Cauliflower & Tomato Quiche Recipe

I served this dish to my brother and sister-in-law who had just moved into the same new-home community we did a few weeks earlier. Moving is no fun and having a good home-cooked meal can make all the difference in getting back into the move with renewed energy. Running out for a quick meal you may regret eating or trying your luck by buying a quesadilla or pulled pork sandwich from the food truck that shows up each day at 11:30 could halt your progress.

I thought this recipe I found in the Costco Connection magazine would be a hearty meal. Trying new recipes on dinner guests is a gamble, but I was game to try it.

It did not disappoint. Try it out and see what you think.

Cauliflower & Tomato Quiche Recipe

from Costco Connection Magazine

yield 8 servings

category Main Dish

cuisine Vegetarian

ingredients

1 small cauliflower, cut into florets

4 Tbsp olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

8 organic eggs
1/2 C fresh chopped basil

1 C flour or gluten-free alternative 

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Pinch chili flakes
1 1/2 tsp Himalayan sea salt
Ground pepper to taste
5 oz of Parmesan cheese*, grated
1 1/2 C grape tomatoes, sliced

directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees..

2. Steam or roast cauliflower until tender, about 12 minutes. Set aside.

3. In a small skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and sauce until fragrant. Scrape garlic into a large bowl.

4. Add eggs and basil to bowl and whisk ingredients. Add dry ingredients, seasonings and Parmesan. Whisk until smooth.

5. Gently stir in cauliflower and tomatoes.
6. Grease 9 1/2" spring form pan with coconut oil. Pour mixture into pan, spreading evenly.
7. Place on middle rack and bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown and set. a knife inserted into the center should come out clean. Remove from oven and let rest for 15-20 minutes. Slice into wedges and serve.

*Since I don't eat cheese made from cow diary, I used a sheep's cheese parmesan

Now I have another great recipe for that overlooked and under appreciated vegetable cauliflower. Here are a few more delicious cauliflower recipes:

Curry Roasted Cauliflower
Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts & Red Beans
Potato-Less Potato Salad
Indian Dal
Red  Potato, Green Beans & Cauliflower Salad

Enjoy!

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Pear & Pistachio Stuffed Acorn Squash

What are your plans for the Thanksgiving table? Are you doing traditional Turkey and all the accompanying starchy foods? Or do you plan to make some changes in your meal choices because you've been adjusting your lifestyle to be healthier?

There are great options for yummy food–perfect for fall. I made this delicious recipe and it was all we had for dinner. Mmmmm! The fresh herbs make it really sing and it's so easy to prepare.

The recipe calls for red D'Anjou pear, but you can use any variety of pear. I used a Bartlett pear and it  was mmmm good. I think you could experiment with using other fruit. How does fuyu persimmon sound?  I must try that one. Persimmons are my favorite fall fruit—maybe my all time fav actually.

Pear & Pistachio Stuffed Acorn Squash

from Costco Connection

yield 4-8 servings

category Main Course

cuisine Vegan, Vegetarian

ingredients

2 Acorn Squash

2 tsp olive oil

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp finely ground black pepper

1 C chopped pistachios

2 Tbsp diced pistachios

1 red D'Anjou pear, diced

2 tsp olive oil

2 tsp maple syrup

2 tsp red wine vinegar

2 springs of rosemary, finely chopped

10 leaves of mint, finely chopped

4 springs thyme, finely chopped

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp finely ground black pepper

directions

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Slice squash in half through stem and scoop out seeds.

2. Place squash cut side up on baking sheet. Rub with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast 30-35 minutes, or until soft.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together the cup of chopped pistachios, pear, oil, maple syrup, vinegar, herbs, salt and pepper.

4. Portion out the pear mixture to fill the squash halves and sprinkle with the diced pistachios.

5. Preheat broiler. Place the squash under broiler for about 3 minutes, until golden. Serve warm.

I plan on bringing this dish to the family Thanksgiving dinner at my brothers. I used to bring the Tofurky with vegan dressing for any vegans (which is usually just me and my hubby) at the feast. But since I stopped eating soy this year, I'm bringing only veggie options for my meal. No more fake turkey.

