Sweet Curried Rice with Carrots and Chick Peas

We're safely back in the Cleve just in time for this winter's first big snowstorm, but I wanted to share with you the last of Lindsay S. Nixon's recipes that I adapted over the holiday.

This dish came about as I was trying to use up the last of the ingredients that I had purchased while staying in the condo--dates, chick peas, carrots, onion and brown rice. The inspiration came from Lindsay's recipe in Everyday Happy Herbivore called "Curried Rice," but I took it to a whole new level and again, everyone who tried it loved it. This unusual rice dish would be great served with a big salad to complete a meal.

Sweet Curried Rice with Carrots and Chick Peas

serves a crowd

Printable Recipe

3 cups brown rice

6 cups low sodium vegetable broth, plus more for sauteing

3 Tbsp mild/sweet curry powder

1 Tbsp onion powder

1 � tsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

� tsp paprika

� tsp cinnamon

1 large yellow onion, medium chop

1 � cups carrot, medium chop

� cup pitted, chopped dates, or less, depending upon how sweet you want this

1 15 ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

Juice of � of a large lemon

Salt, to taste, or not

Place brown rice through cinnamon into a rice cooker or pot. If using a rice cooker, turn cooker on and let rice cook. If using the stove top method, bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer until rice is cooked, 35-45 minutes.

While rice is cooking, chop onion and carrot. Place a skillet over medium high heat and coat the bottom of the skillet with vegetable broth. When broth is bubbling, add onion and stir. Cook for 5 minutes. Add carrot and stir. Cook carrots and onions, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent and begin to turn brown. You will need to lower heat to prevent burning as the onions and carrots cook. Add dates and stir.

Once rice is done cooking, stir in carrot/onion mixture, garbanzo beans and lemon juice. Taste. Season with salt, or not.

I also want to share with you some big news. My thoughts on what to think about when you want to eat something were featured in an article in Cleveland's Plain Dealer. It was a big surprise to me, so thank you to PD writer Evelyn Theiss for mentioning this important idea. You can check that out here if you've got a moment. My quotes are at the end of the article.

And in other big news, I used my pressure cooker to make something other than beans for dinner tonight! I made this soup recipe from Lani Muelrath. I altered the seasoning a lot for my palate (I like things highly seasoned). I'm slowly working into a more comfortable relationship with the appliance and I'm going to start making recipes from Lorna J. Sass' Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure and see how it goes. Wish me luck.

A votre sante!

HGK's Easy Choco Pumpkin Mousse

Are you planning any more holiday entertaining this year? New Year's Eve perhaps? Looking for that perfect dessert that will wow your loved ones and keep you feeling like you didn't veer off course?

This is it. My Choco Pumpkin Mousse is a wonderful ending for a holiday meal when you don't want to overindulge, but still want to feel like you've had a sweet treat. Serve it in very small cups or shot glasses for a rockin' presentation that just might shock and amaze your guests. All the while keeping the portion reasonable both satisfy your sweet tooth while remaining guilt free.

Super easy to make. It's really a simple dessert that will keep, so making it ahead when you have so much else going on decreases your stress level.

HGK's Choco Pumpkin Mousse
makes 12 servings

Printable Recipe

6 large Medjool dates
1 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk
2 cups vegan chocolate chips
2 12 oz. boxes Mori Nu Extra Firm Silken Tofu, water poured out
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree

Soak dates in unsweetened chocolate almond milk until dates are soft.

Melt chocolate chips in microwave in a microwave safe bowl. It took my microwave 2 minutes on high power to do this. Stir chocolate and transfer to a food processor or high powered blender.

Place soaked dates and all liquid, plus the rest of the ingredients, into food processor or blender. Blend until creamy. Your mousse is ready! Immediately transfer to one large bowl or individual serving cups and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cashew Cream

1/2 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup (3 large Medjool) dates, pitted
1/2 tsp vanilla

Place all ingredients into a high powered blender and blend, tamping down, until smooth.

What are your plans this week? Do they involve celebrating with food? 

Cranberry Dressing-is it for salad or dessert? and an HGK Soup in the News

Wow, I am totally blown away by your response to my last post. Your appreciation for my work here on HGK and your thoughtful suggestions for newcomers are deeply meaningful to me. Thank you for taking the time to leave comments, I know how busy we all are in this day and age and I want you to know how grateful I am to all of you.

Today I just wanted to share with you something that I have really been enjoying lately. It's a fresh cranberry based no-oil vinaigrette and salad that I made after being inspired by this recipe from the blog Choosing Raw. Since I have quite a few fresh cranberries sitting around in my fridge since Thanksgiving, it looked like a recipe I needed to do an HGK riff on.
What's in this baby? Green leaf lettuce, roasted beets, red cabbage,garbanzo beans, dried cranberries, chopped walnuts and this fabulous, sweet cranberry vinaigrette. When I am craving something sweet, I totally dig this salad!

