Chia Pudding

BASIC CHIA PUDDING (yields 3-4 servings)

3/4 cup chia seeds
2 cups almond milk
Stevia and vanilla extract to taste - I used sweetened condensed milk or honey

Simply mix the ingredients together, and let them rest for a few moments. Stir the mix well with a fork every five minutes or so. At first, it’ll seem far too liquidy, but over the course of thirty minutes the chia seeds will plump up, till the pudding resembles tapioca pudding (I put in the fridge overnight)

Came out pretty yummy, like tapioca pudding, but with a crunch to it. The guys liked it as well, and added a bit more milk to it, and one of them added cinnamon for a nice touch as well.

CHOCOLATE CHIA PUDDING

2 cups almond milk
1/3 cups chia seeds
3 tablespoons hot chocolate mix

In blender bottle, mix hot chocolate powder with almond milk, then pour over chia seeds. Stir till blended, wait 5 minutes, stir again, and put in fridge overnight.

COCONUT MILK CHIA PUDDING

1 can coconut milk
1/4 cut chia seeds
1/3 cup honey
dash of cardamom

Mix all ingredients and let sit in fridge overnight.

THAI TAPIOCA PUDDING

So my idea is to put this recipe with the chia seeds to make a tasty version of this, but without the tapioca pearls and substituting the chia seeds instead.

1 cup small Thai tapioca pearls (see note) - will substitute with 3 cups chia seeds
8 cups cool water, divided use
3 cups coconut milk (Mae Ploy brand recommended)
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Rinse tapioca in cool tap water. Drain.

Place in saucepan with 6 cups water. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Drain and rinse.

Combine coconut milk and 2 cups water in a clean saucepan. Add tapioca to milk mixture and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Add sugar and salt, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat.

Taste and add more sugar or salt as needed. Let mixture sit in saucepan for 30 minutes. Pour into dessert glasses and serve warm. Serves 8.

Variation: Serve chilled with 1/4 cup diced honeydew melon added to each serving.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 330 calories, 18 g total fat, 16 g saturated fat, no cholesterol, 150 mg sodium.*

Hearty Miso

While I was down in DC this past week, I had some delicious miso, and I found out that Trader Joe's now has frozen kale (what?) so I figured why not make miso tonight, but with some yummy extras to make it a more hearty broth:

3 packets of Trader Joe's Miso soup mix
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 cups frozen kale (or probably 3 cups chopped fresh kale)
1 cup of chopped tomatoes
rice noodles
flakes of seaweed to put on top as garnish

Mix everything together (except tomatoes, seaweed, and noodles) and boil till it starts to boil. Add noodles and boil for recommended time (mine were fresh so only a few minutes) and serve!

Basil and tomato scramble

3 cloves garlic
handful of grape/cherry tomatoes
4 eggs
8 basil leaves
Parmesan cheese

Brown (only light brown) garlic in olive oil (used 3 cloves)
Add in tomatoes and cook till tomatoes just start to shrivel
Add in 4 eggs and scramble till nearly done
Turn off heat and add in chopped basil and let sit
Add cheese to taste and serve!

Garlic brussel sprouts with pine nuts

1/2 pound Brussels sprouts
2 large garlic cloves
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons pine nuts


put olive oil in bottom of pan
brown garlic
add brussels sprouts and cook till tender

Eggplant and Tomato Saute

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil $
2 cups chopped red onion (1 large)
1 cup chopped yellow bell pepper (about 1) $
1 cup chopped red bell pepper (about 1) $
2 teaspoons minced garlic
5 1/2 cups diced peeled eggplant (about 1 pound) $
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper $
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can organic diced tomatoes, undrained $
Preparation

Heat oil in a large nonstick saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell peppers; sauté for 3 minutes. Add garlic, and sauté for 1 minute. Add the eggplant, salt, black pepper, and tomatoes; stir to combine. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.

