Wholesome Wednesdays: Sunflower Seeds

Please visit the new location of this post for lots of nutrition info and other great stuff about sunflower seeds!

Sunflowers: beautiful and unruly wildflowers of various heights, home to myriad beneficial insects, and fodder for sparrows and parrots alike. Every year i try and plant my favorite varieties of sunflowers, and every year my efforts are thwarted by the native flowers: multi branched yellow plants with small seed heads. That's fine, but i really do miss these gorgeous autumn colored beauties i grew at my last house - or the hug mammoth sunflowers with heads big enough for human consumption. Nonetheless, the ones that grow are beautiful homes for millions of baby assassin bugs and snacks for the local sparrows and occasional monk parakeets that wander through my neighborhood. They do get unruly though, and this year are rittled with what i believe are saltmarsh caterpillars - nasty black worms that become nasty white fuzzy worms and eat up the leaves, or fall on me when i'm chopping down mature plants. Gross.

Egg Bake: Healthy and Fresh Dinner or Brunch

Our ladies are still laying like champs and i had a surplus of eggs as none have been purchased lately (some available!). I decided to try out a totally made up recipe utilizing the eggs, raw milk in the fridge, and fresh veg/herb in the garden. Here's what i came up with:

• 8 eggs
• 1/3 pint raw milk
• Salt, ground flax, hemp, pepper, dried oregano
• Drop of truffle oil
• Bunch garlic chives, diced
• Chopped tomato - i think i used about 5 porters and one Japanese Triefel - about 3 regular tomatoes
• 2 serranos, sliced
• Bunch fresh basil, chopped
• Dollup of left over gazpacho
• Small onion, diced
• Cheese would be great - but i didn't have any

I used a round pyrex - this made a very thick bake, i think it would have cooked more quickly if i'd used a dish with more flat surface area. This shape also caused the veggies to float to the top, a wider dish would have mixed things more evenly. I didn't mind though.
Spray the dish, or coat with butter or olive oil. Mix eggs and milk in a separate container- you don't have to scramble, but break up the yolks. Add dry seasonings and truffle oil to the milk/egg mixture, mix, then our into the cooking dish. Add the veggies and fresh basil - scattering them evenly. Cook until the middle is cooked through - stands up to squishing from above with no liquid escaping. There will be moisture from the veg, but no runny yolk and the 'casserole' will be puffed up some. 
I waffled the temp around from 375 to 400 and cooked for about 30 or so minutes - time will depend on the size of your cooking dish.

This served the two of us heartily: high protein, lots of great vitamins and minerals, and very low carb - unless you count the roll i gave the husband ;).  Would be great for brunch, but was awesome as dinner too. I drizzled the plates with a little homemade mayo and some homemade habanero sauce which both added some nice zest. I didn't use any cheese, and didn't really miss it. Often i feel that cheese just adds calories but that its flavor isn't overly noticeable. Cheese is good for holding the texture together, but we both agreed this was tasty without it.

What's your favorite thing to do with a whole lot of extra eggs? Cook them on the spot, or store them for the lean months?

Recipe: Tuna Casserole

I may not have taken any pictures of this delicious meal, but i felt this particular draft worth posting. I'd been very 'good' all week long - eating small dinners with low carbs, eating the 'right' number of calories throughout the day, and limiting my wine consumption to nearly socially tolerable amounts. I felt i owed myself a Friday night meal of delicious. This is what i came up with.

Tuna Casserole
(portions are approximate - Serves two generously, 3 with smaller portions)

• 2 cans tuna in water, drained
• 1/2 pint raw milk
• 2 slices cheddar, diced (about 2 ounces probably)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 onion, diced
• Some garlic
• Generous sprinkle hot smoked paprika
• Pinch oregano - dried
• Pinch turmeric - dried
• 1 diced jalapeno
• Frozen peas - 1/2 to 1 cupish
• Whole wheat shells pasta
• Splash white wine
• Salt / pepper
• Sprinkle chilly powder
• 3 egg yolks
• Seasoned bread crumbs
• 2 pieces of bread sprayed with olive oil spray, sprinkled in salt and herbs, set on top of the toaster oven while it pre heated for the casserole

Oven at 350.
2 saucepans:
In one, bring water to boil and cook the pasta according to directions. Drain.
Meanwhile put all the herbs and onions in the other saucepan with a splash of white wine. Simmer the onions until they begin to soften, don't let it dry out. Add milk. My milk separated a little from the acidic wine. This did not bother me. Simmer the milk with the herbs until the pasta is ready - try not to let it boil or reduce overly much.
In the casserole, place the chopped jalapeno and peas. When the pasta is ready, put it in the casserole and mix the veggies into it. Add the tuna and mix. You may want to add some seasoning directly to the pasta. Add the 3 egg yolks to the milk sauce and stir very well. Whisk it up! Don't let the yolks cook, per say. The yolks will thicken the sauce and make the whole casserole super decadent. You could probably use a lot more milk than i did - it's all i had. My casserole was not soupy - so go ahead and add more milk if you care to.  Remove the bay leaves and pour the milk sauce over noodles and mix well. Sprinkle cheese on top, mix in a little, then top with the bread crumbs.

