Sunshine Spinach and Citrus Salad

The sun is shining, and it's a beautiful day...in February. So while I'm looking out at the beautiful sunshine, pretending it's a warm, spring day...I'll eat this salad to continue the facade in my mind! Citrus is in abundance in winter, making this a perfect, easy salad to throw together right now. 

The bright flavors are sure to perk up a bleak, winter day!

Sunshine spinach salad

Fresh spinach
Shredded carrot
Orange or clementine slices
Yellow or orange sweet bell pepper, diced
Unsweetened coconut flakes
Raw cashews
Sweet miso dressing

Dressing:
Equal parts white miso, apple cider vinegar and agave or coconut nectar. A spoonful of tahini, a dash of cracked pepper and water to thin to your liking. Whisk all ingredients together and pour over your assembled salad. 

No Bake Super Fudgy Brownies

These super rich, fudgy bars have been a favorite dessert of mine for years. If an energy bite and a devil's food cake had a baby, it would be these no bake brownies. I like to use Almonds or Cashews, but feel free to use any nut you prefer.  They also keep well in the freezer, making them the perfect make ahead treat. 

No Bake Super Fudgy Brownies

2 C. Almonds

2 C. Dates

1/3 C. Raw cacao powder (or regular cocoa powder)

1/3 C. Unsweetened shredded coconut

¼ t. salt

1-2 T. Brown rice syrup - You can sub maple syrup, but I like the way the brown rice syrup holds these together

½ C. creamy peanut butter (or any nut butter you like!)

½ C. Coconut butter (I make my own by processing unsweetened coconut shreds in my food processor until it becomes like buttah. Yum.)

1 ¼ C. Non-dairy chocolate chips or good quality dark chocolate bar, chopped

Line an 8x8 pan or 9" pie plate with wax paper or aluminum foil.

Put the almonds, dates, cacao powder, coconut shreds, brown rice syrup and salt in your food processor and process until everything is chopped and mixed and relatively dough-like. Press mixture into the bottom of your pan.

Melt together the peanut butter, coconut butter and chocolate chips until smooth. Pour over the almond mixture and refrigerate until set. Give it a few hours, at least. Slice and enjoy, or freeze for later!

Simple Curried slaw.

This curry slaw is easy to throw together, packs a powerful flavor punch, and is the perfect topper to a veggie burger, chickpea tacos, or eaten straight out of the bowl with a fork!

{super non-photogenic but delicious slaw}

Sweet and spicy curry slaw

1 12 oz. bag of slaw veggies (I get mine from Trader Joe’s)

⅓ C. Vegan Mayo

1 T. Maple Syrup

1-2 T. Curry powder, depending on how curried or spicy you like your slaw

¼ C. Raisins

¼ C. Sunflower seeds

½ C. Fresh Cilantro, chopped

Juice from ½ a lime

Pinch of salt

Pinch of black pepper

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. It’s ready right away, but I like to let it set for a couple hours to let the curry marry into the mayo a bit and strengthen the flavor.

Easy Skillet Pizza

Two things I keep handy at all times for times when, for whatever strange reason, my dinner plans prove incompatible with real life:

1. Chickpea (Garbanzo Bean) Flour
2. Jarred Tomato sauce  (this organic sauce from Aldi is oil and sugar free- and costs less than $2!)

Did you know you can make a quick and easy gluten free pizza crust with chickpea flour? It's packed with protein and comes together in a snap. I've played around with different flour combinations over the years, and you can certainly use chickpea flour on its own, but I feel like this combination most closesly resembles a true pizza crust and held together quite well. 

Easy Skillet Pizzas

Makes enough for 3- 5" skillets, or one 12" skillet

1/4 C. Chickpea flour

1/4 C. Cornmeal (any size grind is fine, although I prefer a fine or medium grind for this recipe)

1/2 C. Brown rice flour

1 t. Baking powder

1 1/2 t. Salt (My favorite is pink Himalayan salt)

1 C. Water

Olive oil, for skillets

Preheat oven to 375. Pour enough olive oil in each skillet to lightly coat the bottom and halfway up the sides. This will be about 1 t. for the small skillets, or 1 T. for a large skillet. Put the skillets in the oven to heat up while the oven preheats.

 In a medium mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix well.  Add the water and mix again.

Take the skillets out of the oven once preheated and pour your crust batter in. Bake for 12-15 minutes. 

