Olive Oil & Maple Syrup Quinoa Granola with Figs

I am pretty much the biggest fan of breakfast ever. I open my eyes and the first thing that I think of is food. Surprise, surprise. Gosh, I just love breakfast. I love eggs, bacon, french toast, all of it. Though I must say, I pretty much never eat granola. Really... never. Most granolas are carb and sugar packed cardboard disguised in a "healthy" looking package that slowly kills you. Well, it will kill you by making you want to kill yourself because all of your pretty summer dresses now hug all of the wrong places because it is SO BAD FOR YOU! Yup, granola is bad for you. Read the nutrition info next time. Though, thank god for you, this is not your suicide inducing, summer dress ruining granola. Oh, no. You're welcome.

This recipe (once again, slightly adapted, from Gwenyth's new book "It's All Good") is just the opposite. Protein packed quinoa flakes tossed in pure maple syrup and olive oil are used in place of oats and sugar and then mixed with raw nuts and fruit. Its delicious and good for you. Seriously... so delicious.

Olive Oil & Maple Syrup Quinoa Granola with Figs

Ingredients:

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup PURE maple syrup

3 cups quinoa flakes (these can be tricky to find.... I found them at Whole Foods)

2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/4 cup raw walnuts, roughly chopped

1 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds, shelled and roughly chopped

1 1/4 cup dried figs, you guessed it.... roughly chopped

Sea salt

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

Stir together the olive oil, maple syrup, cinnamon, a pinch of sea salt and quinoa flakes until thoroughly combined. 

Spread the quinoa on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake until golden brown and crispy, stirring every so often. This took about 30 minutes. Let the quinoa cool completely. 

Once cool, combine the quinoa with the nuts and figs and store in an air tight jar for up to two weeks. 

I had this with some greek yogurt (for even more protein) and some fresh raspberries. I also added 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed because it's good for your body and that's how I do it. 

Friday Night Feasts: Risotto with Green Peas and Arugula

There are few things in life that are as wonderful as good friends, wine, and food. If you can think of something better please let me know.... and then I will slowly remove myself from your life because you are idiot.

It's been quite awhile since I have posted a FNF blog.... but last night's dinner was worth finally pulling myself out of that rut! Rich and I had fabulous new friends over for dinner with food and wine to seriously brag about. We of course started the evening with some brie and fig jam... though we only had a few bites of cheese before Ollie decided that we had already had enough and ate the whole brick of brie right off of the coffee table. He was just worried about our hearts....Yup, that's how dinner at our house goes sometimes.

On the menu was heirloom tomato salad with buratta cheese and a balsamic reduction, braised chicken with lemon and olives, roasted carrots, brussels sprouts, braised leeks, and risotto with green peas and arugula.  I have three new loves right now. Green peas (in case you haven't heard) arugula, and Gwenyth Paltrow's new cookbook "It's All Good," which seems to have some mixed reviews, but my girl crush on her matches my love for her healthy recipes, so I really don't care. The braised chicken and the risotto were both recipes from her new book with only a few very slight changes and they were delicious!

Ingredients:
1 quart vegetable stock
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 leek, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup arborio rice
2 cup arugula
1 cup fresh english peas (you can also use frozen peas)
Salt and pepper

Method:
First off, I was a little bit skeptical to use vegetable stock to make risotto. It just isn't the way. You use chicken stock. You just do. Period. Though, I must admit, you could have paid me in fine wine and I still would not have been able to tell the difference. This whole vegetarian thing is getting easier by the day.

In a small saucepan, warm the vegetable stock and keep it warm over low heat.
In another medium saucepan, sauté the onions and leeks over medium heat in two tablespoons of olive oil. Cook until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and a pinch of salt and cook for about 1-2 more minutes until the garlic is fragrant. Next, add the rice and the lemon juice and stir. Cook until the lemon juice is evaporated and then add in a ladle full of veggie stock. STIR STIR STIR! Keep stirring the rice until all of the stock is absorbed and then add another ladle full of warm stock and ... you guessed it, keep stirring! Continue this process (while stirring the whole time) until the rice is tender, but still has a little bit of a bite. Stir in the peas, arugula, lemon zest, and some fresh pepper and sea salt.

