meatless monday Archives

Lemony Bright Artichoke and Spinach Orzo

Beautiful photography in this post by Nina Menconi.

I’ll never forget traveling through Italy during late May a few years ago and desperately searching for artichokes featured on any menu. Each time the waiter said, “I carciofi sono finiti”–artichokes are finished–and I would just sigh! How was it possible that we missed the window to enjoy my favorite spring vegetable “alla Romana, al forno, fritti, or in tasty little fried balls called polpette ghiotte?!”

You see, I LOVE artichokes. The first time I truly realized that vegetables were cool was as a ten year old girl, and it was the artichoke that did it. My bonus mom, Debbie, was from California and she introduced artichokes to my dad and I–and it was love at first bite. I was fascinated by this foreign food that required not just eating the meaty leaves with your hands but also digging down until you found the golden heart. And so, I was of course dreaming of tasting the love Italians have for our shared favorite–the artichoke (as they call “carciofi,” which in Italian, also means “pine cone!”).

Each May, when I have the chance to work with the local artichokes that are in season, I can’t help but think about how Mediterranean cooks might highlight them in one of their everyday simple pasta meals. Keeping flavors pure and springlike, I imagine they’d lean on staples like spinach, lemon, parsley, onions, garlic and feta and would pick a pasta like orzo that’s fun and fast to cook.

While I’m actually using a jarred artichoke heart in this recipe versus fresh for the sake of convenience and speed, here are my tips on how to select and store fresh spring artichokes and help your child fall in love with artichokes the way my family did so many years ago!

How to pick a great artichoke and keep it fresh

Select artichokes that are deep green and feel heavy for their size. A good test of freshness is to press the leaves against each other which should produce a squeaking sound.
To store artichokes: sprinkle (but do not wash) artichokes with a little water and refrigerate in an airtight bag or container. They can last up to a week when stored properly.
If you are looking for a good artichoke outside of their peak season during spring, you may find fall or winter artichokes “touched by frost – winter-kissed with a whitish, blistered appearance.” These are considered to be tender, tasty and premier–so don’t let their ugly exterior leaves deter you!

Artichoke fun facts about this thistle we adore

Ask your child what part of the plant they think an artichoke comes from. The artichoke is a flower that has not yet bloomed. If allowed to flower, the buds develop into magnificent purple-blue blooms.
Did you know that California produces 100% of the United States artichoke crop? Castroville, California, calls itself the “Artichoke Center of the World.”
Do you know where the word artichoke comes from? The Italian words—articiocco and articoclos—which means pine cone.

Lemony Bright Feta, Artichoke and Spinach Orzo

2016-05-11 23:56:57

Serves 6

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Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

20 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

20 min

Ingredients

Onion (yellow), 1
Garlic, 3 cloves
Olive oil, ¼ cup (divided)
Salt, 1 tsp (divided)
Black pepper, ¼ tsp
Artichoke hearts (quartered), 14 oz
Spinach (baby, pre-washed, bagged), 1 bag (8 cups)
White wine, ½ cup
Vegetable broth, ½ cup
Lemon, ½ large or 1 small
Orzo pasta, 1lb
Feta cheese, 7 oz
Parsley, ½ small bunch

Get Organized

Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
Bring a large pot of salty water up to a boil for the orzo.
Dice onion.
Empty the quartered artichoke hearts, rinse them, drain and set aside.
Crumble the feta and set aside.
Rough chop parsley (stems and leaves).

To Cook

When water begins to boil, add orzo pasta and cook according to package instructions (about 7-9 minutes). Note: we like to undercook the orzo as we’ll add the pasta to the sauce to finish cooking.
Saute onion in two tablespoons olive oil and ½ teaspoon salt on medium high heat until translucent (3-4 minutes).
Add artichoke hearts and continue sauteing for another 3 minutes.
Next add spinach, garlic, and two more tablespoons olive oil. Stir well to combine.
Deglaze pan with white wine by pulling the pan off the heat, adding the wine, and then placing the pan back on medium high heat. Use your wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan to stir up any of the good onion bits that stuck to the bottom.
Add vegetable broth and continue simmering for about five minutes to help concentrate sauce.
Add another ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper and stir.
Turn off the heat. Add lemon, parsley, and feta and stir.
Serve in bowls garnished with extra parsley.

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Bursting with Spring Buckwheat Noodles

May 5 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

Beautiful photography in this post by Nina Menconi.

Spring makes me happy. It’s not just the sweet strawberries and ripe cherries that start popping up everywhere this time of year, or the yellow daffodils and tulips that tell me that winter is a distant memory. It’s the baby carrots and happy easter radishes, crunchy sweet sugar snap peas, and tender stalks of asparagus that make me want to cook and play in the kitchen. From radish dips to noodles bursting with spring produce, I’m energized to find ways to easily work in these yummy seasonal treats into my weekly meals.

And it’s not only because I love the taste of spring. Do you know how many nutritious goodies (including energy!) these vegetables and fruits provide?! I love looking at Ashley Koff’s spring vegetable “picks” list to feel great knowing that I’m treating my body and my family’s health right! The key of course is to “try” not go overboard–playing with new recipes should be fun, not stressful. That’s why I love simple one dish meals like soba noodles. I use my go-to sauce from the Joyful 12 kitchen learning lab and just mix up the seasonal produce on hand.

One of my new favorite things to add to soba noodles is roasted tofu. It sounds a little crazy, but I’m a newcomer to tofu as a protein source that makes it home in my shopping cart! I just never played with it much until recently when I was trying out a recipe that called for roasting it. In just 20-minutes, roasted tofu develops the most beautiful brown color and deep flavor without having to pan sear or fry it in a bunch of oil. And while I have the oven on anyway, I throw in some diced asparagus for ten minutes–just long enough to develop flavor but not lose the vibrant green hues.

