Naraya Cooking Health Recipe

Soups really have been a big part of my winter meals, although I've been really loving a few new vegetables bowls that I'll be sharing soon! They're so easy to throw together and will last me a good day or two. This soup happened to come about as a combination of ingredients I've never had together. It was something I threw together on a whim. I shared my first attempt here (this one looks better) and thought it was ultimately good enough to make it to the recipe collection. So here it is! It fits my criteria for being simple to pull together, has versatility and is fairly well-balanced. Now, I know that roasting vegetables and serving them in soup is not really typical but I'll be darned if it didn't taste great and make my life simple. I gently roasted them just until softened, about 20 - 25 minutes. It helps to cook your vegetables faster if they're chopped on the smaller side. You don't have to use all the vegetables I have here either, maybe just 3 of the 4 opting between the broccoli or brussels sprouts. I wasn't sure what direction I was going to go in, using the broccoli or brussels sprouts and decided to just add them both using 4 vegetables. Suits me perfectly! The miso broth is super simple. I'm in love with red miso at the moment (it's robust & flavorful) but you can use your favorite. You may even like to add a tablespoon or so of tahini to the broth for something different. Making the miso broth as suggested with keep the integrity (health benefits) of the miso paste at it's highest. The soba noodles are easy too and cook pretty much the same as any other noodle. Add some freshness to the soup with sliced scallions, a few greens and cilantro if you have it on hand. A dash (or two) of sriracha isn't a bad idea either! And if you feel the need for some added protien, add a serving of cubed organic tofu (firm or extra firm). If you have a few veggies left over, save and serve them with a grain like rice or quinoa and a protein like lentil or beans (or make more soup!). Enjoy this soup....it's filling, flavorful and easy. Win, win, win!

Ingredients

It's been two years since my last lentil loaf recipe. I thought this time I'd create something with a whole new flavor profile. I love this flavor combination and think it's a perfect fall/winter loaf or one you can rotate for variation all year long. All the flavors come through making every bite just as good as the last! A little sweetness from the apple, it's not overpowering at all. The fennel and sage are a perfect pairing of herbs. The walnuts give a little extra texture. I've kept the glaze super simple with just organic ketchup, apple cider vinegar and pure maple syrup. The glaze is tangy which is a nice contrast to the other flavors. Simple worked great here (at least I think so). I'd love to know what you think! I've adapted this new lentil loaf from my other one, The Ultimate Vegetable Lentil Loaf, which was a big hit, it's a great all-around loaf and I hope you all find this new one just as delicious!

A note on the fennel seeds. In case you're wondering what to do with your fennel seeds, I've used them in a few recipes like this Cannellini Bean & Fennel Flatbread, Mushroom and Buckwheat Soup and the Rustic Cabbage, Potato & White Bean Soup. If they are new to your pantry, you can purchase them knowing you can use them in other recipes. I love the flavor they give in each of these recipes!

Cook lentils: In a dutch oven or large pot, add vegetable broth and lentils, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 40 - 45 minutes, most to all liquid should be absorbed. Lentils should be overcooked and tender. Set aside to cool, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Mash lentils with the back of a spoon or fork, or roughly puree using an immersion blender or food processor, about 2/3 - 3/4 of the lentil mixture.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Toast walnuts: Spread walnuts on a small rimmed baking pan, place in oven and toast until they are fragrant, about 10 -15 minutes. Set aside to cool..

Prepare vegetables and apple: Heat oil in a medium size pan over medium heat, add onion, celery and carrot, saute for about 5 minutes. Add apple, fennel, sage salt & pepper, heat for another 3 - 4 minutes.

Combine everything: Add the sauteed mixture with the lentils and mix. Add flour, oats, walnuts and 1/2 cup apple sauce, mix well to combine. If mixture seems to dry, add a little more apple sauce, mix again. Taste for seasoning adding extra herbs, salt and pepper as needed. 

Line a 9 x 5 loaf pan with parchment paper, (this will make for easy removal later), add mixture and press down gently but firmly filling in along the edges as well. 

Make glaze: In small bowl, mix together the glaze and spread over top lentil loaf as evenly as you can. Here you can even add a fresh sage leaf in the center of the loaf, it won't burn, it may roll a bit on the edges, and will add a nice decoration (the sage leaf I have shown was fresh). 

Bake: Place loaf in oven, on middle rack, and bake for 45 - 50 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool 10 minutes, remove from pan using the edges of the parchment paper. You may like to mix a bit more sauce and spread over top. Place loaf on serving dish, cut and serve individual slices.

Serving suggestions: Serve with roasted or mashed potatoes, or potato & cauliflower mash, a side of green beans or any combo of roasted brussels sprouts, carrots, butternut squash and beets. A simple fresh green salad with a light vinaigrette is also a great side! Left overs make for great sandwiches!

Makes 8 slices. 

