Teacher Cooks Edition! Vegetable White Bean Soup with Israeli Couscous

It’s fall on the calendar and damn it, I will eat soup even when it is 90+ degrees! Maybe it is cool at your house.

Funny thing is that I am not much of a soup person so it’s no wonder I keep adding couscous to all my soups and basically turning them into something that tastes like soup, but you chew it. In any case I’m a fan of all the adding couscous to soup action happening around here.

Maybe I just like the extra calories. Hmmmm.

Without further ado, I bring you Vegetable White Bean Soup with Israeli Couscous.

 

Recipe is based on the one from Regina’s Vegetarian Table.

Vegetable White Bean Soup with Israeli Couscous

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 TBS olive oil

1 1/4 cups of white beans, rinsed { I used 2 cans of white beans, rinsed}

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups vegetable stock

2 to 3 quarts of water

2 tomatoes chopped (I used one 14 oz can with the juice}

2 stalks of celery, diced

2 carrots, sliced

2 small squash, sliced (I used zucchini}

3/4 tsp group cumin

3/4 tsp chihi power

1/4 tsp seasoned salt

pinch of fines herbes or Italian seasoning

salt and pepper

1 box Israeli couscous – about 1 1/4 cups

What to do:

Prepare the beans if using dry by soaking them in water over night or at least 2 hours. I used canned so I drained and rinsed them well.

1.  Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until tender.

2.  Add vegetable stock, water, beans, and all the vegetables.

3.  Add spices and the couscous then simmer over low heat for 3 to 4 hours or over night in the slow cooker.

All of us enjoyed this with multigrain crackers because we love carbs.

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What’s for dinner at your house these shorter, cooler days?

Not really feeling this recipe? You can always visit the recipe archive for more dinner ideas.

Photo Credit: Me

Yoga+Music {notquite365} The Songs of Leonard Cohen – The Recipe Edition!

It’s Wednesday and that means the Recipe Edition!

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Stop the presses.

This recipe was so delicious, we raced home for the leftovers.

I was sad when it was gone.

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Chickpea and Zucchini Saute with Couscous

adapted from Supermarket Vegan: 225 Meat-Free, Egg-Free, Dairy-Free Recipes for Real People in the Real World

Ingredients

2 TBS + 1 tsp olive oil

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup couscous {I used Israeli couscous from Trader Joe’s and followed their directions. Browning is key!}

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 cup onion chopped

1 15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

2 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise

1/2 tsp dried oregano

black pepper to taste

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup chopped basil, mint or parsley

Directions

1. Make the couscous according to the package directions.

2. Heat 2 TBS olive oil in deep skillet with a lid, add onion and cook over medium heat until softened (about 3 minutes).

3. Add garlic, stir constantly about 1 minute.

4. Add chickpeas, zucchini, 1/4 cup water (or broth), oregano, and pepper. Cook, stirring, about 2 minutes until zucchini is softened.

5. Cover, reduce to medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until zucchini is tender.

6. Remove from heat, add tomatoes, herbs and couscous.

7. Serve immediately.

couscous-with-zucchini-chickpeas-and-tomatos

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Do you have any recipes or favorite {dairy free} foods to share?

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Today’s yoga brought to you by the home practice.

Wondering about Yoga+Music {notquite365}?

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Today’s music is


Click the album cover for more info on the band and details how to buy this record. {hint, hint}

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Yoga Teaching Update:

NEW CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT!

First Sundays of each month – 90 minute – fully restorative class.

Please check my teaching schedule for more details.

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Occasionally I’ll still rotate into the FREE Fridays at 4:30 with the new It’s All Yoga teachers schedule

(21st and X in Sacramento) – you’ve got to sign up onlinewww.itsallyoga.com.

These classes are for every body – level 1/2. Bring your friends!

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{Don’t forget to CLICK the links!}

If you found this post useful, please share it on Facebook or Twitter. Thanks!


Yoga+Music {notquite365} Roadhouse Sun by Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses – Recipe Edition!

It’s Wednesday and that means the Recipe Edition!

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Hola, friends!

Sorry for the pause on the recipe front, but learning how to feed myself all over again is challenging. Delicious, yet all new and with that, time-consuming.

The good news is I got a super easy vegan cookbook for my birthday and will be cooking out of it until I’ve tried them all. It’s so nice to read recipes and know there will probably not be anything I’m allergic to in them.

