there is no cheese added, but I think it would be delicious with some crumbled feta over it. You could also substitute lacinato kale for the broccoli, and cannellini beans for the chickpeas.

This recipe is dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free……but not taste-free.  You will find it is full of flavor.

Serves 12 to 14

Ingredients:

28 ounce can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans

2 1/2 to 3 cups broccoli florets (cut into bite sized pieces)

1 quart grape or cherry tomatoes, washed and cut in halves

1 bunch cilantro, washed and chopped

1 heaping Tablespoon (or more, to taste) chopped fresh mint

2 Tablespoons (or more, to taste) chopped fresh Italian parsley

1/3 cup tahini paste (I used Maranatha Roasted Tahini Paste because I like the roasted flavor, and it is just salty enough to my taste.  If you use a non-salted tahini, make sure you adjust salt to taste in your salad)

1 clove fresh garlic, peeled

1/3 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup (or slightly less) water

Sea Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

1.  If you are cooking your broccoli, go ahead and set that up in your steamer.  Once cooked to desired level, set aside.  Note that if you like it more well-cooked, it might be too soft to mix into the salad until just before serving.  If you mix it in, do so gently so that the florets do not get broken up — it is visually more interesting to have the nice, bite-sized florets whole).

2.  Rinse and drain chickpeas, then place in  a large bowl.

3.  Add tomatoes and chopped cilantro, mint and parsley to the chickpeas.  Toss to mix well.  At this point you can add the broccoli if it is not falling apart.

4.  Make the dressing:  I used a food processor — you could also use a blender or Vitamix. Add the tahini, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil to the processor bowl.  Process until smooth.  It will be quite thick.  Start adding water until it reaches the desired consistency.  I used 1/4 cup of water for mine — you want the dressing to be thick enough to coat the ingredients….not too runny.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  I used freshly ground coarse sea salt — about three grinds, and about five grinds of fresh black pepper.

5.  Pour dressing over the salad and mix well to coat ingredients.  Allow it to sit (refrigerated) for about an hour before serving.  We served it at room temperature yesterday and it was great.

Enjoy!

Fun, pretty on a platter, and super easy to make!  These skewers are Vegan, Gluten-Free, Fat-Free, and taste really great.  The whole office smelled yummy last week when they were out…..

Ingredients for 24 skewers (serve as an appetizer):

24 mushrooms — I used Cremini, but you can use any small, round mushroom

48 grape tomatoes

2 cans (15 ounces each) Hearts of Palm — cut into 24 1″ slices/chunks

Balsamic Vinegar

6 cloves garlic

3 TBSP finely chopped fresh rosemary, divided

3 TBSP finely chopped fresh thyme, divided

24 bamboo or wooden skewers

Instructions:

1.  Wash and dry the mushrooms and grape tomatoes.

2.  Drain the hearts of palm and cut them into pieces.  Some of them will fall apart while marinating, so put extra into the bowl.

3.  Create 3 bowls for marinade:  I used large shallow bowls for this purpose.  Each bowl gets 2 crushed cloves of garlic, 1 TBSP each of fresh rosemary and thyme, and about 1/4 c of balsamic vinegar.

4.  Put your prepared vegetables into the bowls — one each for mushrooms, tomatoes and hearts of palm.  Stir to mix them with the marinade.

5.  Marinate for 30-45 minutes.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

6.  Transform mushrooms to a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and roast until softened, and starting to caramelize, about 30 minutes.

7.  When the mushrooms are cool enough to handle, thread a mushroom, tomato, heart of palm, then another tomato onto each skewer.  Enjoy!

8.  You can save the balsamic marinade to reuse on salad or as a marinade for more veggies or meat.

Our month-long celebration of quinoa continues with this fabulous and healthy salad from Susan O’Brien’s wonderful cookbook, The Gluten-Free Vegan.

I hope these different ways of preparing quinoa have given you some ideas of variations and ways you can adapt it to suit the season and your individual tastes.  This particular recipe would be wonderful served with sliced avocados and/or fresh corn.  For those who are not vegan, crumbling some feta cheese onto it, or adding grilled shrimp would also be delicious!  Enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of vegetable stock/broth

1 cup of quinoa — remember to rinse well and drain before cooking

1 yellow, orange or red bell pepper, diced into 1/4″ pieces

1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced

1 small red onion (or 2-3 scallions, if you prefer) finely diced

2 Roma (Italian) tomatoes, seeded, chopped and drained

1, 15 ounce can of beans — black beans, pinto beans, red kidney beans, or a mixture of whatever beans you like.  Of course, you can also cook your own from dried.  You will want about 1 1/2 cups

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup freshly made salsa (you can make your own or use store-bought from the produce section)

1 Tbsp canola oil

1 lime, juiced

Freshly ground pepper and sea salt

Instructions:

1.  Cook the rinsed quinoa — bring your stock to a boil, add the quinoa, lower heat and cook until the liquid is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

2.  Place cooled quinoa in a large bowl and add your chopped vegetables (bell pepper, jalapeno, onion, tomatoes), beans, and salsa.  Toss to blend.