If you don't use a good vegetable broth while cooking the lentils, I recommend add in 1/2 teaspoon of onion and garlic powder, along with a big pinch of salt. The lentils are the base of the recipe and should have good flavor.

If mixture is too wet, add a tad more flour or oats/bread crumbs. If mixture is too dry, add a tad more apple sauce.

I've used both oats and bread crumbs. Both were great. I didn't notice that the oat flavor came through at all (or maybe I'm just adapted to them).

I don't recommend reheating the entire loaf at once. It will most likely become too dry, as the heat will take to long to reach the center. I recommend cutting slices and reheating, this way. If you need, you can make your lentil loaf the day before and store uncooked until ready to heat, bring to room temperature if possible, and heat according to instructions above.

If you love fennel and sage, by all means add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of each! Or an extra tablespoon of fresh minced sage.

Lots of baking going on around here lately. I've been wanting to make a carrot banana bread and have finally got around to doing it. It's a nice textured bread, moist but not too moist and not too dense. The batter can handle the addition of walnuts and other dried fruits but for the sake of my daughter I've left those out. The recipe is adapted from my Banana Tea Bread which has been a wonderful recipe to work with! I have plenty of notes in this recipe so you can vary it up and change it around when the mood strikes. I don't usually add anything to breads like these when eating but this would be nice with a smidge of Cashew Sweet Cream. I hope you find you love this carrot banana bread as much as I do. It's a keeper and a great way to add in extra vegetables!

P.S. The cooking holiday season is just around the corner! I have a nice collection on pinterest of 250+ vegan recipes for you to consider adding to your holiday table. Am I missing any great recipes you'd like to see? Let me know and I'll add it. You can find the resource here: VEGAN THANKSGIVING AND CHRISTMAS RECIPES 

My bread just slightly cooled and moved to it's storage place. Once it's cooled and covered, it will look a bit moister and darken in color. I did another loaf here where you can see the difference, this is 12 hours after being covered. I would've taken more pics of the loaf shown here but it was eaten too quickly!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder & soda and salt, mix well with large slotted spoon or fork. Add milk, oil and mashed bananas, mix well, but don't over mix, making sure there are no clumps of flour (especially on the bottom of the bowl). Fold in carrots. In a lightly greased 9 x 5 loaf pan, place mixture and bake for 50 - 55 minutes on the middle rack, rotate pan half way through.

Let cool for 10 minutes, remove from pan and let cool completely. Store covered. Serve warmed or at room temperature. Slices would pair nicely with this Cashew Sweet Cream.

Serves 8.

The riper the bananas, the less sugar you'll need. If your bananas are not very ripe, you may like to add a tablespoon or so more.

If you don't have baking soda on hand, use 1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) baking powder instead of 2 teaspoons.

If using coconut oil, be sure your milk is at room temperature or warmer. If adding straight from the refrigerator, the coldness will harden the coconut oil.

Replace the oil with applesauce for oil-free bread. Bread may be a little denser. 

Make gluten-free by using a GF flour blend.

Feel free to leave your carrots unpeeled. I felt mine needed it this time but usually skip this step whenever I can.

Fold in 1/3 - 1/2 cup dried fruit of choice. Raisins, currants, cranberries or chopped apricots or dates would work nicely. 

Add in 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg for another layer of flavor and variation. 

Ingredients

To serve

Wondering what to do with a half head of cabbage and potatoes I had sitting around brought about this hearty soup. It's brimming with vegetables, white beans and spices and is enough to feed a small crowd. Add some socca or crusty bread to the meal and you're all set. The socca I made here was seasoned simply with salt & pepper and can be whipped up while the soup is cooking. It's a nice accompaniment, not so much of a soaking bread like crusty bread, but delicious and filling. The soup in itself makes for a complete, nutritious meal with the beans adding a good amount of protein. I used leeks in this recipe, they lend a nice mellow onion flavor, but you can sub in an onion if you like. This turned out to be a great place to use up the leftover produce. I love cabbage in soups, this will be made many times to come. I'm happy to share another hearty soup for the recipe collection to inspire your senses, keeping you plant strong and loving it! 

Feel free to change up the vegetables. If you're missing one or two, you can still pull this together and have a wonderful soup. If you can't find leeks, use 1 medium onion, diced, in its place. For the cabbage, use your favorite here. I happen to have regular green cabbage on hand but savoy cabbage would be great too. 

For this time around I chose to use herbes de provence. I love the combination of spices, especially the fennel that I find in this blend from The Spice Hunter. I also added in a teaspoon of fennel here because I love it. Feel free to use any spices you like as most of them will work well here. You can use 2 - 3 teaspoons of an Italian blend or combine a few herbs using 1 teaspoon each: thyme, oregano, rosemary. You can also use sage, marjoram or parsley, savory, etc...in any combination as long it equals about 1 tablespoon. 

