Recipe: Spinach Gnocchi in a Parmesan Butter Sauce

For lots of reasons, I've been rather lax about preparing meals lately. I'm not proud of it, and I've definitely not felt as amazing as I usually do BUT I'm still trying to eat as fresh and healthy as I can.

I came up with this dish due to lack of time and energy and it is very tasty and very rich considering the little effort that goes into it.  Because this is one of my last minute, go-to recipes, I don't have exact measurements or ingredients. I tend to make it with whatever I have on hand, and it's even tasty plain. Of course, I much prefer it with vegetables in it because it's much heartier and more filling, but use what you have on hand for this quick dish.

I found fresh (and affordable!) gnocchi with spinach ground into the pasta. So that's the base. I whipped up a quick butter sauce while the gnocchi was boiling. If you're feeling ambitious, toss fresh vegetables in the butter and saute them. If you're lazy and have fermented vegetables on hand, just wait until everything is ready and add a spoonful on top when it's finished baking. (You can guess which one I did...)

Ingredients
1 pound of gnocchi
3-4 tablespoons of butter
parmesan cheese

optional: shallots (or fermented onions), garlic, fresh spinach, bit of lemon juice (or zest of preserved lemons), chili flakes, salt, pepper

Preparation
Place a pot of water on the stove. Add the gnocchi once the water begins to boil. Keep an eye on it as it usually only takes 4 minutes.

Place your butter in a pan on the stove as well.

If you're using fresh produce, you'll need a bit more butter, it should be on medium heat, and you should begin sauteing. Start with the shallots/onions and saute until they're golden brown - about 4 minutes. If you have anything else crunchy you want to add, do it now. Otherwise, as the shallots/onions brown, add the rest of your ingredients: spinach, lemon juice/zest, garlic, and spices.

If you're not using fresh produce, keep your butter on low heat.

I like to add the cheese (after the veg have softened) and let it melt into the butter. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.

As the gnocchi finishes (it will get all fluffy and float to the top of the pan), I add it to the sauce/veg mixture and saute it for a few more minutes.

Add the gnocchi and sauce to your bowl and let it cool for a moment or two. If you're using fermented veg, now would be the time to add it and stir it into the dish.

And there you go! Very simple and delicious.

Total time: 5-10 minutes
Serves: 2 people

Recipe: Cheesy Mexican Pasta

Sometimes I make kefir cheese, and I'm not really sure what to do with it. Sometimes it's too sour, sometimes it's too hard, and other time I don't have any herbs to mix with it - or bread, for that matter.

But then, sometimes, I stumble on brilliant websites that inspire me to create something fun and new!

When I make macaroni and cheese, I tend to favor the healthier versions... but if there isn't a ton of cheese, and if it's kefir cheese, well, I'm sure that's all right.

This is mostly made of fermented items. The sauce is added at the end to ensure a lot of the priobiotics (aka the good bacteria) survive and make it into your belly in one piece. Like my other fermented pasta sauce, the end result is warm enough to eat and enjoy - but nowhere near hot enough to burn your tongue. Just perfect!

Ingredients
bacon
pasta
8 oz kefir cheese (or cream cheese)
1.5 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
2 fermented jalapenos, sliced
2-3 rings of fermented onions, sliced
1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon of garlic paste
scallions

Preparation
Place bacon in the oven. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until desired level of crispiness.

Boil water - and cook your pasta.

While pasta and bacon are cooking, combine the kefir cheese, cheddar cheese, and sliced jalapenos in a bowl. Mix well.

If you're not using fermented foods, saute the onions, garlic, and peppers per normal. Once they're soft enough to eat, let them cool and add them to the cheese mixture.

Once pasta is finished, drain and divide into bowls. Spoon a mixture of the cheese sauce into the bowl. It will slowly melt over the pasta. Stir to distribute the cheese evenly. Add bacon, garlic paste, and scallions on top. Enjoy!

Guess who has a sourdough starter!!

