Eggplant Pasta with Black Trumpet Mushrooms and a Simple Kale Salad

This is a delicious hearty dish full of earthy flavors with a little element of surprise. What? No pasta in the pasta? That's right, the eggplant actually is the pasta! Surprise! That means this dish is gluten free yet even more filling that a normal plate of pasta.

The Black Trumpet Mushrooms for this dish were handpicked from this hillsides of beautiful Humboldt on a New Year's Day hike with a group of amazing friends that seem to have a sixth sense for finding wild mushrooms.We found pounds and pounds of Chanterelles, Hedgehogs, Black Trumpets, Candy Caps, and a few enormous Boletes that were past their prime. Although we gorged ourselves on fresh mushrooms while we were there, I took a handful of Black Trumpets home to dry and save for later when I was starting to have withdrawals.

I started by soaking the Black Trumpets in red wine. I used Rabbit Ridge Barrel Curvee Zinfandel because it has rich flavors of blackberry and spice that I thought would work well with the earthy mushrooms.

I started some diced yellow onion caramelizing with a little bit of olive oil in a large frying pan. While this was going I sliced the eggplant into thin ribbons about the size of fettuccine. Next I chopped up some sundried tomatoes and some garlic. Once the onions were starting to brown I added the eggplant noodles, sundried tomatoes, garlic, and Black Trumpets along with the wine they were soaking in. Add another touch of olive oil and toss together over medium heat. Cover the pan for a few minutes to help the eggplant soften up. Stir frequently. When the wine is absorbed and the eggplant is tender, mix in a scoop of soft goat cheese and a dash of salt and pepper. Once the goat cheese is melted in and is coating the pasta you are ready to eat!

Kale salad is a refreshing winter salad I've recently been turned on to. They are often called "Massaged Kale Salads" because the kale will soften if you massage the lemon juice and olive oil into the leaves with your fingers. I stated with a bunch of curly kale, although red curly kale, dinosaur kale, or a mixture of all three is also great. Rip the kale into small bit size pieces. Then drizzle olive oil, lemon juice, and in this case champagne vinegar over the kale and then roll up your sleeves and massage it all together. Once all the leaves are fully coated set it aside. Chop up some red onion and add it to the kale. Toss in some sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. If you are wanting to get a little fancier with this kale salad you can also do chopped leeks, grated carrot, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, diced tangerine, and grated firm goat cheese such as Cypress Grove's Midnight Moon.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread and Muffins

This is a delicious and healthy way to enjoy the end of zucchini season. Now that Autumn is in full swing and we are getting some cold and rainy days, there is tendency for people to want to spend a day cozied up with a good book and fluffy slippers. Don't lie, you know as well as I do that this cozy day usually involves indulging in some favorite warm food with more calories that you'd care to count. This Chocolate Zucchini Bread is a perfect solution! You get the yumminess of the warm chocolaty carbs that is secretly packed with low calorie zucchini and apple sauce! There is so much flexibility in this recipe, you can make bread or muffins or both, you can make it chocolaty or plain, healthy or traditional.

What you will need:
2 1/2 cups Zucchini
3/4 cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce
1/3 cup Canola Oil
3 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/3 cup Honey
3 cups Flour
1/2 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
3 Tbs Ground Flax Seed
2 tsp  Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Allspice
1/4 tsp Ginger
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 cup Raisins
1/4 cup Chopped Almonds

First lets get the zucchini grated so it is ready to go. Be sure to leave the skin on because it is full of nutrients such as potassium, folates, fiber, as well as vitamins A B and C. Use the large side of  a cheese grater to grate roughly 2 1/2 cups and set aside.
In a large bowl combine the apple sauce, canola oil, eggs, vanilla extract, brown sugar and honey and stir together with a spoon. Then stir in the grated zucchini.
In a separate bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, ground flax seed (you can grind the flax seeds in a coffee grinder or use flax meal), cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Once these are combined you can slowly stir it in to the wet mixture. Then stir in the raisins and almonds (walnuts or pecans would be good too).
Set your oven to 350 and grease your bread pan and/or muffin tins. This will make roughly 2 bread loaves or 24 muffins. The muffins will need to bake for about 20 minutes and the loaves will need 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes  out clean. Let them cool for 10 minutes before placing on a cooling rack.

Enjoy this scrumptious and healthy treat!

