grilled broccolini and cauliflower

Leave a comment June 25, 2019 nourishinggrace

A ‘word’ spoken from the heart of the hermit, as from the Holy Spirit, in the language of the desert, is considered revealed and authentic and the one who requests it, receives it as the fruit of Grace, without elaborating on it in his mind. This ‘word’ from the spiritual father is absolutely necessary for the one who asks. The ‘word’ comes from a soul which is the friend of God, wounded by the love of God, and is spoken in accordance with the measure of ‘thirst’ of the one who asks. As the Holy Mother of God, conceived the Word of God and gave birth to the Theanthropos Christ, becoming therefore the ‘joy of all creation’ in the same way, do the Fathers, because of their purity, conceive the word and transmit it to those who thirst for it, becoming for them their joy…
A Night in the Desert of the Holy Mountain : Metropolitan Of Nafpakos Hierotheos

Fasting for our family these days needs to be an effort in absolute simplicity. If I find I have a lot of time, I will make something that requires for time, but mostly I find myself making tapas style meals for dinner. Leftovers mixed with side dishes and meals prepared the same day. It’s how my German family eat. Dinner is a simple affair – because that is also the time of day when I am getting a little tired.

This Grilled Broccolini and Cauliflower has pine nuts that give it a little nuttiness and goes nicely with the caramelization on the veggies. It is a great side dish because you can grill it in the oven while you prepare the rest of the evening meal.

Grilled Broccolini and Cauliflower with Pine Nuts

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower
3 bunches of broccolini
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove of garlic minced
pinch of celtic sea salt
pinch of pepper
4 tablespoons pine nuts

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350F
Wash and cut cauliflower into bite sized florets
Wash and cut off ends of broccolini (I cut them up and freeze them to use later in mashed potatoes)
Place olive oil, pepper, salt and minced garlic in a large mixing bowl and whisk together. Add cauliflower and broccolini to the large bowl and toss to coat evenly.
Place vegetables on a large cooking pan and place in preheated oven.
Place pine nuts evenly in a saute pan over low heat. Stir constantly until fragrant and a little toasted. Not more than 10 minutes.
Bake for 45 minutes or just until the edges get a little crispy and brown..
Remove cooked veggies from oven and place in serving dish.

Enjoy!

lenten quinoa cakes

Leave a comment December 14, 2017 nourishinggrace

seek Him with your whole heart (Jer 29:13)

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The Lord seeks a heart filled to overflowing with love for God and our neighbour; this is the throne on which He loves to sit and on which He appears in the fullness of His heavenly glory. ‘Son, give Me thy heart,’ He says, ‘and all the rest I Myself will add to thee (Prov. 23:26; Matt. 6:33),’ for in the human heart the Kingdom of God can be contained. The Lord commanded His disciples: Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things (Mat. 6:32,33).

Saint Seraphim of Sarov

Lenten Quinoa Cakes with Zucchini and Hummus

This recipe is adapted from a family favorite at Le Pain Quotidien cafe. The quinoa is a good source of protein during the fasting periods of the Liturgical year. Combined with whole wheat bread and hummus and you have all the amino acids, which means it is also a complete protein, and that is important to your health.

These cakes are kind like a burger served over hummus and topped with fresh avocado

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 fresh raw zucchini grated (can be any color – we used green)
1 small white onion, minced
1 cup chickpeas, cooked and mashed coarsely (we use a potato masher)
2 cups cooked quinoa (rinse your quinoa before cooking – quinoa can actually be bitter and rinsing it has the effect to remove that bitter quality)
1 tablespoon each resh oregano and thyme
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 cup marinara sauce for garnish (we use Victoria brand from Costco)
fresh avocado for garnish
fresh hummus

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix all ingredients except hummus, marinara sauce, olive oil, and avocado in a bowl and mix to incorporate well.

Press the quinoa mixture into a loaf pan Really press it together because you want it to adhere to itself, since we will slice it and sautee it in a pan to finish it off.

Place in oven and cook for 45 minutes. It should be fragrant when it is done.

Once it is cooked you can either place in the refrigerator to use the next day or carefully slice pieces of the quinoa loaf and place on a heated seasoned cast iron skillet with olive oil. Cook on both sides until brown.

Serve over hummus and top with a few spoons of marinara sauce and avocado.

Goes great with a fresh green salad!

