Big Bowl of Happiness for Catherine

Dear Readers,

My BFF Catherine and I were talking about her recent travels and how we sometimes find ourselves without healthy vegetarian food. This is especially complicated if one is gluten-free, or has food allergies such as eggs or dairy. When returning from such trips cooking and enjoying nourishing food is vital. It is in this spirit that I whipped up tonight's recipe.



It's just a big bowl of happiness and health. Looks great and tastes delicious. Big bowl recipes are simple and improvisational. I got the idea originally from Heidi at 101 cookbooks. 2 years ago I was inspired by her recipe and created my own "Quinoa Big Bowl with Garlic Spinach & Roasted Yams" recipe. What's funny, is now when I went back and checked out Heidi's original recipe she talked about traveling and how much she craved healthy earthy quinoa and cooking for herself as soon as her plane landed. Whoa. Seriously, I did not read that before coming up with tonight's recipe. I guess it's a universal experience for healthy eating foodie cooks.

For a Big Bowl, start with a tasty whole grain. Usually I choose quinoa, but tonight it's short grain brown rice. Followed by delicious sauteed potatoes, wilted spinach & chard with garlic, sauteed fresh local asparagus, rounded out with garbanzo beans, and finished with toasted walnuts. Mix. Devour. Yum. In my photos it looks very composed. But, when I eat it, I just mix it all together.

This kind of meal helps me feel so nourished. It's gluten-free, vegan, and loaded with fiber, protein and fresh vegetables. Olive oil and walnuts give a boost of omega fatty acids. Trust me, this big bowl is all around goodness. And I hope it makes my Catherine very happy. It's making me happy right now.

In Health,
Miss Jolie Ann



Big Bowl of Happiness Recipe
Makes 4 large servings

1 cup short grain brown rice
1 cup cooked garbanzo beans
extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 yukon gold potatoes, diced
1/4 tsp tumeric
sea salt & black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch spinach, washed & chopped
1 bunch chard, washed & chopped
1 bunch asparagus, washed, tough ends cut off, sliced
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1. Put the brown rice with 2 cups water in a pot and cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 50 minutes. Set aside.
2. While the brown rice is cooking, prepare the rest of the recipe. In a skillet warm a splash of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Saute for 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and the tumeric. Cover and cook over medium heat about 15 minutes. Potatoes should be tender and browned. Set aside.
3. In the now empty skillet, add another splash of olive oil. Add the garlic, spinach, and chard. Ad a pinch of salt and black pepper. Cook uncovered over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Greens should be wilted, still bright green, and the garlic should be fragrant. Set aside.
4. In the now empty skillet, add another splash of olive oil . Add the asparagus and another pinch of salt. Cook uncovered for about 5 minutes. Asparagus should be bright green and still firm. Set aside.
5. In the now empty skillet, add the walnuts. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes until they are starting to brown and have released their fragrant oils.
6. Assemble the brown rice, potatoes, greens, asparagus, and garbanzo how you would like in individual bowls or family style on a large platter. Top with the toasted walnuts.

Broccolini Quiche with Potato Rosemary Crust (Gluten-Free)

Dear Readers,
I love a good quiche. What's not to like? Eggs, cheese, veggies, and a buttery crust. Yum. Yum. Yum. Quiche is perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner. It's leftover keep well for me to nibble on all week.

My co-worker Kelly & her partner operate Happy Tortoise Farm on Sauvie Island and I'm getting fresh delicious eggs from their flock every week. Once you've had fresh eggs, there is no going back. The yolks are an amazing shade of bright orange and incredibly dense. When you whisk fresh eggs they have a completely different texture and a brightness of color that store bought eggs can not compare. With these beautiful eggs I was eagerly planning a quiche recipe for this week.

Then my friend Carrye forwarded me a link about a gluten-free quiche crust challenge from the blog "The Gluten-Free Homemaker." Game on. I'm up for a good challenge. Rather than construct a standard pie crust-flour, butter, cold water with a gluten free flour I went for the extraordinary. I created a gluten-free pie crust out of grated red skin potatoes, fresh rosemary from my herb garden, toasted pecans, and of course butter. It's flavors are amazing. The edges of the crust peaking up above the custard get toasted brown & crunchy tasting like heavenly little potato chip bites. And, while this gluten-free crust doesn't have the same flaky consistency of a flour based pie crust, I believe it totally holds it own.

