"Spaghetti and Meatballs"

I confess, I get a lot of inspiration from Russell James. He makes raw recipes seem easy and the photography is so beautiful how can I not want to make something! (I don't watch the instructional videos, but as I type this I wonder how much more I could learn.)

So everything here is inspired by him, except I cheated and used feta cheese.

The spaghetti was the easiest thing in the world. It's simply zucchini! I remembered that we had a mandolin and that it should have blades allowing thin ribbon slices. And guess what! It totally did! I was psyched. Making the zucchini was a piece of cake. Actually easier than whatever that phrase is supposed to mean. (Maybe I should think more highly of cake)

The day before however I made the "meatballs". I combined shelled almonds, flax meal, an onion, a splash of water, nutritional yeast, fresh parsley, basil, oregano, lemon juice in the blender, formed them into balls, and placed them in the dehydrator. I was definitely worried since it was a much lighter color than I wanted it to be but after spending the night in the dehydrator they'd darkened.

The tomato sauce is pretty easy, tomatoes both fresh and dried, garlic, olive oil (I used the super good stuff) fresh basil in the food processor.

More leftover pictures

Potato salad the way it's meant to be. Parboiled baby red potatoes, with feta, lemon juice, fresh dill, and spring onions. 

Pork chops seared in butter with apples and sage

Garden fresh pepper (literally picked in our back yard) stuffed with turkey sausage and served with seared brussel sprouts and leeks.

Mini burgers served with sauteed squash and onions.

A bone in kobe rib eye was first soaked in red wine and salt then seared over high heat to capture a full Maillard browning. The rib eye is accompanied with farm fresh green beans tossed with onions, peppers, garlic, and spices.

Capon chicken roasted with vegetables. Adorable!

Older Pictures

"Macaroni and Cheese" Quinoa pasta with a  bechemal sauce made with sauteed onions, jalepenos, and a monteray Jack. Served with apple chicken sausage and blanched broccoli.

 Fresh swordfish lightly salted and seared in olive oil before being finished with a soy garlic lime sauce and topped with delicate pieces of roasted parsley and ginger. Accompanying the fish is red grain rice over spinach that has been wilted in a chardonnay garlic steam and a small side of crisped parsnips.

Homemade bagels surrounding an apple crisp treat.

the homemade onion bagel served with cream cheese, red onion, and capers

"Linguine" tossed in a cheese sauce and fresh basil then topped with garden fresh tomatoes and served with a swirl of red pepper sauce. The linguine is made out of thinly sliced parsnips and carrots, the cheese is a blend of macadamias, cashews, and lemon juice. 

Close up and personal with brussel sprouts on the stalk.

What is this? A gorgous autumn carnival squash?

Open it and you reveal a butternut squash soup!

mmm, soup. Topped with some smoked paprika and cilantro.

What to say? One pot meals are the best! The beef was seared then placed  on the bed of vegetables and it was all put in the oven at 200 degrees for an hour.

Szechuan Fish still in the pan. Red snapper cooked whole, skin bones and all.

The snapper served with chinese broccoli and toasted sesame seeds.

Chicken stuffed with bacon, herbs, onions, cream cheese, seared, baked and served with peas.

Beef with onions served with a tomatillo roasted pepper sauce. Accompanied with saffron rice, and Chinese broccoli.

Baby red potoates are boiled before being roasted with Amish butter and paprika. Peppery kale is gently sauteed with onions and Mexibell peppers then baked in the oven with eggs cracked on top to give you the perfect six minute egg. To finish the dish some freshly grated parmesan and two pieces of bacon.

Butternut Squash soup, siracha, and cilantro.

It's a rainbow! If you use your imagination. Steak served over a blueberry sauce and a medly of vegetables. 

Turnips braised in milk and butter served with bacon.

Tacos! Slow cooked red beans simmered with onions, ancho chiles, cubanelles, and cider served over some crispy corn tortillas. The dish is finished with a "sour cream" composed of blended cashews and lemon juice. The dish is dressed with a splash of lemon juice, diced red peppers, and cilantro.

Seasoned tofu served with mustard greens and red rice.

 Pasta tossed with a light cream sauce, sauteed spinach in white wine and garlic, with some homemade turkey meatballs and some diced tomatoes. All of this is finished with some cracked red pepper. 

Bean cake with cheddar cheese, served over a bed of fresh red cabbage, topped with a salsa verde and served with fresh cornbread.

Proscuitto and fresh herb fritatta. 

Grilling extravaganza! Okra, chicken and corn oh my!

fish, rice, chive flowers, green sauce. Yes I can't remember, this is why I need to post more often.

Triple layered parfait! The bottom layer is an iced cream flavored with Baileys, the middle is chocolate, the top has orange zest and grated chocolate. The entire dish is topped with zested orange.

Seared scallops on a bed on creamed corn and topped with a light pepper relish. The corn is simmered in chicken stock and lime zest before being finished with a dallop of creme fraiche. The scallops were cooked olive oil before being basted with butter and coriander. A touch of fresh cilantro and cracked pepper completes the meal.

Macademia encrusted Ahi

I normally don't love the fish selection at Whole Foods. I know that will surprise some people, but often most of what they have on display is previously frozen or just looks abused.  This ahi tuna though made me decide it was worth the gamble.