What changes have you made that will effect your Thanksgiving meal?

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Black Bean Brownies Recipe

This is a dessert that is guilt-free, healthy, full of protein and includes the superfood cacao. Plus I used 100% organic ingredients to make it even better for you, provided you do the same.

I saw this recipe on the Food Matters weekly newsletter email and thought, "Gotta make this!"

To begin making this awesome dessert, pull out all the ingredients so you don't miss anything. I'm usually doing a few things at the same time when I cook, so forgetting to add something happens from time to time. Does that happen to you? 

The original recipe showed a few ingredients measured in weight, so I needed to translate it into cups. You're welcome! I weighed out the cacao, ground it, then put it into a measuring cup to determine how many cups to use instead of weight. This process took extra time and because I had not put out all the ingredients ahead of time, I forgot the vanilla. Waa! The vanilla extract I just posted about making: DIY Make Your Own Vanilla Extract.

The brownies still tasted amazing!

A few notes about what else I did: I use a toaster oven for almost 100% of my baking. If it fits, it gets cooked in the toaster oven. Way less heat in the house and less energy spent. I could do without a large oven and a microwave in my home. What about you?

I let the brownies bake for about 35 minutes then I checked their progress. I turned the dish around because my toaster oven cooks faster in the back.

Black Bean Brownies

from Food Matters

yield 1 dozen

category Dessert

cuisine Vegetarian

ingredients

2 15 oz cans of organic black beans

1 C coconut oil at room temperature, plus extra for greasing

4 eggs

3/4 C cacao nibs or cacao powder

2/3 C maple syrup

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp of espresso or extra vanilla extract

pinch of sea salt

1 C chopped walnuts

directions

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF. Grease inside of 9 1/2 x 8 inch glass baking dish. Rinse and drain the black beans. Grind the cacao nibs (if using) to fine powder. Melt the coconut oil with a gentle heat and set aside.

2. Place drained beans, eggs, cacao powder, maple syrup, vanilla and espresso (if using) into a food processor with a pinch of salt. Pulse a few times, then blend until smooth.

3. Slowly add the melted oil while the machine is running. Taste the batter and add more maple syrup for your preference. Stir in all of the walnuts reserving a handful for topping.

4. Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared dish and rap gently on the counter to level the batter. Sprinkle the remaining walnuts over the top and bake at 40-45 minutes. Brownies are done when they feel firm but springy and the surface is cracked.

5. Cool completely before cutiing into squares. Refrigerate to make them fudgy.

Try this recipe out and let me know what you think.

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Thai Coconut Soup

I love Thai food. It's very vegan-friendly with the use of coconut milk instead of dairy. I had a craving for coconut milk and vegetable soup recently and experimented with putting something together. Here's what I came up with.

Thai Coconut Soup

from Chris Pedersen

yield 6-8 servings

category Soup

cuisine Thai, Vegan, Vegetarian

ingredients

1 13.5 oz  can Coconut Milk

2 cans filtered water (use coconut milk can)

2 carrots, chopped

2 C chopped potatoes

1 C green beans cut in 1-inch pieces

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

3 oz shitake mushrooms, sliced

1/8 C lemon grass cut in 1/4-inch pieces

1 tsp sea salt

1 shallot, diced

2 tsp tamari

1/2 inch ginger, minced

1/2 inch turmeric root, minced

2 Tbsp lime juice

1/8 tsp Sambal Oelek

1/2 tsp curry

Seafood (optional—shrimp, white fish, etc)

directions

1. Add coconut milk and water to medium-size sauce pan on medium heat.

2. Add carrots, potatoes, green beans and onions then heat for 15 - 20 minutes.

3. Add remaining ingredients and cook for 15 more minutes.

4. Add cooked seafood if desired.

5. Heat through and serve.

notes: • Use lite or full-fat coconut milk.

