Green Beans with Shiitake Bacon

I've got some great recipes for your fall and winter enjoyment. I hope I can get them all to you in time. Great for Thanksgiving, Christmas and the many parties requiring a "dish to share."

Consider last week's Pear and Pistachio Stuffed Acorn Squash the first installment. Please subscribe to this blog to get them all.

Here's a yummy bean recipe for those who love green beans, but don't love the milk-based ingredients or the bacon that seems to be the latest to add to veggie salads and side dishes. Whaa! Can anyone tell me what bacon is doing in a broccoli salad?

Did you hear or read that the World Health Organization (WHO) is telling us that processed meat is cancer-causing? Yeah! That means bacon with the added nitrates, nitrites, and other chemicals.

Back to our recipe... You'll never miss the real bacon. Using shiitake mushrooms soaked in tamari, maple syrup and balsamic then roasted in smoked sea salt, you'll discover a whole new kind of wow you can add to a dish.

I discovered this great bacon substitute at the Soup Addict when I made the Vegetarian BLT Tacos with Shiitake Bacon. Check our other recipes at the Soup Addict. I know you'll find something to love. Karen is not a vegan nor vegetarian, but does post recipes that are—or can easily be modified, such as substituting items like butter with something appropriate for my diet.

Here's what the shiitake mushrooms look like after being soaked in the tamari, maple syrup and balsamic mixture and laid out to roast.

Don't fret if you don't have sherry vinegar for finishing off the cooked beans. You can use any vinegar you might have, for example, apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar.

Green Beans with Shiitake Bacon

from Chris Pedersen

yield 4-6 servings

category Side Dish

cuisine Vegan, Vegetarian

ingredients

3 Tbsp olive oil

2 tsp tamari or soy sauce

1 tsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

sea salt (smoked is best)

8 oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced 1/4" (stems discarded)

1 Tbsp oilive oil

1 large shallot, peeled and thinly sliced

1.5 lb. green beans, ends trimmed

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp dried majoram

2 tsp sherry vinegar

fresh ground pepper to taste

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF with rack centered. Line a baking sheet with foil.

2. Whisk olive oil, tamari, maple syrup, smoked paprika and balsamic in a large mixing bowl until combined. Add shiitake slices, tossing until each piece is thoroughly coated.

3. Spread mushrooms in a single layer on baking sheet. Season generously with smoked salt. Roast the mushrooms for 20 minutes then flip over and roast another 10 minutes. Finished mushrooms should be dark and sizzling, but not charred.

4. Remove from oven and set aside.

5. Add olive oil to large skillet or wok on medium heat. Add shallot and cook for 5 minutes until soft. 

6. Add green beans, salt and marjoram. Cook and stir 5 minutes or more until green beans are crisp to tender. Add cranberries, sprinkle sherry over beans and stir until beans are cookied, but not soft (about 5 minutes).

7. Season with pepper and serve with shiitake "bacon" sprinkled on top.

I had a little more shiitake mushroom bacon than I needed to put on the beans. If that happens, hold the extra back and add it to your organic eggs the next morning for a delicious change of pace. Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that earlier.

What's your favorite recipe to take to a holiday party?

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Orange Zest Cranberry Sauce Recipe

I love whole cranberry sauce and found some ready-made I really like. Trader Joe's makes a whole cranberry sauce with orange zest, but it's a bit sweeter than I prefer for my no-sugar diet. This year I made my own cranberry sauce following a recipe from PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine).

PCRM promotes a personal responsibility approach to medicine starting with a plant-based diet. Although I don't agree with every detail of the PCRM recommended diet, I am behind their goal of dramatically changing the way doctors treat chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and cancer. PCRM puts prevention over pills and other medical interventions, encouraging doctors to empower their patients to take control of their own health.

With a few tweaks from the original PCRM recipe, I made this cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving and will likely repeat it for Christmas dinner. I squeezed juice from the orange I grated for the zest rather than use orange juice concentrate, which I find too processed. It turned out perfect.

