Wonderful Weird Wecipes

Yes. I know how to spell recipes. I'm trying to be funny. Geez. =)

These aren't just wonderful and weird, they are also delicious, nutritious, vegan or vegetarian and gluten-free.

Kale-Quinoa Salad
I originally created this as a way to save time. I was having kale chips and quinoa and I thought "I could mix these together and this whole eating thing would go a lot faster." (Not that you should EVER rush eating, unless you have somewhere to be in 20 minutes and won't get to eat for another eight hours after that. Cut me some slack, here). =) As it turned out, the crispy kale was a lovely texture to compliment the soft quinoa. An idea was born. Soon thereafter I was making dinner, and decided to get a bit more creative. I roasted cherry tomatoes AND kale, and mixed both with quinoa. It was DELICIOUS served hot alongside poached salmon! Hooray! I had some leftovers and realized it was even good cold the next day, and although the kale was no longer crispy, it did still have a lovely roasted flavor. That led me to try a version intentionally served cold, almost like a pasta salad to have with a cookout. I also played with garlic, herbs, the cooking liquid for the quinoa, adding additional roasted vegetables like beets for color contrast, adding nuts; the possibilities are really endless. Here are two versions I like - one hot and one cold.

Warm Kale-Quinoa Salad
(serve on its own - quinoa is a complete protein, you know! - or as a side dish with fish).
Ingredients:
1 bunch fresh kale, destemmed, rinsed, and pat dry with paper towels.
1 box (about 1.5 cups?) cherry tomatoes 
1 cup quinoa (if it isn't pre-washed, you need to rinse it).
2 cups water or vegetable stock.
2-6 cloves of minced garlic.
1 tsp cumin (or whatever you're in the mood for, honestly. I love cumin).
2 tablespoons olive oil (approximate. You'll roast the kale and cherry tomatoes in it and need some to saute the garlic for the quinoa. I don't really measure olive oil, normally! Sorry I can't be more precise).
salt to taste (optional)
lemon or vinegar to taste (optional)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Toss your kale with about a tablespoon of olive oil and a light sprinkle of salt. On a separate baking sheet, toss your cherry tomatoes (DON'T cut them) with just enough olive oil to lightly coat them and a light sprinkle of salt. Remember when salting the components that they are all going to end up in the same bowl, so you don't want to overdo it! This is like Jenny Schecter's book, you guys. Any L Word fans know what I'm talking about?? Roast in the 325 degree oven and check every 10 minutes, shaking the tomatoes to roll them around and flipping your kale over. You want the kale to be mostly crisp and not too brown. (The reality is if you put an entire bunch of kale on one baking sheet, it's never going to get perfectly crisp. So if you have two ovens (lucky!) and lots of baking sheets, you can be crazy meticulous about spreading your kale out so it ALL gets perfectly crisp. I don't have the time or the luxury. Alas). The tomatoes will get all nice and wrinkly like they spent too much time in the bathtub. It usually takes about 20-30 minutes, but check back frequently!

Meanwhile, heat about a teaspoon of olive oil in a saucepan (that you have the matching lid for on hand. Not that I have mixed and matched pots and pans in MY house), on medium-high heat. Saute your garlic and cumin for about a minute, until it just gets golden, and then add the quinoa. Stir, stir, stir, and listen to the lovely sound of the quinoa beginning to roast and pop. (Toasting quinoa DRAMATICALLY improves the flavor, in my opinion. You can (again) be really meticulous (with your 12 ovens) and do this on a cookie sheet so each individual grain turns the same lovely color of brown. I, however, cheat and stir it up in the pot for about a minute. I'm getting really jealous of your 12 ovens, though). You'll start to recognize the SMELL that means it's as toasted as it's going to get without burning. =) Add the water or vegetable stock, stir, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and cover. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed.

Put your quinoa in a big bowl. Add the roasted kale and the roasted cherry tomatoes. Mix it all up and taste it. You might dig the rich, olive oil flavor and be good to go. You might want some acid to balance it and squeeze a lemon into it, or sprinkle some type of vinegar over it - I like red wine or apple cider. Ohhh, but I've not tried balsamic with this... hmm!

