Cowboy Caviar

Cowboy Caviar, Cristie Mabey

2/3 cup lime juice                   

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ teaspoon chili powder                

1 ½ teaspoon cumin                                          

1/2 teaspoon salt                    

                                   

1 can each red, black, and white beans

1 small sweet potato, cooked and diced small

1 orange pepper, diced small

8 oz frozen corn

1 small onion

¼ cup chopped cilantro

1 tomato, diced small

1 avocado, diced small

Mix dressing together.  Drain and rinse beans and corn.  Mix together and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Before serving cut up tomato and avocado.   Serve with chips or on a bed of lettuce.

Santa Rosa Rice Salad

1 box long grain and wild rice, cooked

1 cup brown rice (yield 3 cups of cooked rice)

juice of 1 lemon

2 chicken breasts, cooked, cooled and chopped, optional

4 green onions, chopped

1 1/2  red bell peppers, sliced in thin julienne slices, then diced

1- 1 ½ cups Pea pods, diced on an angle

2 avocados diced small

1 cup pecans, toasted and large chopped 

1 pound of spinach, chiffonade style

Cutting ingredients into small consistent pieces makes for a nice salad. The nuts should be bigger in size so the flavor stands out.

Dressing:

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon salt, optional

¼ teaspoon black pepper

½ cup rice vinegar

Mix together all ingredients except avocado and pecans the day before or at least several hours before serving.  Stir in avocado and pecans and serve on a bed of chiffonade spinach or other leafy green.

Chocolate Zucchini Banana Muffins 
(OR chocolate spinach, green apple banana muffins) 

1 ½ cup mashed bananas

3 tablespoons oil

1 egg

1/3 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups zucchini, grated and drained

1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

¼ cup flax meal

¼ cup cocoa

1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional

1 teaspoon baking soda

1  teaspoon baking powder

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine bananas, oil, egg, vanilla, zucchini and honey. In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients then mix the two bowls together stirring in chocolate chips.  Spoon batter into greased muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes.  Cool in pan for 5 minutes and release. Makes 2 dozen muffins.

Candace has made these muffins replacing the zucchini with spinach and a green apple. She makes a double batch, uses a total of 7 cups of puree (4 bananas, green apple, spinach in blendtek) and leaves the chocolate chips out.

Chocolate Plant Based Gluten-Free Spinach Muffins (Cristie's version)

1 lb organic spinach

2 organic green apples

4 ripe organic bananas

½ cup water

3 tablespoons flax meal

1 ½ cup oat flour

1 cup almond flour

1 cup gluten free flour (or any flour of choice if gluten free isn’t an issue)

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ cup flax meal

½ cup cocoa

2 teaspoons espresso powder

½ cup honey

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup mini chocolate chips, dairy free

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix flax eggs in ½ cup water and 3 tablespoons flax meal, set aside. In a high-speed blender mix spinach, cored and chunked green apples and the bananas, blend until smooth. Mix dry ingredients together (not the chocolate chips). Add the remaining wet ingredients to the blender and stir.  Pour the wet into the dry and mix well.  Mix in the chocolate chips.  Spray muffin tins (medium size), using a medium size ice cream scoop fill muffin tins.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Repeat.  Should make about 4 dozen muffins.

For a higher loft, add 2 eggs.

Vegetable Stir Fry with Chinese Brown Sauce

Quick and easy dinner that tastes delicious, vegetable stir fry with Chinese brown sauce.  Use vegetables you have on hand, including broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, green onions, celery, pea pods, red pepper, etc.  Prepare vegetables by cutting to similar size allowing heat to cook at the same rate.  Heat a cast iron skillet big enough to hold vegetables.  When hot add 1 to 2 tablespoons water and add vegetables.  Let sit  unstirred until a brown char forms on the bottom of the vegetables.  Begin sauce by grating 1 tablespoon ginger and mince 1 clove garlic, set aside. In a liquid measuring cup mix the following sauce ingredients and stir to combine corn starch. When vegetables are cooked push them to one side and add 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Add the ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant.  Pour in sauce mixture and cook until thick, one or two minutes. Serve with brown basmati rice.

Chinese Brown Sauce

1 teaspoon each of grated ginger and minced garlic, set aside
3/4 cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoons tamari or light soy sauce
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon cornstarch
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Brown Rice Mujadarra with Mixed Herbs, bon appetite (revisions by Cristie Mabey)

4 cups vegetable broth

1 cup brown rice

1 cup French green or brown lentils

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon cumin

½ lemon juiced

2 large onions, thinly sliced

16 oz. mushrooms, chopped finely

1 cup fresh herbs (mint, parsley, or cilantro)
1/4 teaspoon paprika 

lemon slices for serving

Bring broth to a boil in large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add rice, lentils and bay leaf and return to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, and simmer until rice and lentils are tender, 35-40 minutes.  Remove pan from heat and let sit 5-10 minutes, there should still be some broth remaining.  Discard bay leaf and season with salt and pepper, cumin and the juice of 1/2 of lemon. Set rice mixture aside.

In a hot medium skillet (I use cast iron) add 1 or 2 tablespoons water and onions.  Cook over medium heat until onions begin to caramelize, 15 minutes.  Add mushrooms and continue caramelizing the onions until they are golden brown and soft, stir in the paprika.

Serve on a bed of lettuce as a salad or as a side dish, with lemon wedges for squeezing over.  Traditionally the dish is served in layers with the rice and lentil mixture on the bottom, then the onions and a dollop of yogurt on the top.