venison bites over arugula

This recipe was inspired by one by Renee Biscoe on allrecipes.com. I'm still using up venison given to me by a friend, Chuck. So, if you're reading this - thanks again Chuck!

Oven! Broiler.

1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups cooked millet (or amaranth or quinoa)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or cilantro.. pick one!
1 lb venison, cut into 1" cubes
salt an pepper to taste
5 cups arugula
1 lemon, quartered

Ready with all that?
1. Preheat broiler and set the oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source. Line baking sheet with foil.

2. Warm olive oil and garlic in a small saucepan over low heat for 5 minutes to infuse the oil with flavor. Put millet in a mixing bowl and pour the oil/garlic gently over top. Then stir in the fresh herbs. Press the venison cubes into the millet mixture to coat, and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Make sure the venison pieces are not touching.

3. Broil in the oven until the bread crumbs are golden, and the venison has turned from red to pink in the center, or to your desired degree of doneness, about 6 minutes. Turn the cubes occasionally as they cook.

4. Divide the arugula onto 4 dinner plates, and top with the broiled venison. Squeeze a quarter of a lemon over each plate to serve.

Enjoy!!!

steamed veggies over millet and spaghetti squash

I feel so lucky to have a break in the day to actually come home to make lunch. I always want to have this option. Guess I should move to a Latin country.. I'm serious. But don't worry - I'll keep on blogging when I do :)

This lunch involves leftovers and fresh produce. Millet and spaghetti squash made last week are keeping well in the fridge, so I just take a little out each day and reheat it for lunch. Then I steamed some cauliflower, a carrot, and a 1/4 of a red onion. Place steamed veggies on top of heated squash and millet. Finish with a healthy drizzle of your favorite sauce. (I used San-J's Thai Peanut again.. mm.. even though there's soy in it :/ Can't win 'em all.)

What did you eat for lunch today? :)

olive tapenade for lunch

Simple. Delicious. Healthy. Fast. Here was my lunch:

Olive tapenade:

1 can black olives
1 roasted bell pepper (didn't make it from scratch this time.. I have a jar)
3-4 cloves garlic
several sprigs of fresh oregano and rosemary
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil

I enjoyed it with some carrots, and spread on a piece of toasted China Black Rice bread, made by Food for Life. I love all their gluten free breads.

buckwheat soba noodles, a quick quick lunch

I didn't want to go to the store.. but I didn't have much more than a carrot of produce.. and I only had a short break for lunch. Here's what happened:

1 serving size of organic buckwheat Soba noodles
1 carrot, grated
a bit of chive, chopped
soba sauce (this kind of kills the soy free, sugar free meal - but.. I have it in my fridge from my life pre-diet restrictions, and don't want it to go to waste!)

Boil water, add noodles, simmer for 8 minutes. Rinse in cold water and serve with grated carrot, chives, and a mini amount of soba sauce. Yum!

last minute dinner parties & vegan chocolate mousse

I invited a friend and she invited a friend and then he invited a friend.. and before I knew it there were 6 people coming! This is a big deal in my tiny attic apartment. We had such a healthy meal - totally put together at the last minute. (besides the vegan mousse.. mmmmm. which I will get to at the end). We roasted a couple spaghetti squash. One probably would've been enough, but I'm enjoying the leftovers. I made some couscous (for my guests.. just in case there wasn't enough food)! There was sauteed zucchini, onion, and red bell pepper with lemon pepper and salt, and another pan full of sauteed mushrooms, kale, and garlic. We also baked some ocean perch in olive oil and lemon juice.. Besides the couscous - it was a hunt + gather dinner party :) Which is getting to be easier and easier as I become more comfortable with the ingredients.
Now for dessert.. the only part I made in advance. This recipe is a take on the Spunky Coconut's pudding.