Fresh Cranberry Vinaigrette
makes approximately 2 1/2 cups

Printable Recipe

1 1/4 cups fresh cranberries
1 Tbsp orange juice concentrate
� cup water
� cup raw cashews
1 whole orange with peel removed but seeds intact
� cup vinegar (I used Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar)
4 pitted dates
dash of salt, or not

Blend all ingredients on high speed till smooth.
Feel free to adjust the ingredients to your taste: more cranberries for tartness, orange juice concentrate or dates for sweetness.

A big shout out and thank you goes to Your Teen Magazine for being the first magazine ever to publish an HGK recipe! They chose a Leban-easy Lemony Lentils recipe by none other than HGK contributor Chris-Anna.

Chris-Anna's Soup-er Lebon-easy Lemony Lentils

serves 8

Printable Recipe

1 cup rinsed lentils with any debris removed

8 cups low sodium vegetable broth or water

4 cups white potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/5" cubes

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

8 garlic cloves

4 cups Swiss chard, chopped, including stems

1 cup tomatoes, diced

1 cup curly parsley, chopped

pepper to taste

Bring water or stock to a boil in a large pot. Add lentils.

While lentils are cooking, peel and dice potatoes. Add potatoes and lemon juice and turn heat to medium low.

Peel garlic cloves and crush garlic into pot with a garlic press. Add diced tomatoes and chopped Swiss chard and stir.

Turn heat to high. When soup is almost boiling, turn heat down to a low simmer. Cover and cook for 25 minutes or until lentils are soft.

Add parsley, stir and simmer for 5 additional minutes.

Taste. Add more lemon juice if necessary and pepper. 

Super Immunity by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, The Review and GIVEAWAY!

The people over at PEERtrainer beat me to it. They wrote an amazingly comprehensive review of Super Immunity, the new book by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. I highly recommend reading their summary if you are interested in some of the incredible nutritional information that is packed into this work.

What's left for me to tell you?

This: everyone should read this book.

It's not a book about weight loss, although that could be the natural result of eating loads of vegetables. It's a book about our health and the medical establishment. About why doctors and pharmacutical companies should not be relied upon for health. We need to take responsibility for our own health, and eating the right food everyday makes a huge impact on our bodys' ability to be disease-resistant.

I thought I knew about food.

I for sure knew nothing about medicine.

Now I know something about both.

Of particular interest to me was the argument that instead of treating colds, fevers, coughs and flus with remedies, that is, after the fact, we can improve our nutrition to the point that these sickness occur far less frequently and when they do occur, with far less severity. Personally, living with three young children, Chapter Four, "Colds and Flu--What We Need to Know" was hugely eye-opening. Fuhrman reviewed the science on what works, what doesn't work and why. And do you know what I am left feeling?

Empowered.

It's just what I needed. I was really struggling with "pushing" vegetables on my kids. My eleven year old eats lots of cooked vegetables, but nothing raw. My six year old will eat raw carrots and that's all. And forget about my three year old.

I didn't know how to make them eat the food that I wanted them to eat. I figured they would learn to love vegetables, just like I did, when they got older. I figured there was still time. I didn't realize the impact it was having on their health right now.

And as if that weren't enough, the back of the book is full of delicious Nutritarian recipes like this, this and this:

Just when you thought you had seen the last of the days of enjoying rice pudding! This can be devoured for breakfast or dessert, even topped off with a little frozen banana soft serve. It's soooooooo good.

Forbidden Rice Pudding
adapted from a recipe from Super Immunity by Dr. Joel Fuhrman

2 cups cooked black (Forbidden) rice (I used a rice cooker or you can follow the package instructions)
2 cups unsweetened almond or soy milk
1/2 cup dried apricots, diced
1 cup frozen blueberries
2 large or 4 small dates, pitted and chopped
1 Tbsp currants
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp chia seed

Place all ingredients, except chia seed, in a medium-sided pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat then reduce heat and simmer on low for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the chia seed, stir well, cover and let stand for 5 minutes.

The kind people over at Dr. Fuhrman are providing one copy of Super Immunity for HGK to give away. How nice is that? Here are the rules for the giveaway:

One lucky winner will be chosen at random. All you have to do is this:

Leave a comment with your name and the answer to the following question:

Name one whole food item that you keep in your kitchen that 5 years ago, you had never heard of, let alone enjoyed eating on a regular basis.

Contest ends Tuesday, September 26, 2011 at 11:59 pm PST. One winner will be chosen at random and announced on Wednesday, September 27, 2011.

