October 14th, 2014
Ciao from Italy! By the time this post goes up, I will be in the mountains of Abruzzo, having already walked down the streets of Rimini and Venice for the first time in my life. I will already have tasted many fresh and amazing dishes, crossing them off my long list of things to try, one by one. As open as I am to all kinds of food while traveling, I always crave very simple fare when I come back home – vegetables and greens, very much like this salad from Gena’s Hamshaw new cookbook Choosing Raw.
I love Gena’s style, represented so well on her site – easy and informative, full of nutrition advice, but always taking flavor into consideration. I gladly accepted Gena’s offer to send me a copy of her cookbook and already made the Avocado Black Bean Breakfast Scramble, Fig Bars, and this Sweet Potato and Kale Salad – all to delicious results.
Gena’s plant-based recipes, not all of them raw, are fuss-free, and offer options that will satisfy both a rookie and a seasoned cook. What sets the book apart are the many educated answers to your questions about nutrition, veganism and raw food. Being a certified nutritionist herself, Gena provides helpful meal plans for beginners, with higher protein and raw meal options.
This salad is great for fall, with sweet potato as the featured guest. It is simple in preparation and very nourishing – well done Gena!
Sweet Potato and Kale Salad
for the dressing
1 cup cashews – soaked for about 4 hours
1/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chipotle powder
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup water
for the salad
2 sweet potatos – peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt and pepper
1 bunch kale – cut into bite-size pieces
1 red bell pepper – sliced
1/3 cup slivered almonds
to make the dressing
Combine all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.
to make the salad
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Toss sweet potatoes with oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 20-25 minutes until soft. Cool for 15 minutes.
2. Massage 1/2 dressing into the kale in a large mixing bowl, until the kale softens. Add in the pepper slices, potatoes and the rest of the dressing. Mix to combine.
3. Serve right away with some slivered almonds sprinkled on top.
Note: Gena uses all of the dressing for this salad, but I used less, as I like my salads dressed lightly. I saved the rest of the dressing for another salad.
Tags: kale, pepper, salad, sweet potato
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April 1st, 2014
I’ll start off by saying how grateful and excited we are to be nominees in Saveur’s Best Food Blog Awards. The company we’re in is amazing, and it truly is an honor. If you enjoy our recipes and photos, please consider voting for Golubka Kitchen in the Special Diets category – it would mean the world!
Finding time to spend in the kitchen is never easy. Between work, school, children and taxes, cooking can quickly become the last thing you want to worry about as your tired self. I think one of the most challenging things to plan for is lunch to take to work or school. But bringing lunch instead of buying it is much more economical, will most likely be healthier and, dare I say, even tastier.
What I like to do is prepare a few separate components over the weekend, which can quickly be assembled into a big, tasty salad on the weekdays. Beans, legumes or grains are an important base – they will keep you nourished and full. A variety of roasted or steamed vegetables will add flavour and juice. Olives and maybe even a nice, soft cheese like Bulgarian feta will contribute a bit of depth and salt. Sliced avocado is always great for its natural fats. Garnish with herbs, seeds or nuts, lay it all on a bed of greens, and after a squeeze of lemon and maybe a drizzle of olive oil, you will have yourself a lunch. No dressing necessary. The valuable thing about this kind of recipe is that all the components can be prepared ahead of time, and you can always keep switching them up when you assemble, so as not to get tired of eating the same thing. I find that having your own home cooking for lunch at work is quite comforting, and it always tastes extra delicious.
Weekday Salad Components
1. Eggplant
Preheat oven to 400F (200C). Cut eggplant in half lengthwise and score diagonally. Sprinkle with salt, optionally brush with olive oil. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until soft, depending on the size. Keep refrigerated in an air tight container. If you’re not into eggplants, grilled zucchini will work great too.
2. Roasted Bell Peppers
Cut peppers in quarters, remove seeds. Place on a large baking tray with minimal overlapping and bake for 20 minutes at 400F (200C). Alternatively, turn on the broiler and place whole peppers on a foil-covered tray under the broiler. Check and turn peppers frequently until all the skin is burnt. Remove and cover to let sweat, until cool. Peel the skin away. Slice and remove the stem and seeds, keep refrigerated.
3. Beans and Legumes
Pre-soak and cook any kind of beans and or lentils until soft, drain, and let cool. Or rinse canned beans. I like a variety of beans such as chickpeas, kidney, black, white, puy or black lentils, etc. – any will do. To keep things even lighter and healthier, you can sprout your beans/lentils instead of cooking them. Add sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste to your cooked or sprouted beans, add a small amount of minced garlic and plenty of fresh herbs, such as dil, parsley, cilantro, mint, basil – whatever you prefer. I’m partial to dill and parsley here. Squeeze a generous amount of lemon juice over and lightly drizzle with olive oil. Mix to combine thoroughly. The salad will become more flavorful after marinating in the refrigerator for some time. Alternatively, make your favourite grains.
4. Good Olives
I love Cerignola and Castelvetrano, which can usually be found at the salad bars of health food stores and Italian markets.
5. Other add-ons:
Sliced cucumbers
Cherry tomatoes
Sliced avocado
This Shredded Beet Salad
Sauerkraut
Fresh salad greens
Goat’s and/or sheep’s milk feta cheese
Lemons
Nuts/seeds
Assembly
Assemble any way you like! I like to arrange salad greens on a plate or in salad bowl. Top with a small amount of chopped grilled eggplant and sliced roasted peppers. Add a tablespoon or two of beans, olives, avocado and cheese and squeeze more lemon juice over, together with olive oil (even though it’s optional here). Grind more of black pepper on top, if desired.
