Spirulina Sprout Salad

Spirulina is pretty important for vegans. It is one of the only non-flesh source of vitamin B-12, a vitamin that is essential to the human body and if you become deficient side effects include irreversible nerve damage. Serious issue.


More nutritional info can be found here.


Easy way to get all that goodness into your cells? Salad dressing, duh! I found this video and followed his lead. Best part is that it makes your lips/teeth/face green...



Ingredients:
sprouts
1 carrot, grated
1/2 red pepper, julienned
1 green onion, chopped
1 c sauerkraut

juice of 1 lemon
1/4 c olive oil
1 t curry powder
1 T spirulina
pinch of salt

Directions:
Mix mix mix!

Broccoli Dal

Potlucks have become a really wonderful and frequent part of my life. For example, the last day of my Sustainable Neighborhoods class was a potluck. Again. The best! Here's what I brought:

Broccoli Dal
Ingredients:
1 c dried red lentils
2/3 cup red onion, finely chopped
1 t ground cumin
2 t mustard seeds
2 T oil (I used coconut oil)
1 large head of broccoli, chopped
4.5 c vegetable broth or water
1/4 c soy sauce, if using water
2 cups almond milk, or milk of choice
juice from 1/2 a lemon
1 t red pepper flakes
1.5 t garam masala
1 t tumeric
paprika, to garnish

Directions:
Heat oil over medium heat in a large saucepan.
Add onions to saucepan and saute until beginning to soften.
Push onions to one side of the saucepan and add cumin and mustard seeds to other side.
Cook until mustard seeds begin to pop.

Pulse chopped broccoli in a food processor until very fine.
Add broccoli, veggie broth (or water), and lentils into the saucepan.
Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer.
Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add in almond milk, lemon juice, turmeric, garam masala, and red pepper flakes.
Taste and adjust spices as needed.
Cook on low for another 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and garnish with paprika.

How come creepy pictures that you stealthily (or not so stealthily) take from your phone turn out so sub-par? Whaddup Logan Chadde.

Sweet Potato, Swiss Chard, and Red Lentil Soup

Really really really amazing soup. Perfect amount of spices and different textures. A great (and obvious) continuation of my Indian kick... From Cheap Healthy Good.

Ingredients:
2 onions, chopped
1 1/2 t cumin seeds
1 t black mustard seeds
2 t oil
1 T fresh ginger, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
8 c water
3 c dried red lentils, rinsed (Any kind of lentil or split pea would do)
1 T mild curry powder
1 bunch Swiss chard

Directions:
In a large pot, heat 1 t oil and cook onions until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Move onions aside in pot and add second teaspoon of oil and whole cumin and mustard seeds.
Stir seeds with spatula for about 30 seconds.

When mustard seeds begin to pop, stir together spices with onions.
Add ginger and garlic and cook for about 1 minute.
Add water, sweet potato, lentils, and curry powder and stir.
Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about an hour or until lentils are tender.

Wash and chop Swiss chard and set aside. (I rolled up leaves and cut them to make long ribbons. Also, I chopped the stems separately)
Stir dal occassionally to prevent sticking and burning.

When the dal is tender, turn off heat, remove lid, and stir in Swiss chard.
Replace lid and allow chard to wilt for 5–10 minutes.

Roasted Curried Cauliflower: Take 2

Last weekend I made this recipe but took a horrible picture. Luckily, the recipe was good enough to make again for the potluck that I went to last night! This time I used frozen cauliflower from Wilczewski Greenhouses in Howell, MI (thanks to Locavorious).

I am going through an I-only-want-to-eat-Indian-food phase. I think it's because the cuisine is so spicy and warming and perfect for the blustery February days in Michigan. It's currently 5 degrees outside...

Sprouted Lentils

You've seen bean sprouts in your stir fry and sunflower sprouts in your salad, but most people don't realize that just about every grain, bean, and seed sprouts.

Sprouting essentially takes a dormant seed and creates a live plant. Sprouting neutralizes phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors. Phytic acid binds with calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, and zinc, making it hard to impossible for you to absorb those nutrients. Enzyme inhibitors inhibit enzymes (surprise surprise) in the seed and your own digestive enzymes from doing their job.


All in all, sprouting makes grains, seeds, and legumes (beans) easier to digest and you will be able to assimilate more nutrients.


More reasons sprouting rocks here!


How To Sprout:
The method is pretty much the same for most seeds, grains, nuts, and legumes, it’s just the time that varies. 

1. Fill a mason jar about one third full of desired seed to sprout, and then fill the mason jar with water and soak overnight.
2. Cover the mason jar with a sprouting screen screwed into the lid. You can use any sort of material that allows water out but keeps the sprouts in (make-shift one out of a screen?).
3. In the morning you drain the jar and rinse it right through the screen, and then you invert your jar at an angle, allowing it to drain and air to circulate within your jar.
4. All you have to do now is rinse 2-3 times per day, and your seeds will turn into sprouts!

