G-BOMBS Stew (gluten free, vegan)

G-BOMBS Stew

Ever hear of the G-BOMBS diet? Dr Joel Fuhrman recommends eating certain micronutrient-rich "superfoods" every day. Greens, Beans, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries and Seeds. For the last couple of weeks, ever since seeing his show during a public television fundraiser, we have been trying to include these foods in our usual "Five a Day" fruits and vegetable goals. How could it hurt?

For fun, I put them all together. This stew could be called "G-BOMBS Plus" because it includes servings of carrots, celery, and cabbage, too, all enveloped in a rich sweet and sour broth. Garbanzos and a sprinkle of raw kale just before serving give it a bit of crunch.

For four generous servings or eight appetizers:

2 cups carrots, chopped
2 cups celery, chopped
1 medium red onion, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup cabbage, chopped
1 cup kale, stem removed, chopped
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
2 cups cooked chickpeas, frozen or canned and rinsed
2 tbsp parsley flakes
1 tsp coriander
1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup sesame seeds
salt (1 tsp, adjust to taste just before serving
6 cups water

1/2 cup kale, stem removed, chopped

Stir the carrots, celery, onions, and olive oil together in a soup pot. Gently sauté until the carrots are softened, about ten minutes. Layer the cabbage, kale, and mushrooms on top. If the garbanzos are frozen, just dump them out of their container and let them thaw as the other ingredients cook. If you use canned, rinse them well and place them on top. Put the lid on the pot and allow all of the ingredients to cook for another ten minutes. Stir in the parsley, coriander, raspberries, lemon juice, sesame seeds and six cups of water. Stir in half of the salt. Place the lid back on the pot and simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally. Add the other half-teaspoon of salt to taste.

Prior to serving, garnish each bowl with a small handful of the chopped, raw kale and a couple of raw berries.

For more natural recipes visit the Hearth and Soul Blog Hop,  Fat Tuesday,  Healthy 2Day Wednesdays,  Real Food Wednesday,  HomeAcre Hop,  Simple Lives Thursday and Empty Your Archives.

www.stealthymom.com

Veggie "Runza"/Bierock (vegan)

Veggie "Runza"

A Runza, trademarked by the Runza fast food chain, is also known as bierock or a pirozhki. To make a long description short, it is a bun with a filling baked right in. My mom's pirozhki were smaller and filled with potatoes and cheese; the fast food chain's version are sandwich-sized and stuffed with beef and cabbage. This one's stuffed with seasoned black beans, purple and green cabbage and shredded carrots. The boys loved them, and any trick to get them to eat more veggies and legumes is a good one, right?

I'll start this recipe filling-first to be truthful. You see, I was baking bread anyway and simply took a portion of dough out to make our Runzas. Any bread dough will do.

For eight generous sandwich pockets:


Black Bean and Cabbage Filling

1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups black beans, pre-cooked or canned and well rinsed.
(If the beans are unsalted, add 1/2 tsp salt.)
1/4 cup chopped green onions1/2-1 tsp coriander, to taste
1-2 tsp chili powder, to taste ,
4 cups diced cabbage, purple, green, or a combination
1 cup grated carrots
1/4 tsp salt

In a lidded saucepan, gently warm the olive oil and onions. Add the beans and seasonings then stir until hot. Stir in the cabbage and carrots and the quarter teaspoon of salt. Put the lid on the pan and turn the heat off. The cabbage will soften as the mixture cools down enough to work with.

Take enough bread dough to make about a dozen rolls and divide it into eight portions. (If you don't have bread on the go, a recipe follows.) Roll the dough into balls and allow to rest for ten minutes.

Flour your board or counter top. Roll each ball into a round about ten inches in diameter. Flip each dough circle over so it does not stick to the board when you fill it.

Place an equal portion of filling onto each dough circle, keeping it on one half. At this point, you can either fold the circle over to make a moon-shaped pocket, or roll it up like a tootsie roll and tuck in the ends. Either way will work as long as you pinch all edges together well to make a seal.

Spray a little olive oil onto a cookie sheet. Place the Runzas/bierocks onto the sheet and make small steam vents on the top of each with a knife.

Allow the dough to rest for half an hour, then bake for about 18 minutes @365F.

Serve hot!

Warm Winter Salad (gluten free, vegan)

A colourful pick-me-up for mid-winter. This warm salad combines sweet purple cabbage and nutty garbanzos over a bed of mixed greens. Cheery and sweet, this salad can give you a boost:

Purple cabbage is chock full of vitamin C, which we need so badly this time of year, and cooking it minimally retains as much as possible while still sweetening up the dish. Cabbage is rich in anti-inflammatory compounds, while the anthocyanins (which make it purple) may fight certain cancer cells. More points for cabbage come from fibre, potassium, and vitamins A and K.

Garbanzo beans also contain dietary fibre and protein, potassium and thiamin (B1.) What is interesting about garbanzos is that a serving contains as much iron, if not more, than a serving of lean beef. Tossing the the cabbage and garbanzos in olive oil provides another anti-inflammatory agent, and the mesclun mix adds a host of trace minerals and vitamins.

For two meals, or four sides:

1/4 head purple cabbage
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp chopped green onion or leek
1 cup cooked garbanzo beans, precooked or canned and drained
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt or lite salt
1/4-1/2 tsp coriander powder
2 tbsp parsley
mesclun salad mix

Chop the cabbage and toss it with the olive oil and green onion in a pan. Gently heat until the cabbage is softened, then add the beans, lemon juice, salt, coriander and parsley. Toss with tongs or a spatula until the ingredients are hot. Turn off the heat.

