True Food Kitchen

Being from the Midwest, I’ve only gotten the chance to eat at a True Food Kitchen twice. The southwestern area restaurant chain was started by Dr. Andrew Weil, who thought the super healthy food he cooked at home was tasty enough that others would love it too. He was right because anyone I’ve ever talked to that has visited one of his restaurants has raved about it. Since my post on a copy cat version of True Food Kitchen’s Inside Out Quinoa Burger is the most visited post on this blog, I decided it was time to share my “Almost” Autumn Ingredient Salad. The real one includes dried mulberries and dried pomegranate seeds, but they are pricey and hard to find. I just used dried cranberries and they make a good substitute. At any rate, this salad is a great side dish and the dressing works well any kind of veggie or salad.

Ingredients for the Salad and Dressing

1 medium butternut squash

1 medium head cauliflower

1 pound Brussels sprouts

1 (15 oz.) can white beans such as Great Northern or Cannelloni

2 tablespoons olive oil (For roasting veggies)

1/2 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons champagne vinegar

2 tablespoons sliced green onions

2 tablespoons dried cranberries

1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with foil. Cut off the cap and base of the squash, cut it lengthwise down the middle, and scoop out the seeds. Remove the skin by using a vegetable peeler. Lay both pieces of the squash on a cutting board and cut each in half, separating the neck from the rounded bottom. Then cut each of the four large pieces into two inch wide strips. Finally, cut each strip into squares. Spread the pieces on one of the baking sheets. Wash the cauliflower, cut into florets, and put them on one side of the second baking sheet. Wash the Brussels Sprouts, cut off the tough woody part of the base, and if they are large, cut them in half down the middle. Place them next to the cauliflower on the baking sheet. Drizzle the vegetables on both baking sheets with about a tablespoon of olive oil. Toss them around to make sure they are evenly coated and season with salt & pepper. Put both baking sheets in the oven for about an hour or until the vegetables pierce easily with a fork and are slightly browned.

Meanwhile whisk together the 1/2 cup of olive oil, vinegar, green onions, dried cranberries, horseradish, salt, red pepper flakes. Set aside. Rinse, drain, and put the beans in a microwave safe bowl.

When the vegetables are done, take them out of the oven. Warm up the beans for about a minute in the microwave. Then, place the beans, squash, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the top and gently toss.

I’d love to hear about other people’s experiences at True Food Kitchen!

My friend Marina is all about healthy eating. She makes it a point to be up to date on all the latest research and is a mini-encyclopedia of knowledge on what foods benefit the body and which ones to avoid. However, she is a great cook and loves delicious recipes. I got a call from her a couple months back, right after she had returned from a trip to Scottsdale, Arizona. All I can say is that she was very enthusiastic: “Julie!, Julie! – you’ve got to figure out how to make these dishes we had at this restaurant. It’s called True Food Kitchen and it’s fantastic!” I knew what she was talking about because Jenn and I had eaten in a True Food Kitchen restaurant when I visited her in California. We both fell in love with it and I posted a copy cat recipe for their Autumn Salad HERE. The True Food Kitchen restaurant chain was started by a doctor, Andrew Weil, who developed an anti-inflammatory diet. The thing is – everything was scrumptious – it sure didn’t taste like health food. At any rate, I was more than happy to experiment and figure out how to duplicate their “Inside Out Burger”. I looked up the menu on line and even found a photo without a recipe on Pinterest. The hummus recipe posted here is from the 2012 True Food Cookbook by Dr. Weil, but the quinoa burger is a hopeful duplicate. When I ate at the restaurant, I didn’t order it, so this is a stab in the dark. What I do know is the combination of this quinoa burger with the tzatziki sauce, humus, and veggies is nothing short of magical!

Ingredients for the Quinoa Burgers:

1 (15 oz,) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

3 cups cooked* multi-colored quinoa, divided into 2 cups and 1 cup

1 egg (or substitute 1/4 cup almond milk)

1/4 cup flour (rice or garbanzo bean flour can be substituted)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 1/2 tablespoons tahini

1 teaspoon of light soy sauce (Maggi or Bragg’s sauce can be substituted)

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon coriander

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

*The quinoa is a lot more flavorful if cooked in broth (vegetable or chicken).

Additional Ingredients Needed to Serve:

Lettuce

Avocado slices

Red onion slices

Tomato slices

Feta cheese (optional)

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Using a food processor, combine the garbanzo beans, 2 cups quinoa, egg, flour, cilantro, tahini, soy sauce, thyme, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, coriander, salt, and pepper. Place the mixture in a bowl and stir in 1 cup of quinoa. Cover and place in the refrigerator for an hour. (This step can be skipped, it just makes it a bit easier to handle.) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use about a 1/2 cup of the “dough” to form 6 patties or about 1/3 of a cup for 8 smaller ones. Place each patty on the baking sheet. To give them an even more uniform shape, put a ball jar lid ring over the top of each patty and using a rubber spatula, smooth out the top. Then, carefully remove the ring. Use the pint sized for the larger patties and the 8 oz. cup ones if making smaller patties. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, gently turning once at 15 minutes.

While they are baking make the hummus and tzatziki sauce.

Tzatziki Sauce Ingredients:

1 cup Greek yogurt

1/2 medium cucumber

2 garlic gloves

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons dried dill

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Put the Greek yogurt in a mixing bowl. Slice the end off the cucumber, cut into fourths lengthwise, and remove the seeds. Grate the cucumber pieces, skin and all, and add them to the yogurt. Put the peel the garlic cloves and put them through a press. Then add the garlic, lemon juice, dill, salt, and pepper to the bowl. Combine well, transfer to a serving bowl, and refrigerate until serving time.

Ingredients for the Hummus from True Food by Andrew Weil, MD:

2 (15 oz.) cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 large garlic clove, put through a press

1 small jalapeno chile, seeded and diced

2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons tahini

1/4 cup lemon juice

juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 scant teaspoon agave nectar syrup (optional)

pinch of cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup olive oil

Directions:

Combine the beans, garlic, jalapeno, chili, tahini, lemon juice, lime juice, agave nectar, cilantro, cumin, cayenne, and salt in a food processor and blend well. Slowly pour in the olive oil as the mixture is processing until the mixture is smooth. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serve with the hummus, tzatziki sauce, lettuce, avocado slices, tomato slices, red onion and crumbled feta cheese. These can be eaten just like a burger with a bun, or presented as the top and bottom buns with the lettuce, avocado, and red onion in the middle as True Food Kitchen does. Just put 2 tablespoons hummus on the bottom patty, then veggies in the middle, cover with 2 tablespoons tzatziki sauce, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons crumbled feta, and top with a second patty.