Remove from the oven, top with your favorite pizza toppings, and place back in the oven for 5-7 minutes.

Banana Bread French Toast

Happy Labor Day weekend! We've been working hard to get the most out of our last weekend of summer break, and that included a lot of cooking, baking, and indulging in some special treats. 

This weekend I experimented with carrot puree. I ended up making carrot cake chocolate chip cookies and some carrot banana bread. The banana bread didn't turn out quite how I'd hoped and needs some tweaking, so I won't be sharing a recipe for carrot banana bread quite yet. 

However, what I ended up doing with the sub-par quick bread is definitely worth sharing! 

Cinnamon banana bread french toast with bananas and walnuts.

  Marie Catrib's here in Grand Rapids makes an out-of-this-world vegan french toast with carmelized bananas, peanut butter and cinnamon raisin toast. It's even available guten free. Amazing. 

So, for Vegan Mofo's restaurant meal theme today, I decided to put my own spin on this decadent breakfast treat. 

I slightly modified the french toast batter recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, Vegan with a Vengeance.

Ingredients:

1 loaf of day old banana bread or other quick bread (zucchini or pumpkin loaf would work great here, too!)
1 C. Non-dairy milk
1/4 C. Chickpea flour
2 T. cornstarch
1 t. Vanilla extract
1 t. Cinnamon
Sliced bananas and chopped walnuts, for serving

Directions:

Slice the bread in 1/2" thick slices. In a large, shallow bowl, whisk together the non-dairy milk and cornstarch until well blended. Add the chickpea flour and cinnamon and mix again. 

Preheat a skillet over medium-high heat. Dredge the bread in the batter and place on the skillet for a few minutes, flipping when you have a nice golden-brown coating on the bottom. 

Top with bananas, walnuts, maple syrup, and a dusting of extra cinnamon if you want! 

This french toast was amazing paired with a hot cup of vanilla chai tea. Enjoy!

Do you like tea? What is your favorite? I am a huge chai junkie and as soon as the weather gets a little colder, I'll be able to justify a daily partaking of this pumpkin chai deliciousness!

Vegan Month of Food (Vegan Mofo) 2015

Vegan Month of Food has arrived!  Every year since going to a plant based diet I have silently admired this celebration of vegan culinary pursuits across the web.  Bloggers get together to get the word out on how delicious, colorful and exciting vegan food really is.

This year I'm going to try my hand at participating in Vegan Month of Food! I'll be following along a set list of inspirations for posting different recipes or tidbits of info on the life of a plant based home cook.

If you'd like to follow along with the fun, hop on your favorite social media outlet (IG, twitter, etc...) and search #veganmofo or #vgnmf15 - You'll be sure to find such an abundance of mouth watering vegan meals, your head will explode. 

Today I am sharing what we had for breakfast this morning!  I didn't look at the Vegan Mofo prompt for today until this afternoon, but thankfully I'm constantly taking pictures of our food, and we happened to have a pretty great breakfast today; so it all works out and I'm excited to share it with you! 

This breakfast comes with a handy tip - always cook more grains than you think you need at one time. Whenever I make rice, quinoa, millet, etc...I make extra.  They come in handy for leftovers in countless ways; breakfast being one of them.

Cinnamon Cardamom Quinoa Porridge with fruit
This breakfast will will keep you full all morning, and satisfies your morning sweet tooth without loading up on sugar. The best part? You can use leftover quinoa and have a hot, satisfying breakfast ready in minutes! Perfect for fast paced weekday mornings!

Serves 4

2 C. Quinoa (cooked)
2 t. Cinnamon
1 t. Cardamom
1/4 Maple Syrup
1/2 C. Almond or other non-dairy milk

Fruit and toppings of choice (I like to top ours with homemade granola and hemp seeds for added protein)

Combine the quinoa, cinnamon, cardamom, maple syrup and almond milk in a medium sauce pan and cook on medium heat until warmed through. 

Serve and top with fresh fruit granola, nuts, seeds, cacao nibs...and whatever else your little heart desires! It's that easy!

Soba Noodles in Spicy Curry Peanut Sauce

Happy Monday!

It's a beautiful summer morning here in Michigan, and as I sit here looking out my window at the torrential downpour, (I happen to think rain is beautiful!), sipping on my hemp and beetroot smoothie, I realized that I never posted a recipe that I am absolutely in love with, and I can't believe I haven't shared it yet!


