Tag: cilantro

Wild Rice and Canellini Bean Salad with Raisins

Here we are, and another year has arrived! I don’t know about you, but I am feeling a little sluggish after an overindulgent holiday season. Even though I was still doing my best to exercise and eat healthy, when I was out at holiday parties, I ate what was there. And there were definitely times that I ate things I shouldn’t have and paid for it later. I’m human, though, and the holidays happen.

Instead of dwelling on it, I’m getting things back in order! Last night? Salad for dinner. Today? Minty-delicious fennel and celery green juice.

This easy, vegan wild rice salad makes for a quick and nutritious lunch or dinner that will get you back in the groove with your healthy eating this new year.

WILD RICE AND CANELLINI BEAN SALAD WITH RAISINS
serves 3-4

1 1/2 cups wild rice, cooked (3/4 cup dried)
1 1/2 cups canellini beans, cooked (3/4 cup dried beans, or one can)
1/2 cup raisins, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes to plump
1/3 cup cilantro or parsely, chopped small
juice of 1/2 lime
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil or other oil (flax)
2 drops stevia or 1 tsp honey or maple syrup

Mix the cooked rice, beans, raisins, and cilantro or parsley together in a large bowl. Mix the dressing ingredients together separately and then toss the salad in the dressing. Bam! So easy!

+ Erin
P 01/05/2013
t Blog, Gluten-Free, Salad, Vegan
Ccanellini beans, cilantro, lime, parsley, raisins, wild rice
9 No Comments

Sweet Potato and Corn Fritters

I am totally loving this week’s Food Matters Project pick by Aura of Dinner with Aura. I love potato latkes and fritters of all kinds, and these are really, really delicious.

I don’t regularly follow recipes, but this week’s recipe looked so good as is that I couldn’t resist.

Aura’s blog has the original Mark Bittman recipe up on it, and really, you should just check out her site because she’s quite lovely. Her recipes and photographs commonly have me drooling at my computer, so I’m sure you’ll find something you like over there.

I used a whole egg instead of just an egg white, because I couldn’t be bothered to separate an egg. Plus, all the good stuff is in the yolk, so I’m a proponent of just eating the whole egg. I also used my gluten-free all purpose flour to keep it wheat free on the home front.

I baked these bad boys at 350F for 10 minutes each side – for a healthy alternative to fried fritters. Aside from that, I actually followed Bittman’s recipe. I know, it’s hard to believe.

Try these out, you won’t regret it! And see all the other fantastic variations on the recipe over at The Food Matters Project.

+ Erin
P 11/12/2012
t Blog, Gluten-Free, Sides
Ccilantro, corn, dairy free, egg, green onion, sweet potato
9 8 Comments

Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad

Welcome back from your long weekends, I hope they were as enjoyable as ours was! We spent the weekend up in Whistler at a cabin with good friends, food, and company. I’m feeling really fortunate right now that I’m not back at school until Thursday because I need a bit of time to prepare myself. This is a big deal for me! I have been out of school for 3 years now after finishing my undergrad, and it feels totally surreal to be heading back on Thursday. I’m so thankful that I’ve found something I’m so passionate about though (nutrition!), because this time around I am really looking forward to going back to school.

I’m a little late for this week’s Food Matter’s Project, but my excuse is too much fun on a long weekend. Our first night up in Whistler we made a great big communal dinner and this salad went perfectly! It was so fresh, light, and tangy – and loaded with veggies. You must know by now that I love when meals are loaded with veggies.

I can’t wait until I can report back on my first day of school! And I am also really excited for all the new material I’ll be learning about, which will hopefully inspire some blog posts here. If you are unaware, I am starting a 1 year program in Holistic Nutrition at the Institute of Holistic Nutrition in Vancouver. By the time I’m done, I’m hoping to be hosting cooking classes, grocery store tours, pantry cleanouts, consultations, and mostly just helping people improve their health through food! I can’t wait!!