Place mesclun mix on serving dishes, and top with the cabbage and beans mixture. Serve.




I shared this recipe with the Hearth and Soul Hop, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Healthy 2Day Wednesdays, Gluten Free Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday,  Simple Lives Thursday,  Gluten Free Friday,  Fight Back Friday and Fat Tuesday.

www.stealthymom.com

Pork, Cabbage and Potato Bake (gluten free)

Pork, Cabbage and PotatoBake (gluten free)

This is really, really easy. Take a couple minutes for chopping and assembly, pop the casserole dish into the oven and dinner will be ready in an hour. In a single dish you will have bites of pork sausage, baked cabbage, and a side of mashed potatoes. Yum!

A few posts ago, I shared almost the same recipe, but with grassfed beef. It is crazy how differently the two versions taste, considering how similarly they are prepared.

2-4 medium potatoes, peeled (if necessary) and sliced
1/2 head cabbage, shredded
1 pound good quality ground pork*
1/4 tsp black pepper
8 oz plain, unsalted tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 375F. Spray a pyrex dish (approximately 12" x 12") with olive oil.

Wash and slice the potatoes and cabbage. Mix the pepper into the ground pork. Mix the tomato sauce, water, and salt together.

Place the potatoes into the bottom of the pan. Layer a third of the cabbage on top of the potatoes. Place half of the pork over the cabbage layer, breaking off bits like little meatballs. Top with a third of the cabbage, the rest of the pork, and the rest of the cabbage. Gently but firmly pack everything down. Pour the tomato sauce over the top.

Bake for an hour.


*The trick is to use lean pork from a small farm, not the typical grocery store variety. It will be leaner and not have grease to pour off.



I shared this recipe with the Hearth and Soul Hop, Allergy Free Wednesday, Gluten Free Wednesday and Healthy 2Day Wednesday and Simple Lives Thursday.

www.stealthymom.com

Beef, Cabbage and Potatoes Bake (gluten free)

Beef, Cabbage and Potato Bake

Beef, Cabbage, and Potatoes. It is hard to go wrong with that time-honoured combination. As a one-dish wonder, you can quickly throw this together, put it in the oven and have dinner ready in an hour. (If your kids aren't picky like ours you can even skip peeling the potatoes!)

2-4 medium potatoes, peeled (if necessary) and sliced
1/2 head cabbage, shredded
1 pound ground grassfed beef*
1/4 tsp black pepper
8 oz plain, unsalted tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 375F. Spray a pyrex dish (approximately 12" x 12") with olive oil.

Wash and slice the potatoes and cabbage. Mix the pepper into the ground beef. Mix the tomato sauce, water, and salt together.

Place the potatoes into the bottom of the pan. Layer a third of the cabbage on top of the potatoes. Place half of the beef over the cabbage layer, breaking off bits like little meatballs. Top with a third of the cabbage, the rest of the beef, and the rest of the cabbage. Gently but firmly pack everything down. Pour the tomato sauce over the top.

Bake for an hour.

*Grassfed beef is leaner than "mystery rolls" from the grocery store, so you will not have to pre-brown it. You can also try old-fashioned ground pork.


I shared this recipe with Fight Back Friday, a weekly collection of natural food recipes submitted by bloggers all over the 'net.

www.stealthymom.com

Quinoa with Veggies (vegan, gluten free)

Quinoa with Veggies (vegan, gluten free)

Quinoa and cabbage are great together. Add carrots for colour, celery for crunch, lightly sauté it all with sesame oil and aminos, and you have a hearty and delicious veggie meal. The Cadet tore into his bowl, bits aflyin', and G-man needed each bite to be assembled with at least one piece of celery. Quinoa and preschoolers can be a pretty messy combination but well worth the clean-up to have them eat lots of vegetables.

For four servings,

1 cup quinoa
2 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tsp coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
1/4 head cabbage, chopped
1 cup grated carrots
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 tsp salt

Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a lidded sauce pan. (I use an "Ultimate" pan for just about everything.) Keep boiling for about five minutes, then put the cover on the pan and turn off the heat. Allow it to sit for fifteen minutes while you chop your vegetables.

In a sauté pan (or the same "Ultimate"pan,) pour the sesame oil and aminos. Stir in the quinoa until it is coated. Add the cabbage and cook for about five minutes. Turn off the heat and add the carrots, celery, and salt. Give everything a toss and serve it up.


I shared this recipe with  Monday Mania,  Meatless Mondays and Fat Tuesday.


www.stealthymom.com

Quinoa Cabbage Rolls (gluten free, vegan)

Quinoa Cabbage Rolls

Cabbage rolls are kind of hard to describe. You have sweet, softened leaves of cabbage wrapping a filling, often rice or buckwheat. Since I had quinoa on hand, I thought, "why not?" That idea was a good one.

I stayed close to the recipe for Meatless Holubtsi in the Ukrainian Daughters' Cookbook,* that my Baba gave me years ago. While not difficult, cabbage rolls are time consuming because there are three steps: cooking the filling, making the rolls, and baking them. The good news is that it is a good "potluck" dish, so if you give yourself three hours 'til mealtime and have it done early, it is fine to keep warm in a covered casserole. You can also make it ahead, either at the pre-baked prepped stage or after baking and warm it up.