Lentil Salad w/ Cucumber & Cabbage

This is a hearty lentil salad filled with refreshing cucumber, crunchy cabbage, celery, and pepitas. It cooks up in 30 minutes flat and is a great as a side, abed leafy greens, or used as a filling in corn tortillas!

I'm always trying to work more lentils into my diet. Short of smoothies and desserts, if I can remember, they go into everything! Kind of like turmeric in that regard. Spaghetti? Check. Soup? Check. Salad? Check. Tacos? Double check!

Speaking of food...the food monster...also known as Bailey (Bob), has been coming to work with me for the past couple of weeks. The naughty little fella decided it's the most brilliant thing he's ever discovered to open the oven and gobble up all the nut and seed muffins I thought I was "Bob-proofing" in there. A few days later, he opened the fridge while we were at work and ate half a tub of Earth Balance and an absurd amount of red miso paste. A balanced diet? Umm...not so much. Check out Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to keep up on all his shameful adventures.

Bob gets walked three times a day while I'm at work and I love to bask in the sun and smell the fresh air throughout the day. The leaves are almost out in full-force up here in Alaska and late-spring finally has that distinct fragrance of freshly blooming birch leaves. Bob enjoys it too. I think he is glad to feel included when he comes to work with me. In the morning he waits on the porch until I exit the house, so I don't forget to bring him. 

It think it's helped him cut down on licking his foot a bit too; sometimes I still catch him when I go to walk him though. He has a lick granuloma on his back leg near his paw. Has your dog ever had one of these? He's had it for years. It comes and goes and I swear we've tried pretty much everything, and have been to several vets! Have you found anything that seemed to help? 

Lentil Salad w/ Cucumber & Cabbage

Recipe by Katie @ Produce On Parade

This is a hearty lentil salad filled with refreshing cucumber, crunchy cabbage, celery, and pepitas. It cooks up in 30 minutes flat and is a great as a side, abed leafy greens, or used as a filling in corn tortillas!

Yield: 6-8 Servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown lentils, dry
• 2 cups water
• 1 medium cucumber, peeled and ribboned
• 2 medium celery stalks, chopped
• ½ small cabbage, shredded
• ¼ cup pepitas
• ¾ cup cilantro, chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp agave nectar
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• ¼ tsp ground paprika
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced

Cooking Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the lentils and water to a boil over high heat. Then reduce to low and cover. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes, until the lentils are tender. Drain and set aside.
2. While the lentils cook, add the cucumber, celery, and cabbage to a large serving bowl. Toss to combine then add the pepitas and the cilantro.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients and stir in the garlic.
4. Add the cooked lentils to the veggies and pour the dressing over the mixture. Stir very well to combine.
5. Serve warm or cold, using a slotted spoon. It’s great as a side, on top of leafy greens, or in corn tortillas!

Learn A New Word In Dutch

Exciting --> opwindend (op-vind-denz)

Expand Knowledge 

This is a very interesting piece from NPR regarding what's next for animal welfare and how our opinion on how we treat animals is changing because of, well, science!

Winter Cabbage & Potato Soup

Someone has to prepare for winter. It might as well be me. It's okay, I live in Alaska so I am allowed to discuss winter in October. It snowed a week ago, okay? But I love winter. Positively adore the icy air, the clean landscapes, and the lacy snowflakes, but more on that later.

This soup might be regarded as bit bizarre due to steaming the onion, celery, and garlic but I encourage you to think of the process like making a stock. It will be well worth the risk. While this soup is proletarian and simple, the ingredients boldly shine without being cluttered.  

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. ”

— Margaret Mead

A luscious, blended vegetable soup with hearty chunks of potatoes and cabbage. Kissed with dill and coriander, and ready in a flash.

Almost all the produce I used came from my CSA box! Even these taters. I think they were labeled as Purple Viking. With a name like that, naturally, one would expect them to be purple throughout. You can imagine my chagrin when I cut them open. It's okay though, they were still delicious. 

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Winter Cabbage & Potato Soup

by Katie @ Produce On Parade October-10-2014

A luscious, blended vegetable soup with hearty chunks of potatoes and cabbage. Kissed with dill and coriander, and ready in a flash.

