ginger

Double-Ginger Gingerbread Granola

December 9, 2013 by Erica

Double-Ginger Gingerbread Granola

It’s been a while since we talked about granola… so let’s make today about my favorite crunchy snack.

Granola is one of my biggest food weaknesses. If it’s visible in my apartment, I want to be eating it. That is great when it comes to things like dreaming up new granola flavors to make for you! Not so great when I have several test batches of said granola sitting around the kitchen all weekend. They may as well be tapping me on the shoulder, begging to be eaten.

These are the kinds of problems I have in my life. Remember Friday’s post about feeling lucky? Mmm hmm.

Double-Ginger Gingerbread Granola

This is not your bland garden-variety granola. Two types of ginger (ground and crystallized!) pack some serious zing. I would go so far as to say that you must love ginger to enjoy this granola. If you don’t? More for the rest of us, as my mom would say. (And Mom loves ginger.)

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Massaged Kale and Veggie Salad with Toasted Ramen

May 10, 2013 by Erica

Massaged Kale and Veggie Salad with Toasted Ramen

This was originally supposed to be a soba noodle salad.

The other day at work, I got really fixated on making one. I just knew it would be perfect with the various leftover veggies lurking in my crisper. I wouldn’t even have to go to the store! Major success.

Then I got home and found we had no soba noodles. Major failure.

Massaged Kale Salad with Veggies and Toasted Ramen

So I went to the grocery store. AND THEY ALSO HAD NO SOBA NOODLES.

What. The. Hell.

So back home I went, dug wayyyy to the back of my (very deep) cabinet, and pulled out some ramen noodles. Cha-ching! Salads with ramen noodles are totally a thing. I know because my mom and grandma make one, and that makes them official. And also delicious. A few minutes later, I was digging into this!

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Roasted Carrot and Chickpea Salad with Miso Ginger Dressing

April 29, 2013 by Erica

Roasted Carrot and Chickpea Salad with Miso Ginger Dressing

Sometimes doing the same thing over and over again is a bad thing. It’s called getting stuck in a rut.

But sometimes doing the same thing over and over again is a good thing. You’re hitting your stride. Perfecting the art. Getting it down to a science.

What I just learned from writing those sentences is that sports, art and science all involve doing the same thing over and over again. And I often feel like cooking is all three of those things! Definitely art. Definitely science. If you’re skeptical about the sports bit, you should see the sweat I can work up trying to get three dishes ready at the same time. It probably counts as my workout for the day, right? I thought so.

Roasted Carrot and Chickpea Salad with Miso Ginger Dressing

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ve been roasting a lot of vegetables lately. I’ve put them in tacos, I’ve had them on lentils, I’ve eaten them as sushi, I’ve called them poutine. April has kind of been The Month of the Roasted Vegetables around here. Stride = hit. Art = perfected. Science = …gotten down to? Sure. All of those things.

And so, just as the weather is getting warm enough here in Salt Lake that I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be wanting to turn my oven on, here is another roasted vegetable recipe. And it’s a really good one, too, this time over kale for Dole National Salad Day on Wednesday.

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Double Rainbow Layered Salad with Lemon Ginger Dressing

March 22, 2013 by Erica

Double Rainbow Layered Salad with Lemon Ginger Dressing

Thank you for all your sweet birthday wishes yesterday! It means so much. I had a great birthday, and I even got to eat one of the cupcakes leftover from yesterday’s blog post. I love it when the leftovers stick around that long!

Sometimes, like yesterday, I like to eat a cupcake… or two. And sometimes, especially after two weeks of experimenting with cupcake recipes, I like to eat a salad.

Then, because I ate a salad, I can totally justify a cupcake. I love the way that works.

So here is this week’s salad, which might be one of my all-time favorites. And that’s a good thing, because I have a lot of cupcakes to ~~make up for~~ earn!

Double Rainbow Layered Salad

This salad is a combination of all my favorite salad-y things. Red cabbage, which is randomly (but truly) one of my favorite foods. Quinoa and spelt, which are not only some more of my favorite foods, but make this salad much heartier than it would otherwise be. And then edamame, carrots, green onions, and pepitas for more protein, sweetness, flavor and crunch. Not to mention the the light and lemony dressing, which adds the perfect zing.

What could be better than all your favorite healthy foods stacked together in a cute and portable jar?

Not much, I’ll tell you that. In fact, when you taste it, you just might start yelling, OH MY GOD, DOUBLE RAINBOW!

Sorry for that reference. I know it’s so 2010. I just couldn’t resist.

This salad makes the absolute best leftovers (as long as you keep the dressing separate), which is key in my life. I’ve been eating it for lunch all week!

