Fennel, Apple, and Walnut Salad

(recipe from The Pleasures Of Cooking For One, by Judith Jones)

Fennel, about 1/3 medium bulb or 1/2 small one
1/2 tart apple
About 6 walnuts

Dressing:
1/4 tsp. Dijon mustard
pinch of salt
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice, or more to taste
1/2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. olive oil, or more to taste

Remove the coarse outside rib of the fennel bulb, and trim off the stalk, saving the leaves.  Trim the root end so the bulb stands firmly, and, with a sharp knife, cut very thin slices.  If you have a mandoline, by all means use it.

Core the apple, and cut it into thin slices, leaving the peel on.

Mix together the dressing ingredients, taste, and adjust as you see fit.  Pour the dressing over the fennel and apple slices with the walnuts, broken in half, and some of the fennel leaves, chopped, and toss everything together.  Pile onto a salad plate, and top with a few more fennel leaves.

(So simple, yet amazingly good!)

Cauliflower "Rice" Stir-Fry

(recipe from wholeliving.com)

2 cups cauliflower florets
2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
1 sliced red onion, divided
4 minced cloves garlic, divided
coarse salt
1/4 cup broth
1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 thinly sliced small red chile
2 cups broccoli florets
1 julienned large carrot
1/2 diced (stemmed, seeded) red bell pepper
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 Tbsp. shelled pumpkin seeds
2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro leaves

Pulse cauliflower florets in a food processor until finely chopped.

Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add 1/2 sliced red onion and 2 minced cloves garlic and cook, stirring, until tender, about 6 minutes.  Add cauliflower and season with coarse salt.  Stir in broth and steam, covered, until broth has evaporated and cauliflower is tender, about 6 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl and cover.

Wipe pan and heat 1 Tbsp. oil over medium-high heat.  Add 1/2 sliced red onion and cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes.  Add 2 minced cloves garlic, ginger, and chile and cook 1 minute.  Add broccoli florets, carrot, and bell pepper and cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes.  Season with salt.  Remove from heat and add lemon juice.

For each serving, top cauliflower with vegetables and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and cilantro.

(Simple, but quite good.  Cauliflower "rice" is the bomb!)

Petra's Green Smoothie

(recipe from Healthy Girl's Kitchen)

Handful of kale, especially the stalks
4 stalks celery
1 cucumber
2 apples or one ruby red grapefruit, or sometimes both

Blend!

(I altered the amounts on this one to make a smaller portion: handful of kale, 1 stalk celery, 1/2 a cucumber, one apple, 1/2 a grapefruit (I also made one with just 1/2 a grapefruit, no apple).  It still made two good-sized portions.  Very tangy and vibrant!)

Chris-anna's Green Smoothie

(recipe from Healthy Girl's Kitchen)

spinach
kale or swiss chard
celery
parsley
apple
almond milk
ice

Blend!

(I just bought a Vitamix.  F-ing amazing!  This was the first smoothie I made in it, because I had some leftover chard.  I used coconut water in place of the almond milk, since all of the packaged almond milks have weird added ingredients.  Tasty and healthy green drink!  The celery and parsley add nice notes.)

Asparagus Vinaigrette

(recipe from Orangette)

1 bunch asparagus
salt
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. white wine or champagne vinegar
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
5 Tbsp. olive oil
Scant 1/8 tsp. pressed garlic (or minced)
1 hard-boiled egg, finely chopped (optional)
Zest of half a lemon (optional)

For the hard-boiled egg, a new method:  Put the egg in a small saucepan, cover with cold water, bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  When it begins to boil, pull it off the burner, cover it, and let it sit for 12 minutes.  Then rinse in plenty of cold water.  The white will be tender and the yolk bright yellow, with not one single nasty bit of gray in sight.

Fill a 12-inch skillet with water to a depth of about 1 inch.  Add a good dose of salt, and bring the pan to a boil over high heat.  Add the asparagus, spreading them out in a single layer, and cook just until they turn bright green and yield to the tooth, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.  Drain into a colander, and briefly run cool water over the asparagus to stop them from cooking.  They should still be warm.  Dry them gently on a paper towel, and transfer them to a serving platter.  Set aside.

In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, and salt.  Add the oil, and whisk well to emulsify.  Taste, and if necessary, add a bit more oil.  Depending on the flavor of the oil and vinegar you use, you might need a teaspoon or so more oil.  Add the garlic, and whisk to combine.

To serve, drizzle the vinaigrette over the asparagus, and top, if you like, with hard-boiled egg.  If you choose to use the lemon zest, sprinkle a couple of pinches on top.  Alternately, serve the asparagus plain, with the vinaigrette and other optional toppings on the side, so each eater can dress it to their liking.

(I tried this recipe a few years ago, and it has become my go-to asparagus dish.  The lemony, mustardy dressing is delish, and good used as a salad dressing, too.  The hard-boiled egg is not necessary, but creates a creamier dressing when mixed together.  So good!  I usually make this and eat the whole bunch of asparagus myself.)

Emerald City Salad

(recipe from teaandcookiesblog.com)

4 cups mixed greens (mix of dino kale, curly kale, chard), coarsely chopped.  Don't make this from one type of green, the mixture is important.
3 green onions, sliced thin
3/4 cup red pepper, diced
1 Tbsp. parsley, chopped
1 cup fennel bulb, sliced thin
1 cup wild rice
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt

Cook the rice according to directions.  Set aside to cool.

Prep the greens and other vegetables.  Toss in a large bowl, adding the wild rice when it is cool.  Drizzle with olive oil and mix.  Add the lemon juice and salt and mix again.  Serve chilled.

(Since I brought this to work for lunches, I simply mixed the veggies and rice in a large bowl and kept that in the fridge.  Then I mixed the oil, lemon juice, salt in a small jar and added the dressing to my small container of the veggie mixture at lunchtime.  Nice combination of flavors.  Dense, chewy salad with the raw kale and wild rice.  I'm not supposed to be eating grains on my cleanse, but made this exception for wild rice since it's not technically a rice, but an aquatic grass seed.  Yum!)

Creamy Broccoli Soup

(recipe from Martha Stewart Living)

1 Tbsp. coconut or olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

4 cups vegetable broth

1 head broccoli, trimmed and chopped (6 cups)

3 cups baby spinach

1 avocado, chopped, plus more for garnish

salt & pepper

Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat.  Add onion, garlic, and pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until tender, 6 to 8 minutes.  Add broth and bring to a boil.  Add broccoli and cook, covered, until bright green and tender, about 2 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Remove from heat, stir in spinach, and let cool slightly.

Transfer soup to a blender and puree with avocado.  Adjust seasoning.  Garnish with avocado and a drizzle of olive oil.

(So, since February 1, I've been following a strict cleansing diet.  No dairy, no grains, no legumes, no alcohol, no sugar, no junk food.  The only meat I eat is fish, occasional eggs.  Mostly fruit, vegetables, and nuts.  The recipes here have been reflecting this.  Really the only cooked food I've been eating are these simple blended soups that I bring to work for lunch.  Breakfast is typically fruit and nuts, dinner a salad.  My go-to salad of late has been a mixture of kale, radicchio, spinach, spring mix with chopped walnuts, shallot, pomegranate seeds, a tsp. of oil, several tsps. of balsamic.  So good!  I feel great.  It took about 10 days, then I woke up and felt amazing.  So this is only supposed to be for 30 days, but we'll see...  It's hard to imagine wanting to go back to not feeling this great.  This recipe blog may just become a whole lot of salads and soups!

Anyway, this soup is EASY and just tastes like veggies.  Broccoli and spinach are so good for you!)