New Beginnings & Red Quinoa Salad

It was a bit of a melancholy day here at Enlightened Cooking. Nicky's first day of "real" pre-school begins tomorrow. Up until now, he's only gone to Mother's Day Out two times per week from 8-12 (although, more like 9-12; though he wakes at the crack of dawn, he slow out of the door). Now it's a regular schoolday, five days per week. He got a much-coveted spot at University preschool, so I am thrilled on the one hand, but missing him--already--on the other.

So we spent the morning making tents throughout house & kicking the soccer ball around the back yard, then I packed picnic lunch of sandwiches and fruit to take to the pool at noon. The weather has turned unseasonably cool (below 90 degrees) for this time of year, so it was an idyllic day; plus, we had the pool to ourselves, save for a lone lap swimmer who decided that 10 minutes of freestyle was plenty.

In between the tent-making and pool-swimming, I made a first: birthday salad. It's my friend Lindsey's birthday today. I know it's not possible, but I think Johnny Mercer had Lindsey in mind when he penned "Too Marvelous for Words." That being said, salad might seem a strange choice of preparation. But I knew she would like it--namely, a red quinoa salad chock full of delicious things--for several reasons: (a) I suspect she already has a cake; (b) she is much of a sweets-eater; (c) we have a mutual adoration of whole grains; she loves my bulgur orange salad; and (e) on a trip to NYC the summer before last, we reveled in the whole grains salads at Whole Foods for multiple meals.

I made the salad while Nick made a card, then delivered all (along with another gift) on the way to the pool. As we pulled away from Lindsey's house, Nick asked, "Is Lindsey your sister?"

"Well, no, she's just my friend, " I answered.

"Hmm," Nick pondered from the backseat. "No, I think she is, Mommy."

"You know, you may be right, Nick," I replied, "I sure do love her as much as a sister.""Yeah, me too, Mommy."

Happy Birthday, Lindsey. We love you.

Lindsey's Red Quinoa Salad with Toasted Walnuts, Dried Fruit, & Herbs

1 cup red quinoa (or regular quinoa)
2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon graed orange zest
2 teasoons agave nectar (or honey)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 cup chopped walnuts, lightly toasted
1/3 cup chopped dried apricots
1/3 cup chopped dried cranberries
3 green onions, ends trimmed, thinly sliced (both green & white parts)
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves

Bring the quinoa, water, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Cover, reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is translucent and tender, 10 to 15 minutes. (Some germ rings may separate from the grains and will look like white squiggles--don't panic, this is normal, and most importantly, edible) Immediately fluff the quinoa with a fork and turn out onto a baking sheet to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, orange zest, agave nectar, and mustard until blended; season with salt & pepper to taste. When cool, fluff the quinoa again and transfer it to the bowl with the dressing. Add the walnuts, cranberries, apricots, green onions. Toss well. Cover and refrigerate to let the flavors mingle, at least 2 hours or overnight.

Before serving, let sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes. Stir in the mint. Taste and add more salt as needed. Makes 8 servings.

Vegan Superfood Muffins with Dried Blueberries & Hempseeds

I'm just fine with August coming to an end.

The 100+ temps have my entire household climbing the walls; Nick and I look like bubonic plague victims with our copious mosquito-bite scabs; and my hair is turning green from the daily trips to the pool. I'm not feeling my prettiest.

But I am feeling smart. And satisfied. Blame it on my recent bouts of vegan baking.
My ventures into vegan baking waters have been rare until now; only the occasional toe-dip. I'm confident in whipping together traditional muffins, cakes and cookies--just show me the eggs, butter, sugar, and all-purpose flour, and I'm ready to wield my spoon; take them away, and I flounder.

But that's changing, rapidly. There's nothing like plunging in headfirst (let that be the last of my swimming analogies today...) to learn the most. So, equipped with several tomes on the subject, I've been distracting myself from the heat by baking up a vegan storm. And I'm happy to share one of my favorite successes, my vegan superfood muffins.

These little treats are loaded with superfoods. But most importantly, they are delicious. Both Nick and Kevin loved them (I didn't tell Kevin they were vegan, though; he is highly prejudiced of anything and everything with a vegan label).

My two favorite ingredients in these muffins are the hemp seeds and the roasted walnut oil. You can find the hemp seeds at health food stores, well-stocked supermarkets, and online, and the walnut oil is increasingly available at grocery stores, too, stocked with the olive oil and canola oil (they have it at my local store, and this is a small Texas town; it's likely at your store, too).

The hemp seeds contribute a delicious nutty flavor, and their nutritional profile is remarkable: high in protein and omega-3 fatty acids and rich in iron, vitamin E, and GLA (gamma-linolenic acid. The walnut oil deepens the nutty flavor of these muffins, and like the hemp seeds, is high in omega-3 fatty acids. In a pinch, though, you can use chopped toasted walnuts in place of the hemp seeds and any neutral vegetable oil in place of the walnut oil.

