BASIL 101 for newbies plus “how-to” cut fresh basil
Basil is a lush green herb. It comes in a variety of types from spicy Thai basil, purple, and lemon, to the garden variety I’m showing. It’s temperamental to drafts, watering, and light.
It’s better to cut and use fresh basil right away. Otherwise it discolors and the flavor diminishes. It bruises very easily so take care when handling it.
Chopping basil is a quick and easy job. Make sure your knife is sharp https://youtu.be/I_mH8QALiBs, stack the leaves, roll them together and slice in an up-down motion, gliding your knife through each cut. Keep your fingers straight and out of harm’s way.
Veggies for Breakfast? Why not! Watch me prepare my savoury oats for breakfast with onions, corn, kale, peppers, Trader Joe's taco seasoning. I add a little oat milk for creaminess. It's a bowl full of nutrient dense veggies and oats!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mx4prI4Jh0
The salsa is delish with my Red Rice Stuffed Mushrooms - 2 shrooms for 5 Weight Watcher Freestyle points.
RED RICE STUFFED MUSHROOMS
Makes 3 ∙ Source @pushingplants
* 6 large fresh mushrooms
* 3 tablespoons minced onion
* 1 cup cooked Mahatma rice, also known as red rice, or Bhutan rice****
* 1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
* 1 tablespoon sambal oelek or other hot sauce
* 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
* 1 teaspoon Himalayan salt
* 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Turn on the top broiler in your oven.
Remove stems, wash, and dry mushrooms.
Before stuffing I like to toss my mushroom caps with a little tamari/soya/shoyu sauce for a little extra flavor.
In small pan, cook onion in a little water until softened. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Press rice mixture in each mushroom cavity. You could use a small ice cream scoop to portion evenly. Place mushroom caps in a pan under the broiler. You can add a little water to the pan so they don’t stick. Cook 10-15 minutes or until shrooms are softened.
Makes 3 servings (2 mushrooms each) - 5 points/serving.
Paired with a corn & cherry salsa they’re delicious (see video)
****Red rice is a long grain rice with a deep reddish brown color and a white center. The rice is unpolished and only the husks of the rice grains are removed, which allows it to retain all its nutrients and vitamins. This makes it a better, healthier option than polished white rice. Because it is unpolished it takes longer to cook than white rice. I cooked it 1 part rice:4parts water covered in the microwave 16 minutes (cooking times vary you may have to cook it longer and add more water).
Learn basic kitchen tips and tricks to make your kitchen and food prep easier! Pushing Plants is a whole food plant based (wfpb) no oil (wfpbno) kitchen run by Certified Plant Based Chef Jill!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohPGqAis6wo
You are the Chef in your kitchen!
A sharp kitchen knife is one of the most valuable tools you can have in your kitchen. A dull knife requires more pressure and can lead to an unwanted accident. This is for #kitchennewbies and #wwnewbies that are finding their way around in their kitchens. It’s such a quick and easy way to keep your knives nice and sharp!!
You can find hand held knife sharpeners at any kitchen store, Bed Bath...., etc etc. IKEA has a great hand held as well. I’m using one by Wüsthof in this video https://www.amazon.com/Wüsthof-4348-Ikon-Knife-Sharpener/dp/B00BONFWD2/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=wüsthof+sharpener&qid=1564936540&s=gateway&sr=8-3
The knives I use are full flat grind.
Commercially sold/packaged knives have a hollow ground blade - google for “how to” sharpen them it’s not the same.
Make it a routine - sharpen your knives once a week!
Here are some of my different knives and their uses https://youtu.be/QgZhFNKjCqY I don’t use a sharpening steel (personal preference)
Learn basic kitchen tips and tricks to make your kitchen and food prep easier! Pushing Plants is a whole food plant based (wfpb) no oil (wfpbno) kitchen run by Certified Plant Based Chef Jill!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O15yNxyZ3oE
Homemade CREAMY SALAD DRESSING #oilfree
There’s no #recipe here. You really can’t go wrong if you remember to make soy yogurt the largest in volume!
Ingredients; Tamari, chopped #ginger, chopped #garlic, lemon juice, soy #yogurt plus a small jar!
Tamari is made from fermented #soy beans and is #glutenfree. #Wheat is a common ingredient in soy sauce! See my chopped ginger method here https://youtu.be/ztjxZFs-SuU. If you don’t have #fermented garlic then just use chopped garlic. Here’s my recipe for fermented garlic https://www.thespruceeats.com/lacto-fermented-garlic-recipe-1327724
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNVgEvQNj3U
Asparagus are like flowers. They will last up to 10 days on your counter if you trim the ends and put the stalks into cold water. Change the water every few days and your asparagus will stay fresh until you decide to eat it! Give them a good rinse before preparing. Hopefully you’ll be enjoying them sooner rather than later!
Asparagus pee is a real thing. See the link below to Nutritionfacts for more!
#asparaguspee https://nutritionfacts.org/video/asparagus-pee/
#jillskitchen
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCAWJNTz1WI
Sweet Potato Salad with Creamy Curried Dressing - 5 pt
Welcome to day one of the #OMD that @oprah is featuring on her site. This week @silvy10131 and I are showing how simple, economical and delicious #plantbased meals are!
Today my lunch was “Sweet Potato Salad with Creamy Curried Dressing”. I spiralized one RAW small sweet potato, added fresh grapes, black plums and pomegranate seeds. This was super filling (I couldn’t finish it) and low in points.
