Quinoa Salad with Pineapple, Broccoli, and Mint

Pineapple quinoa salad with broccoli. Fresh and healthy.

Spring is beckoning. I can feel it. And my winter-stiff body is aching to stretch and move and shed the yearly inertia that descends like a bear with the shrinking daylight. My brain is flickering awake. My taste buds are tiring of the heavy, creamy comfort foods that sustained me (thank you, lovely spuds, lasagna, and mac and cheese, I love you with all my heart).

I'm craving lighter, cleaner tastes.

Not to mention, missing my warm weather jeans. You know the ones. That stack in the back of the closet you haven't fit into since December, when you began wondering if the laundromat medium heat setting was shrinking your favorite Levi's boot cut. The jeans you have to lay down to zip, doing your best imitation of Jane Fonda's pelvic tilt, sucking in your breath and praying to the zipper gods. Your skinny jeans. You know what I'm talking about. You have two sets of jeans, right? Winter. And summer.

So here's what I'm thinking. Quinoa to the rescue.

Vegan. Versatile. Easy. Fresh. Light. This new quinoa salad with pineapple and broccoli and fresh mint is all of the above. And maybe, just maybe, it'll be the first step to fitting into those skinny jeans.


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Warm Winter Coleslaw with Chili-Lime Dressing

Warm winter coleslaw recipe kicked up with chili sauce, lime and mint.

Need a little kick to warm your chilled winter bones? How about a warm and slightly spicy coleslaw with crunchy cabbage, chili, lime and ginger? It's a healthy vegan side dish your body will love. And the best part is, it's easy to throw together. You can do it in no time flat. Which is why I always keep a cabbage in the fridge (don't you, Darling?). You never know when hunger pangs will strike, what with all this detoxing and sugar shunning and working out with Jane Fonda's new Prime Time DVD -- which I must confess, I love to pieces. Jane is gentle and warm and encouraging (I don't respond well to bullying and drill sergeant meanies, do you?).


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Quinoa Salad with Roasted Beets, Chick Peas and Orange

Vegan quinoa salad with roasted beets, oranges and chick peas.

I sat down to write a post about a quinoa recipe. A vegan salad perfect for detox - the post holiday process of weaning ourselves off sugar and inflammatory foods. A recipe to encourage a fresh, clean start to the new year. Healthy food for a healthy body. Tasty inspiration for the soul. But writing about quinoa salad today seems trivial in the face of the weekend violence that took place in Arizona. I am heartsick. Profoundly saddened. Aching for every victim lost to us forever, and every victim wounded. I feel an almost physical pain imagining what their families, collective friends and colleagues are going through.

Then I thought about the word detox. And it hit me.

We need to detox not only from the sugary indulgences of our collective holiday sweet tooth, but from the dulling, insidious power of toxic language and inflammatory rhetoric that has gripped public discourse by the throat these past few years, infecting all media, from political talk shows to social networking. I see it everywhere.

And it frightens me.


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Quinoa Salad with Pears, Baby Spinach and Chick Peas in a Maple Vinaigrette

Autumn quinoa salad recipe with pears, chick peas and baby spinach.

If you're looking for a fresh idea to liven up your ho-hum salad plate, Babycakes, have I got a recipe for you. Light, vegan, and packed with protein, this is no ordinary bunny food. It's got teeth- er, I mean, quinoa. Studded with nutty, buttery chick peas and crunchy toasted pecans and succulent jewels of ripe, juicy pears. And did I mention, in a bowl licking maple vinaigrette? In fact, this is a salad even salad haters would eat. You know, those stalwart gotta have my meat and potatoes aficionados who eschew anything leafy. Who snicker at fiber. And mock carrot sticks. The sort of individual who gets misty eyed for melted butter and bacon martinis. To said individuals, salad could never be anything but rabbit chow.


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Heirloom Potato Salad

A super easy potato salad with tasty heirloom spuds. Vegan and egg-free.

I snatched up a bag of those cute little potatoes at the market yesterday. You know the ones I'm talking about. Those baby sized spuds as cute as a button. In Easter egg colors like custard and purple and pink. So sweet and adorable you want to cradle the bag and speak in your talking-to-kittens voice. Heirloom root vegetable deliciousness. Yeah, you shell out a little extra cabbage for these pretty babies, true. But I say, live a little. Indulge in excellent ingredients.

