Pickled Daikon Radish

I was looking for an easy pickling recipe to go with falafel that didn’t have warnings about risks due to leaving the mixture out at room temperature for hours in an airtight jar.  This one seemed easy.  This was the first time I worked with daikon.  I chose to receive it in my produce basket from Hungry Harvest.  The daikon was good just as it was, without the pickling, and can be used as a crunchy snack, just as jicama would.  Daikon is much easier to work with.  These were evidently pretty small for daikon radishes, as the recipe calls for one 1-pound radish, and two of mine only added up to 10 ounces.  

Anyway, this recipe is extremely easy. I wanted something pickled to go with the falafel and tahini dressing I was trying today.  Here goes:

Pickled Daikon Radish (Takuan)

Daikon Radish Pickled (called Takuan in Japanese) is a perfect side dish for many Japanese meals. The large white daikon radish is sliced and marinated in a mixture of rice vinegar, salt, and sugar. Ground turmeric gives it a distinctive bright yellow color. It’s pleasantly crunchy and bursting withtart, sweet, and salty flavor.

Course Side Dish Recipes

Cuisine Japanese

Prep Time 10 minutes

Additional Time 1 day 1 hour

Total Time 1 day 1 hour 10 minutes

Calories 60kcal

Author Robin Donovan

Ingredients

• 1 daikon radish about 1 pound, peeled and cut into thin rounds or half-rounds
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup rice vinegar
• ¼ cup water
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric

Instructions

• Place the sliced daikon in a colander and add the salt. Tossto mix and then let stand in the sink or over a large bowl for about 1 hour.
• Transfer the daikon to a glass jar.
• In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, vinegar, and waterand heat over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar dissolves. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the turmeric.
• Pour the vinegar mixture over the daikon slices in the jar. Cap the jar, shake to make sure all of the daikon is in the brine.
• Refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours before serving.

Notes

The pickles will last in the refrigerator for at least a month.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 60kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Sodium: 479mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 13g

Beet smoothie

https://www.wellplated.com/beet-smoothie/ 

I had a lot of beets I had roasted and lots of berries in the fridge, so this perfectly met my needs.  I was inspired by Aruna's beet smoothie that she brought for lunch last week.  I added agave, but if I had remembered to add the chia / hemp or oatmeal, it might not have needed it.  Or maybe a few ice cubes to water it down.  In any case, it was good!  Ingredients below are only for one small smoothie. 

Blueberry Beet Smoothie. Sweet, creamy, and packed with fiber, protein, and antioxidants! This healthy breakfast smoothie is perfect for weightloss or for kids. Delicious, fruity, and the beets aren't too strong.

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PREP: 4 mins

COOK: 1 min

TOTAL: 5 mins

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SERVINGS: 2 small or 1 large smoothies

Ingredients

  

• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk or milk of choice
• 1  cup mixed frozen blueberries or mixed berries
• 1 small beet peeled and diced (about 8 ounces)
• 1/4 cup frozen pineapple
• 1/4 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt use non-dairy yogurt to make vegan
• Optional sweetener: 1-2 teaspoons honey plus additional to taste (use agave to make vegan)
• Optional mix-ins: chia seeds hempseed, and/or ground flaxseed (I like mine with a sprinkle of chia or hempseed; hempseed is what you see pictured in the photos); I also like to add 2 tablespoons oatmeal to make the smoothie even more filling.

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Instructions

 

• Place the almond milk, blueberries, beet, pineapple, and Greek yogurt in a high speed blender such as a Vitamix (if you do not have a high speed blender, I’d suggest microwaving, roasting, or lightly steaming the beets before using so that they are softer and puree more smoothly). 
• Blend until smooth. Taste and if you desire a sweeter smoothie, add a little honey or date and blend again. Enjoy immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 day.

Notes

• While I wouldn't describe this smoothie as being too "beet-y," you can detect the flavor of the beets. If this is a concern, you can try reducing the amount of the beets and increasing the amount of berries. I like using either all blueberries or a mix of blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. Adding 2 tablespoons oatmeal also mellows the beet flavor.