When it comes to play, my motto is always to have fun making mistakes. Take this goof for example. I put my cooked soba noodles into my pan, along with the sauce and veggies and stirred and stirred and stirred, and guess what. The noodles broke! So much for long beautiful soba noodles–more like soba rice! But that just gave me the chance to make this recipe one more time for my husband, Jim, who adores soba noodles. After a little research, I discovered that the trick to not breaking your cooked noodles is to first wash them after cooking them in a big bowl of cold water (to remove some of their starch) AND to add your sauce and veggies off the heat and gently toss them just before serving. Version one was still delicious!

If you’re looking for a seriously happy and delicious spring meal, perfect for Meatless Monday, grab some sugar snap peas and asparagus and let the soba noodle party commence!

Bursting with Spring Buckwheat Noodles

2016-05-03 21:07:09

Serves 4

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Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

10 min

Total Time

40 min

Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

10 min

Total Time

40 min

Ingredients

Asparagus, 1 bunch
Olive oil, 3 TBS (divided)
Salt, ½ tsp (divided)
Tofu, firm, 14 oz
Black pepper, ⅛ tsp
Green onion, 1 bunch
Sugar snap peas, 1 cup
Ginger (fresh), 1tsp finely chopped
Soba noodles (100% Buckwheat) 7 oz

Noodle Sauce

Hot pepper flakes, 1/4 tsp
Rice wine vinegar, 2 TBS
Tamari (gluten free soy sauce), 1/4 cup
Sesame oil, 1/4 cup
Ginger (fresh), 2 tsp finely grated

Instructions

Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
Preheat oven to 425F.
Cut asparagus on the bias into medium sized pieces. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon of salt.
Dry off tofu and cut into medium sized (bite-sized) cubes, drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon of salt and ⅛ teaspoon black pepper.
Place tofu and asparagus on two different baking pans lined with parchment paper--roast the tofu for 20 minutes and the asparagus for 10 minutes at 425F.
Cut green onion into small pieces. Set aside some of the green tops to use as a garnish on the noodles when you serve them.
Cut the sugar snap peas into bite sized pieces.
Chop 1 teaspoon of ginger and set aside for the vegetable saute. Finely grate 2 additional teaspoons ginger for the noodle sauce.
Make the pasta sauce by combining all the ingredients in a bowl and stirring together.

Cook

Cook noodles separately, according to their package instructions (approximately 5-7 minutes in boiling water--DO NOT salt!). Get a colander ready so you can rinse the noodles right after they are done cooking in cool water. Note: soba noodles should not be al dente, but you also don’t want to overcook them so taste one before pulling the pot off the heat. Once they have been rinsed, you’re now going to dunk the cooked noodles in a big bowl of cold water and “wash them” of their starch. Use your hands and rub them in the water. Drain again in the colander. Now they are ready to be used.
In a pre-heated pan, saute green onion, peas and ginger in 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat for 3 minutes.
Add roasted asparagus, tofu, and your sauce to the saute and continue cooking another 2 minutes.
Gently toss sauteed vegetables and sauce with the noodles in a bowl (off the heat).
Serve in bowls garnished with a little extra green onion and sprinkled with hot pepper flakes, if you like it extra spicy!

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Get Radical and Go Meatless One Night A Week!

Jan 11 by Chef Hollie Greene 2 Comments

Who doesn’t love being radical? At the top of my New Year’s resolutions list this year was: 1) do not take yourself too seriously in 2016, 2) find more time for play, and 3) eat even MORE veggies and less meat! So when I say get radical, I’m sort of poking fun because if you’ve been following trends over the last decade beginning with when Michael Pollan steared us in the right direction to “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants,” you’ll already know that vegetables have clearly become the delicious center of the plate. What I’m really suggesting in this week’s “Healthy, Not Boring” Tip is to make cooking and eating vegetables more fun for your entire family. There’s no easier way to do this than by going all out “theme” one night a week–Italian night, Tex Mex night, Chinese night–oh YES! Join me this week as we take our Meatless Mondays to a whole new healthy, not boring level with these three fun and delicious meals!

What I love about pesto is that it’s a green sauce that requires zero cooking! In my Joyful 12 recipe, Betcha Won’t Believe It’s Broccoli Pesto Pasta, I’m mixing up the standard basil centric recipe with a winter veggie that most kids and adults already love. What’s super fun about this pesto is its neon green color that comes from quickly blanching the broccoli florets and stems in the salty pasta water for a few minutes before they go into the food processor. If you didn’t already know this super cool science trick, it’s the salt in the water that keeps the chlorophyll from leaching out of green veggies that have been blanched! I’ll guarantee this hazelnut, parsley, and broccoli loving sauce will become your family’s favorite Italian meal this winter!

If you’re looking for a taste explosion, you’ve got to make Elena’s Kickin Southwestern Quinoa bowl. I’m addicted. What I love about this dish is that once you make it, you can continue eating it for several days in different ways–one night in a burrito, the next alongside a grilled piece of fish, or as a packed lunch on the go. With Elena’s recipe for a sweet and spicy mango salsa to top off all of this plant based yumminess, you’re guaranteed to return to this recipe as I have time and time again.

As I write this post, we are literally making fried rice for dinner! It’s always a variation of my standard Joyful 12 recipe based on whatever veggies I’ve got on hand. What I do though to make a Monday meal just a little more civilized is I do a little prep Sunday night when I’m vegging out to Downton Abbey, i.e., that’s when I cook my brown rice ahead of time. And don’t sweat it if you lean on those frozen veggies in your fried rice. Believe me, you’re going to pack in loads of fiber and flavor with so little effort, you’ll see why I call this my go-to Meatless Monday meal!

Betcha Won’t Believe it’s Broccoli Pesto Pasta

2016-01-06 22:46:20

Serves 4

A Joyful 12 recipe

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Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

25 min

Total Time

40 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

25 min

Total Time

40 min

Ingredients

Pasta (fusilli), 12 oz.
Salt, 1 ½ tsp.