First I'd like to share that I have updated my Fitness page and am going to try to get better at keeping that current each week. This week is a doozy! I have a wedding to go to out of town this week, so I rearranged things so my rest evening would fall the night of the wedding.

 As you will see, I've incorporated Piyo workouts into my weekly schedule. I don't drink Shakeology (I prefer to make my own whole foods protein shakes), but I do really enjoy the Piyo workouts and would recommend them. Check out my schedule and feel free to follow along! Have you started Tone It Up yet? What are you waiting for! 


Alright, without further ado, here is the recipe!

These spicy curry peanut noodles are creamy, comforting, slightly coconut-y and just a smidge spicy. You can control the level of spice you prefer by adding in some of the jalepeno seeds, or leaving them out completely for less kick. It comes together very quickly, and can be doubled for a family portion or halved if you're cooking for one.

(Unfortunately, these noodles were sorely unphotogenic...trust me though, they taste delicious!)

Soba noodles in spicy curry peanut sauce (serves 2)

4 oz Soba noodles (if you are gluten free, make sure you get soba noodles that are pure buckwheat and do not contain wheat)

1 Large carrot, chopped
1/2 Large or 1 small jalepeno, diced, and seeded if you want it less spicy
1/4 C. Lite canned coconut milk. 
1 T. Peanut butter
2 t. Sriracha or hot sauce of choice
2 t. Tamari (gluten free soy sauce)
1 1/2 t. Curry powder
Juice from 1/2 lime
Cilantro to garnish (optional- but recommended!)

Prepare the soba noodles according to package directions, set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine carrot, jalepeno and sauce ingredients. Whisk together and heat on medium heat. Add noodles and stir to combine.

Garnish with cilantro and enjoy!

Cashew Spinach Pesto

I love pesto.  Along with mustard and chocolate, it's up there with my most-craved foods. 

Unfortunately, most pesto served in restaurants or sold pre-made in stores contains Parmesan cheese.  Dairy in my pesto?  No thanks! 

Another downer with pesto is that it traditionally requires pine nuts.  Pine nuts are expensive. 

I really wanted to find a way to satisfy my pesto cravings at home without breaking the bank.

One of our favorite restaurants on the east side of Michigan serves a tofu scramble with a basil cashew pesto.  I'm a sucker for it every time, and have to hold myself back from ordering nothing but a side of pesto and a spoon.

Their pesto inspired me to attempt my own cashew pesto.  I was dealing with a pesto craving a couple of weeks ago and hadn't acquired my basil plant yet, so I gave this a whirl with a spinach/kale blend.  I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome!  You could really use any green here - arugula, mizuna, beet greens - you name it! 

I first enjoyed the pesto tossed with some spiralized zucchini, artichoke hearts, grape tomatoes and Beyond Meat Grilled strips.  It made for a really light, fresh, spring-like meal that also had a decadent feel to it.


Cashew Spinach Pesto

1/2 C. Raw Cashews
2 lightly packed C. greens of choice
1/3 C. Nutritional Yeast flakes
3 Garlic cloves
1 T. Lemon juice
Salt and black pepper to taste

First put the garlic in the food processor to mince.  Then add the cashews, then the rest of the ingredients and process until a smooth-ish paste forms.  My pesto is oil free, so you may need to add a splash or two of water as you go to get the desired consistency.  Taste and season as you go. 

This pesto is great as a sandwich spread, pasta sauce or a crudités dip. 

Give this pesto a try next time you want to try something different on your pasta or veggies!  

Also, if you find yourself in Ann Arbor or Detroit Michigan, get into Seva and try their basil cashew pesto.  Wash it down with Left Foot Charley's Cinnamon Girl cider. Trust me. 

Bowl of the Week - Sweet Chili Tofu and veggie bowl with pineapple and cashews

This week's bowl is a total cheat bowl. It uses sauce from a jar! 

I have enjoyed watching cooking shows as far back as I can remember.  One show I remember falling in love with was "Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee".  On Semi-Homemade, Sandra Lee would make a delicious from-scratch pie filling, and then put it in a pre-made crust.  Or prepare a lovely casserole one night, and then keep the leftovers relevant the following night by using them to stuff a pepper or a mushroom. 

I liked the idea of getting more bang for your effort. I still do. 

So, that's why this cheat-bowl makes me super happy.  Normally, I enjoy making my own sauces, marinades and dressings.  It's important to me to know exactly what is in every element of my food.  Bottled and jarred sauces often have undesirable additives, or far more sugar or sodium than I'd like. 

