Recipes Sampler

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Breakfast Everyday Oats

Apple-Lemon Breakfast

~ Soup & Salad

Simple Split-Pea Comfort Soup Guacamole Salad

Salade Niçoise

~ Main Meals

Interstellar Lasagna

~ Dessert

Pioneer Gingerbread

www.micaelakarlsen.com

Everyday Oats

Everyday Oats For many years my standard breakfast was cooked oatmeal, but in the summertime the appeal of warm oatmeal dwindles. At some point I tried soaking the oats overnight and eating them cold, which creates an interesting raw oats experience, but thanks to my husband’s preference for super-fast preparation in the morning and his childhood love of muesli, we’ve gradually transitioned to straight-up oats as our major breakfast cereal. The beauty of raw oats, beside super-fast preparation, is that you can eat a lot of them, which means you’ll easily feel full well into lunchtime. Ingredients • 1 to 1½ cups thick rolled oats • Blueberries, raspberries, or sliced strawberries

(optional) • Raisins or dried cranberries (optional) • Dried dates or figs, chopped (optional)

• Walnuts, almonds, or pecans, chopped (optional)

• 1 tablespoon chia seeds or ground flaxseeds (optional)

• ½ to 1 cup plant milk, such as oat, soy, almond, hemp, hazelnut, or rice milk

Instructions

1. Pour raw oats in a bowl. 2. Add various toppings, as desired. 3. Top with plant milk, and enjoy! Serves 1.

Apple-Lemon Breakfast

Apple-Lemon Breakfast Rebecca Michaelides, former course instructor and instructor team leader for the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies, is my go-to source for healthy raw cuisine. When I was first getting to know Rebecca, exactly what she did eat was a little mysterious to me. I knew she didn’t rely on loads of nuts in her everyday diet, but that was the only kind of raw food diet I was familiar with. She’s always been kind enough to satisfy my curiosity, and I’m very grateful to her for expanding my ideas about what raw cuisine can look like and showing me how fresh, light, and delicious something as simple as apples can become. This my version of an everyday raw breakfast based on Rebecca’s tutoring. Ingredients • 4 to 5 medium apples, any variety • 5 to 6 dates, pitted • Juice of 1 lemon • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon

• 2 tablespoons walnuts (about 6 walnut halves)

Instructions

1. Core the apples and cut into large pieces. 2. Place dates, walnuts, half of the lemon juice,

cinnamon, and three quarters of an apple in a food processor. Puree until finely ground. You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times and restart.

3. Add the remainder of the apples and lemon juice and pulse until the apples are shredded and the date mixture is evenly distributed. Serves 1 or 2 if you’re eating something else as well.

Simple Split-Pea Comfort Soup

Simple Split Pea Comfort Soup Curl up on the sofa with a good book and a great split pea soup to stay warm. The world offers many delicious versions of split pea soup to try, however this comfort coup is absolutely delicious as is. However, if you’re feeling adventurous, you can use this as your basic starter recipe and branch out in any number of interesting directions. Soup doesn’t get any simpler than this. Ingredients • 1 cup split peas • 1 medium onion, diced • 1 medium carrot, diced • 1 medium celery rib, diced • 1 medium potato, diced • 1 tablespoon Better Than Bouillon

vegetable base • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to

taste

Instructions 1. Soak your split peas for 4 to 6 hours, or

even longer, if possible, to ensure a shorter cooking time.

2. Drain the split peas, and place them in a large pot in 8 cups water without salt. Cook over high heat for 15-20 minutes or until boiling. Reduce heat to a simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes or until peas are tender.

3. Add remaining ingredients and return to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, partially covered, for 15 or until vegetables are tender. Serves 2-4.

Guacamole Salad

Guacamole Salad This is the salad version of fresh guacamole. Using two lemons makes the dressing wetter, more lemony, and less sweet than if you were going for a more solid, stand-alone guacamole, so the optional syrup can temper that a bit if you’re looking for a more balanced flavor. I actually enjoy the strong flavor of lemon—it is refreshing and kind of zesty. You’ve got to try this for dinner! Ingredients • 1 20-ounce package mixed greens • 1 bunch parsley • 1 ripe avocado, pitted • Juice of 2 lemons • 1 tablespoon brown rice syrup or maple

syrup (optional) • 1 bunch cilantro, chopped • ¼ red onion, minced • 2 medium tomatoes, chopped

Instructions 1. Chop the greens and parsley together,

either by hand or in the food processor. Transfer to a large bowl.

2. In a small bowl, mash the avocado with the lemon juice and then mix in the rice syrup (if desired) as well as the cilantro, onion, and tomatoes.

3. Toss the avocado mixture in the greens. Serves 2 for dinner, or 6-8 as a side salad.

Salade Niçoise

Salade Niçoise This traditional French salad typically centers around anchovies and hard-boiled eggs. In this recipe, hearts of palm, potato, and avocado take center stage, but it stills has certain classic elements, including the green beans, cucumber, tomatoes, and olives. I like to chop my greens to make them easier to eat and mix with the dressing. Ingredients • 1 20-ounce package mixed greens, chopped • 2 tablespoons capers • 2 tablespoons Dijon or yellow mustard, • 3 tablespoons brown rice syrup or maple

syrup • 3 tablespoons red wine or apple cider

vinegar • 1 14-ounce jar hearts of palm, sliced • 1 cup green beans, steamed • ½ medium cucumber, peeled and sliced • 2 red potatoes, boiled and in 2-inch cubes

• ½ avocado, pitted and sliced • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half • 1 14-ounce can artichoke hearts • ¼ cup kalamata olives, pitted and sliced • 3 ½ ounces smoked tofu (optional) • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions 1. In a large bowl, toss the mixed greens and

capers with the mustard, rice syrup, vinegar.

