15-Minute All-Greens Soup

Serves: 4

¼ cup olive oil plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed
3 zucchini, trimmed and cut into ½-inch pieces
2 celery stalks, trimmed and cut into ½-inch pieces
1 cup snow peas, trimmed and cut into ½-inch pieces
½ bunch loosely-packed kale, stemmed and coarsely chopped
2 cups fresh spinach leaves
1 cup loosely-packed fresh parsley or basil
About 2 cups vegetable broth, chicken broth or water (NOTE: Add more or less liquid to reach your desired consistency.)
Salt and pepper

1. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic; cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Prepare a large bowl with ice water. In a large pot of boiling water, blanch the zucchini, celery and snow peas until fork-tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Dunk into the prepared ice water bowl; drain and pat dry. Blanch the kale, spinach and parsley until bright green, about 45 seconds; drain and pat dry, then squeeze out any extra liquid. Place the onion mixture and half of the blanched vegetables and parsley in a blender; process until smooth. With the motor running, drizzle in the remaining ¼ cup olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Return to the pot, stir in the broth, remaining vegetables and season to taste with salt and pepper; cook over medium heat until heated through, about 5 minutes.

Author's comments:
When I make this soup, I use whatever green vegetables and herbs I have in my fridge’s vegetable drawer. I’ve used kale, asparagus, green beans, sugar snap peas, snow peas, spinach, zucchini, celery, basil, parsley, cilantro. The list goes on and on, really. Please improvise with this recipe. The only ingredient you’ll need to adjust is the broth. Just add enough liquid until you reach your desired consistency. If I have any leftovers and I’m feeling decadent, I’ll melt in some shredded cheddar in the last few minutes of cooking.

But the beauty of blanching goes beyond the superficial. Blanching only takes a few minutes at most and will actually save you time in the long run. After blanching, all you need to do is blend the vegetables with a few more ingredients  and cook the soup on the stovetop just until heated through.
So what is blanching exactly? All it means is that you’re going to bring a large pot of water to a boil, add vegetables and cook until bright green and fork-tender, then you’ll dunk them into a big bowl of ice water and drain.
from Silvana's Kitchen 
http://www.silvanaskitchen.com/gluten-free-dairy-free-greens-soup/ 

Kale Salad - Love it!

1 or more bunches of kale (for a party, 2-3 large bunches is good)
Olive oil
Fresh lemon juice from at least 1/2 a lemon (or bottled)
salt & freshly ground pepper
Chopped nuts (1/4 to 1 c.)
Dried cranberries and raisins (or either one)  (1/4 to 1 c.)
Gorgonzola cheese (1/4 to 1 c.) (or blue cheese, or cheddar in a pinch)
Aim to have enough cheese, nuts, and dried fruit to be part of most bites of the salad

1) Quick Kale Prep (5 min.)
Wash enough kale to over-fill your salad bowl.
Strip the leaves off the stems by holding the stem in one hand, and using the fingers and thumb of your other hand, slide your second hand "up" the kale stem to pull off the leaf.
Wash by putting in a large bowl of water, swishing around, and lifting out.
If it's still sandy, repeat.
Spin dry or wrap in dishtowel to remove most of the water on the leaves.
Stack several leaves of kale on top of each other and cut both lengthwise and crosswise to make confetti-size pieces. (about 1/2" square).
Put into your salad bowl (they'll take up much less room now.

2) Massage the Kale (1 min.)
Sprinkle on olive oil and massage it into the kale with your hands.
As you do, the kale will "wilt" a bit and soften up - a good thing!

3) Complete the Dressing (1 min.):
Sprinkle on lemon juice, salt and freshly ground pepper.
Toss it with the kale, or massage it all together one more time

4) Add in the Special Toppings (2 min):
Crumbled gorgonzola cheese (you can choose another cheese if you prefer).
Mixed dried cranberries & raisins (or some other dried fruit)
Chopped walnuts (or pistachios or some other nuts)

5) Toss it all together (1 min)
Serve (or chill for later)
   and get ready for the ooohs and aahhs!

Even those who insist they "hate" kale, are taken by surprise and love this salad!

And it's so very easy to make. After you assemble your ingredients, you can make this in just 10 min.
Submitted by Patti Andrews

Apple Bundt Cake

¼ c. orange juice

1 c. vegetable oil
2 ½ tsp. vanilla
4 eggs

3 c. flour
3 tsp baking powder
2 c. granulated sugar
½ tsp salt
1 c. chopped nut

Filling:
2 c. apples, peeled and diced
1 Tbs sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
powdered sugar for topping

Beat first four ingredients at high speed until combined. Sift dry ingredients, then blend with first mixture. Fold in nuts. Put 1/3 of batter in a greased bundt pan. Combine filling ingredients and put half of mixture on batter in bundt pan. Add another third of batter and then filling and top with batter. Bake 55-60 minutes at 350 degrees.

Remove cake from pan while hot. Cool cake and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Submitted by Lenore Cadwell

Creamy Pesto Dressing

Makes about 1 ½ cups; use ½ of the recipe for a 10” zucchini pizza

Grind until fine in a blender: 1/4 c raw walnuts or pine nuts
Add to the nuts and blend until smooth:
1 c. fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 small clove of garlic
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/4-3/8 c. water

submitted by Patti Andrews; from The New Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen and Ayurvedic Cooking for Westerners by Amadea Morningstar

Morrocan Orange-Walnut Salad

Serves 4-6 (Note: this takes some time to prep., but it is delicious!)

6 Large Oranges
1 cup thinly sliced radishes
1 Tbs. honey (optional)
3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
½ tsp. cinnamon salt to taste

1 lb. mixed salad greens, cleaned dried and chilled
½ cup thinly sliced red onion

freshly ground black pepper
1 cup toasted walnut halves,
  (or chopped toasted walnuts)

At least one hour ahead: Peel and section the oranges using a serrated knife. First cut off the polar ends of the peel, then slice the peel off the sides. Cut in one side of the membrane and out the other using a gentle sawing motion, releasing each orange section into a bowl. Squeeze all excess juice from the remaining membrane into the bowl, and pick out the seeds if necessary. Discard the membrane. Drizzle honey if desired, and sprinkle cinnamon over the orange slices. Cover the bowl and let it stand at room temp. at least one hour.

Shortly before serving, toss the greens in a large bowl with the onion, radishes and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Just before serving, add the oranges with all their liquid, and toss well. Served topped with walnuts.

Submitted by Cheryl Rowell, from Mollie Katzen’s The Enchanted Broccoli Forest

About... Tat Soi !

Tat soi, also known as "Asian spinach" is a delightful, deep-colored, mild-tasting green leaf with a slight tang in the tasting.

Use it fresh and raw as a great addition to any salad, or in any recipe that uses spinach (a tasty addition to stir fry, pizza, or soup). It's easy to wash by putting it in a bowl of water and swishing around. If it's really sandy, repeat, and then give it a twirl in the salad spinner. Leaves can be left whole, or you can slice the larger ones. Thicker stems may be removed or chopped for a soup or stir fry.

Just as with any deep green, a quick prep is to stir fry it with a bit of olive oil and a minced clove of garlic for just a few minutes until wilted, add salt, pepper, lemon or a hint of cayenne and serve (maybe over a bed of pasta)!

Submitted by Patti Andrews