Super-Charged Kale, Artichoke & Quinoa Soup!

Ever have one of those days where its time to cook dinner, and you open your fridge only to find that you’re out of … everything?

Yeah, that’s how today was. Good thing I always have certain Pantry Staples on hand!

don’t judge a book by its cover — this soup ROCKED!

So here’s what I had to work with:

In the Fridge: Kale, Celery, 1/2 onion

In the Pantry: Veg Stock, Quinoa, Garlic

I scratched my head for about 3 minutes. Mind you, I have a dad who won’t touch Kale with a 12 foot pole. So I had to disguise it — in form AND flavor. Enter: a delicious, creamy soup.

Scrumptious Dinner!

And let me preface this by saying that my dad was *raving* about this soup and said it was amazing!

Here’s what you need for the Super-Charged Kale, Artichoke and Quinoa Soup:

3/4 bunch of Kale, de-stemmed and diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 cup frozen artichokes, thawed
4-5 garlic cloves
4 green onions, sliced — whites & light green separated from the dark (for garnish)
3/4 bunch of celery, diced
3 cups veg stock
1 cup water
3/4 cup quinoa cooked in 1 1/2 cups veg stock
juice of 1/2 a lemon
dried oregano and basil – about 1 tsp each
salt and pepper

In your dutch oven, saute your onions in 2-3 tsp EVOO with salt, pepper, oregano and basil. Allow them to soften for about 4 minutes. Then, add in your celery and let it cook until it begins to soften – about 5 minutes. Then, stir in your garlic and let it cook for about 2 minutes. Next, add your artichokes, veg stock and water. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, add kale and stir so it all gets “in the pool.” Then, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the kale is tender. Once tender, add your lemon juice. Then, with a submersion blender (aka stick blender), puree the soup so it becomes smooth and creamy. (You can also do this with a regular blender, but do it carefully and in batches!) Once it’s pureed, stir in your cooked quinoa. Finally, stir in some final salt to taste — I added about 1+ tsp. Serve garnished with the dark green parts of the green onions.

gorgeously seared Ahi Tuna!

With this Super-Charged, Nutrient-Dense soup, I served Seared Ahi Tuna. This was amazing. And I had more, but the slices weren’t “pretty” enough for the picture:) Lobsta Bakes’ wild, ocean-caught Sushi-Grade tuna absolutely melts in your mouth. It is such a beautiful ruby red color, with a succulent, melt-in-your-mouth texture! It is seriously like buttah!

Now that I’m on the Body Ecology diet, I can no longer have sugar or soy sauce (among countless other things). Therefore, I could not marinate the tuna like I usually do. However, to give it a truly spectacular taste, I suggest to marinate it first. This is the marinade I {{used to}} use…….*tear*

Marinade:
2 T Tamari (gluten free soy sauce)
1 T grated fresh ginger
1 BIG garlic clove, grated
1 t fresh lime juice
1 green onion, thinly sliced
small squeeze agave
1 tsp EVOO (or sesame oil if you have it)

I combined these ingredients with the tuna steaks in a gallon ziplock bag.  I made sure they were all coated, and then put the bag (on a plate incase it leaks) in the fridge for about an hour.

Searing your fish: In a super hot, non-stick grill pan sprayed with olive oil spray, sear each side for 1-2 minutes. If you want it less rare, you can cook it longer, but I wouldn’t recommend it!

Gluten Free, Vegan, AND Body Ecology Friendly!

This meal was absolutely delectable! The soup was so luxurious — velvety and creamy! The flavor completely blew me out of the water – it had a deep, satisfying, earthy flavor, but it was complexly sweet from the celery, and beautifully garlicy. The addition of the quinoa provided a nutty flavor, plus a textural *pop* for the soup. It was out of this world! It warmed the belly and soul!

delish!

