Easy Sweet Potato Dip

Arriving at a seasonal party and finding this dip was a welcome surprise for a gut that needed some wholesome comfort food. Scooping up dollops of this dip in a mini corn chip or cracker was heavenly. Prep work includes pre-soaking the rock hard carway seeds in water for at least 6 hours or overnight. Yams or sweet potatoes are washed, pricked and baked whole in a 425* oven for about one hour or until soft depending on the size. When cool, the skin peels off easily.
Packed with  vitamins like A, C and B6, sweet potatoes have good antioxidant properties, and are an excellent source of dietary fiber, potassium and iron. They are a low-glycemic index (GI) food, which releases glucose slowly into the bloodstream, making  them a healthy choice for diabetics. You can substitute lemon juice for lime, or simply omit the citrus and use more ground herbs if you prefer.
Easy Sweet Potato Dip
  2 medium size sweet potatoes, baked, cooled and peeled
  juice of one lime
  1 tsp caraway seed (presoaked till chewable or grind)
  1/2 tsp ground cumin
   drizzle of olive oil

Mix lime juice with spices. Mash sweet potatoes and mix in citrus juice until smooth. Spoon into a serving bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Serve with your favourite dipping vessel??

Love Grasshopper

Christmas Vegan Protein Bowl

I had the pleasure of having some wonderful vegetarian guests for dinner this season. Grasshopper fixed a delicious, satisfying vegan dish that was wow to everyone, full of protein and creative in texture. This recipe works well to suggest to cooks when you are the guest and they ask you what you eat. It can be made in 15 minutes if you have any precooked legumes and grains. This  lentil/mung bean combo and the whole kamut grains can be made in advance, frozen, and defrosted prior to use. If you substitute, Grasshopper suggests to choose small grains and legumes for a the best chews!
 Mmmm... just the right combo!

  

For instructions on how to prepare grains and legumes from scratch,
see these Grasshopper's Vegan Kitchen recipes:

LentilMungBeanCombo http://grasshopperkitchen.blogspot.ca/2012/12/lentil-mung-bean-lmb-perfect-combo.html
and
Comfort in Kamut  http://grasshopperkitchen.blogspot.ca/2011/10/comfort-in-kamut.html

        Grasshopper dreams up gourmet organic ingredients for Christmas dinner with coconut vinegar and morning soaking prep work.  Flavours enhance when this dish is made in advance.

Christmas Vegan Protein Bowl

   Precooked:

     1 cup cooked kamut grains or barley (or subsitute brown rice, wild rice, quinoa, or millet for gluten-free)

         2 cups cooked blend of black lentils and mung beans (or substitute a small bean combo such as black beans, adzukis)

  

  Presoaks: drained seeds and grains can be refridgerated until use.

•     water pre-soaking (just to cover) of  1 cup of sunflower seeds ( or substitute pumpkin seeds) for 6 hours, drain off the water
•     water pre-soaking (just to cover) of  1/2 cup of dried cranberries (or substitute dried raisins, or black currants) for 4 hours or until soft, saving the soaking liquid to flavour the dressing
•    (optional) make an infusion of  one tbsp rosemary and one thinly biased sliced garlic clove covered in about 1/4 cup olive oil,  in a clear glass jar, covered and soaking in the sun  for the day, then strained   

   Raw Veg:

•  3 washed celery stalks, sliced thinly on a diagonal 
• 1 tsp thinly sliced red onion  (optional) 
• 1/4 cup washed and chopped parsley

 Dressing:
          1/4 cup infused (optional) olive oil (see above)

         2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

        1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (or  substitute apple cider or red wine)

        1/4 cup soaking liquid from dried cranberries (fruit)

         1 tbsp ginger root, sliced thinly on a diagonal, then coarsely chopped 

         1 tsp ground cumin

        1/4 tsp black pepper

         salt to taste

Whip the ingredients together with a fork. 
       

 Final Alchemic Mix:

  Toss all ingedients into a large bowl. Coat with dressing immediately. Serve at room temperature for good digestion.

