Rhubarb and Strawberries

Rhubarb dates back to 2700 BC in China, where it was cultivated for medicinal purposes.  It was introduced to Europe by an Italian botanist in 1608.   Ben Franklin brought rhubarb seeds to North American  in 1772, yet it did not catch on until the early 1800s, as a popular ingredient for pie.

My grandparents grew rhubarb on their farm in Michigan.  It was always ready for picking around the same time as the strawberries.  Grandma often combined the two in heavenly deserts.  My favorite, though, was a simple strawberry rhubarb sauce.  It is good alone, over ice cream or cake or on your oats in the morning.  It is good warm or cold.

 

Rhubarb is a good source of vitamin C, fiber, potassium, manganese and magnesium.  The stalks are edible but the leafs are toxic. 

Strawberries are packed with vitamin C, fiber and antioxidants. 

Typically, strawberry rhubarb sauce has a couple cups of each fruit some water and a cup of sugar.  I found some really sweet (and very ripe) Tillamook strawberries at our farmer's market yesterday.  I needed to use these in a hurry.  So I made a double batch, but increased the strawberries (rather than equal amounts) and I cut the sugar down to just 1/2 cup.

Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce

4 cups rhubarb, washed, leaves removed and cut into 1/2" slices

1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar (I used evaporated cane juice)

5 cups strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced

Add the rhubarb, water and sugar to a 5 quart pot.  Bring to a boil, cover, turn down to simmer for 8-10 minutes, or until the rhubarb is soft.

Stir in the strawberries, bring back to a boil.  Stir and cook another 3-5 minutes (I like the strawberries a little uncooked so they maintain their color)

Makes 6 cups or 12 1/2 cup serving.  Each 1/2 cup has 62 calories.

Eggplant

Eggplant isn't especially high in any vitamin or mineral, but it is high in fiber and very low in calories.  One cup of eggplant has just 19.68 calories.  There are a number of varieties of eggplant.  I tend to prefer the smaller Asian varieties.  They are less bitter than the typical American eggplant.

Baba Ghanouj is a middle eastern dish of mashed roasted eggplant, garlic, lemon and spices.  It is usually served with pita bread.

While shopping for this dish I found some small sized (3 1/2inch) pitas at Trader Joe's that are just 25 calories each.

Baba Ghanouj

(Baba Ganoush)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Coat a baking sheet with spray oil.

3 small Asian eggplants, cut in half, lengthwise and poked several times with a fork

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

a few sprigs fresh parsley

2 tablespoons sesame tahini

a dash of cumin

a dash of sea salt

Place the eggplants cut side down on the baking sheet.  Bake for 20-30 minutes or until soft.  Remove from oven and cool 10-15 minutes.

With a spoon scoop out the eggplant to make 1 cup.  Discard the skin.  If there is a lot of liquid, drain your eggplant and then measure it.  The Asian eggplant don't produce as much liquid as American eggplant.

Place the eggplant and all of the other ingredients in a food processor and process until fairly smooth.

Makes 5 servings, 1/4 cup each.  Each serving has 43 calories.

I served this with some raw veggies, two of small pitas, and 8 of our baked corn chips.  The total calorie count for the scrumptious snack was about 140 calories.  (The photo shows an 8 1/2 inch sandwich plate)

Baked corn chips: Cut a 6 inch corn tortilla into 8 pieces.  Coat a baking sheet with spray oil.  Place the tortilla pieces on the baking sheet and spray them with the oil.  Bake for 8-10 minutes at 400 degrees.  For a taco salad we cut the tortilla into strips rather than wedges.

Pluot

A pluot is a hybrid fruit that is 70% plum and 30% apricot.  Pluots have been around since about 1989.  They are sometimes called ‘plumcots’.  They are not genetically engineered.  Pluots are very sweet and are a good source of vitamin C, vitamin A and fiber.  They are very juicy and sweet.  They can be eaten raw or cooked.  A 2 ½ inch pluot contains just 30 calories.  Choose plump, firm, red to pink fruit.  There are 25 different varieties of pluots available.  Store ripe pluots in the refrigerator.

Pluot Cake

This pretty cake is great for desert or breakfast.

Place a 9 inch, removable bottom tart pan on a baking sheet.  Coat with spray oil and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

1 ½ cups flour (we used unbleached all-purpose)

¾ cup sugar (I used evaporated cane juice)

¼ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/8 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

1 tablespoon white vinegar

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

¾ cup non-dairy milk (We used So Delicious Coconut milk- the 50 calorie per cup variety)

2 fresh pluots cut into small wedges

2 teaspoons sugar (we used evaporated cane juice)

Mix the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.

