Quinoa Stuffed Poblanos with Cashew & Cilantro Cream

This stuffed Poblano chile recipe is from the blog Honestly Yum with it's great colors and healthy ingredients how can you go wrong ! Not only does it look delicious but it is also vegan. Filled with black beans, pink corn, zucchini, scallions and quinoa. I think adding a little red quinoa would make it even more colorful. To top it off with a cashew and cilantro sauce.

Click here for the full recipe ♥

for more quinoa recipes click here ◘

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Yerba Mate Smoothie

I came across this wonderful smoothie on the blog "This Rawsome Vegan Life". The blog has so many great vegan recipes but this smoothie really stood out. It's full name is Hormone balancing Yerba Mate Banana Smoothie with Maca, Lucuma, Vanilla and Cashews. It could almost be called the South American Superfood smoothie since many of it's ingredients originate there and are packed with nutritional benefits. That's particularly why it caught my attention. From my travels to Peru, Argentina and Brazil names like maca, lucuma and yerba mate are very familiar. Here is the recipe from Emily's blog :



Yerba Mate Banana Smoothie

2 frozen bananas
1 1/2 cups chilled yerba mate tea (chai blend can be used)
1 tsp lucuma powder
1 tsp maca powder
1 tsp vanilla powder
3 dates
Pinch of Himalayan salt
1/4 cashews, preferably soaked
Cacao nibs (optional)

Blend everything until smooth. Taste and adjust accordingly (add more dates, vanilla, etc.) Top off with cacao nibs.


 ♥

For more info on this superfood smoothie and other great recipes visit This Rawsome Vegan Life.






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La Buena Vida ~ Fava bean salad

Another great recipe from La Buena Vida blog, sounds familiar ? Yes, I shared a wonderful recipe by Nicole Franzen in a previous post - roasted baby artichokes !  Well here's a simple, quick and refreshing salad of  fava beans with mint and mustard greens. Click on any of the colored links to visit Nicole's blog to be inspired her recipes and photos.

Ingredients

2 pounds of fresh fava beans
1/2 of a lemon
fresh mint
mustard or mesclun greens
parmesan cheese
sea salt & pepper
olive oil

Method

Remove fava beans from their pods. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add a pinch of salt. Add fava beans and cook till tender about 3-4 minutes. Shock fava beans in an ice water bath. Allow to cool then remove the outer shell of the fava bean. You will see the bright, vibrant green bean. In a bowl mix the juice of half a lemon, olive oil, sea salt and pepper. In a bowl add a few handfuls of greens, mix in fava beans, leaves of fresh mint, parmesan cheese, and dressing. Toss well and serve.

La Buena Vida blog

Black Rice & Purple Carrots

I can't wait to try this recipe that I found on Maria's blog Scandi Foodie from Australia. Maria, originally from Finland, takes beautiful photographs to accompany her wonderful recipes. This Black Rice and Purple Carrot Salad recipe really caught my eye. Not only is this salad an amazing color but it's full of super foods. The black rice, once known as the forbidden rice, has more health promoting properties than blueberries and is better than brown rice. Purple carrots are packed with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. See the recipe below for all the other good ingredients.

Black rice and purple carrot salad 

(Serves 2)

1 cup non-glutinous black rice

grated zest of 1 lime

juice of 1/2 lime

1 tablespoon brown rice vinegar

1 teaspoon tamari

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon pumpkin seed oil

3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

5 small purple carrots, coarsely grated

1/2 pomegranate, seeds

2 shallot greens/spring onions, finely chopped

2 tablespoons fresh coriander, finely chopped

peppery greens, to serve

 Cook the black rice in boiling water until soft (30 minutes). Drain and place in a large bowl.

       Add in all ingredients and toss well to combine. Serve with peppery greens (rocket, mizuna, etc.)

visit Scandi Foodie for more beautiful recipes 

Pica Pica ~ making empanadas

Pica Pica Maize Kitchen is a Venezuelan Arepera or take out style restaurant run by a father and daughter team. This is the first of it's kind in California with one in Napa and one in San Francisco. Adriana Lopez, the daughter, has a blog AdrianaLopezBlog.com where she shares information and recipes for Venezuelan dishes. My husband and I have visited the Napa location and have enjoyed everything we've tried. So I thought I would share Adriana's photos and video instructions for making empanadas from her blog.

