Four-for-Fourth

Inde­pen­dence Day week­end!!! Here are four of my favorite sum­mer recipes…not as tra­di­tional as toss­ing a burger on the grill…but a great way to keep the fes­tiv­i­ties light and fresh!

Happy Hol­i­days!!

Kale Chips
Pre­heat oven to 350 degrees.
Tear 2 cups rinsed kale leaves into big pieces.
Toss with 1 TBS of favorite olive oil or lightly spray with a cook­ing spray.
Toss in sea salt or Bragg’s Liq­uid Amino Acids and favorite herbs to taste (per­son­ally, I like cumin, gar­lic and black pep­per or fresh lemon, paprika, nutri­tional yeast and gar­lic).
Cook for 5–12 min­utes or until desired crispiness.

Green Papaya Salad
Mix together:
2 finely chopped toma­toes
1/2 tsp crushed red and green chill­ies
Small hand­ful of fresh cut green beans
1 clove fresh pressed gar­lic
2 TBS chopped peanuts or sesame seeds

Add:
Juice from 3 limes
2 TBS soy sauce
3 TBS raw cane sugar, brown sugar, or desired sweet­en­ing ingredient

Add and mix well:
2 cups of finely grated green papaya/carrot mixture

Jeow Mak Keua or Laot­ian Egg­plant Dip
Prick 1 large egg­plant with knife.
Dry roast egg­plant, 4 cloves of unpeeled gar­lic, 3 green onions, and 1 fresh chili over grill until nicely browned and blis­tered, but not burnt.

Peel egg­plant and gar­lic and puree in food proces­sor with green onions, roasted chili-to taste, 3/4 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. soy sauce, and 1/2 cup chopped cilantro.

Serve with fresh cut veg­gies or whole grain crisps.

Fresh Berry Tapi­oca Par­faits
Bring 2 1/2 cups of almond milk and 1/3 cup of small tapi­oca pearls to a gen­tle boil, stir­ring occa­sion­ally.
Turn down the heat to a sim­mer and con­tinue stir­ring every few min­utes.
Cook about 15–20 min­utes or until the tapi­oca pearls are mostly translucent.

Mix 1 table­spoon of almond milk with 1 1/2 tea­spoons corn­starch (or 1 tsp. arrow­root) and set aside.

Add another 1/2 cup almond milk to the tapi­oca mix­ture along with the 3 table­spoons sugar (agave, maple syrup, stevia-to taste-or other desired sweet­ener may be used) and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract.
Increase the heat and return mix­ture to a slow boil.
Con­tinue cook­ing and stir­ring for 5 min­utes.
Stir in the corn­starch mix­ture and cook until mix­ture thick­ens.
Remove from heat and let cool.

Puree 1 pound straw­ber­ries or rasp­ber­ries, washed and stemmed with 2 TBS agave or other sweet­ener to taste.

Divide the puree among 6 small glasses.
Once the tapi­oca is cool, spoon the mix­ture evenly over the straw­berry layer.
Refrig­er­ate until well chilled.
Add a layer of blue­ber­ries to each par­fait and serve.