Showing posts with label meatless. Show all posts

Eat Real to Heal by Nicolette Richer - A Review


As part of a new section to my blog, I have invited my husband, Elijah Olson to begin sharing some of his research and expertise on health and food related books and submissions.  This comes on the heels of his upcoming book.  I hope you enjoy this new venture into kitchen magic in healing with food.  I look forward to your comments as we move forward with our Meatless Monday series.



Book Cover


Today I am reviewing a book written by Nicolette Richer called Eat Real to Heal. Nicolette uses the Gerson Therapy or otherwise known as the Gerson Method as a basis for her book.

Nicolette does a fantastic job of breaking it down even further into easily digestible chunks of information for the layman. She adds her personal journey as well as personal accounts from clients that really allows the reader to engage and relate. She speaks specifically to chronic diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

Nicolette has not only researched but she has also experimented and proven these methods to work on herself and her family and this is relayed clearly throughout the book. She has provided clear steps for the reader and included meal planning and recipes. She is an accomplished businesswoman that promotes healthy eating and healthy living.



You can give this book an added home on your shelf, you will not be disappointed.

Book available on Amazon

Author: Nicolette Richer
Publisher: Mango Publishing

Guest Reviewer: Elijah Olson


Inner Witch Photo Challenge - Day 8

Loren of Primitive Witchery shared a meme earlier this month and I just saw it last night so I'm blaming Facebook for my late start on this Photo Challenge.


So the basics are you share a picture for each day of October based on the chart below. Tag your photo or post with the hashtag #innerwitchoctober





Our next photo is Kitchen Witch

As many of you may know I have recently started eating Vegan.  Just a few years ago I  did a blog series on Meatless Monday.  At the time I was Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian.  Here's  a link to a few of those blog posts.


Vegan Lettuce Cups - Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Meatless Monday - Thai Spring Rolls


As a compliment to my Pad Thai Noodles I came up with this great recipe for Thai Spring Rolls.  I started out trying this recipe with the rice paper wrappers.  I had a lot of trouble with them.  After frying them there was a film left on my teeth which was quite bad.  I decided to redo the recipe and remove the rice wrappers for egg roll wrappers. 

* This website has a great list of vegetarian substitutions

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Here are my ingredients
1 cup of sliced dried black mushrooms
1 cup of bean threads
2 tablespoons Oyster sauce
9-12 spring roll wrappers (I use egg roll wrappers)
3 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons sliced carrots
2 tablespoons sliced Napa cabbage

Sauce
4 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
5 tablespoons White Sugar
¼ teaspoon red pepper flake

Process

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl of water to re-hydrate (Save the water)
Place noodles in a large bowl and fill with hot water and allow to sit

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Slice the carrots and Napa cabbage thinly

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Mince the garlic

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Squeeze the liquid out of the mushrooms and dice finely

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Add one tablespoon of oil, one tablespoon of oyster sauce and two teaspoons of soy sauce and cook over high heat for five minutes.  Use the mushroom water to add moisture to the mushrooms until the cooking time is complete to keep moist.  Remove from heat.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


In another pan add 1 tablespoon oil, carrots, cabbage and garlic on high heat until fragrant, and then add the mushroom mixture, the drained noodles and rest of sauce.  Cook for 3-5 minutes or until the noodles are done.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Remove from heat and allow dish to cool to room temperature.



Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Beat one egg in a small bowl to use to seal the egg roll wrappers

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Place 1-2 tablespoons of mix in the center of the wrapper then fold up from the center

Photo Credit - Renee Olson 


Fold the sides into the center and roll to the end.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Cover the edges with the egg mix and seal

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Place in hot oil and fry until golden brown

Photo Credit - Renee Olson



Place on towel to absorb extra oil and serve with the dipping sauce*

*The dipping sauce is adding the vinegar; sugar and pepper flake on high heat and stir until thickened

Photo credit - Renee Olson


Have you tried one of my recipes? Do you have a suggestion or a tip on a meatless dish?  Send me your comments at Sosanna@sosannascloset.com or leave me a comment here.

Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(

Meatless Monday - Pad Thai


I love Thai food.  Pad Thai is one of my favorite dishes.  Cooking on a budget doesn’t have to be boring.  We went up to our local Oriental market and picked up all the ingredients to make this dish for under $20.

Finding new Thai dishes to cook is easy as checking out this great website.  It lists several traditional Thai dishes that are very easy to make. 

As I've mentioned before I’m not a strict vegetarian so the fact that many Thai dishes use fish sauce or oyster sauce as a base doesn't bother me.  To make this dish as a vegetarian dish you’ll need to substitute the fish sauce for another sauce that does not contain an animal product.  One way to do that is to mix Hoisin or Miso with low sodium Soy Sauce as a replacement.  This website has a great list of vegetarian substitutions

Photo Credit - Renee Olson



Here are my ingredients
12 oz of rice noodles
½ cup white sugar
1 ½ tablespoon white sugar (added at end of dish)
½ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup fish sauce
2 tablespoons tamarind paste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 egg beaten
1 slices of tofu
2 tablespoons Napa Cabbage
1-2 large green onion chopped very fine
**Optional**
1 cup Bean Sprouts
1 cup chopped peanuts

Process

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Chop the onion really fine and dice the cabbage

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Mince the garlic and chop the Tofu
Scramble the egg by itself and set aside
Next placed the dried rice noodles in a bowl and pour hot water over them and allow them to sit

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

In the skillet add the sugar, vinegar, fish sauce and tamarind and bring to a simmer over medium/high heat.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson
 (Note if not using a processed tamarind paste, you'll need to dissolve in water and strain before adding to dish)


In another pan add 1 tablespoon of oil, the minced garlic and the onions and sauté.  When it is cooked down add the tofu to the pan and stir until coated. 

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Drain the soften noodles from the bowl they were soaking in and add to the frying pan with the garlic and onion mixture.  Add in the tamarind mix, the egg and Napa Cabbage and cook for about 3 minutes or until the noodles are done.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Toss in the bean sprouts and peanuts at the very end and serve.

I have texture issues so I leave out the peanuts.  I know this is very traditional Thai with the peanuts but I just leave them out.  This dish can be made with any other protein instead of the tofu but I found firm tofu cut in ½ inch cubes works best.

Have you tried one of my recipes? Do you have a suggestion or a tip on a meatless dish?  Send me your comments at Sosanna@sosannascloset.com or leave me a comment here.

Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(

Meatless Monday - Roasted Balsamic Parmesan Cauliflower


A really good multipurpose ingredient is Balsamic Vinegar.  It can be used as a condiment as well as during cooking.  A simple use of the product could be slice of home grown tomato with a bit of balsamic vinegar for a simply amazing as a summer time snack. 

Cauliflower can be a challenging veggie.  I've had steamed cauliflower and cauliflower mash but desperately wanted something different.  I did a quick Google search for Cauliflower dishes and found many that listed balsamic vinegar as a great ingredient to work with it.  After reading over a few of them this is what I've come up with.


Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Ingredients
1 Head Cauliflower
1 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
1 Tablespoons Marjoram
2-3 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
2-3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
¼ teaspoon Sea Salt
Black Pepper to taste

Process

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Start out by cutting the Cauliflower flowerets into 1 – 1 ½ inch pieces

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Add the Olive Oil to a large bowl

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Add the Marjoram to the bowl

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Add ¼ Teaspoon of Salt to the bowl and mix

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Add the cauliflower to the bowl and toss

Photo Credit - Renee Olson



Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Place the cauliflower in a large baking dish and back at 350 for 25 – 30 minutes or until cauliflower is tender.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Remove from the oven and added the balsamic vinegar and toss

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Cover the cauliflower with the shredded cheese and place back in the oven until the cheese melts

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Remove from the oven and serve.


Photo Credit - Renee Olson


You’ll notice that the majority of my dishes are baked in glass baking dishes.  I do this due to a metal allergy.    


Have you tried my recipes?  Have a suggestion, a remake or maybe something new you’d like to share, feel free to send me an email at Sosanna@sosannascloset.com.

Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna

Meatless Monday - Black Bean Chimichanga

A staple in my household is the black bean.  We use black beans for tacos, chili, burritos, nachos and even chimichangas.  A Chimichanga is a deep fried burrito filled with assorted ingredients, sometimes served wet with a ranchero sauce or with sour cream and shredded cheese.  The story behind the name is that the founder of El Charro in Tucson Arizona dropped a pastry into a deep fat fryer by accident and started to say a curse word in Spanish, but quickly changed it to Chimichanga.

Here’s my variation of a Black Bean Chimichanga.   **remember to get organic if you can**

Photo Credit - Renee Olson
Ingredients
Flour Tortillas
1 cup white rice
½ cup frozen corn
¼ of an 8 oz pack of Cream Cheese
½ cup shredded white cheese
2-3 Tablespoons of Cilantro
1 can black beans
*Optional*
Red Pepper Flake
Ranchero Sauce
Onions
Sour Cream

Process

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Add about ¼ of a block of cream cheese to a pot with the black beans and stir gently until melted.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Add the chopped cilantro and frozen corn to the pot and mix.  At this point I add about ¼ teaspoon of red pepper flake to make it a little hot.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


At this point I start my pot of oil heating on another burner.  You’ll want to be really hot.  You’ll see the oil moving but not smoking.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


After the mixture is mixed completely, grate some of the white cheese for the center of the burrito.  A bit extra can be grated if you plan to use a ranchero sauce and added to the top.

Add the mixture to the center of the burrito and fold the sides in first, then cover with the bottom and roll up.  This video shows a slightly different but good way to stuff and roll a burrito.  I recommend starting with less filling until you get the hang of it.  If it pops open in the hot oil it will be a mess!



Using tongs, carefully place the burrito in the hot oil.  You’ll want to hold it securely but not too tightly until the burrito is golden brown.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Place on a paper towel to drain.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

After both are cooked plate them up and serve.  Cover the top of the burrito with the ranchero sauce, cheese and sour cream or just serve dry.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


This is a great dish to use left over rice with.  I like to make rice and eggs for breakfast and keep the left over rice to add to my burrito for lunch.

Have you made one of my recipes?  I’d love to hear your feedback.  Want me to try one of yours?  Send me an email at Sosanna@sosannascloset.com.

Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(

Meatless Monday - Super Simple Yellow Curry

One of my favorite Indian dishes is curry.  Curry can be made a number of ways.  I really like Yellow Curry.  Curry can be made with or without meat.  Obviously I’ll be making a curry dish without meat.  One of my favorite recipes calls for adding potatoes to the dish.  This dish today is a simple curry that we make when we don’t really want a big meal.

So let’s get started..

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Ingredients
Basmati Rice – We cook for two so we make 2 servings
Curry Powder
Coconut Milk
Naan Bread or Pita Bread

Process
To make perfect rice, I bring 1 ½ cups of water to a boil, add salt and 1 cup of rice.  Turn burner to low and cover the pot for 20 minutes.  Remove from heat.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

To make the curry I open 1 can of coconut milk and add it to a pot.  Sometimes your milk may form a solid on top, it’s perfectly fine to use, just add the solids as well as the milk to the pan and warm through.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Add 2-4 tablespoons of curry powder to the milk to start and stir.  Now taste the curry, at this point you can add more curry if you’d like.  The more powder you add the hotter the curry will be.  I add my Naan Bread to a flat top cast iron pan and heat it on the back while I finish off the curry.


Photo Credit - Renee Olson
After the curry is heated through it’s ready to serve.


Photo Credit - Renee Olson

If you’d like at this point you can fine cube some tofu or add boiled potatoes to the curry.
Serve over rice or with heated Naan Bread or Pita Bread

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


I really enjoy Indian, Mexican and Thai flavors.  This is a really easy way to get into making curries. 

Did you try this?  I’d  love to hear how you made out.  Want to share a recipe with me, leave me a message here or send me an email at sosannas@sosannascloset.com

Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(