Eggs with Eggplant

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound of eggplant
6 eggs
1 large onion
6 cloves of garlic, mashed with a dash of salt
mint
1/2 cup of olive oil
pita bread
METHOD:

Cut  the eggplant in small dice  and place on a sieve over a bowl. Sprinkle with salt.
Chop the onion.
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Mash the garlic with a dash of salt.
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and when it is hot, add the onion.
Let the onion get golden, which will take about 15 minutes.
Drain the eggplant, squeeze the extra moisture with some paper towels and drop in the pot with the onions.
Brown the eggplants about 15 minutes on medium high heat.
Add the mashed garlic and saute with the eggplant and onion a few more minutes.
Form craters in the pan and drop in each one an egg (do so delicately )
Place the pan in the oven for about 8 minutes until the whites are firm.
Remove, sprinkle with mint, and serve with pita bread on the side. Sahteyn!



Christy's Lazy Way:

Brown onions
Cut up grilled eggplant leftovers (grilled with garlic and olive oil) while onions are browning
Mix in eggplant to onions and reheat
While reheating, poach eggs
Put poached eggs on top of individual servings of eggplant mix and serve.

Mustard Summer Squash

Normally, I just grill with EVOO garlic, and salt and pepper to taste, but I decided to try something new out today. .we'll see how we like it:



6 medium yellow squash and/or green zucchini (3 pounds)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons coarse-grain mustard


Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Grilled-Summer-Squash-and-Zucchini-238688#ixzz1zmYpOC2Y

Grilled Portobello mushrooms

Ingredients

• 3 portobello mushrooms
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3 tablespoons chopped onion
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Directions

1. Clean mushrooms and remove stems, reserve for other use. Place caps on a plate with the gills up.
2. In a small bowl, combine the oil, onion, garlic and vinegar. Pour mixture evenly over the mushroom caps and let stand for 1 hour.
3. Grill over hot grill for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Spiced Mint Tea

This sounds yummy!!


Ingredients
3 cups water
1 cinnamon stick
2 whole cloves
2 whole allspice
1 cup fresh mint leaves
Honey, optional

Directions
Place the water, cinnamon, cloves and allspice in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Stir in mint leaves. Remove from the heat; cover and steep for 5 minutes. Strain tea. Serve with honey if desired. Yield: 2 servings.

Eggplant Curry

Ingredients

1 large eggplant
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tomato, diced
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 fresh jalapeno chile pepper, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
Place eggplant on a medium baking sheet. Bake 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until tender. Remove from heat, cool, peel, and chop.
Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Mix in cumin seeds and onion. Cook and stir until onion is tender.
Mix ginger garlic paste, curry powder, and tomato into the saucepan, and cook about 1 minute. Stir in yogurt. Mix in eggplant and jalapeno pepper, and season with salt. Cover, and cook 10 minutes over high heat. Remove cover, reduce heat to low, and continue cooking about 5 minutes. Garnish with cilantro to serve.

Grilled Summer Squash with Basil & Pasta

a few T olive oil

2 lb summer squash, sliced 1/4” thick

1 small yellow onion, sliced 1/4” thick

1 small red onion

1/4 cup basil, chopped

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 lb mini farfalle pasta, cooked and drained*

1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

1 T lemon zest

kosher salt & cracked black pepper

parmesan cheese (optional)

Preheat grill to medium high heat. Drizzle olive oil over the sliced squash and sliced onions. Season with salt and pepper. Place on the grill and cook until tender. Allow vegetables to cool, then dice. In a bowl combine the diced squash, diced onion, basil, cherry tomatoes and pasta. Next add the balsamic vinegar, olive oil and lemon zest and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Top with parmesan cheese.

* Cook the pasta in salted water.

I can't wait to try this tomorrow with the squash I grilled today!

Grilled eggplant with basil, tomato, and cheese

Grill eggplant (marinated in olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper)

Slice tomatoes.

When Eggplant is done, layer it: eggplant, tomato, cheese (ricotta, goat cheese, or I used garlic and red pepper boursin), and basil.