Just a quick note:  When a recipe here calls for pitted dates, it refers to dates which are already pitted when purchased.  They are generally about half the size of a whole, un-pitted medjool date. 

Creamy Buckwheat Breakfast Pudding

For July we have had several cold rainy days that have not only watered the veggie garden, and all the other plant life, but is a good opportunity to make a hot breakfast! 

The photos above consist of  dry green buckwheat, after soaking 24 hours, and the finished pudding.  There were several attempts a while back to create a hot kasha cereal, (aka roasted buckwheat).  Personally, The taste of the green buckwheat used here is far better.  It's a nice change from oatmeal, very filling, and any left over may be stored in a covered container in the fridge to be warmed up within a few days, as it retains the same consistency very nicely.

Creamy Buckwheat Breakfast Pudding

1 cup whole green buckwheat

2 cups warm water

1/2" wide wedge of a washed, fresh lemon, sliced lengthwise

4 cups almond milk  (possibly more)

2T maple syrup  (possibly more)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a medium size pot, mix buckwheat and warm water.  Squeeze lemon juice into the pot, drop the remaining rind in, and stir well.  Cover and let sit for 20-24 hours.  Drain mixture and remove lemon rind.  (The liquid will be somewhat gooey, and draining every drop is not necessary.)  Stir in the almond milk, maple syrup and vanilla.  Bring to a simmer, stirring almost constantly.  Reduce heat to a very low simmer and cook uncovered 15-20 minutes until mixture is creamy and the buckwheat is soft.  (Stir every 5 minutes:  if it begins to stick on the bottom, the heat is too high, or a little more almond milk needs to be stirred in.)

Add fresh fruit, a drizzle of maple syrup if you desire, and enjoy!

Yield: Approximately four cups

Option  -Forgo cooking for 15-20 minutes, and once mixture has come to a simmer: cover, turn off the heat, ( if electric stove, remove from heat) and let sit 2-2 1/2 hours for liquid to absorb. 

-If you use almond milk from the store, the sweetness may vary.  If you prefer to make your own, the recipe used here is below:

Fresh Almond Milk (for pudding)

4 cups water

1 cup raw soaked almonds (Soak nuts in water 8-24 hours in fridge)

14 pitted dates

Blend all in a Vitamix (high powered) blender until liquefied.  This will make enough for the above recipe, with a little to spare to add along with the fruit and drizzle of maple syrup if you wish. 

Option:  For almond milk to drink, start with 6 or 7 pitted dates, adding more until you find the ratio that tastes best to you.  To retain the freshest taste, drink immediately after making, or at most within 24 hours.

Have a joyous and blessed day!

Roasted Veggie Medley

 

My daughter made these the other night.  They were so good, I asked to share the recipe... sort of.  My style of cooking is to change the ingredients and proportions an untold number of times before settling on a recipe, while writing each change down.  Her style is to never measuring anything!  So the amounts below are a best guess.  Please note, along with the maple syrup and the margarine, the onions really brought out the flavor of the veggies.

Roasted Veggie Medley

1# brussel sprouts, trimmed and cut in half
1 large red onion, sliced lengthwise
1  - 2 cups broccoli tops, cut into pieces
2 medium purple haze carrots, cut in 1-2" pieces
1 small-medium butternut squash, peeled, seed section scooped out, and cut into 1" cubes

1 1/2-2 T maple syrup
1-2 T non-hydrogenated margarine (such as Earth Balance)
a sprinkle of whole salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
Place prepared veggies in a large bowl and set aside.
Melt margarine, whisk in maple syrup, and pour over veggies.
Toss the mixture together, and spread evenly on 2 lightly oiled cookie sheets with sides, in a single layer.
Bake:  400 degrees for, 5-15 minutes?  Basically, check every five minutes until the veggies are crisp tender, and the colors are still vibrant.
Remove from oven, lightly sprinkle with whole salt to taste, and toss veggies together. 
Serve immediately.

Have a joyous and blessed day!