I used an 8" fry pan and our panini pan. I use this for a surprising amount of dishes, and I don't think I've used it for a panini yet. Turn the heat on under both pans so they will be ready when you begin to cook. Cut a lemon in half and set aside. Trimmed the asparagus and tossed with a light amount of sesame oil and salt then placed in the panini pan on medium high. With the asparagus cooking I threw macadamias in the food processor with a light amount of breadcrumbs, salt, cracked pepper, a sprig of fresh thyme, and a clove of garlic. Blended this to a thick paste and spread it over the both sides of the tuna. Make sure to check the asparagus regularly, you want the tips crispy but not burned but you also need to ensure the bases are thoroughly cooked and not crunchy. I placed the halved lemons in the corners of the asparagus plan.

Your 8" pan should be quite hot at this point. I put in a tablespoon of grapeseed oil and then dropped in the fish. The fish cooked for two minutes on each side.

Improvements, next time I'll sprinkle with some toasted sesame seeds and make a point to have the ahi cooked more evenly. The oil was probably too hot, it wasn't burned but you can see that the crust got a little darker than is appetizing. Also the thinner end got cooked a little too thoroughly for my taste.

Seared Salmon

This piece of salmon is served on a bed of wilted spinach, topped with crispy fish skin and a light sauce composed of orange and shallots. It's a quick and easy meal that took fifteen minutes from beginning to end.

For preparation, I took the salmon fillet and put a touch of olive oil on it, squeezed the juice of half an orange, salt, shallot flakes, and pepper. Let marinate for five to fifteen minutes. In my case I was impatient and it was just over five minutes.The spinach was washed and tossed with a light amount of olive oil. Then I began with two ten inch fry pans and placed them on medium high heat.

In one pan, after it was hot I added about a tablespoon of grapeseed oil, then I placed the salmon into it skin side down. I reserved the marinade. The fish was seared at that high heat until the skin was the roasted color you see above, approximately three minutes, then turned. The skin peeled off in the turning, and I lowered the flame temperature when turning over the fish. At this point I placed the spinach in the other heated pan with the reserved fish marinade. Turned this pan down to low and covered it. After the fish was cooked, approximately another two to three minutes, I turned off all the heat. Plated the salmon over the bed of spinach. Poured the orange sauce over it, topped with the crispy skin, cracked some pepper, and sprinked a bit of parmesean over it all.

The dish was delicious and even more gorgeous than my phone did justice to the photograph. If I were to do it again I might thicken the sauce  but as it was everything came together brilliantly.

Vegan Burgers!

These are actually pretty simple, and would be even easier if we could actually fry something.* Mix together: grated potatoes, we used small yellow potatoes white beans, we used small navy beans some dried potato flakes cumin chile powder diced red onion minced garlic ground coriander salt then some more salt and a little more, these are potatoes after all pepper stir it all up then let it meld together for a few minutes, 10-30, then shape into desired sizes and refrigerate to set for at least half of an hour. After they're sufficiently chilled heat some oil in a pan, we used coconut oil because it has such a high smoke point and therefore I could do more with less. (I still don't recommend it - more oil is a good thing for this!) Anyway, heat up some oil and fry the things. Garnish with salsa and avocado, then enjoy! Salsa Like with most foods, including the vegetable burgers, salsa is easily thrown together with whatever you have in the kitchen. In this case we diced tomatoes, some small mystery spicy peppers from the garden, a red bell pepper, red onion, garlic, then added chopped cilantro and freshly squeezed lime juice. *rules forbid frying with more than one teaspoon of grease per serving.

Seared Tuna with a Ginger Soy Sauce

As with all meat, the quality of fish really determines the dish. That's not to say you can't still ruin a good piece of fish, but you can only elevate a bad piece of fish so far.

To begin this dish heat two pans on the stove with a small amount of oil in each and heat to medium high.

What you see above is a piece of yellowtail tuna. I took one steak, rubbed it in olive oil and some lime juice, added a smidge of salt and cracked pepper and let it sit for fifteen minutes.

While the fish was getting acquainted with the lime, I prepped the rest of the food, which meant I thinly sliced ginger, red onions, red peppers, garlic, and snapped green beans. Place the green beans in a bowl and set aside. As I set the fish to sear on medium high I started the red onions in another pan to melt down, after about five minutes I flipped the fish and in pan #2 added the red pepper. At this point I started a pot of water on the back eye to boil. You should have a few extra minutes here, take this time to make a small cornstarch slurry. You'll need it later.

When the second side of the fish was seared, I took that out and threw the ginger in the pan to begin to crisp up. The water should be boiling at this point, pour the boiling water over the green beans to give them a nice blanch. Throw the garlic into pan #1, and begin to add your flavors of choice to the pan sauce. I went with a touch of white wine and soy. Drain the green beans and add them to pan #2, give it all a good stir, and turn it down to low.

Back to your soy ginger sauce, turn it down to low and add in the slurry. Mix it all in very well. While that is cooking down you can begin plating your food. The cornstarch should be absorbing and bringing a nice consistency to the sauce. Ideally you want some viscoscitiy but not that much thickness. It's a potent flavor and you don't want it to overwhelm everything else on the plate. When you deem the sauce perfect, add and serve! I dressed with a touch of fresh cilantro to round out the flavors.