Mexican Sushi With Roasted Poblano Peppers

You can make homemade sushi with just about anything!
A great dairy and gluten free meal.

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What a month!
It's been a crazy busy month here on our farm. First we harvested 5 tons of Pinot Noir, then a little Sauvignon blanc for my private stash. We've also been harvesting lots of veggies, putting in a Zen garden, getting ready to paint the outside of our house, and enjoying visits from our son and daughter-in-law (Vaughn and Karina), as well as our daughter and her fiancé (Linda and Jim), and our nephew Cody. Later today, we look forward to a visit from my cousin Lisa and her husband Rob. On top of it all, I broke my toe last Thursday so I guess I'm going to slow down a bit whether I want to or not!

Part of our Pinot Noir harvest

Poblano Peppers
With the end of summer come lots of peppers. One of our most delicious and prolific is the poblano pepper so today we're going to mix two of our favorite cuisines - Mexican and Japanese by making sushi rolls with roasted poblano peppers and topping them with a spicy red sauce made from jalapeños and serrano peppers. 

See my post, "Make Your Own Hot Sauce" for the homemade hot sauce recipe.

Homemade hot sauce.

Sushi Rolls
Japanese sushi rolls are very versatile. You can roll just about anything in a sheet of Nori and call it a meal. Roasted vegetables are perfect, especially when paired with a creamy avocado and rice. If you enjoy fish, you can make a smoked salmon and avocado roll for breakfast instead of lox and bagels. The combinations are endless.

No need to use sushi rice as any short grain white rice can be sticky enough to be used in a roll. My favorite is Tamaki Haiga, which is white rice that still has the germ. Traditionally the rice is seasoned with rice vinegar and a bit of sugar.


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Roasted Poblano Sushi
Vegan, Gluten and Dairy Free
[makes 4 rolls]

Requirements
Sushi matt

Ingredients
For the rice
1 cup uncooked sushi or short-grain white rice
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
For the sushi rolls
3 or 4 large poblano peppers
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 sheets nori
1 avocado, cut into strips
1 cucumber, peeled and cut into strips
Hot sauce to taste

Directions
Cook rice according to directions on the stove, in your rice cooker, or in your Instant Pot. Make sure the rice is rinsed well before cooking.

While the rice is cooking, clean and cook the poblano peppers. Remove seeds and cut into slices. Heat the oil in a fry pan on medium heat. Add the peppers and sauté until they blister and soften, stirring occasionally. Set aside. 

The peppers tend to splatter so cover with a cooking screen.

Prepare the rice vinegar by warming the vinegar, sugar, and salt until all is dissolved. Stir this into the cooling rice.

To make the sushi rolls, place all of your ingredients nearby.

Place a sheet of Nori on the bamboo mat. Put one fourth of the prepared rice over the Nori starting one inch from the bottom. 

Place one fourth of the peppers, avocado, and a long strip of cucumber over the rice.

Using the sushi mat, roll from the bottom up. After the bottom edge is over the filling, squeeze it gently with the mat and then roll to the top. Wet the top of the Nori and complete the roll. The moisture will seal it. 

Cut the roll with a very sharp knife into 6 to 8 equal pieces. 

Dap a bit of hot sauce of each piece or serve with a tiny bowl of hot sauce.

Enjoy with a Mexican or Japanese beer!

Cool As A Cucumber SaladWith Garbanzos And Cherry Tomatoes

Beat the heat with this cucumber salad.

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We've had record breaking heat this last week. Sebastopol topped its record with 111 degrees. So needless to say, we've been eating a lot of raw foods and foods that are cooling. Cucumbers are very hydrating and I just happen to have a cucumber plant that is presenting me with 2 enormous and perfect cucumbers a day! 

Here's a quick salad that we made for lunch yesterday. It also uses our garden cherry tomatoes. With protein-packed garbanzo beans and good fats from the avocado, this is a perfectly balanced vegan and gluten-free meal for two hungry people or a side dish for 4 to 6. 

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Cucumber Salad with Garbanzos and Cherry Tomatoes

Vegan, Dairy and Gluten Free

[Serves 2 large meal-size salads or 4 to 6 sides]

Ingredients

Salad

1 long English cucumber or 2 smaller ones

2 dozen cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 avocado, diced

1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 serrano pepper, minced (optional)

2 tablespoons red onion (optional)

Dressing

1 tablespoon EVOO or cold-pressed hemp oil

1 tablespoon lemon balsamic vinegar

1 large clove garlic, pressed

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon dried dill or 2 tablespoons fresh, chopped

Peel the cucumber and slice vertically. Then slice into half moons.