I got to use 2 of my favorite tools: my nonstick grill pan, which make grilling all year 'round a reality. And my immersion blender! This is such a convenient tool - you can blend soups without having to transfer it to a blender! Super simple! Here are the ones I use:

Until Tomorrow!

GF Vegan Roasted Red Pepper & Kale Pesto!

Scrumptious Recipe Alert!!!

gluten-free and vegan amazingness!

Today was a day that we needed comfort food. Long story short, it was an emotional day, and nothing sounded better than a soul-warming serving of a creamy pasta.

the sunflower seeds added depth and texture!

This can be quite a difficult task with the Body Ecology Diet — since the only grains allowed on the diet are quinoa, millet, amaranth, and buckwheat. Well, wouldn’t you know, they sell buckwheat pasta!! How fantastic!! It’s not AS wonderful texture-wise and taste-wise as brown rice pasta, but still hits the “pasta spot.”

beautiful ruby-red Ahi Tuna!

So tonight, I blanketed these legal buckwheat noodles with a velvety, creamy, pesto — made from a roasted red pepper, steamed kale, basil, and roasted pumpkin seeds! This was so delicious! My dad was CONVINCED that there was butter or cream in the sauce! I served this with seared Ahi Tuna! Yum Yum Yum!

gorgeous green color!

Lets start with the Pesto. Here’s what you need:

1 red pepper, roasted and peeled
2 big stalks of kale, steamed
2 garlic cloves
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 Tbsp pine nuts, toasted
3 Tbsp pumpkin seeds, toasted
1 cup basil
6 olives
salt

To roast your red pepper, I literally set it on our gas flame and kept turning it with tongs until it was completely charred. I then put it in a bowl and covered it with plastic wrap so that the steam loosened the skin. Then, after about 15 minutes, the charred skin peels right off (use your hands), and you’re left with a wonderful, roasted red pepper! If you don’t have a gas flame, you can do the same right under the broiler! Place all your ingredients into your food processor, whirl it up, and you’ve got a luxurious sauce! Toss it with your buckwheat pasta and enjoy!

want a bite?

Finally, the Ahi Tuna! Oh my Gosh –Lobsta Bakes’ wild, ocean-caught, sushi-grade tuna is amazing. It is such a beautiful ruby red color, with a succulent, melt-in-your-mouth texture! It is seriously like buttah!

Now that I’m on the Body Ecology diet, I can no longer have sugar or soy sauce (among countless other things). Therefore, I could not marinate the tuna like I usually do. However, to give it a truly spectacular taste, I suggest to marinate it first. This is the marinade I {{used to}} use…….*tear*

Marinade:
2 T Tamari (gluten free soy sauce)
1 T grated fresh ginger
1 BIG garlic clove, grated
1 t fresh lime juice
1 green onion, thinly sliced
small squeeze agave
1 tsp EVOO (or sesame oil if you have it)

I combined these ingredients with the tuna steaks in a gallon ziplock bag.  I made sure they were all coated, and then put the bag (on a plate incase it leaks) in the fridge for about an hour.

Searing your fish: In a super hot, non-stick grill pan sprayed with olive oil spray, sear each side for 1-2 minutes. If you want it less rare, you can cook it longer, but I wouldn’t recommend it!

red pepper and kale — really??

This meal hit the “comfort spot” that we so needed after such an emotional day. This pasta warmed your belly and warmed your soul. The pesto was seriously delicious. My parents said it is in their “Top 3″ of what I make. By roasting the pepper over a real flame, it got this deep, smokey-sweet flavor. It was fantastic — it went perfectly with the fresh, sweet basil. The garlic gave it nice backbone, while the lemon provided a refreshing bright note. But the thing that was most wonderful about it was its consistency! It was SO creamy and velvety. A truly great “mouth feel!”

velvety and creamy sauce!

Next time you need comfort in the form of pasta, try this guilt-free and highly nutritious red pepper pesto!

This meal used two of my fav kitchen tools: my BFF (food processor), and my grill pan! Here are the ones I use and highly recommend:

Weekend Recap!

