Pomegranate Lentil and Wheat Berry Salad

I hope everyone is having a great week!  I have been spending quite a bit of time in the kitchen lately.  A few days ago I attempted making my first nutritarian apple pie, a recipe I made up.  I made a few initial mistakes, such as trying to bake the crust before baking the entire pie, making the crust too tough, and I also put raisins on the sprinkled top, which turned out burnt and shriveled up.  Needless to say, I need to give this one another try before featuring it on the blog.

This morning I made a salad that took. for. EVER!  But it was so worth it!  It is probably one of my favorite salads Ive made in a long time.  Id suggest making only a half batch of the salad and the dressing, as it ended up making quite a lot.  Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

• Salad:
• 1 bunch kale, de-stemmed and chopped into small bite-sized pieces, about 3-4 cups
• 1 cup uncooked lentils
• 1 cup uncooked wheat berries
• 1 cup fresh pomegranate seeds
• 1/2 cup chopped celery, 2-3 stalks halved and sliced 
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion
• Pistachio Dressing:

• 1-2 cups filtered water
• 1 cup pistachios
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup dried fruit (dates, raisins, craisins, figs)
• 2 Tbsp ground flaxseed
• 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 tsp dried basil

Directions:

1. Cook the lentils on the stovetop until tender, but not mushy.
1. Rinse the lentils in a strainer and place into a pot with 2 cups of water.
2. On a stovetop bring to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes.
3. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 20-30 minutes until desired softness, adding water as needed to cover the lentils throughout cooking.
4. Strain in a strainer and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking and cool it down for the salad.
5. Allow all of the water to drain out.
2. Cook the wheat berries on the stovetop until they are tender and pop in your mouth when you bite into them.
1. Rinse the wheat berries in a strainer and place into a pot with 3 cups of water.
2. On a stovetop, over high heat bring the water to a heavy simmer.
3. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 1 hour, or up to 1.5 hours until the wheat berries are tender and pop in your mouth.
4. Strain in a strainer and rinse under cold water to cool it down for the salad.
5. Allow all of the water to drain out.
3. Prepare a small pot of boiling water and boil the kale for 2 minutes.  Strain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.  Allow all of the water to drain out.
4. In a large bowl combine the cooked lentils, wheat berries, and kale with the pomegranate seeds, celery, and green onion.
5. In a high powered blender, blend all of the dressing ingredients together starting with 1 cup of water and adding in 1/4 cup increments until you reach the desired consistency.
6. In the large salad bowl, drizzle on 1/4 cup of the dressing at a time and mix thoroughly until the salad is well coated.
7. Grind black pepper and mix in to taste.  Enjoy cold by itself or on top of some greens.

Amys Notes:

• Like I said above, this recipe does take some time because of the cooking times of the lentils, wheat berries, and kale.  I did all of them at once and while there was down time I prepared the dressing and did some dishes.
• This recipe makes quite a bit, so I would suggest cutting it in half unless you are taking it for a party (which would be a great idea!).
• For me, about 1/2 cup of the dressing was left after I poured it onto the salad. 

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Birthday and Berry Pie with Chocolate Crust

Last Thursday happened to be my 24th Birthday... yikes!  Time is going by quickly!  To start off the festivities, we had dinner at my parents house on Wednesday evening.  My mom made my favorite homemade veggie Thai pizza, and for dessert she made me this pie that I had sent her a link to months ago.  Thank goodness she saved it because this has got to be one of the best Nutritarian desserts I have ever EVER tried!

This recipe comes from the very talented healthy dessert creator, Talia Fuhrman.  Talia is Dr. Joel Fuhrmans daughter who has made a name for herself by blogging about health and beauty through nutrition and self love and respect.  She is truly a great resource and inspiration for the lady Nutritarians out there!  Find her blog here: http://taliafuhrman.com/

Her blog is full of delicious recipes, but she specializes in Nutritarian desserts like the one my mom made me for my birthday below.  Find her pie recipe here: http://taliafuhrman.com/berry-beautiful-berry-pie-with-chocolate-crust/

My mom tweaked the recipe a bit by using frozen blackberries in the filling rather than frozen strawberries. My husband, Kevin is a HUGE blackberry fan, so he happily accepted a big slice of this dessert. (Could it be that my husband is becoming an accidental Nutritarian?!  Doubtful, but a girl can dream, right? ;))  I dont believe she used chocolate or coffee extract in the recipe either.  It still turned out magnificent!

Berry Beautiful Pie with Chocolate Crust
By Talia Fuhrman
Recipe Source

Seriously, try this one!  My mom said it just took a few minutes to whip up.

My birthday present from Kevin:
a copper mug and all the ingredients
to make a Moscow Mule at home!

