Christina Najjar

4 Ingredient Beet Radish Salad (vegan, paleo)

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I’m not the biggest fan of beets, but this beet radish salad is one way I’ll actually somewhat enjoy them. I make it when I need to incorporate raw beets into my diet. Beets and radishes support the liver, and I know that my liver can always take a bit of extra help. Raw beets are also a great food for platelet health, and they have anti-cancer properties. You can read more about the health benefits of beets.

4 Ingredient Beet Radish Salad

If your digestive system has been known to cause you problems, proceed with caution. Raw beets can be difficult to digest because of its high insoluble fibre content, or, simply put, “roughage”. If you’re new to beets, it’s also important to note that in 10-15% of people, consuming beets can temporarily alter urine colour. The pigmentation will also show itself in stools, so don’t panic! You could probably make a movie (a funny one, too!) out of all my reactions when I’ve forgotten that I ate beets the night before.

If you haven’t worked with beets before, I will warn you that your hands will be a funky colour by the time you’re done cutting everything. You can wear gloves when cutting beets to avoid that. Otherwise, washing your hands with soap a few times should take care of it.

4 Ingredient Beet Radish Salad

Ingredients
1 large beet or 2-3 small beets, peeled
1 large watermelon radish (aka pink radish) or 2 small watermelon radishes, peeled
1 lime, zested and juiced
1/2-1 tsp chili power (or to taste)

Directions
Peel and chop (or julienne) the beets and radishes. Zest the lime, and then juice it over the beets and radishes. Add the chili powder and mix well. This beet radish salad will store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days.

Acorn Squash Wedges (vegan, paleo)

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Happy December! Thankfully, this year hasn’t been too too cold just yet, unlike last year. I am trying to eat more seasonably, though, so I’ve been eating quite a few root vegetables this winter. I had actually never tried making acorn squash until yesterday, but I figured I really should. It turns out that acorn squash is one of the easiest winter squashes to cut. The first time I made spaghetti squash, it took me about 20 minutes just to cut the damn thing open.

Acorn Squash Wedges

I won’t try to take credit for this recipe because there are all kinds of variations on these online. I just figured I’d make this a little more allergy friendly. I enjoy this way of spicing acorn squash. It plays with the squash’s natural sweetness and gives it that warming quality. Make sure you have a sharp knife before starting, or you may end up fooling around for a while, or cutting yourself.

Acorn Squash Wedges

Ingredients
2 acorn squashes
2 tbsp coconut oil, preferably in liquid form
1-2 tbsp coconut palm sugar (or to taste)
Salt, pepper, and chili powder to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 400F (or preheat it when you’re done cutting the first acorn squash).

Cut the squash into wedges. To do that, use a sharp knife to slice off the top to remove the stem. Then, slice the acorn squash where there are ridges.

Place the wedges into an oven-safe pan. Spread the oil and coconut sugar evenly between the wedges, then add salt, pepper, and chili powder.

Cook for 20 minutes. If sauce starts to accumulate at the bottom of the pan, pour it back onto the wedges. Continue to cook the squash for another 20 minutes.

Let cool for a few minutes before eating, but serve it hot.

Ginger Carrot Butternut Squash Soup (paleo)

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I have a tendency to buy pre-cut butternut squash, but today, I decided to peel and cut a whole one for ginger carrot butternut squash soup. I feel like I’ve barely taken my face out of my books recently. I remember when I was younger and my mother told me that cooking was an enjoyable break from her work, and I thought she was strange. I definitely understand the feeling now. As much as I enjoy what I study, it’s nice to see some colour, instead of black words on a white page.

Ginger Carrot Butternut Squash Soup

I’m sad to say that we now have snow. I suppose I should expect it, but I never seem to get used to it. The weather’s been making me crave warming foods. A hot soup really helps, but I wanted that extra little bit of warmth, so I thought ginger was in order. No regrets.