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Chilled Peanut Noodles

adapted from Supermarket Vegan: 225 Meat-Free, Egg-Free, Dairy-Free Recipes for Real People in the Real World

Ingredients

1 TBS toasted dark sesame oil

1 TBS creamy peanut butter

1 TBS sesame tahini {I subbed 1 TBS sesame seeds + another TBS of peanut butter}

1 TBS plain rice vinegar

1 TBS pure maple syrup

2 tsp low -sodium soy-sauce

1 tsp water

1 to 2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 tsp ground ginger

salt and pepper to taste

3 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced

10 oz rice noodles cooked accounting to package directions, rinsed under cold running water, drained well.

diced cucumber, diced red pepper

Directions

1. Put all the ingredients {minus onion, vegetables and noodles} in the food processor and blend until smooth. You may need to add a little water, I did.

2. Add diced vegetables and green onion to sauce.

3. Let stand a few minutes to allow the flavors to blend.

4. Add noodles and toss well to coat.

5. Serve at room temperature, or cover and refrigerate a minimum of 2 hours or up to 1 day and serve chilled.

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Do you have any recipes or favorite {dairy free} foods to share?

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Today’s yoga brought to you by the home practice.

Wondering about Yoga+Music {notquite365}?

+++++

Today’s music is


Click the album cover for more info on the band and details how to buy this record. {hint, hint}

++++++

Yoga Teaching Update:

NEW CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT!

First Sundays of each month – 90 minute – fully restorative class.

Please check my teaching schedule for more details.

+++++

Occasionally I’ll still rotate into the FREE Fridays at 4:30 with the new It’s All Yoga teachers schedule

(21st and X in Sacramento) – you’ve got to sign up onlinewww.itsallyoga.com.

These classes are for every body – level 1/2. Bring your friends!

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{Don’t forget to CLICK the links!}

If you found this post useful, please share it on Facebook or Twitter. Thanks!


In Case You Missed It Edition! Volume 25

{via}

Each week I’ll give you links to posts that made me laugh, cry, think or at least raise an eyebrow. Please click the links and check out the posts. You may find something that rocks your world too.

Leave me some feedback in the form of comments below on what you liked, what you hated and what you’d like to see more of. I’m here to help you find the best of what is online.

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We are FINISHED (!!!!!) with our adoption paperwork. It has never felt so good to just wait.

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My Best Of…

From Bows and Sparrows – {a contender for kcra’s best local blogger – I voted here} – Vegan Chocolate Oreo Cupcakes! Someone needs to make these for me. STAT.

Just a Titch is looking for gardening tips. Do you have any? Please click over and leave your two cents.

Yes and Yes: 10 Things to Do on Your Lunch Break that Don’t Involve Facebook or Lean Cuisine – anyone want to try these out over Spring Break?

What I do believe – and what I feel perfectly qualified to proclaim from the rooftops –  is that every woman at every weight, shape, and size deserves to be treated with respect, deserves to feel loved, deserves to make her own decisions about her own body. – Sally McGraw, Already Pretty – The Question of Healthy

From The Art of Non-Conformity – The Family Who Doesn’t Understand – it spoke to me.

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Curvy yogis Photoshoot/ Yoga Journal Talent Search Update:

Madeleine reports about diversity in yoga – make sure to click through to see our entries.

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Speaking of curvy (and not) Northern California/Sacramento friends – are you coming to the nextSwapAsana?

{April 23rd- start saving your swapables now.}

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That is the In Case You Missed It Edition for this week, folks.

Remember to click the links and leave some comments. This is a conversation, you know.

In Case You Missed Edition Archives -click it to see them all.


Lame Food Confession UPDATE! – Bonus Recipe Edition!

Recently I spilled the proverbial beans about my inability to consume a respectable amount of fruits and vegetables despite my claim of being a healthy eater. I called it my Lame Food Confession and since confessing that I have trouble finding fruits and vegetables in my mouth, not just my refrigerator, I have learned a great many things.  

1. I actually like the taste of most fruits and vegetables. Plain fruits. Plain vegetables. Don’t even have to do anything to them and they already taste pretty good.  