I recently acquired a sourdough starter from a friend, and by the highlight of my week.


I tried creating my own sourdough starter several times last summer, but consistently ended up killing the starter somehow around day 3. I convinced myself that I was not ready to begin caring for ferments daily and so I waited.

In the meantime I acquired milk kefir grains and they were so much work. They really do need constant (or at least daily) attention, but the result is wonderful tasting kefir so it's worth it. Perhaps sourdough starter would also be worth it?

And it really is!

For those who don't know, or those who are considering cutting out grains, sourdough can be a wonderful addition in your life. Here's a really quick summary:

Basically, sourdough starters contain natural yeasts (and not just one type of yeast like the packets in the supermarket), which is really important because the yeasts create enzymes to pre-digest the grain. Because it's also fermented, you get the bacteria in there eating the sugars and starches. The bacteria also activates that break down phytic acid, which is what makes eating grains so tough on your stomach. It also produces acetic acid, which creates the "sour" part of sourdough bread - which helps the bread store longer, preventing mold.*

So if your stomach hurts when you eat a sandwich or you're wondering if you should cut out gluten**, start making your own bread and the negative effects should go away. I'm not going into too many details just because there are SO many wonderful lists of benefits already out there (and linked below), but I will say it's really changed my life in such a great way.

So far, I've used my starter to make bread, pizza crust, pie crust, donuts, and I'm looking forward to continuing to experiment. While it does sometimes require a bit of planning ahead (for example, if you want to bake a loaf of bread you need to start the day before), it doesn't really require THAT much more planning than using store bought yeast and it tastes much better. Best of all, I don't have weird stomach cramps after eating that I normally get after munching on store bought bread.

(You can see my sourdough starter in the container in the top right - so easy to store!)

I use the basic no-knead sourdough loaf recipe from Breadtopia. It's really simple. Just mix and let it set. You're supposed to move it a bit - change the plastic wrap covering to a damp cloth and use fancy equipment like a bread proofer and a dutch oven.

I do not have the expensive equipment and it comes out great. I've also forgotten about it and not done any of the steps - just popped it in the oven after 24 hours, and it came out perfectly. A key step for me is pre-heating the oven to 500 degrees WITH some cast iron dish in there and then placing the bread in for its time. I can't remember if that's in the instructional video, but it works really well for me.

The pizza dough and donuts were all prepped and ready to go with only 10 minutes of resting. You can't argue with that! Plus, you know, they both tasted amazing. A lot of times you can't really even tell a difference, which is not always the case when you start using different flours (i.e. rice and wheat flours).

The best part is that if I only want to do one loaf a week, I just pop my starter in the fridge and let it rest. (If you leave it on the counter, you should feed it daily and, you know, use it daily.)

Do you have sourdough starter? Have you thought about getting one?

*Read more about the science behind sourdough starters at Simple Bites, Cookus Interruptus, and Real Food Forager.
**While some people with gluten sensitivities can eat and enjoy sourdough bread, you should do so under the care of a medical professional. Not because I said it might be okay.

Recipe: Avocado Cream Pasta with Bacon

This is the perfect recipe when it's warm out. Or whenever, really. I found the inspiration for this recipe at the Realistic Nutritionist and I've been making my own version ever since.

This recipe involves an avocado cream sauce with pasta. I substitute milk kefir for cream which gives it another level of flavor. However, it's tricky to warm this up without burning the avocado (or the cream/kefir) which is why I tend to only make this during the summer months. 

My trick, in case, you're having problems yourself, is to time the pasta and bacon to finish at the same time and then add the sauce - the sauce warms up a bit because of the hot pasta and bacon and it all evens out in your mouth.

Ingredients

2 avocados

1-2 cups of milk kefir (or cream)

small squeeze of lime or lemon 

4 pieces of bacon

1 small onion (or 3 shallots)

Monterrey Jack cheese

Cheddar cheese

garlic paste (or 3-4 garlic cloves)

1 tsp pepper flakes (or cayenne pepper)

salt

pepper

oil 

2-3 cups cooked pasta

Preparation

Cook your pasta. 

