Kale and Soy Beans

In keeping with healthy foods that taste great, this recipe fits the bill. The two main items--kale and soy beans--are full of good vitamins. Once you combine all the ingredients for this dish, you also have that valuable rainbow of healthy color...you'll see that in just a minute.
You can make croutons to go on top of the finished plate; I had some rye bread at the handy, so I used it. You can use any type of bread you have. Heat up some olive oil in a skillet (remember that olive oil has a fairly low smoking point, so don't turn the heat up too high) and add to it about 1/2 t. ground thyme. Once the oil is heated, add the cubed bread. Once it is to the crunchy state, Put on a plate and season with salt and pepper.

Back to the skillet--add a bit more olive oil and throw in a bit of crushed red pepper, some more ground thyme (around 1 t. of each), 1/2 t. garlic powder, 1/2 t. onion powder, and, if you have it, a bit of vegetable broth (approx 1/4 c.). I use "better than bouillon" in the vegetable flavor (about 1 t.). Stir all this together. Toss in some shredded kale (around 4 cups) and just enjoy that lovely green color for a bit. Then stir in two or three chopped tomatoes. Once the kale has cooked down somewhat, add a can of soy beans. Turn the heat down to medium low and let everything simmer for about 10 minutes. Ladle out, add the croutons and enjoy!

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread

I've been looking to add more grain to the bread I make. I found a nice little recipe that adds another "level" of grain without being overwhelming. The secret is in make sure you grind the oats before adding. I'll remember this little trick--it will come in handy when I make meatloaf as well!

The ingredients of the bread recipe were borrowed from a neat little website called allrecipes.com with a couple of tweaks:

I used 2 c. soy milk (any kind of milk will work) and warmed it and then added 1 pkg (1/4 oz.) of yeast. I found that the  temperature of the milk suggested in the original recipe was a tick too low to get the nice foam from the yeast, so I upped it to a good 105-110 degrees. After about five minutes of mixing the milk and yeast together, add to this 1 1/2 T. sugar. Set aside.

Blend together in a large bowl the following--2 1/2 c. whole wheat flour, 1/2 c. ground oatmeal, and around 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour, and 1 1/2 t. salt. Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the milk. Stir until blended. Use around 1/2 c. more all-purpose flour to work and knead the bread. Knead for around 8 minutes.

Put some olive oil in the bowl you mixed the bread in and roll the dough ball once in the oil. Cover and put in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes. Take the dough out and shape into a loaf, oil the loaf pan lightly, and drop in the dough. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for a good 30-35 minutes. The loaf should sound a little hollow when done. Turn out onto a cooling rack. Enjoy!

Shrimp and Chickpeas

In keeping with good and healthy menus, tonight we enjoyed a shrimp and chickpea dish. It's easy to make and full of flavor.
First shell around a pound of raw shrimp. Open a can of chick peas (garbanzos). Mix together 1/2 c. olive oil, 1T. of basil leaves, 2t. of cumin, 1T. parsley, 2t. paprika (Hungarian or smoked preferably), 1 t. garlic powder, and a dab of salt and pepper. Marinade the shrimp in 1/2 the mixture and put into the refrigerator for about 1 hour; put the chick peas into a separate bowl, add the other half of the mixture to them and set them in the refrigerator for an hour also.
Heat up around 1 1/2 T. olive oil in a saute pan. Cook the marinaded shrimp until they are just done and put them to the side. Narrowly slice an onion and cook until lightly browned. Put the chick peas and the marinade into the saute pan and cook adding in 1/4 c. chopped tomatoes, 4-6 slices of jalapeño pepper. Once everything is well cooked, add 1 c. baby spinach and cook until tender--make sure the shrimp have been added back in for a bit of a re-heat. Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Bread

I was looking for a good recipe for bread on this cold day. Figured it would be a good compliment to a hearty vegetable/bean soup I was making. I wanted a wheat-based bread, so I ended up finding a recipe in my old faithful cookbook from Better Homes and Gardens. This is the recipe from there:
Mix 1/2 packet yeast with 1 c. all-purpose flour into a mixing bowl.
Heat 1 1/2 T. shortening (I used Crisco), a little over 3/4 c. water, 1/6 c. packed brown sugar, and 1 t. salt to where the shortening melts (around 115-120 degrees) stir constantly.
Add to the flour mixture. Beat at low speed for 30 seconds and then on high speed for 3 minutes.
Stir in 1 c. whole wheat flour and as much of 1/2-3/4 c. all-purpose flour as you can stir in with a spoon.
Knead using a bit more all-purpose flour for around 6 minutes. Grease a bowl and roll the dough in it once. Cover and let raise for 1-1/2 hours.
Punch the dough down, put on a bread board and cover to set for 10 minutes. Shape into a loaf and put into a greased loaf pan. cover and let raise for 1 more hour.
Bake at 375 degrees for around 25 minutes, then cover with foil for the last 20 minutes.
Turn out on a cooling rack to cool.  Makes a very pretty loaf!