You only got one life. 

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Potato Salad Recipe with Sweet Potatoes and Red Onion

Potato salad with no mayo- and sweet potatoes!

 A recipe winner from the archives you may have missed. Because I haven't been cooking. I've been packing. We're moving from our Santa Monica apartment to a sweet place in West Hollywood. Like, tomorrow. If it seems as if we live gypsy lives, it's true. We do (if packing up and moving six times in fourteen months counts). We're signing a lease today. Ostensibly for a year. I hope to settle in fast and start whipping up gluten-free recipes in the new kitchen- which is, I'm happy to report, new as in brand new. New everything. Hence, a gluten-free stove. Fridge. Dishwasher. The landlord remodeled, bless her generous heart. I'll post pics as soon as the dust settles. xox Karina PS: And yes, there's a window over the kitchen sink.

This is a colorful and lower carb potato salad recipe, a welcome change from the ordinary white spud con mayo and boiled egg offerings so ubiquitous at backyard get-togethers. Why? Beyond the no Hellman's and huevos part, it features sweet potatoes, Dude. Sweet potatoes.

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Vegan Coleslaw Recipe with Peanut Dressing

Crunchy cool vegan slaw with a light peanut dressing.

It's almost the end of July. How has your summer been? Moonlit and sultry? All Popsicles and kiddie pool? Or just plain flat out busy as a bee? If it's been busy, Sugar, I can relate. Here in our tiny corner of the world we've been too crazy to cook much. We've been living on salads and smoothies. We're apartment hunting. Spending hours in the car navigating the neighborhoods of West Hollywood, searching for the perfect place. Or rather, the quasi-perfect place because perfection is unattainable. I know this. I do. But I still (naively) make a top ten priority list.

If I find a unit with a window over the kitchen sink (high on my list) there's inevitably no dishwasher. If I tour one with a dishwasher, there's no  window, and no patio (I'd love some outside access to put a small table and plant a few pots by the door). Washer and dryer? Ha. You know that saying, If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans? Well, if you want to hear the gods laugh even harder, make a wish list. For an apartment in West Hollywood. For example...

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Vegan "Tuna" Salad Recipe

Not Starkist Salad. Eat groovy. Save a tuna.

The older I get the more I crave simple. You know what I'm talking about. Home cooking. Childhood classics- like tuna salad. Instead of getting all worldly and sophisticated and dabbling with truffle oil, with each new gray hair my taste is hula hooping into kid-friendly food faster than Marisa Tomei can waggle. Well, maybe not that fast. She is pretty nimble. But you get my drift. I'm whipping up peanut butter and banana sandwiches, not oysters Rockefeller. Actually, I wouldn't know an oyster Rockefeller if it bit me in the tuchas. Filet Mignon (would you believe I've never had it?) doesn't even tempt me, Darling. And Chicken Cordon Bleu vs Chicken Kiev? 

Okay. It is here where I confess  that I'm no Betty Crocker and I've never attempted either recipe. Most likely because I was never what you'd call a big meat eater. I went vegetarian at age thirteen. If I've dabbled at all in the culinary arts it's been because of Anna Thomas and not Julia Child. The first cookbook I ever bought was The Vegetarian Epicure. That was 1972- the first time I ever made soup from scratch, thanks to Anna.

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How to Make Cashew Cream and a Curry Ranch Dressing Recipe

Cashew cream makes a divine dairy-free ranch dressing.

I've been reading on Twitter it's too hot to cook. So why not go raw? Numero uno, it's easy. Numero dos, it's tasty. And as an added bonus (if you need another nudge) cooking raw keeps the kitchen cool as a cucumber- which, by all accounts, is chilly by default and well. Raw. I've been flirting with raw cuisine lately to heal inflammation and tame my monkey gut. And wouldn't you know it. It's working. Eating vegan and often raw is soothing my symptoms and revitalizing my cranky little body. I am amazed at how much better I feel. Now if I could only quell the stress factor.

 

Did I mention, we're moving again?

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Quinoa Taco Salad

Quinoa taco salad- light, fresh, fabulous.

Looking for a fresh idea for a summer picnic or backyard get-together? This cool and breezy quinoa taco salad might be just what you're craving. Laced with lime juice and sea salt, the combo of fluffy quinoa and ripe avocado, spiked with red onion and sunny sweet pepper, served on a crisp bed of romaine lettuce, is a light and healthy twist on the salsa drenched bean and cheese heavy taco salads so ubiquitous years ago. It's a total win for gluten-free vegans and vegetarians. And let's face it.

