A Whole Year???

Happy anniversary! Today marks the one year anniversary of this blog! Woohoo! In the first year this blog has gotten over 6,400 views, I've shared almost 90 posts, most of them recipes, and I have cooked more than I ever thought I would.

I must say, I'm proud that as the year has gone on I've created more and more of my own recipes, whereas at the beginning I was mostly trying out recipes already on the internet. I'm also glad I kept up with Caroline's Kitchen, as it motivated me to continue making exciting food during my first year away from home.

Another update: Starting this blog has opened up some very cool opportunities for me outside of the ballet world. For instance, I'm an intern/ bloggerina with Barre, an all natural, vegan energy bar company started by a company dancer at my ballet school. I also contribute to my home studio's blog, as well as writing contributing posts on 4Dancers.org as a part of the Barre team. I've shared links to most of the sites I contribute to already, but if you haven't seen them, here they are:



www.realfoodbarre.com/blog
www.theportlandballet.org/BalletBlog
www.4dancers.org





Another exciting bit of news- As of August 1st, I have officially gone vegan! What does this mean for the blog? You can expect lots more exciting recipes, just without cheese, milk, eggs, or any other animal products. Don't worry, I won't delete any of my past non-vegan creations, there just won't be any new ones. I'm also planning to do some posts on vegan nutrition and tips for if you're planning on making the change. It's not difficult as long as you're willing to invest a little time and effort into making sure you're well-informed and well-supplied.


Thanks again to all of my fellow foodies who have checked out this blog and to all of you who will read it in the future! I appreciate the good feedback I've gotten and don't plan on stopping any time soon.

Keep Cooking!

~Caroline~

White Bean Dip with Lemon and Rosemary

Here's another healthy and delicious dip that I whipped up for a party this past weekend. There is only one step when making it: Put everything in a food processor and hit purée!


White Bean Dip with Lemon and Rosemary
By Caroline Mac

Ingredients:
1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
2 T olive oil
1 lemon, juice and zest
1/2- 3/4 t Penzey's Trinidad Lemon-Garlic Marinade (you can also use garlic powder)
Lemon pepper to taste
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until creamy. Serve with your favorite chips, crackers, or veggies.

Enjoy!

~Caroline~

Hearty Vegetable Soup

It's a snow day today! That means I can post some of the stuff I've been accumulating!

I haven't made soup from scratch in a very long time. On Sunday, I decided it was time to change that. The result was a hearty (and easy!) soup packed with colorful veggies in a flavorful broth!

Note: This makes a LOT of soup. I won't have to cook at all this week, as a result. I also thought the soup tasted even better after sitting in the fridge overnight, since the flavors had time to come together; so don't be afraid of leftovers!

Hearty Vegetable Soup

By Caroline Mac

Ingredients: 

4 c low sodium vegetable broth

1 can low sodium kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 white onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

4 celery stalks, thinly sliced

10 asparagus spears, chopped

1.5 c broccoli florets, broken into smaller pieces

1 c sliced white mushrooms

1  14-oz can diced, no salt added tomatoes in juice

1/2 c chopped fresh basil

2 T extra virgin olive oil

2 t chili powder

1t ground cumin

1 1/4 t salt

1/4 t ground black pepper

1/2 t Penzey's Trinidad Lemon Garlic marinade

Step 1: Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add all vegetables and garlic and saute until they begin to tenderize and onions turn translucent. This may take a little while, due to the large amount of veggies. 

Step 2: Add chili powder, cumin and basil and stir for another 2-3 minutes. 

Step 3: Add vegetable broth, tomatoes, and black pepper. Bring to a boil. Add salt and Trinidad marinade. Cover, reduce heat, and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Step 4: Serve warm! Refrigerate remaining soup for delicious leftovers.

Enjoy!

~Caroline~

A Decadent Sunday Breakfast!

Happy Sunday everyone!

I know I haven't been posting very often, but that's going to change very soon. I have a couple of recipes that are still waiting to be posted and a few that I'm planning for the next couple of weeks. Keep an eye out for a yummy veggie soup recipe that I'm going to cook tonight!

