Showing posts with label amaranth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label amaranth. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Asparagus Pesto over Roasted Cauliflower & Amaranth Crisps!


Happy Mother’s Day!! I hope everyone was able to spoil their mom today and show her gratitude and love. I am so blessed to be my mother’s daughter. She’s taught me so much about life, faith, love, what it means to be a good wife, and mother.
check out the fabulous texture on the crisps! — and the little ball:)
So tonight, I wanted to treat her to her favorite vegetable…cauliflower! We’ve been showing cauliflower some major love lately. So far, we’ve roasted it as a steak, mashed it like potatoes, made a PIZZA CRUST out of it, and made apasta sauce out of it!
such a fantastic meal!
Tonight, we replaced pasta with Roasted Cauliflower Florets in a delicious Asparagus Pesto! And it was AMAZING! Truly delicious! I served it with mini veggie frittatas! Mmm!
gorgeous, just gorgeous!
Let’s start with the Cauliflower “Pasta.” Here’s what you need:
1 head of cauliflower, broken into bite-sized florets
Asparagus Pesto:
1/2 bunch of asparagus, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces, steamed
1 cup basil
1/4 – 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tsp – 1 Tbsp EVOO
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
salt
water to consistency
Preheat oven to 350. Place your drycauliflower florets in an even layer on a baking sheet lined with tin foil, and sprayed with olive oil. Spray the florets with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and then place in the oven. Bake for about 40 minutes, flipping half way though.
In the meantime, make your pesto! Steam your asparagus until tender, and then shock with cold water. Let them cool. Once cooled, put everything into your food processor and whirl them up until smooth. Toss with the roasted cauliflower florets, and garnish with an Amaranth Crisp! (or 2!) Delish!
The amaranth crisps were a hit!
Here’s what you need for the Amaranth Crisps:
1/2 cup Amaranth, cooked in 1 cup vegetable stock
Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Once your amaranth has cooked and absorbed the liquid, take it off the heat and let it cool. Once cooled, take 1/2 Tbsp of the cooled amaranth, roll it into a ball, and place six balls on the baking sheet. Then, take another piece of parchment paper and “smoosh” them flat into thin crisps! Then, carefully peel off the 2nd piece of parchment. Spray the tops with olive oil spray. Bake for about 20 minutes, and then broil for the last 3-4 minutes — careful! The edges can burn! They’re so crispy and wonderful!
light and airy egg white frittatas!
Finally, I served my mini veggie frittatas.
This serves one — as my parents wanted cheesy scramblers:) And, they aren’t allergic to egg yolks like me!
Here’s what you need:
2 egg whites
salt and pepper
3 button mushrooms, diced
2 green onions, sliced
2 asparagus stalks, sliced
big handful of spinach, chopped
Preheat oven to 350. Combine your egg whites and veggies in a bowl and stir to coat. Spray a muffin tin with olive-oil. Spoon the mixture into 3 cups. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until cooked through. Run a knife around the edge to help them out. YUM!
green food = happy tummy!
This meal was awesome — and my mother loved it!! The Asparagus Pesto over Cauliflower “Pasta” absolutely stole the show! The pesto’s flavor was outstanding! My parents had NO idea there was asparagus in it! They just knew it was creamy, bright, fresh, and amazing!
amazing roasted cauliflower :)
And the cauliflower was so wonderful. It caramelized beautifully during the roasting process, creating this fantastic crisp outside with a nice bite, yet tender center. The natural sugars from the cauliflower were released and it gave the dish an almost anise-y undertone. Just delicious.
gluten-free, vegan, AND Body Ecology Diet Friendly!
And the amaranth crisps! WOW! They were so crispy — like a cracker!! And the texture was so interesting: a little bit like crunchy caviar — they are tiny seeds after all!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend. Let’s make it a happy, healthy week!
My food processor strikes again! I just love this machine. Here's the one I use:

Gardener’s Pie & Mother’s Day Menu Ideas!


Sorry for the lack of post yesterday! My family went to my cousin’s graduation in Indianapolis! (Congrats K!) We stayed at a super nice, 4-star hotel…but get this: the internet was $15 bucks a night! Since it was late and I was only going to have about 20 minutes surfing the web, I took a pass. Sheesh — free internet for the people! Come on!
what a meal!
So tonight, coming home from a trip, I wanted to use up what was left in the fridge. Soo I thought I’d makeShepherd’s Gardener’s Pie! This Gardener’s Pie, is a wink to Shepherd’s Pie. BUT…it’s gluten-free, vegan, and Body Ecology Diet friendly!
Gardener’s Pie!!
Shepherd’s Pie is a traditional Irish casserole consisting of meat in a baking dish, topped with mashed potatoes. Well, since I don’t eat meat, and mashed potatoes are a “no-no” on the B.E.D, I replaced the meat with delicious veggies, and the “mashy taters” with millet and amaranth! Yum!
gorgeous fish, gorgeous crust!
Here’s what you need: (Serves 1) — (my parents went out to dinner for a date night:) )
1/4 cup of millet and amaranth mixed, cooked in 1/2 cup vegetable stock
1/4 red onion, chopped
handful of asparagus, cut into 1/2 inch
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 shiitake mushrooms, chopped
fresh baby spinach
Preheat oven to 350. Cook your millet and amaranth until the liquid has been absorbed, about 20-25 minutes. Meanwhile, saute your onions in 1 tsp EVOO with salt, pepper, chili powder and paprika. After they soften, add your mushrooms and asparagus. After a couple of minutes, add in your garlic, let it cook, and then deglaze with vegetable stock. Then, take off the heat.
Next, you’re going to take an oven-safe ramekin and spray it with olive oil spray. Place a small handful of spinach in the bottom, and then spoon your vegetable mixture on top of the greens. Push it down a bit. Finally, place your millet/amaranth layer on top. (You’ll have to shape it a bit with your hands…don’t worry, the spinach will cook down). Spray the top with olive oil and then place in the oven for about 12 minutes. For the last 5 minutes, turn on the broiler and brown the top. Careful they’re hot!! YUM!
Gluten-Free, Vegan, and Body Ecology Friendly!
Finally, with this delicious Gardener’s Pie, I made broiled flounder. Lobsta Bakes’ wild, ocean-caught flounder is SO sweet and tender. I broiled it with 1 tsp EVOO, salt, pepper, paprika, and chili powder. So delicious!
crunchy on top, chewy underneath!
This meal was fantastic! First of all, it was fun to get your own, personal, little ramekin to eat out of! The crust was superb. The amaranth and millet had a beautiful, brown crispy crust on the outside, and then was soft on the inside. The spinach wilted down beautifully, and the asparagus and mushrooms were SO flavorful with the chili powder and paprika! Delicious!
look at all those healthy veggies!
Next time you need to use up some veggies, try out this terrific and easy recipe!
amazing millet-amaranth crust!
For this recipe, I got to use my cute Le Creuset ramekin! I love it so much. It's adorable, and so durable. It can even go in the oven! This is the one I use:

And now….a delicious Gluten-Free Recipe Round-Up for Mother’s Day!
Curry Apple Quinoa! (GF, Vegan)
GF Lasagna Roll Ups! (GF, vegan with Daiya)
Ahi Tuna with Chinese Stir Fry (GF, Vegan stir fry)
Cod with Mango Salsa! (GF, vegan salsa)
Whether you’re treating Mom to breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, or just a treat, I hope these recipes provide some tasty ideas to spoil her!
Happy Early Mother’s Day!