Christina Najjar

Easy Tapenade (vegan, paleo)

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I had the day off on Wednesday. I spent almost the entire day cooking. I ended up making sweet and sour pork tenderloin, peach meatballs, a trial for something I’ve never made before but intend to give as a gift (update: it was a biscotti recipe), a snack (update: it was coconut date balls), and this tapenade.

Easy homemade tapenade

You won’t find me eating anchovies willingly. I didn’t even know tapenade was supposed to have anchovies until I started looking it up online recently (I’m a fan of appetizer parties). Thankfully, you can change it up to include different flavours, and it can still be quite tasty! So, I did just that. No anchovies in this tapenade.

This recipe is, of course, for olive lovers. I would like to say that there’s such a big difference between olives you buy in a can, and olives sitting in oil. Not only are the olives in oil much better for your health, but they also taste infinitely better. I like to buy the ones that I can scoop out myself because I can choose how much oil to include. I also find that most grocery stores offer a bigger variety of olives that way.

Easy Tapenade

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups pitted black olives
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp capers
1 clove garlic
1 cup flat leaf parsley, stems removed (NOT packed down)

Directions
Roughly chop the garlic. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until it looks as chunky or pureed as you like it.

Spaghetti Squash Alfredo (vegan, paleo)

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Healthy pasta alternative: spaghetti squash alfredo

I’ve started to do some meal planning. It’s interesting to come up with as many meals as I can. I make a list of them, and every week, I pick a few things to make out of it. We buy what’s on sale and freeze it to save some money. There are  some naturally inexpensive meals that can be made.
One spaghetti squash gives me at least three large portions. Add a $1 zucchini, a package of mushrooms for $2.50, and a can of coconut milk for $1.50 and I easily have dinner for the two of us and lunch for at least one of us the next day. That’s definitely cheaper than all the Indian food we used to order.
If anyone has affordable dinner ideas, I’d love to know them!

Spaghetti Squash Alfredo (vegan, paleo)

Ingredients
1 spaghetti squash
1 can full fat coconut milk
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 zucchini, chopped
1 8oz package sliced mushrooms
Oil for frying

Directions
Preheat oven to 375F.

Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Place flat side down on a baking sheet and cook for 40-45 minutes. It’s ready when you can easily insert a knife into the outer layer. With a fork, take out the spaghetti strands and pour them into a large bowl.

In a saucepan, heat oil and garlic over medium heat, tossing the garlic around. When it’s nice and brown, add in the mushrooms and the zucchini. Cook them to your liking and then pour the coconut milk. Bring to a boil. Add in the spaghetti squash and toss to coat nicely.

Lemon Garlic Kale Chips

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Lemon garlic kale chips

Farmer’s market goodies tend to go in one day, maybe two if a larger quantity was bought. When I bought kale, I was debating between two flavours of kale chips. I settled on lemon garlic this time, but I’ll probably make the other flavour sometime soon. I’m excited for this other one. Are you excited? *suspense*
These turned out well enough that when doing groceries today, my partner asked me if I could make kale chips again tonight (the ones from this recipe were made a week ago). He doesn’t dislike veggies, but it can be difficult to get him to eat all his fruit and veggie portions for the day, so whenever he asks me for something with veggies, I make sure to make it.
All I had on hand for these was bottled lemon juice, but I’m sure fresh lemons would be ten times better.

Lemon Garlic Kale Chips

Ingredients
1 medium bunch green kale
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp lemon juice
salt to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F.

Rip the kale off the thick stems. Cut it into pieces (similar size as for salads). Sprinkle the rest of the ingredients on the leaves and mix it all together using your hands.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes, turning them halfway through.

Daal Soup

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If you’re getting tired of reading about how much I love Indian food, I thank you, because that means that you’ve read at least a couple of my posts. Whenever I go to an Indian restaurant or order take out from one, I make sure to order a daal soup. I initially thought it was made from red lentils (they turn yellow when cookied) but I couldn’t figure out how to get the texture.

Before we met, my partner and I both had the same favourite restaurant. We were both regulars there, so the first time that the owner saw us together, he seemed happy for us. Everytime we’re in, he comes to our table for a few minutes to catch up with us. Last time we were there, I chose that moment to ask him about daal soup. So there you have it.

Daal Soup

Ingredients
2/3 cup split yellow moong lentils
6 cups water
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground ginger
4 tbsp chopped cilantro
Lemon to garnish

Directions
Combine everything but the cilantro and lemon in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Simmer for at least 45 minutes, then turn off heat. Use a wire whisk to squish the lentils at the bottom of the pot.

Pour into serving bowls and add 1 tbsp chopped cilantro and a slice of lemon. Squish the lemon with your spoon to let out some of the juices. Makes 4 servings.