Add the wet ingredients and stir until the batter is smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Lay the pluots over top of the batter.

Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons sugar

Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy warm or cold for breakfast or desert.

Serves 8.  Each serving has 218 calories.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms are non-fat, contain potassium, antioxidants, B vitamins and many other good nutrients.  They are almost void of calories- just 15 calories per cups of raw mushrooms.

We use mushrooms in many of our meals as an extender- adds volume without adding a significant number of calories.

The recipe I offer below is one that we have enjoyed for many years, but we have lightened it up and veganized it.  I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we do.

Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms

12 mushrooms that measure 1.5-2 inches across

1 cup of diced onion (we like Vidalias)

1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1/2 cup non-dairy cheese (we used Daiya cheddar)

1/3 cup vegetable stock (low or no sodium if you purchase it)

1 tablespoon minced fresh herbs- I used sage, thyme and parsley

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

Coat a non-stick skillet and a glass baking dish with spray olive oil

Wipe the mushrooms with a towel to remove an debris

Remove the stems from the mushrooms

Place 11 mushroom caps in the baking dish with the hole side up

Dice the stems and the one remaining mushroom

Saute the onions and mushrooms over medium heat until they begin to caramelize

Add the bread crumbs to the mushrooms and onions and stir and then add the herbs and broth.  Stir until it begins to hold together

Add the cheese and mix in well

With a teaspoon top the mushroom caps with the mixture

Spray the filled mushrooms with olive oil spray

Bake 20-30 minutes or until the filling browns and the mushrooms are cooked.

The entire recipe has just 384 calories.  Each stuffed mushroom has 34 calories.

The original recipe was for an appetizer.  I can't eat just one or two, so we always make these a meal.

The mushrooms are on the left side of the plate and the yummy looking stuff on the right side is a watermelon salad.  Very easy, colorful and tasty!  I cut some seedless watermelon into small cubes and mixed that together with some mini heirloom tomatoes we had cut in half.  We spooned that onto a bed of lettuce fresh from the greenhouse.  Then we drizzled over a little bit of balsamic reduction.

Balsamic reduction is sugar and balsamic vinegar that are boiled together and then cooled.    You can buy this in many markets, but why spend $7-$8 on something you can put together for fraction of that and in just a few minutes.

So here is the recipe...

Balsamic Reduction

Place into a small sauce pan one cup of balsamic vinegar and two tablespoons of sugar (we used evaporated cane juice).  Bring to boil, reduce to a simmer, set the timer for 15 minutes and then you are done.  Cool before using.  It takes just a small drizzle because the flavor has been concentrated.  I use less than a teaspoon.

The entire batch has just 330 calories.  This one is a little on the sweet side because I like it on fruit.  You can use less sugar. 





Black Beans

Black beans, also known as turtle beans, are small, shiny and dark.  They pack a nutritional punch- they have protein, fiber, folate, B vitamins and numerous other vitamins and minerals.  Studies show they are good for digestive health and may help to prevent colon cancer.  Black beans have been around for about 7,000 years and originated in Central American and southern Mexico.  They are widely used in Caribbean and Latin dishes.

And if all that isn’t enough- they are really cheap and easy to prepare.  Today I bought my one pound bag of black beans for 86 cents.  I cooked them up and served them alongside our Portabella Fajitas for dinner.  And I put about 6 cups of beans in the fridge for about another 3-4 meals for the two of us.  Not bad for a mere 86 cents. 

Another note on money- there is a perception that it is expensive to eat a vegan diet.  At the rate we are spending on food, we stand to save over $6,000 this year with our vegan diet.  Hmmm….now what could we do with all that extra cash. 

The great news is that my husband Mike had his lipid panel done last week.  With just 5 months of veganism his cholesterol is 169.  He probably last saw that number about 30 years ago.

One cup of cooked black beans has 227 calories, no fat and no sodium.  A Big Mac has 576 calories, 292 from fat, and 742mg sodium.  Give my body black beans!

To prepare black beans:

Rinse one pound of beans and pick out any bad beans, dirt or pebbles.

Place in 5 quart pan and soak for 3-4 hours.

Then bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer, cover and cook until done (40-60 minutes)

I like to add an onion.  You can also use vegetable stock in place of the water.  Add any seasonings you wish.  I left my plain so I can adapt them to different recipes this week.



Pasta

Because I watch my caloric intake, I don’t often splurge on pasta.  So I figured that if I was going to do it, do it right and make fresh pasta.  First I will give you the pasta recipe and then the mushroom ravioli recipe we made tonight.  It was delicious!    It may seem like a lot of work, but from start to finish was only 1 ½ hours- this included preparing a vegetable to serve with the pasta, some clean up and going out to the greenhouse for some fresh herbs.