Love Grasshopper

Squash/Pumpkin Gnocchi

Gnocchi is a wonderful tender pasta that can be created easily without egg or milk with this recipe. Replacing the traditional potato with pie pumpkin or squash adds a new flavour and more vitamin A. If using light spelt flour is your choice of grain, then a lovely high protein, thick hemp pesto is wonderful. Using a gluten-free buckwheat flour creates a heavier dough, so use less flour and cut the pasta into thinner, smaller shapes. it goes well with a lighter sauce like tomato. Since gourds come in so many different sizes, this recipe serves 4, but you can just add more flour if you have more pumpkin. Precooking the gourd makes this recipe very quick, 20 minutes and it's into the pot. melt in your mouth soft!!

 Gnocchi  (Serves 4)

2 cups of mashed, pre-roasted or steamed pie pumpkin, butternut or acorn squash
1-2c of flour- light spelt or buckwheat (gluten free) 
salt to taste
dash of cardamon or nutmeg

Mash precooked gourd, add 1c of flour and stir to make a sticky ball. On a generously floured surface,  spoon about 1/2 c of mixture onto the flour and begin to roll the dough into a log of about one inch in diameter with just enough flour so it doesn't stick to your hands. The inside will remain sticky to the touch when they are cut. Too much flour makes the dough tough. With a lightly-floured knife, cut the log into 1/2 inch pieces. Lightly coat each piece with flour if they are too sticky, to separate from other gnocchi balls. A quick roll in your floured hands is enough. Place each piece on a flat serving plate. Do not stack, as they will stick. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
 Grasshopper freezes the gnocchi separately, then bags them for future use. Otherwise you can boil a pot of water and  drop them in carefully. They are done when they float to the top. Depending on how many you are cooking at a time, this can take from 2-5 minutes. Do not overcook!
Here is a link to Grasshopper's Pesto Sauce. http://grasshopperkitchen.blogspot.ca/2011/10/grasshoppers-pesto.html

Love Grasshopper

Vegan Spanakopita

Mmmmm, so gourmet, and yes this recipe takes time, planning and love, but is well worth it to serve as a special dish for your vegan guests at an event as important as a wedding. Much like a samosa, but without the deepfried batter, you will have to purchase frozen phyllo dough. Grasshopper has not found a gluten-free or preservative-free product on the market in Canada, so reading the ingredients to make sure the preservatives are not animal-food based is crucial before planning this recipe on your menu. Coconut oil is used on the phyllo leaves instead of butter, so watching these bake requires care as to not burn the leaves. They do curl, and you will lose some leaves, but it's all good!

Vegan Spanakopita  (Makes about 8 logs)
(for Nisha)

You will need a pastry brush
Filling:
2 c cooked brown or green lentils, partially mashed
1 large (or 1 cup) peeled and diced cooked carrot
1/4 (or 1 cup) slivered large raw cabbage
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp finely minced ginger root
juice of half a lemon
pinch of salt
2 tsp olive oil

One lb package of frozen phyllo dough, defrosted in the fridge the night before
1/4 -1/3c melted coconut oil (pastry brush)

     Cook lentils as directed in Grasshopper's last post 'Lentil Mung Bean (LMB) Combo.' Heat oil in a large skillet on low, add cabbage and slow cook, stirring until partially carmelized and soft, about 5 minutes. Add carrots and cook a further 2 minutes. Add garam masala, cumin, ginger and salt. Cook very slowly for another 2 minutes, watch it doesn't burn. Add lemon juice. Keep stirring the gravy over low heat for 3 minutes, turn off heat and add lentils. With a fork, partially mash the mix until it begins to stick together. Do not puree.
     Open up phyllo dough sheets carefully not to break them. Using one leaf at a time, spread a modest amount of melted coconut oil over the first leaf with a pastry brush. (just enough so there are no dry spots, but being careful not to make it too oily) Assemble the next 2 leaves on top, and coat again with oil. Across the width of one end of the leaf pile, spread about 5 tbsp of filling in a 2" wide by 1" high log shape, keeping a 11/2" margin  of empty space at the bottom and side edges. Fold bottom and side edges of dough over the filling wrapping the ingredients of the log, then continue to roll log up. Place log with open end of leaves down on a large flat pizza pan or cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Continue making all the logs you can, until filling and dough is used up.
    Score the top of each log into serving size pieces, four is suggested. This may help to keep the leaves intact, as they do break upon cooling.
    Bake until lightly brown, about 20 minutes. These can be made ahead of time, and partially baked, then frozen for reheating at a later time.
Time saving option:
  The spanakopita may be prepared in a baking dish as a casserole rather than logs. You can sandwich the filling between 5 layers of leaves for the bottom and top, scoring 2"x2" square-sized appetizer bites.
Love Grasshopper