Broccoli Pesto

Parmesan cheese (grated), 2/3 cup
Hazelnuts, 1/3 cup
Broccoli, 1 head (medium)
Parsley (fresh), 1 bunch (2 cups measured)
Salt, 1 teaspoon
Black pepper, ¼ teaspoon
Olive oil, 1 cup
Garlic, 1-2 cloves (optional)

Prep

Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
Wash all produce.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (for every 8 cups add 1 ½ teaspoons salt).
Grate Parmesan cheese. Set aside a little extra to sprinkle on top of your final dish.
Cut off the tops of the parsley, trying to get mostly leaves. Don’t worry if you get some stems. They will blend up in the pesto.
For the broccoli: cut off the florets (the flowering clusters at the end of the stem). Also cut most of the stem, just discarding the lower woody part. You can quickly cut off the outer parts of the stem (peel it with your knife) that are harder and chop the more tender inside of the stem into chunks.

Cook

First grind cheese and nuts together in a food processor.
In the salted boiling water, drop broccoli florets and stems. After 2 minutes, remove the broccoli and put directly into your food processor.
Add the parsley, salt, pepper, garlic and olive oil and pulse until combined.
Bring the salted water back up to a boil and cook the pasta according to the box instructions.
Drain the noodles.
In a bowl, combine cooked pasta with broccoli pesto and serve with some extra Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Notes

Culinary Note: I often find that children are not as fond of raw garlic in their pesto. For this recipe, we like to gently simmer the garlic in olive oil for about 15 minutes before using.

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Summer Moroccan Salads

Jul 27 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

Tearing off a hot piece of the freshly baked Berber bread, we dove in with gusto. Green, red, orange, and purple colors danced on the plates put down before us. Mounds of airy grated carrots, heaps of perfectly diced tomatoes and fire grilled bell peppers, glistening chunks of earthy purple beets–all displayed at once–were the starters for our first lunch in Morocco.

Wait. What just happened? Hadn’t we ordered “the Moroccan salad” appetizer? Yet, it felt like a parade of salads had just made its grand entrance into our meal. I love the way Paula Wolfert describes these sensory delights in my favorite of her many beautiful cookbooks, The Food of Morocco:

Moroccan salads are not like ours, mixtures of greens doused with dressings. They’re closer to Italian antipasti, served at the beginning of a meal to inspire the appetite and excite the palate: spiced or sweetened, cooked or raw, or pickled or stewed vegetables, as well as cubed and grilled meat or fish.

Our appetites were inspired…and excited. This was a side of Moroccan cooking I had never experienced stateside. We were all too familiar with tagine and couscous but had yet to relish in the glory of these heavenly treats at the beginning of every meal. You see, the area of Morocco we started our trip in, around Rabat, Meknes and Fez, is known for their agricultural delights–from grapes for wine to artichokes, beets, tomatoes, olives and a whole myriad of vegetables that make this part of Morocco the culinary capital.

And then I wondered. How do families really do this in their own homes? Was this a restaurant show or really a part of their food culture? As it turns out, most Moroccan families will have their three or four go-to salads, usually prepared a day in advance that can be pulled out of the refrigerator and served quickly at the start of a meal.

Both simple and seasonal, the brilliance of the Moroccan salad spread is the reliance on a few seasoning combos that you see repeated in numerous variations of the same salad–from the basics of olive, salt and pepper, to spices like cumin, paprika, and coriander to fresh herbs like parsley and cilantro. So when I got back home and tested out my own version of this glorious buffet of salad bites, I kept to the same principles. And some salads were pre-made things I picked up, like an amazing artichoke hummus at our local farmers market and some harissa brined olives from Bi-Rite Market.

Others, I made up as I went along, making a game of seeing what flavors would work together. Diving into Paula’s cookbook, I grabbed ideas from here and there. For example, she has a beautiful carrot and orange salad that’s as simple as mixing together grated or peeled carrots and tossing them with a tiny splash of orange blossom water (I use the Sadaf brand that’s about 2 bucks), a few tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, cinnamon, and a pinch of sugar. You just can’t imagine how refreshing grated cucumbers are with that same flavor combo!

But the one recipe I must share with you that’s pure summer Moroccan love is from my buddy, Chef Tarik Ait Yahya at Atelier De Cuisine. Recreating his “favorite” summer salad was so easy and delicious–even back on my home soil. The only thing that takes a little planning with this salad is roasting the bell peppers, which I chose to do in my oven since I don’t have a charcoal grill in my small city apartment. At 400F, flipping them after 20 minutes per side (40 total),it was an easy and foolproof way of roasting them enough to extract those rich flavors.

Being rebellious, I chose not to peel my tomatoes as is suggested by any good Moroccan cook–I just couldn’t bring myself to do it with the juicy dry farmed Early Girls I’d bought that morning at the farmers market. I was afraid I’d lose too much juice and good bits…and it worked out just fine!

Literally, 1, 2, 3–with the tossing of diced onion, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and the tomatoes and roasted green bell peppers–the MOST heavenly summer salad came together. Take your own family on a culinary adventure this summer, and start a new tradition of Moroccan Salads to start your meals that are sure to surprise and delight your appetites!

I hope you’ll also enjoy exploring my post on chicken tagine and my six favorite things I learned about Moroccan food and culture on our blog from July. And as I explore and continue to learn about Moroccan cooking, I can not begin to tell you how in love I am with Mourad Lahlou’s cookbook, Mourad: New Moroccan. From Marrakech to San Francisco, Mourad cooks from his childhood memories but in his own Northern California style–full of love, flavor, and the beauty of Moroccan flavors.

Special thanks to Elle Wildhagen, our photographer and videographer, for this beautiful shoot.