Enjoy and may your fasting be blessed.

crunchy bean salad

Leave a comment July 7, 2016 nourishinggrace

“Water falls from heaven as rain, and while it is always the same in itself, it produces many different effects, one in the palm tree, another in the vine, and so on, throughout the whole of creation. It does not descend, now as one thing, now as another, but while remaining essentially the same, it adapts to the needs of every creature that receives it. In the same way the Holy Spirit, whose nature is always the same, simple and indivisible, apportions grace to each person as He wills. Like a dry tree which puts forth shoots when watered, the soul brings forth the fruit of holiness when repentance makes it worthy of receiving the Holy Spirit. Although the Spirit never changes, the effects of His action, by the will of God and in the name of Christ, are both many and marvelous.” Saint Cyril of Jerusalem

It’s “bean” a while since writing on the blog. This past year beckoned reprioritizing – faith, family, homeschool and also really to focus on completing my Master’s Degree. No, I am not done, but almost! Yay!

We’ve also been battling Lyme disease in this home and I tell you, it is formidable – and affects everyone different! Lord have mercy. It really turned our lives upside down. However, all signs are that my loved one is almost done with treatment and that is a tremendous blessing.

In many ways, the year of Lyme Disease has been a blessing too… just in it’s very own way.

That aside, it’s also “bean” a long time since I have made a bean salad, but since the farmer’s market this week was so plentiful with green beans – I brought home a whole bunch!

This salad is a riff on that old picnic favorite the “three bean salad”. What I like so much about this is that the beans are green and crunchy, unlike the one I remember from my youth with watery faded green canned beans. You could easily make this with wax beans or a combination of string beans too.

Crunch Green Bean Salad

Ingredients:

3/4 pound of beans – washed and trimmed
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup finely sliced red onion
1 Tbspn extra virgin olive oil (currently we are using a local favorite, Spartan’s for our salads – it is very tasty and comes in a cute reusable ceramic bottle. Refills come in a convenient pouch)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts or pecans
1 finely chopped red pepper
Salt and pepper to taste

For the preparation, bring a pot of water to a boil and add the trimmed and cut green beans. You only need to cook them for 3-5 minutes or less. Test them to make sure they are still crunchy and retain that bright green color. Once done, immediately place them into a bowl of cold water. This will stop the cooking process.

Drain the beans in a collander and put them into your salad bowl. Add all remaining ingredients and toss well. Salt and pepper to taste.

You can make this the day before, the flavors just get better and better over night! Great for a picnic and for any summertime meal!

massaged kale salad

Leave a comment May 14, 2015 nourishinggrace

This Massaged Kale Salad is one of my favorites, especially when there are fresh strawberries in season at the market. Fresh picked strawberries are a sweet addition to the earthy kale and the citrus dressing. Kale is a superfood that deserves room on every plate. Most recipes for massaged kale salads call for green apples or other fruit, but I think the strawberries are the best. Massaging the kale in an olive oil, lemon and salt dressing has the effect of cooking the kale. The lemon also makes the iron content in the kale far more bioavailable (that means you absorb more!).

I hope you enjoy this kale salad!

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Massaged Kale Salad with Farm Fresh Strawberries

1 bunch fresh kale, washed
1-1/2 cups fresh organic strawberries (from the farmer’s market is the best)
2 tablespoons olive oil (expeller pressed)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup minced red onion
fresh juice of 1/2 lemon
optional : 1/2 cucumber, cut into small cubes
optional : 1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds, slivered almonds or pine nuts
optional: 3 teaspoons fresh oregano or marjoram finely chopped

Gather your ingredients.

Stem and chop the kale. Place in large bowl and drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice and salt.

Massage kale gently with your hands for five to ten minutes.

Toss with the strawberries, onion and other optional ingredients (if using).

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Enjoy!

lenten spring asparagus

Leave a comment April 3, 2015 nourishinggrace

This super yummy Lenten Spring Asparagus pairs well as a side dish with any lenten meal. If you want, you can substitute it as your salad, because it can be served warm or cold.

A crunchy veggie dish like this is also great for those nights when you have everything tapas style…. little bowls of lots of leftovers or dips and sauces and breads.

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Lenten Spring Asparagus

Ingredients

1 pound fresh asparagus

1 teaspoon lemon zest (organic lemon – wash it before you zest)

6 kalamata olives pitted and sliced (you can use any variety)

If you are not fasting, drizzle with extra virgin cold or expeller pressed olive oil

Wash your asparagus and cut the bottom inch and a half off. Leave the stalks long. Heat a large non-stick skillet and place asparagus in it. You should hear a sizzling sound. Let it cook for about five minutes. You can move it around, but I like to leave it in one place so the part of the asparagus on the pan gets a little caramelized. It should have a bright green color when you take it off, and also still have a crispiness to it. (Cooking note: Some people like to boil their asparagus, but I prefer not too simply because vitamins and minerals will leach into the water – you get less nutrition that way.)