Maple Date Cookies

As you can see by the photos above, these Maple Date Cookies are very easy to make.  The hardest part is remembering to line your cookie sheet with parchment paper for easy removal of the baked cookies.  Without it, it takes a bit to remove them from even the most non-stick, well oiled cookie sheet.
These will satisfy your sweet tooth, as well as being very nutrient dense.  The first five photos above are actually of half a batch with just 1 T of maple syrup syrup in them to see if all the maple syrup was really necessary. They are good this way also, but the sweeter version below is the favorite.  The bottom photo consists of 1 1/2 batches, with a few missing... they are warm cookies after all!

Maple Date Cookies

24 Pitted dates (which is a little more than 1 cup, packed)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla powder
1 cup chopped pecans
2/3 cup finely ground almonds or almond flour
1/2 cup ground sesame seeds  (NOT tahini)
2 T soft xv coconut oil (barely warm liquid form is fine too)

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
-Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside
-Place pitted dates into food processor and chop until fine and clumpy.  (A 14 cup Cuisinart food processor was used here.  The 10 cup size would need to make a half batch at a time.)
-Add remaining ingredients and process until dough is clumpy, sticky, and nuts are visible as tiny, 1/8" pieces
-Form the dough into 20-24, 1 inch balls by rolling in your palms in a circular motion, and place on the cookie sheet 2 inches apart
-Place a 5"x5" piece of waxpaper on the first ball, and with a large mug with a concave bottom, flatten the dough into a scant 1/4 " x 2 1/4" disc on the parchment paper.  Repeat with the rest of the dough.  Bake:  350 degrees F for 6-8 minutes until cookie springs back just a bit, and edges are slightly browned.  (A minute less for chewier cookies)
-Let cookies set on cookie sheet 2-3 minutes before removing
-Cool completely before storing in an air tight container. 
-They are fine on the counter for a few days, but if the weather is very hot, store in the fridge.

Have a joyous and blessed day!

Peanut Butter Icecream

                                               
                                                         

With the hot summer days comes thoughts of ice cream!  Nutritious ice cream of course.  This is very refreshing, as well as doubling as a quick snack, with some staying power from the nut butter.

Peanut Butter Ice cream

4 well spotted bananas
5-6 T peanut butter
1/2 tsp liquid coconut oil (optional)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Peel bananas and freeze for at least 8 hours. 
Mix together the PB, oil, and vanilla.  Set aside.
Set the freezer bag of bananas on the counter for 15-30 minutes until 30% thawed.  (Err on the frozen side.)  Flipping the bag over after 6-7 minutes seems to speed up the process a bit. 
Place bananas in unplugged food processor and chop up with a fork to 1" pieces.
Process until half whipped.
Break up any remaining chunks, add PB mixture and continue to whip until just smooth. (Over whipping will cause mixture to melt.) 
Eat as soft ice cream, or place in a sturdy freezer container for 1 hour for hard ice cream consistency.
Any left can be frozen a longer period of time, but will need to be set out for a few minutes before serving.

Options:
-Chocolate:  Place half the ice cream in a container in the freezer, and add 2 T cocoa powder or roasted carob powder to remaining half and whip until just blended. Lightly stir in reserved half for choc/pb swirl if you like.  (Use 1/4 cup powder to make the whole batch into choc ice cream, of course.)

Please note:
-Spotted bananas = creamy texture, unripe bananas = gooey texture
-It takes a couple tries to get the timing down, but it's well worth it.

Have a joyous and blessed day!

