Loving

Thinly slice the carrots. Finely chop the onion. Peel and chop the garlic cloves. In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add carrots, onion, garlic, and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Meanwhile grate the orange to yield 2 teaspoon grated zest. Juice orange to yield 1/2 cup orange juice.

Add vegetable stock , zest, and bay leaf to cooking vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until carrots are tender about 20 minutes.

Puree soup until smooth; return to saucepan. Stir in orange juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes.

Orange And Fennel Salad

one half of a small red onion
2 lg blood oranges
2-3 sm fennel bulbs
3tbsp olive oil
11/2 tbsp lemon juice
3/4tsp sea salt
1 tsp mint
oil cured black olives
black pepper

-slice onion in thin half moons
cover with cold water and set aside for 15 min
-Slice the orange peel of wih a knife, from top to bottom
over a bowl to catch the juices
-slice fennel into quarters lenght wise
slice the quarters lengthwise as this as you can.
-wisk together olive oil,lemon juice and salt

– toss all ingredients together with several black olives and a sprinkle of black pepper

Onion Baklava

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

10 yellow onions — in half moon slices

2 tablespoons brown rice syrup

1 fresh ginger root — graded juice extracted

1 tablespoon kuzu — dissolved in 3 tablespoon of cold water

2 cups blanched almonds

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

15 sheets phyllo dough

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

 
To make the filling, heat the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté with a generous sprinkling of salt until limp about five minutes. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook the onions covered for fifteen minutes stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. Add the rice syrup and ginger juice and cook uncovered until the mixture thickens slightly about ten minutes. Stir in the dissolved kuzu and cook stirring until the mixture thickens and turns clear about three minutes more. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil the bottom and sides of the thirteen by 9 inch baking dish. Place blanched almonds in a food processor and grind into a fine meal. Add cinnamon, and pulse just to combine.

Fold one sheet of the phyllo in half crosswise and fit into the prepared pan. Brush lightly with oil. Repeat folding and layering five more sheets of phyllo, creating a multiplayer base. Sprinkle evenly with 1/2 cup of the ground almonds. Spread half the onion filling over the almonds and sprinkle with another half cup of the ground almonds. Fold, layer, and oil five more of the sheets over filling sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the ground almonds and top with the remaining onion filling. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the almond mixture.

Fold, layer, and oil the remaining five sheets of phyllo over the second layer of filling, except this layer, sprinkle a little of the reserved almond mixture between each folded sheet. Brush the top lightly with oil. With a sharp knife, score the top sheets diamond shapes are most common for this dish to mark 24 servings. Bake in the center oven rack about fifteen minutes or until the phyllo is golden brown and crispy. Remove from the oven and cool the pan on a wire cooling rack. Cut into servings and serve warm.
This is a wonderful recipe by Christina Pirello! www.christinacooks.com

Mushroom And Onion Risotto With Steamed Greens And Grilled Radicchio

Grilled Radicchio

3heads of Radicchio

2-tbsp of olive oil

sea salt

Slice radicchio into quarters, lightly brush with oil and sprinkle a pinch of sea salt over top. Place on a cookie sheet and place under broiler for 8 min Turning twice. The same goes for a grill.

 Steamed Greens

1 Bunch dandelion greens

1 Bunch kale

In a large pot bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Add greens and steam for 2-5 minutes until bright green. Remove from pot and slice.

Hazelnut Chocolate Cake

3 Cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 Cup hazelnuts, toasted and finely ground

Pinch of sea salt

11/2 Tablespoons baking powder

1/2 Cup olive oil

1 Cup maple syrup

1 1/2 Cups plain rice milk

2 Tablespoons vanilla

Turn oven on to 350′

Mix the dry ingredients with a whisk. Add the wet ingredients and stir until smooth. Pour into cake pan (or like I did here into two bread pans) . Bake for 45 minutes. Cool before pouring over icing.

Chocolate Icing

1Pkg grain sweetened  chocolate chips

Melt in a double boiler. Be sure to stir quite a bit so it doesn’t burn.  Pour over cake hot. Sprinkle on chopped hazelnuts  Let cool to harden.

Strawberry Coulis 

4 Cups hulled strawberries

1/4 cup maple syrup

zest of 1 lemon

Puree ingredients until smooth