Place on serving dish. Salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle zest and olives on top of the asparagus.

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Enjoy.

Whole foods…. they are good for you! Asparagus is an anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory food. It is full of vitamins, minerals and fiber. “Fermented olives” have probiotics and healthy bacteria and health protective nutrients. The real surprise though is the lemon peel. Lemon peel is a source of lemonene, which is a phytochemical found to prevent and even treat cancer in animals. Lemonene is supportive of our livers (which are amazing) and a strong inducer of liver detoxification enzymes that neutralize carcinogens. Lenten or not, this is a very healthy side dish.

lenten chili with guacamole

Leave a comment March 27, 2015 nourishinggrace

This lenten vegetarian chili with guacamole is an easy weeknight favorite and if you end up with leftovers – it tastes even better the day after!

Chili can spark great debates about how it should be eaten. Whether you like yours on it’s own or with rice, is up to you. During Lent, we always serve our chili over brown rice. The reason is a little nutrition combined with traditional know how that amounts to a complete protein on your plate.

There are twenty different amino acids that can form a protein, nine of these amino acids, our body can’t produce on its own. In order to be considered “complete,” a protein must contain all nine of these essential amino acids in roughly equal amounts. For this reason, these nine amino acids are considered essential amino acids —we need them in food form because our body can not synthesize these from other available amino acids. Since proteins are the building blocks of the body this becomes a consideration during long periods of fasting.

The majority of plants and grains do not contain complete proteins; however, meat, dairy, seafood and eggs do. During long meatless and dairy-less periods it is possible to obtain the necessary protein for our diets through the combining of certain foods. Traditional and ethnic fasting recipes tend to combine legumes and grains in some fashion.

While it is not necessary to consume complete proteins at every meal, over the course of a day or days it makes a difference. The following food combinations yield a complete complement of amino acids.

Grains (rice, corn, wheat, barley, etc.) and legumes (peas, beans, lentils)
Seeds (Sesame or sunflower) and legumes
Hummus and pita
lentils and rice

These are good examples of combining foods such that all 9 of the essential amino acids are present.

Aside from proper combining of foods, the following are good plant sources of complete protein to include in your diet.

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Quinoa

Buckwheat

Soy (tempeh, sprouted tofu and miso)

Hempseed

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Chia

Soy

Rice and Beans

Now, for the chili.

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lenten chili with guacamole

Ingredients

2 cups of any combination of the following beans : red kidney beans, white kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans

1 onion red or yellow, diced

2 carrots diced.

5 cloves minced garlic

1/4 – 1/2 cup chili powder (we use Penzey’s regular). Use your judgement here, different chili strengths for different palates.

Salt and pepper to taste

2 chopped red peppers

1 carrot, chopped small

2- 14 oz cans diced organic tomatoes

3 cups water

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The night before, place beans in a bowl and fill to cover with water. Leave until you are ready to make chili.

To make the chili, rinse beans and place in large pot with water to cover. Turn the heat to high to bring to boil and reduce to medium. Skim any foam that accumulates. Cook for an hour. When the beans are done drain. You may reserve some of the cooking liquid.

When the beans are almost done (they will begin to soften), saute the onion, red pepper, carrots and chili powder with 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot. Saute for three minutes, until the chili powder becomes fragrant.

Add remaining ingredients.

Cook over low simmer, with loose lid on the pot, for approximately 45 minutes. Check on the consistency, you may cook longer if you like a thicker chili.

Serve over brown rice topped with a hearty scoop of guacamole (2 avocados, 1/2 clove garlic, bunch cilantro chopped, 2 tablespoons red onion chopped, juice of one lime – mash it all together).

yummy.

Lenten red lentil dahl

Leave a comment March 16, 2015 nourishinggrace

This is one of my favorite recipes, both during Lent and throughout the year. It is simple to make, tastes great and everyone loves it. Serve the red lentil dahl over brown rice, with some warmed whole wheat naan, and you have an easy weeknight meal that only tastes better as a leftover.

Ginger is a spice which is very healthy for the stomach, and it has a peppery bite to it. Try to use fresh ginger and grate it with a microplane grater if you have one, otherwise just mince it with a knife. If you plant your ginger root in a pot and put it on a sunny window, you can grow more ginger root for free!