But, there's just always been something about Trader Joe's Sweet Chili Sauce.  For a special treat, and to make life easy, I use it to dress a stir fry every once in a while. 

All your time and effort for this bowl (which won't be much!) will go into chopping veggies and dry-frying tofu; not meticulously measuring spices and other sauce ingredients. 

Sweet Chili Tofu and veggie bowl with pineapple and cashews

1 lb package of extra firm tofu, pressed for at least a half hour (I put my tofu on a plate, cover it with another plate, and then place something super heavy like a cast iron skillet or full teapot on top.) 
1/2 lb asparagus spears, chopped into 1-2" pieces
1 C. Carrots, chopped into large matchstick shapes
2 C. Broccoli florets
1 medium red onion, roughly chopped
1 C. Fresh pineapple, chopped
1/2 C. Raw cashews
1/2 C. Sweet Chili Sauce
Grain of choice, for serving (optional)

Start by toasting your cashews. Preheat a large skillet (cast iron is best!) over medium heat. Toss the cashews around for a few minutes until they start to golden up and smell awesome. Take them off the skillet and set them aside. 

Now we're going to dry fry tofu.  This is probably my favorite way to enjoy tofu. It gets perfectly browned and crispy, without using any oil!

Cut the tofu block in five slices width-wise, then four slices lengthwise.  You can cut them smaller if you want, after they've been cooked. 

Lay the tofu in a single layer on your preheated skillet.  You want them to sizzle when they hit the pan.  Let them set there for three-four minutes. Sprinkle the tops with salt, and use a wide metal spatula to press the tofu down. Hear that sizzle?  That's the money.  Flip one piece to check for golden-brown perfection, and when they're all nice and toasty, flip them all over and repeat on the other side. 

Take the tofu out and set aside.  Throw your veggies in the skillet with a few tablespoons of water and cook over medium-high heat until they've reached your preferred softness (about7-10 minutes).  Add the pineapple, tofu and chili sauce and toss to cover everything with the sauce. 
Serve over brown rice, rice noodles, quinoa- or as is!  Sprinkle with your toasted cashews and enjoy.

After School Snacks

It never ceases to amaze me how many little stages of life there are, and how much each new phase we enter as a family dramatically alters our routines and processes.

With our oldest in school full time, we've recently entered the school-aged kid phase.

Children, even small, six-year-old ones, come home from school famished from all the learning and socializing they've been busy with all day long. I love being able to offer my son nutritious, whole food snacks when he gets home. 

After school snack time is also the best time to re-cap the day and share the events we missed out on with each other. 

An after school snack needs to be sustaining without being too filling. It also must be appealing to the palate of a child, but not too sugary.

Here are a few of our favorite after school snack options.

Ants on a log - celery with nut or seed butter and raisins or other dried fruit (cranberries, chopped dates or figs are a great option!) and some organic tortilla chips with melted Daiya brand vegan cheese shreds.

Loaded rice cake. There are so many ways to enjoy an unsalted rice cake. This one has homemade oil-free almond butter, unsweetened coconut shreds and raw cacao nibs. Other delicious combos might include coconut butter with pumpkin seeds and a drizzle of honey, or peanut butter and banana slices and chopped

 peanuts. 

You can also take a savory approach and spread on some hummus or mashed avocado and add chopped veggies to make a rice cake monster! My kids think these are hilarious.

Keeping with the monster theme- Slice some grape tomatoes in half, smear on some avocado and add a black olive. Voila! Monster "eye balls".

Sometimes your child may have had a particularly taxing day and need a little extra boost. I like to keep mini-tofu omelettes around. They're from the Isa Does It cookbook and I add pureed spinach. A few of these with some peanut butter, apple slices and minimal-additive or homemade crackers makes a great mini-meal for the afternoon.

 We make a lot of popcorn around here. Air popped popcorn sprinkled with either pink himilayan salt, or cinnamon and stevia goes great with some hot cocoa.

A simple crudite platter is always a good option. Here I have some homemade oil-free hummus, veggies and sprouted lentil flatbreads.

Apple "nachos". Core and slice two apples. Melt some chocolate chips in the microwave. Stick the apple slices in the oven at 400 for 10 minutes or so, just to warm and soften them. Drizzle the chocolate on top and then top with whatever else you like. Mine here have cinnamon, chopped peanuts and unsweetened coconut shreds. Serves two.