The recipe I'm sharing right now was an unplanned, impromptu experiment that ended deliciously. After writing a post on the health benefits of dark chocolate for the Barre Blog, I have been trying to incorporate a little bit of it into my diet. I am by no means a chocolate lover. In fact, up until about a year ago, I could not even tolerate the taste of the mildest of chocolates. However, taste buds change as you get older, and I can now say that I can TOLERATE it. Thus, a tiny square of 70% extra strong dark chocolate each evening is all I need! I'm in no danger of becoming a "chocolate addict" as I still don't remotely crave the universally loved sweet, but I can at least reap the health benefits of this little superfood.

To make the chocolate experience a bit more tasty, I decided to try incorporating it into a healthy, energizing breakfast! Since peanut butter and chocolate is such a classic combination and oatmeal is a classic breakfast food, why not put them all together? The result was a satisfying breakfast that is quick to make and weighs in at around 275 calories with about 10g of protein and only 4 grams of sugar!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal
By Caroline Mac

Ingredients:
1/4 c quick cooking, steel-cut oats
3/4 c water
1 T crunchy all natural peanut butter (you can use creamy, but I prefer the texture)
1 square of extra strong dark chocolate (I used 1/16 of a bar of Chocolove 70%)
Cinnamon to taste

I didn't think to take a pic until it was almost gone!

Step 1: Bring water to a boil. Add oats, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and let cook for a few minutes, stirring regularly.

Step 2: When oatmeal begins to thicken, add cinnamon and peanut butter. Stir until incorporated.

Step 3: When oatmeal has just about reached your desired consistency, add chocolate and stir until it has melted into the oatmeal.

Step 4: Serve warm.

Enjoy!


Want to brush up on your dark chocolate knowledge? Check out my "What's Inside" post about cocoa (the main ingredient in chocolate) on the Barre Blog to see why it's actually good to have some in moderation!

~Caroline~

Crispy (And Spicy!) Baked Tofu

Here's yet another delicious way to prepare tofu! My goal for this one was to duplicate the spicy tofu I  buy at Food Front Co-op in Portland. My absolute favorite tofu, I've never been able to find this tasty, charred, and spicy version anywhere else. I'll be the first one to say that my tofu isn't the same as the goal, but I did achieve a spicy and flavorful version with a crispy skin. This tofu is great on it's own as well as chopped up in a salad or stir fry.

My New Tofu Press!

Crispy and Spicy Baked Tofu
By Caroline Mac
Ingredients:
1 16 oz package extra firm tofu (I like Trader Joe's high protein tofu)
Sauce:
2 T sesame oil
1t rice vinegar
1/4 t soy sauce
1/2 t sweet chili sauce
1/2 t red chili pepper
1/4 t garlic powder

Step 1: Rinse block of tofu and press it in a tofu press or under weight for 30 minutes. Remove and cut into slices no more than 1/2 inch thick. Set aside.


Step 2: Whisk together all sauce ingredients until thoroughly blended. Brush sauce onto both sides of each slice of tofu. Place slices in a dish and refrigerate for two or more hours.









Step 3: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place tofu slices on a non-stick cookie sheet and brush any remaining sauce over slices.

Step 4: Bake tofu for one hour, flipping the tofu every 20 minutes (a total of three times). Tofu should be brown/ golden and crispy on all sides. Remove from oven and serve!

Enjoy!

Southwestern Black Bean Hummus

Here's a southwestern twist on a mediterranean classic! I had some spread on a rice cake topped with sun dried tomatoes. You could also serve it with veggies, crackers, or even in a mexican-inspired wrap!

Southwestern Black Bean Hummus

By Caroline Mac

Ingredients:

1 can black beans, drained, no salt added

1/4 c tahini

3 T fire roasted green chilis

2T Southwest style seasoning

11/4 t cumin

2 pinches salt

1t lime juice

6-10 drops Cholula hot sauce

Puree all ingredients in a food processor until creamy! 

Enjoy!

Sesame Ginger Green Machine Stir Fry

I didn't realize this stir fry was rather monochromatic until all the veggies were in the pan! Well, if green veggies are good for you, then this recipe takes the cake!

This recipe makes 2-3 smaller servings.

