Cilantro Lime Rice with Edamame

Happy Monday to everyone!  My day went pretty fast now that I am working less hours a day than I used to.  After work I was eager to come home and make the recipe I am featuring today.  On the way home from work I stopped at the grocery store in hopes to find some decent cilantro.  I havent had this herb in it feels like months because the bunches always look so sad at the grocery store, but this time I found a fresh bunch!

While living at my parents house over the summer before Kevin and I got married in September, I was able to eat off of their garden all summer long.  (Speaking of the wedding, I have bunches of pictures from the wedding that I was going to post on here a few months ago, but went on a blogging hiatus before I was able to.  Oh, I also have a video of our hilarious, choreographed first dance.  Would anyone be interesting in seeing these?)  They planted kale, green onions, and cilantro among other things.  It was so nice to have these veggies growing in the backyard just soaking up the sun.  Needless to say, over the summer I had many green smoothies and we often ate veggie fajitas with a bunch of cilantro on top.

This recipe was inspired by my craving for fresh cilantro and the need to use up a bit of the brown rice I made this weekend.  In it is shelled, frozen and steamed edamame just because I loved all of the green colors of the dish together.  If you dont have edamame on hand, feel free to use any other type of bean or legume you want.  Im betting this would be great with black or pinto beans.  Mmm!  Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

Mixture:

• 2 cups cooked brown rice (preferably leftover rice that has been in the fridge)
• 2 cups edamame (or other bean or legume)
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 avocado, diced
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 3 green onion stalks, sliced
• salt and pepper to taste

Dressing:

• juice from 1 lime
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 avocado
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 jalapeno, more or less to taste
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp onion powder

Directions:

1. Prepare ingredients for rice and edamame mixture and mix together in a large bowl.
2. In a food processor, process all of the dressing ingredients until smooth.  The cilantro will still have little flakes of it in the dressing, this is just fine.
3. Pour entire dressing mixture over the rice and veggies and stir till well coated.
4. Salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve chilled by itself, in a tortilla, or in a lettuce wrap.

Amys Notes:

• Like I said earlier, feel free to use any other type of bean or legume besides edamame if you would like.
• I used a frozen/steam bag of edamame.  I prepared it by steaming it in the bag in my microwave, then running the edamame under cold water to cool it for the rice dish.
• This recipe leaves quite an aftertaste, so if you would like to make it a little less potent, leave out the garlic and onion powder.
• I used a small slice off of a fresh jalapeno, please use as much or as little as you desire for some spiciness. 

Would anyone be interested in seeing some of my wedding pictures from September... and possibly our funny joke first dance video?

Read More..

Cilantro and Hemp Seed Dressing

I love Mexican flavors.  My husband will tell you that if anyone mentions Mexican food I immediately perk up and ask where and when are we going, often not dropping the subject until the date has been set.  Since starting the ETL 6-Week  Challenge last week, I realize that there probably isnt much for me to eat at a Mexican restaurant for the next few weeks.  Cheese comes on just about everything, the chips are deep fried, and the sauces, salsas, and beans are heavily oversalted.

BUT, that wont stop me from making dishes with some Mexican flavors at home!  Cilantro is a fantastic herb that can go well with many different cuisines, and I love it in Mexican dishes.  Since on the 6-Week ETL Challenge I have been eating big big salads and lots of steamed veggies daily, I thought I would make a yummy cilantro dressing to use throughout the week.

This recipe features hemp seeds (also known as hemp hearts), which are small seeds from a commercial hemp plant (related to marijuana plant family, but with none of the inebriating side effects).  I buy my hemp seeds in a large bag from Costco and I store it in my fridge next to my ground flaxseed and chia seeds.  To find hemp seeds where you live try Costco or your local health food store.  They can often be found in the bulk bin at the grocery store as well.  If all else fails, order them on Vitacost or another health/bulk food website.

If you dont have access to hemp seeds and HAVE to have this dressing right this minute, the hemp seeds can easily be replaced with raw cashews or raw sunflower seeds.

Cilantro and Hemp Seed Dressing
Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 4-6 servings

Here I enjoyed the Cilantro and Hemp Seed Dressing drizzled over
steamed green beans and topped with raw sunflower seeds.
Best way to get your 1 lb. of raw veggies in a day!

Ingredients:
        1/2 cup hulled hemp seeds
        1/2 cup chickpeas
        1/2 to 1 cup water
        1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
        2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
        2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
        1 Tbsp your favorite no-salt seasoning blend (optional)
        1 tsp minced garlic
        1 tsp chili powder

Instructions:
1.)  In a high speed blender blend all ingredients starting with 1/2 cup water until smooth and creamy.
2.)  Add more water and blend for the desired consistency.
3.)  Serve on top of steamed vegetables, or chill and serve as a veggie dip or salad dressing.

Amys Notes:

Now, some people dont have a taste for cilantro, and thats fine, but for those of you who do, check out some awesome reasons to add cilantro to your repertoire today!