EAT IT. Yum. =)

Cold Kale-Quinoa Salad
Ingredients: 
1 bunch fresh kale, destemmed, rinsed, and pat dry with paper towels.
1 box (about 1.5 cups?) cherry tomatoes 
1 cup quinoa (if it isn't pre-washed, you need to rinse it).
2 cups water or vegetable stock.
2-6 cloves of minced garlic.
1 tsp cumin (or whatever you're in the mood for, honestly. I love cumin).

Cold Kale-Quinoa Salad

2 tablespoons olive oil (approximate. You'll roast the kale in it and need some to saute the garlic for the quinoa. I don't really measure olive oil, normally! Sorry I can't be more precise).
salt to taste (optional)
lemon or vinegar to taste (optional)
1-2 ripe avocados

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Toss your kale with about a tablespoon of olive oil and a light sprinkle of salt. Roast for about 20-30 minutes, checking and turning/tossing every 10 minutes or so. I like the kale as crispy as possible for this one, but not burnt. Prepare your quinoa as directed above. Mix it all up and add olive oil and an acid (lemon or vinegar) to taste. Toss the qunioa with the kale and refrigerate. When you are ready to eat it, add the cherry tomatoes (sliced in half) and the avocado (cubed) and toss together. Check for seasonings - add salt, pepper, red pepper flakes - whatever floats your boat. SERVE! Yum.

Poached eggs in Cabbage Nests

Poached eggs in Cabbage Nests

Quarter a Savoy cabbage and cut out the core. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Pour a bit of olive oil (a teaspoon, perhaps) onto each of four squares of aluminum foil. Roll the quarters in the oil so it is covered and season with salt and pepper, then wrap the aluminum foil tightly around the cabbage. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 15 minutes until they are roasted to your liking.
Serve one or two poached eggs inside each quarter of cabbage. If you really want your eggs to be in a nest, remove a few of the inside leaves (and eat them!) so the eggs have somewhere to go.
It's a weird but super delicious combination, and avocado goes well with poached eggs ALWAYS.
Enjoy!

Aim True - Day 13

Lord have mercy, I'm counting points again.

Yep, I bit the bullet and joined Weight Watchers online this week. I guess my aim really is starting to get a little more focused, and three weeks of solid yoga practice has me ready to make all sorts of little shifts and changes in my life.

I'm pretty good at eating healthy, whole foods. I eat lots of vegetables and whole grains and fish and such. But I'm not so good at portion control or saying no to mindless snacking, and I seem to have lost my touch when it comes to meal planning. I think it's because as of late my schedule has left me without a lot of time for actual meals, unless they are ready ahead of time, which has turned into me snacking all day between classes and working and then eating WAAAY too much at night. And this has left me not feeling my best.

So I've joined Weight Watchers for the 7 millionth time in my life, and I'm counting those pesky little points. Did you know that a Lara bar has six points?!? That's more than I would have expected. Tonight for dinner I had Kripalu Vegetarian Lentil Loaf and Millet Cauliflower Mash. (And some spinach and avocado! Yummy!) I dig that the WW program lets you enter entire recipes and then find out how many points are in each portion. (The Lentil Loaf has six points per serving and the Millet Cauliflower Mash has five points per serving, just in case you were curious!) I have mad respect for the fact that Weight Watchers assigns most fruits and vegetables ZERO points. As a big advocate of vegetables, I think this encourages people to eat more of them, and not bank their points for wine. (Who would THINK of something like that?!? ;)

Onto the yoga.


Heat and Fire Flow
Vinyasa Flow 
Level 2/3
Kathryn Budig

A 2/3 flow class sprinkled with arm balance and inversion goodness. Flow through a well rounded class with peaks of heat and fire the dive into the goodness of forward folds and a well deserved savasana. 

• Posted on YogaGlo on June 8, 2010, I took it for the first time today.
• 13/86 classes completed.
• 7/13 I had taken at least once before.
• Favorite Aim True practices so far:  

• Calm Your Monkey Mind and Master Hanumanasana
• Find the Connection to Your Core

Practice felt good tonight. Really good, in fact. I keep forgetting that I'm feeling better and stronger, and end up pleasantly surprised when the first few sun salutations feel like locking into something I know and understand and not like torture.

