Red Cabbage Braised with Olive Oil

Red cabbage is a superfood, and this has to be one of the simplest, yet tastiest ways to eat lots of it. I love cabbage, maybe it’s the Irish in me, but I can make a meal of this. Properly cooked cabbage has a slightly sweet taste which is complemented by the garlic. If you don’t like cabbage, you’ve probably never had it cooked properly. I’ve met many a person who thought they didn’t like cabbage until they tried one of my cabbage dishes. They’ve always asked for more. So if you imagine over-cooked, mushy cabbage with rotten-egg smell permeating the house give this recipe a try and see if cabbage doesn’t become one of your favorite vegetables too.

Cabbage contains phytochemicals called indoles which are thought to be responsible for reducing the risk of cancer. It’s also high in fiber, and contains a good amount of vitamins C, K, beta-carotene and the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin which promote good eye health as well as calcium, magnesium, and potassium. And it’s one of the lowest calorie foods in existence.

Red cabbage (also called purple cabbage) gets it color from a substance known as anthocyanins, the same thing that makes blueberries blue, and gives them their super-antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Anthocyanins’ powerful antioxidant properties allow them to fight damaging free radicals, protect us from the damage of toxins, and fight cardiovascular disease.

Ingredients:

red cabbage
olive oil
garlic, minced
Himalayan sea salt

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 180C (350F).

Pull of any tough outer leaves on the cabbage and discard. Rinse and shake the cabbage to get off most of the water. Cut cabbage into quarters, then trim off the core and discard it. Cut the quarters into wedges or slices about 2.5 cm (1 inch) thick. If you want it to cook faster, cut it into thinner slices.

Place the red cabbage wedges into a glass casserole dish with a lid, layering them on top of each other until you fill the dish. After each layer of cabbage, drizzle enough olive oil to coat the cabbage wedges, sprinkle on some sea salt to taste, and sprinkle a little of the minced garlic (saving most of it for the top layer). Lay down the next layer of cabbage slices on top and do the same until you fill the dish. Add the remaining minced garlic, a final drizzle of olive oil and sea salt.

Layer the cabbage slices in the casserole dish

Put the lid on and place in the oven. Cooking time is usually about 45 minutes, but check occasionally to see if it’s ready and turn the dish so all sides cook evenly. The cabbage is done when it’s tender (no longer crunchy), but not mushy. The color will change, and lighten, but it should still be quite vibrant. At the point where it becomes tender, it loses the characteristic pungent taste of raw cabbage and takes on a nice sweet taste and that’s exactly when it’s ready to eat. Serve immediately.

Enjoy your Anthocyanins!

Variations:

• Pour a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar over the top for a richer, sweeter flavor.
• Add some chopped apple as you’re packing the layers. The taste of baked apple and cabbage compliment each other nicely.
• Pour a tablespoon of toasted sesame oil over the top to add an earthy, nutty flavor.

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Barley bread

This dense, rustic flat bread has a satisfying nutty taste and crunchy texture around the edges. It’s great served with soups and stews, or salads. It’s also nice on it’s own, spread with honey or avocado as a snack or light meal. Best served warm, right from the oven.

Because it’s wheat-free, this bread doesn’t contain the amount of gluten that a wheat-based loaf would, so therefore it doesn’t puff up and create a light, airy bread like wheat-based loaves. It’s more a cross between a flat-bread and a cracker, crunchy around the edges. But I love the texture, it feels much more substantial than a typical airy loaf. It’s chewy in the middle, crunchy around the edges and much more flavorful than wheat flour. Oh, and it’s vegan as well.

This is one of the easiest and quickest bread recipes I’ve ever used. No bread maker or mixer required, it’s easy enough to do it all manually. You don’t need to wait until the dough rises (proofs), so it’s a great option for whipping up some bread at the last minute to go with your meal.

