blended winter veggie soup

i know its a mouthful, but these winter veggies blend together to make a beautifully creamy mixture that is slightly sweet and spicy.  i have made many soups like this one before, like the carrot garlic soup i made a few years back or the spicy carrot apple ginger soup that i made when i first started the blog, but i had never stumbled upon this mixture before a few weeks back.  the ingredients found each one weekend when i wanted to make a strong... Read More

whole lemon and ginger tea with honey

between the farmers market and chinese medical school, i get a lot of different recipes relayed to me in short little snippets – usually no more than 15 words or so.  off the top of my head i think of the sweet pickled carrots and daikon or the okra and miso marinara, both of which the farmer i work for told me about.  but there are many, many more that have found their way into my diet. this recipe is one someone at my school gave me on... Read More

parsnip muffins and blood orange mimosas

i rarely follow recipes word for word.  i’ve been toying around with the proportions in this whole wheat apple muffin recipe from smitten kitchen, but with everything except apples.  i tried them with blueberries, pear – and now – shredded parsnip, which i got the idea for from the very gingery parsnip cupcake at four cafe.  i bulked up these muffins with some extra ground flax seed, as well as fresh and ground ginger. i made... Read More

maple cookies with marmalade glaze

my kitchen activities have been adapting to the cold and windy days lately.  i’ve been making weekly pots of stew, roasting nearly every veggie, sprinkling cinnamon and maple syrup in most dishes i make and preserving the glut of citrus i’ve happened upon in the form of marmalades and candied peels.  it takes a bit more time, but when it’s dark and cold outside i don’t mind snuggling up to my nice warm stove, eagerly awaiting... Read More

bbq lentil and baked sweet potato soup

soup is hands down my favorite food, so i’m always coming up with new ways to brew up a pot of something tasty.  i used to be big on puréed soups, but lately – perhaps out of sheer laziness – i tend to prefer something chunkier.  whenever i get a chance i bake a few sweet potatoes and set them aside for later.  when they cool they are easy to peel and toss the chunks into a hardy stew. paired with lentils and subtle hints of... Read More

chocolate chip gingerbread cupcakes with cardamom infused frosting

this recipe started as a far cry from what it ended up as.  it began with a gingerbread persimmon upside-down cake that was a true disaster.  all the persimmons stuck to the pan, the cake wasn’t sweet or moist enough, and most of all it had no chocolate.  but 4 or 5 tries later and the result is an amazingly fluffy and moist squad of cupcakes with little chocolate chips tucked inside of them. to top them off is a recipe i’ve been playing... Read More

the natural goodness of ginger

ginger has been used for thousands of years in chinese medicine to treat stomach disorders like persistent nausea, motion sickness, morning sickness, loss of appetite or anorexia.  but it also treats mild lung disorders, like upper respiratory tract infections, bronchitis or a simple cold and cough.  it reduces toxicity which means it is anti-bacterial, and explains why ginger is always served with sushi – to battle the bacteria in the raw... Read More

orange ginger tofu – and a few words on soy

there’s an email that has been sitting in my inbox for a few weeks now, and i think it’s time i finally address it.  new reader, paula, appreciated my story and how i gradually found that healthier choices in my diet improved my quality of life.  because of this she felt she had to share with me a little information on the dangers of soy. it’s true, in the past year or so it has become overwhelmingly apparent that soy,  which... Read More

christmas cookies: ginger snaps

we are in the holiday home stretch!  and while christmas baking it truly meant for, well, christmas, it can be liberally extended to new year’s day ( just like keeping your tree up).  so get all of those purely-decadent-and-much-too-sweet-for-the-rest-of-the-year recipes in now while you still can! here at sweet beet & green bean i’ve been celebrating with a whole month of vegan christmas cookies, including russian tea cakes, thumbprint... Read More

peanut tofu stir fry

tofu is a wonder food for vegans and vegetarians alike.  it often gets a bad rap for being bland or tasteless, a misconception perpetuated by restaurants that serve up soggy, flavorless blocks that just makes my taste buds sad.  if you marinade tofu correctly and cook it in just the right way, it can be super tasty.  toss a few fresh veggies in and you’ve got yourself quite a meal. Read More  Read More