+ Erin
P 09/04/2012
t Blog, Gluten-Free, Salad, Vegan
Cavocado, cilantro, dairy free, green onion, parsley, pumpkin seeds, quinoa, red wine vinegar, tomato, walnut
9 3 Comments

Taco Salad with Tortilla Crisps and Cashew “Sour Cream”

As promised, some photos from our trip. These are my favourites! Just looking at the photos again and making that collage made me want to go back so badly!

And for this week’s Food Matters Project weigh in… a deliciously healthy Taco Salad! Megan chose Greek “Nachos” with Feta Drizzle and as usual I had to change some things up!

How many veggies can you stuff in your face for dinner? I genuinely love testing out this question!

Nachos switched out for tortilla crisps to add a crispy crunch, loads of vegetables chopped into cute little cubes, and a creamy, tangy, cashew-based dressing. Instead of a base of nachos… I went for every fresh/local/organic vegetable I had on hand. The result was a tummy-pleasing bowl full of goodness. Yum!

Organic corn tortillas are gluten-free and don’t contain GMOs. Alright, so the cashew dressing doesn’t taste like sour cream – but it is light and creamy, tangy and nutty, and I use it as a sort of replacement for sour cream. I am sure you will enjoy it, especially if you are looking for a creamy vegan dressing/sauce option.

+ Erin
P 08/20/2012
t Blog, Dinner, Gluten-Free, Salad, Vegan
Cavocado, bell pepper, black beans, cashew sour cream, cilantro, corn, corn tortillas, dairy free, green onion, guacomole, heirloom tomatoes, red onion, zucchini
9 10 Comments

Raw Collard Wraps with Sweet Almond Dipping Sauce

Phew! We just got back from our fantastic Rockies trip and it was oh so fun. We did some hiking and some jumping in glacier-fed lakes and rivers, some sight-seeing and some hot spring dipping. Pictures to come!

After many days on the road, and much too much junk food, I was thankful to arrive home to our bright green CSA share and a refreshing summer Food Matters Project recipe.

Alyssa chose this week’s recipe, Summer Rolls with Peanut Sauce, and I couldn’t help but envision it in the giant collard greens tumbling out of our CSA bag. After all that road trip eating (read: junking), my body was begging me for a variety of veggies… wrapped in veggies. Perhaps also dipped in a most deliciously sweet and tangy almond and sunflower seed butter concoction.

Chop up some green onions, cilantro, and red pepper, shred some beets and carrots, scoop some avocado, rinse off some kelp noodles…

Kelp noodles?! These things are awesome! I purchased them at my local raw food store, Organic Lives, and I’ve also seen them at Whole Foods.

Seaweed and other sea vegetables are rich in iodine, as well as vitamin C and iron. In fact, sea vegetables are rich in a large variety of minerals. Thanks to all that nutrient-richness, sea veggies have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties, and as well as being rich in antioxidants, they are super foods full of super goodness!

+ Erin
P 08/14/2012
t Blog, Gluten-Free, Salad, Sides, Vegan
Calmond butter, avocado, beets, carrot, cilantro, collard, kelp noodles, raw food, red pepper, soy sauce, sunflower butter, wrap
9 10 Comments

Corn-Avocado Salad with Mango

Last week the climbing camp I was supposed to coach was cancelled, so Reid and I took advantage of some mid-week time off and went up to Whistler. We recently inherited a bike rack, so we took our bikes up with us and I realized in all the time I’ve spent in Whistler, I’ve never explored on two wheels. We had a great time cruising around, jumping into lakes, relaxing in the sun, playing card games, doing some casual hiking, and of course, eating our faces off.

It was a welcome respite from the city and real life.

Some really good news: My Dad is home now. He didn’t end up needing surgery, and his heart wasn’t significantly damaged by his heart attack, so he’s now been put on a drug cocktail and been given fair warning that if he doesn’t make some major lifestyle changes, that he will eventually end up right back in the hospital.

The whole thing gave him (and the rest of us, too) a pretty good scare. Understandably, he’s still a little overwhelmed. Where do you start when you know you have to make big changes in your life, and a lot of them?!

