Winter Recipes
Ricotta Gnocchi with Roasted Veggies & Fresh Basil
This is a light meal, but don’t be fooled. Although ricotta is a light cheese, it is still cheese, so not much is needed to make you feel full. Treat the ricotta gnocchi almost like a condiment - each fork should include a small amount of ricotta and some veg, to get a good combination of flavors and textures. The basil is so flavorful that no extra sauce is needed.
This makes about 50 gnocchi, and a big bowl of roasted veg - enough for 6.
Ingredients
olive oil
salt and pepper
6 large cloves garlic, smashed and coarsely chopped (this is a lot, feel free to use less if you are not the garlic fan that I am)
2 red onions, sliced thickly
20 cherry tomatoes, either sliced in half or pierced
1 head broccoli, cut into small florets
10 large cremini mushrooms, quartered
2 cups fresh basil leaves
small amount of lemon juice
2 cups ricotta cheese
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup parmessan cheese - plus more for serving
The Process
Gnocchi
Combine ricotta, flour and parmessan, until it can stick together, but is not ‘wet’. Roll into small balls - approx 1 1/2 inches in diameter. I tapped mine on the counter, making them square-ish, but also making them more dense and held together.
Boil water in a medium saucepan, and add 10 gnocchi at a time. Boil 3-4 minutes, until they float, and then carefully take them out with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Veggies
Place the basil leaves in a big salad bowl.
Preheat oven to 425.
Roast red onion, garlic, broccoli, & mushrooms - for approx 15 minutes - and tomatoes for approx 10 minutes. The veggies need to have a drizzle of salt, pepper and olive oil - so that all veggies are covered. Keep veggies separate on the baking tray so that it is easier to check for ‘done-ness’. It is kind of up to you when they are done - but they should be a little bit brown and soft.
As each veg is done, put them in the salad bowl with the basil and gently combine, so that the basil wilts. Drizzle a small amount of lemon juice overtop once all veggies are in.
To serve, you can reheat the gnocchi by turning down the oven to 250 and placing the gnocchi on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, and heat about 5 minutes, or microwave for 1 minute.
Plate some gnocchi and some veg on each plate, sprinkle with parmessan, and enjoy!
Cruciferous Lemony Lentil Salad
This recipe makes a fairly big bowl, serving 6 as a main course, and 9 as a side. I let the arugula wilt from the heat of the lentils and the other food, so that I can have lots of arugula in there, but if you would rather NOT have wilty arugula, just add it at the end, rather than at the beginning. The combination of lemon zest with the olives makes for a very flavorful salad! Honestly, I love it as a main course, as it is quite hearty, and I try to make lots, because the next day the flavours have settled in even more, and it is super yummy. To that end, it is best if this can be made a few hours ahead of time, to allow flavours to combine before serving.
Ingredients
1 Large bunch arugula, washed and stems removed
20 Brussel Sprouts - stems and out leaved removed, and quartered
1 cup sundried tomatoes, removing excess oil and coarsely chopped, or approx 20 cherry tomatoes, cut in half. It’s totally your choice, but the sundried adds a unique flavor and keeps a little better if you want this to last a few days. (The picture above shows cherry tomatoes, which were lovely as well).
3 scallions or 4 green onions, chopped small
4 garlic cloves, chopped and minced (I like garlic, so use less if you are less of a fan)
1 lemon: zest and chop the zest into fine slices. we also need all the juice of this lemon
1 cup uncooked lentils - green is best
1 cup black olives, smashed, pits removed, and torn in half
1 cup almonds, either slivered, or chopped in half
olive oil
salt and pepper
The Process
First, put the washed arugula in a big bowl, and set aside, and preheat the oven to 425.
Note that as you add ingredients to the salad bowl, try not to add any liquid, or things get mushy.
Get the lentils cooking while you prepare the other ingredients: Rinse the lentils in water, swoosh them around and take out the lentils that float or are discolored. Then, fill a small pot with approx. 5 cups of water, lentils, a generous pinch of salt, and bring to a boil. I recommend cooking the lentils in this much water - so you can more easily monitor their done-ness, and then just drain the excess water. Once the lentils get to a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer, and cook for approx 15 minutes. They should be ‘al dente’ - not hard, but not mushy and falling apart. Once they are done, drain the excess water and then pour them into the bowl with arugula, and gently stir around to wilt the greens.
Meanwhile, put the quartered Brussels sprouts on a baking sheet, add salt and pepper, drizzle olive oil, and stir until everything is coated. Roast in the oven for approx 15 minutes - until slightly browned. When they are done, pour immediately into salad bowl and gently stir in.
If you are using cherry tomatoes - you could also roast with salt, pepper and olive oil for about 8 minutes, but you could also add them raw to the salad mix, gently stirring them in. OR add the sundried tomatoes as is.
On the stovetop, on low-med heat, to a saucepan, add 2 tbsp olive oil, and shallots or green onion, and saute 5-10 minutes. The shallots will need to cook a few minutes longer than the green onion. Once they are soft and getting a little bit translucent, add the garlic, almonds, and lemon zest, and saute for 5-8 minutes - until there is a little bit of toastiness to everything. Remove from heat and add to the salad, gently stirring in.
Finally, gently stir in the torn olives to the salad bowl, and the lemon juice.
Enjoy!
Borscht
This is not a traditional borscht - I like the veggies cut chunky, as shown in the photo, and I love adding in lots of veggies, so it is full of a variety of flavours & nutrients. The flavours are so earthy, that just smelling it makes me relax.
Feel free to add different veggies than I do here - such as parsnip, squash, or other root vegetables. They all add to the richness of flavor. Cabbage could be used instead of Brussel sprouts, for example. I definitely recommend using all of the beet leaves, as they are loaded with phytonutrients & earthy flavour. In this recipe I do not add fresh dill or sour cream at the end, but they would make a lovely addition. Instead, I rely on the secret ingredients of jelly near the beginning, and a bit of vinegar at the end - and the combination brightens up the soup a lot for me.
Ingredients
1 large onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped & minced
2 celery stalks, diced
5 medium sized beets, plus their greens. Scrub beetroot, chop off stem and cube. Wash the greens and coarsely chop
2 medium sized carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 or 1/4 moons
1 large potato, cubed
15-ish Brussel sprouts, stems chopped, outer leaves removed, and quartered
Olive oil
2 Tbsp jam or jelly - either is fine, of your favourite kind of berry
Salt & Pepper
Dried parsley
4 cups vegetable stock - plus extra just in case
1/4 cup red wine vinegar.
The Process
Saute onion in a small amount of olive oil on low-medium heat for about 15 minutes, so it gets soft but not brown. Add the garlic and saute for about 5 minutes - stirring so the garlic does not stick. Then add the jam/jelly and saute another 5 minutes, until the jelly is thoroughly dissolved. Add celery and saute about 5 minutes, adding a little bit of stock if things are sticking.
Then add beetroot (not the greens) and carrot, and also satute about 5-10 minutes - again, adding a little bit of stock if it’s sticking. Then add the potatoes, and brussel sprouts, and a good smattering of salt and pepper, and after sauteeing for about 5 minutes, add the rest of the stock, until the veggies are just covered (add more or less stock as needed). Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and let simmer for 30 minutes. Finally, stir in the beets greens and simmer another 10 minutes or so, until the beets are fork tender. Take off the heat and stir in red wine vinegar, and enjoy. This does taste better after a few hours or the next day, once the flavors combine.