Carrot Cake

This cake is so delicious!!! This is the cake my mom asked me to make her for her last two birthdays, and in the spirit of the big day, July 26th, it was time to make the good ol' Carrot Cake.
So, Happy Birthday Mom!
A carrot cake might make you think "healthy cake"  due to all the vegetable, but I promise there is nothing healthy or diet about this cake. Just surrender to temptation, it will be worth it. It is dense and moist, sweet and a little spicy.

This recipe makes a really big cake so try not to cry at the amount of oil, sugar, cream cheese and what not. Just have a party so you can share it!

What you will need:
Cake Batter
1 1/4 cup Canola Oil
4 Eggs
1 cup White Sugar
1 cup Brown Sugar
3 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 cups Flour
2 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
3 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
3 cups Grated Carrots
1 cup Chopped Walnuts

Frosting
1/2 cup Butter, softened
8 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
3 cups Powdered Sugar
3/4 cup Chopped Walnuts

Preheat your oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 baking dish.
Let's start by grating the carrots, the picture above is a gross overstatement of the number of carrots you will need, it will be closer to 4. Wash the carrots and peel them if you like, I chose to skip the peeling. Be sure to use the side of your grater with the largest holes, if you use the smaller holes you end up with carrot mush and that will lead to Carrot Mush Cake. Grate 3 cups worth of carrot and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine the 1 1/4 of Canola Oil, 4 Eggs, 1 cup White Sugar, 1 cup Brown Sugar, and 3 tsp Vanilla Extract. I substituted in 1/4 cup of Grapeseed Oil which is why mine looks green, but it is not necessary, I just like it and have it on hand. Use beaters until smooth.







Now add 2 cups Flour, 2 tsp Baking Soda, 2 tsp Baking Powder, 1/2 tsp Salt, 3 tsp Cinnamon, 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (or Nutmeg). Beat ingredients together until smooth.

Now add the 3 cups of Grated Carrots. Use a spoon or a spatula to mix the carrots into the batter.
Next stir in 1 cup of Chopped Walnuts.









Pour the batter into the greased 9x13 baking dish and spread it out evenly. I know the cake looks kind of disgusting at this step, so try to keep in mind that it will look and taste a lot better after it is cooked :)                            
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Mine was ready at 48 minutes. At 40 minutes you can check the cake by pulling it out and giving it a little wiggle. If the cake is jiggly in the middle then it needs more time to set up. Don't walk away and forget about it though! At this stage a few minutes can make a big different. Carrot Cakes should be nice and moist so be careful not to over cook it.



Now doesn't that look better??
Let the cake cool completely before frosting. . .this is important, if you frost it too soon your cake will be strangely soggy from all of the steam trapped under the frosting. I chose to only frost the top of the cake since I wanted to keep it in the baking dish. If you would like to frost all of the sides as well, let the cake cool for at least 10 minutes before flipping it onto a large cooling rack.

On to the frosting!

In a medium sized bowl slightly soften 1 stick of Butter and 8 ounces of Cream Cheese. Add 1 tsp of  Vanilla (optionally add 1 tsp of Cinnamon). Beat together until smooth. Slowly beat in 3 cups of Powdered Sugar until all is combined. Stir in 3/4 cup Chopped Walnuts.
Spread the frosting over the cake evenly.
Keep the cake covered and refrigerated. To keep the cover from sticking to all of the frosting, you can make a little tent using toothpicks or coffee stir sticks around the edges of the cake and cover it in tin foil.

Enjoy!!!

Spinach and Goat Cheese Stuffed Portabellas with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Balsamic Red Wine Reduction

That title is kind of a mouthful, but this saucy dish will have you stuffing your mouth until your plate is empty!
And even though there is a lot going into this, it all cooks in one big baking dish, making the timing of this meal as easy as can be.

