Recipe Series: A Month of Lunches #3
Post by Olivia Martino and Paula Jahn, Registered Dietitians and Owners, Nourish Northwest
It’s week three of our lunch recipe series and we are getting sophisticated. (No more rice and beans this week). We made crepes! This thin French pancake is surprisingly easy to make and meets our criteria for large batch cooking. Crepes freeze well and can be the wrap for many different fillings. This week, we made gluten-free buckwheat crepes, but the recipe is the exact same proportions if you want to make them with regular wheat flour or a combination of flours. We sautéed up a bunch of wild mushrooms and fennel and topped it with a good slice of brie cheese. The flavors worked so well with the earthy buckwheat crepe. Another good combination for fall is pears, sautéed red onion, toasted walnuts and chèvre. Get creative!
Basic Savory Crepe Recipe
1 cup flour (buckwheat, unbleached all-purpose or combination)
1 cup whole milk (unsweetened soy or almond work well, too)
2 large eggs
6 1/2 Tbs water
1/2 tsp sea salt
3 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
1 additional Tbs butter
Preparation
1. In a food processor or blender, combine all ingredients together except extra butter. Process for 10 seconds in short bursts until well-combined.
2. Cover and place in refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to 48 hours. Take batter out of refrigerator 20 minutes before using.
3. Heat a non-stick skillet or well-seasoned cast iron pan over medium heat and add 1 tsp butter. When butter stops crackling, pour 3-4 Tbs of batter in pan and quickly swirl pan to create a thin coat of batter on the pan. If the pan is too hot, the batter will cook too fast. Reduce heat and try again.
4. Cook until slightly brown, about 30-60 seconds.
5. Flip loosened crepe with a thin spatula or your fingers and cook for another 30 seconds.
6. Either fill crepe with desired filling, or set aside to cool for freezing.
7. Cooked crepes will keep well in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for 5 days. To freeze, layer with parchment paper between each crepe and store in gallon-sized zip top bag.
Recipe Series: A Month of Lunches #2
Post by Olivia Martino and Paula Jahn, Registered Dietitians and Owners, Nourish Northwest
Making sure you get protein in your lunch can be a challenge when you are trying to step away from the traditional cold cut sandwich. This week we wanted to make something that would be a quick and easy protein punch, that would hold up well throughout the week. These vegan lentil meatballs do the trick. And because we are going with the strategy of cooking once and eating several times, we also needed to create a veggie dish that would hold up just as well.
The first thing that always pops into our head when faced with this challenge is our favorite massaged kale salad. While we have made this salad quite possibly hundreds of times, we never get sick of it. We often teach this one in our cooking classes and without fail, our clients tell us that this becomes a staple in their household. This salad is simple and delicious and many a non-kale eater have been converted by it. Not only does it hold up well, it gets better throughout the week. The dressing continues to make the kale easier to digest and the golden raisins soak up the lemon juice, becoming plump and bursting with flavor. It also lends the perfect balance of salty, sweet and tangy.
Massaged Kale Salad
Adapted from glutenfreegirl.com
Ingredients
1 large bunch lacinato kale
zest and juice of 1 lemon
½ teaspoon fish sauce or 1 Tbsp Tamari
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup golden raisins
¼ cup toasted pine nuts, sunflower seeds, almonds or any other nut
1/3 cup grated Pecorino cheese
Preparation
CUTTING THE KALE. With a sharp knife, cut the kale leaves away from the stems. Pile 4 of the halves on top of each other. Roll them up to make a shape like a cigar. Cut into the “cigar” at 1-inch intervals. This will leave you with ribbons of kale. (This technique is known as chiffonade.) Repeat with the remaining kale. Put it into a large bowl.
MAKING THE DRESSING. Combine the lemon zest, juice, fish sauce or tamari, and pepper in a small bowl. While whisking, drizzle in the olive oil. When the dressing is fully combined, taste it. Season to taste.
FINISHING THE SALAD. Add the golden raisins and pine nuts to the salad. Toss. Drizzle 1/3 of the dressing along the sides of the bowl, so it moves slowly into the kale. Toss the salad with your hands, massaging the dressing into the kale ribbons as you go. If you need it, drizzle in more of the dressing until you feel the salad is fully dressed.
Top with the grated cheese and serve.
Lentil Meatballs
Adapted from cookieandkate.com
Ingredients
1 cup dried brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
1 bay leaf
2 cups vegetable broth (or water)
8 ounces cremini mushrooms (or white mushrooms), sliced
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium white onion, chopped
3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup red wine
1 tablespoon tamari soy sauce (optional)
2 eggs (or flax eggs if you want this to be vegan*)
sea salt and pepper to taste
* To make a flax egg, dissolve 1 Tbsp of ground flax meal in 3 Tbsp water and let sit for at least 15 minutes.
Recipe Series: A Month of Lunches
Post by Paula Jahn and Olivia Martino, Registered Dietitians and Co-owners of Nourish Northwest
Welcome to our lunch blog series! We are always preaching to clients about the benefit of setting aside one day of the week to cook in mass quantities. Many people have trouble putting together a healthy, balanced lunch. Lunch can be a challenge–whether you’re working and find yourself ordering food out, or a stay at home parent, too busy feeding little mouths to worry about your own.