Red lentils are nutrient laden and restorative to our bodies. The ginger and turmeric lend anti-inflammatory qualities to this soothing meal. Although this is an Indian lentil dish, lentils in general are a traditional meal during Lent.

My favorite spices are from Penzey’s They began as an online store and their spices are very flavorful, but more than that, very affordable. 4 ounces of most Penzey’s costs less than McCormick’s, Spice Hunter and other spice brands at the grocery stores. So for example, at Walmart, McCormick’s ground cumin costs $4.48 for 1.5 ounces, whereas at Penzeys you’ll spend $5.69 for a 4 ounce bag of a better quality more flavorful cumin.

I have found this to be the same, across the board for all of Penzeys spices.

Lenten Red Lentil Dahl

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Ingredients:

1 cup red lentils (they are actually orange)
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1–3 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons oil or butter or ghee or coconut oil (optional)
1 teaspoon powdered cumin
1 teaspoon powdered coriander
2 medium sized carrots diced (about 1 cup)

Rinse red lentils and soak for 2–12 hours. This step is not as critical with lentils as with larger beans, but it does help to neutralize any phytic acid present in beans and grains. Phytic acid binds to the minerals in the beans and therefore makes your absorption of these minerals difficult. Turns out our grandmothers knew what they were doing! Traditional preparations are generally more nourishing…. even if they do take a little tiny bit more time.

Place all ingredients in a pot or large high rimmed pan. Bring to simmer and cook for 45 minutes or until liquid has drained.

Serve over brown rice. My favorite way to make rice for this dish is 2 cups brown rice, 3 cups water, 1 cup coconut milk. It makes a tasty coconut-ty rice that goes really well with the dal.

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Enjoy.

panang curry Lenten soup

Leave a comment March 13, 2015 nourishinggrace

A very good tip for the fast, that we discovered some years back, is to make meals that were meant to be vegetarian or vegan in the first place. We wanted to embrace the fast with joy, as we are taught… but each fake hamburger, or look a-like taco made us just wish we were eating meat.

My first visit to an Orthodox monastery was five or six years ago and it was during Great Lent. The food on their table was simple and great. The meals also seemed very traditional – recipes that were meant to be Lenten. I had my four year old daughter with me. She loved everything they served! So the next year, we decided to eat fasting foods that were never intended to contain meat in the first place – a lot are asian or middle eastern or Ethiopian inspired. We didn’t want fake cheese or burgers or other imitations. We wanted real food.

Finding recipes that are meat free to begin with has made a joyful difference at our table.

I hope you will like this delicious Thai coconut panang curry soup. It is made from simple ingredients – and the vegetables can be rotated to what is in season in your area, or to include any specific varieties that you especially enjoy.

This is the way we like it, if it is too sour, just reduce the amount of lime.

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Ingredients

2 cans coconut milk – Native Forest is a great brand
1/4 red onion diced
1/4 cup lime juice
Thai red curry paste – to taste
one container firm organic tofu (very important to get organic. Trader Joes has a fermented organic tofu)
1 cup green beans, ends cut of and sliced into bite sized portions
1 cup chopped portabello or other mushroom you like
1 cup baby bok choy, chopped (about 4 small baby bok chops)
2 inches ginger root peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 cups vegetable broth, plus a little extra to deglaze pan.

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Preparation

Open tofu package and cut into small squares. Lay these flat on a thick layer of paper towels. Cover with another thick layer of paper towels. You can leave it like this, or place a cutting board on top of them. This is to drain the excess water away. Otherwise it just gets soggy.

Prepare all of your remaining ingredients and have them by the stove. This is the step that dramatically changed the results of our cooking. Having the mis en place staged so that you can concentrate on cooking rather than cutting and watching the stove at the same time reduces the possibility that your dinner will burn.

If you have a wok, then this is a good recipe for it. If not, a large frying pan – well seasoned cast iron or non stick is good.

Over medium heat, add toasted sesame oil and coat the pan. Add the tofu and cook until the sides are brown, About five minutes. Remove from pan and lay on paper towels so that it can drain.

In a soup pot, pour coconut milk, vegetable broth, sliced ginger and lime juice. Let simmer while you cook the vegetables.

Add mushrooms to wok/frying pan. Cook over medium heat. If you are using a wok, move to the side and add the bok choy and green beans. You’ll want the mushrooms well done, the bok choy and beans still a little crispy. If it gets dry or if the veggies start to stick, add in some of the vegetable broth.