Ingredients:

2 cups barley flour
2 tsp wheat-free baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
3/4 cup water
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp flaxseed (linseed)
2 tbsp sunflower seed

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 200 C/400 F. Lightly oil a baking sheet. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. You can use a fine-mesh strainer instead of a sifter. Just use a spoon to tap the sides of the strainer to sift the dry ingredients through the mesh. You can also use the spoon to ‘stir’ the flour if you prefer, make sure the spoon is touching the bottom of the strainer and stir in a circular motion just inside the rim of the strainer.

Once all the dry ingredients are sifted, blend the water, olive oil, flaxseed and sunflower seeds in a high-powered blender until liquefied. The non-vegan version calls for cream and milk, so you’re creating a seed milk substitute. Fold this seed milk into the flour and mix until it forms a dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and using your hands shape it into a flat round shape about 1 cm (1/2 inch) thick.

Slide the loaf onto the baking sheet and use a knife to score the top of the loaf to form the slices. Then using the prongs of a fork, make indentations all over the top of the loaf.

Bake until pale golden in color, about 15-20 minutes. Cut or break into wedges along the score lines and serve warm.

Barley Bread Slice, ready to eat

Makes 1 small loaf.

Variations:

• Add a handful of sunflower seeds to the sifted flour just before adding the liquid ingredients.
• Add 2 tbsp citrus zest (lemon, lime or orange) to the flour mixture just before adding the liquids.

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Raw Vegan Marinated Portobello Mushrooms

I absolutely love mushrooms cooked, but can’t stand them raw. So when I decided to start eating more raw food, I was missing my mushrooms! Or having to eat them cooked. I’ve tried a few different raw vegan recipes featuring mushrooms, like stuffed mushrooms, and while it was better than eating them plain (yuck), I still didn’t really love them. I figured my best chance for creating a raw mushroom dish that I loved was to use my dehydrator.

If you want to eat a raw vegan diet, but you still love the taste of cooked food, a dehydrator will save you. Keep the temperature setting at 115 degrees F or below, and you won’t destroy any of the important enzymes in raw food, but the warmth is enough to change the texture and taste of the food, similar to cooking at higher temperatures. In the case of mushrooms, these are every bit as delicious as sauteed mushrooms.

Ingredients:

200g portobello mushrooms
5 tbsp (100ml) virgin cold-pressed olive oil
1 small clove garlic
1 small lemon
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp rosemary (fresh if possible)
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp Himalayan sea salt (more or less to taste)

Instructions:

Brush any debris off the mushrooms and cut into slices about 1 cm (1/4 inch) thick. If you have a Pyrex baking dish that will fit in the tray slots of your dehydrator that works best, otherwise the teflex sheets will be fine, you just may need to add a bit more olive oil. Put the mushroom slices in the baking dish if you have one, otherwise put them into a bowl.

Crush or mince the garlic as fine as possible. Add to the bowl with mushrooms. Strip the rosemary leaves off if using fresh rosemary and chop as fine as possible. Add to the bowl with mushrooms, along with all the olive oil and other spices.

Using your fingers toss the mushroom slices in the oil and spices until the mushroom slices are  evenly coated. The portobello will absorb the olive oil, you may need to add more if you still have any ‘dry’ patches.

If you are using a baking dish, spread the mushrooms evenly over the bottom of the dish and insert it into the tray slots of your dehydrator. Otherwise, spread the mushrooms evenly over a teflex sheet and insert the tray into the dehydrator.

Mushrooms tossed in olive oil and spices before dehydrating

Turn on the dehydrator and set the temperature at 115 F (45C). Check on them occasionally, to mix and add more olive oil if they are getting too dried out.  In about 2-4 hours your mushrooms will be done and ready to eat. You’ll have to do some taste testing to see when they are right for you. When they are getting close to done, squeeze some fresh lemon juice over them.

Leftovers will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.

