Archive | March, 2011

Breakfast Granola Parfait

30 Mar

I mentioned recently how I love the combination of fresh fruit, granola and yogurt for breakfast… so the other day I wanted to share it with my mom and friend. But I wanted to make it look pretty. That’s when I had the idea to layer it into a parfait. It would look far prettier than just mixing everything haphazardly in a bowl.

 

BREAKFAST GRANOLA PARFAIT

1 cup ricotta
1 cup vanilla yogurt
Squirt of honey
2 cups fresh strawberries, quartered
1 tbs brown sugar
2 cups granola
  1. In a bowl, mix the cut berries and mix in with the brown sugar to macerate. Allow the berries to release some of their own juice about 10 minutes.
  2. In a separate bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, yogurt and honey. Mix together well.
  3. In parfait glasses, or just some old-fashioned glasses, layer all the components – First add some yogurt/ricotta, then some fruit and end with some granola. Repeat again, yogurt/ricotta, fruit and granola. End up it some additional fruit on top.

Serve immediately. Serves about 3 parfaits.

The flavors are spectacular and the presentation is really nice, especially if you are entertaining for breakfast or brunch when you have special company, don’t you think??

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Sesame Seed Horchata

21 Mar

Last summer there was a conversation on Serious Eats about non-alcoholic drinks and how easy it is to make horchatas… and most people are familiar with the Mexican version of horchatas made from rice and cinnamon. However in Puerto Rico, horchatas are made from sesame seeds or as we call them in Spanish, ajonjolí.

I was not aware a horchata made from sesame seeds was so unique until Serious Eats editor, Adam Kuban, flagged my comment that week as something interesting on the SE Talk threads.

Sesame Seed Horchata is served a lot in our Yoga Center mostly because it’s a beverage that’s easy and economical to make. And the fact that it’s a great source of calcium and nutrition is an added plus.

It’s been awhile since I’ve made horchata at home. It’s not really difficult to make – hey, it only has 3 ingredients. But I do agree it’s a bit tedious and can be messy if you’re not organized. I made it with my new Magic Bullet, but you can certainly make this just the same in a blender.

This recipe makes about 96 ounces of horchata… but I have never ever measured the exact amount of water I use. This is something I have always “eye-balled”. But do not be intimidated by the lack of measurements… horchata is so forgiving that you’ll not mess it up. Here we go…

 

SESAME SEED HORCHATA

1 ½ cup sesame seeds – soaked in 3 cups water
1 cup brown sugar
Water

 

Start by soaking the sesame seeds in some filtered water. I like to soak the seeds for about 1 hour. This is certainly not necessary, but I think it helps extract more flavor and creaminess from the seeds. I soak in about 3 cups of water, just to give you an idea of the amount I use. Do not soak for too long (longer than 8-10 hours) because the water and seeds may start to ferment and will give you a weird aftertaste.

Sesame seeds just starting to soak...

After aboout 2-3 hours of soaking... See how much they plump?

  1. Gather all your equipment – a large pot with a fine sieve, a bowl to collect the sesame seeds after they’ve been blended once.  I also like to have the container where I’ll store the horchata with a funnel on hand.
  2. Drain all the water from the soaking seeds.
  3. Place some of the sesame seeds in the large container of your Magic Bullet or blender. Fill almost to the top with filtered water. Process for a few minutes in 30 second intervals to puree the seeds as much as possible.
  4. Drain the milky sesame seed pureed water over the sieve. Use a large spoon to move the slush around, but you don’t need to press extremely hard to release all the liquid. If you do, you’ll only push a lot of sediment into the finished horchata that will not be very palatable in the end. So there’s no need to use extra muscle for this. Allow gravity and a slight firm hand to do its job.
  6. Save the leftover seed slush in a bowl for re-processing. Repeat with all the never-processed seeds in the same way as before. I usually divide the original seeds into 4 batches because the Magic Bullet large container is not as big as a regular blender. If using a regular blender, I might divide into only 3 batches because you can accommodate more water too. After processing all the seeds once, reprocess in the exact same way, diving it into batches, but this time after passing it through the sieve, just discard the leftover seeds.
  7. Add the sugar with some additional water to the blender and process to break up the sugar and make it easier to dissolve in the horchata. Add the processed sugar water to the horchata. I usually get about 96 ounces of total liquid.
  8. Mix well all-together. Chill before serving.

The horchata will separate when standing in the fridge… but just mix well before serving.

This is an excellent source of calcium and is great to drink by itself, in oatmeals, other hot cereals and smoothies.

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Green Recipes for St. Patrick’s Day…

17 Mar

While living in Chicago, I got to experience St. Patrick’s Day in full blast… we all dressed up in green sweaters, green scarves, green hats or gloves to go downtown to watch the parade. The most impressive and distinctive thing is how they dye the Chicago River green. It looks awesome!!!

Afterwards, to take a break from the cold windy weather, we went to a PUB to eat some green things – green cabbage and green beans with mashed potatoes, and to drink the ever popular green beer. Really healthy and natural, right??

So in the spirit of that St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago a few moons back, here is a collection of a few “green vegetarian recipes” that will help you get you in the St. Patrick’s spirit. And I can assure you these recipes are way better for you than any ol’ green beer.

