Tag Archives: carrot

Loafin’ Around

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Ashley| 4 Comments

Mixin

Hello lovelies!  I hope everybody is having a nice weekend, enjoying some free time maybe?  I made my way down to my folks house and am taking advantage of the surprising sun down here in fogtown.  It’s been bright and lovely, and I have been riding my cruiser around town as much as possible.  Perfect Memorial Day weekend, if you ask me.

Fresh Onion

I just wanted to post a quick recipe.  It happens to be my newest favorite fill-er-up meal, as it’s full of goodness and keeps you really full afterwards.  I’m always looking for yummy foods that keep me full for a while- there’s nothing worse than eating and eating and eating and STILL being hungry… so dissatisfying.  But this, however, is not guilty of that offense.

Carrots

So basically it’s a lentil loaf recipe, but in practice it’s less “loaf-like” and more “spoon it up-like.”  It doesn’t stay as solid as a real loaf would, but I think it’s pretty damn perfect in wraps.  If you made patties and pan-fried them, you could have some great burgers too.

Loaf

Lentil Loaf
Ingredients:
-1 roasted carrot
-1 roasted beet
-1 fresh onion
-olive oil
-salt/pepper
-2 cups dry lentils
-2 tbsp wheat germ
-2 tbsp ground flax seed
-1 egg
-1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
-1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
-2 tbsp barbecue sauce
-more salt and pepper to taste

Make it Happen:
1.  Put the lentils on the stove, cover with water, and simmer up.  You want to cook them for at least an hour so that they become very soft and can be mushed together easily.  When they’re done, strain them.
2.   Make sure carrot, beat, and diced onions are well covered in olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper.  Then put into an oven at 350F to roast.  They’re done when you can easily stick a fork in the beet and carrot.
3.  When lentils and veggies are ready,  mix strained lentils, veggies, wheat germ, flax seed, egg, panko, sauces, and salt and pepper in a big bowl.  You want everything to come together and become well intermingled.
4.  Grease a loaf pan and spoon the mixture in, then cook at 375F for about forty-five minutes or until it’s cooked through.

Leaf and Loaf

I found that the loaf, when cut, didn’t hold its shape well.  So instead of treating it like a slice of meatloaf, I used it as filling in collard green wraps.  These are super easy and deeeelish.  Basically you just spoon the lentil loaf into a big collard green leaf, drizzle with some barbecue sauce, and wrap it all up.  It’s filling and just plain tasty.

Wraps

So anyways, get back out there and enjoy this Memorial Day weekend!  Make some food for yourself, friends, family, whoever and say thanks for all you have… I know that’s what I’m going to be doing, for sure :)

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Beets, Carrots, Feta, What a Process….

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Ashley| 2 Comments

Veggies

Whew! Okay I made you wait long enough for news about my mystery kitchen gadget.

Ohhh what could it be?  Something fun, something versatile, something I’ve been pining for….

Processor

Yep, there she is, my brand spankin new yellow mini-processor!  I saw that Sur la Table had a mini sale for mini processors, so I headed there after work last week and blew my paycheck on this little beauty.  Actually, no, it wasn’t a “blow the paycheck” price, so I actually felt more excited than wallet-sore after that purchase.

I wanted to use it as soon as possible, of course, but what to process?  Nuts?  Greens?  Dough?  Everything in my fridge??
I ended up remembering this beet and goat cheese wrap from Green Kitchen Stories and used it for inspiration.  I had beets, but no goat cheese, so I substituted feta.  Also, since I was so excited to chop things up, I decided to add a carrot in there too.  Unfortunately I had nothing to wrap it all up in, so I decided to make this awesome quick fry-bread that I saw on Two Spoons.  And, no, it wasn’t a wrap, but I made a little sandwich instead.

Dough

I was sooo very excited to check out my new food processor.  It’s so much easier to work with than trying to chop veggies in a blender.  I feel like my whole culinary world has opened up anew. hahaha, but seriously!  It’s the one kitchen gadget that I’ve been lusting after for quite a while.  And now that I’ve got it I just want to process everything in it.  Isn’t it fun to get new gadgets?