Lentil Mung Bean (LMB) Perfect Combo

       Lentil Mung Bean (LMB) Combo (for Natasha)

        Finally, it's here! It took many years of kitchen experiments to create the perfect cooked brown or french lentil, like how they come out of a can, a tender, whole legume. Seeing them oh so perfect in commercial salad bars, or gourmet vegetarian wedding entrees, always intrigued grasshopper (even red ones), and led to relentless cooking trials. Lentils and mung beans can be the most finnicky legumes to remain whole, yet thoroughly cooked. Mmmm! For this recipe, Grasshopper relinquishes the red lentil to dissolve in a soup pot, and focuses on the wonderful texture variety of cooked larger lentils and mung beans.
     The secret is this, it is in the over-night pre-soaking (8-12 hours) and slow, absolute attentive!! (yes, don't leave it) cooking for about 10-30 minutes, depending on how long you soaked them, how old the legume is, your heat of your stove's lowest temperature, and the size of the lentil. French lentils cook faster than brown and older ones take longer than a new crop. Any rapid boiling or overcooking causes the skins to fall off, then using them mashed in a recipe is the best option. 24 hour soaking will also cause lentils to lose their skins as well....more mush, and an unsettled feeling that many nutrients have dissolved in the cooking water instead of your mouth.
    Being the one at the work lunchroom table who's eating  lentil soup with skins floating around, and gets asked, "What is that black stuff you're eating?" Coined as 'mental lentils' by grasshopper's favourite child taste testers, the taste was good, but the texture was always black chewy skins masked in a mushy sauce, yuk, all for the sake of a cheap protein source.Years of disastrous attempts at getting them to look palatable have failed, up to now. No more floating skins and mushed out insides.
     yes, yes, you've been told that lentils don't need soaking, but this is the perfect lentil now. Sprouting a life force again enhances food value and increases digestibility. Please soak overnight, and discard the soaking water, hopefully onto your thirsty house plants, to reduce the effect on the body of the nasty enzyme prohibitors- phytic acid and oligosaccharides. Here are two links to more information on the benefits of soaking for full absorption of minerals. http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/cooking-with-sprouts-zmaz93amztak.aspx or http://nourishedkitchen.com/soaking-grains-nuts-legumes/
    With this two legume mix, grasshopper delights in the varied colour texture and fabulous protein boost these little bites offer to all kinds of recipes. Whole black french lentils are sublime and grasshopper's favourite, or brown lentils mashed in fillings are magically inspiring. This LMB combo tastes great out of the pot with nothing added to them, but they can be mashed, or partially mashed to allow many options as a protein base for casseroles, salads, skillet dinners, soups,  fillings, dips and dahls, so make a big pot and freeze portions for later use in a variety of recipes.

Cooking Method  (can be used for any legume)
   
      Start with any amount of dried french black lentils (or brown) and mung beans in a large saucepan and cover with water (about 2-3 times the volume of the dried legumes), in a large pot to soak overnight, about 8-12  hours. 1cup of each is a good start. Make sure they remain ALL covered with water. Drain and discard soaking water. Cover legumes with fresh water, rinse thoroughly and drain. *Cover legumes again with water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 1-2 minutes, or until froth appears floating on the top. Drain off all of this off, change the cooking water once again. Repeat from * until there is no longer any froth or black dirt at the water line.
     Now you are ready to cook these little morsels, and they won't take long, up to 10-20 minutes! 
    Optional: To the final cooking water, seasoning with bay leaves, sprigs of sage, fennel seed, or ginger root helps ease gas even further, and makes the house smell wonderful, and legumes taste sweetly gourmet.
   Bring water to a boil and immediately turn down to a very slow simmer. Grasshopper reminds us of the importance of a keen watchful eye and testing for softness with gentle cooking. Do not overcook or use high temperatures, you'll have mush and floating skins! Test for softness every few minutes. If the skins start to break open, quickly lower the temperature. Remove from heat when soft and just right. Drain. Remove bay leaves if used. 
     Enjoy hot or cold as a side dish, or use in your favourite recipe.
More recipes to come.