Nutrition

SERVING: 1gCALORIES: 95kcalCARBOHYDRATES: 19gPROTEIN: 4gFAT: 1gCHOLESTEROL: 2mgFIBER: 4gSUGAR: 13g

Peach Soy Sherbet

 From Vitamin website:   https://www.vitamix.com/us/en_us/Recipes/Peach-Soy-Sherbet?referer_st=sherbert&sc=recipe#nutritional-facts

The frozen peaches I purchased were not that tasty, so I needed to add some flavor.  The helpful additions were  sprinkles of dried basil (if I had mint on hand, I would have tried it; cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg, either together or separately; and makrut lime powder.  Ground pistachios were also good.  

Ingredients

• 1½ cup (360 ml) soy milk
• 4 (60 g) pitted dates, or honey, to taste
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
• 1½ pound (680 g) frozen peach slices (or mango or ....)

Directions

1. Place all ingredients into the Vitamix in the order listed and secure the lid.
2. Start the blender on its lowest speed, then quickly increase to its highest speed, using the tamper to press ingredients toward the blades.
3. In about 30-60 seconds, the sound of the motor will change and four mounds should form. Stop the machine. Do not over mix or melting will occur. Serve immediately.

Chef's Notes

Blending frozen fruit makes a delicious creamy texture in seconds.

Nutrition Information

Serving Size	1 serving (122 g)
Amount Per Servings
Calories	60
Total Fat	.50 g
Saturated Fat	0 g
Cholesterol	0 mg
Sodium	25 mg
Total Carbohydrate	13g
Dietary Fiber	1g
Sugars	11 g
Protein	2g

Chia pudding

 I've been wondering about chia pudding for a while - seems like it would be healthful, but what does it taste like?  What is the texture?  It usually looks like a mound of white bubbles with a hint of a black seed at the center of each one.  I knew it was some combination of chia seeds and milk, so I decided to give it a try and came up with the following recipe.  I'll be making it again to try to decide what I'd really like it to taste like.  Since pumpkin season is upon us, I did use some Pumpkin Pie Spice, but also numerous other ingredients. I'm going to try it a few different ways before it's ready for prime time!  

My first preparation ended up looking more like oatmeal than chia pudding.  It was a bit dark due to the spices and maple syrup.  Perhaps practice will make perfect?! 

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup chia seeds

1.5 cups non-dairy milk (I used cashew-almond)

1 tsp cardamom

1 tsp orange zest

1/2 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

1) Start by layering the chia seeds either in one bowl, or in 4 ramekins.

2) Cover with 3 times that amount of milk.  Stir immediately to get any lumps out.  

3) Add the remaining ingredients and mix.  Put in the refrigerator, with a reminder set to stir the pudding again in 1-2 hours.  Otherwise, hard areas form and are later difficult to break up.  Taste and consider more of any of the ingredients, or a sprinkle of Pumpkin Pie Spice, or another spice of your choosing.

Spicy walnuts - from FOK

I can see how these can be addictive.  They have a surprising amount of sugar for a FOK recipe - but I guess because it's maple sugar its ok.  I used coconut sugar because that's what I had, and cut the chipotle quite a bit, but I think I'll use a little more next time. 

This was meant to be prepared in a dehydrator, but if you don't have one, roast at 170 (or your oven's lowest temperature). 

My major mistake was using only 1 cup of walnuts for this first endeavor.  They'll be gone shortly!!

Ingredients:

1 cup walnuts

2 cups water

Soak the walnuts for 3-4 hours.  Drain and discard the water (I tasted it - quite bitter)

• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
• 1/2 tsp chipotle powder 
• 1/2 cup maple sugar, finely ground 
• 1 1/2 tsp sea salt 

To prepare the mixture, place walnuts in a mixing bowl with the remaining ingredients and toss well.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Roast at the lowest oven temperature (usually 170) for 1-2 hours.  Check after an hour to be sure they are not burning. 

Remove them from the baking sheet when you take them out of the oven, so they stop cooking. 

Enjoy!

 

No Bake Peanut Butter Power Bars (gluten free)

This is from Melissa Nicalaou.  I can no longer find it on the website balanced platter.com.