The Spunky Coconut says, "A word about this pudding: It is so healthy. I made this video about the ingredients in this pudding, which are full of essential fatty acids, omega 3 & 6, plus protein, iron, zinc, magnesium, and antioxidants. Raw-inspired & vegan to boot :-)"

Allergic Hedonist style:

1 can organic coconut milk (not "light")

1/2 cup water

3 tbsp chia seeds

3 tbsp hemp seeds

3 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 a banana (or a full one.. I only had 1/2 a banana left)
2 tbsp honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

Puree.

Refrigerate about 8 hours (or more). The last two hours I moved it to the freezer.

Then puree it again.. (I added vegan chocolate chips to this part.. for a little extra chocolate and sweetness)

I need to make this again so I can take a nicer photo... or so I can eat it again :) Enjoy!

sauteéd veggies with truffle oil

Here's a yummy side. I just ate probably about 4 servings worth for dinner, but it would be better as I side. In your good iron skillet, heat up a couple tbsp of olive oil.

Oh yeah.. the ingredient list.
olive oil
mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced
onion, chopped
kale, chopped
truffle oil
salt

So - heat up the oil, toss in the mushrooms and onions. Cover. stir. cover. (5 minutes)
Add the garlic and kale. Probably some more olive oil. stir and cover again, until the kale is as cooked as you want it. Serve with a drizzle of truffle oil. mmmm.. enjoy!

another feast!! baked salmon, millet with sauteed mushrooms, and roasted beets

Eating with company is probably just as important as the ingredients.. You eat slower (usually), continue to talk long after the food is gone which allows you to digest, and it's more fun to cook, serve, and enjoy food with people. No?

Here's a photo of baked salmon, some millet (I'll post about it later) with sauteed mushrooms and garlic, and roasted beets - leftovers from a couple nights ago :)

For the salmon, we simply put it in a glass dish with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, covered it with foil, and baked it for 30 minutes at 350. The maker or breaker of this dish - is simply getting the freshest fish possible.. never frozen, not over fished (if it's available to you!), and wild - for sure.

spring is almost here!

And you know what that means?! The first farmers market of the year is this Saturday! Yeay!

special occasion soaked oatmeal cookies

If you read this blog.. and want to make cookies.. forget all the others - and just make these. They're too good. Seriously. I kind of want to quit school and go into the cookie making business right now. The original recipe came from Cheeseslave, but it included the usual.. eggs, sugar, flour, butter.. I could tell it was a special recipe though - because of the soaked oatmeal, and all the work that went into just preparing the ingredients.. so I decided to give it a try.

Ingredients: (makes 36 cookies.. I know this is a lot of cookies.. but the recipe is a bit of a hassle.. so I recommend making the whole amount, then freezing some of them)

3 cups rolled oats
3 cups filtered water
7 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup coconut oil softened
1/2 cup honey (or agave)
1/4 cup ground flax seed, combined with 3/4 cup warm water; and left to sit for a few minutes
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground star anise (optional)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)
1 cup raisins

1. In a large glass or enamelware (not metal) bowl or pitcher, add 3 cups oatmeal, 3 cups heated (not boiling) filtered water, 1/2 cup brown rice flour and 7 tablespoons of lemon juice. Mix thoroughly.

2. Cover the bowl with a dishtowel and let sit overnight on the counter or in a cupboard. Let sit for 8-24 hours. (Twelve hours is fine — but I try to soak mine for 24 hours to reduce the phytic acid as much as possible.) (if you check out Cheeseslave's recipe - it explains why phytic acid is bad news)

3. Because I didn't use wheat flour, not all of the water was soaked in, I strained some of the excess water out through a fine strainer.

4. Spread oatmeal on parchment paper and place on tray in dehydrator set at highest setting until completely dried (anywhere from 6-12 hours depending on the heat setting). You can also do this in the oven at the lowest setting.