With a strainer remove ginger from the broth. Sample and add salt to taste.

Add one heaping teaspoon of panang curry paste and taste. I purposely have not added a measurement for the curry, because frankly different brands vary widely in their flavor. Make this tasty for you. We actually add the curry straight to the soup bowls, the younger ones don’t want as much so they just get a hint of it.

plating the vegetables and tofu

Now you can add all of the vegetables and tofu into the broth, or begin to plate the vegetables into the bowls separately – like we do – and add the broth on top of it.

Claudia and Kates soup

We plate the veggies and tofu separately into the bowls because, in my family, we have three girls, some of who like mushrooms and onions and some who don’t. The one who doesn’t like them, really really doesn’t like them. So the mushrooms and onions go to the bowls in the measure of how well each one will enjoy it. Though we have a general rule in our house that you have to try everything, I have to admit that as a girl, I did not like mushrooms… not at all.

And during the Fast, well, it just seems better to have mercy and give them what they will like, so that they too will embrace the Fast with joy.

Erika’s Soup

lenten winter curry squash soup

Leave a comment March 7, 2015 nourishinggrace

This lenten curry squash soup is born out of several squashes from our CSA box that have just been sitting on the kitchen counter. You really can use any winter squash variety. We used a sugar pumpkin, butternut and acorn squash – so this is more of a triple squash soup.

Use whatever winter squash you have on hand, or that you can find in the market. Kabocha squash would be great in this spiced squash soup too.

A note about the curry paste. We used to buy our curry paste from the local Thai market (oriental grocery stores have awesome spices). Sadly, our local Thai market closed. So for now I am using the Taste of Thai brand. It is not as spicy and flavorful as the brand in the Thai Grocery, but is still good.

The base of this soup is the vegetable.mineral.broth. That is why there is no salt in the final recipe. If you are not fasting, chicken stock will work nicely here too.

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Ingredients:

4-5 pounds winter squash : kabocha, acorn, butternut, pumpkin
1 medium onion chopped
3-4 cups vegetable broth
1 can coconut milk
2 tablespoons red curry (or more to taste)
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375F. Cut squashes in half and spoon out seeds. Place cut side down on a cookie sheet and place in oven. Bake for one hour or until tender. Remove from oven and spoon out squash meat into separate bowl.

Sautee onion over medium heat. Add 2 cups of vegetable broth and cooked squash. Add spices and coconut milk. Using an immersion blender, mix the soup until it is entirely pureed. Check the consistency, add more broth if it is too thick.

Garnish with cilantro, avocado or parsley.

Enjoy.

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Alternatively, you can make this a sage and thyme based soup. Omit the coconut milk, use an extra cup of vegetable broth and add to the sautéing onions one tablespoon of fresh sage and thyme.

There are so many variations to this soup, play with the ingredients and find what you like best.

homemade hummus

1 Comment March 5, 2015 nourishinggrace

No matter how many different varieties of hummus there are on the market, your own will taste better than all of them. People always ask for this hummus recipe, so it’s written down here for all. This is a basic recipe, and you can make it your own by adding roasted red peppers, ground olives, roasted eggplant or caramelized onions. This is a garlicky recipe. You can reduce the amount of garlic to your taste.

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Ingredients

2 cups cooked chickpeas. Preferred are chickpeas that have been soaked over night and cooked, but canned are fine too. Put some of the cooking water aside, in case you need to thin out your hummus.

3 garlic cloves

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup tahini (this is a sesame paste )

salt to taste

Optional : extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

Add chickpeas, peeled garlic, salt, tahini, lemon juice to food processor or very heavy duty blender. Turn on for about 1 minute. Scrape down sides if necessary. Check consistency of the hummus. You can add some of the water that you used to cook the chickpeas to get to desired texture. If you do not have any of that water, use tap water.

Taste for saltiness. Our experience is that the hummus requires a fair amount of salt.

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Enjoy with whole wheat pita or naan bread. Hummus is also great dip for veggies, like carrots and red peppers.

When I was younger and in college, I spent a fair amount of time in the home of my Jordanian Palestinian very good friend. Her mom made (and still does) the best hummus. She would drizzle a very good amount of olive oil atop of the hummus and scoop it up in fresh pita. This a fond memory for me, and despite how great this hummus tastes… hers tastes fantastically better.

And of course that could have everything to do with their great company and friendship.