Green Swamp SoupKid, Earth and Time Friendly Recipes

Broccoli pesto pasta may just be my favorite vegan dish! When you add broccoli to the pesto mix, it takes on the texture of grated Parmesan cheese, and is wonderfully flavorful. Even if you’re not vegan, with this recipe, there really is no need to add the extra fat, salt and cholesterol found in cheese.

I was inspired to make this dish by a series of broccoli dishes featured in the April edition of Vegetarian Times. I decided to make my normal pesto recipe and just add broccoli. I combined the pesto with spaghetti noodles knowing I’d have a better chance of getting the kids to try it since they innately love “basketti.” Everyone — hubby, kids and I — loved it.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. toasted pine nuts (toast in a skillet over medium heat until golden-to-dark brown)
2 cups broccoli florets, steamed until bright green, but not mushy
1/4 cups plus 2 tbsp. olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 cups fresh basil, tightly packed
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 large cloves garlic
1/2 package of thin spaghetti (vegans, look for egg-less pasta; for a healthier pasta, I like Barilla Plus Pasta), cooked al dente

Directions:

Pulse ingredients (except pasta, of course) together in a food processor until smooth. Combine pesto with pasta. Garnish with additional broccoli florets if desired. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I created this cold Soba Noodle Salad for @PickleSugarPlum, as explained in an earlier post for Grilled Ahi Tuna Steaks. This recipe was created, in part, to be used with the leftover tuna made with that recipe, but you could certainly make this all on its own. If you’d like more protein, I suggest adding firm tofu or edamame.

The great thing about this salad is that’s it’s extremely easy to make. I like to stir-fry the veggies so that they’re crisp and flavored nicely with the sesame oil and garlic. This maximizes the flavor of the sesame oil and, in return, requires less oil in the dressing.

I taste-tested this on my family and they really enjoyed it! When serving to small children, it’s wise to cut up the noodles before you serve them, as the dressing on the salad makes the noodles a little slippery for young fingers to twirl around a fork.

Ingredients:

1 carrot, sliced on the diagonal
1 small zucchini, sliced on the diagonal
1 small red pepper, sliced
1 small green pepper, sliced
1 head of broccoli, chopped
1 cup cauliflower, chopped
1 clove garlic, diced or pressed
1 1/2 tbsp. toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp. sea salt (optional)
3 tbsp. cilantro, stemmed and chopped
2 scallions, diced
1 bundle Koyo organic soba noodles

Ingredients for Dressing:

2 1/2 tbsp. teriaki sauce
1 tsp. honey
2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. minced ginger
1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil

Directions for Salad:

1. Boil soba needles according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat oil on medium-high heat in a large wok.

2. Add all veggies and stir fry for about five minutes. Add garlic and saute two more minutes.

3. Add scallions and cilantro and stir fry about two more minutes. Set veggies aside to cool.

Directions for Dressing and the Salad:

1. Whisk all ingredients together.

2. When noodles are cooked, drain and rinse with cold water. Combine veggies, noodles and dressing.

3. Chill for at least one hour or serve at room temperature.

4. Serve with Grilled Ahi Tuna Steaks. Garnish with additional scallion and cilantro, if desired.

Last week I passed a mini milestone on Twitter — 400 followers. To celebrate, I sent out a tweet to say I would create a custom, healthy recipe for follower 400. Healthy mom, @PickleSugarPlum, was the winner! I sent her a message to see what she liked, and she sent me back a pretty tall order that provided me with a nice challenge for this week’s post! Here were some of her criteria/preferences:

• Something yummy and not $$
• CHOCOLATE,meat=fresh grilled tuna, sushi, chicken, seafood veggies=carrots, peas, st’m'd broc, romaine, fresh spinach NO: pork, rice, fungus
• I prefer fresh over canned, so things that are in season or readily available are best…year round options are even better!

I also wanted to find a dish that she could make once and then use for a couple other meals during the week. I decided to update one of my favorite grilled tuna recipes for @PickleSugarPlum by using fresh cilantro instead of basil. This recipe comes from the book How to Grill by Steven Raichlen. The reason I used cilantro is that this recipe is just the first in two recipes I’m going to create for @PickleSugarPlum, and cilantro will go better with the next recipe.

