Penne w/ Broccoli & Miso Pine Nut Gremolata + Dreamfields Giveaway

This bright and zesty pasta is a great way to get in some greens! Toasted pine nuts lend a unique flavor that blend excellently with par-boiled broccoli. It’s lemony and earthy with plenty of umami from red miso and nutritional yeast; a plant-based protein meal sure to please the whole family and done in the time it takes to boil the noodles!  

Go Green! Today I'm thrilled to partner with Dreamfields Pasta to bring you this zesty, Penne w/ Broccoli & Miso Pine Nut Gremolata. Using Dreamfields Pasta is an easy way to make your meals a little bit healthier! Check below to enter a giveaway to win a case of their delicious and nutritious pasta.

Dreamfields pasta is made with premium durum wheat semolina here in North America. It's also a great way to fill up on fiber and protein with 5 and 7 grams respectively in each one-cup cooked serving! Dreamfields unique recipe contains inulin, a prebiotic fiber sourced from chicory root, which helps promote healthy digestion. Visit their website to learn more about the brand and find some more great pasta recipes. 

Penne w/ Broccoli & Miso Pine Nut Gremolata

By Kathleen Henry @ Produce On Parade

Published 10/04/2016

This bright and zesty pasta is a great way to get in some greens! Toasted pine nuts lend a unique flavor that blend excellently with par-boiled broccoli. It’s lemony and earthy with plenty of umami from red miso and nutritional yeast; a plant-based protein meal sure to please the whole family and done in the time it takes to boil the noodles!

Ingredients

• 1 box Dreamfields Penne Rigate
• 1 medium broccoli head chopped, florets only
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1 large lemon
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon red miso paste (or other favorite variety)
• Dash black pepper
• Dash crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons large-flake nutritional yeast
• Vegan Parmesan cheese (optional)

Instructions

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions, adding chopped broccoli to pan during last 3 minutes of cooking. Before draining, reserve 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Return pasta and broccoli to pan; set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in small skillet, toast pine nuts over medium-low heat about 10 minutes or until fragrant, stirring often; set aside Watch carefully so they do not overcook.
3. Zest lemon; measure out 1 tablespoon of zest. Juice lemon, measure out 2 tablespoons of juice.
4. In liquid measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon zest and juice, miso paste and peppers, whisking until miso is well incorporated.
5. Stir reserved cooking water, oil mixture, parsley, garlic, yeast and toasted pine nuts into pasta. Toss to coat well. Serve immediately, topped with vegan Parmesan, if desired.

Yield: 6

Prep Time: 20 mins.

Cook time: 10 mins.

Total time: 30 mins.

Nutrition

• Calories: 380
• Fat: 17
• Totalcarbs: 51
• Protein: 12
• Saturated Fat: 2
• Cholesterol: 0
• Sodium: 160
• Dietaryfiber: 8
• Calories:

A big thanks to Dreamfields Pasta for sponsoring this post! Enter the giveaway below. #HealthyPastaMonth

Vegan Pad See Ew

This is a staple in our home, especially when we’re looking to treat ourselves. Thai food is my favorite cuisine but it’s not always budget friendly to go out to a restaurant, so I’ve recreated my favorite Thai dish - Pad See Ew. A ‘recipe’ that’s been in my head for what seems like forever, I finally wrote it down and now I’d like to share it with you for your gastronomic pleasure! Baked tofu, and sauteed carrot and broccoli mingle with thick rice noodles; bathed in a sweet and salty Thai sauce with fresh basil. This is sure to be a family favorite.

“The hardest thing to do is to be true to yourself, especially when everybody is watching.”

— Dave Chappelle

Growing up in with two brothers and no sisters, I think it's pretty safe to say I was a bit of a tomboy and a pretty low-maintenance gal. I've always feared drama, dreaded gossip, and despised conflict. Men were naturally more easy to get along with than women. These are things I've always known about myself.