For the filling I choose broccilini, because it just looked so seductive in the produce market. Often my ingredients choose me. It's rarely the other way around. It seems they see me coming a mile away and put on their best and freshest faces. Broccolini is basically a type of broccoli with loose flowerettes, rather than forming a tight head like typical broccoli. I combined the broccolini with bright gold ribbed swiss chard and mushrooms. For cheese I choose Chevre, because it's creaminess is a perfect compliment to the eggs in the custard. And Asiago cheese for it's nutty flavor.

This recipe is a little labor intensive, taking in total about 2 hours to prep, cook, and bake. It might be a little quicker for you if you aren't taking photos and writing notes every step of the way. Ha! Everything in my kitchen takes longer. Thankfully, it's a labor of love.

If you take the gluten-free quiche crust challenge and create your own recipe, be sure to leave me a link in your comments. I'd love to check it out. Have a wonderful day.

In Health,
Miss Jolie Ann









Broccolini Quiche with Potato-Rosemary Crust
Makes 6 servings

Gluten-Free Crust:
3 red skin potatoes
1/4 of a red onion
1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp toasted pecans
1 beaten egg
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Mix

Filling:
1/2 purple onion, minced
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
sea salt & black pepper
1 bunch broccolini, chopped, about 2 cups
8 mushrooms, coarsely chopped
2 large swiss chard leaves, stems & greens chopped
1 tsp lemon zest
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup Asiago cheese, grated

Custard:
6 eggs
sea salt & black pepper
1 tbsp fresh chives, chopped
1/8 tsp dried mustard
2 oz Chevre goat cheese


Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Grease a 9 inch pie pan

1. Wash and peel the potatoes. Peel the red onion. Using the shred attachment on your food processor, drop in the potatoes and onions. Remove the shred attachment and add the normal blade to food processor. To the shredded potatoes and onions now add the rosemary, lemon zest, sea salt, pecans and butter. Pulse a few times to combine. You don't want it to turn to mush.
2. Remove this mixture from the food processor. In a bowl combine with the beaten egg and gluten free baking flour. Stir until just combined.
3. Press crust batter into the greased pie pan.
4. Bake uncovered at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Turn down oven to 350 degrees.

While pie crust is baking, prepare the quiche filling:

5. Warm the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions with a dash of sea salt & black pepper and saute for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and saute another 5 minutes. Add the broccolini and swiss chard. Add the lemon zest and squeeze in the juice of 1/2 a lemon. Saute for a few minutes more. You only want the broccolini and chard to slightly wilt. They should still be crunchy and bright green. Remove from heat.
6. Place the cooked veggie mixture in the cooked pie crust. Sprinkle on the grated asiago cheese.

Set aside while you make the custard:

7. In medium sized bowl beat the eggs with a metal whisk. Add the chopped chives, a pinch of sea salt & black pepper, and the dried mustard. Whisk until combined. Crumble the Chevre into small pieces and add to the eggs. Whisk until combined. There will be pieces of Chevre and that is just perfect.
8. Pour the egg mixture over the waiting veggies in pie crust.
9. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
10. Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Spring Pasta Primavera with Garbanzo Beans & Walnuts

Dear Readers,

I don't often post recipes featuring pasta. Honestly, I think it's overdone. But, gluten-free brown rice pasta makes a nice platform for the first of Spring's beautiful vegetables. That's all Pasta Primavera is--fresh Spring vegetables. If you planted a year-round edible garden your overwintering varieties of cauliflower, cabbage & carrots should be ready to harvest. This Winter was pretty mild and the Spring unseasonably warm which means your hardy greens like kale, chard and mustards should all be doing great and producing a nice harvest. Fall planted garlic should be producing nice green shoots or "scapes" to add to your stir-fry dishes. There's not a lot in the edible garden this time of year. But, with some planning it can produce in early Spring.