Serves 2-3

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Kale Chip

I honestly cannot get enough of these delicious kale chips. They more than satisfy that spot that potato chips once filled, only without the greasy food hangover and the guilt. Kale is a super food among vegetables. It’s a brassica, a member of the cabbage family and is probably the closest relative to the wild cabbage. As such it has the same antioxidant power and cancer-fighting phytochemicals of the other brassicas. In fact, kale is number one in the antioxidant ratings according to The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth. If that’s not reason enough to indulge in my kale chip addiction, I don’t know what is!

Ingredients:

1-2 bunches of kale, wash, de-stem and tear into pieces
4 tablespoons extra virgin, organic olive oil
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon organic apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon raw organic agave syrup
1 teaspoon raw organic tahini
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon
1/2 teaspoon Himalayan or Celtic sea salt
dash of powdered ginger
dash of cayenne powder to taste

Instructions:

1. Rinse the kale under running water, remove stems and tear the leaf into pieces about the size of potato chips tossing them into a large mixing bowl.
2. In a smaller bowl or cup mix all the other ingredients together, beating with a fork until there are no more lumps of tahini and everything is blended together evenly. Drizzle the mixture over the kale pieces, then massage it evenly through the kale with clean hands.
3. Grab handfuls of the coated kale pieces and scatter onto dehydrator trays. If the mixture is quite oily and dripping off the leaves, use a Teflex or Paraflexx sheet on your dehydrator tray. Otherwise you can put the kale mixture directly onto the dehydrator sheets and they will be ready to eat a bit sooner. Try to break up any large clumps of kale, but you don’t need to take the time to lay every piece out individually, just make sure they are fairly evenly scattered over 3-4 trays.
   

   Kale Chips on dehydrator tray

4. Dehydrate at 95-105F degrees overnight. If you used the Teflex or Paraflexx sheets turn the kale chips out onto the regular dehydrator sheets the next day and dehydrate for a couple more hours until crunchy. Otherwise, test to see if the chips are crunchy. If they are you can eat them immediately, or store in a sealed glass jar for later.

More nutritional facts about kale:

Kale is also loaded with calcium, iron, and vitamins A, C, and bone-building vitamin K. It contains seven times the beta-carotene of broccoli and ten times as much lutein and zeazanthin, eye-protecting carotenoids known to help protect against macular degeneration. And 2 cups of the stuff contain about 4 g of protein and 3 g of fiber.
Source: The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth About What You Should Eat and Why

I can easily snack on 2 cups of kale in the form of kale chips, getting a nice dose of healthy, uncooked oils at the same time. Although it takes extreme self-control, I try to squirrel some of the kale chips away in a glass jar for later in the evening when I start getting the munchies, or junk food cravings. Funny enough I find they also satisfy the cravings for sweets I often get late at night.

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Kale Chip

Kale chips… the raw vegan alternative to potato chips. I’m addicted to them. I eat about a third of them before they even finish dehydrating. Even if I ate junk food, I’d choose kale chips over potato chips, or tortilla chips any day. Yes, they really are that good! And here’s the thing… kale is really, really good for you. Prepared this way it’s easy to eat a whole mixing bowl of kale in one sitting. My dogs adore them, I’m sure kids will too. They’re simple to make too, it’s easy to experiment, and it’s hard to go wrong with them. Here’s the most basic recipe for salted kale chips. So if you get the hankering for something salty, crunchy and oily instead of reaching for the potato chips, try some of these healthy, nutritious kale chips instead.

Ingredients:

2 bunches of kale, rinse and remove stem
3 tablespoon olive oil or hemp seed oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Celtic or Himalyan sea salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Mix the oil, apple cider vinegar and salt in a large mixing bowl. It’s easy to add more salt later and adjust it to your taste.
2. Tear the kale leaves up into bite-sized pieces. Think potato chip size, they will shrink a bit once they are dehydrated. Toss the kale pieces into the bowl with the oil and vinegar.
3. Periodically mix the kale as you are adding it by tossing the kale in the oil and ACV mixture. Get your hands in there and massage the oil into the kale. You’re aiming to have the oil and ACV evenly coating all of the kale. It’s easier to do this if you add a bit of kale, toss and massage, add some more kale, toss and massage and repeat until you have used up all the kale.
   