Vegan Paleo Custard Strawberry Pie

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Today, I finally went to the farmer’s market for the first time since I moved into town, seven years ago. My partner was looking for a fun way to celebrate our anniversary. He suggested all sorts of activities along the lines of zip lining and other adrenaline producing activities. I’ve been feeling awfully nauseated lately, so I pointed out that I’d be much happier just walking around the farmer’s market. To his surprise, he ended up enjoying it quite a bit.

I made this pie last week when my partner came home from a difficult day at work. One of the many good things about using coconut shavings instead of pie crust is the amount of time saved. This is especially true of a lot of gluten free crusts that don’t roll out as well as the wheat flour alternative.

If you want to know the truth, my partner and I finished this pie in one sitting. Rather than cutting it into slices, we dug in with our forks. I wish I’d made more.

Vegan Paleo Custard Strawberry Pie

Ingredients

For the crust:
1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
6 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp maple syrup

For the custard:
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk (not the canned stuff)
2 tbsp arrowroot powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
Maple syrup to taste (I used about 3-4 tbsp)

Sliced strawberries to cover

Directions
Combine the coconut oil and shredded coconut in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Make sure the shavings gets evenly coated as the oil melts. Once it’s evenly coated, add the maple syrup. Toss it regularly to avoid burning it. When it’s nice and brown, remove it from the heat and transfer it to a bowl. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

Combine about 1/4 cup of the coconut milk with all of the arrowroot powder and mix until it’s a uniform paste. Pour in the rest of the custard ingredients and mix well. You can make the custard in the microwave or on the stove top.

Microwave: Pour the mixture into a microwave save dish with a lid (a pyrex type dish). Microwave for two minutes. Take it out and stir it. Put it in for another two minutes, and then stir it again. Microwave it for an additional minute and a half and mix it again. If at any point it looks like it’s going to boil over, pause the microwave time and resume it after about 30 seconds.

Stovetop: In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, keep stirring the mixture until it comes to a boil. Remove immediately from heat.

Take out the mixture for the crust from the fridge and pat it down evenly in a pie pan or a pie dish. Pour the custard on top. You’ll probably need to spread it a bit.

Refrigerate it while you wash and slice the strawberries. When that’s done, take it out again and place the strawberries on top. If you’re smarter than me, you’ll place the strawberries in a way that allows for easy cutting of pie slices.

Pudla (Vegan Chickpea Flour Pancakes With Veggies)

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When I went to see my naturopath last week, she told me that I need to eat more protein with breakfast. Because breakfast is a rare occurrence around here, I wasn’t surprised to hear that. While I do try to make overnight oats for any day that I start work at 8 or earlier, I always seem to think I’ll have time for breakfast with later shifts. But who am I kidding… I did do some research and found this thing called “pudla”.

Forums are loaded with good ideas, though those ideas don’t all work for me. Pudlas, however, seem to work well for me. They’re chickpea flour based vegetable pancakes from Indian origin. I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned how much I love Indian food, but I LOVE IT. Oh what? Half my recipes are Indian food? Oh, I guess I must have mentioned it before!

To be honest, I have no idea if my pudla recipe is anything close to the real thing. I found guidelines for making these pancakes and I added the spices with inspiration from onion bahji. If you don’t have fennel seeds, you can skip them, but it brought these savory pancakes to a whole new level.

Chickpea flour pancakes (pudla)

Pudla (Vegan Chickpea Flour Pancakes With Veggies)

Ingredients
2 cups chickpea flour
1 tsp each: baking soda, salt, turmeric, cumin powder
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 medium sized white mushrooms, sliced
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
Oil for frying (optional)

Directions
Combine the dry ingredients. Mix in the wet ingredients. Add the veggies.

Heat a bit of oil (if using) in a frying pan over medium heat. Pour a quarter of the batter into the pan and spread evenly. When the top looks like it’s not liquid anymore, flip the pudla over and cook for another couple of minutes. Makes 4 pancakes.

Mushroom Risotto (vegan)

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I love trying new things in the kitchen. I recently went to a nice vegetarian (or vegan?) restaurant downtown Ottawa. They served us an amazing 5 course meal, but what stood out the most was their truffle risotto. Ever since, I’ve been dreaming of risotto.

Since I more or less like to stick to my budget when cooking, making truffle risotto at home isn’t ideal. The day before making this meal, my veggie broth was still in the freezer. I went to the mini-mart by my place to pick up some veggies and hopefully some broth. It turned out they didn’t have any gluten free broth, so I had to push back the risotto-making by one day while the broth thawed. Because it’s a mini-mart, my veggie options were quite restricted. I ended up settling on mushrooms and green onions.

This meal is great served with wine. Hopefully, you’ll still have some wine leftover from making the risotto – that is, unless you wanted to take several sips of the wine to make sure it tasted okay before cooking with it.

Mushroom Risotto

Vegan Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients
1 bunch green onions, chopped (white parts only)
Package white mushrooms, sliced (8oz/227g)
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups veggie broth
2 tbsp olive oil
2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast

Directions
In a small to medium saucepan, warm up the broth. It doesn’t have to be boiling.