When using Better Than Bouillon vegetable broth base, I never use the recommended serving size. I use just enough to flavor the water. For this recipe I used just under 2 teaspoons. This makes my jar last a lot longer and reduces the 'would be' sodium content per recipe. I've just recently (the last six months or so) been using their vegetable broth base and love it!

This is a one pot soup that's so easy to pull together. Saute the leeks, celery and carrots, add spices and garlic, cook a bit more. Add remaining ingredients ending with cabbage and white beans last as pictured above. Cover and simmer until cabbage and potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Serve with bread of choice. Enjoy often!

Ingredients

I've had a bag of black rice in my pantry for far too long. It's one of those items I use on occasion and thought it would be perfect for this a sushi dish. Black rice (aka purple, fortune, Emperor's or forbidden rice) is highly nutritious and a grain that we could all benefit from adding to our meal rotation. It's slightly more nutritious than brown rice and can be used in place of other colored rices, even in dessert recipes. Its main attribution over brown rice is the concentration of anthocyanin anti-oxidants in its dark color. The power of these anti-oxidants can be compared to that of blueberries and other dark colored fruits and vegetables. Its flavor and texture is about the same as brown rice and the nutritional profile is similar as well. After having it here, I can see myself grabbing for the black rice more often...its nutty texture and softly sweet undertone is delicious!

Sometimes it's just easier to throw your sushi ingredients into a bowl, which was just the case for me here. I started out by attempting to make sushi rolls. My knives were not sharp enough making it hard to cut the roll properly. I ended up simply eating it as a hand roll and decided to create a sushi bowl to share with you. I'll sharpen my knives and save the sushi roll for later. I kept the vegetables simple but you can make your sushi bowl your own by changing up the vegetables to whatever you have accessible in your area or on hand. Use julienned bell peppers, enoki mushrooms or pan seared sliced shitake mushrooms, shredded purple or green cabbage, pea shoots, etc. Add in some cubed tofu or edamame for added protein. Whatever vegetables you use, the creamy spicy sauce will finish it off and make it all come together beautifully!  I've been into creamy sauces lately, they're something so satisfying to me, and this was another dressing that hit the spot. As well as being so simple to put together, the dressing can double as a dip or dressing making it versatile. Altogether, this is an easy to throw together sushi bowl that you can enjoy whenever the craving strikes!

Rinse rice well under cool running water using a fine mesh sieve. In a small sauce pan, bring rice and water to a boil, cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook for 25 minutes without disturbing. When done remove lid and let rest about 10 minutes, fluff with fork. Please check your package for cooking directions just in case, this was mine.

In a small bowl, mix all the dressing ingredients together, cover and set aside. Add more water to thin your dressing, add more tahini to make it thicker.

To serve, add 1/2 of the rice (about 1/2 cup) into your serving dish and arrange the prepared vegetables over top or to the side. Drizzle with dynamite sauce and add a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Enjoy your deconstructed sushi bowl in all its creamy gloriousness!

Serves 2.
Notes: 

If you don't have tahini on hand, use any vegan mayo of choice, about 1/2 cup + a tablespoon or so of water to thin if needed. Omit the lemon/vinegar juice.

Change up the vegetables using colored bell peppers, pan seared julienned shitake mushrooms, shredded purple or green cabbage,  peas shoots, etc. 

Add in some cubed tofu or edamame for added protein.

This salad featuring the king of leafy greens has been a perfect match for my lighter fare cravings. It's sweet with the cranberries and bell pepper, a bit citrusy from the dressing and crunchy from the carrots, kale and sunflower seeds. Everything adds up to nice flavor and texture. My favorite way to enjoy a kale salad is to let the kale marinate with the dressing for about an hour. This will help relax the kale and take some of the bitterness away. Making your salad this way makes for a great pack-n-go lunch option. Your salad will be softened and ready by the time lunch comes. When your looking to add some freshness into your diet, I think you'll find this to be a great inspiration!

If you don't already know, KALE is a power house of nutrients. It's loaded with anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory support as well as being rich in calcium, iron and vitamin K, A & C. It aids in the body's detoxifying process and offers cardiovascular support. But even with all this goodness, you may have heard that too much kale is not so good. That is true for some. Kale is a green that may be best consumed moderately, especially for those with kidney and gallbladder issues because of the high amounts of oxalates. If you're in good health, kale can be consumed on a fairly regular basis without much concern. Look for organic kale whenever possible. The 'dirty dozen' list has been revised to be the 'dirty dozen plus' with kale/collards greens coming in at #16 of produce with highest amounts of pesticide residue.

Ingredients

Make 2 - 3 of these wraps at a time storing them in individual containers for the next day or two as a lunch or snack. They will hold up well and actually allow the bread to soften a bit in the refrigerator.

I have my cucumbers in long slabs but you can cut them in long 1/4 - 1/2 inch strips instead.