4th of July Blogger Giveaway! and a Chocomole Recipe

I spent a fun night last night with a friend visiting from LA. She organized a girls' night dinner party hosted by her sister. I met a lot of very accomplished and interesting women I had never met before. Ironically, the dinner was almost vegan (there was a bit of feta cheese in a Greek salad and some butter in a tart, but that's about it) and this wasn't a group of Vegans. Isn't that weird? Good? Even great?

My contribution was something that I have been wanting to test out for a while now. A spicy, chocolaty, rich dessert concoction called Chocomole. I'm really not sure who can claim ownership of this concept, because I have seen it before in a variety of media. I even made a version of this last summer, but this way, with the addition of red chili pepper and cinnamon . . . now this is something to talk about!

Chocomole

Printable Recipe

2 large ripe avocados

12 Medjool dates, pits removed and soaked if necessary

8 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder or raw cacao

2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp Cayenne pepper

3 tbsp maple syrup

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup non dairy milk

Place all ingredients in a high powered blender or food processor and blend until smooth, scraping down sides as necessary.

Serve as a mousse or as a dipping sauce for fresh fruit.

And now for the giveaway!

Win a DVD copy of the brand spanking new documentary "Got the Facts on Milk" by Shira Lane. I just received two copies in the mail yesterday and I cannot wait to watch this film! But, I also couldn't wait to give one copy away . . . so here are the rules:

(1) leave a comment here about any Plant-strong plans you have for this 4th of July weekend.

(2) make sure to be an e-mail subscriber OR RSS feed subscriber OR Twitter follower of Healthy Girl's Kitchen.

(3) "Like" Healthy Girl's Kitchen on Facebook if you haven't already (although I suspect you have!)

I will pick one lucky recipient on July 4th at noon (EST). Please leave one comment per participant. No need to answer all three questions in seperate comments. Thanks!

So, what are your Plant-strong plans this weekend?

Ani Phyo's Fresh Mango Cobbler

If you haven't entered my blogger giveaway to win a a copy of Chef A.j.'s book, Unprocessed, it's not too late. If you haven't read the responses, I highly recommend that too. Very inspiring stuff in there!

The long Cleveland winter is officially over! It's almost May, so I think it's safe to assume it won't snow again. It's almost 70 degrees and the sun is shining. My windows are wide open as I type this and as warm  wind blows through my living room. I'm grateful and happy that Spring is here.

I'm also grateful that my family and I were invited over to a friend's house for brunch yesterday. When I asked what I could bring, the host requested a dessert. "Perfect," I thought, "perfect for a girl without a kitchen! I can bring a raw vegan dessert."

Are you familiar with the craze that is raw vegan desserts? I was first exposed to the concept when I met Toby, a woman who was eating exclusively raw. She served me a raw vegan key lime pie and it was extraordinary, along with everything else she made. I toyed with the idea of going raw for a few weeks, mostly because of the lure of eating a lot of very sweet, very rich desserts. You see, one of the promises of "going raw" is that dessert is practically a daily indulgence.

"Enjoy live-food desserts without guilt or worry! By eating live-food desserts in this section, you might actually lose weight!"
Bull s#!t.

That was a quote from raw food guru and multi cookbook author Ani Phyo. But I won't hold it against her. I have to take responsibility for being an idiot. In the time that I spent being "raw" I think I gained ten pounds. "Lose weight" my a$$!

My recommendation? When you do decide to indulge in a dessert, go raw. No question. Raw desserts are basically composed of three things: fruit, nuts and dates. So at least you are getting some vitamins and minerals with your sugar. But don't be fooled, these treats should be the exception, not the rule, of a healthy diet.

So when it came time to have some fun making a dessert, I went right to Ani. I've got a copy of one of her cookbooks, Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. In it she raves about her Fresh Mango Cobbler. And I have to agree, it ranks up there with the best desserts ever. It could go head to head in a competition with Jane Esselstyn's Incredible Unnamed Dessert (which was actually inspired by a Chef A.j. recipe called "Chocolate Fundue"). During the pre-brunch taste test, everyone in my family loved it.

Click here for Ani Phyo's Fresh Mango Cobbler recipe.

Even the incredibly picky Maya!

I thought it would be nice to present the Fresh Mango Cobbler in a trifle bowl. So pretty!

Want to experiment with an Apple Cobbler version of this? Check out Chefjellynow's Raw Apple Crumble.  I'm definitely making that one the next time I'm asked to bring a dessert. His blog, The Real Meal Today, is very new. Let's give this Nutritarian Chef at Whole Foods the Healthy Girl's Kitchen warm welcome (and by that, I mean check out his blog and leave a comment)!

Have you caught wind of the raw vegan dessert craze? Are you/were you sucked in by it's allure like I was?