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the green onions and mushrooms, tossing occasionally until brown, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and toss to coat until it starts crackling. Pour in the white wine. When it’s almost completely absorbed, add the broth in 1/2 cup increments, letting it absorb almost completely before adding the next 1/2 cup. This will ensure the risotto comes out nice and creamy.

When all the broth has been added and absorbed, turn off the heat and add the nutritional yeast. Cover and let it sit for a few minutes before serving. It will become creamier. Makes 2 servings.

Vegan Brownies

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Last summer, I made a few batches of brownies. At the time, I was still relatively new to gluten free baking. It also didn’t help that I had to make everything in small enough batches to fit in my toaster oven. All my brownies were turning out too fluffy and cake-like, so I eventually gave up on making brownies.

After discovering that almond meal and almond flour give baked goods a denser texture, I knew that that’s what brownies needed. In the end, I found a recipe that actually works. Usually, when I want to bake something I haven’t mastered, I find a recipe that works more or less, identify individual problems, and then try to fix these problems until I have an entirely different recipe. This recipe needed no adjustments. It’s quite perfect as is. So, while it’s not my own recipe, it’s too good not to share.

Vegan Brownies

Ingredients
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup almond meal – I used the coarse stuff
3/4 cup cocoa
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp corn free baking powder
3 tbsp chia meal (ground chia seeds)
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp water
1/2 cup agave nectar or maple syrup
3 tbsp margarine/vegan butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F and grease a baking pan. I used a 9×13 inch rectangle pan.

Combine all the wet ingredients and the chia seed meal in a small bowl and let it sit for five minutes. In the meantime, mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix in the wet ingredients. Pour the batter into the greased baking pan and spread it out so that it’s mostly smooth on top. Bake for 45-55 minutes.

Veggie Broth

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Homemade veggie broth

Believe it or not, when thinking about my dietary restrictions, broth is the biggest pain in my behind. To get to the grocery store, I have to walk up a steep hill and then back down. That’s not too bad in the summer. The part that’s difficult is the walk back, while I’m carrying all my groceries. With the amount of broth I use in my cooking, I’d have to give up other groceries to manage to carry it all home. For a long time, I enjoyed using bouillon cubes because they weigh virtually nothing. I’d settled for gluten free cubes that contained minimal amounts of maltodextrin, but even that has been bothering my stomach lately.

The beauty of broth is that it can be made from frozen veggie scraps. However, when you go through broth faster than fresh veggies, it becomes necessary to find a recipe using whole veggies. You can modify the recipe I’m providing as you wish. Just make sure to include carrots, celery, and onions. You can add bell peppers, zucchini, parsley, or anything that comes to mind, as long as you avoid the broccoli and cabbage family.

I’ve mentioned before how much I dislike the texture of celery. For that reason, when I buy celery, I use it in recipes that call for completely watering it down, and I freeze the rest. I wrote a post about chopping extra veggies for future slowcooker meals. When I’m too lazy to do that, I freeze celery stalks so that I can use them in broth at a future occasion.

Veggie Broth

Ingredients
2 large carrots
2 stalks celery
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp rosemary
2 bay leaves
7 1/2 cups water
Salt to taste

Directions
Cut the large veggies in half. Put all the ingredients in a large soup pot and bring to a boil. Cook on medium-low heat for an hour. Strain the broth and use within a week, or within a few months if you freeze it.

I like to freeze part of it in a large mason jar, and the rest in an ice cube tray for those recipes that call for small amounts of veggie broth (or as a substitute for oil when frying veggies and/or grains).

Soft Vegan Banana Buckwheat Cookies

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Great breakfast idea: banana buckwheat cookies

The more I experiment with buckwheat flour, the more I realise it’s pretty fool-proof. Most recipes don’t call for buckwheat flour, so the bag I have just sits there and stares at me whenever I’m in my kitchen. If you’ve tried my banana buckwheat pancakes, you know that bananas and buckwheat flour go really well together. For that reason, I decided to combine the two in a cookie recipe.

The reason I say buckwheat flour is fool-proof is that, in addition to not requiring any gums, you can forget to add baking soda to your cookie recipe, and the cookies will still be just fine. It only occurred to me while I was spooning out the cookie dough that I’d forgotten to add baking soda. I decided I’d see how the first batch turned out before adding it. Omitting it gives the cookies a really soft texture, almost like bread in cookie format.

Soft Vegan Banana Buckwheat Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup oat flour – I use Only Oats flour
3 tbsp almond meal – the coarse stuff
1/2 cup sugar
3 bananas

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mash the bananas. Add in the dry ingredients and mix well. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spoon out the cookie dough. It won’t shift much during baking so you may have to smooth out the dough if you want perfect looking cookies.

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

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Christina Najjar - Natural Nutrition

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2122B Montreal Rd
Ottawa ON K1J 6M7
T: (613) 706-2811

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T: (613) 680-4325

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