Place the cucumber in a medium bowl and add the tomatoes, avocado, garbanzo beans, pepper (if using), and red onion (if using). 

Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a cup or small bowl and stir with a fork until well incorporated. 

Pour over the cucumber salad and toss gently. Serve immediately.

And remember to stay cool!

Instant Pot Great Northern BeansWhen Should You Salt Beans?

White beans with olives, artichokes, peppers, and avocado.

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Easy to make in your Instant Pot
It's easy to open a can of beans but it's not all that hard to make them from dried beans in your Instant Pot. Here's a simple recipe that's perfect for summer since it can be served warm, at room temperature, or even chilled. Bring to a pot luck, serve as an antipasto when entertaining company, or make it a meal on a bed of greens. 

To Salt or Not to Salt
A while back I read a post on Serious Eats about whether or not you should salt your beans when soaking and when cooking. You should read the entire article to appreciate the testing but their results were: "For the best, creamiest, most flavorful beans, season your bean-soaking water with one tablespoon of kosher salt per quart (about 15 grams per liter), rinse the beans with fresh water before cooking, then add a pinch of salt to the cooking water as well." 

This goes against everything we've been told about how salt during cooking will cause beens to be tough or that the skins will burst. If you've listened to this advice, you probably realize how tasteless unsalted beans are and how hard they are to flavor after they are cooked. After reading this article, I've started soaking my beans in salted water and adding salt to the pot when cooking. They come out great! So give that a try when you make this recipe.

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Mediterranean Great Northern Beans
Vegan, Gluten and Dairy Free
[makes 6 servings]

Plan ahead to soak the beans the night before.

Ingredients
For the beans:
1 cup dry Great Northern Beans
Water
2 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
1/4 cup small diced roasted red pepper
4 marinated artichoke quarters, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons sliced kalamata olives
1 avocado, diced

For the dressing:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/8 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

Directions
The night before: Pick through the beans for rocks and rinse. Place them in the Instant Pot and cover with 4 cups of water and 2 teaspoons of salt. Cover and let sit over night.

Drain and rinse well. Return to the Instant Pot and cover the soaked beans with 1 1/2 cups of water and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Secure the lid, press the “Manual” button, and set for 6 minutes at high pressure. When done, press the “Off” button and let the pressure release naturally. After 10 minutes you can release the pressure. Then, remove the lid carefully with the steam vented towards the back. Drain the beans and set aside.

Most of the skins are intact and the beans are soft and creamy.

Combine all the dressing ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine. Add the drained beans, the roasted red peppers, artichokes, olives, and avocado. Gently mix to combine and serve.

Avocado Toast - It's Everywhere!Why It's A Healthy Dish

Sliced or smushed, avocado is a healthy and popular topping.

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A Popular Menu Item

It's seems that whenever I try a new popular restaurant, avocado toast is on the menu. I'm not sure how or when this dish became so popular, but it seems to have really taken off. And why wouldn't it - avocados are one of America's favorite foods. Their consumption has quadrupled since 2000 and by 2015, the consumption of Hass avocados surpassed 2 billion pounds! I eat avocados every day in some form or another.

Although many people worry about avocado's fat content, they shouldn't. Their combination of "good fats"  (phytosterols, polyhydroxylated fatty alcohols, and oleic acid), give avocados their anti-inflammatory properties. Inflammation is the root of many diseases such as cancer, arthritis, heart disease, Alzheimers, and other degenerative disorders. 

In addition to reducing inflammation, they help us absorb carotenoids, an important plant chemical that protect us against numerous cancers. They are also a great source of dietary fiber, as well as vitamin C, E, K, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, pantothenic acid, and potassium.

Avocado Toast 

You don't need a particular recipe for avocado toast. Here are some suggestions and ways to prepare that it I've seen in restaurants. 

Select bread for the toast. Pick a small baguette if you are making an appetizer or a larger crusty bread if you are making this dish for a meal. Sour dough bread is an excellent choice. You can also consider using bagels. The picture above is avocado on a sprouted wheat bagel but an "everything" bagel with garlic, onions, and seeds would be an exciting and bold choice. If you want to avoid gluten, use any gluten free bread such as corn bread, homemade bread made with gluten free flour, or any commercial gluten free bread slices. Lightly toast whatever bread you select.

