Recipe Thursday - Garlic and Ginger Broccoli

We are in Hills B.C.  right now but I'd like to post Kill's favorite broccoli recipe.  He loves it and it's so simple - that's the dream isn't it? I read this recipe about 5 years ago but I can't remember where; still, I'll try to remember so as not to be a plagiarizer.

Garlic and Ginger Broccoli

• 1 head broccoli (cut into florets and 1 inch stem chunks)
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 1 inch chopped, fresh ginger (leave the skin on, it's fine)
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds (white is prettier than black for this)

Heat the oil in a frying pan for 30 seconds on high then put in ginger and garlic. Turn down to medium and fry lightly for 1 minute then add in your broccoli. Pour in the water and cover the broccoli for 3 minutes, stirring once. When the broccoli is bright green, add the soy sauce to the pan, put it all on a plate and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Super easy right? 

My mom served broccoli so often when we were growing up that I had to take a few years break when I left the house. Now I'm back to liking it and really, she was right because it's so good for human beings. Good job mom :).

Recipe Friday - Vegan Italian Wedding Soup

Finally, I feel well enough to cook again! What a pleasure.

The first thing that I made was Italian Wedding Soup because I love it and I haven't had it since Kill and I became vegans. This soup has a veggie broth, barley, white beans and chopped Kale put in at the last minute and it is scrumptious. The non-vegan versions also contain sausage.

Italian Wedding Soup (serves 8)

• 10 cups vegetable stock (homemade or store bought)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp each dried basil and dried oregano
• 1 cup uncooked/unsoaked white beans (cannellini or black eyes peas)
• 1 finely chopped leek
• 1 chopped white or red onion
• 4 cloves diced garlic
• 4 finely chopped carrots (unpeeled)
• 1 diced yellow pepper
• 1 cup uncooked barley (pearled or partially hulled)

In each bowl at serving time:  

• 2 kale leaves (centres cut away and leaves chopped)

• 2 ripped basil leaves and a shimmer of olive oil on top

This is one of those, leave-it-on-the-stove-all-day soups... (or crock pot). Heat the stock in a big pot, throw in bay leaves and dried herbs, then put in uncooked beans and bring to a boil. Turn it down to a low simmer for about an 1 hour when the beans should begin to soften. Add the uncooked barley and bring to a boil again then simmer for 30 minutes. Add the leeks, garlic and onion and simmer for 20 minutes or longer then throw in those carrots and peppers. Simmer for a minute or two and taste the soup. More salt? Are the beans and barley soft?

Serve with chopped kale and basil in a bowl with soup ladled over top and drizzle olive oil on top. Life is good :). Keeps for 5 or 6 days in the fridge.

We ate it with tomato, cucumber and pepper salad.

Recipe Thursday - Cauliflower Mash

I'm reading Anti Cancer by Dr. David Servan-Schreiber and it is about how he, as a student, discovered that he had inoperable brain cancer while using an MRI during his PhD. It's excellent and was recommended by my dentist, Dr. Lucy Urban, here in Calgary (she is wonderful and accepts new patients, I think).

He's still thriving and he's asked his colleagues to do studies on which foods do not promote cancer growth but, do the opposite. I think of eating as an opportunity to heal. For breast cancer: garlic, leek, scallion, cauliflower, kale and cabbage all inhibit cancer cell growth up to the highest measured -100 capacity. Garlic, leeks and cabbage are all in the top 10 foods that inhibit breast, prostate, lung and brain cancers. Good news!

Today's recipe is a great way to eat cauliflower and was recommended by another wrestling coach :).

Cauliflower Mash (serves 4)

• 1 head cauliflower (cut into quarters and leaves removed)
  
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp dried dill
• or 1 tbsp curry powder 
• 1-2 tbsp sesame, olive or avocado oil

Take a medium pot and half fill with water. After placing a metal or bamboo steamer on top of your pot, bring water to a boil and then plunk in your cauliflower bits. Steam it for 30 minutes with a lid on top to hold the steam. You're close now, turn off water, remove cauliflower and place in a bowl. Mix in salt, dill or curry and oil then puree with a hand blender or use a food processor.

I like to serve it with a lentil patty or something crunchy. Theses have the texture or whipped, mashed potato with a lower glycemic index and cancer fighting properties! Hooray!

Have a good weekend my sweeties.

Recipe Thursdays

Today's recipe is for Miso Soup... you may have realized, how much I love soup. I could eat, only soup, forever!

I eat miso, most days, for breakfast but regular humans usually eat it at lunch or dinner. My friend Clayton said that the idea of vegetables and savory soup at breakfast is not tantalizing to him, at all. To each person, their own taste I say. I also switch the vegetables/grains often to include: peas, onion, scallion, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, radish, spinach, brown rice, barley, quinoa and so many more!

Miso Soup with Vegetables

• 2 cups water
• 1 clove garlic - diced
• 1 chopped mushroom
• 1 chopped carrot
• 1 chopped leaf of kale/chard/bok choy
• 1 inch of cubed tofu  (optional)
• pinch wakame seaweed (I grind it between my fingers)
• 1 Tbsp miso paste (I like mugi and genmai which are barley or brown rice)
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce (optional)

Place water in a pot and boil. While building up to a boil, place garlic, mushroom, carrot, tofu and seaweed in pot.
Once boiled, turn down to medium-low and add green leafy vegetables. When the water is simmering, put the miso into your soup bowl and then ladle in enough "soup" from the pot to cover. I use a tiny whisk to whisk the water and miso together until smooth then I mix it back in the pot. You can add 1/q2 tsp of soy sauce now if you like a deeper flavour. Simmer gently for 2 minutes but don't allow it to boil or you'll kill the enzymes in the miso.
Do you take probiotic pills or yogurt? Miso, like sauerkraut and pickles is another food item that strengthens your gut by giving it digestive enzymes. Great for anyone whose been recently ill or has eaten something that didn't agree with them.
Ladle into a bowl and eat!