Quinoa is high in protein and has more essential amino acids than most grains. With oats and walnuts, it makes a filling breakfast. Walnuts contribute to your daily intake of omega 3s. The apples and cherries add sweetness to complement the savory spices. Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups milk (soy, rice, nut, or dairy)
• 3 cups water
• 1 ½ cups oats
• ½ cup quinoa, rinsed several times
• Vanilla bean pod or 1 Tsp vanilla extract
• Cloves, nutmeg, cardamom –1/2 tsp each
• Cinnamon – 1 tsp
• ½ cup chopped and toasted walnuts
• 2 gala, or your favorite, apples
• ½ cup fresh cherries (optional / if in season)
• 1 lemon

Directions:

1. To toast the walnuts, spread them whole out on an oven-safe dish or baking sheet and toast them in a pre-heat 350°F oven for 10-minutes, or until golden brown. Slide the walnuts off the baking sheet to stop the cooking. Once cooled, chop them into small pieces. 
2. Dice apples into small pieces. Cut cherries in half and discard the pits. Put them in a small casserole dish with a tablespoon of fresh-squeezed lemon juice. Put in the 350°F for 20-30 minutes, until soft.
3. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, bring the milk and water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the oats, quinoa, spices, pinch of sea salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes, until creamy. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes.
4. Spoon the porridge into bowls and top with the walnuts and fruit.

This is my daily staple for getting all of nature's best in one serving.  This is just a basic guide.  You can try different herbs and veggies.  Essential ingredients for the right flavor and texture are the avocado, lemon and ginger.  Quality of ingredients is crucial when making a raw soup like this.  Fresh, organic, and local/in-season is more important than ever!

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of kale (may also use chard or spinach)
• 1 large avocado (or 2 small ones)
• 1 lemon
• 1 apple, peeled and cored
• 1 tomato, cut in half w/out stem
• 1 inch (or more) chunk of ginger, peeled
• 3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup of fresh herbs (cilantro, basil, parsley, oregano - any/all)
• 4 cups of fresh filtered water
• 2 tbsp Dulse flakes
• 1/4 tspn celtic sea salt
• 1/4 tspn cumin or cayenne (optional)

Directions

Clean all veggies well and allow to drip dry.

I use a VitaMix, and I'm not sure how well this will work without a heavy-duty blender like the one I have. 

Put the heavier veggies to the bottom of your blender (carrots, tomato, apple), then stuff the greens, avocado meat, add water, and squeeze the lemon.  Blend well, using the tamper tool to push the ingredients down without touching blade.

I add the dulse after all the other ingredients are well-blended, so that it stays in its flake form and isn't too processed.

Ingredients

• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup plain dried breadcrumbs (gluten free!)
• 12 ounces lean ground turkey
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 cup peeled, shredded carrots

Directions

Whisk egg and 2 tablespoons water in medium bowl to blend. Mix in breadcrumbs; let stand 5 minutes. Add turkey, Parmesan cheese, parsley, carrots, garlic, salt, and pepper; gently stir to blend. Using wet hands, shape turkey mixture into 1 1/4-inch-diameter meatballs. Place on baking sheet; cover and chill 30 minutes.

Fry in olive oil or bake for healthier alternative.

Ingredients

1/2 cup dry Adzuki Beans
1 Sweet Potato
1/2 cup uncooked Quinoa
1 clove of Shallot, minced
1 clove of Garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh Ginger, minced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 egg

Prep

Soak Adzuki Beans for at least four hours
Peel Sweet Potato and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Directions

1. Prepare Quinoa
2. Use pressure cooker, if you have, or a large saucepan otherwise.  Add 1 can of Coconut Milk to Sweet Potato, Adzuki Beans, plus one can full of water.  Cook until beans are soft (about 45 minutes in a pressure cooker).
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients including one egg.  Mix well.  Add salt, pepper and cayenne (optional).
4. Scoop mixture into a 1/2 cup measuring cup onto a greased cookie sheet (I use Silpat instead of oil).  Refrigerate for 15-minutes.
5. Heat 2 tbsp of Olive Oil over Medium High heat.  Once the oil is shimmering, place patties in the pan.  Turn after four minutes.  Remove after another four minutes.