Yet, over the past year or so I've been trying to accept and learn more about my true self. I'm trying to celebrate my introversion while attempting to kindly sweep my social anxeity out the door... or at least under the rug; that's probably more accurate. I've learned a lot about myself over the past couple years: tendencies and peculiarities that have always laid dormant, but now that I'm somewhat grown up (I have a genuine house now, dammit!) I've come to recognize them. Here's a few:

• My eco-friendly habits are becoming a bit severe.
• Imposter syndrome is a real thing.
• I'm getting better at speaking/public engagements... but will try to get out of it first.
• I'd have to be kidnapped to participate in anything that involves crowds.
• Being vulnerable online will always be scary, but it always helps that person who relates.
• When it comes to clothing, first and foremost - comfort. Life's too short to be uncomfortable.
• I finally like my bed-head and natural curls.
• For me, I usually find makeup to be a waste of time (except for a sweep of blush).

Over the holiday weekend, a couple family members were innocently poking fun at me; saying they were going to take photos of my mussed, no-makeup style and post them onto the blog. As if I've been sporting some kind of facade? I'm not sure. I couldn't help but laugh, "Do it!" I said. I think they thought I was joking. Demonstrably, I'm always looking like a rag-a-muffin. Even growing up my mom would beg me to run a comb through my wild, wind-blown tangles. 

My photo in the top-right of the side bar was taken quickly one morning in the fall. I actually have short bangs, but having just woken up I had yet to straighten them... so they just ended up plastered to the side of my head. Those are my natural, imperfect curls you see which do whatever they like. I used to fight them, but no longer. I wasn't even wearing any make up and had to do a quick photoshop of a bit of mascara! #mascaraistheworst #allergies

I've always felt this space was a place of transparency. I talk about anxiety, depression, introversion, family, disease, and being comfortable in your own skin. It's not in my nature to shy away from difficult topics and I never showcase a facade of how my life actually is. So, in the spirit of transparency, here are some photos from a couple weeks ago when my brother-in-law was playing with Todd's camera. We happened to all be snuggled up on the dog bed and he thought it would be funny to take some 'family' photos, just goofing around. Find more after the recipe and enjoy. Here's to the good life and being yourself! 

A makeup-less mug, hair messy enough for a scolding, and an LL Bean flannel nightgown IS my uniform. 

Vegan Pad See Ew

By Kathleen Henry @ Produce On Parade

Published 04/01/2016

This is a staple in our home, especially when we’re looking to treat ourselves. Thai food is my favorite cuisine but it’s not always budget friendly to go out to a restaurant, so I’ve recreated my favorite Thai dish - Pad See Ew. A ‘recipe’ that’s been in my head for what seems like forever, I finally wrote it down and now I’d like to share it with you for your gastronomic pleasure! Baked tofu, and sauteed carrot and broccoli mingle with thick rice noodles; bathed in a sweet and salty Thai sauce with fresh basil. This is sure to be a family favorite.

Ingredients

• 1 lb firm tofu (optional), pressed and dried well then diced into small rectangles
• 16 oz thick rice stick noodles, dry
• 2 tbsp peanut oil
• 1 large yellow onion, cut into half moon slices
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 medium carrots, sliced on the diagonal or julienned
• 1 large head of fresh broccoli, florets chopped and stem peeled then sliced on the diagonal or julienned
• ⅓ cup fresh basil (optional), leaves halved lengthwise
• - Sauce -
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ¼ cup hoisin
• ¼ cup water
• Scant ¼ cup agave nectar
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Arrange the tofu on a baking sheet; bake for about 30 minutes until slightly crunchy and browned.
2. Cook the noodles according to the package. I bring a large pot of water to boil then wait until everything else is done before adding the noodles. They usually only take about 4-6 minutes until al dente. They should be slightly chewy still so they soak up the sauce. Drain and set aside.
3. While the tofu and noodles are cooking, heat the oil in a large rimmed frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic; saute for about 5 minutes until the onion begins to brown. Add the carrots and broccoli and continue to cook for 8-10 more minutes until the vegetables are just tender.
4. While the vegetables cook, whisk together all the sauce ingredients in a liquid measuring cup.
5. Once the noodles are done, add to the vegetables and stir in the sauce, tofu, and basil until well combined. Allow to sit for at 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the noodles become have soaked up some of the sauce.
6. Taste and add additional soy sauce, agave, or vinegar as you see fit. Serve hot.

Yield: 6

I enjoy spending my mornings getting nibbled on; on the same bed that Bob spends his nights.

Have you ever seen a dog yawn from below? The teeth on this bro tho...

Enjoying a coffee shrub spritzer with one of my main men. Nightgowns for life!

Ross and Anouk, just chillin' like we do.

I love this article from Refinery29 about the depression problem that no one talks about. A must read. 

