Raw Beet Salad with Ginger and Pistachios [gluten-free, vegan]

Springtime seems to signify rebirth, and while I’m still waiting for a rebirth of normal warm temperatures, I am certainly getting in the mood for some fresh flavors.

I mean, I really like root vegetables, but I’m getting a little sick of them. Okay, that’s not true. But eating them in the same way–I’m growing weary.

However, regardless of the follies of the weather, I can certainly evoke that springtime-feel in my kitchen. A good way to start? Trying old favourites in new ways, experimenting with different approaches, and highlighting fresh flavours by keeping it simple.

Try complementing your dinner with a super salad, featuring a bright burgundy vegetable miles away from the steamed or pickled versions you might remember. Beets contain betalain and vulgaxanthin, two phytonutrients with antioxidant and anti-imflammatory benefits. Betalains aren’t heat stable, so enjoying beets raw is the best way to reap their goodness. They also house two carotenoids (lutein and zeaxanthin), benefiting eye health like their carrot counterparts. Beets are also an excellent source of folate, an integral nutrient for fetus health and aging.

And, well, they just taste really good raw, okay? Especially with pungent ginger and salty roasted pistachios.

Maple Parsnip Bread with Dried Cranberries [gluten-free, vegan]

After I made and loved a cake with parsnips, I had a bunch of grated parsnips leftover and wanted to use them up. I was on my way to Disney World in a few days, and wanted to make an easy, whole grain bread without a lot of sweetness and use up some ingredients I had lurking around.

Garlic Scape and Asparagus Soup [gluten-free, vegan]

[My apologies if you got a random huge image in your reader right now... I had some WordPress difficulties and affixed the photo to the wrong post. Back to normal now...]

Last Thursday I received my first installment from my CSA (Creek Shore Farms) and had great intentions of sharing photos of the box of produce delight. But… by time I got home it was getting dark, I was hungry, and all of those intentions vanished and the veggies and herbs made their way into their temporary storing places (outside/fridge/counter) and, frankly, I forgot.

This week I received:

• garlic scapes
• garlic chives
• fresh oregano
• turnips
• radishes
• pea shoots
• sunflower shoots
• lettuce

(And maybe something else that I have already finished and forgotten about).

And so, while many of these things just made their way naturally into my rotation, a few things required some new recipes, as I’ve never had garlic scapes or garlic chives before.

Last night I made a garlic scape and asparagus soup, a combination of my CSA’s scapes, oregano, and turnips. I used local asparagus from a down-the-road market, some celery and carrots to add a little flavor, basil from my own garden, and a couple of ingredients I had in the pantry. The result was something so delicious I just may have finished the whole pot on my own.

There are no photos of the actual soup because all the ones I took look dim and terrible given it was dark out and I lack decent light in my condo and I was too hungry to pull out my natural-light-lamps. But basically it looks like a green purée of veggie heaven, okay?

Garlic Scape and Asparagus Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced carrots
1 1/2 cups diced turnips
10 garlic scapes, chopped
1 large bunch of asparagus, chopped (just over a pound after I trimmed off the ends)
6 long stems fresh oregano, leaves stripped from the stemmed
10 basil leaves, finely chopped
Salt (and pepper if desired)
3/4 cup cooked chickpeas
Water
1 cup thick nondairy milk (I used unsweetened So Delicious coconut milk in the carton)

Heat the olive oil in the pan on medium heat. Add the celery and carrots. Cook until they start to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the turnip and scapes. Cook until fragrant and the turnip begins to soften, about 8 more minutes. Stir in the asparagus. Add the oregano leaves, basil, and some salt, along with the chickpeas, then add enough water just to come to the top of the veggies. Bring to a boil, cover, then reduce heat and let simmer for about 30 minutes.

Remove from heat and use an immersion blender to purée until smooth. (You can also do this by carefully transferring it to a food processor and processing it until smooth). Adjust for salt, adding pepper if desired. Stir in the milk. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note: You can certainly add more chickpeas for a heartier dinner, especially if there are more people and protein requirements. I assumed I might polish it all off and so, put enough for me. I also wanted to save the other chickpeas for another recipe I was making.

Kelp Noodle Stirfry with Tofu, Veggies, and Tamarind Sauce [gluten-free, vegan]

Becoming increasingly popular, kelp noodles are a sea vegetable that is formulated with–you guessed it!–kelp, sodium alginate, and water. They are naturally gluten-free and vegan, and I’m pretty sure every bag I have seen says “gluten-free” right on the package.

Quick creamy sauce for anything (gluten-free, vegan)

While getting over the flu, I’m always craving those warming comfort foods. One of them is something my mom used to make when we were kids, and to be honest, I’m not really sure what it was. All I remember was a creamy sauce with a hint of mushrooms, served over no-yolk noodles. There were peas in there, too, along with chicken (which, though I wasn’t a vegan until I was older, never liked).

I wanted to create a similar sauce and incorporate what I had in my fridge. I also was a little pasta’d out (I was eating it for a couple of days which ridden with the flu, and, let’s be honest, since it didn’t stay down, I’m a little turned off of it for a while).