The dressing makes one and a half cups - 1/3 cup per person for 1 point. I used 2 tbsp.
CREAMY CURRIED DRESSING
1 cup unsweetened soy yogurt
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp tamari /Braggs/soy sauce
Blitz all of the dressing ingredients in a small blender. Spiralized peeled raw sweet potato. Add to a bowl, garnish with halved grapes, slivered plums, pomegranate seeds and Pepitas.
The #spiralizer is called “Lurch Spiralo” - not sure if it’s available on Amazon US.
Learn basic kitchen tips and tricks to make your kitchen and food prep easier! Pushing Plants is a whole food plant based (wfpb) no oil (wfpbno) kitchen run by Certified Plant Based Chef Jill!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5MAiMUFjKo
Lemony Artichoke Soup -
0pts #purple #glutenfree
4 cups vegetable stock
3 cups water
2 #potatoes (scrubbed, peeled, diced)
1 large #onion, diced
1 (14 oz) can #artichoke hearts (in water)
½ pound mushrooms, sliced
Juice of 2 #lemons
(my add-ons included ½ cup uncooked #millet and 1 more potato)
Put the stock & water on to boil.
Add potato and onions to the pot (add extra potato and millet if using my add-ons).
Add artichokes, mushrooms and add lemon juice.
Simmer for 15 minutes or until potatoes are cooked.
Amazon link for Fast Easy Vegan (700 recipes all #wfpb)
https://www.amazon.com/Fast-Easy-Vegan-Jocelyn-Graef/dp/B08FP4MN4T/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=fast+easy+vegan+jocelyn+graef&qid=1597247990&sr=8-2
I see Low Fat Herbivore is no longer available however here’s an Etsy link for Low Fat Vegan (Dips, Dressings and Sauces). https://www.etsy.com/shop/Vegan4GoodStore?ref=seller-platform-mcnav As stated in the video, all of the recipes are now in Fast, Easy Vegan!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYV7U9_xuoA
Give this unconventional hummus a try! It’s made with lentils, almond butter and cardamom. It’s really easy, delicious and has no added oil like a typical hummus does. The recipe is below!
Almond Butter Hummus
* 1¾ cup cooked brown lentils
* 2 tablespoons lemon juice
* 2 tablespoons almond butter
* ½ teaspoon ground cardamom seeds
* ½ teaspoon salt
* ¼ teaspoon pepper
* ½ teaspoon chopped garlic
* ½ cup water or lentil cooking liquid as needed
Add all of the ingredients to a blender and puree. Taste for seasoning and add more to your preference. Serve with veggie sticks, pita crisps, tortilla chips, etc. The recipe makes 2 cups for a total of 6 points on the purple plan.
Enjoy!!
Note: Cooking lentils from scratch? Add 1½ cups veggie broth, a bay leaf and ½ cup lentils to a pot and simmer until done. Drain, saving cooking liquid.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5i6_MtPwyk
ROASTED CAULIFLOWER WITH BLACK VINEGAR AND KIMCHI CREAM
Today I’m cooking from The Vedge Cookbook by Landau/Jacoby. All of the recipes in the cookbook are solid, meaning they all “work” and taste great. This recipe is quite tasty, owing to the black vinegar and kimchi. If you don’t have black vinegar then pick one you like! The kimchi, whether vegan or not, is essential to the recipe. To save points you could use cauliflower mayonnaise https://youtu.be/lMPRGHhK2xQ
My kitchen is quite small and I can’t afford the real estate an air fryer takes up. I reallllllly like the oven baking trays (link below). You can find them at Bed, Bath Beyond and other kitchen gadget stores. They hold a large surface of food, clean easily then slide into my cupboard for storage. The original recipe calls for 2 tbsp oil and I completely eliminated it from the recipe.
Roasted Cauliflower w/Black Vinegar + Kimchi Cream
Prep Time: 10 Cook Time: 10 Servings: 2-4 Source: The Vedge Cookbook
1 head cauliflower
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar
½ cup vegan mayo
¼ cup vegan kimchi, undrained
1. Preheat the oven to 450F degrees.My pizza setting worked perfectly.
2. Chop the cauliflower head in half, remove the leaves, and cut a V shape into the bottom of each half to remove the core. Slice the remaining sections into florets with about 1 inch of stem.
3. Transfer cauliflower to a sheet pan and bake until the edges start to char and caramelize, 8 to 10 minutes.
4. Remove the cauliflower and return it to the bowl. Toss evenly with the black vinegar, if using. Keep warm in the oven while you make the kimchi cream.
5. To make the kimchi cream, combine the vegan mayo, the kimchi with its juice, and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt in a food processor. Pulse until the kimchi breaks down into small chunks and is evenly distributed throughout the mayo.
6. Serve the cauliflower hot from the oven over a pool of the kimchi cream. I included a base of spinach to “up” my veggie intake today. The recipe is about 3pts each serving.
Baking trays
https://www.amazon.com/Copper-Chef-Crisper-Tray-Transform/dp/B01N3JX20L/ref=sr_1_12?keywords=copper+baking+pans+air+fryer&qid=1565004378&s=gateway&sr=8-12
Black Vinegar and Vegan Kimchi available thru Amazon or most Asian grocery stores. Ask your local grocery store if they can sour it for you.
Try a new recipe this week!!
Learn basic kitchen tips and tricks to make your kitchen and food prep easier! Pushing Plants is a whole food plant based (wfpb) no oil (wfpbno) kitchen run by Certified Plant Based Chef Jill!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN5r4eCshcs