Poached eggs two ways

We hosted wonderful friends this morning for brunch.  I love feeding people, it's just part of who I am. 

If I love you I feed you, if I feed you I love you

This particular morning we had the usual over abundance of food; lemon vanilla coconut scones, banana oatmeal pancakes, ham, fruit and cheese, a delightful corn salad provided by an equally delightful friend (we did however really miss his fabulous other half!) and we had poached eggs two ways:

A poached egg on thinly sliced, toasted, baguette topped with thinned lemon basil cashew cream.  I tossed a few snipped chives on top after I took the picture.  It might sound like an odd combination but I think it worked rather well, it tasted very Spring-y!

And my personal favorite, the poached egg topped with balsamic vinegar marinated tomato and basil.  I could eat tomato and basil soaked in balsamic vinegar every single day and not get tired of it!  

This morning made me remember that I miss having people over!  It's been such a horribly wet, rainy, dreary winter we've just hibernated half the year away.  Today was a beautiful Spring day and it felt great to be feeding people I love again!



Lemon basil cashew cream

I'm on a cashew cream kick.  I make no apologies for it, if you haven't tried it, you must, it is just that good!

Lemon basil cashew cream
A Krista kitchen creation

1 cup cashews, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed
4 tablespoons olive oil
4-6 tablespoons water
zest and juice of one lemon
1/4 cup fresh basil
sea salt to taste

Process all in a high powered blender and enjoy.

On this meal it was used to top a very simple dinner of brown rice with a mixture of beans cooked in the crock pot.  I love my crock pot too...almost as much as I love cashew cream.

Spicy cashew cream

Oh I heart cashews!  Big puffy heart as some of my darling friends would say.  Alas with braces the actual crunching of cashews is forbidden.  Enter...cashew cream! 

The culinary goddess that is Susan Powers over at Rawmazing posted a delightful looking salad topped with a Cayenne cashew cream, I knew I had to try it.  As an added bonus, I already had everything I needed on hand, love it when that happens!

To see the full recipe and drool a little over her photography click here.

Lime Cayenne Sauce

http://www.rawmazing.com/

Lime Cayenne Sauce

• 1/2 cup cashews, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon agave or raw honey
• 1/2 lime, juice from (I used a lemon)
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Himalayan salt and pepper to taste (I used the sea salt I keep on hand)

1. Place all ingredients in high speed blender. Blend until smooth

Not only is this a delightful topping to a salad it is also a fabulous raw veggie dip and as a sandwich spread.  The possibilities are endless!

Chile adzuki beans and rice

Beans and rice are a perfect, vegetarian, dinner.  High in protein and good carbs it is filling and nutritious and as an added bonus-cheap!  Add a side of sauteed swiss chard and you're getting even more bang for your nutritional buck.

Chile adzuki beans and rice with greens

One cup adzuki beans, sorted, rinsed

One cup brown rice

Greens of your choice

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 serrano chile, sliced

2 cloves garlic

1 handful cilantro leaves

Place the beans in a pressure cooker and cover with 2-3" of water.  Bring the pressure cooker up to full pressure and cook for 10 minutes.  Do a quick release and drain the beans to a bowl, season with salt and set aside.

Cook the brown rice according to directions.

In a blender combine the oil, vinegar, chile, garlic and cilantro, blend until smooth, taste and add salt if desired.

Heat olive oil in a large pan, add the rinsed greens and saute until done.

Top the rice with the beans and chile sauce, serve with the sauteed greens.

GF zucchini oat bread

Ahh bread...sweet, tasty, lovely bread!  We love bread, since Paulo's food allergy results I've learned to cook it in a whole new way.  Eliminating my beloved whole wheat flour and learning how to use things I'd never heard of before like sorghum flour.  I've baked some great breads that are safe for Paulo and delicious.  I have two go tos for his lunches, a honey oat bread and a buckwheat bread.  I have favorite muffins, pancakes and waffles, I still struggle with cakes, but I'm working on it!  What I wanted this weekend was a zucchini bread and I wanted to see if I could take a traditional recipe and tweak it to meet our gluten free and vegan baking needs...the result was a very moist and flavorful bread that we all-even the wheat eaters-loved.  Along with changing the flours to suit our needs, I cut the sugar in half and omitted the nuts due to the food allergy policy in Paulo's school.

GF Zucchini Oat bread

A Krista Kitchen Creation

adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup sorghum flour

1 cup brown rice flour

1/4 cup potato starch

1/4 cup tapioca starch

1 cup GF oats

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

3 tbsp egg replacer mixed with water (or 3 eggs if you prefer)

1 cup applesauce

1/4 cup melted Earth Balance butter

1 tsp vanilla

2 zucchini, unpeeled and shredded

3/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with cooking spray; set aside.

Combine 1 tablespoon of the sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of the cinnamon; set aside.

Combine flours with starches, oats, baking powder, salt, baking soda, xanthan gum, sugar and remaining cinnamon; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl beat egg replacer and water with electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes or until foamy. Add the applesauce, butter, and vanilla. Gradually add the dry mixture, beating on low speed just until combined. Stir in zucchini and raisins.

Spoon into prepared pan. Sprinkle with sugar-cinnamon mixture.

Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on rack. Wrap and store several hours before slicing. Makes 16 slices-Mine will not yield 16 slices because I cut them way too thick!

Lentils with tomatillo sauce

I'm fast becoming a fan of lentils.  They're cheap, nutritious and quick to cook.  I used red lentils in this dish, because that's what I had on hand, and I think it worked well with the other flavors in the bowl.

Tempeh lentils with spicy tomatillo sauce

A Krista Kitchen Creation

1 cup red lentils, sorted and rinsed

1 1/2 cup water or vegetable broth

1 teaspoons taco seasoning spices

1 cup tempeh, cubed

1/4 cup onion, finely diced

Beans, any type, about 1 cup

olive oil

Heat the olive oil in the pan and add the onion, saute until soft.  Add the lentils and stir, add the water to the pan and bring to a boil, simmer until lentils are soft, about 20 minutes.  When lentils are close to being done add the tempeh and the seasoning spices.  Add in the beans (I had some black beans on hand, I drained off most of the broth and added it all to the pot.) Stir well and allow to warm through.

Spicy tomatillo sauce

A Krista Kitchen Creation

3 tomatillos, husk removed, rinsed and diced

1 serrano chile, sliced, seeds removed if desired

5 mushrooms, washed and cubed

cilantro

olive oil

red wine vinegar

Heat olive oil in a saute pan and add the chile, saute until softened.  Add in the tomatillos and mushrooms, stir well and bring to a simmer, season with sea salt if desired and add the cilantro.  Finish with a splash of red wine vinegar.

Ladle the tempeh lentils into a deep bowl and top with the tomatillo sauce, enjoy!



Menu Plan Monday

Another weekend...gone...sigh...it was a good one though, I completed my first EVER race, a 10K, Paulo had gymnastics and a birthday party plus a playdate so it was a full social calendar for my little man which makes him my little happy man!  But, back to Monday and menu planning! 

Monday-brown rice with adzuki beans and sauteed garlic greens, add chicken for the boys
Tuesday-swai fillet over quinoa with edamame
Wednesday-bean tacos with salad
Thursday-potatoes with top round steak for the boys and veggies galore for me
Friday-Waffle sandwiches and soup
Saturday-at Paulo's school for a fundraiser dinner
Sunday-unsure!

I'm starting my Spring Cleanse so there will be some minor modifications here and there for me but the boys remain easy as ever to feed.

For more menu planning inspiration visit Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com!