Optionally, add a scoop of beet salad, if using. Add sauerkraut, cucumbers and tomatoes instead of or together with other ingredients. Enjoy!
Tags: beans, eggplant, lentils, olives, salad
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November 25th, 2013
As healthy as I always try to feed Paloma, and as many green smoothies and juices she drinks daily, I never dreamt of her eating a green salad, despite my frequent attempts to get her to like it. Everything changed this fall, when our growing season began. All kinds of delicious, crispy greens from local organic farms are in abundance at the market at this time of year, and this is the prime time for salads.
The other day, Paloma was observing me making a salad for her dad and announced that it smells good and she would like some. I was convinced that it would be another failed try, but she cleaned out the bowl in no time and asked for more. Since that evening, she’s been eating two servings of green salad daily, and I suspect that my pomegranate molasses dressing is key to this miraculous transformation in taste. I usually turn to pomegranate molasses every fall and use it to sprinkle on pretty much everything, it’s one of those special, delicious ingredients perfect for this time of year.
The salad that I’m sharing with you today is hearty, but bright and crispy at the same time. And of course it is accompanied by the dressing that turned my five year old into a salad enthusiast. It is hard to get enough of and would be a great addition to any Thanksgiving table. Happy holidays, enjoy your time with family and friends!
Shaved Brussels Sprout, Pomegranate and Lentil Salad
(serves 8-10)
for the salad
1 cup black or puy (French) lentils
1 cup shelled edamame
10-15 brussels sprouts
1 pomegranate – seeds
about 1/4 red kuri, kabocha or butternut squash- shredded
for the dressing
5 tablespoons grapeseed, sunflower or olive oil
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
1 tablespoons mustard
generous squeeze of lemon juice – optional
sea salt and freshly squeezed black pepper
to make the salad
1. Cover the lentils with water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes or until soft. Add a generous pinch of salt at the end, drain and let cool.
2. Bring a large amount of well-salted water to a boil and blanch edamame for about one minute. Immediately transfer to an ice bath to stop the cooking. Alternatively, you can just thaw edamame and leave raw.
3. Trim the brussels sprouts and shred them in a food processor with a shredding attachment.
4. Combine all of the salad ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together all the dressing ingredients in a separate bowl until smooth.
5. Pour the dressing over the salad, toss to coat and serve. Alternatively, keep the salad and dressing refrigerated separately, in air-tight containers until ready to serve. Dress the salad as you go, individually in serving bowls.
Tags: brussels sprouts, lentils, pomegranate, recipe, salad
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September 9th, 2013
This post is also available in: French
This week, I’ve really been craving vegetables – I always do – but it comes in waves, some are bigger than others. This was a particularly big wave, and I wanted something pure, nourishing and full of flavor.
As much as I love Indian food, the thought of curry rarely crosses my mind during the hot summer months. But as soon as the first, brief chill arrives in the air, I quickly start thinking about warming spices. This recipe is far from traditional curry, but a perfect combination of the still summery, raw and crunchy vegetables with the creaminess of fragrant curry sauce. The dish is not entirely raw, as I use roasted pumpkin seeds, which are important for the texture and amazing flavour. You can omit the lemongrass to simplify, if you wish.
I have been using this julienne peeler a whole lot lately to make all kinds of vegetable noodles, which is a fun way to present vegetables in salads and main dishes. It has its advantages over the spiralizer, which I like a lot as well. The peeler makes thicker noodles and works better for softer vegetables such as cucumber and zucchini. It is cheap and doesn’t take up much space in the kitchen. The spiralizer works better with hard vegetables like carrots, or round shapes like beets and turnips.
In other news, our wonderful translator, Géraldine Olivo, who has been supplying Golubka readers with French translations of our recipes, is coming out with a new cookbook. The book is titled Fleurs en cuisine and features recipes that include edible flowers – fresh, dried or in the form of waters and essential oils. It is out on the 12th of September, learn more about it here.
Lemongrass Mango Curry
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 bunch cilantro – hard stems removed
about 1 cup basil leaves, plus handful for garnish
handful mint leaves, plus more for garnish
1/2 garlic clove – minced
1 ripe sweet mango – peeled and pitted
3 lemongrass stalks – chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1-inch piece ginger – peeled and minced
1/4 small jalapeno – seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon curry powder or to taste (I used muchi curry)
squeeze of honey
generous squeeze of lime juice
sea salt to taste
1 large daikon radish – thinly julienned
1 medium zucchini – thinly julienned
1-2 red, yellow or orange bell peppers – seeded and thinly julienned
1/2 cauliflower head – chopped into small, bite-size florets
1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Toss the pumpkin seeds with olive oil and salt and spread on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Toast for 10 minutes until puffed up and golden.
2. Add half of the toasted pumpkin seeds into a food processor along with the cilantro, basil, mint and garlic. Process until well combined and leave in the food processor.
3. Meanwhile, combine the mango flesh and lemongrass in a high-speed blender, blending until smooth. Strain and discard the solids.
4. Add the lemongrass-mango puree to the food processor, along with the ginger, jalapeno, curry powder, honey, lime juice and salt to taste. Process until well combined.
5. In a large mixing bowl combine the daikon radish, zucchini, bell pepper and cauliflower pieces. Add in the mango-curry sauce and reserved 1/2 portion of toasted pumpkin seeds. Toss well to combine. Garnish with basil and mint leaves and serve.
Tags: cauliflower, curry, daikon radish, herbs, lemongrass, mango, pumpkin seeds, recipe, salad, zucchini
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