• Cilantro helps detox heavy metals from the body
• Cilantro is available all year round in most markets
• Cilantro is inexpensive at usually less than $1 per bunch
• Cilantro is an herb that goes well with Mexican (my fav!), Thai (another fav!), and Indian cuisines (another fav!... ok I just love all food!)
• Eating cilantro can have anti-anxiety activity

On another note, check out the gorgeous lavender I harvested from my garden earlier this week!
Some of it ended up in a vase in my kitchen and the rest is drying in bundles to be saved for tea and aromatic crafts.

Health and Happiness,

Amy

Read More..

Mexican Pinto Bean Soup with Carrot Top and Cilantro Chimichurri

I was so excited to pick up my very first Full Circle basket earlier this week!  I decided to start adding a lot more organic foods into my repertoire, and the most affordable and time efficient way of making that happen (before the summer farmers markets come) was to join Full Circle.  They are 100% organic and strive to provide as much local produce as possible.

Full Circle has its roots in CSAs, but in a way that is accessible and affordable for more people.  As of now they are available in California, Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, and Western and Eastern Washington.  They have 4 different sizes/prices of boxes depending on your family size or vegetable/fruit intake.  What I like best about it is that I can see what will be delivered a week in advance and change any of the items to another item from a list of 20 or more.  You can also add some grocery items to your cart from their big list of items, from fruits and veggies, to nuts, grains, and even flowers!

I will let you guys know my opinion of them as time goes on.  This was my box this week:

This week I got apples, carrots, snap peas, tangerines, braising cut greens mix, and cilantro.  I added on extras of kale raab, red chard, and yellow onions.

Overall, Im pretty happy with the quantity and quality of the produce.  The only thing that left something to be desired was the kale raab (very center with yellow tab).  I havent tried it yet, but the bunch was significantly smaller than I was expecting, but braising cut greens mix and red chard made up for it.  Im also super excited to try out the sugar snap peas sometime this week!

Obviously, with all of this fresh organic produce, I just HAD to make something new!  I used some of the carrots, an onion, and the cilantro and carrot top greens in the recipe below.  Hope you enjoy!

Mexican Pinto Bean Soup
Time: 15 minutes prep, 40 minutes cooking
Servings: 10-12

Ingredients:
        4 cups filtered water
        4 cups vegetable broth
        3 cups pinto beans (homemade or 2-16 oz cans rinsed and drained)
        2-16 oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained (I used petit diced tomatoes)
        1 lb. red potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (about 4 cups)
        4 medium carrots, peeled if not organic, and chopped
        3 medium celery stalks, chopped
        1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
        1/4 cup chopped green chiles, fresh or canned (optional)
        2 Tbsp tomato paste
        1 Tbsp your favorite no-salt seasoning
        1 Tbsp chili powder
        1 tsp cumin
        1 tsp ground coriander
        1 tsp paprika
        1/2 tsp onion powder
        1/2 tsp garlic powder
        1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

(Optional creamier soup variation, as pictured)
        1/2 cup cashews
        1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Note that I used tomato paste, pinto beans, and green chiles that I had frozen.  Thats why they look a little funny in my ingredients picture above. ;)

Instructions:

1. Prep all ingredients and add them to a large stovetop pot (except creamier soup ingredients).
2. On medium-high heat, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer.
3. Allow to simmer, uncovered for about 30 minutes, or until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork and the other vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
4. (Optional Creamier Soup Step) Once the soup is done cooking, scoop a cup or two of the soup into a high powered blender along with the cashews and nutritional yeast.  Blend on high until smooth and creamy.  Add back to the soup and stir to combine.
5. Serve hot and topped off with Carrot Top and Cilantro Chimichurri.

Amys Notes:

When I heated this up to serve the next day.  I added a little bit of leftover quinoa to the mixture and it went over very well with my tried and true taste testers (a.k.a Mom and Dad :)), not to mention, quinoa added a bit more protein to the soup.

If you dont have the ingredients to make the chimichurri below to add to the soup, fresh chopped cilantro will give you a similar taste.

Carrot Top and Cilantro Chimichurri
Time: 10 minutes
Servings: use as a condiment

Ingredients: 

• large bunch carrot tops, stems removed
• bunch cilantro, roughly chopped with the stems removed
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cucumber
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 Tbsp lime juice (lemon or rice vinegar would work too)

Instructions: 

Combine all ingredients into a food processor.  Process until well combined, but chunky like a pesto.  Serve as a dip, as a spread, in a burrito, or any way that you might use a condiment.  I decided to top my soup off with it.  Mixed in, it complemented the soup perfectly!

Amys Notes:

Who knew that carrot top greens could be so flavorful?!  I think pre-ETL, I probably just would have tossed them thinking that they were inedible.  So happy I found a good use for them for when I get carrots again in my Full Circle box. :)

Here is a picture of the chimichurry mixed into the soup.... Not nearly as pretty, but boy does it taste delicious! 

Read More..