Twisted Hawaiian Burger with Sweet Potato Slaw

Inspired by my love of Japanese food, I decided to throw a twist into making a Hawaiian style burger.  It does take some prep time, but it was worth it!  The photo - yeah, not my best work!  The camera died before I could take a picture of the pineapple stage, and the final outcome :/.

Ingredients:

Hamburger patties

Buns (of your choice)

Pineapple rings

4 Slices of Swiss Cheese

2 Sweet potatoes (peeled, and cut julienne style)

2 TB butter (unsalted)

1 Carrot (diced small)

1 Celery Stalk (diced small)

2 Garlic Cloves (fresh)

6 Almonds (raw)

1 TB Minced Onion

1 tsp. Honey

1 tsp. Lime juice

BRAGG's Liquid Amino's or Soy Sauce

Black Pepper

Coarse Sea Salt (in a grinder)

Homemade Teriyaki (or store bought - I just didn't have any on hand)

1 C. Water

5 TB Brown Sugar

1 TB Sesame Seeds

1/4 C. Soy Sauce (or I use BRAGGS liquid amino's)

1 tsp. Ginger (fresh ground)

1 tsp. Garlic powder (I used onion powder because I am out of garlic powder)

2 TB Pineapple juice (I used the juice from the can)

2 TB Corn Starch

• For sauce - add all ingredients to a sauce pan (except the corn starch) - heat until sugar melts.  Mix the corn starch with 1/4 cup cold water and dissolve.  Add the corn starch mixture to the saucepan and continue to heat and stir until thick.

Directions:

• First, prepare the teriyaki sauce if you want to make it from scratch (directions below).  
• Next, dice the carrots, celery, almonds, and garlic very fine.
• Julienne the sweet potatoes (I used a food processor for this).
• Saute the sweet potatoes in the butter, honey, minced onion, and a dash of salt until soft with a slight crisp.
• Saute the carrots, celery, almonds, lime juice, and garlic in 1 TB of butter for about a minute or two. Set both aside.
• Heat the grill or griddle.
• Drizzle some BRAGG's (or soy sauce) and black pepper onto the hamburger patties (both sides).
• Cook the hamburgers, adding the Swiss cheese towards the end.
• Add a little butter to the griddle and brown the buns.
• Add a little teriyaki sauce to the bottom bun.
• Pile on the ingredients!
• Patty  
• Sweet potato slaw
• Carrot mix
• Teriyaki Sauce
• Pineapple Slice 

I highly recommend napkins for this one....and my camera died before I could get a final shot or one with a pineapple slice on it for that matter!  Enjoy!

    

Homemade Chicken with Wild Rice Soup

This is a family favorite that I just made up... ;).  My family loves it, it is at comfort to and it happens to be very healthy for you.

Prep time is about 10 minutes or less, and cook time is basically to your preference usually takes about 30 to 45 minutes I like to simmer it.

Some people say that nutrients are lost if you heat vegetables, this is not true, some vegetables require heat in order to release the nutrients, root vegetables mostly and some stalk vegetables. This is the reason why boiled potatoes, celery, carrots, and other root vegetables are used in soups. The nutrients are retained in the water and the stock.  Hope you enjoy.

Ingredients:

6 cups of water

2 chicken tenderloins

3 medium-sized carrots 

3 celery stocks

2 Cloves of garlic (minced)

1/2 sweet onion

1 bunch of chives

1 package of onion soup mix

1 can of great Northern beans

1/2 cup of white rice

1/4 cup of wild rice

1 can of sweet peas

1 can of whole kernel corn (no salt added)

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

2 to 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Seasonings:

Chicken poultry seasoning

Lemon pepper

Black pepper

1 tablespoon of honey

3 teaspoons of paprika

Optional seasonings:

Molasses

Pumpkin spice

Directions:

The first step is to sauté your garlic and sweet onion in the butter on medium to high for about 45 seconds to a minute.

The next step is add the chicken tenderloins

And the carrots, celery, green onions

and sauté for about one minute or less add 6 cups of water.