Double Rainbow Layered Salad with Lemon Ginger Dressing

All the ingredients are very sturdy, which also means the salad is super crunchy. (Spelt and red cabbage will do that.) So I may have even liked it best on day 3 or 4, when it was a bit easier on the jaw. (To make it less crunchy, you can put the red cabbage in a strainer and pour a pot of boiling water over it. This will soften it up a bit, but I didn’t bother.)

Enjoy this salad and have a fantastic weekend!

Double Rainbow Layered Salad with Lemon Ginger Dressing

5.0 from 1 reviews

Double Rainbow Layered Salad with Lemon Ginger Dressing

Hands-on time

10 mins

Cook time

50 mins

Total time

1 hour

Author: Erica

Yields: 5-6 servings

Ingredients

For the salad:

1 cup uncooked spelt berries
1 cup uncooked quinoa
4 cups shredded red cabbage
2 cups grated carrot (about 2 large carrots)
2 cups shelled cooked edamame, defrosted if frozen
6 green onions, sliced
½ cup pepitas

For the dressing:

½ cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
heaping Tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1 tsp honey
2 Tbsp olive oil
2-4 Tbsp water
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

In separate small pots, bring spelt berries and quinoa to a boil with 1 1/2 cups water each. Simmer until tender but still chewy, 50-60 minutes for the spelt berries and about 15 minutes for the quinoa. Drain excess water and set aside to cool. This can be done ahead of time.
While grains cook, prepare the salad dressing. Blend all ingredients together with an immersion blend (or regular blender).
To assemble salad, layer ingredients in single-serving jars or clear bowls. You can also layer the entire salad in a large clear bowl, or just toss all ingredients together. Serve alongside dressing. Will keep for up to a week in the fridge (with dressing separate).

Notes

Inspired by Oh She Glows.

Asian Noodle Soup To Cure a Cold (Vegan)

January 9, 2013 by Erica

I guess I forgot to knock on wood last week when I said that I had a cold, but wasn’t going to stay home from work.

On Friday morning, I woke up coughing and sneezing all over everything. Gross.

I thought I was done with colds this winter, after fighting one off just before the holidays, but it turns out that was wroooong. And based on my recollection of getting sick right around the Bachelor premier 2 years ago, apparently I get sick at this time every year.

It doesn’t help that it’s been absolutely freezing in Salt Lake for the past week – highs in the teens. Who wouldn’t get sick?

So on Friday morning, instead of going into work, I cuddled up on the couch with my laptop, a box of tissues and a cup of tea.

Tea is good… but soup is better.

Luckily, I also had the ingredients to make this soup.

Soup fixes everything. So I made it and proceeded to eat it for lunch and dinner all weekend.

What is it about soup that makes me feel so much better – nature or nurture? It must be both… warm fragrant broth to warm you up from the inside out and clear the sinuses, plus the recollection of exactly the same sensation every time you’ve been sick since childhood.

Mmmmm… yep, nothing better to cheer you up when you’re sick than hot, noodley soup.

So can I recommend that you make this immediately? If it’s cold where you live, if you’re coming down the the sniffles, if your boyfriend or roommate or co-worker just sneezed… take action and cook up a big pot of (vegan!) soup. And don’t forget the sriracha… or tissues!

4.8 from 4 reviews

Asian Noodle Soup To Cure a Cold (Vegan)

Hands-on time

5 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

30 mins

This fragrant vegan soup will warm you to your toes. Recommended for times when you're sick and feeling sorry for yourself.

Author: Erica

Yields: 3-4 bowls of soup

Ingredients

1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 heaping Tbsp chopped fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 a jalapeno, seeds removed and thinly sliced
6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (preferably one without tomatoes, such as Whole Foods 365 Organic)
3 green onions plus extra for serving, sliced
3 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tsp rice vinegar
3 baby bok choy, chopped
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
1 carrot, peeled and sliced into very thin coins
7 oz extra-firm tofu, cubed
5 oz soba noodles
chopped cilantro, for serving
sriracha sauce, for serving

Instructions

In a large pot, heat sesame oil over medium high heat. Once hot, add ginger and garlic and saute until fragrant, 2-3 minutes. Add jalapeno, vegetable broth, and green onions. Cover and simmer 10-15 minutes.
While broth is simmering, cook soba noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside. (These are cooked separately to keep your nice broth from getting murky!)
Strain broth into a large bowl. (This step is optional, but I prefer to remove the solids.) Once strained, pour broth back into pot. Add soy sauce, rice vinegar, vegetables, and tofu, and simmer until veggies are heated through, 1-2 minutes. Add soba noodles and heat for 1 more minute, until both noodles and broth are hot.
Remove soup from heat and ladle into bowls. Serve alongside sliced green onions, chopped cilantro, and sriracha.
Note: This soup is best eaten immediately, as it won't reheat well once the vegetables and noodles have been added. If you're planning to have leftovers, I recommend saving half the broth just after straining and before adding anything else. For leftovers, you can assemble the bowl of soup just before reheating, which will prevent mushy veggies and noodles.

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