Quinoa is much more hip than canned re-fried beans.

The inspiration for a quinoa taco salad was sparked over on the Gluten-Free Goddess Facebook page. Reader (and long distance friend) Patsy commented on a thread about Memorial Day picnic salads, mentioning her current fave, quinoa taco salad. We all perked up. 

Quinoa? As a taco salad? Brilliant. 

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Warm Winter Salad with Roasted Banana Squash and New Potatoes

Roasted fingerling and tiny new potatoes 
and winter squash on baby salad greens.

After a long and restless night I am pondering potato salad and glitter. Sleep deprivation may be unpleasant but it often breaks loose the inertia of stalled imagination (who among us has the power of will to maintain the status quo of the literal, linear world after a scant teaspoon of sleep?). In my experience it is not prudent to ignore gifts of imagination and whimsy. If one begins associating fingerling potatoes and burlesque I say, go for it. You never know when such a spinning sparkling muse will visit again. 

Which is why I am sipping coffee and entertaining lurid flashbacks of the Vegas show that was the 2010 Grammy Awards.

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Quinoa Salad with Yellow Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives, Basil + Mint

A light and easy quinoa salad recipe with mint.

I've written about quinoa more than once, so I doubt, Dear Reader, you need me to list all the pro-quinoa reasons why you should try this gluten-free faux grain. You already know it's high in protein. You know how easy it is to cook. You are well aware that quinoa works as a salad- warm or cold- or as stuffing for big juicy mushrooms or rather unconventional stuffed cabbage rolls that might cause your Bubbe to sit up straight in her chair and say, Oy, have I never heard of such a thing! Where do you get these ideas, Shayna Punim?

So I'm not going to wax all educational on ya.

I'd rather wax philosophical. I haven't felt practical. Or pragmatic. Truth is, I sold off furniture to be here. To get out. It's been a long, dry three years in the desert, and living here in Santa Monica is like living inside an intricate dream. The edges here are soft. The colors are gauzy with the salt air. We walk the winding path in Palisades Park at dusk and pass by strangers who meet our eyes and smile- ever so slightly.

As if we share a secret.

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Egg-Free Olive Oil Mayo

How to make an egg-free olive oil mayo.

One truth about myself that I'm learning- more and more- is it's the little things in life that stick.

It's the small moments I remember instead of the big ones, the quiet tender gesture rather than grandiose theatrics designed to make you swoon. Big and blown out- for me- simply fizzles and dissipates. There are gaps in my memory that reveal this proclivity to live off to the side, observing the small and overlooked, wondering what all the mainstream fuss is about. So much of what parades by as important strikes me as a lot of loud and self conscious whistling in the dark.

I prefer and savor the simple pleasures in life. Hot water and soap. Holding hands. Opening a new book. The unlauded bite of a new recipe that works- especially if you missed a certain taste- a condiment taken for granted, a spoonful most Americans plop onto their turkey sandwich, or stir into crab cakes, potato or tuna salad with no more thought or effort than simply reaching into the fridge and opening a jar.

Yes, I'm talking about mayo.

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Easy Champagne Vinegar Red Potato Salad

No mayo in this classic potato salad. Nope. Nada. Zip.

For those of you looking for a mayo-free potato salad recipe, here's an easy, tasty picnic style salad seasoned with Champagne vinegar and tarragon. I plan on making potato salad several times this week. Picnic food- that's perfect for packing. Sorry for the alliteration. I blame excitement. Life is getting interesting again. We're living sans furniture now- except for a bed, desk and rug. The casita feels empty in a good way. Clean and spacious. Inviting possibility.

Let's hope potential buyers feel the same way.

As for me, I'll be at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market a week from Wednesday (expect pictures). We don't know where we're staying yet. But if Craig's List is any indication, choices will be numerous. Until then?

Dinner will be picnic style.

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Warm Quinoa + Spinach Salad with Grape Tomatoes

Light and fresh quinoa salad with baby spinach

Here is a wonderful year-round salad that is warm and inviting, fresh and vibrant. The sort of salad a certain individual needs on a damp winter day when the sky is paper white and the clouds are thick with snow. On a day such as this it's tempting to head straight for comfort food. That leftover Kicked Up Baked Mac 'n Cheese in the fridge. That wedge of Roasted Vegetable Kugel. But what the body craves may- or may not be- what the body needs. I'm just saying.