Let's talk about nutrition for just a minute. Ever wonder what exactly you are getting from your food? Well, here is what you are getting from this food:

Spinach: Vitamin K, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Iron, Fiber, Calcium, and Antioxidants such as Lutein and Beta-Carotene
Portabella: Potassium, Niacin, Riboflavin, Selenium, Phosphorus and Zinc
Fingerling Potatoes: Potassium, Vitamin C, Iron, Protein and Fiber
Goat Cheese: Calcium, Protein and Iron
Oregano: Vitamin K, Vitamin A, Iron, Vitamin C, Folates, Manganese, and Antioxidants such as Carotene
Garlic: Manganese, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Sulfur-containing compounds such as Allicin
Onion: Vitamin C, Organosulfur compounds such as Allium, Chromium, Vitamin B and Antioxidants such as Quercetin
Olive Oil: Monounsaturated Fatty Acids, Antioxidants, Vitamin E
Balsamic: Iron and Calcium
Red Wine: Antioxidants such as Resveratrol

So basically what I'm getting at is, know what your food is doing for you, and be grateful! Thank you Mother Earth! Eat food as directly from the earth as possible for maximum benefits. There is so much fuss now of days about everything you eat being bad for your body. I'd just like to point out that food is still good for you! You just have to appreciate all of those things that grow out of the ground: Vegetables, Grains, Natural Starches, and Fruits.

And now I'll get on with it.
So ladies and gentlemen here it is!

Spinach and Goat Cheese Stuffed Portabellas with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Balsamic Red Wine Reduction


What you will need:


10+ Fingerling Potatoes
4 Medium Portabella Mushrooms
1 Bag Baby Spinach
4-6 cloves Garlic
10 Golden Pearl Onions
4 Tbs Goat Cheese
Olive Oil
Balsamic
Red Wine
Honey
Oregano
Sage
Salt
Pepper

Preheat your oven to 400˚ and take our your biggest pyrex and grease it up.


Lets get those cute little potatoes going! Give them a good scrub and dry them off. Chop them roughly into smallish pieces. If you like them a little thicker you might want to increase the cooking time. Dump the potatoes into the pyrex.
Smash the garlic cloves with the side of your knife so they fall out of their skins. Give them a rough chop and add it to the potatoes.
Now for the onions. I LOVE GOLDEN PEARL ONION! I just needed to get that out. They are sweet and kind of pop in your mouth like grapes. But, if you can't find them, any small onion or a yellow onion would do. Skin the onion and cut off the tips. Don't chop pearl onions! Add to the potatoes.
Take a few sprigs of fresh oregano, chop it up and add it to the mix. If you don't have fresh herbs you can go wild adding whatever dried herbs you've got.

Drizzle the potatoes with a generous amount of olive oil and mix them up so everything is coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Don't be fooled, spinach cooks down a lot! You will need a whole bag, trust me. I removed the stems but you don't really have to. Put the spinach in a large wok or frying pan, drizzle with balsamic, just a little, and add some salt. Turn to medium heat and toss it around until the spinach is wilted. About 1-2 minutes.

If you really want the spinach to stay green you can blanch it in cold water at this step but I didn't really care, I knew it would be covered in sauce anyway. Get out a plate and put some paper towels on it. Scoop the spinach onto the paper towel and let it drain. Set aside.


On to the Portabellas! Chop off the stems, we aren't going to use those. Scoop out the gills with a spoon and a little bit of the meat so there is a nice bowl shape in the mushroom cap. Keep the gills, we are going to use them to mix with the spinach later.

Place the potatoes in the oven at this point and let them get a head start while you finish off the mushrooms (about 5 minutes or so).
Now spread your favorite goat cheese into the mushroom caps. I used about 1-2 Tbs in each one.
Squeeze the extra juice out of the spinach so it's not soggy. Stir the spinach and mushroom gills together, and scoop it into the mushrooms. Pull the potatoes out of the oven and nestle the mushrooms into them.
This should cook for 20-25 minutes.















Once that's in the oven we are going to start the Balsamic Red Wine Reduction. Use the wok or frying pan that you used for the spinach earlier. Pour in about 1/4 cup balsamic and 1/4 cup red wine (I used a cabernet sauvignon). Add a little squeeze of honey. Turn to medium low heat and keep at a simmer until the potatoes and mushrooms are done. Swirl or stir every few minutes so it doesn't burn. The volume should reduce by about half, and it should thicken.





When the potatoes and mushrooms are done, pour the reduction over it, making sure you get all the mushrooms. Swirl the pyrex so the reduction spreads out over the bottom of the dish. Turn the oven to Broil and move a rack to the top of the oven. Place the dish on the rack and broil for 2-3 minutes so the potatoes get a little brown.

Plate up and enjoy! Be sure to pour some of that Balsamic Red Wine Reduction on top!