Red Miso with Noodles and Seaweed

This is an excellent breakfast, lunch or dinner.  It is hydrating for the body which makes it especially good post-party meal.  After all the fourth of July festivities, your body will thank you!

Red Miso with Rice Noodles and Seaweed
serves 1

1-2 TBS red miso
just boiled water
cooked rice noodles
1-2 TBS wakame, rehydrated
soy sauce, optional

Bring a pot of water to a boil, or close to it.  Use 1-2 TBS red miso, mix with 1 to 1 1/2 cups of hot water.  Make sure that you don't boil the miso as it will kill all the good bacteria in the miso.  Add a handful of noodles and rehydrated seaweed.  I also like to add a bit of soy sauce.

Happy Summer!

Creamy Mashed Potato Salad with Eggs and Fennel

I like to stretch my boundaries a wee bit.  Alright, alright, a lot, okay I admit it.  I like to stretch them like a yoga posture.  Flexibility and strength... oh, and I made this awesome creamy mashed potato salad too.  I like to make sure I have a lot of time with friends, especially during the warm summer months.  My friend and I organized a weekly dinner/ BBQ at Maxwelton beach, which got me thinking about BBQ food.  I mean that traditional fat inducing American fare, not my usual thing.  I know, I usually don't post too much Americana, but like I said that's where the stretching, flexibility comes in.  What's wrong with a wee bit of comfort food, I mean really??

So here it is, partly courtesy of the great blog, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, is a lovely Creamy Mashed Potato Salad.  I changed the recipe to fit with the ingredients that I have available at my house.  Instead of pickles/and or dill I used fresh fennel and thyme.  I added garlic powder, an extra egg and less mayo than the recipe calls for.  Plus I used Vegenaise instead of regular mayonnaise.  Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with good 'ol mayo, but I really like the Vegenaise

The Mostly Homemade Pizza

Although I love baking I really have not experimented too much with it.  When I say baking I mean working with flour.  In the past I have been more interested in fresh foods.  For several years I avoided wheat due to a sensitivity I had to it.  The habit of avoiding it has stayed with me, at least to some degree, and helps me branch out.  I consider using grains that some people wouldn't.  I also practiced a raw diet for a year.  I'll have to blog about that sometime.  There is a story there.  I am more interested in enjoying food nowadays so I don't put any specific restrictions on what I cook.

I imagine you are wondering when the homemade pizza comes into the story.  The mostly homemade pizza.  Being the wheat-challenged person that I am, when I saw that Trader Joes sells already made pizza dough, I grabbed up a bag of pesto pizza dough and plain pizza dough (Marina's choice).  I even managed to wait until the dough was about to expire before getting up my pizza-making nerve.

Barbequed Lime and Lamb Sandwich

Here on Whidbey Island there is this great little grocery store called The Star Store in downtown Langley.  It is packed full of food, with lots of natural and organic options.  It is a short walk or drive from my house so I end up shopping there a lot.  I made this lamb sandwich with ground lamb patties I got from the Star Store.  You could make it with any ground lamb.  We BBQ'd the lamb along with beef patties because the girls aren't too fond of ground lamb.  Add fresh tomatoes, avocado, lettuce tossed with olive oil and squeezed lime, all on sprouted bread and you have a healthy and filling sandwich for lunch or dinner.

Barbecued Lime and Lamb Sandwich  
makes one sandwich
2 slices of sprouted bread (I use Ezekial Sprouted Sesame bread)
wedge of lime
olive oil
1 lamb patty
1/2 avocado
2 slices of tomato
romaine lettuce, chopped
mayonnaise
provolone cheese

Barbecue the lamb patty and melt provolone cheese on it. Toast the sprouted bread and spread mayo on both slices of bread.  Use a fork to squish and spread avocado on one slice.  Add sliced tomatoes and BBQ lamb with melted cheese on avocado.  Mix a dash of olive oil with a squeezed lime slice.  Use a fork to mix it well.  Toss chopped Romaine lettuce with the lime-olive oil dressing.  Top the lamb with the Romaine and the other slice of bread.  Enjoy!