Love Grasshopper

The Flax Connection Patty

Summer time just says 'burger' time for Grasshopper and kids, so kitchen experiments are taking place, to discover a variety of ways to make easy, delicious, protein-rich vegan burgers.
This is grasshopper's burger recipe #2. View the first recipe with this link: http://grasshopperkitchen.blogspot.ca/2012_07_01_archive.html
                  One definition of the 'patty' is:
      a small rounded, flattened cake of food, made from ingredients that have been previously          ground, chopped, or minced
      A 'cake of food' could be made out of any leftover grain, veg, or legume depending on your diet restrictions or what is available in your home. But what is that perfect ingredient in commercial veggie burgers that binds it all together?-meat eaters would give a shudder! Egg eaters just toss one in, problem solved. Aha!! the vegan substitute for an egg, flax seed!! This wonder seed in its soaked gel metamorphosis turns mashed yellow peas and kamut grains into a fluffy, yet chewy cake-like texture when simply fried in a stove-top pan.
     Grasshopper regularly soaks a combination of 3 tbs each of flax and chia seeds in 3/4 cups of water, and stores it in the fridge for daily use of 1 tbs/day. It is ready in 24 hours. Creative use of your own ingredients in vegan burger making is easy with the help of this wonderful vegan burger binder!! Use this guideline to what could be the perfect burger for your family's palette.

The Flax Connection Patty
makes 4 small patties
     1 tbs flax seed, or combination of flax and chia seed
     2 tbs water
    1/2 cup cooked legumes (yellow pea is great)
    1/2 cup cooked grain (kamut is easy to chew when ground)
     cooked veg (optional-chopped or minced)
     spices - (yellow pea tastes great with lemon, fresh minced ginger or parsley, cumin, ground   fennel, salt)

     Prep:make the seed gel the day before
Presoak an equal portion of flax and chia seeds in water for 24 hours in the fridge.   
     Grind all ingredients except the gel, together in a food processor, until you are pleased with the texture. A dry mixture is fine at this point.
     Stir in the seed gel. The mixture should be able to stick together. Add water if too dry to form into patties. Shape into 4 small, or 2 large patties.
      Heat 1 tbs of oil in a fying pan on medium heat. Fry patties, turning till golden brown.

Love Grasshopper

Vegan Seed Burgers

It's BBQ season! When my hosts ask me how I'd like my steak, I reply, 'on the cow please.' However the quest to find a good tasting recipe for a vegan burger has been solved. Here is a high protein patty that is easy to digest and prepare, and won't fall through the cracks of the grill, although I prefer to precook the burger and warm it on the BBQ using tinfoil to avoid prior meat juices. In the spirit of Grasshopper's Kitchen, you may substitute the grains and seeds with ones you prefer or have available. This recipe makes enough for 2-3 people.

Vegan Seed Burgers 

one handful each of pumpkin and sunflower seeds, soaked in water for 4-6 hours and drained
1 cup cooked kamut
1 tbs lemon juice
add your own spice or leave that for the condiments

Grind all ingredients in a food processor. Add more water if it isn't slightly sticky. Form into a ball and refridgerate for later use, or form into patties. At this point you may want to press the patty into sesame seeds or hemp seeds for extra protein. Also you may precook the burger by pan frying in a small bit of oil.
Love Grasshopper

Kale Chips

(for Laura)
     Kale is plentiful and fresh this time of year. It is well-known that some people find this vegetable difficult to digest when prepared in certain ways, but grasshopper is crazy over these!! Finding this recipe in the news after giving kale chips a try at home, was a delight. These chips are guaranteed to surprise and delight you with their crispness and delicate texture. There are many alternative ways to spice these up, depending on your palette, from nutritional yeast to cajun spice, and recipes abound all over the internet. Raw foodists keep the oven temperature below 160*F to retain 'raw food' nutrients, but aren't as crispy. Grasshopper compromised and set the oven at 250*F.  At this temp, the kale retains a fresh green colour, as opposed to other recipes where 350* left a charred kale. Other recipes suggest using coconut oil instead of olive oil for fat stability. Grasshopper knows olive oil is wonderful, and hasn't tried coconut. However endless the choices are with spices also, it is clear that this superfood/snack is unbeatable for taste, nutrition and easy preparation.
   Grasshopper simply tears the heavy ribs away (save for later use in soups or juices), tears the leaves into bitesize pieces, shakes about a Tbs of oil and a shake of salt over the leaves, then spreads the mix thinly (do not layer) onto a shallow baking pan into a preheated 250*F oven. Stir very  occassionally till all leaves are crispy, about 30-35 minutes.
Love grasshopper