Corn Fritters

1/2 cup spelt flour, try this
1/2 cup stone ground cornmeal, I use medium or course grind (try Bob's Red Mill)
1/4 tsp baking powder, try this
1/2 tsp cumin
1 egg
1/2 tsp sea salt
Juice of half a lemon
2 cups frozen corn, thawed (or fresh corn, even better!)
1-2 green onions, diced (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 small red or white onion (about 1/4 cup)
A variety of seasonings totaling about 1 tbsp, try chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, crushed red pepper, and cumin
Olive oil, coconut oil, butter/ ghee, and/or lard for frying
About 1/4 cup water

How To:
1. Mix: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cumin. Add egg, lemon juice, and water and mix well. Add corn and all onions as well as seasonings and stir until combined. If the batter is too thick, add a little water at this time to mix, but be careful not to add too much.

2. Cook: In the meantime, heat a medium sized pan over medium heat with enough oil/ butter/ lard (your preference) to cover the bottom. When hot, add spoonfuls (2-3 tbsp of batter) to the pan to form a fritter, pressing down gently after adding. Be careful to use a splatter guard, if possible. Cook 2-3 minutes per side and allow to cool on a plate covered with a paper towel. You'll be working in "batches" about 4-5 at a time.

Comments: Yum! These are easy to prepare and delicious. We served with Mexican Style Dipping Sauce but you could also serve with hot sauce. We actually made these to go with chili and they were a perfect compliment! In fact, we all preferred dipping the fritters into chili versus the dipping sauce.

 

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This post was featured on Just Another Meatless Monday.

Mexican Style Dipping Sauce

1 small container plain, no-fat Greek yogurt
Mexican seasonings, such as....
2-3 tsp Mrs Dash Fiesta Lime
2-3 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
Juice of half a lime
1 tsp honey

Mix all together and serve immediately, or refrigerate. Picture below shows dip on the side.  Recipe for the corn fritters shown in the picture is found at this link.

 

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Egg Drop Soup

Ingredients:
4 cups broth/stock (chicken, vegetable, beef, mushroom - all should work just fine)
About six to eight mushrooms, shitake preferred but any fresh type would be fine, sliced thinly (if using portobello, one would be more than enough)
2 stalks green onions, cut into half inch sections, and a little extra to garnish if you wish
2 eggs
2-3 tbsp naturally fermented soy sauce
Sea salt & ground pepper to taste
Optional ingredients (5-6 spinach leaves sliced thinly and 5-6 bamboo shoots sliced thinly)

How To:
1. Bring broth to a simmer and then add mushrooms, onions, soy sauce, salt and pepper and optional ingredients (if using). Simmer for about 3-5 minutes.

2. When just about ready to serve, add egg in a slow stream and use fork (or, if you are feeling extra talented, chop sticks) to shred into long ribbons. Cook another minute and then serve. Optional garnish with green onions.

Comments:
Oh wow, this is so good and so good for you if you make it using your own home made stock. And so easy to make as well. I cannot say enough good things about this super easy recipe. This makes about 4-6 servings.  I couldn't really get a good photo so don't let my poor photography skills deter you from making this very good soup.

 

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Test Kitchen: Leek and Asparagus Bread Pudding

This is another recipe from the Clean Eating blog I have recently discovered. Click this link for the original recipe. I modified only slightly. I have to admit, I am not a big fan of asparagus. However, my husband really likes it and so I made this recipe in the hopes that I would find an asparagus recipe we all love. Unfortunately, this recipe did not do it for me. If you like asparagus, you will really like this recipe (my husband loved it).

Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 large leek, lighter bottom part only, sliced thinly
2 bunches aspargus, cut into 1 inch pieces (about 1 pound)
1/2 cup white cooking wine (or dry white wine)
6-8 slices of whole grain, no-sugar added bread, like Ezekial, cut into cubes
1 cup shredded cheese (swiss, gruyere, cheddar, etc.)
5 eggs
3 cups lowfat milk
1 cup chopped fresh herbs (such as chives, parsley, chervil, sage, thyme, and/or marjoram, etc.)
Salt and Pepper to taste

How To:
1. Prep: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 3-4 quart (9x12) baking dish by misting with olive oil or greasing with butter.

2. Saute: Cook leeks and asparagus in oil over medium heat 1-2 minutes, then add wine and cook about 7-8 minutes. Remove from heat to cool.

3. Eggs, Bread Cubes & Combine: In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, then add cheese and herbs followed by the cooled leeks and asparagus. Then gently fold in the bread cubes. Mix until the bread is evenly coated but not falling apart.

4. Bake: Spread into baking dish and cook uncovered 50 minutes to 1 hour, when knife or toothpick comes out clean. Wait 5-10 minutes to serve.

Comments:
This makes enough for about 10-12 side dish servings. According to the original recipe, about 192 calories per serving, 2.5 grams of fiber, and 11 grams of protein. Very nice!

Mushrooms and Onions

This is a favorite dish around the house--we like it so much, it is a regular at our Thanksgiving dinner. It is so simple and easy and so very good, I hope you'll give it a try.

Ingredients:
2 packages of sliced mushrooms
1/2 medium onion, sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
Salt & pepper to taste
About 3 to 4 tbsp organic butter (preferrably from grass-fed cows)
Optional seasonings - thyme, parsley, a splash of balsalmic or white wine vinegar

How To:
1. (optional step, see comments below) Boil mushrooms about 10 minutes until reduced in size.

2. In the meantime, saute garlic and onions in oil/butter over medium heat. When onions are tender, add mushrooms and saute another 5-15 minutes until done. The range is wide because I like my mushrooms cooked until a little crispy on the edges, but you may not. If you've boiled them, they are cooked and you only need the time in the pan to mix together.

3. Finish with salt and pepper to taste.

Comments:
Alternatively, you could just add the uncooked mushrooms to the saute pan after the onions are done. Either way is fine. Sometimes I think they should be cooked first and other times I am fine just throwing them all in the pan.

 

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Quinoa & Lentil Salad

I made a bunch of quinoa and lentils the other day and this recipe uses up the last of my quinoa. It is really filling and great for a quick lunch, espeically since quinoa packs such a protein punch.

Ingredients:
2 cups soaked and cooked quinoa
1 cup soaked and cooked lentils
1 1/2 to 2 cups soaked and cooked black beans
1 cup frozen corn, rinsed and thawed
1 tomato finely chopped
1/4 cup onion, finely diced
1/4 cup bell pepper, diced
2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped

For dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil, try this one
3-4 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
3-4 cloves of garlic minced
Sea salt & pepper to taste

How To:
Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Pour the dressing over the quinoa and lentil mixture and mix well.

Comments:
This actually takes a little bit of time, at least 20 minutes due to all the chopping. But, it makes a very large batch that you could store in the refrigerator and have lunches or dinners for a week.

Soaking--Quinoa, lentils, and the black beans should all be soaked to maximize the nutritional benefits. Soak quinoa 12 hours, lentils seven hours, and black beans for 24 hours -- all in warm water with whey, or buttermilk, or lemon juice or vinegar, etc. After soaking, cook and store for future use. 

 

This post was shared at Thank Your Body Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Waste Not Want Not Wednesday, and Thank Goodness It's Quinoa.

Breakfast Cassarole

This is a "make-over" recipe of a favorite breakfast of my husband's that seems so unhealthy in its original form that I cannot imagine the horror one's body feels after eating it. This version improves on the original version vastly by switching out all of the processed ingredients for real food ingredients. You will not miss the junk ingredients in the least bit.