Tag Archives: super food

  1. Caramelized Onion and Bacon Liver Pâté

    Rich in both flavor and nutrients, this Caramelized Onion and Bacon Liver Pâté makes a wonderful appetizer or sandwich spread and would both be the perfect addition to any holiday spread or even just an every day weekday treat.

    Caramelized Onion Bacon Liver Pâté

    Caramelized Onion Bacon Liver Pâté

    Well, well, well. The time has come. Liver has made it’s way to the Tasty Yummies recipe archives. Who am I, even? Honestly, though, there is a version of me from 5 years ago that would truly never believe it possible. Yet, here we are. Just a girl in her 30s that has a mild love affair with good liver and how good that it makes her feel.

    A good pâté at a restaurant, this was the first time I was able to eat liver. If you’ve never had it, pâté is a smooth mousse that is deliciously served up in small portions traditionally on crostini or crackers, garnishing pricy charcuterie boards. Liver is usually quite inexpensive to purchase from your local farmer, or a trusted market, sometimes as inexpensive as a few dollars a pound.

    Liver is a highly-prized, often overlooked superfood. I find it’s a really great way to get my vitally important vitamin A, a fabulous source of B vitamins and iron, along with many crucial minerals and it even contains a not-yet-identified anti-fatigue factor. Guys, legit I have massive amounts more energy when I am eating liver, regularly.  You can read more about the many, many nutritional benefits of nature’s most potent superfood here.

    Read the rest of this entry »

  2. Maple Cinnamon Crunch Quinoa Granola – Gluten-free, Vegan + Refined Sugar-Free

    Maple Cinnamon Crunch Quinoa Granola - Gluten-free + Vegan

    It has been quite a whirlwind for us since the start of the new year. On Friday, January 4th the moving truck to got dropped off at our house and we had that weekend to pack up everything we wanted to keep, to go out to California and go into storage. The truck was on it’s way on the following Monday, January 7 and then we had the rest of the week to finish cleaning up the house, sell off our remaining furniture that we weren’t taking with us and get ourselves temporarily moved over to my parents house where we are staying until the official move to California.

    Yesterday our house closed!! So, after the moving truck pulled away last week and now handing off the keys of our house to the new owners, it is definitely all very real. We have a lot to do before we are officially on our way to California for good, but it is all feeling a little less overwhelming. At least right now. Staying at my parent’s house is going to take some getting used to, since I haven’t lived at home in nearly 10 years, but it is also really nice to spend some quality time with my parent’s before we move across the country.

    Last week was spent getting settled here and wrapping up everything at our house, but over the weekend I finally got some time to sit down and write up some recipes that have been swirling around in my head the last few weeks. I also made time to meal plan for the next week and write a grocery list. Yesterday I made dinner for everyone, hopefully the first of many while we are here. We popped a bottle of prosecco to celebrate the house sale being finalized and I made a huge pot of my chili, with some of the grass-fed ground beef from our farmer and some ground venison from a local hunter. Then I spent some time in the evening making this granola.

    Maple Cinnamon Crunch Quinoa Granola - Gluten-free + Vegan

    I am quite fond of minimal food photos that really allow the food to be the center focus rather than lots of props and other stuff, and I am excited to have some of my photography stuff here, but I really don’t have any of my props besides my nice white back drop. So, look for even more minimal photos than ever here at Tasty Yummies over the coming weeks. Hopefully the food will be as enticing as ever and I can create some fun stuff in the kitchen here at my parent’s place to share with you guys. With or without props and linens. I have some fun stuff in the works for you guys. By the way, the napkin seen in these photos is something I made as a gift for my mom. Designed and hand silkscreened fabric made by me and then I sewed it into a set of napkins. I still owe her a few to make the set complete, but we are going to work on them together, now that I am staying here! Can’t wait.

    I think what I like about this granola is that it is grain-free, something I am trying to be much more aware of, as I definitely feel better and less bloated when I am not consuming a lot of grains. Besides the fact, quinoa, those cute little seeds, often mistaken for a grain, is a nutritional powerhouse of a super-food, take a read here for the long list of benefits quinoa has to offer. I went a bit heavier on the maple syrup than I normally would have, but I really wanted to capture some of the wonderful maple flavor. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t lost in the flavor of the quinoa and cinnamon. Feel free to use less and/or to also consider adding in a tablespoon or two of some blackstrap molasses, which is a great source of iron. And as always with so many of my recipes, you can easily make this recipe your own. Taking out, adding in or swapping your favorite nuts, seeds, fruit and spices. This is a versatile recipe that is quite easily adaptable.

    Maple Cinnamon Crunch Quinoa Granola - Gluten-free + Vegan

    [print_this]Maple Cinnamon Crunch Quinoa Granola
    Makes approximately 4-5 cups

    • 1 cup quinoa, uncooked (rinsed well and drained)
    • 1 cup sliced almonds
    • 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
    • 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut or coconut chips
    • 1/3 cup flax seeds
    • 1 tablespoon chia seeds
    • 3/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries
    • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
    • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
    • 1/2 cup maple syrup
    • 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    Preheat the oven to 375°F. In a large bowl or directly in a roasting pan, combine all of the dry ingredients, including the spices. If solid, heat the coconut oil in a small microwave-safe bowl on high for 20-30 seconds until melted. Pour the coconut oil and maple syrup evenly over all of the granola. Toss it all very well to make sure the dry ingredients are all nicely coated.

