Cool Ranch Massaged Kale Salad

The ying and the yang, good v. evil, each action has a corresponding reaction, every rose has its thorn...we live in a world of opposites.

Remember my Hot Massaged Kale? Not to be outdone by Newton's third law, I developed a complimentary salad to answer to the spicy kick of the chipotle in the first recipe. Enter the Cool Ranch Massaged Kale Salad. Where the "Hot" was, well, hot, the "Cool Ranch" is not. The herbs in this salad give a feel of spring, despite the December air. I recommend making double the dressing so you have extra to dip crudités into!

Cool Ranch Massaged Kale Salad

Ingredients:

1 head kale, destemmed and torn into bite size pieces

1/2 tbs salt

2 tbs olive oil

1 avocado

1/2 tbs honey

2 tbs fresh parsley

2 tsp fresh dill weed

1/8 wedge from a small yellow onion

1 small clove garlic

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tbs lemon juice

1-2 tbs almond milk, as needed

6 cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/4 c carrots, thinly sliced

1 tbs sunflower seeds

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine kale, salt, and half the olive oil. Massage the kale until the leaves start to take on a shiny, wilted appearance.

In a blender, puree the rest of the oil with avocado, honey, herbs, onion, garlic, pepper, and lemon juice until smooth, using the almond milk to thin as necessary. Toss the remaining ingredients and the dressing with the kale to combine. Serves 2.

A Vegetarian Baby Shower - Part II - Avocado Sandwiches, Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers, and Rum Runner Punch

It's part deux of the baby shower goodies that graced my sister's party! Here we have miniature avocado sandwiches with tomato pesto, sweet peppers stuffed with Indian-flavored quinoa and served warm, and the non-alcoholic punch meant to mimic a rum runner. Enjoy!

Avocado Sandwiches

Ingredients:

2 avocados, peeled, pitted, and sliced thinly

1/4 c fresh lime juice

30 slices whole wheat cocktail bread, toasted

1/2 c prepared sun-dried tomato pesto

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 c broccoli sprouts

Directions:

Toss the avocado slices with lime juice. Spread 15 slices of bread with pesto. Top the pesto-covered bread with avocado, onion, and sprouts. Top with remaining slices of bread and secure with a toothpick. Makes 15 mini-sandwiches.

Quinoa-Stuffed Sweet Peppers

Ingredients:

1/4 lb (about 15) sweet peppers

1 tbs peanut oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 c carrot, finely shredded

1/2 cup spinach, washed patted dry and roughly chopped

1 green onion, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 cup cooked quinoa

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbs pine nuts

Directions:

To prepare the peppers, cut a slit in the pepper lengthwise from the stem to the tip. Gently open the pepper and pull out the seeds and ribs.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté about a minute (don't allow to brown!). Add remaining vegetables and sauté until the spinach is wilted down, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garam masala. Add the quinoa and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Stuff each pepper with the quinoa mixture and place on a baking sheet, cut side up. Heat in the oven for 15 minutes. Serves 4-6 (I doubled the recipe for the party).

Rum Runner Party Punch

Ingredients:

2 c pineapple juice

2 c orange juice

2 c blackberry juice

1 c pomegranate juice

4 tbs rum extract (1 oz)

2 tbs coconut flavoring

2 bottles sparkling white grape juice

1 liter club soda

Orange and lime slices

Directions:

Chill all juices and the soda before making. Combine all liquids in a large punch bowl and garnish with fruit. Makes about 20 1-cup servings.

A Vegetarian Baby Shower - Part I - Mushroom Tartlets, Tofu Skewers, and Pineapple Cake

Is December really almost half over? I find it hard to believe that it is already almost the new year, and yet here we are.

While some may say debate that it's the most wonderful time of the year, I think everyone can agree that it's the most BUSY time of the year. Your own personal anti-chef has been busy, too. There's the job and the kids, as well as planning my next adventure in food. What may that be?

Starting January 1st, I'm going to embark on a mostly raw diet. My friend, Amber (of Almost Vegan), has been attending raw culinary school, which has pushed me from just pondering it to making the commitment in my head to do this. So I've been deep in the planning stages of this experiment of sorts. I bought a few new kitchen toys and signed up for a local co-op home delivery service for organic fruit and veggies (oh, the sacrifices I must make!). I've already given my first raw recipe a trial run, which I'll post about at a later date.

And now for the main event du jour: Recipes from my sister's baby shower! My sister is a

vegetarian, so the food naturally followed suit. I am splitting them into two posts for the sake of keeping my blog readable. On the menu were mushroom tartlets (recipe below), quinoa-stuffed sweet peppers, hummus (recipe HERE) and crudités, avocado sandwiches, tofu skewers (recipe below), a variety of flavored nuts, fruit bowl, and--of course--a virgin rum-runner punch.

First I want to show off the cake I made. My

sister's theme was pirates, so I created this rather messy-looking skull with sparkly blue eyes and the cutest pacifier ever. Can you read what it says? The cake was pineapple cake with coconut-

cream cheese frosting (recipe below--spoiler, I used cake mix). This recipe is totally a cheat, but after all I'm not the anti-pastry chef!

Now on to the recipes!

