Ann Esselstyn's Lovely Collard Wraps

I'm a sloppy cook and a sloppier presenter.  Even so, these turned out great.  I used this recipe.   I made this hummus.  And I didn't have carrots but I had some mushrooms, so cooked those up real quick on the stove and added them.   Here they are with everything added:

Then I rearranged to the sliced peppers and cucumber so I could fold lengthwise:


Then you slice them up sort of like sushi:



I ate it with corn on the cob.  It was a great meal!

food lately

I've had lots of visitors lately and was busy at work so didn't have much time to post about food.  One of my visitors liked my food and asked me to post the recipes.  I didn't use any recipes,  or write down what I did, but I did snap a few photos.  So hopefully I can re-create them from the photos.  It was more of a method than a recipe which I can describe here.

The meals lately usually consist of beans, greens, salads, and corn on the cob, pretty much all locally grown.  and fruit for dessert (not so much local).    The beans are prepared on the weekend and frozen into daily containers.  Right now I have two batches in the freezer.  One is made with "runner cannellini" beans from rancho gordo.  This is what they looked like after soaking--gigantic!

 I cooked them up with mushrooms and onions.  They are creamy and yummy.   The other batch of beans I made with yellow-eyed beans (I don't see them listed right now on the rancho gordo site), and carrot juice, onions, mushrooms, and a little unhulled barley and black rice--really good!  I describe how to cook this up here.

That's the beans.  Then for the most of the veggies, I've been using kale, collards and herbs from the garden (basil, rosemary, chives, dill, cilantro--no rhyme or reason to this besides it grows well), and local produce from the co-op or garden which lately has been summer squash and zucchini and eggplant.  If I use the white beans, I add tomatoes from the garden.  I cook up the veggies in the pressure cooker while the corn on the cob is prepped and boiled.    After the veggies are done, add the beans and 1-2 Tbsp of seed mixture.

Here are some beans & greens:

Here's another batch served up with our usual corn on the cob and sliced tomatoes:

Salads consist of lettuce, maybe some cabbage because the local cabbage is real sweet right now, fresh garden tomatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, summer squash, bell pepper, occasionally broccoli from the garden, maybe peas or edamame, and dressing made from a little fresh squeezed orange juice (optional), vinegar (d'angou pear, riesling raisin or a good balsamic) and seed mixture.  Here's today's salad (with cabbage and spinach, forgot to buy lettuce):

We often add some Penzey's no-salt seasonings to the veggies, salads, corn and tomatoes.   Our favorite is mural of flavors, but we also have been trying out sunny paris.

Sometimes instead of greens and beans, we'll have fresh green beans from the garden and salad and corn.  I'll combine the green beans with potatoes and herbs for housemate and guests.

Here's something I made up one night when I was concerned that my guest might be tired of greens and beans.  This was a vegetable curry:

I didn't have much in the fridge so the vegetables were summer squash and cabbage, onion, mushroom and frozen peas.  It looks like there's a potato in there too.  I don't usually make potatoes for myself but I probably thought the guest would like it.   Eggplant would have been good too.  Now I know from experience that curry without salt and sugar tastes bitter and bland.  Since I don't use salt, I needed a sweetener.  I had banana and frozen mangos which I thawed.  I cooked up the squash, cabbage, onion, mushroom, and potato in the pressure cooker with about, 1 tsp of curry powder and 1/2 tsp of garam masala.   Then added the peas to cook in the hot veggies as they cooled.  I blended up the water that the veggies cooked in with 1/2 banana and some seed mixture (1-2 Tbsp).   Then pulsed it with about 1/2 cup mango.  Added that back to the veggies.   As usual, we had this with corn on the cob.  This recipe was a big hit, which is funny because I just made it up spur of the moment.

I think that describes everything except my latest yummy breakfast which I'll describe in my next post.  I also like to eat raw veggies:  carrots, kohlrabi, and sugar snap peas.  Today I added some lime and cilantro but I don't think it's worth the bother. They are great all by themselves.

For fruit, I usually buy what's in season and on special (discounted that is).  Lately it's been delicious organic cherries, both from Washington state and our own Door County.  Blueberries have been on special too.  And grapes occasionally.  Earlier we had a fabulous strawberry and raspberry season.  They are both still good, just no longer on special.    Local watermelons and muskmelons are in season now.  Fresh figs are available (from California).    We are getting peaches from Door County which are wonderful.  I'm sure I'm missing something. There's so much to choose from right now.  It's a great time of year.  I think the cherries are my favorite though---they are really good right now.

greens & mushrooms in creamy sauce

This feels like decadent comfort food and yet it's super healthy! I didn't measure so I'll try to estimate reasonable amounts. I'll update as I experiment more.

Ingredients:

a bunch of kale or collard greens or other greens

1/2 head of cauliflower (can substitute 2 stalks broccoli or mix), cut into big pieces

1 leek, cut in big pieces

1/2 lb mushrooms, chopped

1/2-1 onion, chopped

1 Tbsp vegizest (optional)

1 Tbsp d'angou pear vinegar or lemon juice (don't yet know which is better)

2 Tbsp seed mixture or any nut or seeds

4 dried apricots or prunes (mango?) or 1/2 cup pomegranate juice added during blending

optional: 1-2 cups beans

In one pot, steam the cauliflower, dried fruit, and leeks until tender. In another pot, steam the greens, mushrooms, and onions until desired tenderness. Blend the cauliflower, leeks, dried fruit, vegizest, vinegar, seed mixture and water from steaming in the blender. Combine this sauce with the greens, onion, and mushrooms (and beans if using) in a large serving bowl. yum!

easy eggplant, tomato, etc dish

This varies depending on what food I have on hand, and doesn't need to be followed exactly.

Ingredients:

1-2 medium eggplants

1-2 16 oz cans tomatoes or 3-6 fresh tomatoes

1 lb mushrooms

1 onion or some leeks

a bunch of kale

a can of beans, any kind

fresh basil, parsley, chives, or dried italian seasoning

ground seeds, e.g., sesame, flax, sunflower, pumpkin, hemp, or chia (no need to grind the chia)

1 Tbsp date syrup

Chop everything up except date syrup and seeds, throw into a big pressure cooker, cook for 3 minutes, then add the date syrup and seeds. This probably works with any veggie substituted of eggplant, like broccoli and cauliflower, brussels sprouts.

Late summer beans & greens

This is similar to my usual beans but it uses harvests from the garden too:

Ingredients:

1 lb beans (any variety from Rancho Gordo)

juice from 5 lbs carrots--about 36-40 oz

water as needed--a few cups

1-2 onions

1-2 lb mushrooms, any kind (Dr. Fuhrman now says all mushrooms are good for you).

tons of collard greens (a week's worth from 6 plants!)

eggplant if there is any ripe

herbs from the garden (parsley, chives, basil)

Rinse the dry beans. Chop the onions, mushrooms and collards in a food processor--not required for onions and mushrooms but saves time and compacts them--required for the tons of collard greens to compact them. Combine everything in a big pot, and soak overnight or for several hours. Cook for 4 hours, or until desired tenderness, adding water as needed.

Note: We can tomatoes from the garden, and sometimes a can doesn't seal. I might add in one of these if there is one.