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Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Lemon & Capers

I know many people do not like brussels sprouts, my husband included. But I love them and they are so good for you. I started making this very easy brussels sprouts side dish some time ago and guess what? My husband likes it!

Being one of the cruciferous vegetables it's great in the fight against cancer. Plus recent studies show a unique benefit of protecting DNA. I need that... and guess what? So do you!

Try this out on your reluctant brussels sprouts crowd and see if you can win them over.

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What is Quinoa?

Quinoa (pronounced Keen – wah) is a Superfood—one of the only plant foods that provides a complete protein—offering all the essential amino acids in a healthy balance.

Quinoa has an unusually high ratio of protein to carbohydrate since the germ makes up about 60% of the grain. For comparison, wheat germ comprises less than 3% of a wheat kernel. Additional features of quinoa include:

• Highest in potassium of all the whole grains, which helps control blood pressure. 
• Gluten-free, making it extremely useful to the celiac community and others who may be gluten sensitive. 
• Although technically not a grain, botanically quinoa is related to beets, chard and spinach. 

Bolivian Farmer with Quinoa crop in the Andes, South America
Photo: Michael Hermann—http://www.cropsforthefuture.org/

It’s a very cost effective base grain that can be used to create different recipes. Use it for dinner in place of rice, in salads and for breakfast.

Quinoa is a 5,000-year-old ancient grain grown in the Peruvian and BolivianAndes. Buying it helps support farmers in underdeveloped communities. It is the original non-GMO seed.

How to Prepare Quinoa for Breakfast
If you can boil water you can make quinoa for your family—and it’s inexpensive at about 50 cents per serving. These directions are for cooking quinoa for any recipe.

• Use 1 cup of quinoa to 1½ -­ 2 cups of water to equal 4 servings
• Use saucepan with lid, measuring cup and small wire-mesh strainer

1. Rinse the Quinoa in cold water and pour through the mesh strainer to remove the bitter husks and grit (Important).
2. Boil the water (optional: add a little olive oil or salt).
3. Add the quinoa, letting it boil for a moment as you stir.
4. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for about 15 minutes.
5. For breakfast serve with fresh fruit or trail mix. Add maple syrup and a splash of almond or coconut milk.
6. Store any leftovers in a container with lid to re-­heat later.

Hint: Use vegetable or chicken broth instead of water for dinner recipes

While no single food can supply all the essential life sustaining nutrients, quinoa comes closer than most. Try it and I think you will find yourself eating it on a regular basis like me.

Have you ever eaten quinoa and if so, what's your favorite way to prepare it? I love it for breakfast.

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Mashed Red Potatoes with Shallots & Manchego Cheese

As I promised, here's the recipe for the mashed potatoes that my husband made for Thanksgiving. It's easy and delicious. You'll never miss the cream and butter typically lavished on mashed potatoes.

I eat very few potatoes because of the high-starch (translation: it quickly becomes sugar in your body). Avoiding those types of foods keeps my body a mean cancer-fighting machine.

Notice the gravy on the potatoes in the picture? That is not an animal product—not your usual gravy. This one is vegan and quite yummy. The rest of the food in the photo is what we had for Thanksgiving. And it was all a huge hit! Never missed the gobbler.

A word about the cheese in this recipe. I do not eat dairy except goat or sheep cheese. Three reasons:

• More nutritious
• Contains very little casein, which many are sensitive to
• They don't do to goats and sheep what they do to cows (pump them with antibiotics, hormones and GMO feed)

Mashed Red Potatoes with Shallots & Manchego Cheese

From Bob Pedersen

Yield 8 servings

Category Side Dish

Cuisine Healthy, Vegetarian

Ingredients

2 1/2 lbs. red potatoes

1 tsp salt

3 Tbsp coconut oil

3 shallots, thinly sliced

1/2 C grated Manchego (sheep) cheese

Fresh ground pepper

Directions

1. Wash and quarter potatoes. Put in large pot and cover with cold water. Add 1/2 tsp of sea salt. Bring to boil and cook for 10 - 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

2. While potatoes cook, add coconut oil to sauce pan and saute shallots. Cook, stiring, until shallots are golden brown, about 6 minutes.