I'm no expert on cravings. But I do know that if I make a habit of indulging every gnawing whim and craving that wiggles its way into my winter-fevered brain I'd have hips to write home about. I'd chew Chocolate Chip Cookie Squares for breakfast and eat warm Horseradish Spiked Red Potato Salad every noon hour from now till the Vernal Equinox (a serotonin-boosting strategy not recommended, by the way, for those of us past a certain age where you can pack on the pounds faster that you can say, Blueberry pancakes on a stick). And by the way, if we are what we eat, and we can "change our life" by what we visualize, does dreaming of Beef and Potatoes au Chocolat make us fat?

Surviving three months of virtual inertia- followed by ten months of slow and steady wins the race recovery- with three honkin' titanium screws in your hip (by the way, not that it invalidates and softens the tedious struggle of last year or anything, but why do certain family members- who claim to be compassionate- insist on referring to these suckers as pins, embroidering knitting group safe visions of a petite and delicate procedure that in no way involved a couple of workbench sized clamps and a battery operated power drill?) not to mention double digit extra poundage adhered to one's backside makes you appreciate a recipe like this.

Trust me.

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Cool As A Cucumber Salad

Cucumber talk. And a salad recipe.

It started with a visit from a fellow food blogger. And ended up as a side dish. No wait. That doesn't sound right. Because it's more than just a side dish. And the food blogger? Well. She's more than just a food blogger. She's Alanna!

And a certain individual got to make her dinner. Talk about nerve wracking. Cooking for a second-generation food columnist? It's enough to give anyone schpilkis! And I'm no exception. I was afraid I'd burn the quinoa. Or ruin the ribeye. But dinner went off without a hitch. Even with two glasses of wine and a pre-repast stroll to watch the sun set over Abiquiu. I think we talked for five hours.

And the cucumber salad? I made it based on Alanna's simple instructions via cell phone (and via the no-fuss wit and wisdom of Old Liz) and it was such a lip-smacking tasty little number, I ate it for breakfast, lunch and dinner the next day.

Now that's a good recipe.

Thanks Alanna! And muchas gracias to dear Old Liz, who apparently (as we say back east) knows from cucumbers.

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Quinoa Salad with Lime + Fresh Mint

Cool and refreshing quinoa salad with lime and mint.

This is the post where I confess, Dear Reader, that I am now pear-shaped and lumpy and thick in the middle- obviously adept at gaining weight. I may even be considered gifted. This is not fun for me. But then, who promised fun during hip surgery recovery? Who said it would be easy? (Um, no one.) Throw menopausal hormone pandemonium into the sticky mix and you have a double roll nightmare.

I gained twenty damn pounds.

And who claimed that wedges of Green Chile Cornbread and Strawberry Chocolate Chip Scones and Peach Crisp were calorie-free, anyway? Certainly not moi. But geesh. How much can a girl give up in one lifetime?

Okay. So the rumors are true.

Your intrepid plucky gluten-free goddess is trying the South Beach Diet. Or as well as one can follow the famous low glycemic diet without the comfort of eggs and dairy foods (on my allergen verboten list). This should be interesting.

Lucky for me I have a Guru.

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Red Potato Salad with Horseradish

Serve this horseradish spiked red potato salad warm or cold

Ready for some spud love? Here's one of my favorite potato salad recipes. And just in time. Summer has arrived almost instantaneously here in the desert north of Santa Fe. Last week I was layering t-shirts and hoodies to keep warm. I stood shivering at the Santa Fe Farmer's Market (wind always makes me cranky). It felt more like March than May. This weekend? It was quintessential summer weather. Hot bright sun. Dry air. An almost too-warm casita. We turned on the ceiling fans.

On weekends like this you kick off your shoes and peel off your long sleeved black jersey, opting instead for the lime green tank top. You feel your bones begin to knit as you soak up the longer daylight and linger by the roadside during post-dinner walks in the rose hued sun. You smile at the young jackrabbits and their impossibly erect ears. And your thoughts turn to dining al fresco, sitting beneath the dappled shade of the portal with a chilled glass of white and a zesty potato salad. Life in the slow lane.