Mushroom Shallot Tartlets

Ingredients:

3 tbs peanut oil

2 c fresh mushrooms of choice, diced (I used shiitake, oyster, and baby portabellas)

4 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced

1 tbs fresh sage, minced
1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbs vegetable stock

2 15-count packages of frozen mini fillo shells

1/4 c goat cheese of choice (I used Humboldt Fog)

3 oz enoki-dake mushrooms (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Sauté the mushrooms and shallots for about 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms start to soften. Add the herbs, pepper, salt, and stock; stirring frequently, cook another 10 minutes or until most the liquid is cooked off.

Arrange the fillo shells on two baking sheets. Divide the goat cheese evenly among the shells. Do the same with the cooked mushrooms and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. If desired, garnish with enoki-dake mushrooms (as you can see in the photo, I ran out of time....the poor enokis were left in the fridge!). Serve immediately. Makes 30 tartlets.

Crispy Tofu Skewers

Ingredients:

1/4 c peanut oil

18 oz extra firm tofu, drained and cut into 1 1/4" cubes

1 tsp salt

1/4 c tamari

12 pearl onions

12 cherry tomatoes

1/2 zucchini, cut lengthwise into quarters and then cut into thirds to make 1" wedges

12 bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 10 minutes

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Salt the tofu cubes, then add in a single layer to the hot oil. Allow to fry for about 5 minutes, or until the bottom of the tofu is a golden-brown. Gently flip each cube and fry the opposite side for 5 more minutes. Depending on the height of the oil in the pan, the sides of the tofu may also need to receive contact with the cooking surface. The goal is the have all six sides golden-brown. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels. When ready to assemble skewers, toss the tofu cubes with the tamari.

On each bamboo skewer place one pearl onion, one tomato, one cube of tofu, and one zucchini wedge. Arrange on a baking sheet and heat in oven 15 minutes. Make 12 tofu skewers.

Pineapple Cake and Coconut Cream Cheese Icing--for the lazy!

Ingredients:

3 eggs

1 box pineapple cake mix

2 15oz cans crushed pineapple, undrained

1 canister of cream cheese icing

1 tbs coconut flavoring

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add the cake mix and the pineapple and beat on low speed until just combined. Pour into the greased baking p an of choice and bake in the preheated oven according to the recommendations on the box for the cake pan you chose. Obviously I went with a skull-shaped pan....

For the icing, simply heat the icing in the microwave for 15 seconds at a time until it's easy to stir. Mix in the coconut flavoring, and it's ready!

I was pretty pressed for time when cake-decorating came around, but that didn't affect the flavor negatively. For posterity, I also made chocolate cupcakes for those who weren't feeling the pineapple vibe.

Shrimp Diablo and Chilled Avocado Soup

Hot and cold, spicy and mild....this duo lends credence to the old saying "opposites attract." The shrimp is marinated in a puree that includes the infamous habanero chili pepper; one whole pepper gave me exactly the spice I wanted without obliterating the flavor of the shrimp. Of course, a milder pepper could be substituted--or just omit the chili altogether and go all the way with the garlic chili sauce. When handling hot peppers, remember to wash your hands well immediately after. Not only do you want to avoid getting the pepper's oils in your eyes, but you also want to avoid touching anything else. I can't tell you how many times I've ended up with burning eyes because I went straight from chopping block to the computer. Trust me, capsaicin lasts a long time on hard surfaces.

The soup is a chilled vegan soup that can easily be adapted to a raw recipe. The creamy cooling action of the avocado and sour coconut cream (recipe here!) tame the spicy kick of the shrimp beautifully. If you choose to serve the soup alone, I'd recommend kicking the cayenne up a notch to help bring out the avocado and lime.

In the interest of time-management, I made the soup first so it would chill the necessary amount of time. Once the soup is in the fridge, I prepped the rest of the ingredients and got the shrimp into the marinade. The corn can be prepared during the last 15 minutes of the shrimp's marinating time, and then all that is left to worry about is babysitting the crustaceans so they don't overcook. After that it's just a matter of whisking the soup ingredients together and plating!

Shrimp Diablo

Ingredients:

2 tbs lime juice

1 tbs garlic chili sauce

1/2 to 1 whole habanero pepper

1 tsp cayenne powder

1 tbs oil (chili infused, if desired)

1 lb large raw shrimp, peeked and deveined

Directions:

Place all ingredients except the shrimp into the blender and puree. Combine sauce and shrimp in a freezer bag and marinate for 30 minutes.

Skewer shrimp, if desired. Grill or broil about 5 inches from the heat for 2-3 minutes each side. Serves 4.

Chilled Avocado Soup with Warm Corn Salsa

Ingredients:

4 ripe avocados

2 tbs lime juice

2 1/2 cups vegetable stock, chilled

1 shallot, minced

3 tbs cilantro, finely chopped

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne powder, or to taste

1 tbs butter or olive oil

1 c corn kernels

1/2 tsp lime zest

1/2 tsp cumin

1/3 c red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups coconut sour cream

salt and pepper, to taste

chili oil, if desired to finish

Directions:

In a blender or food processor, puree the avocados with the lemon juice until smooth. Add the stock, shallot, 2 tablespoons of the cilantro, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and cayenne pepper; blend well. Transfer to a large bowl, cover, and chill for at least one hour.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet, heat butter or oil over medium-high heat. Add corn, zest, cumin, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt; saute until corn is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to very low and stir in red bell pepper and last tablespoon of cilantro. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Whisk the sour coconut cream into the avocado puree and salt/pepper to taste. Spoon the warm corn salsa over the soup just before serving. Finish with a drizzle of chili oil. Makes about 6 cups of soup.