Mustard Vinaigrette

This recipe makes mustard vinaigrette for the week, because I figure that if you’re going to take the time to paste a garlic clove, you may as well paste three and make a jar full. Also, the likelihood of eating greens significantly increases if you know that a healthy and delicious dressing is waiting for you in the fridge and all that’s required is to chop up a few leaves.

I like to make my own vinaigrette because I can use high quality olive oil (many packaged brands, even the healthy ones, contain inflammatory oils), there’s no zanthan gum or other stabilizers, and I reduce packaging.

Many mustard vinaigrettes use sherry vinegar (which is tasty) but I prefer raw apple cider vinegar to amp up the health benefits. Apple cider vinegar is said to improve metabolism and help lower blood pressure. And it tastes just as good. I put this dressing into a clean 16oz glass jar (from peanut butter or tahini or the like) and store it in the fridge. The olive oil will solidify, but just put the jar someplace warm - or into a bowl of hot water - and it will quickly come back to liquid form. Give the jar a good shake and you’re set to go.

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Mustard Vinaigrette
Adapted from the mustard vinaigrette recipe (pg 41) of Cook This Now by Melissa Clark

Note: If you don’t have kosher salt, use a bit less fine grain sea salt and go by taste. Add the large pinch into the garlic cloves, then add a rounded teaspoon or so into the dressing, shake, taste and adjust if necessary. Fine grain sea salt is a bit saltier than larger grain salt.

3 medium garlic cloves + large pinch of kosher (larger grain) sea salt
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup raw apple cider vinegar
1/2 tablespoon kosher (larger grain) sea salt
1 1/4 cups extra virgin olive oil

Peel and thinly slice your garlic cloves, then paste them with a pinch of kosher sea salt using a mortar and pestle. Put the pasted garlic into a clean jar, along with the Dijon mustard, raw apple cider vinegar, remaining kosher salt and olive oil. Screw the lid on tight and give it a really good shake to incorporate all the ingredients. Use some right away, or put in the fridge for later. This dressing will easily keep for the week.

Chocolate Cherry Chia Pudding

This is one of my go-to recipes for a quick and healthy breakfast or snack. The chia seeds and milk go into the fridge the night before, and in the morning everything comes together quickly. Chia seeds are often considered a superfood for good reason - they are high in omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, calcium, magnesium and iron. I also use raw organic cacao powder here, which is more nutrient-dense than heat-processed cocoa.

You can use the vanilla-maple flavored chia pudding in a variety of ways (cacao or not). Play around with different fresh and frozen fruits to see what you like. Our favorites are warmed frozen cherries or warmed frozen blueberries.

Note that if you aren’t prepping the pudding the night before, you will need 30-45 minutes for the chia seeds to absorb the milk and take on a pudding texture. If you mix the chia seeds with slightly warmed milk (such as homemade nut milk straight from the blender), they will absorb it faster than if it is cold.

Homemade Cashew Milk: I usually use homemade cashew milk for my chia pudding, which is super easy to make: In a Vitamix, combine a ratio of 1 cup filtered water to 1/4 cup raw unsalted cashews. Sprinkle in some sea salt. Blend on high power for a couple minutes, then pour into a clean glass jar. If you’re using a high-powered blender there is no need to pre-soak the cashews or strain the milk afterwards. It’s the easiest nut milk I know.

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Chocolate Cherry Chia Pudding

Notes: You can easily scale this recipe up or down as long as you keep the ratio of 3 tablespoons whole chia seeds to 1 cup of milk. Also, if you’re serving this to small kids, please give the bowl a quick stir so they don’t inhale a bunch of cacao powder with their first bite (which I learned first hand). Finally, if you are using sweetened cocoa powder, I would hold off on the maple syrup and only add it at the end if you feel like it needs a little.

6 tablespoons whole chia seeds
2 cups milk
Pinch of sea salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons maple syrup

To serve:
Unsweetened raw cacao powder
Fresh cherries, pitted and sliced or warmed frozen cherries (which should already be pitted)

About 45 minutes before serving (or the night before), combine the chia seeds and milk in a jar and give it a good stir (a fork works well for this). Place the jar in the fridge. Come back a couple more times within the next 15 minutes to stir again. This ensures a really smooth (non-clumpy) pudding.

When you’re ready to serve, take the jar out of the fridge and add in the sea salt, vanilla extract and maple syrup. Stir well. Portion the chia pudding into bowls and top with cherries and a sprinkling of cacao powder (see note).

Serves 4

Spanish Kale

This is what I call Spanish kale, one of my favorite go-to dishes. It comes together really quickly and requires minimal fuss. I’ve written measurements below, but I seldom actually measure anything. I toast a handful of pine nuts, then add a glug of olive oil, generously shake in some smoked paprika and toss in the kale. It’s a wonderful addition to lunch bowls with some grain, protein and hummus, but it goes with so many different things. It’s shown here with some Banza gluten-free mac ‘n cheese (boxed) because I’m slowly learning that sometimes kids need an element of fun added to their plates (it’s only taken me 7 years :). This meal has been a summer lunch favorite at our house, kale and all.

You’ll see when you make this that the kale cooks down very quickly. This recipe is written for one bunch, but our family can easily eat two bunches in one sitting so feel free to scale up. And stock up on kale :)

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Spanish Kale

Note: The only two “tricks” to this recipe are to not let the pine nuts burn, and to have your kale chopped and ready before adding the olive oil and smoked paprika. I toss the kale into the pan immediately after the olive oil and smoked paprika and stir right away to cool things down so the olive oil doesn’t smoke and the paprika doesn’t burn. Also, I generally use Lacinato kale here (also called Tuscan, black or dinosaur kale), but it can be made with curly kale with good results.

Handful of raw pine nuts
Glug of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
I bunch Lacinato kale, de-stemmed and sliced into 1/4 inch ribbons
Sea salt to taste

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and toss in the pine nuts. Dry toast, stirring every so often, for several minutes until they are darker in color and smell nice and toasty. Turn the heat down to medium-low, add in a glug of olive oil and the smoked paprika, then very quickly toss in the kale and give everything a good stir. Season with sea salt and continue to sauté, stirring continuously, for a minute or so until the kale collapses just a bit and is evenly coated with olive oil and smoked paprika. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Serve alongside whatever you like and enjoy :)

Serves 2-4