FoodArchive~Recipes

Archives: Food ~ Recipes

Festive Green Beans with Cranberries

Winter Sunset Carrots

Asparagus Soup

Winterlake Lodge Granola

How to Play with your Food

Organic Ginger Bran Muffins

Festive Green Beans with Cranberries
Recipes from Witch in the Kitchen: Magical Cooking for All Seasons,
by Cait Johnson (Destiny Books, 2001) ~ See Book Review

Festive Green Beans with Cranberries
Serves 6
Echo the colors of the season with this simple, pretty dish. If you don't have any dried cranberries on hand, you could substitute julienned red bell peppers.

Ingredients:
3 cups green beans, washed and ends trimmed
½ cup dried cranberries
melted butter or olive oil, as desired
sea salt

Place the beans and cranberries in a steamer basket over boiling water and lightly steam until the beans are bright green and crisp-tender and the berries are plumped. Serve on a platter, drizzled with melted butter or olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt to taste.

Winter Sunset Carrots
Recipe from Witch in the Kitchen: Magical Cooking for All Seasons,
by Cait Johnson (Destiny Books, 2001) ~ ~ See Book Review

Winter Sunset Carrots
Serves 4 to 6

Something about the bright, clear ginger taste of this recipe, coupled with the carrots' startling color, evokes winter sunsets and reminds us of the precious quality of light in this season. The days may be short, but the light is so beautiful.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 to 4 cups carrots, scrubbed and cut into ½-inch rounds
1 to 2 tablespoons maple syrup, honey or brown sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice (or lemon juice for a very zesty version)
2 teaspoons fresh minced ginger root (or 1 teaspoon dried powder ginger, or 2
tablespoons crystallized ginger)
sea salt

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Sauté the carrots in heated oil until they are just crisp-tender. Then add the maple syrup, honey or brown sugar along with the orange juice. Stir until the carrots are coated and the mixture has a nice glaze.

Sprinkle with ginger (use more, if you like) and sea salt to taste. Stir to blend flavors and serve warm.

Asparagus Soup
by Laura Philemonof

INGREDIENTS:
2 TBS olive oil or butter
2 cups organic vegetable stock
1/2 red onion
2 TBS Arrowroot powder (as a thickener)
1 and 1/2 lbs fresh asparagus
4 celery stalks, chopped
1 cup Rice or Soy milk
1 and 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp dried parley (or 1 oz fresh)
1/2 tsp dried basil

DIRECTIONS:
Finely chop onion and dice celery. Cook in 1 cup of vegetable stock and oil for 5 or 10 minutes.

Wash the asparagus and snap off the tough ends; cut into thin slices.

Add the asparagus and remaining vegetable stock. Cook 10 minutes.

Add seasonings and blend until smooth. (For a creamy soup, fill the blender no more than half full at a time, blending until smooth, then return to pot.)

Stir in milk, a little at a time. Add Arrowroot. Bring the soup to a boil.

Continue cooking and stir over medium heat until soup thickens.

For an elegant touch, set aside the asparagus tips and steam separately. Stir them in just before serving, so they will float in the soup.

Laura Philemonof has an M.A. in Nutrition and Holistic Medicine. She uses nutrition to prevent and begin healing chronic illness in conjunction with alternative therapies for each specific illness. Contact: healthy@gci.net or 907-338-1310.

Winterlake Lodge Granola

Recipe from The Winterlake Lodge Cookbook,
by Kirsten Dixon (Alaska Northwest Books, 2003) ~ See Book Review

We serve hearty breakfasts at Winterlake Lodge. In the winter, we serve this granola warm with apples and dried fruits, and in the summer we serve it cold with lots of fresh fruits.
Ingredients:

1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/3 cup almonds, whole
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbl. butter
2/3 cup fireweed, or other light, honey
1/4cup dried cranberries
1/4cup dried blueberries
1/4cup dried cherries

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Grease a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, combine the walnuts, pecans, almonds, oats, allspice and salt.

In a small saucepan, combine the butter and honey over medium-low heat and cook until the butter is melted.

Add the honey-butter mixture to the oat-nut mixture, stirring well to coat evenly.

Spread the granola on the prepared baking sheet. Place the baking sheet on the center oven rack and bake for 30 minutes or until the mixture is golden brown and crunchy. Cool the granola completely and stir in the dried cranberries, blueberries and cherries.

Makes about 6 cups.

~From The Winterlake Lodge Cookbook by Kirsten Dixon (Alaska Northwest Books, 2003). See Book Review page for review of this book.

How to Play with Your Food

By Carmel Nelson

…playing with your food can be a rewarding experience

As Miss Manners and our grandparents said, “Don’t play with your food at the dinner table!” It’s considered rude and childish. But what happens if your diet is restricted because of food allergies or intolerances? Are you doomed to broiled meat and rabbit food?

The answer is no, for using a little creativity and play in the supermarket and kitchen, anyone can relieve the boredom associated with food restrictions.