Salad

Beet, Carrot, and Feta Salad
Inspired by Green Kitchen Stories
Ingredients:
-1 beet
-1 carrot
-2 tbsp feta cheese
-1 tbsp tahini

Make it Happen:
1.  Peel beet and carrot, and then pulse in food processor until you have a nice coarse consistency.
2.  Stir in feta to your own taste.
3.  Drizzle tahini on top.

(See?? Seriously so easy)

Delicious Bread

Quick Fry-Bread
Courtesy of Two Spoons
Ingredients:
-1 1/2 cups flour
-1 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 cup water
-2 tbsp water (separate from other water)
-2 tbsp oil

Make it Happen:
1.  Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
2.  Slowly add water and mix until you reach a thick, batter-like consistency.
3.  Add oil to a cold frying pan, then spread the dough out on top.
4.  Dribble your 2 tbsp water around the edges of the dough to create steam, and then cover.  Turn the heat to medium and let it cook for ten minutes.
5.  After ten minutes, flip the bread, recover, and cook for another five minutes.

And then you’re done!  See, these are some easy peasy recipes.  I loved how quick the bread came together, it was the perfect thing to pull together after work without waiting for yeast to rise.  And fried bread??  Hello, who could ask for more??  I try to stay healthy, but jeez sometimes you can’t pass up a good thing.  And pair it with the carrots and beets, and you’re all good, right?

Sandwich

Whether or not you buy my “you can eat fried bread as long as it’s paired with veggies” argument, you can’t deny that this is one quick meal.  And, as I’m sure we all know, I am nothing if not a huge fan of quick meals.  All thanks to that exciting new kitchen gadget!

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Quick and Dirty Ramen

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Ashley| 3 Comments

So tonight I broke a cardinal rule of “healthy eating”…

I had microwave ramen.

We all know the scary high sodium and crazy amounts of generally not-so-good stuff, but I’m sure I don’t speak alone when I say some nights are just ramen nights.  I didn’t get home until late, I was hungry as a horse, and the 99-cent six-pack of ramen at Walgreens seduced me like no other.  So, much as I hate to admit it, tonight was definitely a ramen night for me.

Ramen Ingredients

However, I was not about to subject myself to that freaky little “shrimp flavor” packet that comes with those quick-cook noodles.  Instead I raided my fridge and found a half-used leek, some wilting kale, a bunch of old pre-shredded carrots, and an egg.  I sliced the sad little veggies up, threw ‘em in a bowl with water and the noodles, and put my microwave to work.  The whole affair took no longer than ten minutes and now I’m flying high, eating noodles and feeling pseudo-healthy about it!

This isn’t a real recipe, but what the hell, I’m going to pretend like it is:

Pseudo-Healthy Ramen

Ingredients:
-packet of ramen (sans seasoning)
- handful of sliced leek
-handful of sliced carrot
-handful of sliced kale
-low sodium soy sauce (or high sodium, whatever you have and like)
-cayenne pepper (optional, as are all of the ingredients, really)
-1 egg

Make it Happen:
1.  Crack noodles in package, then place in bowl and cover with water.
2.  Slice all veggies (and any others that are hogging fridge space), and toss in bowl.  Mix into water as best you can.
3.  Stick it all in the microwave for three minutes or until the noodles get soft.
4.  Open microwave and season soup to taste with soy sauce and  cayenne pepper.  If these aren’t your favorite flavors add whatever sounds delish.
5.   Crack your egg into the soup and swish it around.
6.  Continue heating until egg is cooked through and soup is sufficiently hot.  Then give it another sixty seconds for good measure so you can’t say I gave you salmonella poisoning!

Ramen Soup

And there she is, a quick and dirty ramen recipe that takes the health factor up a smidgen.  It wont taste like your favorite restaurant’s soup, but it’ll definitely taste better than plain ramen with “shrimp flavor.”  And you wont get the MSG shakes!  Everybody wins!

 

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