Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Lentils Are A Super Foods




Lentils are a super food in my pantry.  They’re one of the ingredients I keep on hand at all times because they’re an inexpensive high protein food that also doubles as a comfort food for rainy day dinners.  They’re very versatile, you can eat them hot in a soup or stew, cold on a salad or you can sprout them.  When sprouted, they contain all of the essential amino acids.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Orange Tian



The March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings.  She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s cooking school in Paris.   

I’d never heard of a Tian before this challenge, evidently it refers to prepared dish with layered ingredients.  It can be a savory casserole or a sweet dessert.  This Tian has six layers, counting the chocolate decoration on top.  The chocolate wasn’t a requirement of the challenge, but as I was hanging over the top of the finished Tian, to take a picture, I thought it looked like a sunflower so I used some chocolate shavings and chocolate chips for the center of the flower.  Chocolate and oranges are one of my favorite food combinations.  I really liked this dessert.  It was light and refreshing and would probably be excellent for Easter.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Orange Marmalade


I’m generally not a big fan of orange marmalade, however, Mr Recession Kitchen loves the stuff.  He likes to mix orange marmalade with strawberry preserves and eat it on peanut butter sandwiches.  Because I have an upcoming Daring Baker’s Challenge that requires orange marmalade and because Mr. RK loves it so much, I decided to make a batch.  

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Spring is Here!



I love Spring! The first day of Spring happened while I was away in NYC.  It doesn’t really look like Spring in NYC yet, although the sun was out most of the time. There were only a few bulbs peeking out of the ground and the trees are still bare.   I returned home to find these adorable little baby apricots on my tree.  

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Udon Noodle Soup



We all need an arsenal of quick dinners for that night when you’re running late and everyone is hungry.  This is one of those dinners.  It’s fast, inexpensive and adaptable.  It’s that dinner where you get to use up whatever leftover veggies you have in your fridge or freezer.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Tahini Goddess Dressing



I try to eat a salad every day, usually for dinner.  If I go for a day or two without eating raw vegetables, I start to crave them.  I make all kinds of salads, some of which I’ve shared with you on this blog.  There was the sprouted wild rice salad and the raw zucchini salad.  I’ve also posted a recipe for raw broccoli salad and Mexican quinoa salad stuffed squash.  
I usually start with a base of different kinds of greens, like lettuces, spinach and cabbage.  I top that with some grated carrots and beets, and then I add chopped tomatoes and whatever else is in season.  
I top the salad with some protein, like baked tofu or fake bacon or a chopped up veggie burger.  Sometimes I add corn and avocado to the salad and top it with a black bean tamale and salsa.  This is one of Mr. RK’s favorite salads.

The Apricot Tree is Starting to Bloom



Just thinking abut those juicy apricots make my mouth water...