Chef Tarik’s Roasted Green Pepper and Tomato Salad

2015-07-20 13:01:00

Serves 4

Adapted slightly (based on my memory) from the original recipe we learned from Chef Tarik Ait Yahya at Atelier de Cuisine outside Marrakech, Morocco

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Prep Time

40 min

Cook Time

15 min

Total Time

55 min

Prep Time

40 min

Cook Time

15 min

Total Time

55 min

Ingredients

Tomatoes, 4 medium (Early Girl variety works great)
Green bell peppers, 2 medium
Red onion, ¼
Lemons, 1
Olive oil, 2 TBS.
Salt, ½ tsp.
Black pepper, ¼ tsp.

Prep

Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
Wash all produce.
Chef Tarik recommends roasting the green peppers over charcoal. If this is not an option, what we did was to roast them for 40 minutes at 400F in our oven, flipping them mid-way through cooking time.
As they are roasting, juice your lemon, dice the red onion, and measure out your spices and olive oil into a bowl.
For fresh summer tomatoes, I do not recommend peeling them, even as this is the traditional Moroccan way. In Morocco, we used a tomato that appeared to be a paste tomato variety (Roma) and with a small pairing knife, starting at the bottom of the tomato, we worked our way around the skin, peeling slowly. Later, we made roses with our tomato skin!
Dice peeled tomato and add to the bowl.

Assemble

When the peppers have finished roasting, place them into a bowl and cover with saran wrap. Let them sit at least 5-10 minutes. This will help the skin to release. Peel the bell peppers, dice them, and add to the salad.
Toss all of the ingredients together. Taste to make sure you have enough seasoning. Enjoy with fresh bread or your favorite Moroccan main dish.

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Elena’s Kickin’ Southwestern Quinoa Salad With Mango Salsa

May 18 by Elena Dennis Leave a Comment

Please welcome Elena Dennis to our Joyfoodly community. She’s not only our spring intern at Joyfoodly, but she’s a fellow educator who has a passion for teaching children to love eating seasonal vegetables and fruits through the camp she started at the tender age of 17–Camp Cauliflower. Please welcome Elena as she shares her passion for living veggie love in these next few blog posts:

I still remember the expression on my best friend’s face when I told her. We were sitting in the food court of the Northgate Mall, a bowl of teriyaki chicken and rice placed in front of us. The majority of the broccoli and carrots were pulled to my side of the plate while the tender chicken strips were gathered near her fork. Surprised that I wasn’t digging into the sweet and sour flavors of this slowly roasted bird, I decided to break the news.

That’s right folks. I officially announced my vegetarianism. However, I didn’t realize the slew of questions I would receive when converting over to a life full of veggies. Let me share some of the FAQs I’ve found over my three years of being a veg.

#1: How do you live?

Well, I’m able to talk, breathe, eat, and laugh, so living isn’t too difficult. I’ve never been the biggest red meat eater, and to be honest, I love vegetables so being vegetarian isn’t a bad lifestyle for me. However, I can see why people ask that question all the time, which brings me to #2.

#2: How do you get enough protein?

Research. It’s all about taking out the fat Wellness Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition and reading. I’ve found that my favorite sources of protein are quinoa, beans and rice, greek yogurt, and almonds. These are also incredibly versatile ingredients, which you can use and substitute into about any recipe.

#3: What do you usually make for dinner?

And this question brings me to my favorite dish: quinoa bowls. Whether it’s chopped cold carrots and celery or sautéed chard and kale doused in a ginger-miso sauce, I can confidently say that you could put anything on quinoa and feel satisfied after. These fluffy seeds are chock-full of essential amino acids that fulfill my complete protein requirement per day. I’ve been one to sprinkle toasted almonds and pecans over a honey-drizzled bowl of quinoa or create a cheesy quinoa mixture and stuff it into a roasted pepper. However, there is one quinoa dish in particular that I could eat for the rest of my life.

Behold, the Southwestern Black Bean Quinoa Salad. Whew—that’s a mouthful. But it’s a mouthful of deliciousness! I’ve always loved the combination of black beans and cilantro; it reminds of my father’s famous beans and rice that he introduced to me when I was a youngin’. This dish definitely leaves me feeling full, but not lethargic, which is very important as a hustling and bustling student.

With bursting colors of orange, green, white, and black, this zesty salad truly knows how to bring a family together. I’ve been one to finish off a whole bowl of this stuff with my brother and parents in one sitting. Sad? Definitely not! Because even though we left the table feeling as if our stomachs were a couple of inches wider, we were able to enjoy each other’s presence in the process.

Elena’s Kickin’ Southwestern Quinoa Salad With Mango Salsa

2015-05-14 13:40:47

Serves 3

Culinary note: You can top this bowl with just about anything! My favorite is avocado or the mango salsa, but you could throw in some regular pico de gallo or plain ol’ tomatoes.

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Prep Time

25 min

Cook Time

10 min

Prep Time

25 min

Cook Time

10 min

For the Quinoa Bowl

Black beans, 30 oz
Quinoa, 1 cup (uncooked)
Cilantro, 1 bunch
Carrots, 4, medium
Green onions, 1 bunch

For the Lime Vinaigrette

Limes, 2
Olive oil, 1/3 cup
Cumin, 1/4 tsp
Garlic, 1 clove
Maple syrup, 1 tsp
Salt, 1/2 tsp

For the Mango Salsa

Mangoes, 2
Garlic, 2 cloves
Habanero pepper, 1-2 (small)
Shallot, 1
Lime, 1
Salt, approximately 1/2 tsp

Prep

Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach. Wash all ingredients.
Cook quinoa. Being 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups water up to a boil. Once you reach a boil, turn the heat to low, cover the pot, and cook for 15 minutes. Leave this mixture cooking while you prep the vegetables.
Peel and shred the carrots. Place in large mixing bowl.
Remove lower stems only and rough chop the leaves. Add to carrots.
Chop the green parts of the green onions and add to the other vegetables. Make sure to save the white parts of the onions for another recipe!
Drain and rinse black beans. Add them to the bowl.

