Naraya Cooking Health Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup lentils (french, beluga or green/brown)
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 2 large carrots, diced 1/4"
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons grapeseed or olive oil or 1/4 cup water for water saute
• 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes (I used fire roasted) or 2 fresh tomatoes, diced
• 6-7 cups vegetable broth or water
• 2 - 3 bay leafs
• 2 teaspoons smoked sweet paprika (if using hot use 1 teaspoon or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 tablespoon fresh 
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• mineral salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• chopped parsley for garnish

Rinse your lentils well and pick through removing any oddly shaped or colored lentils. Rinse quinoa using a fine mesh strainer to remove any powdery residue.

In a large pot/dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, celery, carrots and garlic, saute for 5 minutes, until onions are tender. Add smoked paprika, cumin, thyme and nutmeg, cook until fragrant, about 1 - 2 minutes. Add in tomatoes, broth, lentils, quinoa, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally and tasting for flavor as you go. Once done, remove from heat, add balsamic vinegar and stir. Remove bay leaves before serving.

Spoon soup into serving dishes and top with chopped parsley.

You may like to serve this with some fresh homemade naan bread, like this one from Vegan Richa or this gluten free one from Golubka Kitchen

Soup serves 4 - 6

Notes:

Feel free to add 1 cup of quinoa instead of 1/2 cup. Just be sure to add the full 7 cups of liquids when cooking, adding more at the end if needed. You can also try using 1 1/2 cup lentils and 1/2 cup quinoa if you like.

For me, using a good vegetable broth in this soup was key to flavor. I used 4 cups of broth and 2 1/2 cups water.

Use 2 teaspoons of thyme if you don't have any dried basil on hand.

If you're a tomato lover, try using 1 can (28 oz) of diced tomatoes or 3-4 fresh tomatoes.

If you feel the soup is on the sweet side, add the juice of one lemon to cut the sweetness.

Ingredients

• 1 ready made pizza dough (pref. whole wheat)
• fresh basil leaves, to serve
• red pepper flakes, to serve
• almond parmesan, to serve

Topping

• 1/2 small zucchini, sliced thin and halved
• 1/2 cup aspargus, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/2 orange bell pepper
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 3/4 cup cherry tomatoes (red & yellow), halved
• a few large basil leaves, chopped
• a guzzle of balsamic vinegar
• pinch or two mineral salt

Balsamic Tomato Sauce

• 1 dry pint (about 8 oz package or 1 1/2 cups) grape tomatoes
• 3 rounded tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 - 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 garlic clove or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasonings or a mix of oregano, basil, thyme, etc.
• mineral salt & cracked pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees or heat oven to dough directions. (We'll start with this high temp to move the pizza cooking along as quickly as possible.)
2. While oven is heating, prepare your vegetables, place them in a medium size bowl along with the tomatoes for the tomato sauce and add a guzzle of  your favorite balsamic vinegar. You can also add a tad of olive oil if you wish. Toss to coat. Place vegetables on a baking sheet keeping the cut topping and whole tomatoes separate for ease later on. 
3. Coat your cast iron skillet with olive oil, place your dough in the center, flatten out along the bottom and bring a small bit up the edges. Let set to rest until ready to layer.
4. Once oven has heated to 450, turn off oven and turn on the broiler (I had mine set on high but medium is good too), place vegetables under the flame and cook for about 6 minutes checking every so often. Remove and set aside. 
5. Turn oven back on to 450 degrees. The heat sensor should go off right away letting you know the oven is ready. If you skip the first heating at 450, this step will take around 15-20 minutes.
6. In a food processor or blender, being careful not to burn yourself, add the uncut grape tomatoes along with the other ingredients for the tomato sauce and process until blended and fairly smooth. Taste for flavor adding anything extra you might like. Your sauce should be a semi-thick consistency. If you find it's too runny, try adding an extra tablespoon or two of tomato paste. 
7. Finally, add a nice layer of your tomato sauce and veggies to the pizza dough. Place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until crust is golden. Remove from oven and let cool a few minutes before cutting to serve. Serve with red pepper flakes and a good dusting of almond parmesan. 