   Making Kale Chips: Massaging the kale

4. Place a Teflex sheet on top of a dehydrator tray and drop a handful or two of the coated kale leaves onto it. Try to spread the kale around so it’s not all clumped together, but you don’t have to be too particular about placing each individual piece because it will shrink and separate a bit as it’s dehydrating.
   

   Kale chips spread on Teflex sheet

5. Dehydrate overnight at 105 degrees F.
6. In the morning, turn the kale onto a regular dehydrator tray to finish it off. Dehydrate for another 2-4 hours until crispy.
   

   Kale chips almost ready to eat

7. Eat fresh from the dehydrator or store in a tightly sealed glass jar to keep them crisp. I’m not sure how long they will keep because they never last for more than 2 days around me
   

   Store kale chips in a glass jar

Enjoy!

Variations:

I’ll be posting the recipes for more flavors soon, but once you get the idea from this basic recipe try experimenting with adding different spices.

• Want it a little hot and spicy? Try adding some cayenne.
• Craving a cheesy flavor? Just add some nutritional yeast or parmesan (if you eat dairy).

You get the idea. If you come up with some tasty variations be sure to share them in the comments.

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Rainbow Cole Slaw

I love cabbage, and this really hit the spot. So much so that I ate nearly the entire bowl myself. Using heirloom red cabbage and yellow carrots and fresh herbs from our garden the colors were intense. This photo doesn’t really do it justice. The taste was just divine, and the raw energy packed into this quick-to-prepare meal was just what I needed.

If you don’t like the taste of apple cider vinegar tonics, this is a good way to get the health benefits of ACV without really noticing it. You can also add whatever fresh herbs you like, I used cilantro, parsley and wild mint.

Ingredients:

1/2 small red cabbage
1 large carrot
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup roughly chopped hazelnuts or almonds
fresh herbs (such as coriander, parsley, mint)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, or hemp seed oil
1 teas umeboshi vinegar
3 teas apple cider vinegar, or kombucha vinegar
1 teas rapadura sugar or agave nectar (optional)
Himalayan or celtic sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Grate the carrot and finely slice the cabbage. Chop the fresh herbs and toss with the cabbage and carrot.
2. Add the vinegar, oil, salt and pepper and toss gently until the vegetables are evenly coated.
3. Add seeds and nuts and serve.

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2. Marinated Chickpea Salad One of the most popular legumes in the world, chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) were one of the first crops to be cultivated. They are one of the tastiest...
3. Quinoa Salad If you like couscous salads but are looking for something even healthier, and wheat-free this salad fits the bill. It’s light on the digestive system, but filling. The quinoa provides...

Marinated Chickpea Salad

One of the most popular legumes in the world, chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) were one of the first crops to be cultivated. They are one of the tastiest and most versatile of the pulses. Chickpeas are also high in fiber and contain the phytonutrient isoflavone, which may help to prevent cancer. Chickpeas belong to the family of legumes, also known as pulses. A study of 10,000 men and women in the USA found that those who ate pulses at least four times a week had a significantly lower risk of coronary heart disease.

This tasty marinated chickpea salad can be put together quickly, stored overnight in the fridge and eaten for lunch the next day.

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked chickpeas, drained
2 T extra virgin olive oil or hempseed oil
1 teas toasted sesame oil
1 T wheat-free tamari
lemon juice to taste
1 teas agave syrup (optional)
1/2 cup red, orange or yellow bell pepper (capsicum)
1 med carrot
9 baby spinach leaves
couple sprigs each fresh parsley and mint

Instructions:
Add the chickpeas to a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid. Pour the oils, tamari, lemon juice and agave syrup over the chickpeas.

Finely slice the bell pepper and spinach leaves. Grate the carrot. Finely dice the fresh herbs. Add to the container and toss everything until thoroughly mixed.

Put on the lid, and turn the container upside down until the oil mixture reaches the lid. Refrigerate for at least one hour. Shake and invert the container occasionally to coat all the ingredients with marinade.