Green Machine Veggie Stir Fry
By Caroline Mac
Ingredients:
1 c green beans, cut into pieces
1 1/2 c broccoli florets
1/2 cup edamame
1/2 c sugar snap peas
1-2 small heads bok choy, cut into large pieces
1 recipe of spicy sesame ginger sauce
1 square of baked tofu, cut into small pieces
Canola oil for cooking






Step 1: Add small amount of canola oil to a pan and stir fry/ saute all veggies over medium-high heat until tender. I prefer my veggies a little bit crunchy, but you can go as long as you want until you reach your desired texture.











Step 2: Reduce heat and add tofu and sauce. Stir until ingredients are thoroughly coated and tofu is heated through. Serve hot.

Note: Though I didn't include it in the recipe, you can serve the stir fry over noodles, rice, or another choice of grain. 

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Mac & Cheese

It's pumpkin season! One of my favorite seasons, to say the least. I'll leave my description of this recipe to a few words: It turned out to be absolutely delicious! This is a great alternative to macaroni and cheese and is a wonderful seasonal dish.

Pumpkin "Mac and Cheese"
Adapted from Peachy Palate

Ingredients:
1 box Quinoa pasta
2/3 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 can cannellini beans drained and rinsed, 4 T reserved
1c cherry tomatoes
1t whole grain mustard
Lemon pepper to taste
Dash of Italian seasoning
1/4t salt
1-2 T olive oil

Step 1: Cook pasta according to the directions on the box. Drain and set aside

Step 2: Blend pumpkin, milk, 4T beans, mustard, and all seasoning in a blender until smooth. Set aside.

Step 3: Saute tomatoes and the rest of the cannellini beans in olive oil until tomatoes are juicy and tender

Step 4: Combine noodles, sauce, and tomatoes and beans in a pan and heat on low until heated through. Serve Warm

Enjoy!

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Here's another hummus recipe in case you're tired of the simple recipe!

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
By Caroline Mac
Ingredients:
1 can garbanzo beans, 2 T of liquid reserved
1/2 c tahini
3 T Lemon juice
1/2 cup fire roasted peppers


Step 1: Blend tahini, liquid and chickpeas in a food processor. Add lemon juice and peppers and blend until creamy and smooth.

Serve with your favorite veggies, chips, crackers, or bread!

Enjoy!


                

Sweet and Sour Tofu with Coconut Rice

Tonight was my first night of group cooking! Well, two person cooking. I had my friend Emily over for  dinner, who is also a vegetarian and also gluten-free! I eat gluten, but I was totally up for making a gluten-free recipe. This was a relatively elaborate meal, but it was so worth the extra effort. Better yet, I finally know how to make a delicious sweet and sour sauce! We both agreed as we ate this meal that it was delicious. Utterly delicious.

Sweet and Sour Tofu with Coconut Rice
Adapted from Peachy Palate
Ingredients:
Tofu
1 block extra firm, high protein tofu (Drained and cut into triangles)
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
1/2 white onion
2 T diced pineapple
1/3 c bamboo shoots
1 T olive oil

Sauce
Note: Separate 1/3 of the sauce once made for cooking the veggies
4 1/2 T Rice vinegar
1 1/2 T cane sugar
3 T tomato Ketchup
3 t minced garlic
6 T pineapple puree


Rice
1 bag Trader Joe's frozen brown rice, defrosted/ cooked
1/2 cup lite coconut milk
3 t shredded desiccated coconut
1 t coconut oil
1/2 t black pepper
pinch salt

Step 1: Combine all rice ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir until rice is evenly coated and sauce completely mixed. Set aside. Reheat rice in the microwave for 40 seconds when everything else is ready.

Step 2: Combine all sauce ingredients and whisk until completely blended. Transfer to a sauce pan and heat until boiling. Stir constantly. Reduce heat slightly and continue to cook sauce until it thickens. This should take less than 5 minutes. Remove from heat and separate 1/3 of the sauce for the veggies.

Step 3: Coat the tofu with the remaining 2/3 of the sauce and set aside to marinate for 15-20 minutes.

Step 4: Once the tofu is marinated, add red bell pepper, orange pepper, and  half of the onions to a pan with olive oil. Saute until onions begin to go clear. Add the bamboo shoots, pineapple, and tofu. Cook until tofu begins to turn golden, constantly stirring (6-8 minutes).