Notes:

I found that I needed to cook my pizza longer than the directions on the pizza dough package, about 20 -25 minutes worked for me but each oven is different.

If your crust doesn't become golden enough for you, place the skillet pizza under the broiler for a minute or so checking often so it doesn't burn.

If you have a hard time with your crust being soggy under the tomato sauce and veggies, try cooking your dough first for about 15 minutes, then add your sauce and veggies and cook another 5 minutes or so.

I would love to recommend a good pizza dough recipe but I haven't made one yet and find the ready made dough is quick and works great for me. If you have a good whole wheat pizza dough recipe I'd love know about it!

• 1 cup french lentils (beluga or puy), rinsed and picked over
• 2 bay leafs
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• bitter greens of choice (arugula, belgian endive, watercress, spinach, lacinato kale, escarole, dandelion to name a few)
• grape tomatoes, halved
• scallions or shallots, sliced
• mineral salt, to taste
• fresh cracked pepper, to taste

Lemon Dijon Balsamic Vinaigrette

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 
• 1 tablespoon white or dark balsamic vinegar (I used white)
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard (whole grain is great too)
• juice of one small lemon

Ingredients

• spring mix salad
• dandelions or watercress
• handful wisteria flowers, pulled of their stems (I left mine on, quite by accident)
• english cucumber, chopped
• sweet orange, peeled and chopped
• orange zest

Dressing (serves 2)

• 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• juice of 1/2 orange
• cracked pepper to taste

Start with the dressing by combining all ingredients, except the oil, in a small bowl or decanter, mix well and then add in the olive oil. Mix again and let set.

For the salad ingredients, use as much as you like of each ingredient. Mix your greens, place on serving dish and top with cucumber, orange pieces, orange zest and flowers. Drizzle with dressing just before serving.

Ingredients

Loaf
1 cup dry lentils (use green/brown)
2 1/2 cups water or vegetable broth
3 tablespoons flaxseed meal (ground flaxseeds)
1/3 cup water (6 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons olive oil for sauteing or steam saute using 1/4 cup water
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion, finely diced
1 small red bell pepper, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced or grated
1 celery stalk, finely diced
3/4 cup oats (I used GF oats)
1/2 cup oat flour or finely ground oats (any flour of choice will work here too)
1 heaping teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 heaping teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon each garlic powder & onion powder...for good measure!
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper, optional
cracked pepper & sea salt to taste

Glaze
3 tablespoons organic ketchup
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

Ingredients

Salad

• 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 red beet (uncooked), peeled and coarsely grated
• 1 fennel bulb, sliced or diced...a few fronds reserved for garnish
• 1 Fuji apple, or hard crisp apple or pear of choice, cored and diced
• handful of mint leaves, roughly chopped
• arugula or spinach, optional

Balsamic Maple Dijon Vinaigrette

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
• 1 heaping teaspoon Dijon or stone ground mustard
• salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix nuts with 1/4 cup maple syrup and place in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Cook for about 10 minutes, set aside to cool. Maple will be caramelized on the nuts and your home will be smelling oh so good at this point !

Prepare your vegetables, fruit and herbs, combine them in a large bowl or dish of choice. Place all vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl, combine until blended adding salt and pepper to taste. Add nuts (reserve a few for garnish) and dressing to prepared mix and combine.

Serve on a small bed of arugula or spinach, garnish with nuts and a few fennel fronds.

Notes:

You may like to grate your apple and fennel. I tried it myself but didn't care for it as I prefer to have some chunkiness to my salad.

If using a lighter color beet, you may consider using apple cider vinegar in place of the balsamic so the dark color of the balsamic doesn't discolor your lighter colored beets.