Make the mango salsa--in a separate bowl, prep and combine

Peel and cut mango meat off of pit and place in separate bowl. Using your hands, squeeze pulp off of the pit and place into bowl.
Peel and chop garlic.
Rinse and chop Habanero pepper. WARNING: do not touch your eyes after handling Habanero peppers; they will sting! Make sure to thoroughly wash your hands after touching them.
Peel and finely chop the shallot. Make sure the pieces are very small!
Juice the lime and add salt. Set aside.

Assemble

Once quinoa has finished cooking, take a fork and fluff the grains. Pour the cooked grains onto a cookie sheet, spread them, and let dry while you prepare the vinaigrette.
Measure out all the ingredients of the lime vinaigrette and whisk in a bowl or quickly blend in blender.
Add cooked quinoa to the bowl of prepped veggies, give the mixture a solid toss, and then mix in the lime vinaigrette.
Enjoy a bowl of my Southwestern quinoa dish with a large dollop of mango salsa on top, or eat them separately! Both options are equally delicious!

By Elena Dennis

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

I want to give a BIG thank you to Chef Hollie Greene for allowing me this amazing opportunity to intern and blog on JoyFoodly. From working with her, I can already feel my skills as a blogger, educator, and lover of fruits and vegetables grow!

-Elena-

Lemony Artichoke Mini Polenta Pizzas

Apr 27 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

When I was just a little Southern girl who knew nothing about artichokes, my bonus mom Debbie, who had grown up in California, showed me the light. I haven’t met a vegetable since that tickles my heart so much. Peeling back those meaty leaves, one-by-one, to finally reach the golden heart of the artichoke was truly exciting and helped me see vegetables in a whole new light as a kid. To this day, it is one of my fondest memories. Dunking and dipping those leaves into a lemony homemade sauce was pure joy (and yes–it was Duke’s mayonnaise with some extra lemon mixed in–we’re Southern afterall)!

Nowadays, I always have jarred artichoke hearts in my pantry year round. They are certainly not the same as a fresh artichoke, but if I can’t find good chokes in season, I can at least relish their perfect hearts in my pastas and pizzas.

The thing about working with fresh artichokes is that you need just a little bit more time to prepare them, and I like to give families an option to still enjoy this seasonal spring vegetable but in a way that’s fast and easy. I love to work with polenta as my pizza base because its creamy texture is divine with the texture of artichoke hearts. It’s also a great way to create a gluten free version of pizza and not feel deprived in the least.

Whether you have small kids or teens in the house, this recipe is perfect for allowing each family member to cut their own mini pizza with a cookie cutter and decide how much of the sauteed topping and grated cheese they’d like to enjoy.

This spring, we’re lucky to have a high school senior joining our team to complete her Capstone project. Elena Dennis is one of the most inspirational young women I’ve ever met. She is the founder and director of a free summer cooking camp for kids, Camp Cauliflower, that teaches children in the Novato California school system how to prepare fresh, healthy meals that are delicious. I know the impact she’s had, as we had many of her campers in our Joyful 12 School Project this spring, and they were some of our most eager students.

Please join me in welcoming Elena to the team by leaving a comment on this post. And if you’re feeling extra generous, check out her Kickstarter campaign to make year two of Camp Cauliflower even more successful.

Lemony Artichoke Mini Polenta Pizzas

2015-04-23 14:11:59

Serves 4

Culinary note: you’ll need to make the polenta ahead, and let it sit in the refrigerator to cool and firm up for 30 minutes before you’re ready to bake these little mini pizzas. I like to make polenta as our starch for a meal and then use the leftovers the next day to make pizza!

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Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

25 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

25 min

Ingredients

Polenta, 1 cup
Bay leaf, 1
Olive oil, 3 Tbsp. (divided)
Salt, 1 ½ tsp. (divided)
Black pepper, ¼ tsp.
Cheddar cheese, 5 oz. (divided), grated
Yellow onion, ½
Rosemary, 4 sprigs
Artichoke hearts, 11 oz.
Aleppo pepper (or red pepper flakes), 1 tsp.
Lemon, ½

Prep

Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
Place 4 cups of water, ½ -tablespoon olive oil, 1-teaspoon salt and the bay leaf in a medium sized pot and bring to a boil.
When the water comes to a boil, start adding the polenta slowly, like it’s raining.
When all the polenta has been added to the water, bring back down to a low simmer and keep stirring for about five minutes. Cover and let cook on low heat another 7-10 minutes (about 15 minutes total cooking time depending on how fine or coarse the polenta is that you are using).
To finish the polenta: turn the heat off and add 1/2 cup of the grated cheese and stir again. Check for seasoning; add ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Pour the warm polenta out on a cookie sheet and spread until you have an even medium thickness shaped in a rectangle. Place in the refrigerator to speed up the process of setting the “crust.”
While polenta is setting, drain artichoke hearts from their can, chop rosemary, and dice onion.
Preheat oven to 450F.

Cook

In a preheated sauté pan, use 2 tablespoons olive oil and sauté diced onion with ¼ teaspoon salt and chopped rosemary for two minutes.
Add artichokes and Aleppo pepper flakes, along with the juice of ½ lemon and continue cooking another 2-3 minutes.
To make pizzas: 1) cut out polenta with a cookie cutter and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet, 2) spread some grated cheese on top, 3) top with artichoke heart mixture, 3) sprinkle a little more cheese and drizzle lightly with olive oil, and 4) you can sprinkle a little more fresh rosemary on top, as desired.
Bake for 12-15 minutes at 450F.

