Southwest Quinoa Salad with Tahini Lemon Dressing (Alkaline, GF, Vegan)

Throwing together stuff that I happen to have at my house, in order to bring a dish to a party is something I do often. Tonight this was the case. I know not all of these ingredients are things that everyone just has sitting in their fridge, however, it could be worth picking up some of them to make this.  Based on the response at the party, it turned out pretty good, and by request, I'm remembering what all I put into this and posting it. ENJOY!!

all the chopped veggies

finished product

Makes 10 servings

*OPTION: 1 can black beans, rinsed (I didn't add them, but they would fit in wonderfully)
1/2 english cucumber, chopped
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 yellow onion, thinly chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium-large carrot, diced
1/4 c cilantro, chopped
3/4 c fresh spinach, chopped
1 cup quinoa, cooked in 2 cups water

Dressing/Sauce
3 TBS tahini
1/4 c water
3 TBS lemon juice
2 tsp Bragg liquid aminos
1/2 tsp real (or sea) salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper


Bring 2 cups water to boil and add quinoa. Turn heat to low and cover, cook for about 20 min, or until all the water has evaporated and all quinoa seeds have popped open. Allow to cool for at least 5 min.
While quinoa is cooking, chop up all the vegetables to your desired size (I've found that smaller works better and is easier to eat) and put them in medium sized cooking bowl.
In a small bowl, combine ingredients for the dressing/sauce, then set aside.
Once quinoa has sat and cooled for a few minutes, combine it with the chopped vegetables. Top with dressing/sauce and mix to coat well.
Can serve immediately, or refrigerate to have it chilled.

Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Cookies (GF, Vegan)

Ok, I was bad and didn't take a picture of these, but, they turned out really great, so I'm going to post the recipe anyway. Avocado is a new love of mine to sub for oil. Fat for a fat, just one comes in it's 100% natural state instead of having any sort of processing (which you know I love!)

1 cup sweet potato puree (can use pumpkin)

1 cup coconut sugar

1 avocado, peeled and pitted

1 flax egg (1 TBS ground flax in 3 TBS warm/hot water) 

1 TBS agave

2 cups preferred flour (I used a gluten-free blend by Pure Pantry)

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cups chocolate chips

Crispy Quinoa Cookies (GF, Vegan)

I made these cookies on a whim, just playing around with a few different things. Later I discovered they are AWESOME for ice cream sandwiches. I used dairy-free maple pecan ice cream in the middle and they went together sooo well! Scroll to the end of the link's page for the  above recipe, it's great, no ice cream maker needed & it's soft no matter how long it's frozen!
If you don't have quinoa flakes or buckwheat flour, there are other options, see options section at the bottom of this post.

ice cream sandwich

Makes about 30 cookies

1/2 c brown rice syrup (can sub agave, honey or maple syrup if you do, exclude the stevia below)
1/3 c sucanat (or dry sweetener of choice)
1 med to large banana
1/2 c almond butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp stevia powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 c buckwheat flour
3/4 c quinoa flakes
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Heat the oven to 350 F. Mix together brown rice syrup, sucanat, banana, almond butter and vanilla until creamy. Add in dry ingredients and beat until well blended. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for about 15 min or until light golden brown. Cool for 1 minute and then remove from the cookie sheet.When they cool off, they will be crisp.


OPTIONS: If you don't want to use quinoa flakes, you can switch them for oats. Rather than buckwheat flour, you can use brown rice flour.

Mexican Flavored Crackers (Alkaline, GF, Raw, Vegan)

Makes 3 trays full

3 garlic cloves
2 medium size carrots
2 cups flax seeds (feel free to grind if you like first)
2 tomatoes
1 red bell pepper
1/4 bunch cilantro
1 TBS fajita seasoning
1⁄2 tsp cumin
1⁄2 TBS sea salt
2 TBS lemon juice
2 TBS lime juice
¼ c water
2 green onions
8 raisins
½ tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2 TBS sundried tomatoes
3 TBS chia seeds 

Combine all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth. Smooth batter out onto teflex dehydrator sheets to be as thin as possible while still holding together and no holes are shown. Draw score marks to the size of crackers you want them to be. Dehydrate at 115 for 8 hrs and flip over  dry for another 6 hrs.

Parsnip Hummus (Alkaline, GF, Vegan)

4 medium to large parsnips, chopped about 1 inch thick
2 TBS Tahini
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp cumin
2 TBS parsnip boil water
3 TBS lemon juice
*4 roasted garlic cloves (optional)
1/2 tsp sea or real salt

In a small pot, boil about 2 cups of water. Add the parsnips as well as some salt. Boil until the parsnips are extra soft, 10 to 15 minutes. If some pieces are hard while others are soft, pull out the soft ones, and let the harder ones to cook for another 5 minutes. You want to make sure all pieces are completely cooked so that the hummus will be smooth.

In a food processor, add ingredients and blend until smooth. Optional roasted garlic cloves are to make the hummus be roasted garlic flavored. If you would like roasted bell pepper, you can add in 1/2 roasted pepper, or just leave the hummus as it.

White Bean Fennel Kale Soup (Alkaline, GF, Vegan)

Serves 5
 
1 large onion, chopped
1 small fennel bulb, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBS olive oil (optional)
4 cups reduced sodium vegetable broth
1 (15 oz can) great northern beans, rinsed well
4 roma tomatoes, diced
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 bay leaf
sea salt, to taste
3 cups shredded kale

Directions:

In a large saucepan, saute onion, fennel and garlic until tender (add oil if you want). Add the broth, beans, tomatoes, thyme, pepper and bay leaf; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 min then add kale; cook 5 minutes longer or until kale is wilted. 

Dry beans option:

If you want to use dry beans; soak 1 cup beans in water for 12+ hrs, then boil the beans in broth for 40 min. While beans are cooking, saute the onion, fennel and garlic. Add all the rest of the ingredients to the beans (except kale) along with another 1 1/2 cups of water and cook for 5 min. Rinse kale and tear into pieces/shreds, then saute in the pan that the onions/fennel/garlic were cooked in (w/out cleaning the pan out) until kale is wilted. Add kale to the rest of the soup, adjust salt & pepper to taste, then serve.