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Berry Coconut Chia Pudding

Some of you may remember Kevin and my distaste general disinterest for Valentines Day in previous years.  Kevin and I started dating a little over three years ago right before Valentines day, so we felt a bit awkward as to what our expectations of each other were on Valentines Day.  We have come to an understanding that we expect nothing special on Valentines day, but generally end up doing something fun together (preferably at home since most places are crowded).

In past years we have cooked together at home and enjoyed a night in watching a movie.  We are currently making our way through the James Bond collection that Kevin got from my parents this year for Christmas.  We just finished up The Living Daylights, which was actually pretty good after just watching A View to a Kill before.

As most people feel around Valentines Day, Im sure, I am craving something with a bit of sweetness to it.  I remembered how yummy my chocolate pudding was last year, so I decided to make another chia pudding:

Berry Coconut Chia Pudding

Servings: 6-8
Time: 5 minutes, plus 1 hour chill

Ingredients:

• 1 cup frozen berries
• 1 16 oz can lite coconut milk
• 1 7 oz cube soft silken tofu, drained
• 6-8 dates
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup chia seeds
• fresh berries to garnish

Instructions:

1. In a high speed blender, blend all of the ingredients except for the chia seeds and fresh berries.  Blend until very smooth and creamy.  It will be a little thicker than milk, but thinner than a smoothie.
2. Pour the blended ingredients into a medium sized bowl.  Stir in the chia seeds until they are fully coated and mixed into the liquid.
3. Cover and let sit in the fridge for at least an hour.  Serve in a small bowl topped with fresh berries.  Store leftovers in an airtight container until all of your Valentines are sweetly satisfied!

Amys Notes:

Make sure to taste the blended pudding portion before combining it with the chia seeds.  You may find that you want to blend more dates to make the pudding sweeter.

For this recipe I used frozen organic sweet cherries for the liquid and fresh blackberries and blueberries to top, but feel free to mix it up however you would like. 

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Berry Poppy Seed Dressing

My two favorite parts of a grocery store are the produce section (for obvious reasons) and the bulk bin section.  Bulk bins are getting much more popular these days and carry just about everything including dried beans and legumes, whole grains and flours, nuts and seeds, as well as spices.

Buying items in bulk is great for getting as little or as much as you want of an item.  I also appreciate how it cuts down on packaging for sustainability reasons.  I find that when I shop in the bulk bins I save money on items in each section, but particularly on beans, whole grains, and spices.  When bought by the bag, beans can cost $2-$3 per pound, whereas I find them in the bulk bin around $0.50-$1 per pound.  Grains are about the same ratio in price differences as beans.  Spices are often where the biggest difference is.  Some tiny spice jars can cost $4-$8 depending on what you are getting, but in the bulk section can be a quarter of those prices or less.

Some of my favorite items from each section that are staples in our house are as follows (because I love making lists!):

• Dried beans/legumes: pinto beans, small red beans, garbanzo beans, black beans, black eyed peas, brown lentils, red lentils, yellow and green split peas
• Whole grains: rolled oats, steel cut oats, brown rice varieties, wild rice, pearl barley, millet, quinoa
• Flours: whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, chickpea flour, almond flour, smelt flour
• Nuts and Seeds: (all raw) cashews, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, hemp hearts, and ground flaxseeds
• Spices: cumin, coriander, chili powder, cayenne pepper, dried basil, dried parsley, dried thyme, dried rosemary, dried oregano, dried ginger, dry mustard, onion powder, garlic powder

Last time I loaded up in the bulk bin section, I thought I would try something new and decided to get poppy seeds.  I thought a sweeter poppy seed dressing sounded wonderful and remembered that I had froze some raspberries and blackberries a week ago when they were on sale at the produce market.

Berry Poppy Seed Dressing
Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 6 servings

Ingredients:
        1 cup frozen mixed berries
        1 cup unsweetened plant-based milk
        1/2 cup raw cashews
        4 pitted dates
        3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
        1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
        1/2 tsp ground dried ginger
        1/2 tsp dry mustard
        1/4 tsp cinnamon

        1/4 cup poppy seeds

Instructions:
1.)  In a high-powered blender, blend together all of the ingredients except the poppy seeds.
2.)  Blend until smooth and creamy, adding additional plant-based milk to reach desired consistency.
3.)  Add in the poppy seeds and blend on low to mix.
4.)  Serve chilled over a salad or as a sweet, tangy dip.

Amys Notes:
In my recipe I used a mixture of frozen raspberries and blackberries.  You could also use blueberries, huckleberries, strawberries, or any mixture of your favorite berries.  I also used unsweetened soy milk, but feel free to use whatever plant-based milk you like best.  Because of the sweeter nature and the acidic ingredients in the recipe it has a slight yogurt-tangy flavor.

For my pictured salad below, I served the berry poppy seed dressing over a bed of green lettuce (from my neighbors garden, score!), shaved carrots, fresh strawberries, sliced radishes, diced avocado, hemp hearts, and ground flaxseed.  Yum!

Health and Happiness,

Amy

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