for more instructions on how to prepare empanadas click HERE to visit Adriana's blog

Green Tea & Strawberry Cupcakes

I am a big fan of Matcha green tea, I love the flavor, texture and color. Such a soft and warm muted green. I normally wouldn't have combined strawberry with green tea but color wise these two are the perfect hue and they caught my eye immediately . When I saw these cupcakes on foodgawker I had to find out where they came from and that is how I came across a wonderful blog, Une deux senses. Michelle, the author of  Une deux senses - food, fashion, music & other little lovelies, takes beautiful pictures and shares so many mouth watering recipes.  I can't wait to try to make these ! I'm sharing the recipe here so you can try them too. Please visit Michelle's blog for more instructions and photos for this recipe. All photos and links for this post are clickable.

 

Green Tea & Strawberry Cupcakes with Custard Filling

Yields: 12 cupcakes

For the cake:

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp. cake flour

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. matcha powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, cut into 1-inch cubes

2 large eggs

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

For the custard:

1 small box of instant vanilla pudding

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

10 - 15 large strawberries, washed and hulled (more or less, to your taste)

For the strawberry swiss meringue buttercream:

2 large egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 sticks of butter (12 tbsp.), cut into 12 pieces

Strawberry puree or preserves

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line a cupcake tin with liners and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and matcha powder. Mix on low speed until combined. Add the butter, mixing until the cubes of butter are peanut sized or a little smaller. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, milk and vanilla. With the mixer on medium speed, add the wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down the sides of the bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. Divide the batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, 17 - 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. 

To make the custard, whip the first four ingredients together until it is well combined and begins to thicken, about 3 - 5 minutes. Place in refrigerator to let chill and thicken some more until ready to use. Chop the strawberries into small dices, and place onto a paper towel lined plate. Place some paper towels on top and place in the refrigerator to allow the water from the strawberries to seep out, about 10 minutes. Once most of the water has been released, fold the strawberries into the custard and continue to refrigerate until ready to use. To make the frosting, put the egg whites and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer. Place the bowl over a pot of boiling water making sure the bottom does not actually touch the water. Stir the egg whites until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and place into the mixer stand. Beat until it becomes white and doubles in size. Add the vanilla on low speed, then add the butter, one piece at a time, making sure it is well mixed after each addition. Do not worry if it looks curdled, it will take some time for it to come together. Continue beating for 5 - 10 minutes until everything comes together. Add the strawberry puree or preserves until desired berry taste. Spread/ pipe/ smother onto your cupcakes and enjoy!!

 

Kathy De Wit ~ El Debujo del Gato

Kathy De Wit is a wonderful artist that I found on THEY DRAW & COOK, a site where artists submit their recipe illustrations.  Not only was her recipe, Andean Rice with Drops of Gold, unusual but her beautiful illustration caught my eye immediately. It was of a young Andean woman with her baby on her back, both with long flowing braids and vibrant colors. A large wooden spoon adding the ingredients in to her big metal pot. To top it all off an excellent Inca wall with the recipe scrolled upon it. This drawing brought back wonderful memories of my visits to the Andes of Peru, I just had to find out more about this artist.

I clicked on her blog which was listed  below her artwork  and there I found out to my surprise that she wasn't Peruvian at all but was from Belgium. She had traveled to Peru where she had fallen in love with the Andes. Her cherished memories of her time there are an inspiration for many of her drawings. On her blog I saw a picture of the colorful recipe illustration made into a bookmark and searched high and low on her site to find out how to purchase one.

 
I did find a cotton shop where she sells pillows, napkins and aprons with her beautiful art work but no bookmark. So I decided to contact her through her blog. I'm happy to say not only was I able to order the delightful bookmark but also another  lovely drawing  of a dreaming woman with the Andes.  The package arrived so nicely decorated and wrapped I hated to open it but I was anxious to see my bookmark. It was more than I expected, it's large size, fine textured paper and elegant ribbon.

 

I had originally planned to use it in my The Art of Peruvian Cuisine recipe book (like Kathy uses pictured in her blog) but I could already imagine it getting dirty while I was cooking away and decided instead I would display it . Now I am a follower of Kathy's blog and looking forward to her opening a shop on Etsy very soon. I will keep you posted. To see Kathy's portfolio click HERE. To visit her blog click HERE

                                                                                                                                                             Gracias Kathy  ♥