If you've been in a snack slump, I hope these have given you some inspiration! 

What are some of your favorite after school snacks?

Buffalo Chickpea Burgers

Over the years, we've had some pretty "blah" veggie burgers. Meaning, I've made some pretty "blah" veggie burgers. Somewhere along the line, though, I figured out what I was doing wrong, and it was so simple, it almost hurt to discover. Seasoning! 

Um, yeah.

Beans and grains are amazing. They are a massive portion of our diet; but they need some help. Garlic, cayenne, onion and pink Himalayan salt are combined with the ever-popular buffalo sauce to take chickpeas and quinoa somewhere even they never thought they could go. 

If your life is anything like mine, you get the kids home from school, and the rest is a blur until dinner time. I don't ever seem to know where those two hours go. They're filled with after school snacks, homework, cleaning rooms, wrestling matches, sorting through the day's school papers, etc....

It gets a little chaotic.

Veggie patties can be made ahead of time and will patiently wait in the fridge until you're ready to cook them. Just stick them in the oven with some sliced potatoes 30 minutes before you want to eat, and somewhere in the middle of the third wrestling match and the second pile of school work, the oven timer will give you a much welcome reprieve from the late afternoon chaos. 

I guarantee you're going to love these buffalo burgers. 

Buffalo Chickpea Burgers with Spicy Aoili 

1.5 C. Cooked Chickpeas (or 1 can, drained and rinsed)
1/2 C. Cooked Quinoa
2 Carrots, diced
2 Celery stalks, diced
1/2 Medium onion, diced
3/4 t. Cayenne powder
1 t. Salt
1 t. Onion powder
1 t. Garlic powder
1/3 C. Buffalo sauce (I used Frank's Original)
1/4 C. Oat flour, chickpea flour OR flax meal
1 Chia or flax "egg" - 1 T. ground flax or chia seeds mixed with 3 T. water and allowed to set for 5 min.

Spicy Aoili
1/3 C. Vegan mayonaise, such as Veganaise or Just Mayo
2 T. Buffalo sauce
1/2 t. Smoked Paprika
1/2 t. Garlic Powder
Water to thin, as needed

Preheat oven to 400, (unless you plan on making the patties ahead of time and cooking later). 

Pour a splash of water in a large skillet or frying pan and saute the carrots, celery and onion over medium-high heat until soft. Stir in cayenne, salt, onion powder and garlic powder and cook another 30 seconds to a minute. Remove from heat.

Put chickpeas and quinoa in the bowl of a food processor and add veggie/spice mix. Pulse unil incorporated, pour in buffalo sauce, oat flour and egg replacer. Process until well mixed. 

Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 15 minutes. Carefully flip and cook another 10 minutes. Turn on the broiler in your oven and broil for 5 minutes or so, until nicely browned.

While burgers are cooking, simply mix your aoili ingredients together. Adjust spices to your personal preference.

We're not big bun people here, so we enjoy these on romain leaves, or Ezekiel toast, or in a salad. Or on a plate, with a fork. Or without a fork.  Whatever. 

Leftovers will come in very handy throughout the week, so consider making a double batch and saving some for later! 

Millet Pizza Crust

I think this is the first pizza crust recipe, self developed or otherwise, that I've made multiple times. Usually gluten-free pizza crusts fall very short for me; even after years of having my expectations being lowered from many a lackluster pizza. 

My favorite pizza option is still a large portobella cap as the "crust", or a cauliflower crust warm from the dehydrator.  However, sometimes I crave pizza on a more traditional level, and this millet crust fills that void for me without a lot of fuss.

Millet and Brown Rice Pizza Crust

1 C. Millet flour (I made my own by grinding millet in my Vitamix)

1 C. Brown rice flour

1/2 C. Cornstarch or potato starch

1 t.  Salt

1 .25 oz Package of rapid rise yeast 

1 1/4 C. Warm water

2 flax eggs (2 T. ground flax mixed with 6 T. warm water, let set for 5 minutes)

Mix all dry ingredients first. Add warm water and mix. Add flax eggs and mix again. Cover and let rise 10-15 minutes. Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes. 

Roll out onto lightly greased or parchment covered baking sheet, or seasoned pizza stone. 

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Cover with sauce and desired toppings, bake for another 15 minutes or until crust edges turn golden. Top with vegan parm, white balsamic vinegar, and enjoy fully. 