(photo by Cheeseslave)

5. When the oatmeal is dry, you will be able to break it off in large pieces. Put the pieces of dried oatmeal into your food processor and pulse until it is coarsely ground (like oatmeal flakes). Do not grind it fine, like a powder. (I, Anna, didn't use the food processor, because it's sitting in my sink from making the cashew lemon dill sauce earlier tonight, so I just broke it up with my hands - and it turned out just fine)

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

7. Prepare flax seed and warm water mixture. Let it sit for a few minutes to become gel-like. Add the vanilla extract to this.

8. In another bowl, beat coconut oil and honey until combined. It helps to very slightly melt the coconut oil.. unless it's already warm in your kitchen. Then add the flax/vanilla mixture.

9. Combine brown rice flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise and salt. Add to the wet mixture and mix it up!

10. Stir in oatmeal, coconut, and raisins. Mix well.

11. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an un-greased cookie sheet.

12. Bake 10 to 12 minutes.

13. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Careful with the transfer! The brown rice flour makes for a delicate cookie.. and the coconut oil needs to harden back up!

I know it tastes so good, just as cookie dough - but try to have the will power to wait until they at least come out of the oven! It's so not worth getting full off cookie dough - when the cookie tastes even better.. although it will be hard to believe.

feast!! roasted carrots, wild rice, wild caught cod, asparagus + vegan creamy lemon dill sauce

I enjoyed a feast tonight, at friend's Mikey and D's home.. man.. it was so GOOD. Or as they would say in Italia, "po po po po.." (those are short "o" sounds, by the way)

The cod was placed in a baking dish with the quartered carrots, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Then covered with foil, and baked for 30-35 mintues at.. guess? yes. 350.

The rice was leftover from earlier this week, and just warmed back up.

The asparagus was steamed then topped with a delicious creamy lemon dill sauce.. which I will tell you about now. The recipe kind of came from here. But as I was making it - I added 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar, instead of 1 tsp... oops. So I fixed it by adding more lemon juice, more water, more garlic powder, herbamare, and dill.. and finally - to make it totally amazing - I added a few shakes of powdered lemon peel and about a tbsp of honey.
So.. sorry I can't give you the exact recipe just yet - but please use The Spunky Coconut's version for now, until I post exactly what I did differently. You can always just keep tasting it and adding your own touch.

Enjoy!

roasted beets and brussels sprouts

Sweet beets with earthy brussels sprouts.. they go so well together! And actually.. some chopped up, steamed swiss chard accompanied this - but it's not in the photo.
I had leftovers of this dinner warmed up for lunch today, and it was equally as good.. I recommend making this. (the idea for the recipe came from Elana's Pantry)

Oven! 350.
Ingredients:
beets (whatever you have - I had 2 big ones) Scrub clean under water, no need to peel, quartered, or "eighthed")
brussels sprouts
olive oil (evoo, as the cool kids say.. maybe i should start a new thing.. oevoocp - Organic extra virgin olive oil cold pressed)
balsamic vinegar
sea salt

In a pyrex dish, place your quartered beets and brussels sprouts. Drizzle with oevoocp :) Then cover with foil and roast for about 1 hour. 50 minutes will do, if you're impacient.
Then.. serve with a little more oil + balsamic vinegar drizzled on top, with a sprinkle of sea salt.
delish!

simple rice, steamed veggies, and peanut sauce

Here was my lunch.. well, half of it. I ate two plates. But I guess the plate was really small. So - one plate. ok. Never mind.
There are 3 parts to this recipe. The rice, the veggies, and the sauce. I admit that the peanut sauce I used was bought from the store, to save some time, energy, and dishes.

I made a lot of rice ahead of time - so I'd have leftovers for quick meals like this. Then I steamed whatever I had.. Today it was: kale, carrot, yellow onion, and broccoli. And finally, I topped it all with San-J's Thai Peanut Sauce. mmmm.