Add onion soup mix

At this point you let it simmer for about 10 minutes or less.  Add corn (I leave the juice in for flavor). Add wild rice, and white rice, and Northern beans (rinse the beans all in a colander until they're clear of all juice that was in the can).

Save the sweet peas for the last five minutes. Now just let it simmer on medium to low heat for 25 minutes or so.  If you are using an electric stove use the setting of about 4 1/2 or 5. And if you use a gas stove set your heat to medium fire.

As it is simmering, it is good to test it for taste. As the water evaporates, of course the seasoning will concentrate, however it is good to taste it to see if it's going in the right direction.

I forgot to add honey while the onions and garlic were sautéing and that's usually what gives a little bit of sweetness and brings out the flavor of the onions.  So I'm going to go ahead and add it while the water is boiling.

And while the water is boiling, I am going to make a batch of cornbread. I use Jiffy cornbread mix requires one egg and 1/3 cup of milk (we use almond milk). You preheat your oven to 400°, I use a glass Pyrex baking dish for this usually around one. They bake for about 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown, and while they are cooking I usually bring them out midway and put a little butter on top, and let them finish baking.

Here you can see all the vegetables and everything coming together. I also added a little bit of paprika that's why the broth is a little bit red not from tomatoes

So as it was simmering (uncovered), I decided to use the inspiration of Fall to spice it up a little bit. I added some pumpkin spice (about 1 teaspoon) and molasses (just about a teaspoon and a half), and a little bit of black pepper. It seems to really give it the last kick that it needed.  Also to thicken it up just a little bit you can add some all-purpose flour probably about 2 tablespoons, I usually dissolve it in water first and use a wire whisk to get the lumps out and then I add it, thickens up over time as it heats.  Top it off with a few sprinkles of French fried onions and you're good to go.

ANNNND.... here it is, eat up!

Baked Tofu & Almond Stir-Fry

This is an easy vegetarian stir-fry that is high in protein.

Ingredients:

Broccoli
Carrots
Baby corn
Cabbage
Water chestnuts (sliced)
Yellow onion
Tofu (firm, cut in cubes, marinate in Teriyaki sauce)
Sliced almonds
Garlic
1 tablespoon cold-pressed olive oil (to stir-fry veggies)

Sauce:

1 - 1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp. Bragg's liquid amino's
Sea salt
Hoisin sauce (about 2 tablespoons)
Flour or xantham gum to thicken sauce

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350.
2. Place tofu on a baking sheet lined with a silicon mat or olive oil spray.
3. Bake until browned, turning once (about 15-20 minutes)
4. Rinse, cut, and prepare veggies.
5. Stir-fry on high until slightly tender, turn off heat (add a little sea salt to them).
6. In a small bowl or measuring cup add all sauce ingredients (except thickener).
7. Turn veggies on medium to low heat, and add half of the sauce.
8. To the other half of sauce add your choice of thickener (I use a little white flour). 
9. Add the thickener sauce to all ingredients and simmer until thick.
10. Add tofu and almonds last and toss.

Serve over brown rice.

Step 1 - Stir-fry veggies

Dairy-Free Seafood Bisque

I absolutely love a good seafood bisque, however; because I have problems with allergies and mucous...I had to come up with a dairy free bisque.  This recipe turned out really good, is low-fat, low-calorie, dairy-free, and low in carbs too, it also has high vitamin content.

Ingredients:

2 cups Almond milk (I use Almond Breeze original unsweetened, 40 calories per serving)

1/4 cup soy creamer

1 tablespoon cold-pressed olive oil (for sauteing veggies and herbs)

Chopped fine and fresh herbs and veggies:

Parsley

Yellow onion (1/2)

Chives (green onions - aka scallions)

Garlic

Seafood mix:

Pink raw shrimp - not peeled (boil for 3-5 minutes, rinse, drain, peel)

Crayfish tails - can be found in your local seafood freezer, or fresh if you prefer

Sea scallops - toss in with shrimp and let boil for a few minutes.