2. Arrange the rest of the ingredients on top of the bed of greens in sections. Salt and pepper to taste. Serves 2 for dinner, or 6 to 8 as a side salad

Intersellar Lasagna

Interstellar Lasagna I finished perfecting this recipe the week that NASA’s Kepler Mission found a new Earth-like planet, 452b, so I named it in honor of the discovery. If I were an astronaut on a years-long space mission and could only bring one food with me, this lasagna would definitely be a top contender. Other great features of this recipe? Neither the noodles nor the filling need to be precooked—after some quick chopping, which you can do in a food processor, this dish will be ready to pop in the oven. Ingredients: • Layer 1: 1 medium onion, 1 16-ounce package firm tofu

(drained), 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 ½ teaspoons white miso , 1/3 cup nutritional yeast, 1/3 cup packed fresh basil leaves

• Layer 2: 1 medium onion, 1 10-ounce package cremini mushrooms (stems trimmed), ½ cup frozen spinach, ¼ cup pine nuts, 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, salt to taste

• Additional components: 1 10-ounce box whole-grain lasagna noodles and 3 to 4 cups of your favorite tomato sauce (or try Chef AJ’s Quick Sun-Dried Tomato Marinara)

• Toppings: 1 medium tomato, sliced thinly, 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, Salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. 2. Make layer 1: Place the onion in a food processor, and

pulse until it is finely chopped. Add the tofu, garlic

powder, miso, and nutritional yeast and blend until everything is evenly mixed. At this point the mixture will be like a dry puree—grainy and not too wet. Add the basil leaves and pulse until the basil is chopped into small bits and evenly distributed in the mixture. Transfer the contents of layer 1 to a medium bowl.

3. Make layer 2: Place the onion in a food process and pulse until it is finely chopped. Add the mushrooms, spinach, pine nuts, Italian seasoning, and salt and blend until everything is evenly mixed.

4. Assemble the lasagna: Divide your noodles into three equal piles, to correspond with the three noodle layers in the final dish. Cover the bottom of a 9 x 13–inch glass pan with ¾ cup tomato sauce and ½ cup water. Use a spoon to mix the two and evenly distribute the liquefied sauce. Place one layer of lasagna noodles on top of the sauce-water mixture. Cover the noodles with 1 to 1 ½ cups tomato sauce, using a spoon to evenly distribute it. Add the mixture for Layer 1 to the pan. Cover layer 1 with the second layer of noodles. Add the mixture for Layer 2 to the pan. Cover Layer 2 with the third/top layer of noodles. Cover the noodles with 1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups tomato sauce using a spoon to evenly distribute it.

5. Add the toppings: Place tomato slices on top of the sauce evenly around the pan. Sprinkle each slice with a bit of salt for added flavor, if desired, then sprinkle the nutritional yeast evenly on top of the tomatoes.

6. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes, then remove cover and bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes or until the top surface has developed a skin. Serves 6-8.

Pioneer Gingerbread

Pioneer Gingerbread As a child I was a big fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series, and some of my favorites parts of those books are the descriptions of what they ate. Almanzo’s childhood culinary recollections in Farmer Boy are particularly vivid. It sort of sounds like a nonstop year-long dinner party! A few years ago I was fortunate to come across on the Internet a letter Laura, at that time in her 90s, sent to a friend in 1953, enclosing her recipe for gingerbread. It’s been a labor of love to create a healthier version of this pioneer treat that still does justice to the original flavor, but leaves out the eggs and lard.

Ingredients: • 3 cups whole-grain flour (I like spelt) • 1 tablespoon each of: baking powder,

baking soda, ginger , cinnamon , and allspice

• ½ teaspoon each of: nutmeg , cloves, and salt

• 1 cup maple syrup • ½ cup applesauce • ¾ cup molasses • 2 tablespoon white vinegar Instructions: 1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Whisk the flour,

baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in a medium bowl.

2. Put maple syrup, applesauce, molasses, and white vinegar in a second medium bowl. Bring kettle of water to a boil. Once boiling, remove from heat and add 1 cup hot water to the wet ingredients, and stir.

3. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients while mixing, but be careful to not over-stir. The mixture should be quite thin.

4. Transfer batter to a 9 x 13–inch glass pan, and bake for 35 minutes.

5. Serve as is, or, for the traditional gingerbread experience, top with Stacy’s Coconut Dream Whipped Cream. Serves 10 to 12

Recipes Sampler

~

Breakfast Everyday Oats

Apple-Lemon Breakfast

~ Soup & Salad

Simple Split-Pea Comfort Soup Guacamole Salad

Salade Niçoise

~ Main Meals

Interstellar Lasagna

~ Dessert

Pioneer Gingerbread

www.micaelakarlsen.com