Asian Salad with Cranberry Dressing

Ever wonder what to do with leftover cranberry sauce? Try this! It's tangy, refreshing, and breaks you out of the standard holiday mode.

Asian Salad

3 cups fresh green beans
2 cups savoy cabbage, chopped
7 radishes, sliced
1/2 red pepper, sliced into thick matchsticks
1 green onion, sliced

In a medium saucepan, bring 4 cups water to boil. Add in green beans and turn heat off. Let the green beans sit until the color brightens, then transfer them to either an ice bath or a colander in the sink with cold running water to stop the cooking process.

Once cooled, add green beans to a large bowl, along with the other veggies. Set aside.

Cranberry Dressing

1/2 cup Ginger-Lime Cranberry Sauce
4 Tbsp. water
2 Tbsp. cold pressed olive oil
2 Tbsp. cold pressed flax oil
1 tsp. desiccated coconut
1 tsp. raw apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. xylitol
Juice of one lime
pinch salt

In a medium-sized bowl, add all ingredients and whisk until emulsified. Pour into your salad bowl, and toss until coated. Serve! :)

All 'Choked Up!

With spring heartily marching forward, it’s time to think about cooking with this season’s bounty. The Jerusalem artichoke is easy to cultivate, rich in potassium and iron, and a good source of carbohydrates. But most people aren’t all that familiar with this tasty tuber.

Technically it’s not a native crop, since it comes from the east coast originally, but that’s close enough! Ironically, it’s also not related to the artichoke in any way, and has nothing to do with Jerusalem. It’s thought that the “Jerusalem” is a corruption of Girasole, the Italian word for “Sunflower”. It’s more properly called a Sunchoke, since it is in fact the root of a native sunflower.

Unfortunately, they also contain a substance called inulin, which in some people can cause severe gastric pain and flatulence.

How do you find out if you’re one of those people? Try it and see! I created this recipe specifically for that purpose. It’s a light, simple preparation that captures the mildly sweet, crunchy, potato-like flavour of these wonderful little tubers, but doesn’t give enough to cause serious pain if you’re among the sensitives (like me).

Sunchoke Bake

5 jerusalem artichokes, washed and sliced
3 leaves of kale, roughly chopped
4 large cloves garlic, sliced
a few chives, chopped, some reserved for garnish
salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp. Olive oil

Preheat oven to 400. Toss all ingredients together in a small baking dish, and bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Cardamom-Glazed Grilled Mango

I think that by now, everyone knows how much I love mangoes.

When I read the ingredients for this month's Royal Foodie Joust, put on by the Leftover Queen, I about squealed with delight. They were right up my alley: mangoes, cardamom, and brown sugar! With spring coming on, and our days getting warmer by the minute, I couldn't resist grilling up some mango with my room mate's new grill. :)

I love the way this recipe turned out. It's quick, easy, and incredibly tasty. SO happy I thought to grill them! The slightly-burned sugar gives the mango a really nice caramelized flavour, which compliments the cardamom beautifully. Enjoy!

Cardamom-Glazed Grilled Mango

2 ripe mangoes, skin on, cubed
4 Tb. brown sugar
3 green cardamom pods, shelled and ground
2 Tb. dessicated coconut
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

about 6 skewers, soaked in water

Set your grill to high heat (we use propane) and get it warming up.

Mix all ingredients together (except the mango) in a bowl. Holding on by the skin, dip the mango into the sugar mixture, coating every side. Load the skewers with the crusted mango, and set on the grill. Let it go until it just starts to blacken (about 2 mins), and flip, doing the same with the other side. Serve on a bed of greens and sprinkle with a little pan-toasted coconut.

Paté Stuffed Mushrooms with Butternut "Cheese" (Raw) - Butternut Showcase #2

My second butternut showcase is a bit less in-your-face.

I wanted to make raw stuffed mushrooms, inspired by Leslie Bega's recipe at GLiving. By raw, I don't mean completely unprocessed, as I used my dehydrator to soften the mushrooms, and make them juicier. The result is warm and soft in the mouth, with flavor bursting in every bite. The paté is creamy, tangy, and spicy. I'm hooked!

I'd made a big bowl of julienned squash with my mandolin for a salad earlier that day, so I decided to marinate some extras to put over the mushrooms. They end up being tender and chewy. Mmmm...

Paté Stuffed Mushrooms with Butternut "Cheese"

4 Tb. Braggs or Nama Shoyu
2 tsp. lemon
1/4 tsp. aji panca hot sauce
12 cremini mushrooms, stems reserved
1/2 cup loosely packed butternut squash, julienned

In a large bowl, whisk liquid ingredients together. Wet the mushrooms one by one, making sure to thoroughly coat the insides. Then toss them around in the bowl, and let them sit while you make the paté.

1 cup walnuts
Stems from the mushrooms
1 inch fresh ginger, sliced
1/4 cup bell pepper (I used orange)
2 small green onions, chopped
small handful parsley
2 Tb. marinade
1 small garlic clove
cracked pepper to taste (about 1/4 tsp.)
enough water to paste

In the food processor, pulverize the walnuts and mushrooms until you get a coarse meal. Add the rest of the ingredients (except water) and grind down until you have a thick paste. It may ball up on you. Splash the water in small amounts until you get a nice, smooth paté.

Take the mushrooms out of the marinade, shaking off the excess as you go. Add your julienned butternut squash to the marinade, and toss. Carefully press the stuffing into the mushrooms, making good-sized mounds. Then, take the squash and squeeze the liquid out, and lay the bits across the tops of the mushrooms.

Dehydrate at 110 degrees for about 2 hours, or until the mushrooms have softened a bit, and the paté has got a nice crust on the outside. Enjoy!