Fresh Pasta

1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup semolina flour (we used Bob’s Red Mill)

½ teaspoon sea salt

1 cup of water

So the recipe I used says to mix the flours and salt together on a counter or board, make a well in the middle, pour in ½ cup water and mix together with your hands.  I poured in the water and as soon as I touched the flour I had water running off the counter on and to floor.   So I am going to change it up here.

Mix the flours and salt together in a mixing bowl.  Make a well in the middle and with your hands mix in the water.  Add a tablespoon of water at a time until the mixture comes together into a stiff dough.

Move the dough to a lightly floured board or counter.  Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes until elastic and slightly sticky.

Place a kitchen towel over the dough and let rest for 20 minutes.

Roll the dough out (I use a hand crank pasta roller.)  Cut into the desired shape.  Place in a large pot of gently boiling water to cook.  Thin pasta will take 1-3 minutes.  Thicker or filled pasta can take 5-15 minutes.

This makes one pound of pasta.  The total calorie count is 1282.  If you make spaghetti or fettuccini with all of it, it should serve 6 at 213 calories per serving.

The unrolled dough can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for 3 days.  Remove from refrigerator about 30 minutes before you want to roll it.  The shaped pasta can be frozen for later use.

Vegan Mushroom Walnut Ravioli

½ recipe pasta dough

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped walnuts

1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh basil

1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh oregano

For the filling:

1 cup chopped onions

1 cup chopped mushrooms

2 tablespoons Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

¼ cup non-dairy parmesan cheese (I used SoySations)

¼ cup non-dairy mozzarella (I used Daiya)

Fill a large pot with water and a dash of olive oil and bring to a boil while filling the ravioli.

Coat a skillet with olive oil spray.

Sauté the onions and mushrooms over med-high heat until caramelized.

Remove from heat and cool for about 10 minutes.

Place the onions, mushrooms, breadcrumbs and cheeses in a food processor and pulse until it all ingredients are finely ground and hold together.

Roll the dough in a pasta roller.  It works best if your roll it first on a wide setting and then on a thinner setting.  For my hand crank pasta roller, we rolled first on setting 7 and then again on setting 3.  At this point you can hand cut your ravioli with a round 2 inch biscuit cutter or you can use a ravioli maker.

Place 1 teaspoon on the bottom piece of pasta.  Cover with a second piece of pasta and crimp the edges.

I made 18 two inch ravioli.  I don’t re-roll the scraps as they can be tough.  So we used about 1/3 of the recipe of pasta dough to make 18 ravioli.

Reduce the heat on the pot of water to a gentle boil and carefully drop in the ravioli.  These should take 5-6 minutes to cook.  When done, drain quickly and place in a serving bowl.

Add the fresh herbs, I tablespoon olive oil and the walnuts.  Toss gently and enjoy.

This makes two servings at 382 calories each.  This was great with fresh asparagus.

If you want to try a different sauce option, the ravioli without the olive oil and walnuts is 298 calories.

Here is a link to a company that has every kind of pasta roller and ravioli maker. My pasta roller doesn't have a brand name on it, but I can tell you it is a 6 inch roller and I bought it for $19.99 a few years ago.  It works great.  I have a VillaWare ravioli maker- the kind you have to fill each ravioli and then roll over it with a rolling pin to seal the edges.  It was very inexpensive as well.  I used to have a fancy pasta roller that had a ravioli attachment.  I used it unsucessfully several times and gave it away.  It took two people to use it and then you still needed another hand.
So bottom line, it that the bottom of the line pasta roller and ravioli maker work great. 

 http://www.creativecookware.com/pasta_maker.htm

I  will mention brand names in our recipes.I am not paid for advertising, nor do I endorse any particular brand. I simply mention the brands I like and have used in my recipes.

Recent studies show that dark chocolate may lower blood pressure and prevent heart disease.  I used a dark Dutch processed cocoa powder in this rich, moist cake.  It contains no fat, no dairy and no eggs.  Enjoy!

Non-fat Chocolate Walnut Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of an 8 inch square baking pan.

Coat the pan with cooking spray, place the parchment in the pan and spray it also.  The parchment paper will make removal from the pan very easy.

Mix together and set aside:

1 1/2 cups flour, unbleached

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 cup evaporated cane juice (or sugar)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon egg replacer (we use Ener G)

Mix together:

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup non-dairy milk (soy, coconut, rice, etc)

1/2 cup cold coffee

1 teaspoon vanilla

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir with a spoon until well mixed. 

Pour into prepared pan.

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts over the batter.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Makes 9 servings. 189 calories per serving.