I even spent ten minutes after I finished the class practicing Ujjayi breath, and then I spent ten more minutes in seated meditation. My pranayama practice felt REALLY deep and cleansing.

So I'm starting the fourth week of 2012 feeling recommitted not just to my yoga practice but to a healthier lifestyle that honors my physical body. 

Onward!

Reality Yogi: This is Not a Vegan Kale Snack

Yep, I eat non-kale foods quite often.

In fact, I eat DAIRY. And MEAT. And lots of vegetables and fruits and grains and many other things.
So I present to you a really quick, non-vegan, non-kale snack that is still on the up and up nutritionally.


Puppodums with Simple Spiced Yogurt Dip

Have you ever had that really annoying, slightly less than 1/8 cup of yogurt left in the container? It's not quite enough to enjoy with berries, almonds and honey, but it's just too much to toss? I have the solution. It's a lovely mid-afternoon snack that won't blow your diet!

1) Grab a couple of microwavable puppodums from the cupboard. Spray both sides with cooking spray and place on a paper towel, folding the other half of the paper towel over them. Microwave for 30-60 seconds. Don't burn them - the puff up fast!

(What? You don't keep microwavable puppodums on hand? Well, you need to start. You can get them at Whole Foods (and probably other places) and they are a fantastic supplement to your favorite Indian curry dish. But what I ACTUALLY keep them on hand for are SNACKS. They are especially great night-time snacks when you really don't want to consume a lot of calories but get the munchies in a bad way. Each big ol' circle of crispy goodness only has 40 little calories, 7 carbs, 3.5 grams of protein and zero fat! Crunch, crunch!)

2) While your puppodums microwave, grab your yogurt. I tend to make this when I only have a little bit left and I can just mix the dip up in the container. No dirty dishes! Thow in a little bit of: salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, cumin, paprika. (You can play with the ratios. I literally do a little sprinkle of this, a dash of that, no measurements.) Mix.

3) Dip your crispy, crunchy, delicious puppodums into your spicy, rich yogurt dip. ENJOY!

Om Shanti! Happy eating!
The Reality Yogi

Granola!

I made granola! I made granola!!

The granola at Kripalu is LEGENDARY. During my month-long teacher training I ate it almost every single morning with organic yogurt. It was SO perfect after our 90 minute morning yoga practice, especially if that practice was particularly vigorous. In fact, I specifically remember very sweaty morning classes with Jovinna, Danny and Roger during which the only thing getting me through the class was the promise of granola. I'd be hovering in plank for what seemed like an eternity, watching the sweat drip onto my mat below me, and just think "granola-granola-granola-granola" over and over and over again. Ha!

I have been craving Kripalu granola ever since leaving the Berkshires two weeks ago, and today I found a few different recipes online claiming to be THE Kripalu granola. After reading them (and doing some general granola research) and coming to terms with what I could get at the local grocery store (i.e. NOT rye flakes or barley malt) I sort of made up my own recipe. It's not EXACTLY like that magical Kripalu granola, but it IS very delicious!!! Now that I have the granola-bug, though, I think I'm going to be doing a LOT of granola experiments.

So this is what I did today, in case you, too, are in the mood for some delicious granola!!

Mix together in large bowl:
9 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup flax seeds
2 cups shredded cocount

2 cups sunflower seeds
1 cup sesame seeds
2 cups chopped almonds
(set aside)

Combine in saucepan:
2/3 cups canola oil
1 & 1/3 cup maple syrup
(warm on medium heat for a couple of minutes)

Remove from heat and add:
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 tbs almond extract
1/4 tea maple extract
1 tea salt


Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture in two stages, combining well after each addition.

Spread the mixture onto two large baking sheets and press down with a spatula (or, let's be honest, your hands.)

Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. Unless you have a huge oven, you'll have to use two racks; I switched the position of the sheets in the oven after 20 minutes so they would bake evenly.

Cool for 30 minutes (the granola will harden and darken as it cools!) Break up, add raisins, and store in an air-tight container.

Serve with yogurt (I'm partial to Seven Stars Farm which you can usually find at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods) or milk or just snack on it dry!! Be careful, though. All those nuts and seeds means a little goes a long way, but it tastes so good that you may end up REALLY FULL before you know it. =) This is a powerhouse food!!

YUM!!