Makes12 small bars or 24 squares.

Ingredients:
8 Medjool dates, pitted
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup cooked quinoa (or dry rolled oats)
2 Tbsp chia seeds
1/2 cup unsalted smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup raw honey (or maple syrup, date syrup, molasses to keep vegan - up to 1 Tbsp molasses)
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I used hemp hearts instead)

Directions:
1)  Add the dates to the bowl of a food processor and process until chopped.
2)  Add the nuts, quinoa (or dry oatmeal) and seeds, including hemp and process until a meal has formed.
3)  Add the peanut butter and honey (or maple syrup) and process until a thick dough forms.
4) Transfer the dough to a parchment-lined baking pan. A square baking dish works well.
5) Place the bars in the freezer until set, about 1-2 hours.  Remove from the freezer and slice into bars.  Store in the freezer until you're ready to eat them.  They're tasty when they reach room temperature, but extra special when eaten soon after removing them from the freezer.

NUTRITION FACTS per 1 square of 24, using maple syrup as sweetener:

Total Fat  5.7 grams

Sat fat  0.8 gm

poly Unsaturated fat 2.3 gm

Mono Unsaturated Fat 2.3 gm 

Total Carbs 11 gm

Dietary fiber 1.9 gm

Sugars 8 gm 

Protein 2.8 grams

Granola Bars with Dried Fruit and Seeds

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/granola-bars-with-dried-fruit-and-seeds?_rand=0.719828771392392

I've made these 4 times and they're always great.  A small but filling snack to take to the gym.  I'd count on 15 bars.  

I decreased the dried fruit to 1 cup and the coconut to ~1/3 cup to decrease the sugar and saturated fat.  I used almond butter each time, but might try peanut butter next time.  

YIELD

Makes 20 bars   

ACTIVE TIME

30 minutes     

TOTAL TIME

55 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1. • Nonstick vegetable cooking spray
   • 1 1/4 cups dried fruit (cherries, raisins, currants, cranberries, and/or blueberries), divided
   • 2/3 cup honey
   • 1/2 cup creamy almond, peanut, or sunflower butter
   • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
   • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
   • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
   • 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats, divided
   • 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
   • 1/2 cup raw sesame seeds
   • 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
   • 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

PREPARATION

1. 1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly coat a 13x9" pan with nonstick spray and line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on both long sides; spray parchment.
   2. Pulse 3/4 cup fruit and 1/2 cup hot water in a food processor until smooth and incorporated, 3–4 minutes. Add honey, almond butter, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla and pulse until combined, about 15 seconds. Add 1/2 cup oats and pulse until well combined, 30–45 seconds. Add pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, coconut, and remaining 1 cup oats and 1/2 cup fruit. Pulse until just combined, about 15 seconds.
   3. Transfer mixture to prepared pan, pressing down until completely even. Bake granola until darkened, firm around the edges, and the center gives just slightly when pressed, about 35 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool in pan. Remove granola using parchment overhang, then cut into 20 bars with a serrated knife.
2. Do Ahead
   1. Granola can be made 5 days ahead. Keep tightly wrapped at room temperature.

Cooks' Note

For crisp bars, arrange baked, sliced bars on a baking sheet and bake at 350°F until golden brown, 8–10 minutes, or toast as desired in a toaster oven.

Peaches and Green Smoothie

I must start by saying that I am NOT a fan of green shakes!  I had a few bitter awful ones years ago and have avoided them ever since.  HOWEVER, my blender finally died from my ice-crushing activities for chocolate peanut butter smoothies, banana berry yogurt smoothies, and the like.  With my new Torrent Blender by KitchenAid, which I love, there was a cookbook with loads of blender recipes, including smoothies, soups and other blended foods.  It was a steal because evidently its magnetic base with no moving parts hasn't really taken off, so I got it at 2/3 off - including this new recipe book.  The magnetic base turns the blade without them actually having to twist into each other - that connection is what started leaking - after many years of use, mind you.

Having my son home for a week, I had a live-in taster, so I made the most of it.  Here's a green smoothie that's refreshing and tasty.  If you want more protein, just change the almond milk to soy.

