cabbage and carrot slaw

Ingredients:
1 small cabbage, shredded
1 large head of romaine lettuce, shredded
4 carrots, shredded
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup coconut milk
juice of 1 lime
1 Tbsp mixed black and white sesame seeds
salt to taste


This salad was SUPER tasty! It takes your average everyday cole slaw to a whole new level!
Just combine all of the vegetables, mix and then add the coconut milk and lime juice. Add salt to taste. Top your pulled pork sandwich, tacos, or just eat it right out of the bowl. Oh my gosh, so good. I finished ALL the leftovers for lunch the next day.

cherry glazed chicken

Ingredients:
For the chicken:
1 cup cherries, pitted and roughly chopped
1/4 of a large red onion, diced
1 12oz. lager beer (we used Stella)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast (about 3 breast pieces)
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
salt and pepper to taste

For the salad we ate it with:
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped, rinsed and dried
1 large carrot, thinly sliced
1/2 cucumber, thinly sliced
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup roasted and salted cashews

In a sauce pan over medium heat, saute the diced onion in olive oil until translucent, about 6-8 minutes. Add cherries, and let cook another 5 minutes, until the onions just start to caramelize. Season with a little salt and pepper, and pour in the beer! (It's O.K. to take a sip for yourself too.) Now stir in the brown sugar, and turn to low heat and allow the liquid to reduce by 75%, stirring frequently. Now brush it on your chicken while your grilling it!

We ate this with a nice fresh salad, and really didn't find that we needed to make a dressing because the cherry glaze had so much flavor. If you feel differently, I would just do a simple lemon juice vinaigrette. Now chow down!

grilled sweet potato tacos

Another "hot" day. I put hot in quotations because it's not really all that hot. We San Franciscans tend to freak out a little bit if the temperature strays from our standard 65 degrees. Guilty as charged. Another day where using the oven seems like a terrible idea. So we lit up the grill again!

Ingredients:
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes
1/2 red onion
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2" slices
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 bunch cilantro
3 Tbsp chili powder
pinch of red pepper flakes
8 corn tortillas
lettuce or spring mix

Similar to our last post, spray a large sheet of aluminum foil with olive oil and place the sweet potatoes and onion in the center. Season with 2 Tbsp of chili powder, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and a few pinches of salt and wrap it up and place on a hot grill for 40 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are fork tender. Meanwhile, simmer the beans and tomatoes together with the remaining chili powder in a small pot to incorporate the flavors together, about 20 minutes. You can finely chop the cilantro and stir it into the sour cream, or you can just throw it on in a food processor! Make sure to thoroughly rinse cilantro before using it, it's pretty sandy. Arrange the tacos with two tortillas on the plate, then some lettuce, beans, sweet potatoes and sour cream. Roll em up and eat, or use a fork if you're dainty.

grill-roasted curried potatoes and carrots

Read an article today on Bon Appetit encouraging readers to join a CSA. It's brief but I thought I'd share because I felt the writer did a nice job of expressing what it's really like to take part in a CSA. Plus, they included some links for spring-centric recipes!

"The selection varies from region to region and from farm to farm; consumers make a commitment to buy exactly what is produced; and it provides great lessons in seasonality and supply and demand (when there's no asparagus, you'll be pining for it, and when you've gotten kale six weeks in a row, you'll be giving it away to the neighbors). One of the best things about subscribing to a CSA is that you'll inevitably end up with ingredients you've never thought to buy or cook." -Molly Stevens, for Bon Appetit


If you live on the West Coast, you know just how beautiful the weather has been lately. The sun has been setting later and later and that leaves plenty of time after work for one of my favorite things in the world: barbecuing. There is something about grilling that makes me so giddy and excited, maybe I'm a pyromaniac. But there is the one big downer to lighting some coals ablaze and drinking some beer in your backyard- the mess that inevitably happens. I don't really know how it happens, but it seems that every time we cook out in the yard, magic dirty dishes appear out of no where and take over the kitchen. In the spirit of this early summer weather and the fact that its too hot inside to even think about doing a lot of dishes, I decided to make some tasty grilled meals with small amounts of clean up. So go grab some charcoal and get grilling! This recipe and the next are just the beginning of the summer!