Slice or Smush

Avocado's will quickly oxidize and turn brown so you shouldn't prepare the avocado until you are ready to eat it. Thinly slicing the avocado is often a prettier presentation but feel free to smush the avocado with a fork and spread the avocado on the toast. Although not as pretty, it's easier to eat avocado that is smushed and evenly spread on the bread.

Select a Topping

Here are a few toppings that are healthy and popular. Select one or more.

* Seeds are my favorite topping. The above picture shows raw sunflower and black sesame seeds. Hemp and pumpkin seeds are also a good selection. 

* Crushed nuts such as walnuts, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans, macadamia, pistachios or sliced almonds are great choices.  

* Raw sprouts are a healthy and attractive topping.

* Fruits and veggies can be added such as thinly sliced apples, pears, mango, tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, and grilled corn.

* Season with spicy chili pepper flakes or finishing salts and other spices such as fresh dill, cilantro, parsley, and more. 

* For those who enjoy fish, top with thin slices of those high in omega-3 fatty acids and low in mercury such as smoked salmon, anchovies, herring, and sardines.

For other things to do with avocados, check out my post Avocados are delicious and healthy - Here's why you should eat them and 10 ways to enjoy them.

Green Chia Seed BlastRaw Vegan Smoothie Packed With Healthy Fats

This rich and delicious smoothie blends
green veggies and fruits with healthy fats.

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Green Smoothie
This is one of the tastiest green smoothies I've ever made. It was inspired by the Green Machine that I had at VegeNation in Las Vegas last month. I started with their main ingredients of kale, parsley, cucumber, avocado and grapes, and added some healthy fats to provide omega-3 and omega-6, monosaturated fats, as well as medium chain triglycerides.

Do Not Fear Fat!
Fats are critical to your diet. For one, they help you absorb fat-soluble vitamins. A recent study showed that "the presence of fat in a meal with which a vitamin D-3 supplement is taken significantly enhances absorption of the supplement." That study showed an average increase of 32% absorption. Other fat-soluble vitamins, such as A, K and E, also benefit from the presence of fat in the diet.

Fat also improves carotenoid absorption and improves the conversion of beta-carotene into vitamin A. 

I added chia seeds, avocado, and coconut butter to this recipe. Chia seeds are a wonderful source of omega-3 essential fatty acids. Avocado contains healthy monosaturated fats, such as oleic acid. Coconut butter contains medium-chain triglycerides that are readily used as energy. Besides their health benefits, these foods provide a nice, thick texture for the smoothie and the coconut butter adds another level of deliciousness.

One serving of Green Chia Seed Blast smoothie provides approximately 1 entire gram of both omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids in a 1:1 ratio.

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Green Chia Seed Blast
Raw Vegan, Dairy Free, Gluten Free
[makes 4 servings]

Requires a high-speed blender, such as a Vitamix or Blendtec.

Freeze the grapes the night before.
Allow 30 minutes to hydrate the chia seeds.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1 cup room temperature water
1 cup loosely packed parsley
1 cup tightly packed kale, ribs removed
1 tablespoon raw coconut butter
1 cup cold water
1 large avocado, peeled, pit removed
1 large English cucumber, peeled and sliced
3 cups frozen grapes

Directions
Place the chia seeds in 1 cup of room temperature water. Stir vigorously and set aside until the chia seeds are completely hydrated, stirring occasionally - about 30 minutes.

Wait until the chia seeds are completely hydrated.

Place the parsley, kale, coconut butter, hydrated chia seeds, and cold water into the blender. Process until the greens are well chopped.

Add the avocado, cucumber, and frozen grapes to the blender and process until smooth. Serve immediately.

Nutrition
Per serving: 205 calories, 10 g total fat, 3 g saturated fat, 960 mg omega-3 and 996 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 0 mg cholesterol, 4 g protein, 31 g carbohydrates, 7 g dietary fiber, and 24 mg sodium.

Raw Kale Salad With Satsuma Oranges And Pumpkin Seeds

Even in winter, we should consume some amount of raw food.