• Cook the seafood in 1 Tbsp of coconut oil in sauce pan for soup. Remove and set aside when cooked. Procedd with soup.

• Increase/decrease the Sambal Oelek to adjust the "heat."

This soup will taste even more delicious the second day as all the flavors marry.

What ethnic food do you crave regularly?

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Wisdom Wednesday

Tip:

"Living the Veg Life" on Health Perch

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October is National Vegetarian Month

Whatever it takes to eat more veggies, whether that's eating vegan (no dairy or processed foods), cutting out meat (vegetarian), adding another serving of veggies each day or like me (vegan, but eat wild fish, organic eggs and occasionally goat cheese), eat like your life depends on it. Because it does!

Your mind will clear, the scales will dip, your skin will look amazing, you'll sleep better and you can say good-bye to those pesky colds and flues.

Graphic Source: Fix.com

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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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Breakfast Veggie Hash with Eggs

I threw this together one morning and it turned out yummy-licious. So I thought you would like it too. As I've said before, I typically don't measure anything—grab a little of this and some of that as I cook. Then I'll remake the recipe using measurements so you get something reproducible.

For this one I'm giving you estimates. It'll turn out great... trust me. Better yet... try the non-measuring technique. You'll find it freeing.

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Vegetarian Mexican Pasole Soup Recipe

If you've been afraid to go raw or vegan, this recipe just might convince you to take the leap. You might discover you're missing out on the rich flavors of simple spices and yummy taste of fresh vegetables. This Pasole recipe is missing the meat, but no flavor lacking here.

This recipe came from a raw food class I took with my friend Jennie Zraick, an avid fan of HJC. Becky at Whole Foods Market in Roseville in the Sacramento area teaches raw food cooking on a regular schedule. She wows the attendees with her vast knowledge of the health benefits of foods while she's chopping and blending her creations.

I made a huge batch and brought it to a Labor Day BBQ and it was a hit. I sent leftovers home with eager takers with a promise to post it soon. So here you go!

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KISS Chili Recipe

Okay, it's high time you learn about the way I really cook. In hopes that you can learn to do the same.

When my friend Joanne Kraft began to prod, beg and coerce me to set up a blog so I could help people navigate the road to wellness plus provide delicious, healthy recipes, I protested loudly. I typically don't use recipes. I open my cabinets and refrigerator and make up meals. The simpler the better. You know... the KISS method—Keep It Simple Stupid/Silly (fill-in your own word that starts with an S).

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Lentil Soup with Tomatoes, Spinach & Feta

I surveyed the recipes I've posted and see I could use a few more soups. So here's another great and easy soup recipe with lots of nourishing ingredients. A bit-o-green from spinach for St. Patrick's Day is a bonus.

This soup is easy, but you do have to plan for time to have the lentils soften. Start the soup in the early afternoon and let it cook while you do other things. You can also put the ingredients in the slow cooker in the morning on low and add the spinach and lemon juice a half-hour before you plan to serve it.

Use what ever curry you like for this soup, but I used Baagan Immunity Booster Spices. You can order them online or get them at the restaurant in Roseville, CA.

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Edamame, Millet & Cabbage Salad

Here's a nice salad with a hearty mix of ingredients. It's easy to throw together and you can substitute for ingredients you may not have on hand. For example, use maple syrup if you don't have coconut palm sugar, quinoa if you don't have millet and even garbanzo beans (chickpeas) if you don't have edamame.

If you use edamame, remember to get organic otherwise it will surely be genetically modified (GM) soy. And you do not want to eat GM anything.

A little word of caution about chili powder. Use an amount that fits with how much kick you'd like in the dressing. Remember that 1 teaspoon of chili powder of one brand may have a totally different heat level than another. So portion your measurement of chili powder accordingly. I alway suggest you measure sparingly, taste and then add more if necessary.

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Vegetarian Hot & Sour Soup

I love hot and sour soup, but don't eat it because it has pork. So I made a vegetarian version. It turned out delicious.

