Lentil, Roasted Fennel + Blood Orange Salad

This easy salad highlights one of the best fruits of the late winter season: blood oranges. They add color and delightful flavor to earthy lentils and the caramelized flavor of roasted fennel. For an easy weeknight dish, you can cook the lentils and roast the fennel ahead of time and then refrigerate them. Bring to room temperature just before you assemble the salad and you’ll be ready to eat in no time.

Prep time: 10 minutes | Cook time: 25 minutes | Serves 4–6

Ingredients: 

¾ cup French green lentils (also called Puy lentils)
1 bay leaf
2 large bulbs of fennel
Olive oil
2 blood oranges
½ cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon (heaping) Dijon mustard
Salt & pepper

Preparation:

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place lentils and bay leaf in a medium pot and add enough water to cover by an inch. Bring to a boil over high heat, and then reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Cover the pot and cook lentils until they are still firm but cooked through, about 17 minutes (be careful not to overcook them). Remove and discard the bay leaf. Drain lentils in a colander, and rinse with cool water.

Trim fennel of any stalk and fronds (you can reserve fronds for garnish), and then cut each bulb in half lengthwise. Thinly slice each half and place prepared fennel in a medium bowl. Toss with 2 teaspoons of olive oil and then arrange fennel in an even layer on a baking tray. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Bake for 20-25 minutes, tossing fennel once halfway through, until the edges begin to just slightly brown. Remove fennel from the oven and let it cool thoroughly.

While the fennel roasts, prepare the blood oranges by slicing off tops and bottoms of the rind. Once the ends are removed, cut off one thin slice of blood orange to use for garnish and set it aside. Set the cut ends of the oranges down on your cutting board, and then use a knife to carefully cut the rind and white pith from the flesh of the orange. As you work, follow the natural curves of the fruit. Once both oranges are peeled, thinly slice each orange into rounds and then cut each round into 6 segments.

When you’re ready to assemble the salad, add ¼ cup olive oil, vinegar, mustard and ½ teaspoon salt to a small jar and shake well. Place the lentils, fennel, blood oranges and olives in a large bowl, and pour the dressing over everything. Use a spatula to stir the salad well, and add any additional desired salt.

The salad can be served immediately or refrigerated until ready to serve. When you’re ready to eat it, place the salad in a serving bowl and garnish with the reserved orange slice and a few chopped fennel fronds.

Beet & Apple Salad with Cilantro

This incredibly simple salad was a staple before, during and after my recent panchakarma (Ayurvedic cleansing) experience. The amounts here are really just suggestions - you can play around with different ratios to achieve whatever taste you prefer, and you can also add in ingredients like nuts or seeds. You can also use just one apple, but I find the mix of some sweet red apple plus tart green apple to be the best. For those who are averse cilantro, you could either omit it or substitute another herb (mint might be a really nice choice).

Prep time: 10 minutes | Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 medium beets, peeled and grated
Half a small red apple, peeled and grated
Half a small green apple, peeled and grated
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely minced or grated
1 small handful of cilantro (leaves and stems), chopped
Juice of half a lime
Pinch of sea salt

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Taste and adjust any flavors to your liking.

You can enjoy the salad right away, although I find it’s best when left to sit for at least an hour before eating - the flavors really come together better that way.

Warm Tahini Date Shake

This warm smoothie is a wonderful way to start the day, or a great choice for a satisfying afternoon snack. It is packed with ingredients that boost ojas - Ayurveda’s term for your body’s most vital energy, aka, what makes you feel really nourished and juicy. With a touch of cinnamon for warming, this smoothie also helps kickstart digestion. I’ve included a couple of herbs that I personally work with in the recipe, but you’re welcome to omit them or replace with other herbs of your choice.

I also want to mention that I recently discovered Soom tahini (shown above) via a friend and have to say their tahini is the best I’ve ever tasted. (I hear their chocolate tahini is awesome too!) Check them out if you want to experience tahini like none you’ve had before :) You can of course use any tahini you like though when making this.