Cook your bacon. (I prefer to put mine in the oven at 400 for 15-20 minutes.)

Put some oil in a pan and saute your onions. If you're using garlic cloves, add  them to the pan after a few minutes as well. Cook until the onions are translucent - about 5 minutes.

While everything is heating up, peel your avocado and scoop it into a blender or food processor. Add the milk kefir/cream, a squeeze of a lemon or lime, and a teaspoon of hot pepper flakes.

When the onion mixture has finished, add it to the blender and pulse until smooth. If you want your sauce a little thinner, add more kefir/cream.

When the pasta is finished, spoon it into your bowl. Pour the sauce on top. Crumble your bacon and add it on top as well. Top it off with some cheese. Salt and pepper to taste.

If you're using garlic paste, put a small bit on top - perhaps a quarter of a teaspoon.

Enjoy! 

Total time: 30 minutes
Serving: 2-3 people

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Recipe: Fermented Cranberry Sauce

I never really liked cranberries growing up. They're pretty sour, and let's be honest, my mother wasn't buying the fresh fruit anyway. If I saw cranberries, it was at Thanksgiving and it was this weird cranberry jelly from a can.

Since I've been doing my own Thanksgiving, I decided to try again with the cranberries. (Also, the boyfriend insisted that he wanted a cranberry dish.)

I'm so happy I made this! And yes, for those wondering, I made this back in November of 2013 and it's still fresh - one of the joys of fermenting foods.

I found the recipe originally on Oh Lardy and it's probably perfect exactly the way she wrote it, but I modified it to reflect ingredients I had on hand. The cranberries in this are not sour, but they're very sweet and the cinnamon really helps balance the whole thing.

Ingredients

4 cups of cranberries

1/2 cup walnuts

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup whey

1/2 cup kombucha vinegar

1 tsp cinnamon

3-4 cloves (ground, if possible)

Juice from 1 orange 

Juice from half lemon

Preparation

Mix all ingredients together in a food processor or blender and pulse until desired consistency. I left mine mostly chunky - you can see some of the whole cranberries that I left.

Add mixture to a mason jar.

Leave at room temperature for 2-3 days to ferment.

Enjoy! Refrigerate to preserve.

Total Time: 2-3 days total, about 10 minutes active work
Serves: Many!

Seriously, in addition to Thanksgiving and eating with meat, I love putting this on my sandwiches. Here it is with some brie right before I grilled it - and you could easily add some spinach as well!

Recipe: Healthy Macaroni & Cheese with Butternut Squash

This chilly weather has me longing for comfort food so of course I needed to whip up some healthy macaroni and cheese.

I know what you're thinking. There's no such thing as healthy macaroni and cheese. But I assure you this is!

I suppose you could also make the argument that this isn't really macaroni and cheese, but despite the random ingredients used to create a cheesy sauce, it tastes like it!

This recipe is modified from the Whole Foods Diet Cookbook, an excellent cookbook that's all about whole, natural foods. The secret to this recipe is that you're not dumping gobs of cheese in the pan; you're creating a sauce with beans and butternut squash as the basis that is then flavored with cheese.

Don't worry, there's still a good amount of cheese in there.

If you have picky eaters, don't tell them the ingredients. They'll love it as long as they don't know.

Oh, and of course I tossed in some other vegetables to make it a more satisfying dish. This is a little more hands on than some of my other recipes, but it makes a big batch and I think it's worth it!

Ingredients

1 15-ounce can of cannellini beans
2 cups butternut squash, cut into cubes
1/4 cup kefir cheese (or cream cheese)
3/4 cup milk kefir (or milk)
3 shallots, diced
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, diced
3 cups chopped shiitake mushrooms, diced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Pepper
Salt
1 tbsp flour
1/2 cup milk kefir (or milk)
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup Monterey Jack, grated
One tbspWorcestershire sauce

3-5 cups of cooked noodles
1/2 cup parmesan, grated
1/2 cup flax, ground
Oil

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Rinse and drain the cannellini beans. Place them, along with the butternut squash, kefir cheese, and 3/4 cup of milk into a blender or processor and blend.