Since I live in a semi-rural area of suburbia, trying to find an obscure Asian food ingredient is a wild goose chase. One weekend while visiting our son in the Bay Area (San Francisco), I went shopping at an Asian market. This place was not your little shop in a strip mall. It was the anchor store (99 Ranch Market), super market size, in a strip mall. This store had everything for any style Asian cooking... and several brands of everything to choose from. I counted four brands of tiger lily bulbs. How do I choose?

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Sweet Apple Yellow Curry Soup

Who doesn't love yellow curry anything. Recently I enjoyed a yellow curry soup at Sprouts Natural Foods Cafe a block from the beach in South Lake Tahoe on Hwy 50. I loved it so much I used my napkin to write down all the ingredients in it, telling my lunch mates I would be recreating this delicious soup.

So here it is! Simple and full of flavor.

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Vegan Lentil Chili With Roasted Red Peppers

I had my writing friend Sherry Meneley over for lunch recently and served her Lentil Chili. Sherry loved it! Filled us up with some good food on a cold winter day. I think you'll also love this easy soup and make it one of your favorites.

This delicious soup comes from Kalyn's Kitchen where I find lots of yummy soups and salads. Kalyn has a real gift for finding and putting together healthy and delicious soups and salads. I often find myself making meals from her blog.

This recipe is vegan and offers a refreshing twist for chili. No time like winter to serve this hearty soup. All the ingredients were to my liking and diet needs. I couldn't find the red lentils, but that didn't make too much difference except the red lentils soften sooner than the brown making the soup thicker.

Give yourself some time to make this recipe. It's easy to put together, but the lentils require an hour to cook.

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It's Chili ~ Time to Make Chili

I made chili last night because it was just the right thing to have on a chili day.

I made my favorite, Butternut Squash Chili. Originally posted on February 21, 2011, this recipe is worth repeating.

A word of caution. If you don't like spicy, you might want to cut back on the chili powder amount. Enjoy!

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Vegan Split Pea Soup

A classic protein-rich soup for the approaching cooler weather is Split Pea Soup. However, unlike the classic variety containing ham, which gives the soup a smokey flavor, this recipe is vegan. Ah... don't despair. There's plenty of flavor in this version helped along by smoked paprika.

Besides being rich in protein (ha... bet you didn't know that), peas are a great source of the minerals molybdenum, manganese, potassium and phosphorous. You also get folate and thiamin (vitamin B1) and like other legumes, peas are a very good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber. Some of the phytonutrient goodness includes isoflavones that have been linked to a reduced risk of disease such as breast and prostate cancer.

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Serrano Garden Spaghetti

When the crisp, cool weather hits, our taste buds begin to crave wonderful dishes that fill our tummies at dinnertime—like Spaghetti. Last March I posted Portabella Mushroom Spaghetti. Serrano Garden Spaghetti is a twist on that dish. This recipe comes from my equally talented-in-the-kitchen husband. Like me, he's continually making up recipes for our meals. This one I made him write down because I knew you would love it!

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Stuffed Summer Squash Recipe

As fall replaces summer, the garden gives its last harvest. Here's a recipe for stuffed summer squash from Jennie Zraick. You may remember Jennie from an interview she gave in the post Dealing With Depression. She overcame her depression with a healthy diet and loves to discover delicious new recipes.

Jennie shares her recipe for Stuffed Summer Squash.

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Spicy Pumpkin Cashew-Cheese Dip Recipe

It's autumn—leaves change color and begin to fall. The air smells fresh and pumpkins appear on doorsteps and porches. Time to break out the fall recipes.

Spicy Pumpkin Cashew-Cheese Dip is a yummy appetizer you can take to your autumn gatherings and harvest events. I first got a taste of the appetizer when Leslie Cole brought this delicious pumpkin dip to a neighborhood wine event.

The recipe comes from Kathy Patalsky at Healthy Happy Life. Kathy is a vegan chef and in case you didn't know, cashews are used as cheese in many vegan recipes. Thus the cashew-cheese in the title.

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