So last night was great — my sister-in-law was with me for dinner while my parents were out with friends. Girls’ Night! We had a great chat over dinner, and then watched a movie afterwards. So fun!

And best of all — she found a house, made an offer, and bought it yesterday!! We’re so excited!! Congrats A and R!!!

such crunch and bright flavor!

For dinner last night, I served my GF Vegan Cucumber-Fennel-and-Dill salad over Millet, with broiled wild, ocean-caught Flounder from Lobsta Bakes. I think we were both hungry, because we cleaned our plates!!! {{that’s buckwheat in the pictures}}

You can find my recipe here.

light, crisp and refreshing!

This was so delicious. The combination of the fresh cucumber, the sweet-licorice-y fennel, sweet red pepper, lemony dill, and bright-tangy lemon juice was SO refreshing. It seriously rocked!! And it was SO crunchy and juicy. It was light, but just explodingwith flavor. Over the nutty millet — priceless. My sister-in-law loved it so much, she wanted the recipe!!

Sometimes, simplicity is genius!

The food was “prime time”, but the best part of the meal was sharing it with my sister-in-law. After all, that’s the best part of cooking — making something delicious to delight the people you love, to show them that you care.

Tonight, my parents have friends from high school staying with us, so it’ll be the 3 of us, my S-I-L, and our 2 guests! So my parents are having a nice Sunday Supper here at the house. Since we didn’t want to force them to eat from the exhaustively restrictive Body Ecology Diet, they will be having one meal — this delicious Chinese Stir Fry with Ahi Tuna , and I’ll be having a different, BED meal. Ahhh, someday *hopefully soon* this tedious BED will be put to rest.

What my parents and their friends will be indulging in---mouth...is...watering

What I can’t eat in the above picture *right now while on the Body Ecology Diet*: brown rice, peas, carrots, edamame, Tamari, ginger, agave, mushrooms, and green peppers. Someday….someday.

asparagus and gorgeously caramelized red onions

Here’s what I had:

my "Incredible Hulk" sized plate! (eyes were bigger than stomach)

This is an UNmarinated, gorgeous piece of Ahi Tuna, with nutty Buckwheat, and beautiful Roasted Vegetables. The green topping is a delicious, oil-free, Artichoke Pesto! It was delicious!

artichoke basil pesto!

I guess I’m used to cooking for 3, because by the time I plated up everything I had cooked…it was an absolute MOUNTAIN of food! I couldn’t finish it all, but that was fine with my dad — he thought it was outrageously delicious!

gorgeous roasted veggies

Here’s the recipe for the pesto:

3/4 cup artichoke hearts, dethawed
1 cup of fresh basil
1 clove of garlic
juice of 1 1/2 lemons
1-2 Tbsp toasted pine nuts
salt
water to consistency

Whirl it up in the food processor. It is great over the ahi tuna, as well as the buckwheat and veggies!

succulent and sweet garlic inside its shell!

For the Roasted Veggies, I roasted asparagus, broccoli, red onions (don’t be scared — these were the best), and garlic (in its skin) in a bit of EVOO, salt and pepper. I roasted them at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, flipping half way through.

ruby red ahi tuna!

My meal was phenomenal. The roasted veggies had such a wonder flavor! The natural sweetness of the veggies come out and they gently caremalize. The red onions become SO sweet and delicious! My dad said they were like CANDY! And the garlic steams in its skin, so when you take it out of the shell, it is like the consistency of butter! I shared with everyone at the table, and had them spread it on their bread. They were blown away.

so many nutrients on one plate!

And the pesto was so bright and refreshing! Its tanginess paired beautifully with the nutty quinoa and the buttery ahi tuna. Great food, great company.

It was wonderful to all be together:)

This meal utilized several of my favorite tools: my mandoline, grill pan, and my faaaaavorite food processor! Here's where you can get them!

Until tomorrow!