Heat a large skillet over a medium flame. (I used a cast iron skillet because this is also going in the oven - less dishes to wash!) Put a bit of oil in the pan and saute the shallots for 3-5 minutes. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, and thyme and saute for another 3-5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Remove the vegetable mixture from the skillet and set aside. 

(You should probably start boiling the water for the noodles around this time. If you're not sure how to cook your pasta noodles, follow the instructions on the box.)

Place a tablespoon of oil in the large skillet, along with a tablespoon of flour and stir until it thickens into a nice paste. Add the 1/2 cup of milk kefir. The sauce should continue to thicken over the next 3 minutes. If necessary, add more milk kefir to form the sauce.

After the sauce has thickened, add the butternut squash mixture and vegetable mixture into the pan. Add one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce. 

Slowly stir in the grated cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses and stir until melted, about 5-10 minutes. Add the cooked pasta noodles.

If you're cooking this in a cast-iron or otherwise oven safe pan, that's awesome. If not, pout your macaroni and cheese into an oven safe pan.

Mix 1/2 cup parmesan with 1/2 cup of ground flax and a bit of oil in a separate container. This is your "breadcrumb" topping! Sprinkle it on top of your mac and cheese.

Bake for 10 minutes. And enjoy!

Total Time: about 1 hour and 15 minutes 

Serves: 4-8 people

Recipe: Stuffed Bell Peppers, Vegetarian Style

This is one of my favorite meals and I'm so excited to share it with you. It's vegetarian. It's very cheesy. It's a little spicy. It's worth the wait. And if there are any omnivores out there worried about not eating meat, fear not. You'll be very full and hopefully more than satisfied.

I made this last night with a lot of fermented veggies I had in the fridge, and it was the best yet. Of course, you're not getting all the probiotics that way... Below is the recipe. Feel free to sub with fermented veggies if you have them, but it's great with fresh veg as well!

That said, it's not the prettiest thing to look at, but I tried to make it somewhat appealing!

Ingredients
2 red bell peppers
1 small red onions
1/4 cup of garlic brine (or 4-6 garlic cloves)
1 jalapeno (or 1 tbsp cayenne pepper)
1/4 pound of feta cheese
1/2 cup of another soft cheese (blue cheese or goat cheese are my favorite for this!)
1 tbsp dried paprika
1 tbsp dried thyme
1-2 tbsp of yogurt (or milk kefir)
grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup of quinoa

Preparation
Pre-heat the oven to 350.

Slice the bell peppers in half and remove the seeds/stem. Place them hollow side down in an oven safe pan. Put a little olive oil on them and cover with tin foil. Bake for 30 minutes.

While the peppers are roasting away, dice your onions, jalapeno, and garlic if necessary and toss them in a mixing bowl. (If you're using garlic brine, add that as well.) Add the feta cheese, your other soft cheese, paprika, and thyme. Mix well and add the yogurt - just enough to cover everything and really make a nice sauce. If you're using fresh vegetables, you might need to add up to 5 tbsp of yogurt to get everything properly covered.

Remove the bell peppers from the oven after 30 minutes. Take off the tin foil and turn the bell peppers over. Fill the bell peppers with the yogurt mixture and sprinkle grated parmesan cheese on top of each one. Place the bell peppers back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

While the bell peppers are roasting (again), it's time to start the quinoa! You can follow the directions on the packet or, if you don't have any instructions, just double the amount of water to quinoa. For example, boil 1 cup of water with 1/2 cup of quinoa and stir until the water has been absorbed.

And finally I place the stuffed bell peppers on a little bed of quinoa. Enjoy!

Total Time: Approximately 1 hour and 5 minutes
Serves: 2-4 people