Served chilled this is a great refreshing summer salad, but it’s also delicious served warm.

Where to Find High Quality Oils and Agave Syrup

• Organic Hempseed Oil 16oz
• Organic Olive Oil, 375ml - Unheated, Unfiltered, UNPRESSED
• Agave (Amber) Nectar 16 oz
• Agave (Dark) Nectar 16 oz
• "Real Raw" Organic Agave Nectar (Platinum), 13.25oz

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Soy Fried Tempeh

Tempeh is a traditional Indonesian soy food that’s high in protein and one of the few vegan foods that’s high in vitamin B12. It’s a delicious, low-fat, no cholesterol, gluten-free, high protein alternative to animal products. The soy beans are naturally fermented to aid in their digestion, but nothing about the taste of tempeh says fermented.

Ingredients:
1 block organic tempeh
olive oil
wheat-free tamari or shoyu (soy sauce)

Instructions:
Slice the tempeh as thinly as you can. The thinner, the better, aim for a thickness of 5 mm or less.

Put enough olive oil in a frying pan to just cover the bottom of the pan. Heat up the oil over a medium heat. When the oil is hot, lay the strips of tempeh in the pan.

Heat for 2-3 minutes, then sprinkle in the tamari or shoyu and shake the pan to keep the tempeh from sticking and to distribute the tamari. Continue to cook until the tempeh is golden brown on the bottom and turn. Fry the second side until golden brown and remove from the pan.

Frying Tempeh

Serve and eat!

Cook’s Tips:
This tempeh is great as a starter, either on it’s own or with a peanut satay sauce or sweet chilli sauce. It’s also great broken into pieces and thrown into a salad or stir fry. Put any leftovers in the fridge and use in a sandwich the next day.

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Quinoa Salad

If you like couscous salads but are looking for something even healthier, and wheat-free this salad fits the bill. It’s light on the digestive system, but filling. The quinoa provides lots of extra protein and fiber. Like couscous quinoa cooks very quickly, so it’s an easy dish to prepare anytime.

Ingredients:
2-3 cups cooked quinoa, cooled
1 handful of mixed salad greens, roughly chopped or torn
1 handful of fresh mint, finely chopped
1 handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
4 large leaves spinach, roughly chopped or torn
3-4 broad beans, shelled
1/4 red or yellow capsicum, finely sliced
1 carrot, grated
handful of almonds, roughly chopped
1/2 teas ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Dressing:
1/4 cup cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
1 teas wheat-free tamari (can substitute shoyu soy sauce if you don’t mind wheat)

Garnish:
sunflower and pumpkin seeds to garnish

Instructions:
If you cook a bit extra quinoa than you need, you can use the leftovers the next day in this salad. Otherwise, see my article on How to cook quinoa. Make sure it’s cooled before you mix it in with the other ingredients.

Toss all salad ingredients in a large bowl until mixed thoroughly.

Pour the dressing over and toss briefly to evenly distribute it.

Garnish and serve.

Serves 2.

Cook’s Tips:
This recipe uses very loose measurements because for recipes like this I encourage you to change and adapt them to your taste and the ingredients you have on hand.

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Ingredients:
8 ounces of Mediterranean style vegetables, prepared
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
4 ounces of dry couscous
Approximately 2 ounces of feta cheese
Approximately 2 ounces of pitted, sliced black olives

Directions:
Place a selection of prepared Mediterranean vegetables such as eggplant, zucchini, red onion, and peppers in a baking tray and top with a little olive oil. You’ll need approximately 8 ounces of chopped vegetables.

Preheat oven to 350F. Bake vegetables for approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile cook 4 ounces of couscous according to package instructions, but replace the water with the same amount of vegetable broth for more flavor. Fluff couscous with fork and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a little bit of salt and pepper to taste. Mix through.

Serve couscous topped with Mediterranean vegetables and a sprinkle of chopped feta cheese and olives.