A quick note about the spinach: it may seem a bizarre addition to a sweet muffin, but you neither see it nor taste it. I got the idea from my smoothies: I've been adding a couple of heaping handfuls to my berry smoothies for more than a decade; it's an easy way to add the benefits of the greens without any change to the taste, texture, or appearance of the smoothie. I blended the fresh leaves in the same way for these muffins and it worked like a charm. Happy Baking!

Vegan Superfood Muffins with Dried Blueberries & Hempseeds

You need not be on any special diet to love these muffins; they are delicious, regardless. Consider the superfood ingredients a stealthy bonus. The superfood stars here are: (1) the wheat bran and whole wheat flour (fiber), flax (fiber, lignans and omega-3s), the dried blueberries (antioxidants), hemp seeds (protein, omega-3s), bananas (potassium and fiber), spinach (vitamins A, E, & C, folate, magnesium & more), yogurt (calcium, protein, potassium & more) or soy (protein, omega-3s, and more).

1 and 1/4 cups wheat bran (I use Bob’s Red Mill Miller's Wheat Bran)
1 and 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur brand)
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed (flaxseed meal)
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sucanat OR packed dark brown sugar
2/3 cup dried blueberries (or dried cherries or cranberries)
1/2 cup shelled hemp seeds
3 tablespoons roasted walnut oil OR vegetable oil
1 and 1/3 cups plain soy yogurt (or plain lowfat yogurt, if you are not vegan)
1 large very ripe banana, peeled and broken apart
2-3 heaping handfuls of fresh spinach (I use pre-washed bagged spinach leaves)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line the cups of a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners, or spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk the bran, flour, flaxseed meal, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and brown sugar until blended; stir in the dried blueberries & hempseeds.

Place the oil, yogurt , banana, and chopped spinach into the blender. Blend at medium speed until smooth, then pour over the dry ingredients. Stir gently just until moistened.

Spoon the batter into the prepared cups. Bake for about 18-20 minutes until just set. Cool. Makes 12 muffins.

GALTIME! I'm the cooking contributor/expert

Hi everyone,

I am thrilled to let all of you know that I am the cooking contributor to an amazing new online magazine, GALTime. My first four videos are on the site, and you'll find about 5-8 more from me each month (the professionals came in to do the next round of videos, so the quality will be much better than with this first batch with me as videographer--not my calling, clearly :))

Be sure to check out the site and become a member--the talented women experts proffer their advice on everything from car repair to finances to health to, well, cooking!

I'll let you know whenever new videos are up. And I'd love to hear what you would like to see demonstrated in future videos!

Camilla :)


Here's the official press release:

Camilla Saulsbury is now part of GALTime.com, a new online magazine with one simple mission: to empower women! GALTime is run by veteran journalists with two decades of experience in major market television news, as well as national news syndication both on-air and online.

Why GALTime and why now? It provides all the information today’s women need in one place covering health, money, family, career, beauty/fashion, cooking, home/garden and more. We’ll inform and have fun, but we also believe Gals Give Back. The site will profile worthwhile charities and offer support for serious subjects such as eating disorders and domestic violence. GALTime will bring compelling text articles and quality video conversations to visitors/members. We believe the community is smart and savvy, so you’ll get to share your advice and experiences as well through our unique social network.

Camilla is among 50+contributors already lined up with more joining the team every day. I’m proud to be part of a site whose very mission is to ‘pay it forward’. Check her out at www.galtime.com. Go ahead and sign up to become part of the GALTime community. Joining is free and will allow you to comment, get newsletters and qualify for giveaways. Isn’t it time women help each other?!

No-Cook Strawberry-Meyer Lemon Ice Cream

Nick far exceeds his basic status of adorable 3-year-old; he is also a relentless personal trainer. We ran sprints across the living room from 7:30-8 this morning, followed by weighted leg lifts (I on my back, Nick as the airplane perched on my feet), and, with an abbreviated repast--chocolate milk for him, coffee for me, and muffins for us both--finished with a solid 45 minutes of dancing to to the Laurie Berkner Band.

To make up for the loss of calories, I decided to puree the somewhat sad, but still edible, strawberries lurking in the produce bin of our refrigerate. My intent was crystalline: churn a batch of Perfect No-Cook Strawberry Ice Cream. As soon as I perused this month's Gourmet magazine, I knew it was only a matter of days before it came to fruition. Granted, I almost always look at the desserts in the index first, and the code words "perfect" and "no-cook" grabbed my immediate attention.

The only downside to my adventure is that the recipe I concocted strayed far from the original.