Prep time: < 5 minutes | Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 medjool dates, pitted
1 cup almond milk
1 ripe banana
2 Tablespoons tahini (see note above)
1 teaspoon ghee
1 teaspoon maca powder (optional)
½ teaspoon lions mane powder (optional)
¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder (I prefer to use Ceylon cinnamon)
Pinch of salt

Preparation: 

Soak the pitted dates in a small bowl of boiling water until soft (about 5 minutes). While the dates soak, heat your almond milk over a medium flame until hot.

 Transfer the soaked dates to a blender (being sure to reserve the date soaking liquid), along with the hot almond milk and all the other ingredients. Blend at a high speed until everything is well incorporated, about 45 seconds. To adjust the consistency if you prefer a thinner smoothie, blend in a tablespoon or two of the date soaking liquid.

 Pour into glasses and garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top if you like. Enjoy immediately.

Baked Multi-Root Latkes

I was lucky to grow up in Texas (one of the only times you may ever hear me say that!) because it meant Decembers were mild enough that we could cook our latkes outdoors. My mom had an electric griddle that she would schlep to the back patio, where she would assemble a makeshift latke-frying station, and save our family from smelling like frying grease for the next week. Today, I am still keen to avoid the smell, but I get around this by baking my latkes in the oven. Yes, they’ll never be quite as crisp as their deep-fried brethren, but to have a house that is free of oil odors is priceless to me.

From an Ayurvedic perspective, baked latkes are easier to digest since they’re less oil-laden, and I add in a touch of cinnamon to aid digestion as well. I call for Ceylon cinnamon, as it’s gentle, sweet taste best complements the earthy root veggies, but you can certainly use regular spicy cinnamon as well, or omit it altogether. You’re also welcome to stick to 100% potato latkes, but I find using a mix of roots veggies always yields a more flavorful (and beautiful) experience. I also like to use red onion for its color, but white does the trick too! Choose organic root vegetables as we’ll be keeping the skins on. If you choose to use conventional produce, I would recommend peeling all vegetables before using (for this recipe and anything else).

Prep time: 10m | Cook time: 25m | Makes about 18 latkes

Ingredients:

1½ Tablespoons ground flax seed
2 pounds assorted root vegetables (I use sweet potato, parsnip and potato)
1 medium red onion
3 Tablespoons chickpea flour (besan)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
Melted ghee or neutral cooking oil (about 1/4 cup)
Applesauce and/or sour cream or cashew sour cream for serving

Preparation:

Mix ground flax seed with 4 Tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Put in the refrigerator to chill.

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or reusable silicone mats, and brush well with melted ghee or oil. Be generous as the oil is going to help crisp your latkes when it comes time to bake them.

Wash all your root vegetables very well and dry completely with a towel. Shred your roots in a food processor or grate by hand (there is an eternal debate about which method is better…I am a food processor girl myself). Line a third large baking tray with a clean kitchen towel or a couple layers of paper towel and spread the shredded roots into an even layer. Top with another towel or a couple additional layers of paper towels. Top with a final baking tray, and place some heavy pans on top to help squeeze out the liquid (if you’ve run out of trays, you can also carefully put the weighted items directly on top).

Shred or grate the onion and then transfer to a mesh sieve. Use a silicone spatula or back of a large spoon to expel any excess liquid, and then transfer to a large bowl. After the roots have sat for about 10 minutes, add them to the bowl with the onion and stir well with your hands.

Mix together chickpea flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl, and then sprinkle it over the vegetable mixture. Use your hands to integrate the flour mixture into the vegetables. Add the soaked ground flax seed, and mix well once more.

Use your hands to shape the latkes (about 1/4 cup each), spacing them about an inch apart on the prepared baking sheets as each is ready. Once all latkes have been formed, brush the tops with a generous coating of ghee or oil. Bake for 12 minutes, then remove from the oven and flip each latke carefully (I use 2 spatulas for greatest ease). Return latkes to the oven (if you are using two different racks in the oven, be sure to rotate whichever tray was initially above to the bottom), and bake an additional 10–12 minutes, or until latkes are golden brown and crisp on the outside.

Serve latkes immediately, accompanied by applesauce and/or sour cream. Leftover latkes can be re-crisped in a toaster oven.