Ingredients:
1 cup ice
1 cup packed torn fresh spinach
1 cup fresh or frozen peach slices
1 cup vanilla almond milk
1 Tbsp honey (add more honey if using plain almond milk)
juice from 1/2 small lime
1 tsp dried mint, or a few fresh mint leaves - the more the better!

Directions:
Using a blender with ice crushing capacity - blend and pour!

Pumpkin Crunch

From Canyon Ranch Nourish

This is such a good crunchy snack!  I decreased the cranberries, because I prefer the crunch to the sugar.  After toasting them, the nuts stick together a bit and are like granola.  Just watch them carefully because there's a only a short interval between 'toasted' and 'burnt'!  One is good, the other not so much!!

Pumpkin seeds are a rich source of 'good fats', i.e.  mono- and poly-unsaturated oils, as well as a good source of fiber, iron, magnesium and phosphorus.

Dried fruit is notorious for being full of sugar.  Look for the lowest sugar content you can find.  Trader Joe's and Nature's Promise at Giant have varieties that have 26 grams of sugar per 1/4 cup (versus up to 32 grams for some of the others).  I tried substituting other dried fruit, but the tart taste of cranberries fits perfectly with the seeds.  I just decreased the measure from 1 1/4 cups to under a cup.

I didn't let my family taste this before I brought it to our health fair because I was afraid there might not be enough left for anyone else.  I'm looking for more of these healthy snack recipes to make on my own in order to avoid the 'extras' in many of the packaged snack bars.

Let me know what you think!

Ingredients:
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 1/2 tsp canola oil
1 1/3 tsp pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp sea salt
less than a cup of dried cranberries.

Tried another variant - used 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice (which is actually cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice with ginger added; and 1/4 tsp cumin and 1/4 tsp cardamom along with 1/2 tsp salt and maple syrup.  Smells good from the cardamom.  Probably like the original better.  12/11/16 Then added more maple syrup, cayenne, sugar -- maybe just stick with the original!

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Lightly spray a baking sheet with canola oil spray.

2) Toss the seeds and canola in a small bowl.  Spread the coated seeds evenly on the baking sheet.  Roast for about 20 minutes, or until almost dry.  Watch carefully!

3) Place the seeds in a medium bowl and stir in the maple syrup until coated.

4) Combine the cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt in a small bowl. Add the spice mixture to the pumpkin seeds.  Stir to combine.

5)  Return the pumpkin seeds to the baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes or until dry, stirring occasionally.  Turn the pan several times to ensure even roasting, checking frequently.  Set aside until completely cool, about 30 minutes.

6) Combine the seeds and dried cranberries in a large bowl.  Store in a tightly sealed container.

Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Servings: 18 or 24 bars

Cook Time: 10 Minutes  Total Time: 2 Hours
Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons canola oil
5 tablespoons coconut sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons honey
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Heaping 1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups quick-cooking/instant oats, such as Quaker Quick 1-Minute Oats (do not use regular old-fashioned oats)
1-3/4 cups Brown Rice Crispies (Whole Foods)
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup flax meal or wheat germ (I used hemp hearts)
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips (or to taste) (or dried fruit)

Instructions:

1) Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with aluminum foil. Spray the foil lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
2) In a large pot, combine the butter, oil, sugar and honey. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and simmer until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt.

3) Add the oats, rice cereal, almonds and flax meal (or wheat germ, hemp hearts) to the pan and fold with a rubber spatula until well combined.

4) Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and press down lightly with a rubber spatula to even out. Sprinkle the miniature chocolate chips over top, adding more or less to suit your taste, and press down firmly with the spatula so the chips stick.The mixture should be tightly compacted in the pan. Place the pan in the refrigerator for 1-1/2 - 2 hours to cool.

5) Use the foil overhang to transfer the uncut bars to a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut into rectangles. Store the bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator. If you have to stack them, be sure to use parchment paper or foil in between the layers, otherwise they'll stick together and fall apart.

Note: If you are substituting dried fruit for the chocolate chips, mix it in along with the other ingredients as opposed to sprinkling over top.