Curried Noodles

Chewy rice noodles coated in a zesty curry sauce paired with savory minced broccoli and mushrooms, with a little spicy Thai kick!

The days grow longer up here in The Last Frontier and I relish in the evening light. Somedays, if it's sunny out, I don't even have to use the artificial lamp! Now that, is a wonderful thing. Natural light is so easy. It's moody and authentic and it's beauty always surprises me. It permisses my creative spirit to shine. Moods lift and souls sing. Is there nothing a little ray sunshine can't do?

However, with summer on my heels, like a glass of spilled milk...worry slowly slinks and seeps into every nook of my brain, pooling heavily in each chamber of my heart. It creeps along until it's completely encompassing and before I knew what hit me I'm utterly freaking out about summer's imminent arrival.

I'm usually not so candid...but it's been a stressful and overwhelming time over here. Not in a bad way though. In a very good way, in fact. Terribly delicious and happy things have been in the works for Todd and I, and they all culminate this summer. A dream home on a dream piece of property, for one. We are just beginning to clear the land now! And something else...more secretive.  Life changing, both of these things. Both pressing on me to rush, rush, rush, but my decisions and efforts must be top notch, but still, please... the deadlines, get ahead while I can and make it easier on my future self! I don't do well under pressure. I can't. I need time to digest things and research the best way to do this and the most rational method for that. It's a nuisance at best and incredibly taxing at worst, but it's a part of me that I wouldn't wish away. 

So, crushed under the weight of all these menacing and bullying whispers, what do I decide to do? Take a vacation. Yep, it's probably the worst timing I could have chosen but I'm telling that little voice inside my head that panics, "Katie! What are you doing? You don't have time for this! You can't go to Kauai! This is a mistake. Oh dear, you'll regret this later. I told you so." to talk to the hand. I'm only able to justify this trip as quasi-necessary because I'm going for a radiology conference (work is paying for a portion of the trip)...and well, my sanity is at stake.

For now, I'll leave the dramatics at the door and lend you this recipe for my curried noodles. A soul soothing dish for even the most frazzled of stressed-out worrywarts.  When in doubt, eat your feelings. Oh wait, no...don't do that...

“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.”

— Nelson Mandela

Curried Noodles

Chewy rice noodles coated in a zesty curry sauce paired with savory minced broccoli and mushrooms, with a little spicy Thai kick! Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

• 6 oz pad thai rice noodle sticks, dry
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 large yellow onion, rough chopped
• ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tbsp red curry paste
• 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 6 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 large head of broccoli, florets only
• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp vegan sugar
• ½ tbsp lime zest
• ½ tbsp lemon zest
• 1 lime, juiced (2 tbsp)
• ½ lemon, juiced (2 tbsp)
• 4 green onions, cut on the diagonal
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Cooking Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil for the noodles. Once boiling, remove from heat and add the noodles. Allow to soak for about 20-30 minutes, until tender. Once ready, drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside until ready to use.
2. Heat the coconut oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium. Add the onion to a food processor and process until finely chopped. Transfer to the skillet and sauté for about 10 minutes, until soft. Add the crushed red pepper and garlic. Sauté about 5 more minutes.
3. Now, add the curry powder through and including the tomato paste. Stir well to incorporate. Add the sliced mushrooms to the skillet and sauté until browned and shrunken, about 5-10 minutes.
4. Pulse the broccoli in the food processor until finely chopped and transfer it to the skillet. Stir well. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture, and stir to combine. Add the broth and soy sauce. Bring to a boil over high heat, and then reduce to a simmer. Stir occasionally while cooking for about 15 minutes, until the broccoli is tender.
5. Remove from heat and stir in the citrus zest and juices. Add the tender noodles to the skillet and stir well to combine. Top with the green onions and cilantro.
6. Serve hot.

So we are going to Kauai in a few days! Any tips and/or food suggestions, beach recommendations, etc.?

Dutch Word of The Day

Farming --> landbouw (land-bow*) *like as in "take a bow"

Information for The Day

"You don’t have to be a vegan to be repulsed by an account in The Times revealing the moral depths to which the federal government — working as a handmaiden to industrial agriculture — has sunk in pursuit of cheaper meat and fatter corporate profits." Our government hard at work. Vote with your fork and be informed. A quick article from the New York Times, "Farming Science, Without the Conscience."