In this series, we will make 4 weeks of delicious, healthy lunches that are easy to make in large batches and that keep well for at least 5 days.
This Week: The Rice and Bean Bowl
We love the vegetarian bowl trend. Piling vegetables over rice (or quinoa) and beans and adding a zesty sauce is one of our favorite ways to eat. It’s nutritionally balanced, versatile, satisfying, and full of fiber and antioxidants. Plus, what can be more budget friendly than rice and beans?
We finally made it to Harlow last week and split the Betty Bowl. It was tasty! The Bye and Bye and the Sweet Hereafter make some great vegan/vegetarian bowls, too. Today, we took inspiration from the Betty Bowl and our neighbor across the street at the Whole Bowl. We tried our hand at their top secret Tali Sauce. There are many versions of this “crack sauce” circulating the internet. We adapted ours from some of those and thought it came pretty close.
Now that we have a ton of brown rice and pinto beans cooked, we can add different vegetables and dressings throughout the week and never get bored. Although, I think it will take us more than a week to tire of the imitation Tali Sauce.
Imitation Tali Sauce
1/4 cup almonds, peeled ( pour boiling water over raw almonds, cool, and slip skins off)
Juice 1 large lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water (more if needed)
1/4 cup garbanzo beans
2 garlic cloves
3 Tbs large flake nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp dry mustard powder
1/4 tsp each of curry powder, onion powder, garlic powder, turmeric, cumin, cayenne
Pinch of salt
- Blend all the ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth. Add more water, if needed, to achieve the desired consistency.
- Serve the sauce over rice bowls. Leftovers may be refrigerated for 1 week or frozen for 2 months.
Short Grain Brown Rice
Ingredients
2 cups short grain brown rice, rinsed
4 cups water
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Preparation
1. Bring all ingredients to a boil in a pot with a tight-fitting lid.
2. Reduce to a simmer, keeping the lid on.
3. Set timer for 40 minutes.
4. Test rice for doneness. All of the water absorbed and rice should be chewy. Put lid on again and continue to simmer if needed.
To assemble the bowls, we layered pinto beans, the cooked rice, sautéed onions and zucchini, red cabbage simmered in water and red wine vinegar, flaked nori and the sauce.
Happy Lunching!
Recipe: Minted Pea Soup
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Post by Olivia Martino, Registered Dietitian and Co-owner, Nourish Northwest
It’s Day 1 for my Summer Detox group and it’s getting pretty hot in Portland. During cleanses, I usually recommending eating a lot of soups because they are easy one-pot meals, are filling and can be packed with veggies. But since you never know what the weather is going to do throughout the day here, I wanted to provide a soup recipe that is good both cold and hot. This one does the trick and also makes use of the abundant mint growing in household gardens throughout the city right now. This simple, delicious soup is one of my favorites!
Minted Pea Soup
Serves: 6
Ingredients
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium bunch fresh spinach thoroughly washed & torn into pieces
2 Lbs. frozen peas
5 cups vegetable stock
1 cup packed fresh mint leaves
1 cup coconut milk
Salt & Pepper
Preparation
1. In a large, heavy saucepan, cook onion in olive oil with salt to taste over moderately low heat until softened. Add spinach and cook until just wilted. Add frozen peas and 3 cups of the stock and simmer, uncovered, until peas are tender, 5 – 10 minutes.
 2. Stir in mint and remaining 2 cups of stock and remove pan from heat. In batches in a blender, or using a hand-held puree tool, blend until very smooth and pour into a large bowl (using care when blending hot liquids.)
  3. Whisk in coconut and salt & pepper to taste.
 4. Serve warm or chill and serve cold.
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Recipe: Buttermilk Farro Salad
Post by Olivia Martino, Registered Dietitian and Co-owner, Nourish Northwest
This recipe was adapted from 101cookbooks (great blog for healthy recipes!) but it was originally inspired by a salad at Clyde Common here in Portland. This is a great summer potluck salad, especially right now while zucchini is abundant. Enjoy!
Buttermilk Farro Salad
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks
Buttermilk Vinaigrette:
- 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 1 cup / 240 ml buttermilk
- 1/4 cup / 60 ml good-quality white wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup / 60 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup chopped dill
- 1/2 cup chopped chives
Salad:
- 7 small radishes, sliced paper thin
- 3 small zucchini, sliced paper thin
- Kernals from 3 ears fresh corn
- 4 cups arugula
- 4 cups cooked farro, cooled to room temp
Combine the garlic and salt on a cutting board. Mash into a paste using the flat side of your knife. Place in a medium bowl or jar, then add the buttermilk and vinegar. Whisk together and let sit for 5 minutes or so. Gradually whisk in the olive oil, then the herbs.
In a large bowl gently toss the radishes, zucchini, asparagus and arugula with the farro grains. Add 1 cup of the dressing and toss again. Let sit for ten minutes, taste, and adjust with more dressing, if needed, and salt to taste.
SERVES 8