It was unintentional, for the most part. I don;t like chunks of fruit in my ice cream (icy obstructions), so I had planned to puree all of the strawberries after first reading the recipe. But what ensued next was unintentional, perhaps caused from my post-workout routines with Nick. I was trying to prep some of the ingredients while playing with Nick, and after a quick glance, I was sure it said "3/4 cup fresh lemon juice." I was so pleased, because I had carted two dozen large Meyer lemons, straight from my parents' tree, back to Texas, and had not decided how to use them. squeezed away, and immediately emptied it into the puree.

I couldn't remember how much sugar was required, so I took a longer look at the page. It was then I realized my mistake: it was supposed to be 3/4 TEASPOON lemon juice, not 3/4 CUP. Oh crud.

After a few moments of modified curses (e.g., "crud" and "jiminy crickets"), I resolved myself to making the most of it (or, as my Grandfather was known to say in his powerful tenor voice, "Carry on!"). So I did.

I upped the sugar to 1 and 1/2 cups (instead of 3/4 cup) and increased the cream from two to 2 and 1/2 cups. After mixing, I let the whole thing chill for 4 hours. I was feeling fairly confident, because the mix was fantastic. My only worry was whether it might be too icy.

After a brief spell churning, all worries were dispelled. If I could jump up and down inside this post I would, because the results were phenomenal, if I do say so myself.

Viva the kitchen mishaps!

No-Cook Meyer Lemon Ice Cream


1 pound strawberries, hulled and chopped
3/4 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 and 1/2 cups heavy cream
Equipment: an ice cream maker


Puree the strawberries in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl and stir i the remaining ingredients. Chill, stirring occasionally, until very cold, 3 to 6 hours.

Freeze mixture in ice cream maker. Transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to firm up. Makes about 2 and 1/4 quarts.

Vegetable Pizza with Parmesan Scone Crust

Greetings one and all!

I won't bore you with excuses and explanations of why I've been absent so long. Suffice to say I am back, and happy to share an easy & delectable dinner recipe. Unless my memory no longer serves me, that's why I started this blog in the first place, so what better way to return.

Yesterday marked my arrival home from two glorious weeks spent in California with my family. Kevin flew back to Texas several days earlier, but I stayed with the Mr. petite doodle for a longer stretch to stay up late visiting with my parents, soak in the cool bay area fog, and lap up more delicious food & drink. Sigh.

To remind myself that there's good food in Texas, too, I returned to the kitchen Sunday evening. Bleary from the red-eye flight home, I made a quick decision to make comfort food; the long-overdue rainy weather made the choice that much easier. Kevin hadn’t done much grocery shopping, so I had to rely on the pantry, freezer, and garden. I settled on a quick pizza, made with a speedy scone-type crust.

The idea stems from one of my all-time favorite cookbooks, Biscuits and Scones, by Elizabeth Alston; it was a going-away to grad school present from a favorite aerobics class participant. It is petite perfection: 62 sweet and savory recipes, of which I have tried almost all (biscuits and scones fit well with a graduate student budget). Ms. Alston's accompanying prose is lively and informative, and the recipes are flawless.

Topping my list of favorites from the book is her pissaladière, Southern France's answer to pizza. My mother makes a wickedly delicious version from James Beard's Beard on Bread. It's an all-day affair, made with a butter-rich brioche crust, so I was excited to try Alston's innovative biscuit-crust version.

It is, in a word, brilliant. Moreover, it has inspired many biscuit- and scone-based pizzas from my oven ever since. Three cheers for Elizabeth Alston!

As mentioned ealier, last night's toppings were a hodge-podge of found ingredients, so use the recipe as a template for whatever cheeses and toppings you prefer. Smaller tomatoes work best here--Romas, cherry, grape, or the lumpy-yet-luscious little ones from our garden. Juicier varieties make the crust a bit soggy.

It's good to be back.

Vegetable Pizza with Parmesan Scone Crust

Scone Crust:
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
2/3 cup nonfat milk
1 large egg

Topping:
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 green pepper, seeded, thinly sliced
5 green onions thinly sliced (the white and green parts)
1/2 cup marinated artichoke hearts (well-drained)
1/4 cup marinara sauce
3-4 small tomatoes, sliced
1 and 1/2 cups grated smoked Gouda cheese

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Whisk the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in Parmesan. Whisk the milk and egg in a small bowl, then add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Turn dough out onto a floured surface; pat to 1-inch-thick circle. Lift onto a non-stick baking sheet, then press out to a circle about 10 inches across to make the pizza base.

Heat the oil in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the green pepper; cook and stir until the pepper is soft. Remove from the heat and add the green onions and artichoke hearts.

Spread the marinara sauce over the crust, then evenly distribute the vegetable mixture. Scatter over the tomatoes, followed by the cheese.

Bake for 15-18 minutes until crust is golden and cooked through. Makes 6 servings.