Step 5: Add remaining sauce to the pan and stir until veggies and tofu are evenly coated. Let simmer for a couple more minutes.

Step 6: Serve tofu and veggies over coconut rice with a sprinkling of onion.

Enjoy!

Pb(2) and Jelly Smoothie

Smoothie time! Have I mentioned my newest discovery, PB2? I'm a huge peanut butter fan, but you can't really eat that straight out of the jar 24/7... PB2 is essentially dehydrated peanut butter, aka, Peanut butter without the fat. All you do is mix the powder with water and voila! Peanut butter-ish stuff. It doesn't taste identical to the original, but it's pretty close. I used some of this wonder powder in my latest smoothie recipe.


PB2 and Jelly Smoothie
By Caroline Mac
Ingredients:
1 banana
1 individual container nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 T PB2
2 T rolled oats
1/2 cup frozen mixed berries

Step 1: Combine banana, yogurt, soy milk, and PB2 in a blender. Puree until smooth.

Step 2: Add berries and rolled oats and blend until smooth.

Enjoy!

Nutty Apricot Energy Cookies

Here's yet another yummy energy bar recipe! This may be my favorite recipe yet. Thanks to Vicki at Watching What I Eat for the inspiration for this recipe!

Nutty Apricot Energy Cookies
By Caroline Mac
Ingredients:
1.5 cups rolled oats
1 banana, mashed
1/2 cup sliced almonds
9 dried apricots, chopped
2 T peanut butter, softened
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 T vanilla extract
1 T pie spice

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix and wet ingredients and spices in a large mixing bowl. Add dry ingredients and mix until evenly blended.

Step 2: Spoon out the dough on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. You should get about 12 cookies, depending on the size you want.

Step 3: Bake for 15- 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Refrigerate until eating.




Enjoy!

Vegan and Nearly Raw Fettucini Alfredo

One of my favorite restaurants back in Portland is Prasad. It's a vegan cafe located within a yoga studio. If you're ever in the Pearl District, be sure to check it out. Prasad introduced me to a new raw and ultra healthy phenomenon: Veggie noodles. That is, vegetables cut in such a way that they are nearly pasta-like in consistency. The dish I had at Prasad was a zucchini noodle linguini with pesto and a cashew ricotta. It was delicious! Tonight, I made my own version of this tasty dish. I used my Zyliss julienne peeler to slice zucchini into pasta-like strips, made a cashew cream, and cooked up a veggie burger. The end result was delicious!

Vegan and Nearly Raw Fettucini Alfredo

Ingredients:

2 zucchinis

1.5 cups raw, whole cashews

1 cup boiling water

1 clove garlic

Pinch of salt

1t Italian seasoning

1 veggie burger (or one per person dining)

Step 1: Run cashews in the food processor until finely chopped. Add Cashews and water to a blender and puree until smooth and creamy. Add garlic, salt, and seasoning and blend thoroughly. 

Step 2: Using a julienne peeler or spiralizer, cut long, thin strips of zucchini so it resembles noodles. Set aside.

Step 3: Cook your veggie burger according to the directions on the package. I used a Dr. Praeger's California Veggie Burger.

Step 4: Dish out zucchini noodles and toss with sauce to taste. Top with a crumbled veggies burger.

Enjoy!

Balsamic Beet and Carrot Salad

Hi all! It's been FOREVER since I've posted a recipe, so I figured I'd stop being lazy and post something. I had a bunch of beets from Trader Joe's in the fridge, so I decided to use them up.


I don't think I used as many veggies as the original recipe called for, so there was a lot of excess dressing. Just know that you may have some tasty dressing left over to use on future salads.

Balsamic Beet and Carrot Salad
Adapted from Simple Spoon
Ingredients:
1 package Trader Joe's pre-cooked beets (or 3-4 cooked beets)
1-2 cups baby carrots
1/2 cup raw almonds
Crumbled Feta cheese for topping
1T agave syrup
Sea salt

Dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette
15 basil leaves, shredded
2 cloves minced garlic

Step 1: Heat saute pan to medium. Add almonds and cook until fragrant, stirring regularly but not constantly. Once they've darkened slightly and are fragrant, turn off heat and add agave. Stir until almonds are evenly coated. Sprinkle with salt. Transfer to a clean plate. Syrup will solidify, creating candied almonds!