Seasonings:

Paprika

Sea salt

Cayenne pepper (just a dash)

Honey (to taste)

Bragg's Nutritional Yeast (1 TB)

Flour (1 TB) (as a thickening agent - or you can reduce it, use corn starch, or xantham gum)

Directions:

1. Prepare all veggies and herbs, saute with your chosen seasonings (I used a little olive oil, and McCormick's Smokehouse Maple.
2. Prepare seafood (as directed above)
3. Finely chop seafood, or leave whole at your discretion (I finely chop mine).
4. Add to sauteed veggie mix and toss to blend flavors.
5. In a saucepan, add almond milk, soy creamer on medium heat.  Add seafood, veggies, and herbs to the pan.
6. Add Paprika, cayenne, sea salt, and honey.  
7. Let simmer for 10 minutes or so.
8. Taste, and modify seasonings to your liking.  Add Bragg's Nutritional Yeast (see below for nutrition info on Bragg's).
9. Add thickener of your choice to consistency of your liking.
10. Enjoy!

sauteed veggies and herbs

Crayfish, scallops, and shrimp

Crayfish, Shrimp, Scallops, mixed with herbs and veggies

Bragg's Nutritional yeast is non-active yeast that has a very high vitamin count.  It adds a great cheesy flavor without the problems that active yeast provides (mucous, digestive issues, etc.).

Bragg's Nutritional Yeast Nutrition Information

Spinach, Crayfish, & Roasted Tomato Roulade

I discovered this recipe from Rose Elliot's The Classic Vegetarian Cookbook.  Although I have been working on removing cheese and eggs from my diet, this looked so beautiful in the cookbook - I had to give it a shot.  Of course I modified it...

First, I will list the original version and then note my replacements.

Ingredients:

4 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
4 eggs (separated into different bowls)
1 tablespoon butter
Salt - Pepper - Nutmeg

The filling

2 roasted red peppers (roasted in the oven while roulade is cooking - cored)
1 cup cream cheese
Milk (to make cream cheese spreadable or use store bought spreadable)
4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400.
2. Line a 9x13 shallow baking sheet with wax paper (mine stuck a bit, so adding a little olive oil spray may be helpful), leave extra paper up the sides.
3. Rinse and saute spinach until tender (using only the water still clinging to the leaves).
4. Drain.
5. Add spinach, butter, and egg yolk to processor and blend till smooth.
6. Transfer it to a large bowl and add salt, pepper, & nutmeg.
7. Whip eggs until stiff .
8. Fold in stiff egg whites to the spinach mixture bowl.
9. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of Parmesan on the wax paper prior to pouring in mixture.
10. Pour in spinach mixture and smooth to edges.
11. Bake for 12-15 minutes until firm to touch and toothpick comes out clean.
12. While this is baking, roast the peppers on the bottom rack of the oven.
13. While they are baking, prepare your cream cheese with a mixer and a little bit of the milk until spreadable.
14. Remove roulade from oven and let cool while you get another piece of wax paper and lay flat next to roulade.  Sprinkle that piece of wax paper with Parmesan and transfer roulade face down on to the new sheet.
15. Removed the wax paper from the top of the roulade (tricky, mine was a little sticky, however I used a spatula to ease the paper away without tearing the roulade).
16. Spread cream cheese over entire surface.
17. Arrange red pepper over the top in widely spaced stripes (it will look like a red and white stripes).
18. Roll it up from the short sides (example).
19. I served mine warm over butternut squash soup.
20. Cut with a serrated knife.

The roulade refrigerates well and is good for up to a week.

My variations:

I replaced:

Butter with olive oil

Parmesan cheese with finely grated (in the food processor) raw almonds

Red pepper with Roma tomatoes.
Milk with almond milk

Added crayfish lightly sauteed with seasonings.

The next time I make this I will try out using this egg replacer instead.  It is gluten free, soy free, etc.

The butternut squash soup I used as a base can be found in your local organic section, they also have other great soups that work great as replacements for oil in sauteed vegetables or over tilapia.  The carrot ginger is one of my favorites!