By Chef Hollie

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Meatless Monday Curried Quinoa Cakes with a Minty Pea Dipping Sauce

Apr 20 by Chef Hollie Greene 2 Comments

Everywhere I look, glorious peas abound. Sugar snaps are overflowing in my local grocery store, shelling peas are perfectly packed in tiny bags at the farmers market, and snow peas have been making my fried rice dishes even sweeter. But what do you do in your home kitchen when you run out of ideas for how to fit them into your Meatless Monday meals?

This week, I’ve got a fun and filling main course that take spring peas to a saucy level. What inspired me to create this recipe was a delicious veggie burger I recently enjoyed at a food and health conference at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa, California. Those little black eyed pea patties I sampled were not only moist and flavorful, but they also had great texture and mouthfeel.

My Meatless Monday meals generally revolve around what I’ve purchased from my Sunday farmers market and what’s at home in my pantry. Quinoa and chickpeas are always on hand in my kitchen, so my idea for little veggie burgers turned into quinoa cakes before I knew it. The next question I had to resolve was “in the burger” or “on top of it?” I adore pureeing peas and adding them to my risotto and my baked goat cheese dip, so I figured I could easily make them into a delicious and bright sauce in a matter of minutes–and that’s exactly what I did!

With kids, I adore helping them discover the joy of cooking a meatless meal by taking them on an adventure and telling the story of the dish we are making together. In my case, I lucked out with a fun story about the very first veggie burger. K. Annabelle Smith, from Smithsonian.com, just ran a story about the 32nd anniversary of the very first commercially sold “VegeBurger” by Gregory Sams of the London based restaurant, SEED.

We youngsters take it for granted that eating plant based has always been in vogue, but actually, Gregory and his brother helped pave the road for a vegetarian diet to go mainstream in their country.

“Though vegetarianism has a history that dates back to ancient Egypt, in the late ’60s a no-meat diet was less common in the UK than today—it was reserved for the hippies. Growing up, Sams was the only vegetarian in his class. In the United States, vegetarianism wasn’t trendy until 1971 when Frances Moore Lappé’s bestseller Diet for a Small Planet hit shelves.”

I would like to dedicate this post to Gregory Sams for making veggies the stars of the dinner plate way back in the early 80’s, because I’m pretty sure my mom was considered a “hippy” at times when she filled my plate up with an abundance of peas and other veggies as my main course.

This Meatless Monday, I hope you’ll enjoy making our Curried Quinoa Cakes with your little budding chefs, and make sure to let the peas become the special sauce to your veggie burgers!

Curried Quinoa Cakes with a Minty Pea Dipping Sauce

2015-04-15 18:26:54

Serves 4

Culinary note: when peas are fresh, we prefer using them. Just quickly blanch them, submerge in boiling salty water for 30 seconds to 1 minute, and drain before placing them in the blender for our minty sauce. If using organic frozen peas, let them come to room temperature before adding them to the blender.

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Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

30 min

Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

30 min

Ingredients

Quinoa, 1 cup
Chickpeas, 15 oz
Plain Yogurt, organic, ½ cup
Curry powder, 3 tsp
Cayenne, ¼ tsp
Cilantro, 1 cup (packed)
Salt, 1 ½ tsp
Egg, 1
GF Quinoa flour (or regular AP), ½ cup
Coconut oil, 2 tablespoons (divided)

Minty Pea Dipping Sauce

Shelled green peas, fresh (or frozen), 1 cup
Plain yogurt, organic, ½ cup
Mint, fresh, ½ cup (packed)
Salt, ¼ tsp

Prep

Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
Wash all produce.
Preheat oven to 425F.
If using fresh peas for the dipping sauce, blanch them (submerge in boiling salty water for 30 seconds to 1 minute) before adding to the blender. If using frozen green peas in place of fresh, allow them to come to room temperature before placing in blender.
Cook quinoa according to the package instructions. Let air dry on a cookie sheet.
Drain chickpeas and rinse.
Rough chop cilantro.
Make the minty pea sauce by placing all ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse until chunky. Set aside.

Cook

Mix together chickpeas, yogurt, curry powder, cayenne, and cilantro in a food processor or blender.
In a bowl, mix the cooked quinoa and chickpea-yogurt blend, along with one egg and the quinoa flour.
Using a ⅓ cup measurer, make 8 portions. Roll each into a ball with your hands. Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet to rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator, which will allow the patties to come together.
Preheat a nonstick pan. Add one tablespoon coconut oil. When hot, add four of the patties to the pan. Gently press down with a spatula. After 2-3 minutes, flip each patty and let cook another 2 minutes on the other side. Place on a cookie sheet and set aside while you cook the remaining 4 patties in an additional tablespoon of coconut oil.
Place all 8 patties in the oven for 5-7 minutes to finish cooking.
Serve with minty pea sauce on the side and additional chopped cilantro or mint, as you desire.

By Chef Hollie

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Making Asparagus Cool in School Food

Mar 11 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

“Is that Asparagus? I love asparagus!” I heard this more than once yesterday at Lu Sutton Elementary School in Novato, California, as I was handing out samples of our Spring Asparagus Pasta Salad. As a part of our Joyful 12 School Project, we’re highlighting one new vegetable each week at school. This week, it’s asparagus.

What I love most about our project is that the entire school community is involved, from the school food staff, to teachers, children and their parents. It’s totally fun. Besides the samples we’re preparing with the School Food and Nutritional Services department, led by Miguel Villarreal, we’re cooking the vegetable of the week with kids and parents at the school with our partners at Bay Leaf Kitchen, the teachers are exciting kids about the vegetable of the week with our veggie fast facts and every member of the school receives free memberships to my Joyful 12 Online Vegetable Cooking Program, so they can keep the learning going back at home.

Just two weeks into our pilot, and I’m relishing in the stories and learnings we’ve already gathered.