Ginger Carrot Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients
1 small squash, chopped (Check my butternut squash recipe for help on chopping it)
4 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 inches gingeroot, peeled and grated
1 clove garlic, pressed
4-6 cups veggie broth (just enough to cover the rest)
Salt and pepper to taste
A bit of oil for frying

Directions
Heat a bit of oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add the ginger and toss around for a minute or so, until the ginger starts to brown a bit. Add the onion and garlic and toss around until the onion is translucent. Add the carrots and squash and toss around for about a minute.

Pour in the broth. If you like your soup thick, add in just enough broth to cover the veggies. If you want a thinner soup, you can add an extra cup or so. Boil for about half an hour, or until the carrots and butternut squash are soft, then remove from heat.

With an immersion blender, puree the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. Optionally, you can add a bit of coconut milk to make the soup extra creamy.

Stove Top Flatbread (vegan)

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You may be wondering why I would choose to make a flatbread on the stove top. The most frustrating thing I found when I first moved in to my current place, back in May, is that the oven is so small that none of my nice stoneware pans fit in there. The only thing that seems to fit is those disposable grocery store aluminum pans, but in nutrition school, we’ve been taught that it’s unhealthy to cook on aluminum.

Quick and easy flatbread

I love to eat bread. I get tons of bread cravings, but when that happens, I try to make my own bread as much as possible. However, when I don’t want to take the time to let a loaf of yeast bread rise, I usually opt for flatbread. Thanks to my tiny oven, this has been a bit more difficult to manage.

On Monday, I decided I’d had enough of letting this tiny oven run my life (well, so to speak). I decided I was going to make bread on my stove top, but I couldn’t really find a recipe I liked. I’ve recently noticed that I’ve become so familiar with the vegan/gluten free chemistry that I can invent recipes and get them right on the first try. My only complaint the first time I made this flatbread is that it didn’t look pretty enough to photograph, so I made it again on Wednesday and made sure to “roll” it out in a slightly more attractive manner.

Stove Top Flatbread (vegan, refined sugar free)

Ingredients
1/2 cup brown rice flour
2 tbsp tapioca starch
1 tbsp potato starch
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp baking soda
sprinkle of salt
3-5 tbsp water (start with 3 and add more, 1 tbsp at a time until everything sticks together)
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
1 tbsp maple syrup, honey, or agave (optional)
Oil for cooking

Directions
Mix the dry ingredients together. Add in the wet ingredients and mix well. You may need to go in with your hands.

Spread a bit of oil in a frying pan. Spread the dough in the pan until it’s about 1/4 inch thick, or just over 1/2 cm.

Once the dough is shaped how you like it, turn on the heat to medium low. Check the bottom every few minutes. When it looks nice and golden brown, flip the bread and continue cooking until the other side is also nicely coloured.

This recipe makes one medium flatbread so multiply as needed, or split the dough into two smaller breads.

Sesame Noodles (vegan)

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Since I’ve been reading through my first book for nutrition school, I’ve learned a lot. One of the most important things I’ve learned so far is that there is a such thing as a noodletarian diet! Who knew? Reading about this diet gave me such a hankering for sesame noodles. It had been a while since I had made these, so I jumped at the occasion to make them again.

Sesame Noodles

So what is a noodletarian diet, anyway? It involves eating a lot of whole grain noodles. These noodles of course need to be accompanied by the other required nutrients, but they form the base of your meals. Sounds interesting to me!

To satisfy my noodle craving, I went to the natural food store by my apartment and bought a few different kinds of King Soba brand noodles. I bought a black rice variety, a brown rice/pumpkin/ginger one, and a brown rice and wakame type. They cook quickly and have a great texture. I definitely recommend them! The sesame noodles are great as a side, or can be turned into a whole meal by adding some kind of veggies and preferably a protein. I really gobbled these up.

I have orientation this week for nutrition school, and I’m so excited! Real classes start next week. Wish me luck!

Sesame Noodles

Ingredients
250g (about 9oz) whole grain noodles of choice (I used King Soba Brown Rice and Wakame)
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp agave nectar (or other liquid sweetener)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Sesame seeds to taste
Optional: sliced green onions to top

Directions
Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse noodles. Add the other ingredients and mix well. Serve right away. Store extras in an airtight container in the fridge (if there are leftovers). Makes 2-3 portions.