3.  Add ground cumin, cilantro, canola oil, and lime juice.

4.  Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Vegan, gluten-free, delicious and so easy to put together!  You will love this salad made with “super foods” kale and quinoa!

Ingredients:

2 c cooked quinoa (see instructions below for how to cook this marvelous seed)

Extra virgin olive oil, as needed (about 1/2 c at most)

1 bunch Lacinato kale (aka Tuscan, or dinosaur kale)

Sea Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

3 fresh oranges (I used blood oranges, but you can use tangerines or whatever types of oranges you have at home)

1 TBSP gluten-free tamari/soy sauce (I used Bragg’s Liquid Aminos)

1 TBSP honey, agave, or brown rice syrup

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 c roasted almonds (I used organic tamari roasted almonds today)

Instructions:

1.  To cook the quinoa — first wash the quinoa very well.  To accomplish this, you will need a very fine mesh sieve.  Measure out your quinoa into the sieve and wash under cold running water until the water runs clear.  I always cook my quinoa in vegetable stock, as it makes the final product much more flavorful, but you can certainly use water if you like.  One cup of quinoa to about 1 1/4 cups of water (so for this recipe, you will start with 2 cups of quinoa and about 2 1/2 cups of stock or water).  Bring the stock or water to a boil, then add the washed quinoa and turn heat down a bit.  Cook over moderate heat until all liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and fluff with a fork.  For this recipe, drizzle with about 1/4 cup of olive oil once you take it off the heat, fluff and set aside.

2.  Wash and dry the kale.  Some of the larger leaves will have a thick rib in the center.  I recommend cutting that out — just fold the leaf in half and slice the rib off.  For the smaller leaves, it is fine to leave the ribs intact.  Chop  the leaves and put into a large bowl.  Add 1/4 c (or a little less) olive oil, a few grinds of sea salt (you will taste to season again later), and then “massage” the oil and salt mixture into the kale leaves.  Use your hands!  Have fun.  Kale is a hearty green and it holds up well to this treatment.  Set aside while you prepare the dressing.

3.  Peel 2 of the oranges, and separate into sections.  Set aside.

4.  Juice the 3rd orange and combine that juice with the tamari, honey, black pepper, ginger and garlic.  Whisk until well blended.  Pour the dressing over the kale and toss to combine.

5.  Add the kale to the quinoa and toss together.  Mix in the orange sections, and taste for seasoning.  I added a bit more salt to mine, but that is how I like it.  We kept the almonds on the side today for those who have nut allergies.  If you are not concerned with allergies, mix the roasted almonds in with the oranges.

6.  Enjoy!

Interesting and delicious!  Also, vegan and gluten free.  And, for our friends with food allergies, it is nut and soy free!

Ingredients:

2 medium eggplants, washed and cut in half lengthwise

2 medium onions, diced

4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

2 tsp olive oil

4 cups vegetable stock (I used Imagine brand’s “No Chicken Broth”)

1/4 tsp Herbs de Provence (a mixture of thyme, oregano, lavender, basil, rosemary and marjoram — possibly plus others as well.  I used a blend I purchased at the bulk herb counter at My Organic Market.  It’s nice to purchase your dried herbs and spices this way because you can just get as much as you need for a recipe, and the herbs and spices are fresh)

1 bay leaf

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1/2c cultured coconut yogurt

3 red bell peppers, washed and cut into halves, seeds removed

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

sea salt to taste

Instructions for the soup:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Cover a baking sheet with foil and lightly oil it.  Place your eggplant halves cut side down onto the foil and bake until very soft — 20 to 30 minutes.  Alternatively, you can char the eggplants on a grill or a griddle.  Set aside to cool.

Once cool enough to touch, scoop out the cooked interior, discarding the skin.

In a large pot heat the olive oil over medium high heat and add the diced onions and garlic.  Cook until translucent — about 8 minutes, stirring frequently.  Turn the heat down if the onions are getting brown.  Add the broth, the eggplant, bay leaf and herbs de provence and bring to a boil.

Turn the heat down and simmer for 15 minutes.

Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice.  Remove the bay leaf and puree in a blender or Vitamix (or you can use an immersion blender right in the pot).

Stir in the coconut yogurt.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with red pepper swirl and fresh chopped parsley.

Instructions for the Red Pepper Swirl:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Place the peppers on a baking sheet lined with foil and lightly coated with olive oil (you can use olive oil cooking spray if you like)

Roast the peppers for 45 minutes or until the skins get wrinkled and slightly charred around the edges.  Turn the pan every 15 minutes or so while they are roasting.

When the peppers are cool enough to handle, peel over a bowl, allowing the juices to collect in the bowl.  Discard the skins.

Combine the peppers, juices, and balsamic vinegar in a blender and process until completely smooth.

Season to taste with salt.