“It’s so important to try things!” a third grade boy said to me with the sweetest smile on his face as he took his sample this week. He had cooked with us the previous Wellness Wednesday
Several boys and girls were very excited when they saw that I had the whole asparagus in my hand as I handed out samples. It helped kids identify quickly what was in the sample. “I love asparagus!” I heard this from various grades
One 5th grader came over and said she wanted to help me take samples out to the other 5th graders; she is a Jr. Chef Helper, which is a cooking and mentor program Bay Leaf Kitchen is teaching the 4th and 5th graders of the school! That’s when our samples flew out the door!
Ms. Kate Mansergh, 5th grade teacher, WOWed me with the facts her class had learned from their fast facts sheet I prepared. Here’s what they shared back with me:
- The number of varieties (300), and the number of edible ones (20)
- The colors asparagus come in (green, white, and purple)
- The word asparagus and where it comes from: the Persian word “asparag,” or sprout.
- How many inches it can grow in a day (up to 10 inches!)

So the next time you hear an adult say, “kids don’t like vegetables,” just know that we’re living proof that with a whole community teaching, tasting, and celebrating nature’s amazing produce, we can eradicate this cultural myth and grow healthy eaters together–one school at a time.

Get on the cool school food bus and make our Spring Asparagus Pasta Salad for your family tonight on Meatless Monday or any day of the week.

Meatless Monday Spring Asparagus Pasta Salad

2015-03-10 14:09:50

Serves 4

Note: I developed this pasta salad specifically for Lu Sutton Elementary School in Novato, California, for the school food department’s salad bar as a part of our Joyful 12 School Project.

Save Recipe

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

15 min

Total Time

30 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

15 min

Total Time

30 min

Ingredients

Whole grain rotini pasta (or your favorite gluten free brand), 1 lb.
Asparagus, 1 bunch

Cilantro Vinaigrette

Apple cider vinegar, ¼ cup
Honey, 2 tablespoons
Salt, 1 teaspoon
Olive oil, ½ cup
Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon
Yellow onion (medium), 1/4
Cilantro, ½ cup

Prep

Bring a large pot of salty water (1/2 tablespoon salt for every 8 cups of water) up to a boil. Measure water according to package instructions.
Bring up one additional pot of salty water to boil (1/2 tablespoon salt for every 8 cups of water), to be used to blanch the asparagus.
Wash herbs and asparagus. Remove the woody ends of asparagus by snapping off with your hands, which is a great job for kids to help you with.
Cut asparagus into thin rounds.

Cook

Cook pasta according to instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
Blanch asparagus by putting it into the salty boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
Make the dressing in blender. Pulse until smooth; it will be a bright green color from the herbs.
Toss cooked pasta, blanched asparagus, and dressing together. Taste for seasoning and add more salt as desired. Chill and serve as a cold pasta salad.

By Chef Hollie

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Veggie Fried Rice–My go-to Meatless Monday Meal!

Jan 19 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

Every week, we have to figure out what to cook while also handling the one million other chores our lives demand. It ain’t easy! But when it comes to Mondays, I love getting off to a great start by joining families across the nation in eating a meatless meal.

Almost seven years ago, I started teaching cooking to kids in the New York Housing authority as part of my job as a chef instructor at The Sylvia Center. We focused on what was growing in season, always cooking one savory vegetable dish and one sweet dish for dessert in class. Every now and then, a child would ask, “Hey, where’s the meat?” Our answer was simple but true, “You already know how to eat meat! We’re going to focus on learning how delicious vegetables and fruits can be.” Usually, that’s the last I’d hear about the meat!

The key to our success was keeping the recipes simple, focusing on flavor, and introducing new vegetables and fruits in a way the kids were already familiar with, like veggie fried rice. It’s one of those recipes that even today I use and tweak by season in my Joyful 12 Kitchen Learning Lab and in my own home kitchen.

So when you’re scratching your head about what to cook on Meatless Monday, don’t sweat it. My Sweet Treat to Eat Kohlrabi and Sweet Potato Fried Rice is guaranteed to be easy and please your entire family.

Here are my two tips to make this your go-to Meatless Monday meal of choice:

Shorten your cooking time by saving some of your brown rice from take-out or from another meal that required you to cook it. The texture of fried rice is best when cold rice is used instead of freshly cooked!
Use frozen veggies when fresh are not available. Fried rice is SO forgiving. The rule I use is to keep it colorful. Maybe you’ll put in frozen peas and frozen broccoli but add a fresh carrot or red bell pepper to keep a fresh taste and crunchy texture.

If you want to learn how to cook veggies your kids will demand, join my Joyful 12 Online Kitchen Learning Lab. You will learn over 100 family friendly, gluten and allergy free, recipes to love cooking and eating seasonal veggies every month of the year and improve the health of your children with JOY!

Sweet Treat To Eat Kohlrabi and Sweet Potato Fried Rice

2015-01-14 16:18:55

Serves 4

Culinary note: this recipe requires pre-cooked brown rice. A great shortcut is to use up extra from take-out. Fried rice actually works best with cold rice which guarantees that perfect chewy-tender texture. Otherwise, you will need to cook 2 cups dry brown rice to yield the 6 cups cooked this recipe is created for. Follow the cooking instructions on the rice packaging.

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Prep Time

25 min

Cook Time

15 min

Prep Time

25 min

Cook Time

15 min

Ingredients

kohlrabi (purple or green), 1 small to medium
green onion, 1 bunch
sweet potato, 1 small
bok choy, 2 medium
eggs, 2
coconut oil, 2-3 TBS
hoisin, 3 TBS
worcestershire sauce, gluten free, 3 TBS
rice wine vinegar, 2 TBS (or 1 lime)
sriracha, 1 tsp
tamari (gluten free soy sauce), 2 TBS
brown rice, 6 cups cooked
cilantro (fresh), 1 small bunch

Prep

Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
Wash all produce.
Cut green onions into rounds. Separate the white bottoms from the green tops. You’ll cook the white bottoms and save the green tops to garnish the fried rice.
Peel and grate sweet potato on the big holes of a cheese grater.
Cut bok choy into small pieces.
Peel and cut kohlrabi into rounds. Then cut slices and then dice.
Chop cilantro leaves and set aside for a garnish.