Braised Rutabagas (vegan, paleo)

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Every once in a while, I feel the need to try a new food item. Until a few months ago, I had never had rutabagas. The student-run convenience store on campus sells curried butternut squash. Inspired by that meal, my friend started making it at home. She encouraged me to do the same, so I figured I should. The beauty of it is that you can use any root vegetable. Because rutabagas are so good for you and I never include them in my diet, I figured I’d give them a try.

Braised Rutabagas

Once you look at the recipe I’ve posted, you’ll notice that the recipe is not for curried rutabagas. Outrage, right? I make everything curry… But sometimes, I just want to not smell like curry. So, when I made this meal today, I went through my spices and improvised this blend.

I think this is the first time I’ve used the word “braised” in a recipe title. I’m not going to lie, I didn’t know exactly what braising was until today, when I was trying to figure out the right name for this dish. It turns out to be a cooking method where you lightly fry the ingredients, and then you let them cook in a covered pot.

Braised Rutabagas

Ingredients
About 1 lb or 1/2 kg cubed rutabagas
1/4 cup veggie broth
1 tsp parsley flakes
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp herbes de provence (or other herb blend, if you can’t find it)
1/2 tsp onion powder
Garlic salt to taste
Oil for frying

Directions
Heat a bit of oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the cubed rutabagas and toss around for about a minute. Add in the rest of the ingredients, reduce to medium low, and cover. Cook for about 45 minutes, or until the rutabagas are nice and soft.

Serve over rice.

Thyme Mushrooms (vegan, paleo)

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I would love to be able to socialise and attend all kinds of cool events and tapas parties. These thyme mushrooms would be such an easy dish to add to the menu. Maybe with some tapenade? They require little work, but still taste fancy. If you can make them in a cast iron pan, all the better. It will give them that extra bit of flavour and toast the cap nicely.

Make mushrooms interesting with this thyme mushrooms recipe

Unfortunately, there will be no partying for me this week. Things have been rough, physically. I feel like I’m getting next to no sleep and working rather long hours. A cold has been making its rounds around my work, and it appears to have found its way to me. I guess it’s a good reminder to take better care of myself.

I hope your week is better. Maybe you’re going to all kinds of cool tapas parties? I’m not going to lie, I made these right when I got home from work last night and wolfed them down because I was too hungry to savour them. You don’t have to wolf them down, though. Grab a toothpick and slowly enjoy this mushroom plate.

Thyme Mushrooms

Ingredients
1 package button mushrooms (about 225g)
1/4-1/2 tsp thyme
Coconut oil for frying
Salt to taste

Directions
Heat a bit of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Throw in the mushrooms, cap-side down, and sprinkle thyme and salt. Leave the mushrooms to cook until the cap is nice and toasty, then toss around for about a minute to pick up the extra thyme and share juices.

Remove from heat and enjoy!

Dinner Rolls (vegan, yeast free)

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If you’re wondering just how dedicated I am to following my posting schedule these days, here’s how much. I had class scheduled from 1pm to 4pm, and dinner plans for 5:30. Having not had time to cook anything in advance, between the usual demands (full time work, school, you know the gist), I had to make a decision. Was I, once again, going to post late? I missed the second half of my class in order to run home before my dinner plans to make dinner rolls for you folks.

Homemade dinner rolls

Now, before you frown at me for missing half of my class, let me say this. Today was the first lecture for that particular course. We were only going to cover the introduction for those who had never studied the topic. I have a minor in that subject, so I figured I could miss half of the introduction. You’re probably thinking, “You’re a stranger, why would I care?” so I feel the need to mention that my mom reads my blog (or used to, at least).

Now, about the actual dinner rolls. This recipe comes from my early gluten free days. I was really badly missing bread, but I didn’t feel courageous enough to attack an actual loaf of bread (if you picture that literally, it’s actually quite a funny image). I figured dinner rolls would suit my craving, but I couldn’t find a recipe that fit all of my dietary concerns and which was also yeast free. I just didn’t want to bother with the yeast. Thus, this recipe was born. I’ve brought these rolls to many a potluck, since.