I take this process to a whole new level of easiness (laziness...) and I get sprouts every time so I think it's an A-OK method:

Marcy creeping on my lentil sprouts

1. Fill a container (mason jar, tupperware container, wine glass...) about 1/3 of the way full with desired grain, legume, or seed and fill up with water.
2. Soak overnight.
3. In the morning, pour out water while holding the goods in the container with your hand.
4. Pour more water in, swish around and dump water out again.
5. Repeat step 4 2-3 times per day to keep the goods damp and prevent mold from growing.

Once sprouting process is complete (see the chart below), dump the sprouts onto a paper towel and allow them to dry before storing them in the fridge.

Nuts do not grow tails but it's important to soak (or roast) raw nuts to get rid of the enzyme inhibitors.

Soaking and Sprouting Times

(From Raw Food Living)

Nut / Seed	Dry Amount	Soak Time	Sprout Time	Sprout Length	Yield
Alfalfa Seed	3 Tbsp	12 Hours	3-5 Days	1-2 Inches	4 cups
Almonds	3 Cups	8-12 Hours	1-3 Days	1/8 Inch	4 Cups
Amaranth	1 Cup	3-5 Hours	2-3 Days	1/4 Inch	3 Cups
Barley, Hulless	1 Cup	6 Hours	12-24 Hours	1/4 Inch	2 Cups
Broccoli Seed	2 Tbsp	8 Hours	3-4 Days	1-2 Inches	2 Cups
Buckwheat, Hulled	1 Cup	6 Hours	1-2 Days	1/8-1/2 Inch	2 Cups
Cabbage Seed	1 Tbsp	4-6 Hours	4-5 Days	1-2 Inches	1 1/2 Cups
Cashews	3 Cups	2-3 Hours			4 Cups
Clover	3 Tbsp	5 Hours	4-6 Days	1-2 Inches	4 Cups
Fenugreek	4 Tbsp	6 Hours	2-5 Days	1-2 Inches	3 Cups
Flax Seeds	1 Cup	6 Hours			2 Cups
Garbanzo Beans (Chick Pea)	1 Cup	12-48 Hours	2-4 Days	1/2-1 Inch	4 Cups
Kale Seed	4 Tbsp	4-6 Hours	4-6 Days	3/4-1 Inch	3-4 Cups
Lentil	3/4 Cup	8 Hours	2-3 Days	1/2-1 Inch	4 Cups
Millet	1 Cup	5 Hours	12 Hours	1/16 Inch	3 Cups
Mung Beans	1/3 Cup	8 Hours	4-5 Days	1/4-3 Inches	4 Cups
Mustard Seed	3 Tbsp	5 Hours	3-5 Days	1/2-1 1/2 Inches	3 Cups
Oats, Hulled	1 Cup	8 Hours	1-2 Days	1/8 Inch	1 Cup
Onion Seed	1 Tbsp	4-6 Hours	4-5 Days	1-2 Inches	1 1/2-2 Cups
Pea	1 Cup	8 Hours	2-3 Days	1/2-1 Inch	3 Cups
Pinto Bean	1 Cup	12 Hours	3-4 Days	1/2-1 Inch	3-4 Cups
Pumpkin	1 Cup	6 Hours	1-2 Days	1/8 Inch	2 Cups
Quinoa	1 Cup	3-4 Hours	2-3 Days	1/2 Inch	3 Cups
Radish	3 Tbsp	6 Hours	3-5 Days	3/4-2 Inches	4 Cups
Rye	1 Cup	6-8 Hours	2-3 Days	1/2-3/4 Inch	3 Cups
Sesame Seed, Hulled	1 Cup	8 Hours			1 1/2 Cups
Sesame Seed, Unhulled	1 Cup	4-6 Hours	1-2 Days	1/8 Inch	1 Cup
Spelt	1 Cup	6 Hours	1-2 Days	1/4 Inch	3 Cups
Sunflower, Hulled	1 Cup	6-8 Hours	1 Day	1/4-1/2 Inch	2 Cups
Teff	1 Cup	3-4 Hours	1-2 Days	1/8 Inch	3 Cups
Walnuts	3 Cups	4 Hours			4 Cups
Wheat	1 Cup	8-10 Hours	2-3 Days	1/4-3/4 Inch	3 Cups
Wild Rice	1 Cup	12 Hours	2-3 Days	Rice Splits	3 Cups

Curried Lentil Sprouts with Cilantro-Garlic Sauce

Based off of recipe by The Nourishing Gourmet. I personally don't like cilantro so I wasn't too keen on the sauce but luckily the curried lentil sprouts taste awesome on their own.

Ingredients:

-for lentils-

3 c lentil sprouts

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 T olive oil

1 T curry powder

0.5 t ground cloves

-for sauce-

1 bunch of fresh cilantro

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

2 T olive oil

1 small hot pepper, seeds removed

1 t salt

Juice from 1/2 of a lemon*

Directions:

Mix lentil ingredients together in a bowl.

Food process sauce ingredients until smooth pesto-like consistancy.

*I omitted the lemon juice because there aren't any lemons growing in Michigan (I miss them already...)