Last night's Twitter:

Cheap thrills in the desert: S is making animal sounds to alarm a jackrabbit. The sound that makes it freeze in terror? A chicken cluck.

Horseradish Spiked Red Potato Salad Recipe

If you really, really prefer sour cream or mayonnaise in your red potato salad- by all means, Babycakes, add some in. But if you've never tried a mayo-free dairy-free version of this popular summer side dish, why not give my vegan potato salad a whirl? You might even make some new friends at your next barbecue. Those vegans? Sprouting up everywhere these days.

2 to 2 1/2 pounds small red potatoes
Sea salt
1/4 cup fruity tasting extra virgin olive oil, as needed
4-6 tablespoons apple cider or rice vinegar, to taste
1 smallish red onion, finely diced
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish- I used Bubbies
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1-2 teaspoons dill, to taste
1 teaspoon caraway seeds- optional

Wash and cut up the red potatoes, toss them into a pot of salted fresh water. Bring the water to a boil and simmer the potatoes until they are fork tender. Drain well.

Pour the cooked potatoes into a large bowl. While the potatoes are still warm, sprinkle with sea salt and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and vinegar. Toss to coat and to soften the edges of the potatoes pieces a bit. Add the diced onion, horseradish and toss to distribute. Taste and season with more sea salt and plenty of fresh ground pepper. Add the chopped parsley, dill and caraway; mix.

Taste test. Add more olive oil or vinegar, sea salt or herbs.

Serve warm (so yummy!) or cover and chill.

Remember that chilling the potato salad will subdue its flavor considerably. I always season my potato salad more vigorously if I am going to serve it chilled. Taste test after chilling it and add more seasoning if it needs it.

Serves 6 to 8.

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Karina's Notes:

This a food allergy friendly recipe- it is gluten-free, soy-free, egg-free, dairy-free.

If you're not a fan of horseradish try my Champagne Vinegar Potato Salad recipe.

Gluten-Free Salad Dressing Recipes: Or 3 Ways To Dress A Naked Salad

Three easy gluten-free salad dressings.

Let us take a moment and appreciate the humble green salad. The crisp crunchy greenness. The tender bites of bitter and sweet. The whole feel-good shiver you get when you chow down a plate of bunny food.

Bunny food rocks, my friend.

But how to dress a naked green? That is the question. Bottled stuff simply won't do. Too many additives and stabilizers and gums you can't pronounce. Or the ubiquitous evil soybean oil. Ick. (Did I just write Ick? Well, I meant it. I loathe soybean oil.) I offer you, instead, three simple dressings- three recipes you can whip up in a New Mexico minute, adapted from my first cookbook, Recipes from a Vegetarian Goddess. Toss them with love.

Basil Citrus Vinaigrette

This a perfect dressing for a brunch salad- especially if you're serving Mimosas.

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar

1 teaspoon orange zest

2 tablespoons minced fresh basil

1/2 teaspoon organic agave nectar

A pinch of sea salt, to taste

Fresh ground pepper, to taste

Mix all of the ingredients in a glass dish or cup. I use a fork for this. Drizzle over fresh greens. Toss. Munch. Be happy.

Serves 4.

Ginger Dressing

The Asian flavors in this include soy sauce- if you're allergic to soy try substituting molasses.

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon light olive oil

4 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons wheat-free soy sauce

1 inch fresh ginger, grated

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon organic agave nectar

Mix all of the ingredients in a glass dish or cup. I use a fork for this. Taste test and adjust seasonings.

Pour over an Asian-inspired mix of spring greens, matchstick carrots, sliced water chestnuts, mung bean sprouts, sliced mushrooms, red onion and cashews. Toss. Smile.

Serves 4.

Greek Salad Dressing

Greek salad makes an easy weeknight supper. Pair it with a hearty bread like my Sweet Potato Cornbread. Add in some hard boiled eggs, sardines or tuna if you like.

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons golden balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano

1 tablespoon minced fresh mint

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon organic agave nectar

A pinch of sea salt, to taste

Fresh ground pepper, to taste

Mix all of the ingredients in a glass dish or cup. I use a fork for this. Taste test and adjust seasonings.

Drizzle over a Greek salad that includes cucumbers, red onion, kalamata olives, pepperoncini, grape tomatoes and feta cheese. Toss. Devour. Dance. Smash a few plates.

Serves 4.

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