Quinoa-Millet Salad with Ambercup Squash

I went on my weekly (weekendly, to be more accurate) Farmer's Market run today, and I'm so pleased! Among my finds: a huge bunch of kale in different varieties, a bag of fat, juicy carrots, and Roma tomatoes.

At one booth, I saw what I took to be the first pumpkins of the season. The lady who grows them told me that despite the look, they're not actually pumpkins, but a drier, more flavorful winter squash called "Ambercup".

A challenge, if I ever did see one! :D

So this dish is a mildly sweet, protein-rich grain salad. I only used a quarter of the squash, so I'll make a nice creamy soup with the leftovers.


Quinoa-Millet Salad with Ambercup Squash

1/2 cup each quinoa and millet, cooked (can be cooked together!)
2 cups cooked winter squash, chopped
2 kale leaves, chopped fine
1 large carrot, shredded finely
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
3 Tbsp. honey or agave
1 1/2 Tb. olive oil
1 tbsp. lemon juice
splash of orange juice (maybe 2 Tbsp.)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
salt to taste

In a food processor, grind sunflower seeds down to a coarse meal. In a large bowl, mix sunflower seeds, kale, and carrots, and toss lightly. Then, add the vinegar, honey, oil, and cinnamon.

Once your quinoa mix and squash are done, throw them into the bowl. Drizzle the lemon and orange over the top, toss, and season to taste. Serve warm! :)

Warm Beet Salad with Tangy Mustard Dressing

Beets! Ah, how I love thee.

I can still remember the first time I bit into a raw beet (with the tops still on) in front of Jeremy on a road trip. He got very wide-eyed and said "You can DO that?!" He likes raw beets too, but had only ever had them peeled and chopped in salads and things. He took a bite, and ended up eating more than I did. I've turned him to the raw side of the beet! ;)

This salad, however, does not showcase raw beets. At first, I was thinking of making pan-fried beet fries. The more I cooked them, though, the more I thought having a sweet glaze on them would be divine... and it was! Oh, how it was...


Warm Orange-Balsamic Beet Salad

2 large beets, sliced into French-Fry-style strips
1/2 cup salt-free veggie stock
1/2 cup orange juice
3 Tb. balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil for frying

baby spinach
orange segments, quartered

In a nonstick skillet, heat olive oil on med-high. Toss in beets, salt, and pepper, and saute for about 5-7 minutes. Start adding the veggie stock in splashes, letting the liquid mostly evaporate before adding more. This should take about 7-10 minutes. If your pan evaporates too quickly, turn the heat down slightly.

Once the veggie stock is gone, do the same with the orange juice, and toward the end, add the balsamic by the tablespoon. When the beets look good and caramelized with a thick glaze, take off the heat.

Add the warm beets to a bed of spinach and orange, and dress with:

Tangy Mustard Dressing

1 Tb. honey or agave
2 tsp. dijon mustard
splash lemon juice

Whisk ingredients together, and drizzle over beets and greens.

Makes two bowls.

Banana Fritters with Orange Blossom Honey and Mint Butter

And now for something completely different!

After all that healthy raw food, how could I resist coating my entire kitchen with a nice layer of sunflower oil? I mean, sometimes, we've all just got to say to ourselves, "Yep... SO taking a shower after this."

I've always been a huge fan of banana fritters. Well, actually, deep fried bananas in any sort of fashion. Jeremy and I used to get bananas that were rolled in coconut before being put into an egg roll wrapper for deep frying, but I've got to say I like these better. The batter is made with almond meal and minced dried coconut, which gives it more substance than if I had just used a fine flour. Also, the tangy orange blossom honey cuts the grease a little bit, and gives it a kick, which is really nice. The mint butter is a very nice finish; freshly made it's spreadable and melts deliciously into a silken mint glaze on these fritters. Yum!

The mint butter, I have to say, was a very happy accident. I originally was going to make a mint cream with coconut milk, but I thought it should be thickened, so I added some coconut oil. Much to my amazement, it separated! So I worked some of the liquid out of that beautiful, minty butter, and now it's a solid mass of coconutty goodness. :D

Also, I want to touch on why I use honey in this dish, even though this is a vegan blog. I thought long and hard about this choice, because I want everyone to be able to enjoy my dishes. I understand that many vegans make different choices for themselves, so I'm not trying to turn this into a debate. The honey that I'm using here is from a local, trusted source. I believe that this is a much more sustainable choice for me, because the town I live in is so isolated. (You have to take two ferries to get here from the mainland, as we are on a peninsula, surrounded by mountains.) Plus, I love the flavour it imparts to this dish, especially. Alternatively, you could use agave.

With that said, on to the recipe!


Banana Fritters

4 bananas, thickly sliced diagonally
1 Tb. lemon juice

Evenly coat the bananas in lemon juice and let them sit while you make up the batter.

1 cup almond meal
1/4 cup tapioca starch
3tb shredded coconut
sprinkle cinnamon
pinch salt
1/2 cup water

sunflower oil

Mix dry ingredients together, then add water. You want the batter to be just thin enough to coat the bananas. The coconut and almond meal will soak up some extra water, so add more water by the teaspoon as needed. I used a tablespoon after letting mine sit for about 5 minutes.

In a nonstick pot or deep pan, add about 1/2-3/4 inch of oil. Heat to medium-high, or until you dip the tip of a chopstick in and it bubbles.

Coat the bananas evenly while you're waiting for the oil. I tossed half of them into the batter first, then used the second half when the first was finished. Fry bananas until golden, and place onto a clean towel to drain. (Also, I used chopsticks to turn the fritters, I find there's less splattering - but then, I have a steady hand with chopsticks.)


Tangy Orange Blossom Honey

3 Tb. honey (or agave)
1/2 tsp. orange blossom water
splash of lemon juice

Whisk ingredients together until creamy. I heated up the bowl slightly on low heat until the honey was softer.


Mint Butter

Handful of peppermint, stems removed
2 Tb. firm coconut oil
1/2 can of coconut milk, cream only (must be separated; if not, just a few tablespoons or so)

In the food processor, add coconut milk and peppermint, and blend until smooth. In small chunks, add the coconut oil. Once it looks like a watery mess, spoon it out into a fine mesh strainer. Gently press the water out, making sure not to push the solids through. It helps to roll it around and knead it, almost like a bread dough, or use a spatula to smooth it out, and drain the water. (You'll know what I mean when you're doing it. :) Reserve the liquid for use in something else.

When finished, plate fritters with a drizzle of honey and mint butter on the side. Can you say shower time? I knew you could. :)