Flowers in the spring, Foraging all year long

Above are a few examples of the local foliage and flowers out in early spring here.
(Top to bottom:  Oregon Grape Holly (Mahonia), red and white Trillium, Daffodil, Forsythia, Myrtle, White and Blue Violets mixed with unopened Lilly of the Valley, and Trout Lilly.)  (The violet flowers and Trout Lilly leaves and bulbs are quite tasty. )
To learn more about foraging (In the north eastern part of the U.S. especially)  my favorite books on the subject are as follows:
 -'Nature's Garden' by Samuel Thayer.  It has very clear,extensive photography for identifying the plants along with text regarding description, range and habitat, harvest and preparation.  Another of his books titled 'The Forager's Harvest' has the same format with different plants.  I'm glad I purchased both, but of the two, 'Nature's Garden' has more information and photos of interest.
-'Edible Wild Plants', Eastern/Central North America, by Lee Allen Peterson.  This has very detailed drawings and concise information for identification as well as usage.  There are symbols on the side for quick reference to various uses, such as salads or teas.  Included for side by side comparison are also drawings (and information) on poisonous plants, signified with a skull and crossbones symbol next to it.
-These two books above compliment one another, and thus far are my favorites.  The clear photos and detailed drawings , and the text in different forms for cross reference of information. I would want to take both of these books to more clearly  identify prospective plant snacks.  A word to the wise: before eating any wild plants, be 100% SURE of what it is; sometimes the difference between delicious and poisonous is very slight.
-'Edible and Medicinal Plants', by Steve Brill and Evelyn Dean.  I enjoyed reading the information in this book, but it would not be one of the books I would take into the field to ID plants.  There are also attractive, artistic drawings of plants throughout the book which give a general idea of what a plant looks like, but not detailed enough for clear identification.
-'Northeast Foraging', by Leda Meredith.  It is a very nice read, the photos are very clear and helpful, and although it doesn't include as many plants as the books above, it is nice to get another perspective on the plant's usage. One thing I take exception to in this book:  Even mentioning Ginkgo nuts!  Besides being poisonous raw...The smell of the fruit is SO disgusting...words can't really describe.  For the record though: the non-fruiting male trees are very cool looking.  One of my favorites.
-'Medicinal Herbs, A Beginner's Guide", by Rosemary Gladstar.  Ok, This isn't a foraging book per say, but it contains uses/recipes for some of those plants you have successfully foraged, as well as a few of the herbs you may have growing in your garden already.
-Why forage?  For the free, organic, (check location found), nutrient dense, often very flavorful food!  And you never know when being able to find food in the wild (not to mention your own yard) may prove to be especially useful.
Enjoy!

Quick Cardamom Rice Pudding

Quick Cardamom Rice Pudding

When I tried cardamon years ago I didn't care for it at all, until my daughter brought home some fresh ground cardamon from our local natural foods store (Lori's Natural Foods).  It was so good, I had to find more uses for it!  It complements the taste of coconut milk and vanilla (two other favorites) very nicely in the rice pudding.  Storing it in the fridge in small containers (as shown above) keeps it fresher for each serving, and easy to grab on the way out the door!

Quick Cardamon Rice Pudding

1- 13.5 oz can of coconut milk (Native Forest classic is my favorite)

1/3 cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 tsp cardamom powder

5 cups cooked medium grain brown rice

Whisk together briskly all but the rice in a high sided pan.  Stir in the brown rice.  Bring to a low simmer stirring constantly.  Continue to stir and cook for 3-5 minutes until a creamy consistency.  Cool, cover and store for 5-6 days in a 35 degree F fridge, or  enjoy warm.

Yield: approximately 6 cups

Fresh cooked rice for this recipe:

1 1/2 heaping cups of dry medium grain brown rice

3 cups water

1/4 tsp whole salt

Mix all in a small pot.  Bring to a simmer.  Cover and reduce to low/very low heat.  Simmer 40 minutes and remove from the heat.  If there is still a bit of water in the bottom after 40 minutes, leave cover on for 15 minutes before measuring out 5 cups for the pudding.

Heaping: pouring the dry rice into the measuring cup so it mounds up but still stays in the cup.  (Visually, think mountain range, as apposed to a round hill shape, which is called a rounded cupful.)

Please note:  If it is too thick for your taste once it has cooled, stir in  (room temp) water half a teaspoon at a time until it reaches the desired creaminess.