I served this with braised chicken legs with olives and lemon and lots of roasted veggies. Success!

Kale Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons

That's me at age 3.
Adorable. I know. Thanks, Mom and Dad. 

Here is a list of the foods that I would not eat:
Brussels Sprouts
Beets (I actually still wouldn't even try beets until a few months ago)
Spinach
Cabbage
Peas
Bok Choy
Carrots
Sweet Potatoes
Kale (Did anyone eat Kale before 2012?)

....need I say more? What a picky little bitch I was. (Sorry Mom and Dad)

It really blows my mind that these crazy vegetables that my mother tried to poison me with as a child are now  staples in my diet. Let's take kale, for example. I would have rather eaten my own foot while sticking a fork in my eye than even have had a whiff of kale (or any other leafy green for that matter) anywhere near me. Now? Ok... well I still don't really like my greens, but I do hide them in just about everything. Especially kale. I add kale to just about every salad and every veggie dish I eat. Sometimes I'll even add kale to my kale (there are many kales). Which is why I literally dream about this kale caesar salad from my new favorite blog Two Blue Lemons (thank you, Rebecca!). This Caesar dressing takes 5 minutes to make and is so delicious it will blow your mind. And because kale is so hearty you can leave the dressing on this salad and it just keeps getting better!

kale caesar salad

Ingredients:

2 bunches kale
4 slices of bread... I used a loaf of olive bread from the Farmer's Market and it turned out super yummy! 
2 lemons
5 garlic cloves
1 farm fresh egg yolk
1 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for croutons
FRESH Parmesan cheese (fresh is the key word)
salt and pepper

Method:

Rinse kale. Remove the leafy parts of the kale from the tough stems and tear into bite sized pieces. 

Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut the bread into 1 inch cubes. Toss in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for about 10 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Set aside. 

 In a blender, add the juice of 2 lemons, zest of 1 lemon, garlic cloves, egg yolk, pinch of salt and pepper. With the motor on, stream in the cup of olive oil until combined. The consistency just be that of heavy cream.

Toss the kale with the dressing and the croutons and enjoy!

Pea Shoot Salad with Strawberries and Shaved Cucumbers

I'm not going to lie.... spring is actually my least favorite time for seasonal produce. There are obviously a few winners: artichokes, asparagus, and every kind of citrus you can dream of. But come summer, my little farmer's market shopping heart is singing from the rooftops!  My freckles are beginning to pop up and my allergies are raging..... this can only mean one thing- SUMMER PRODUCE! Yippee! With the temperature rising, the hubby and I have started frequenting all of our local farmer's markets on a more than regular basis. And while I'm not up to my elbows in perfectly ripe peaches just yet, a few summer favorites have already started popping up... and a few new favorites!

How am I just now finding out about pea shoots!!!!

I love green peas. They taste just like green peas. We are a match made in heaven!

As you can imagine, pea shoots taste like the peas that they grow. They are sweet, crunchy, and so so tasty! Apparently you can replace most lettuces with them, add them to stir frys, or.... make this amazing salad. This was my first rodeo with my new favorite green, and it will certainly not be my last!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp organic honey (local if you have allergies!)
1 cup strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/2 cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
1 bunch of pea shoots
Almonds & goat cheese

Method:
Pour the honey and balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan and reduce by 1/2 over low heat. Let cool. If you don't feel like making a reduction, Whole Foods sells a great balsamic reduction. I once bought it by accident.... best accident ever.

Toss the pea shoots, strawberries, and cucumbers together and drizzle the balsamic reduction on top. Top with almonds and goat cheese. I clearly was all out of goat cheese, but I really wish that I wasn't.

Rich told me this was one of his favorite salads of all time. That actually means something.... he is not as hyperbolic as I am.


***There are so many Farmer's Markets around town... LA Times Farmer's Markets is a great website if you want to venture away from the overwhelming Hollywood Farmer's Market on Sundays!