We are often overwhelmed by the endless array of choices available in the markets. American eaters tend to select the same foods they experienced as children and, as a result, don’t often experiment with new foods or ethnic cuisine. When was the last time you tried something unknown from an international market? You have no idea what it is, how to prepare it or how it will taste—but that’s the very excitement! How about trying a new way of cooking something? What about combining different flavors, textures, colors, or even ethnic origins of the food?

Playing with your food can be a rewarding experience and is a great way to encourage children to become excited about cooking to avoid finicky eaters.

One caution: if you have food allergies or intolerances, do your homework first. Search the Internet for information about the foods to see if they are related to something to which you have an adverse reaction. Fruits and vegetables belong to different families and can often contain the same allergens. For example, if you’re allergic to tree fruits (peaches, mangos, or avocados), find out if that durian (a southeast Asian fruit) you’ve heard about at New Sagaya’s is related. Ask the market staff what they know about the food to learn how to prepare it and how it tastes.

To start having fun playing with your food, here are a few recipes that may inspire you:

Bok Choy Soup

(Serves 4 to 6)

2 cups bok choy, chopped into strips and whites chopped coarse

3 stalks green onion, chopped coarse

1 teaspoon garlic

1 cup chopped mushrooms

1 cup shredded carrots

4 cups chicken stock

½ cup browned ground turkey

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

½ teaspoon cilantro

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Stir fry vegetables until bok choy begins to wilt and mushrooms get soft. Add turkey and stock, and bring to a boil. Add seasoning and lemon juice, and serve.

Chicken Crepes

(Serves 4)

2 dozen basic or herb crepes (see recipe below)

2 cups chopped chicken, cooked

2 Tablespoons rice flour

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chicken stock

¼ cup chopped carrots

¼ cup peas

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil and add flour, mixing until oil is absorbed in the flour. Slowly add the chicken stock until sauce is thick. Add salt and pepper, vegetables and chicken. Cook for about 15 minutes over medium heat, adding more chicken stock if the sauce becomes too thick. Spoon finished sauce over crepes and fold into thirds, like a burrito.

Basic Crepes

(Makes about 2 dozen crepes)

1 & ½ cups milk substitute (soy or rice milk)

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

3 eggs

½ cup rice flour

½ cup potato starch

½ cup tapioca starch

1/8 teaspoon salt

Blend all ingredients in a blender. Pour into a shallow plate and make crepes.

One method is with a crepe maker: using a paper towel dipped in oil, grease the crepe maker. Next, invert the crepe maker into the batter, making sure there is an even coat. Turn when batter begins to bubble (about 30 seconds). Remove from crepe maker after about 20 seconds.

The other method is to spoon about ¼ cup of crepe batter into a well-heated, shallow pan. Turn the pan so that the batter covers the entire pan. Turn crepe after about 30 seconds and heat through on the other side. Put whatever filling you desire on top and fold.

Variations on the Basic Recipe

Dessert Crepes

Basic crepe recipe plus ¼ cup sugar, 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla, and (if desired) 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder. Fill with sweetened fruit salad.

Herb Crepes

Basic crepe recipe plus 1 teaspoon each of oregano, basil, thyme, parsley, and marjoram.

Scottish Shortbread

(Serves 8 to 10)

(This recipe can also be used as a crust for sweet pies, tarts, etc.)

Preheat oven to 350º Fahrenheit.

1 cup soy or safflower margarine

2 cups rice flour

¼ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 teaspoon lemon extract

Grease an 8-inch round pan and line the bottom with an 8-inch disk of wax paper. Cream margarine and sugars with electric beater. Add lemon extract. Then, slowly incorporate flour into the mix; the mix will be crumbly but clump together when pressed. Using fingers, pack the mixture into the pan. Bake 45 minutes and remove from oven. Using a sharp knife, cut 2/3 of the way down to form wedges. Continue baking for another 15 minutes until lightly browned. Cool in pan for 30 minutes. Carefully invert, removing shortbread from the pan. Cool completely before eating. Enjoy!

Carmel Nelson, an Anchorage social worker, is co-author of Entertaining Allergies: Rediscovering Food Traditions through Allergy Free Cooking, a cookbook to be published soon. To contact her, visit her website www.entertainingallergies.com.

Organic Ginger Bran Muffins
Contributed by Rhonda Smith-Black

This recipe makes 6 muffins.

Ingredients:

3⁄4 cup organic bran cereal (not flakes)
1⁄4 cup boiling water
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. white Stevia herb
1 egg
1⁄2 cup organic buttermilk
1 Tbs. organic grated fresh ginger
2 Tbs. sun dried cranberries, raisins or other sun dried fruit
1⁄2 cup spelt flour
1 tsp. baking soda

Pour boiling water over the bran cereal in a mixing bowl. Stir to mix and let stand 5 minutes. Add the oil, Stevia, egg, buttermilk, grated ginger, and raisins to the bran and mix well. In a small bowl, mix together the flour and baking soda. Stir into the bran mixture and mix well.

Bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes or until the top springs lightly back to the touch. If you freeze these, they thaw in just a few minutes if left on the kitchen counter.