3. Drain the potatoes and transfer to large bowl. Add the grated cheese and mash with the potatoes.

4. Add 1/2 tsp of salt, fresh ground pepper and the cooked shallots. Taste and adjust seasonings.

5. Tranfer to serving bowl.

Try the mashed potatoes for Christmas and let me know how everyone liked them.

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Spaghetti Squash & Kale

Spaghetti Squash is very nutritious. However, like all winter squash, it's best to purchase it organic because its frequently grown as an intercrop for remediation of contaminated soils. Meaning that contaminants are effectively pulled up out of the soil by winter squash plants. Is organic worth a few extra pennies? I think so!

This is the most delicious recipe. And if you follow my simple instructions for removing the cooked squash, you'll get perfect strands instead of mush. Get ready for the most yummy side dish (or main dish) with the perfect spaghetti-like strands.

Did you ever try using spaghetti squash to replace the starchy grain-based pasta only to experience a pile of mush when you removed the squash after baking? That was my experience. Well… there is a bit of a technique to removing the squash so the strands remain intact.

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Curry Roasted Cauliflower

I've never eaten much cauliflower, but since I've found some great recipes, I'm enjoying this nutrient-rich vegetable more often. Have you tried my Potato-Less Potato Salad? Most don't miss the potatoes in this delicious summer-time staple.

This Curry Roasted Cauliflower recipe is so good, it may even become your favorite side dish. Darya Rose of Summer Tomato created this recipe and despite how simple the recipe is, she claims it "completely transforms it from a vegetable people are pretty sure they don’t like into something they just can’t get enough of."

So there you have it... Don't miss out on adding cauliflower to your most wanted veggie list.

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Summer Squash & Japanese Eggplant with Tapenade

Need a recipe for your bounty from the garden? I harvested a yellow squash and a Japanese eggplant and wanted to have them for a side dish to our roasted salmon. Pulling a few things from the fridge, I came up with this simple little recipe that you can try.

Prep the veggies.

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Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts & Red Beans

Do you have family that do not like brussels sprouts? Maybe that's you. Who me? In my house that's my husband. I love brussels sprouts, so I'm always looking for a recipe that would show off the greatness of this miniature cabbage. So how about a recipe that throws in another veggie that some are not fond of... like cauliflower.

This delicious side dish can be served as a main dish and is best served right away. You can prepare the dish through Step 4 ahead of time. Remove the dish from the heat and let sit for up to an hour, then reheat and proceed with Step 5.

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Zucchini Saute with Pine Nuts

Here's a very simple dish I put together for a dinner with family using a few items I had on hand. It turned out great so I grabbed the camera to take pictures for passing it on to you. Unfortunately it was dark—the problem with winter dinners—so the pictures are less than ideal. Anyway, you get the idea—quick and easy.

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Asparagus and Summer Squash Recipe

My husband and I enjoyed al fresco dining with several friends last evening where we supped on various salads brought by attendees. We made new friends and caught up with longtime friends. Wanting to bring something I could eat (my diet makes it tough at potlucks... even a salad potluck) and get some good protein, I brought my Sprouted Bean Trio Salad. I made a double batch thinking I'd be taking a bit home for lunch the next day. No deal! Everybody loved the salad and I brought home a clean bowl.

Summer is a time for salads and delicious, quick and fresh meals so here's a great recipe to fill that requirement.

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Roasted Butternut Squash Recipe

Butternut squash is my favorite squash. The sweet, buttery flavor of this wonderful vegetable could turn a veggie avoider into a veggie lover. You get a healthy dose of phytonutrients from this relative of the pumpkin, such as vitamin A, C, potassium, magnesium, iron, folate, B vitamins, folate, omega-3 fatty acids and fiber.

This hefty vegetable can be a chore to cut. Here is a great post on how to peel and cut a butternut squash.

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