Dinner Rolls

Ingredients
3/4 cups brown rice flour
1/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca starch
2 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp corn free baking powder
1/2 tbsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 flax egg (1 tbsp flax meal + 3 tbsp water)
1 cup water
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil

Directions
Preheat oven to 375F. Grease 6 cups of a standard sized muffin pan. I use the 6-muffin aluminum pans you can get at the grocery store.

In a small bowl, prepare your flax egg and set aside.

Combine all the dry ingredients and mix well. In a separate bowl or a larger measuring cup, combine all the wet ingredients. Mix everything together and spoon out evenly into the muffin pan.

Cook for 20 minutes. Take out of the oven and remove the rolls as soon as you can possibly handle them. Otherwise, they’ll get soggy. Makes 6 rolls so multiply recipe as needed.

No Cook Carrot Salad (vegan, paleo)

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Today is probably the hottest day we’ve had so far this year in Ottawa. Like, carrot salad for dinner hot. While I was running around town getting a bunch of stuff done, I stopped into Starbucks to get hydrated. The barista commented that I was a in earlier than usual. When I told her I was just stopping in and that I didn’t have a blog post for today, she said, “But what about your fans?”

No cook carrot salad

So, for my readers, I went home and I made something that didn’t require the oven. My apartment is on the 5th floor, so it’s even hotter in there than outside. I seem to always have carrots and apples in the fridge, no matter how long it’s been since I’ve done groceries. In the winter, when I just couldn’t get to the grocery store, I made a raw carrot salad for dinner out of desperation a few times. It tastes good, but it won’t make a full meal if you’re looking for something protein packed.

I julienne the carrots using my trust Jamie Oliver Julienne Peeler, but you can use a mandoline or buy bagged julienne carrots. If you’re really committed, you can also just chop the carrots into juliennes slices. Let me know if you do that, because that’s pretty hardcore.

No Cook Carrot Salad

Ingredients
3 large carrots, peeled and julienned
1/2 granny smith apple, chopped (and peeled, if not organic)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 1/2 tsp raw apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp raw honey

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Serve immediately or refrigerate for no more than a couple of hours. If you plan to prepare the salad ahead of time, add the sliced almonds when you’re ready to serve it. If kept longer, the almonds will soften.

Black Pepper and Lime Potato Wedges (vegan)

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I eat potato wedges to forget… Have you ever gotten to the grocery store, only to realise that you didn’t have your wallet? I did yesterday. I only realised it after having put all the items on the conveyor belt, so I couldn’t just discretely put everything back and pretend it never happened. I decided to do my groceries at a different store today. Since yesterday, every time I’m about to step out, I check my purse about five times to make sure I have my wallet on me.

Black Pepper and Lime Potato Wedges

A good way to forget about these kinds of problems is to eat black pepper and lime potato wedges. I almost always make them using yellow potatoes, but for some reason, this time, I decided I’d go for red potatoes. It didn’t turn out as nicely as the yellow potatoes usually do, so I definitely recommend sticking to yellow potatoes.

Black Pepper and Lime Potato Wedges

Ingredients
1 package yellow baby potatoes (About 680g/24oz)
Zest of 1 lime
Juice of 1/2 lime
Loads of ground black pepper
Olive oil to coat
Salt to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 400F.

Cut potatoes into wedges. To do so, cut them in half. Lay the flat side down and make three wedges out of each half. Mix the potato wedges with just enough olive oil to coat them, salt to taste, and loads of black pepper. And I mean LOADS. Lay them out evenly on a baking sheet and cook for about 40 minutes, or until cooked to your liking, taking them out halfway through to toss them.

While the potatoes cook, zest the lime.

When the potatoes are done, toss in the zest and squeeze half of the lime over the potato wedges. You can add more lime if the lime is small or if you simply like extra lime.

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Christina Najjar - Natural Nutrition

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