    Make sure the granola is evenly spread in a thin layer in your roasting pan (you can also use a parchment paper lined baking sheet as well). I like using a roasting pan, since it makes stirring easier, so you don’t lose any over the sides. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown, and slightly crisp. Stirring a few times while it is baking.

    Cool completely in the roasting pan or on the baking sheet. As it cools the granola will crisp up even more. Cool fully before adding placing in air tight container for storage.

    Enjoy this granola as cereal in your favorite milk (dairy or non-dairy), sprinkled with fresh fruit over your favorite yogurt or ice cream, on top of a smoothie, etc.

    [/print_this]

  3. Quinoa Salad with Toasted Almonds

    Quinoa Salad with Toasted Almonds

    Again, sorry for the lack of posts. This time it wasn’t that I wasn’t cooking or away for work, Mark and I took a week “off” with 5 of our friends and spent some time at my family’s beautiful beach house on Lake Erie that we rented for an entire week. What a much-needed, relaxing time away. We got to just hang out and spend time together, no event to rush off to, no posters to be printed, just good a old-fashioned vacation. Sure most of us still had to pull the laptops out and get some work done, but being away from life, on the beach and with the people you love most, is one of the best ways you can spend your time.

    We of course, planned meals and cooked and ate like kings and queens, ok and we may have drunk a bit, too. I had a handful of recipes I wanted to make and some that I wanted to try for the first time, what better group of people to use as guinea pigs than your friends.

    Over the next couple of days I will be posting some of the recipes that I made. I did make a huge pot of my chili one night, but I never measure with that and of course forgot photos, but I make that often during the fall, so that will be posted soon.

    The first recipe that I tried out was this delicious quinoa salad with toasted almonds. It was a great way to highlight all the lovely veggies that are in season and it was the perfect side to one of our butterflied grilled chickens from Sojourner Farms that Mark and I made for everyone. Since there were 7 of us, I multiplied the original recipe for this salad by 4, to serve 8, but I am posting it here to serve 2. Not only is this recipe gluten-free but also vegan.

    It was so good, we were all eating it right after it was done cooking, right out of the bowl on the countertop and before it had fully cooled. It is always hard to please a large group of people with food, but surprisingly everyone loved this salad and the leftovers were perfect for lunch after enjoying some time in the sun and swimming. A couple of things that I had changed since I made such a large batch, was instead of 1 yellow pepper, since we needed so much more, I went with one each of yellow, red and orange peppers. I also went with green zucchini and yellow squash, since I had an abundance of both, and I loved all the color. Because we were at the beach house and our supplies were limited, I also skipped the celery when I made it, and instead of dried red pepper flakes (which we didn’t have), I went with a hot pepper oil from some hot pepper sandwich spread that Allison and Craig had bought for sandwiches, the subtle heat was so perfect. I have become a huge fan of quinoa and I love it’s versatility. It can be served like most grains, though it is actually a seed, it is perfect sweet or savory, hot or cold. It really is the super food, as they call it. It is packed with protein and loaded with fiber. Quinoa can be found with other grains in the natural or organic section at most supermarkets or at natural food stores.

    This recipe came from the Whole Living website and it was featured in Body + Soul Magazine, March 2006. I have a subscription to Whole Living, and I really cannot recommend it enough, great recipes, articles and tips for clean and healthy living.

    Quinoa Salad With Toasted Almonds
    Serves 2
    Adapted from Body + Soul Magazine, March 2006

    1/4 cup slivered almonds
    1/2 cup (3 ounces) quinoa
    4 teaspoons olive oil
    1 yellow bell pepper, ribs and seeds discarded, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
    2 garlic cloves, minced
    2 scallions, thinly sliced
    1/8 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
    1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, plus more for garnish (optional)
    1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
    1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/2-inch thick
    1 large celery stalk, diced
    1 lime, halved

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast almonds until crisp, lightly browned, and fragrant, about 7 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Meanwhile, place quinoa in a fine sieve and rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear; drain well.
    In a medium saucepan, heat 2 teaspoons olive oil over medium heat. Add yellow pepper, garlic, scallions, and red-pepper flakes; cook until the pepper is crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
    Stir in quinoa, thyme, 1 cup water, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook 7 minutes. Stir in zucchini, cover, and cook until quinoa is tender but not mushy, 5 to 8 minutes longer. Remove the saucepan from heat.
    Stir in celery, almonds, and remaining 2 teaspoons oil, season with salt, and fluff with a fork. Cool to room temperature before packing into two containers and refrigerating. When ready to eat, squeeze lime over salad, if desired. Serve with additional lime wedge and thyme, if desired.

    Quinoa Salad with Toasted Almonds

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