2. Before I’d been eating way too many granola bars – Clif Kid Organic Zbar in Chocolate Chip – I love you, but you get in the way of my fruit and vegetable consumption.  

3. As it turns out, I know someone who works for the used-to-be 5-a-day folks. It’s now called Fruits and Veggies: More Matters – and even she has trouble fitting it all in. The new name actually clears up confusion about the amount, although it doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.  

4. Many people I spoke to didn’t know about the new name AND didn’t know what qualified as a serving.  

5. My trousers are already fitting a bit looser.  

6. I’m less hungry during the day.  

7. I feel more virtuous when I actually remember.  

8.  Some friends even sent in recipes during the first Lame Food Confession.  

Here’s one I apdated from Leili –  

Broccoli Slaw  

Cut up fresh brocoli  

Throw in some blueberries ( I used thawed frozen organics from Trader Joe’s)  

Raisins (for some extra sweetness)  

Sliced almonds (for some extra crunch)  

Flax seeds (for some extra fiber)  

Combine with some ginger vinaigrette.  

I used Annie’s Naturals Gingerly Vinaigrette  

Enjoy!  

Food photography: Harder than it looks!

  

Care to share YOUR fruit and vegetable confessions? What about tips, techniques and recipes for getting your daily allowance in? Leave a comment and you may find your recipe featured here someday.

Yoga+Music(notquite)365 – Day 87 – Contra By Vampire Weekend – Holy Moly Homemade Foodstuffs Edition!

My friend Amanda recently posted about making eco-licious lotion, bread, yogurt and granola at home.

It all sounded delightful, so I asked if I could move in with her and her family.

I still haven’t heard back from her.

Oh well.

The good news is that I was inspired by her homemade goodness.

That, and I have NINE glorious work free days of Spring Break to fill with whatever I choose.

Day One’s goodies?

Homemade Tahini

1 cup of sesame seeds (only $0.62 from the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op!)

1/4 cup organic sesame oil

Homemade Granola (adapted from The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone)

6 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill Flaxseed Meal

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup sesame oil

1/2 cup maple syrup (B grade)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake oats for 10 minutes in a rimmed baking pan. Transfer oats to large bowl, and sugar, Bob’s, coconut, seeds and raisins. Stir to mix then add oil, syrup and vanilla. Mix until moistened.

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Stir after 5 minutes (although I forgot and it was just fine).

Cool in the pans and transfer into an airtight container.

We’ve already eaten some with milk and over yogurt with fruit.

Delicious!

What are your favorite homemade goodies?

Yoga+Music365 (day61) – R&B Transmogrification by Quasi – The Recipe Edition – Cough Care Parts 1+2!

Each Tuesday I’ll share an easy, nutritious recipe so you can join me in the home-cooked self-care.

Cough Care Part 1

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp honey (local + organic = best)

Sacramento Beekeeping Supplies = best kept secret in Sacto!

Sacramento Beekeeping Supplies = best kept secret in Sacto!

Mix to paste.

Gag down.

Follow with warm water.

 

 

Cough Care Part 2

Heat (but not boil water) in saucepan, remove from heat.

Carefully place bottle of organic sesame oil in pan or float a small bowl of oil in water.

When heated to body temperature, remove oil from water and rub warmed oil on chest and throat.

Cover with warm shirt and hop in bed.

Sleep without coughing.

Wake up rested and feeling so much better.

Last time I did this two-part couch remedy my cough was gone in 2 days.

I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

Please let me know if you made the recipe and what you think.

Please share your favorite recipes or cold/flu remedies!

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Today’s yoga brought to you by me! I am teaching my BTSA (Beginning Teacher Support & Assessment) classes to new teachers today and I’ve got to get myself ready.

Today’s music is R&B Transmogrification by Quasi. Have I ever mentioned how much I love Quasi? They were the musical obsession prior to the current. LOVE! Better than coffee any day!

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Don’t forget FREE Fridays at 4:30 with the new It’s All Yoga teachers (21st and X in Sacramento) – you’ve got to sign up online www.itsallyoga.com

I’m teaching 3/5/10 – so mark your calendar. That’s THIS Friday! I heard rumors of a RESTORATIVE section – hello heavy use of props! I’m sharing the class with Amanda, so come on by.

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Thank you to all of you who came to my February Recess 5:45 classes. Such an honor to practice with you! Namaste.