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Raw Food in the Winter
In the winter we crave hot soup, warm muffins, and cooked meals in general. I admit I have been favoring steel cut oatmeal over cold smoothies in the morning and soups over salads lately. But it's very important to include some raw foods in your diet no matter what season we are in. In my book, Health Begins in the Kitchen: Delicious and Easy Vegan Recipes and Seasonal Food Plan, I discuss how those amounts vary with each season. And what better way to add a little raw food in your winter diet than to eat a lovely raw kale salad with seasonal fruit such as satsuma oranges.

My Seasonal Food Plan discusses how the amount of
raw food consumed should vary throughout the year.

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Kale Salad with Satsuma Oranges
Raw Vegan, Gluten Free, Dairy Free
[makes 4 servings]

Ingredients
4 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon cold-pressed hemp oil or extra virgin olive oil
4 cups thinly sliced kale (ribs removed and washed)
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 small satsuma oranges, peeled and separated
1/2 avocado, peeled and thinly sliced (optional)
2 tablespoons raw pumpkin seed kernels

Directions
Place the lemon juice and oil in a medium-sized bowl and stir to combine. Add the kale and stir until completely coated. Let marinate for 20 minutes to allow the kale to become tender. You can even massage the oil into the kale, if you enjoy playing with your food like I do, to quicken the process.

Salt to taste. Add the satsuma orange segments and the avocado, if using (see why you should put avocado on almost everything!). Toss to combine. 

Top with pumpkin seed kernels and serve.

Nutrition
Made with hemp oil and avocado: 142 calories, 9 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 656 mg omega-3 and 3,485 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 4 g protein, 15 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, and 177 mg sodium.

Made with extra virgin olive oil and avocado: 141 calories, 9 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 182 mg omega-3 and 1,1814 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 4 g protein, 15 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, and 177 mg sodium.

Made with extra virgin olive oil without avocado: 113 calories, 6 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 163 mg omega-3 and 1,527 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 4 g protein, 13 g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, and 176 mg sodium.

Roasted Asparagus On Romaine Topped With Corn, Radishes, Avocado & Sunflower Seeds

Roasted asparagus topped with chopped veggies and seeds.

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Asparagus for Lunch?

Doug and I ate an entire bunch of asparagus yesterday for lunch. Once those tender roasted spears came out of the oven, we decided to make a meal out of them. Besides, you can't just let these jewels sit around since they are more perishable than most other vegetables.

Feed your Microbes Too!

I'm sure you all know how very important microbes are for our health. Well these little guys have to eat too. They depend on "prebiotics" which are supplied by the compound "inulin." This carbohydrate makes it all the way through to our large intestine where it becomes an important food source for our intestinal bacteria such as Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli. Asparagus is a very good source of inulin. 

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Roasted Asparagus Salad

Vegan, Dairy Free, Gluten Free

[makes 4 servings]

Ingredients

1 pound asparagus, washed

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

1 ear of corn, cleaned, kernels removed

4 small radishes, diced

1 green onion, cleaned and thinly sliced

1/2 avocado, diced

1/2 lemon

1 head Romaine lettuce, washed and chopped

2 tablespoons raw sunflower seeds (or hemp seeds)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Trim off the bottoms of the asparagus with a knife or bend the bottoms until they snap off. Place in a large, shallow baking pan and arrange in a single layer. 

Drizzle the olive oil over the asparagus and sprinkle them with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. If you have a Silpat sheet, you can reduce the olive oil to 2 teaspoons. Shake the pan back and forth until the spears are well coated.

Place the pan in the oven and roast for 12 to 15 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through, until the asparagus spears are lightly browned and fork-tender but still crisp. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Place the corn kernels, radishes, green onion, and avocado in a small bowl. Toss with the juice of 1/2 a lemon and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. 

To build the salad, place the chopped Romaine lettuce on a platter or divide among four individual plates. (Doug and I divided it onto two big plates and made an entire meal out of it.)

Place the warm asparagus on top of the lettuce and then top the asparagus with the corn mixture. Sprinkle with sunflower seeds and serve immediately.

Nutrition

Per serving: 168 calories, 10 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 249 mg omega-3 and 2,006 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 6 g protein, 18 g carbohydrates, 8 g dietary fiber, 20 mg sodium (plus salt to taste).

For a better omega-3 to omega-6 balance, use hemp seeds instead of sunflower seeds.