I’m doing my best to be supportive and let him work through this all in his own way. Information overload isn’t going to do much for him right now except frustrate him, so I’m working on trusting that it will all work out. Yesterday we had dinner together and he made the most fantastic veggie and fruit-filled salad. We talked about carbohydrates and blood sugar, plus a bit about fat and cooking with less (or no) oil. Mostly, I tried to encourage him to just eat as many vegetables as he could possibly manage, while cutting back on the meat, dairy, and sugar. I think his initial resistance was aimed more at the idea of extreme changes and having to eliminate all the things he enjoys eating from his diet. He kept saying “I’m not going on any vegan diet”, so I’m hoping that he will see the benefits and gradual changes coming from increasing his veggie intake and that will propel him forward into health.

I dream that one day he will start his mornings with green smoothies. That would fill my heart with joy.

He said something like “Keep dreaming, kiddo”, but I’ll convert him yet.

For now, lots more of the healthy things he (miraculously?) likes – kale, quinoa, oatmeal, salads…

And how fitting that this week’s Food Matters Project recipe is a veggie-packed summer salad?!

+ Erin
P 07/16/2012
t Blog, Gluten-Free, Salad, Vegan
Cavocado, cilantro, corn, fresh, honey, lime, mango, red onion, seasonal, summer, tomato
9 10 Comments

Grilled Vegetables with Chimichurri Sauce – The Food Matters Project

We recently bought a little barbeque from some friends who were moving out of town. As of this morning, it was still sitting on the balcony, not yet set up, just begging to be used for a summer grill. Add to that the fact that our fridge is overflowing with vegetables AND this week’s Food Matters recipe was a Mixed Grill with Chimichurri… it was time to get the little BBQ cracking!

I have been so thrilled each weekend to pick up our CSA share and our market haul. We had kohlrabi and beets lined up on the floor because there was no room left in the fridge. What better way to use them all up than a fresh summer grill?!

I’m still grilling beginner, really, so our balcony setup is majorly exciting to me.

This week, for the Food Matters Project, Lexi picked the Mixed Grill with Chimichurri and I am so glad she did! You can find the rest of the crew’s creations here.

Chimichurri is my new favourite way to pack greens into my day. I can’t get over how delicious it is – how had I not discovered it sooner?! I want to put it on everything. I can’t get enough cilantro as it is, so this sauce really does it for me. It’s so light and refreshing and can be dolloped on top of just about anything – vegetables, rice, beans, fish, meat.

+ Erin
P 06/25/2012
t Blog, Dinner, Gluten-Free, Vegan
Cbeets, cabbage, carrot, chimichurri, cilantro, food matters project, garlic scapes, green onion, kohlrabi, mint
9 13 Comments

Chickpea Fritters + Tomato Stew + Cilantro Yogurt Dressing – The Food Matters Project

Here we are again, my second week participating in The Food Matters Project. This week, Lena chose a Chickpea Fritter recipe (pg. 372 of The Food Matters Cookbook).

I didn’t have regular potatoes or collard greens, but I spent my Saturday volunteering at the Farmer’s Market and came away with more greens than I know what to do with – so spinach was the stand-in for collards. I also happened to have a sweet potato on hand that worked very nicely with the recipe… Here’s to using what you have and making it work!

I baked my fritters instead of deep frying. I’ve actually been shying away from using oil in my cooking as of late. I recently attended an open house of my soon-to-be school (The Institute of Holistic Nutrition) and one of the professors gave a talk about fats. Of course, there is controversy about the specifics, but regardless, the fact is that when you heat fats (oils) at very high temperatures, there is a risk of them going rancid and breaking down into free radicals which do all sorts of damage inside our bodies. Hmm. Doesn’t sound too appealing to me. There are many people who cook with the more stable fats butter, ghee, or coconut oil, which is a good idea to transition toward if you use a lot of oil in your cooking. I’ve found that I can get away with using little or no oil in my cooking in many cases, and that I can cook most of my meals on a lower heat setting. I’ve started using a splash of broth or water for sauteing… and so far so good.

Now don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against fat – our bodies need it to survive! I just see the benefits in trying to minimize the amount of fat that I consume that has been heated. I still pour flax and olive oils onto my salads and add them after cooking for their wonderful flavour.