Bake until it's bubbly and the bread is browning to your liking. About 20 or so minutes. I like how some of the noodles show and get crispy on the sides. The yolks really did make teh whole casserole rich - like butter would, but with protein maximized.  This made for a super delicious way to end the week - and though it was a bit heavy and carb loaded, there was still plenty of protein for my growing muscles and brain cells.

Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers with Turmeric, Raisons and Tofu

Wow.
Making this dish, though relatively easy, made me feel like one of those circus performers who balances the spinning plates on long sticks... But really it was pretty easy and forgiving as all get out. We both loved this dish, and were happily surprised and pleased with my experimental venturing into flavors/ingredients that don't normally find their way into Miranda's kitchen.
This recipe uses a pan, a small pot, and a baking tray - but the extra dishes are worth the result.

Ingredients:

• 7 Golden Bell Peppers (mine are homegrown and rather small- you could probably serve 2 regular sized bell peppers a person instead)
• 1 Habanero, roasted with the bells
• 1/4 cup Golden Raisins, chopped
• 2-3 Cloves Garlic
• Half a block of Tofu, diced into small cubes
• 1/4 medium sweet onion, finely diced
  
• 1 cup Quinoa cooked in 2 cups Veg Broth
• Pinches: Cumin, Curry, Cardamom, Pepper
• 1/8 - 1/4 Tsp Turmeric
• Generous Salt
• 1 Tsp freshly chopped Cilantro
• Splash Mirin (rice wine, or sweet white wine)
  

Chop all ingredients first to be ready to toss in here and there as needed.

Prepare the Bells by removing the tops (set aside for serving) and seeds. Place upside down on a baking pan, drizzle with olive oil and bake in toaster oven on the convection setting at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes, turning the pan halfway through. When softened and browned to your satisfaction turn off oven and allow Bells to cool slightly, in oven or on counter. Roast the habanero with the Bells for a while, then chop up and add to the sauteing onions etc.

While you are preparing the bells set 2 cups veg stock and cup quinoa to boil. Cover and turn down to simmer for about 15, 20 minutes. When done, simply stir up a bit, recover and turn off heat. Add the raisins at this point. The quinoa is perfectly happy to wait for you to finish everything else.

While the quinoa is simmering and Bells are roasting - Saute Garlic, Onions, and Tofu (and habanero) in a pan over medium/high heat. Add all spices except the cilantro. Saute uncovered, stirring often until onions get soft. Once onions are completely softened, add a splash of mirin and cover and turn heat to low. This mixture will wait until you are ready for it.

When all the members of this ensemble are ready to your satisfaction, preheat the oven back to 375. Stir the Quinoa into the tofu/onion mixture and add the cilantro. Taste and add generous amount of salt as needed.

Position the peppers hollow side up, you may have to trim the bottom a bit, or squish down to create a flatter bottom. Stuff the peppers with the Quinoa mixture, sprinkle a little salt on top and place the pepper tops to create little lidded pepper receptacles.
Place peppers back in oven - be sure the rack is low enough to facilitate the taller peppers with their tops, and heat up until sizzling and lids have softened, about 3 minutes.

Carefully remove from oven and place the peppers on plates. You can also serve the extra filling, if any to the side. These could also be a side dish to a meat entree, perhaps a nice glazed chicken breast - but the Quinoa is super high in protein and perfectly acceptable for a light, vegetarian main course.

Quite pretty, if i do say so myself. The garlicy salty tastes combined and accented the sweetness of the peppers and the raisins in a really nicely balanced way. The habanero adds a nice bite of heat here and there, but also its unique flavor goes along super well with the turmeric. Don't be put off by the complicated sounding nature of juggling those 3 components - they really all are happy to wait until you're ready to put them all back together and reheat.

Might be pretty to serve with some sauteed or fresh cherry tomatoes to add a little red to the otherwise yellowy hue.