Cook

Preheat a large skillet or sauté pan over medium high heat. You want a pan large enough to eventually hold all the vegetables, plus the cooked rice.
Add two tablespoons coconut oil to the preheated pan.
Add the whites of the green onion and the grated sweet potato. Saute for 2-3 minutes.
Add the bok choy and diced kohlrabi. Add another ½ to 1 tablespoon coconut oil to the pan. Saute another minute.
Add worcestershire sauce, hoisin, tamari (gluten free soy sauce), rice wine vinegar, and sriracha to the pan. Stir into the veggie mixture. Sauté another minute to combine flavors.
Add the cooked brown rice to the pan and keep cooking for another minute or until heated through.
With your spoon, move rice and veggie mixture to the left side of the pan. Add the two beaten eggs to the right side and quickly scramble. Then mix both together with your spoon.
To serve, garnish the stir fry with the green tops of the spring onions and some chopped cilantro for color and texture.

By Chef Hollie

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Three Delicious Ways To Cook with Winter Squash

Jan 12 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

So often we don’t buy those beautiful yet strange looking winter squash varieties in the store for fear of knowing how to prepare them back at home. This week, I’m taking you through my favorite and easy ways to cook with winter squash. Have you ever considered making roasted squash the star of your pasta night?

Winter squash is easier and faster to prep than you think!

For the easiest way to prep a winter squash, big or small, don’t worry about peeling it before cooking. Just cut it into two halves, remove the seeds, and roast cut side down with a little olive oil and salt at 425F for 20-30 minutes. In my Joyful 12 Kitchen Learning Lab, I teach families simple techniques to prep 48 vegetables in a year, with short technique videos like the one below which shows you the easiest and safest way to peel and cube a butternut squash, so you know how to when your recipe calls for it!

Once you learn how easy it is to prep winter squash, you can save money instead of buying the pre-cut option at the store, and you’ll have more control over the size you cut the squash. Remember, if you cut it smaller, it will cook faster in the oven!

Roast it like a baked potato!

Small delicata squash often replace that baked potato on our family’s dinner plate. The cool thing about these little squash is that their skin is so delicate, you can eat it just like a baked potato skin. We love to top ours with a little yogurt and some crunchy pumpkin seeds.

Smash and stuff it into your favorite quesadilla!

Acorn squash are one of my all-time favorite varieties to use when I want a fast cooking squash that’s loaded with flavor. I like to scoop out the roasted flesh and mash it with some of my favorite spicy salsa to stuff my Roasted Winter Squash and Mozzarella Quesadillas, perfect for a hearty Meatless Monday meal!

Make it the star of your pasta night!

In my Brown Butter Roasted Squash Pasta with Chicken Apple Sausage recipe, I utilize the easy technique of roasting squash and turn it into a meal by making a simple brown butter sage sauce and tossing it altogether with some gluten free noodles and pan seared chicken apple sausage. What’s great about this pasta is that it’s heavy on winter veggie nutrients and while a butter sauce may sound heavy as you’re looking for ways to eat well in the New Year, this sauce is homemade with only 3 ingredients which are all organic (omega-3 rich butter from grass fed cows) and full of flavor (fresh sage and ground nutmeg).

Brown Butter Roasted Squash Pasta with Chicken Apple Sausage

2015-01-07 12:36:02

Serves 4

Save Recipe

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

35 min

Total Time

50 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

35 min

Total Time

50 min

Ingredients

butternut squash, 1 medium
unsalted organic butter, 1 stick
chicken and apple sausage, 2 links (fully cooked)
sage (fresh), 6 leaves
olive oil, 1.5 TBS (divided)
salt, 2 tsps (divided)
pasta shells (gluten free), 1 box (8 oz)
parmesan cheese (grated), ½ cup

Prep

Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
Peel and cut squash into cubes. If you’ve bought pre-cut squash, make sure the pieces are not too big. If needed, cut those in half quickly.
Cube the stick of butter and set aside in a small bowl. Culinary note: cubing it allows you more control than dumping one big piece of butter in the pan.
Cut the chicken apple sausage into halves and then into half moon slices. Heat in a pan for 10 minutes with ½ tablespoon olive oil, to brown.
Stack sage leaves on top of each other. Roll them up like a cigar and then cut across making thin strips. You can further cut into smaller pieces if you like.
Preheat oven to 400F. At the same time, bring a large pot of water to a boil (to cook the pasta shells).

Cook

Toss cubed squash in 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon salt.
On a parchment lined baking sheet, spread squash evenly so that they are not overcrowded.
Roast for 30 minutes, flipping them over after 15 minutes to allow multiple sides to brown. Set aside.
Once the pasta water has come to a boil, add pasta and cook to package instructions.
While the pasta is cooking, you have time to make your sauce.

Make brown butter sage sauce

Place cubed butter in a pan, over medium high heat.
Swirl the pan every so often. Look for the milk solids from the butter to start separating from the butterfat. They look like little milk clouds.
At this point, pay close attention with your nose and eyes, for the point when the milk solids will start to smell like roasting hazelnuts and small brown bits will appear at the bottom of the pan.
Continuously swirl the butter in the pan so you can see the color changing.
Trust your nose before you trust your eyes! This happens very fast and to avoid burning, you’ll want to err on the side of caution to pull the pan off the heat once you see the amber color brown bits in the butter.
Add chopped sage to the sauce after you’ve pulled it off the heat and swirl in the pan.

Assemble Pasta

Drain cooked pasta, place it in a big bowl with the roasted squash and cooked chicken apple sausage, and pour brown butter sage sauce on top. Mix together with 1 teaspoon salt.
We love this dish served warm with some shredded Parmesan cheese on top. Enjoy!

JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/