Ingredients:
2 lbs baby Yukon gold potatoes, halved
7 medium carrots, greens removed, cut into 1 inch chunks
1/2 red onion, quartered
2 Tbsp canola oil
2 Tbsp curry powder
4 Tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
cooking spray

Once you have all of your food prepped, spray a large piece of wide aluminum foil with cooking spray (if you don't have large foil, use two pieces of regular foil layed out and crossed in a "+"). Add in the potatoes, carrots, and onion, and drizzle with canola oil. Sprinkle curry powder, salt and pepper on top and wrap and seal tightly. Toss them on the grill*, cover, and cook for 40 minutes while grilling everything else your going to be eating. Top with freshly chopped cilantro and chow down! We ate this side dish with our favorite veggie burgers, topped with red onion, cheddar cheese, lettuce and curry mayo sauce!

*This can also be done in a 350 degree preheated oven with the same cooking time.

orange quinoa with black beans and cilantro, spring salad with grapefruit shallot vinaigrette

Whole grains are awesome. Beans are great. Strawberry season makes life worth living. It is getting warmer outside (although not today in S.F.) and that means it's time for cold picnic salads to eat at... well, a picnic!

These two recipes use eight different ingredients from the box! Eight!!!


Ingredients:
Quinoa:
2 cups quinoa
4 cups water
3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 can black beans, rinsed well and drained
1/4 cup chopped cilantro, tightly packed (1/2 of a bunch)
1 piece of green garlic, green parts only, sliced on a 1/2" bias (You could also use a green onion.)
2 tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse and drain your quinoa several times with cold water. Quinoa has natural tannins (bitter compounds, like those in tea) that coat its exterior and you really don't want them hanging around. Add the quinoa and 4 cups of water to a pot, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. When the quinoa has finished cooking (no more water in the bottom), fluff it with a fork and set it aside to cool for at least ten minutes. You could totally do this a day or two in advance, just make sure its tightly covered in the refrigerator during storage. Toss the black beans, cilantro, and green garlic into the quinoa. Mix the citrus juices together with the smoked paprika and add to the rest of the dish. Toss together and season with salt and pepper. This dish has a ton of veggie protein, is super low fat, high in fiber, and not to forget- refreshingly good!


Stop. Salad time!

Ingredients:
Spring salad:
1/2 lb mixed baby greens
1 apple, sliced
4 big strawberries, sliced
4 red radishes, sliced

Grapefruit shallot vinaigrette:
3 Tbsp Olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp red or pink grapefruit juice (these are the sweet ones, not the sour ones)
1 shallot, finely minced
salt and pepper to taste


In a dressing shaker (what we refer to as a dressing shaker or container is actually an old glass peanut butter or Veganaise jar) combine the grapefruit juice, shallots, olive oil, some salt and pepper. Shake it like you mean it, taste, adjust your seasonings. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, add dressing, toss and eat!

I have to admit that I was skeptical about this salad dressing at first, although I didn't let Katie know that. However, once I tasted it- oh my god, was I wrong! It was crisp, sweet, tangy, and just really made all of the ingredients in the salad mesh together so well. We will totally be making this again.

roasted beet salad

Ingredients:
3 beets
1 orange cut into supremes
1 head baby lettuce
3 Tb. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tb. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. italian herbs
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tb. fresh goat cheese crumbled

Place beets in an oven safe dish and cover with water. Place foil over the dish and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. When the beets are cooling, use a towel and peel the skin off (it is much easier to do when they are warm). Allow to cool and slice.

Wash and split a head of lettuce. Arrange beets and orange on lettuce wedge. Mix oil, vinegar, herbs, salt and pepper in a jar and shake until incorporated. Pour on to lettuce wedge, add goat cheese and yum!

best salad ever

Tonight we made huge salads from the head of romaine lettuce, 1 red pear, 1 green pear, 1 apple, some pine nuts and marinated baked tofu. Dress it with a little Annie's Goddess dressing and cut up some fresh whole wheat baguette... uhhh this is the best salad ever.

lemon shallot vinaigrette

Tonight we ate our leftover spicy pumpkin soup and threw together a salad. I know leftovers are not "blog-worthy" but I thought the dressing Kenny made for our salad tonight was fantastic so here it is!

Ingredients:
1 shallot, minced
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Mince one large shallot bulb, put all other ingredients into a bowl or shaker. Mix 'em up, season and serve.