Here's the soaked rice (adapted from Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions) 6-8 servings
2 cups of rice (I used a mix of wild and brown rice)
4 cups warm filtered water plus 4 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp olive oil

Place rice and warm water and lemon juice in a flameproof casserole and leave in a warm place for at least 7 hours. Bring to a boil, skim, reduce heat, stir in salt and oil, then cover tightly. Without removing lid, cook over lowest possible heat for about 45 minutes.

spaghetti squash with sun dried tomato sauce

Dinner tonight was easy, delicious, and so healthy. I'm also getting better at just using up the odds and ends of the ingredients in my kitchen, and am shopping less often.

Oven! 350.
Ingredients (serves 2 hungry people)
1 spaghetti squash, cut in half and gutted.. ha. ahh. I entertain myself.
1 yellow onion, chopped
4-5 sun dried tomatoes (I only had dried ones - not ones that come in oil.. so I ground them down to a powder in my coffee grinder. If you're using ones with some moisture left, then just finely dice them)
5-6 cloves of garlic, minced (why not)
I don't know how many tbsp of olive oil.. sorry.
fresh oregano leaves, finely chopped for garnish

1. Cut squash in half, and scoop out the seeds. Place in a pan open side up, with a 1/2 inch of water, and cover with foil. Bake for about 35-40 minutes.

2. Dice onion, and saute for almost 10 minutes in olive oil.. then add the garlic, the sun dried tomatoes, and more olive oil if necessary. I added water here as well, then kept it hot until it was the consistency I wanted.

3. Remove squash from oven, scrape out the spaghetti with a fork, top with sauce, then garnish with fresh oregano. It's just one of the two herb plants that survived through the winter in my kitchen. . . I can't wait for more fresh herbs!

enjoy!

crimson cole slaw

mmmm :) Here's a super simple, super healthy, super quick, and super delicious dish. Not much more to say...

1 small head of red cabbage
1/2 small red onion
1/4 cup flax seed oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp raw honey
1 big pinch of red pepper flakes

Shred cabbage (the right attachment on a food processor makes this job way too easy) and really, really thinly slice the onion. Mix the oil, vinegars, honey, and pepper in a jar - shake! Then pour over the cabbage and onion and mix it all up. Let it sit out for a bit, while you're making the rest of the meal perhaps to let the flavors soak in. The longer it sits the better it will taste!
Enjoy!

italian style venison stew

I was lucky enough to receive some venison as a gift from Chuck, who went out hunting for his first time. We got to talking about how I wanted to go hunting for my first time this past fall too, and even sat through 12 hours of hunters ed! That's when he decided I was worthy of a few packages of meat from his first deer. Chuck, if you read this - thank you so much!
Here's my version of a recipe I found on huntingsociety.org.
This is delicious. That's all I have to say. That, and it was insanely easy, and there are so many variations of what you can do to it without possibly going wrong. Try it!

2 lbs. stew meat, cubed
3 cups water
6 carrots, sliced in 1/2" chuncks
1 cup chopped celery
2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 tsp garlic powder
2 bay leaves
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp honey
1 cup red wine
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp nutmeg

1. Brown cubed meat in oil.
2. Add water, then the rest of the ingredients (but not the carrots). Bring to a boil, skim, then lower to a simmer for 2 hours. 45 minutes before it's done, add the carrots.
3. Remove the bay leaves - and enjoy!!

trinity truffles

I always get the "calico balls" for dessert at Main Squeeze.. a local health food cafe.. but it's still too cold for a fun walk downtown, so I decided to try to make them myself. These are super rich, simple, and disappear very very quickly.

Ingredients (makes only three 1.5" balls.. make more at your own risk!)
2 heaping tbsp of almond butter (Main Squeeze uses peanut butter, which is delicious also)
1 tbsp honey (I used a thick, raw honey)
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp shredded coconut
topping - I used cocoa powder.. but you can use anything you want here.. coconut shreds, ground flax seeds, sesame seeds.. I'm sure you're thinking of something.

Mix mix mix.. then form into balls. Here's what I should've done. PUT THEM IN THE FRIDGE! to harden up a bit. Otherwise, they're really soft and light, and GONE before you know it. A harder truffle would make for something a little more resistant for your teeth.