Depending on the size of her family, she should have some leftover tuna from this recipe, which she can use for the next recipe I’ll create.

As luck would have it, we were celebrating Sophia’s half birthday when I made this dish and she loves fish! So, paired with my homemade Mac n’ Cheese recipe, this turned out to also be the perfect birthday meal. In fact, my family declared it “the meal of the year” and both kids gobbled up every bite, including the kale. (Incidentally, this dish would probably go really well with the Spicy Peanut Pasta Salad featured in the Mac n’ Cheese post!)

Thanks again to @PickleSugarPlum for the inspiration AND the opportunity to update an old favorite. I’m looking forward to the next recipe … tomorrow.

Ingredients:

4 tuna steaks (3/4 to 1 inch thick; 6 to 8 ounces each)
1 bunch fresh cilantro, washed and stemmed
4 cloves garlic
3 strips lemon zest
Juice of 1 lemon (3 to 4 tbsp.)
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (if not trying to cut down on fat, you can use 1 cup)
1 tsp. coarse salt
1 tsp. black pepper

For the Kale:

NOTE to @PickleSugarPlum: You can substitute fresh spinach if you’d rather have that than kale.

1 bunch fresh kale, stemmed and chopped
1 clove garlic, diced or pressed
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. dark sesame oil

Directions for Kale:

1. Heat oil on medium heat for one minute. Add garlic and toast until brown, stirring constantly.

2. Add kale and saute for five minutes until kale is wilted.

3. Sprinkle with sea salt. Add more salt to taste if needed.

4. Arrange on plate to serve under grilled tuna steaks.

Directions for the Grilled Ahi Tuna Steaks

1. Trim off any dark or bloody spots from the tuna, then run under cold water and blot dry with paper towels. Arrange steaks in a container.

2. Combine the cilantro, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, vinegar, oil, salt and pepper in a food processor and puree until smooth. Pour this mixture over the tuna and let marinate in the refrigerator, covered, for 30 minutes to two hours, turning the tuna steaks several times.

3. Preheat your grill to high heat. When ready to grill, brush and oil the grill gate.

4. Drain the tuna steaks and arrange on the grill. Grill until cooked to taste, two to three minutes per side if rare, four to six minutes per side for medium, rotating the steaks 45 degrees after two minutes to create cross-cross grill marks.

5. Transfer the steaks to plates or a platter and let rest for three minutes, then serve with kale.

Summer Squash Pasta by Summer Tomato has to be one of the most genius recipes I’ve ever tried. First and foremost, it’s delicious. Second, it’s a healthy alternative to pasta. Third, it helps me eat up my summer squash. Fourth, it’s so easy to prep, a six-year-old can do it.

Sophia and our little neighbor friends had a blast helping out with the squash peeling. However, I couldn’t get either kid of mine to try it. But, I won’t give up. Next time I’ll serve the squash noodles mixed in with some of their regular Barilla Plus noodles.

These healthier noodles come in all shapes and sizes and are naturally rich in protein, fiber and ALA omega-3 fatty acids. They literally look and taste the same as regular pasta so there’s not a whole heck of a lot of trickery involved in making the switch.

I served up my squash noodles (and the Barilla Plus) with my own marina recipe that is quite similar to Darya Pino’s, author of Summer Tomato. I absolutely LOVE Darya’s website, and encourage anyone wanting to eat healthier and live a healthier life style to visit Summer Tomato often.

Here’s my marina recipe:

1/2 red onion, chopped
1 very large clove garlic, pressed
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 can tomato sauce
1 cup ripe garden tomatoes, diced
10-12 fresh basil leaves, chopped (follow Summer Tomato’s advice on chopping basil)
2 tsp. capers
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion in olive oil over medium heat, until onion is soft/clear. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about two minutes. Add the can of tomato sauce, garden tomatoes, capers and red pepper flakes and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes (add reserved tomato juice for a thinner sauce). While the sauce is cooking, make up your summer squash pasta. When sauce is thickened, add fresh basil and salt and pepper to taste. Serve over pasta.