vegetarian – Page 8 – Strong Roots Nutrition

February 22, 2014

Winter goodness smoothie

It's a rare, glorious time in St. Louis. If you've ever lived around this part of the Midwest, you know how cruel and fickle our weather can be. Ordinarily, we have relatively mild winter weather (temperatures average in the 30s) that seemingly shifts straight into full-blown summer with absurd humidity and lots of heat and then slams back into winter again. Those sweet, cool, breezy spring and fall days are far to rare. But people, we're there. This week's 45+ temperatures have been magnificent, especially after a harsher-than-normal winter season. The snow is[...]

fall, side, vegetable, vegetarian, winter

February 18, 2014

Curried cauliflower steaks

Check out that cauliflower. It's yellow. It's curry time! Grilled vegetables are a no-brainer when the grill is already fired up for meats. Asparagus, zucchini, onions, and mushrooms are musts. But did you ever think to grill cauliflower? Yeah, me neither. Until I found out that you can slice them into "steaks" and they will remain held together by their sturdy core. You can usually cut two, sometimes three, steaks from each head of cauliflower. Don't throw out the remaining portions - cut them into florets and steam them, roast them, or dip in a tasty vi[...]

fall, side, soup, vegetarian, winter

February 10, 2014

Roasted butternut squash and apple soup

I love the Winter Olympics but they aren't helping my withdrawals from the mountain views and year-round fun in Colorado. St. Louis just doesn't have much going for it in February. When I lived in Vail and worked at a local athletic club, one aspect of my job had me working closely with the restaurant on our property planning nutrition seminars for our club members. These seminars were both educational and delicious: I presented information around a specific topic, and the incredible restaurant staff provided tastings of coordinating dishes. For one of my[...]

breakfast, vegetarian, winter

February 3, 2014

Lemony buckwheat pancakes with honey-vanilla whipped ricotta

Something new I've been playing with is freshly ground flour. My grain mill can turn grains and beans into flour in seconds, and products made with freshly-ground flour taste better and behave more like white flour (a bread baker's dream!). Now, you do not need to go out and buy yourself a grain mill in order to have great whole grain products. If dense products have ruined whole wheat flour for you in the past, whole wheat pastry flour might be worth a try. In my experience, fine-ground whole wheat pastry flour is more cooperative i[...]

side, soup, vegetarian, winter

January 27, 2014

Mushroom soba miso soup

Miso is fermented soybean paste made from mashed soybeans that have been mixed with salt and a mold culture and aged for 6-36 months. Yum? It may not sound appetizing, but fermentation is a natural process that simply involves bacteria breaking down and "digesting" carbohydrates. And bacteria aren't that scary. If you don't believe me, some fermented foods that you may regularly enjoy include sauerkraut, pickles, sourdough bread, beer, wine, and yogurt. Miso is used to give a rich depth of flavor to many foods, and it is a common base for soups[...]