Serve with sauce of your liking. I've used both hummus and guacamole.  Both great.

Side dish of Sauteed Kale with garlic and shallots is a great complement, too.

I'm currently reading, Born To Run. In it, journalist Christopher McDougall describes a reclusive tribe of Mexican ultramarathoners - the Tarahumara - hoping to find the secret of their endurance.  The Tarahumara, aka "the running people," run 50 or 100 miles at a time for pure enjoyment, seemingly without effort.

Long-distance running legend Joe Vigil also studied the Tarahumara and among the things he took-away was to "eat like a poor person."  What does this mean?  Well, I'm still trying to figure that out, but the Tarahumara diet consists mostly of pinto beans, squash, chili peppers, wild greens, pinole, and lots of chia.

Here are some recipes I intend to try:
http://www.nomeatathlete.com/tarahumara-pinole-chia-recipes/

It felt like a Top Chef challenge.  I sent Adam to the store for all of the ingredients.  There were the things that I forgot and there were those that the store didn't have.  So, I had to make it work with what I had.

Ingredients

• 2 ears of corn (or 1 cup frozen)
• 1 16 oz can of diced tomatoes in chipotles*
• 1 bunch of spinach
• 2 cups crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1/4 cup feta cheese (goat or sheep is my preference)
• Corn tortillas
• Guacamole

* I usually make Spinach & Mushroom Enchiladas with a Tomatillo/Verde sauce.  I think the sour taste is a great compliment to the savory mushrooms.  The smokey chipotle flavor, however, was really nice.  The crunchy, bright corn makes all the difference.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375-degrees.
2. I prepared the corn by peeling off the husks and boiling in water for 5-minutes.  Remove from the hot water and cool immediately.
3. Clean mushrooms (wipe down with moist paper towel), remove stems and slice.  Sautee mushrooms and onion in a bit of olive oil until they just start to squeek. (Really, they squeek.)  Add spinach for the last minute of sautee to wilt.
4. I grabbed some fresh chives from my garden.  Chopped it up and mixed it in with the feta cheese.  Add a little lemon juice and even lemon zest to this mixture.  (Note: I only used a very small amount of feta.  Since it's such a strong cheese, a little goes a long way.)
5. Once the corn is cool, cut the kernals off the cob and mix together with the mushroom, spinach and feta. 
6. Now, stuff each tortilla, roll, stack in a casserole dish.  Top the rolled tortillas with tomato sauce.  Top with a bit of remaining veggie and cheese mix.  Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until warmed through.  (If you find it challenging to roll the tortillas, you can do this same recipe lasagna style by layering tortillas, veggie mixture and sauce.)
7. Serve with guacamole (and salsa, if you like). Enjoy!

 
Serves 2
This is my recipe.

Ingredients

1 leek
1 cup frozen peas
1 medium-sized halibut filet
1 tablespoon ground tarragon
Olive oil 

Directions

Preheat over to 350°F.

Slice leeks in thin rings. I clean leeks after slicing them. (They’re usually very dirty.)

In a mortar and pestle, grind tarragon. Or use already ground tarragon. You need about a tablespoon.

Coat the top-side of the halibut with tarragon. Leave the skin on the backside while cooking.

Wrap the halibut in parchment paper and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until cooked through. You don’t want to overcook the fish, so keep an eye on it.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan over medium heat, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Add the leeks. Sautee over medium heat for 10-minutes. Add the peas for the last five minutes.

Remove skin from halibut. Serve with leeks and peas on top.

Odopod old-timers will appreciate instructions on how to make this much-loved recipe from Modern Tea.  When Alice Cravens closed her Hayes Valley restaurant, many of us bemoaned the end of her Quinoa Chowder.  While pregnant, I had a serious hankering for some and wrote to her.  She generously gave me some tips.

It is reminiscent of my mom’s Chicken and Dumplings.  That decadent treat is a rather time-consuming endeavor and is generally reserved for Thanksgiving.  This recipe, however, can be whipped up in 20-minutes when you already have stock and chicken prepared.