May the luck of the Irish accompany you until next St. Patrick’s Day…

Popeye Pizza

Asparagus Tart

Spinach Empanada

Spinach Empanada 4

Broccoli Salad

Green Olive Olivata

green-olive-tapenade1

Green Goddess Dressing

Green Godess Dressing

Arugula Pesto

Arugula Pesto 2

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Gluten-free Sun-dried Tomato Stuffed Mushrooms

16 Mar

I’m into mushrooms… they’re delicious and they’re easy and quick to make. And when recently I was invited to make something “different” for the Vegetarian Festival at the Yoga Center, I decided I wanted to make some stuffed mushrooms.

I love to buy white button mushrooms at Costco, but the package is SO BIG that it’s usually too much for just me at home. But if we’re cooking for the Yoga Center, I would certainly need 2 packages. Mushrooms are used in the yoga center, but they’re not a usual main dish occurrence because they’re usually expensive when cooking for lots of people. But I thought this is my chance to highlight how you can embellish a little old mushroom and make them be your main dish.

I used gluten-free crackers instead of regular breadcrumbs because there are a lot of people at the center who keep a gluten-free diet. They work just the same, you’ll see and taste.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GLUTEN-FREE SUN-DRIED TOMATO STUFFED MUSHROOMS

2 large packages of white stuffing mushrooms – about 40-45 mushrooms
1 medium onion, chopped finely
½ green bell pepper, chopped finely
2 garlic cloves, minced or grated on a microplane
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
10 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped in small pieces – make sure they’re made without sulfites as a preservative
½ cup of vegetable broth
1/2 packet of gluten-free crackers – I use Energy brand because that’s why I have available
1 cup of shredded parmesan cheese, organic preferably- divided
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese, organic preferably
1 cup of loosely-packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped finely
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil

 

  1. Clean the mushrooms well using a damp paper towel. They sometimes have traces of the dirt they were growing in. Remove the stems and chop them into small pieces and set aside. Reserve the caps for later use.
  2. In a small saucepan, heat the vegetable broth to a simmer and add the sundried tomatoes. After it simmers for a while, turn off the stove and let the tomatoes just sit in the hot broth for a few minutes to help them reconstitute a bit.
  3. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, pour a little olive oil and sauté the onions, peppers, garlic and the mushrooms stems you already chopped. Cook until the mushrooms are browned. Season with the thyme, stripping the leaves from the stems, salt and pepper. Add the reconstituted sun-dried tomatoes all together with the broth that’s left. Allow the mixture to cook some more to evaporate a bit, about 5 more minutes. Remove from pan into a bowl and allow cooling a bit.
  4. While the mixture cools, process the crackers into crumbs in a food processor.
  5. Mix together the cooled mushroom stem/onion/tomatoes mix with the crackers, mozzarella, ½ the parmesan cheese, and chopped fresh parsley. Drizzle some olive oil if you see the mix a bit dry… but chances are it’s not.
  6. Preheat oven to 425F.
  7. In a large baking dish drizzled with a bit of olive oil, place all the mushrooms stuffed with the mixture we just made. Don’t push the stuffing too much into the mushrooms cavity, but do heap any additional stuffing generously on top of mushrooms. No need to discard or leave any stuffing for future use.
  9. Take the extra parmesan we saved and add a small mound on top of each mushrooms. I usually drizzle a a bit of olive oil and sprinkle some additional salt and pepper to season the mushrooms themselves.
  11. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the mushrooms looked cooked and cheese on top is golden brown.

Serve immediately…

But if you want to make this for a party, you can place these on a steam table with about ½ cup of vegetable broth and allow them to steam to keep warm. If you place in a steam table dry, the mushrooms will shrivel.

I know… this Vegetarian Festival was filled with dishes; hardly these mushrooms seem like a main entrée. But I have served these, just like I have served my better-than-Maggiano’s Stuffed Mushrooms as a main dish with a side salad at home.

The positive comments kept on coming the whole night. Gabriel, Angie, Tania and many others came up to me to share their compliments on the mushrooms and asking for the recipe. I told them they needed to wait until we published here… you know, it’s easier to just hit print than write this all down. I actually repeated this recipe again at the center just a week later – people were left wanting some more.

So for all the fans… here’s the recipe now. Now you can make it at home whenever you want, not just when I make it at the Yoga Center. I hope it does not disappoint.

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My new Favorite breakfast…

14 Mar

I love breakfast foods. And I could eat breakfast foods all day…

Well, a few weeks ago I discovered this local bakery that sells their breads and granola at local health food stores. I encountered this granola, partly recommended by a guy who was demonstrating an açaí sherbet and juice. He served the sherbet with pieces of banana and granola. I liked the sample so I bought the sherbet and the granola. If there’s any testament to how much I like the granola, the sherbet still sits untouched in my freezer and I am in my third bag of granola already…

Nowadays, my favorite breakfast combination is to mix fresh fruit – strawberries, peaches, papaya, pineapple, etc. – with yogurt, honey and about ½ cup of Granola from La Hogaza. I’ve never been fond of eating dry cold cereal with milk in a bowl. But, I like the granola mixed with yogurt because it stays super crunchy until the last bite.

Besides my usual fruit-based smoothies, I love that I have a new way of getting my fruit for breakfast. Every morning I look forward to my granola/yogurt mix… it may not look all that good all jumbled together, but it tastes amazing.

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