Step 2: Steam baby carrots until al dente.

Step 2: Add all dressing ingredients together and mix until homogenous. Drizzle beets and carrots with dressing and top with feta cheese and almonds.

Enjoy!

Lemony Lentil Soup

This may be one of my favorite recipes I've ever made! I love soup and wanted to make something quick the night before the ballet program started. There ended up being enough left over to have for dinner another night and a half, which made life easier too. I started with a recipe from Anja's Food 4 Thought, but ended up altering a lot of proportions and ingredients to accomodate what I already had. However, I did follow her cooking directions, which were great as always. This soup would probably be good chilled as well, but I haven't tried that.

Lemony Lentil Soup
Ingredients:
4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
2 c cooked lentils
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 c chopped spinach
1.5 celery stalks, sliced
Olive oil for sautee
2 cloves garlic, minced
1t curry powder
1t cumin
1t Singapore seasoning
1/2t cinnamon
2 1/2 T lemon juice


Step 1: In a large pan, saute onions, garlic, and spices in olive oil on medium-high heat until onions are tender. Stir in celery, lentils, lemon juice, and vegetable stock.

Step 2: Let simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes. Add spinach. Let cook uncovered for another 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Berry Lemon Water Infusion

This was my first time infusing water at my new apartment and I discovered a trick to seriously increasing the flavor: Frozen Fruit. I would suggest using the frozen fruit if you have a pitcher with an insert, as the fruit gets very soft when it melts. If you don't have an infusion pitcher, just know that you may be getting some berry chunks when you sip your H2O.

Berry Lemon Water Infusion
By Caroline Mac
Ingredients:
Water
1 cup frozen mixed berries
4-5 fresh strawberries, sliced
1/2- 3/4 lemon, sliced

Step 1: Press Frozen berries into fruit insert. Put Lemon and strawberries into body of the pitcher. Fill with water, leaving room for the infusion insert.

Step 2: Add insert and lid, refrigerate, and let sit for a few hours. The longer the fruit is in the water, the stronger the flavor will be. I thought the flavor was best after leaving the water overnight.

Refill pitcher as many times as you please until the fruit begins to go bad. The flavor will be more diluted than the first time you filled it.

Enjoy!

Basic Spiced Crunchy Bars

Here's the recipe for the first batch of bars that I've made at the new apartment! If you make these bars, feel free to edit the variety of nuts/ fruit/ spices that you use. I just used the ingredients I had available to me, since I didn't want to run to the store.

Basic Spiced Crunchy Bars
By Caroline Mac
Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups rolled oats
1 1/4 cups unsweetened soy milk
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup almonds
4 dried figs
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup Joe's O's, Cheerios, etc.
1t Vanilla extract
1t pie spice

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a food processor, rough chop the almonds and figs. Combine those, along with all other dry ingredients, excluding the O's cereal,  in a large mixing bowl, stirring thoroughly.

Step 2: Combine all wet ingredients in a separate bowl and blend thoroughly. Add to dry ingredients and stir until completely blended/ mixed. Let mixture sit for about 10 minutes, or until most of the milk is absorbed by the oats.

Step 3: Add the cereal to the mixture and immediately spread in a baking pan lined with parchment paper, making sure there is an even thickness throughout and the bar "dough" goes all the way to the edges of the pan.

Step 4: Bake for around 30 minutes, or until bar seems firm and doesn't have a lot of extra moisture. Your bake time will probably vary depending on how long you let it soak and the thickness of your bars.

Step 5: Remove from pan and let cool before cutting into individual bars. Refrigerate once they are completely cool.

Enjoy!

Very Berry Mango Smoothie

Here's another tasty smoothie!

Very Berry Mango Smoothie
By Caroline Mac
Ingredients:
1 cup frozen mango
1 cup frozen mixed berries
1T shredded coconut, extra for topping
1T rolled oats
6 oz. Plain nonfat Greek yogurt
3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 fresh strawberry for garnish

Step 1: Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.

Step 2: Serve topped with coconut and a strawberry. You may want to eat this with a spoon!

Enjoy!