Serves 4-6
Adapted from Alice Cravens of Modern Tea, formerly in Hayes Valley, San Francisco.

Ingredients

32 oz chicken stock
1 cup of cooked chicken meat, shredded
1-2 jalapeno, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
2-3 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and chunked
1 lime
1 cup fresh spinach
1 cup cooked quinoa
Salt & pepper

Directions

In a large soup pot, sautee jalapeno and garlic in olive oil until tender.

Add broth, lime juice and potatoes.  Bring to boil.  Lower to simmer and cook until potatoes are tender (about 30-minutes).

Meanwhile, prepare quinoa.  If you buy boxed quinoa, follow instructions on the box.  It’s 1 cup of dry grains to 2 cups of water.  Prepare anywhere from ½ to 1 cup, depending upon how much you like quinoa.  Bring water and quinoa to a boil, then cover and simmer for 15-minutes (until water is absorbed).  Drain off excess water.

Once the potatoes have tenderized, take the stock mixture and blend to a smooth puree.  Be careful when blending hot liquids.  Remove the plastic cap from your blender lid and cover with a towel.  This allows the steam (and associated pressure) to escape.

Return stock mixture to pot.  Add chicken and spinach.  Season with salt and pepper.  Taste and add more lime juice, if desired.

To serve, scoop quinoa into each bowl (1/3 of the final portion size) then scoop in your soup.  Mix together. 

Note: I generally have soup left over and have found that it’s best to keep the quinoa and soup apart when storing.  If you’re going to eat it all in one sitting, go ahead and add quinoa to soup mixture before serving.

In switching from a vegetarian-diet to a partially carnivorous one, I aim to eat only poultry that is organic and free-range (“natural” doesn’t count).  Yes, it’s very expensive, so it’s not an everyday staple.  One way to reduce cost is to buy a whole bird, and then use all the meat and make a broth. 

The first time that I cut up a whole bird myself, I cried.  And, not just a little cry, it was a big, sobbing one.  So now, I ask the butcher to cut it up for me, and I thank her profusely every time.

Ingredients

1 whole chicken
½ onion
1 whole carrot, peeled
1 garlic clove, peeled
½ lemon or lime
Herbs, cook’s choice (thyme, oregano, rosemary, etc)
Salt & pepper

Directions

Place cut-up chicken in pot and cover with about 4 cups of water. 

Add ½ onion, fresh herbs, carrot, garlic clove, fresh ground pepper and ½ - 1 tsp salt, and ½ lemon or lime. 

Bring water to boil, lower to simmer and place lid on pot so that some steam can escape, and let simmer until chicken ready to fall from bones (approx. 2 hours). 

Pour through colander and capture broth, and let chicken parts cool until you can remove meat from bones. 

Place bones and parts (skin, etc.) in pot and add 2 cups of water and bring to boil and then let simmer an hour.  You’ll gain another 1-2 cups of broth for soup.

If you want to skim off the fat, let the broth cool, then put in fridge overnight (or for several hours).  Once broth has visibly separated, use a mesh skimmer to sweep-off the top layer of fat.

 
Easy, simple to make and fills the house with warming scents of clove and thyme.  Use French green lentils; they maintain their integrity (by that I mean, shape and texture) and are so pretty and elegant.

Serving size depends upon amount of stock you use.
This is my Mom’s recipe.

Ingredients

1 whole peeled onion
1 whole clove
1 bayleaf
1 pound green lentils
32 oz. chicken stock
2 tsp fresh thyme
2 chopped cloves of garlic
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Stick clove into peeled, whole onion. 

Rinse lentils. 

Place onion, bayleaf, lentils, 32 oz. of chicken stock in soup pot and bring to a boil. 

Reduce to low and simmer until lentils of done to your liking.   It may be necessary to add more stock if you prefer soupier.  Mom typically adds another 24-32 oz. 

Remove onion and bayleaf and add thyme, garlic and salt & pepper to taste. 

Heat through and serve.  Yummy when served with fresh chopped mint sprinkled on top.