Pasta Primavera has endless variations. Mine lacks the standard issue bland cream sauce. The vegetables and their fresh tastes headline this dish. The recipe co-stars garbanzo beans, walnuts, garlic and some fresh lemon zest. It's gluten & dairy free. Loaded with vitamins, fiber, and protein. Whole foods goodness. Plus once the chopping prep is done this dish is completely cooked in under 30 minutes. And it's easy on the budget as well with simple ingredients. Filling, delicious and pretty. What more could you ask for. It's virtually a perfect dish. Please send me your comments. I appreciate the feedback.


In Health,
Miss Jolie Ann

Pasta Primavera with Garbanzo Beans & Walnuts
Serves 4

1/2 of a 16oz package brown rice spaghetti or linguine
extra virgin olive oil
1/2 of a medium yellow onion, minced
2 cups cauliflower florets
3 thin young carrots, thinly sliced
sea salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 cup chopped walnuts
14 oz can garbanzo beans, drained & rinsed
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups thinly sliced mixed greens-kale, chard mustard
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1. Bring a stockpot of water to boil and prepare pasta according to package directions. Do not overcook. It should take about 8-10 minutes. Brown rice pasta quickly becomes mushy if overcooked by a minute. Drain pasta and return to the pot off the heat. Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt and black pepper and a splash of olive oil on the pasta. Add the nutritional yeast. Stir well. Cover pot and set aside while you prepare the veggies.
2. Warm 2 tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and saute over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the cauliflower and continue to saute for another 5 minutes. Add the carrots and continue to saute for another 5 minutes. Add a pinch of sea salt & black pepper, and the walnuts. Saute for another 5 minutes. You want the spices to become fragrant and the walnuts to become slightly toasted. Add the garbanzo beans and the garlic. Stir well to combine. Add the greens and cook for approximately 5 minutes. You want the greens to just begin to wilt but remain bright green. They will be slightly crunchy. Overcooked veggies=no bueno. Remove pan from heat.
3. Add the vegetables to the pasta. Add the lemon zest. Check the flavor and add more sea salt if desired. Eat. You be sure to thank me later.

Corn Tortillas Layered with Garlicky Wilted Cabbage & Chard, Black Beans & Eggs

Dear Readers,
My friends Sherrie & Mindy gave me these adorable little eggs from their backyard flock of hens. I wanted to create a recipe to feature these delicious cute tiny eggs. What I came up with is this recipe that features soft corn tortillas layered with garlicky wilted cabbage & swiss chard, black beans, fried eggs, and I used some roasted green tomato chipotle sauce I preserved in the Autumn. You could use any salsa, enchilada sauce, or hot sauce for this dish. The flavors stand on their own. Whatever sauce you choose, don't use a lot. A little goes a long way to mingle with the other flavors of this recipe. And, this is a VERY improvisational recipe so there aren't exacts. Play with it. Play with your food. Just play as much as possible. Create beautiful food and follow your bliss. Life is short. Enjoy!

In Health & Joy,
Miss Jolie Ann

Corn Tortillas Layered with Garlicky Wilted Greens, Black Beans & Fried Eggs
Serves 2

2 cups shredded purple cabbage
2 cups thinly sliced swiss chard
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
1 clove garlic, minced
Butter (less than one tablespoon)--or more olive oil to keep it vegan
4 corn tortillas
14oz can black beans
2 eggs
1/2c cup salsa, enchilada sauce, or hot sauce--your choice
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Warm the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the cabbage and a pinch of sea salt. Saute for 3-5 minutes. You want the cabbage to be slightly wilted, but still firm and retaining it's color. Add the swiss chard and garlic. Saute for 1 minute, no longer. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Add a very thin slice of butter to the pan. Add one tortilla and cook on each side approximately 1 minute. Set aside. Continue to cook all 4 tortillas individually. If the pan gets dry, add it more butter. (If you don't do dairy you can easily substitute olive oil)
3. While the tortillas are cooking, drain and rinse the black beans. Set aside.
4. Once the tortillas are cooked, use the same pan for the eggs. Add a tiny bit of butter if the pan is dry. Fry the eggs over medium heat until the yokes are firm but not hard.
5. Put 2 tortillas on each plate and begin layering. First tortillas, then sauce, then cabbage & chard, then black beans, then 1 egg, and garnish with cilantro.