Ingredients

• 3 (about 1 lb. total) medium potatoes, diced
• 1 small yellow onion, rough chopped
• 3 celery stalks, rough chopped
• 2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and whole
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup water
• 1 Tbsp. vegan sugar
• 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. dried dill weed
• ½ tsp. kosher salt
• ¼ tsp. ground black pepper
• ¼ tsp. ground coriander
• ¼ cup water
• ½ tsp. mustard powder
• 4 cups (about ½ small head) red cabbage, chopped

Instructions

Dice the potatoes and place in a medium saucepan. Cover with cold water, a dash of salt, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to low and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until fork tender. Drain and set aside until ready to use. Steam the onion, celery, and garlic in an electric steamer or on the stove, for about 15 minutes or until fork tender. Place the steamed vegetables in a blender. Add in the broth through and including the coriander. When the potatoes are done boiling, add about 1/3 to the blender as well. Blend on high, allowing steam to escape the top, for a few minutes until smooth and creamy. In a large soup pot, add the water, mustard powder, and cabbage. Wilt over medium-high heat, until the water has evaporated and the cabbage is tender. Pour in the blender contents and the remaining 2/3 of cooked potatoes. Stir well to combine. Serve hot.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 30 mins Yield: 4

Dutch Word of The Day

Cabbage --> Kool (coal)

Good Deed of The Day

Educate yourself on the debate on "ethically-raised" meat in this intriguing article from Time. 

Thai Purple Pasta

Ever since I stumbled upon black bean noodles, I've been absolutely dying to try them. It's like my life wish, these noodles. Is this normal? Anyways, I finally found some at a health food store in Anchorage along with Beyond Meat (OMG!). I knew exactly what I wanted to make with the both of them. 

When I opened up the noodle package, examining it, I realized they were not in fact my irrationally sought after black bean noodles but instead black rice noodles....whoops. I'm almost ashamed to admit how devastated I was, but alas they turned out to be fantastic.

On purpose, I normally don't buy gluten-free things, so I was surprised to discover that they had a wonderful texture. If you have celiac disease, are gluten-sensitive, or just avoiding the stuff for some reason you give these noodles a try. I think you'll enjoy them. 

“Animals never worry about heaven or hell. Neither do I. Maybe that’s why we get along. ”

— Charles Bukowski

I joined Full Circle a couple weeks ago and received my first box this week. In it was absolutely the most adorable tiny purple pepper, which you'll see in my next post. There was a lot of gorgeous stone fruit, some sturdy kale, and silky chard too (that guy's in the next post as well!) I ordered two bunches of beets because I must have them in excess and a little head of purple cabbage. 

Half of that little purple cabbage, you'll see found it's way into our purple pasta today. Good thing the noodles were already purple I guess! Feel free to use soba noodles in this recipe, I think they'd work beautifully. Black rice noodles probably aren't lingering around your local grocery store, so don't feel bad.

My cilantro has been showing off these sweet and delicate little white flowers now that the autumn leaves are falling and the mornings are windy and chilly. I'll be sad without my little herb garden in the coming month.

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Thai Purple Pasta

by Katie @ Produce on Parade September-12-2014

A beautiful purple pasta with sauteed purple cabbage and plant-based meat, laden in a sweet, Thai sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ small purple cabbage head, chopped
• 12 oz. plant-based meat strips (I used grilled “chicken” strips), thawed and halved
• 9 oz. black rice noodles (soba work too!), dry
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)
• -- Sauce --
• 2/3 cup water
• ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. vegan sugar
• 1/2Tbsp. sweet chili sauce
• dash of crushed red pepper
• dash of sesame seeds

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to boil for the noodles. Once boiling, parboil the noodles according to package but deduct a few minutes. You want the noodles to be a super al dente. Mine only needed three minutes, so place them in the water when prompted below. In a large rimmed frying pan, heat the oil over medium low. Add the garlic and sauté for a few minutes, until fragrant. Add the cabbage and meat strips. Increase the heat to medium and cook for about 8 minutes, until the cabbage becomes wilted and tender and the strips are heated thoroughly.Meanwhile whisk together the sauce ingredients, ensuring that the sugar has mostly dissolved. Place the noodles in the boiling water to cook. Drain when super al dente and add to the frying pan. Next, add in the sauce and stir well to coat. Turn the heat to medium-low for a few minutes, until the noodles have soaked up most of the sauce. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Serve hot and topped with sesame seeds and additional cilantro.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 25 mins Yield: 5

German Word of The Day

Purple --> Violett (vee-o-let)

Good Deed of The Day

Don't take my word for how great being vegan is. Check out Bustle's, The 7 Best Health Perks of A Vegan Lifestyle.