Bowl of the Week - Tofu Garden scramble

Tofu. When you think about a vegetarian diet, tofu probably pops into your mind fairly quickly.

I really love tofu, and sometimes feel like coming to its defense.  Unfortunately, tofu gets a bad rap because - drum roll - it's bland!  Yes, it is completely tasteless on its own.  In my defense of tofu, I will not try to tell you that it "tastes great!" because, in fact, it tastes like nothing.

But that is why I love it!  It's a clean canvas for your herbs and spices and marinades.  Far too often, tofu is prepared poorly and without pizazz, leaving its consumer underwhelmed and disappointed; thus tarnishing said consumer's taste for tofu forever.  It's a sad, sad state of affairs, my friends.

On the other hand, tofu is not the backbone of a meatless diet.  It can be tempting to eat it every day - marinated and baked, stir fried, scrambled, pureed into soup or smoothies...

However, tofu is a highly processed form of soy, and not the most nutrient dense. We focus on using vegetables and whole grains as the foundation of our diet. 

I love incorporating tofu into our diet approximately once a week, and this scramble is a favorite around here.

In this week's "Bowl of the Week", I'm sharing a garden scramble made with tofu and loaded with fresh veggies. The vegetables in this dish are completely interchangeable and the sky is the limit. Just think of your favorite omelet veggie combos and use those, or try something new! It's all good here.

Tofu Garden Scramble

1 lb Extra firm organic tofu
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. Dried Thyme
1 t. Smoked paprika
1/2 t. Turmeric
2 t. Ground cumin
1 t. Salt, or to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
2-3 Cups of fresh chopped veggies. For this garden scramble, I like to use mini bella mushrooms, zucchini, bell pepper, and tomatoes
3 C. Fresh greens of choice (kale, spinach, chard...)
3 T. Nutritional Yeast (What the heck is that?!)
2 T. Lemon juice

Start by heating a few tablespoons of water in a large skillet over medium high heat.  When the water is hot, add onion and cook until soft. Add garlic and stir, then add thyme, paprika, turmeric, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until fragrant. 

Crumble the tofu into the pan with onion-spice mixture. Stir to cover tofu with spices. Add all veggies except greens to the pan. Turn heat down to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes. 

After the 15 minutes and when your veggies have softened a bit, add nutritional yeast, lemon juice and greens. Cook until greens have just wilted. Check your seasoning level and add salt and pepper if you want.

Serve with garnish of your choice. I love a few grape tomatoes and avocado on top, and a drizzle of hot sauce. This bowl makes a great weekend brunch, or dinner! Or make a double batch on the weekend and throw half in the fridge for a weekday breakfast treat.

Roasted Beet and Apple Chickpea Kale bowl with Honey Dijon sauce

Bowl of the Week!

This week's bowl has a complex flavor profile, but is not complex to put together. You could have a hearty, delicious bowl of food on the table in 30 minutes flat. Also, those roasted veggies and chickpeas are going to make your house smell ah-mazing.

The real star here, in my opinion are the maple roasted chickpeas. These babies are delicious, and so versatile. They make great crouton substitutes for salads, and I often find myself snacking on leftovers straight out of the fridge.

If you've never worked with beetroot before, I feel I must warn you...these guys can be messy! Everything they touch will aquire a reddish-purple stained hue. It will come off your skin....eventually. Beets are crazy delicious and incredibly nutrient dense, so I put up with this somewhat annoying attribute.

Roasted Beet and Apple Chickpea Kale bowl with Honey Dijon sauce

3 Beets, peeled and diced
2 Small- medium apples, cored and diced
1 T. Balsamic vinegar
Dash of salt
Maple roasted Chickpeas
1 Bunch Kale
1- 2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 C. Uncooked Millet
Dijon honey mustard sauce
Chopped walnuts (optional)

Maple roasted Chickpeas 
1.5 Cups cooked or 1 can Chickpeas
1/4 C  Maple syrup
2 T. Tamari, liquid aminos or soy sauce
2 T. Apple cider vinegar
2 t. Liquid smoke (optional)

Dijon honey mustard sauce
1/4 C. Raw local honey
1/4 Dijon mustard
Dash of salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 400. 

Toss the apples and beets together with balsamic and a dash of salt, set aside. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together maple roasted chickpea ingredients (all except chickpeas). Pour chickpeas in an another shallow baking dish and pour maple mixture over, carefully stir to coat chickpeas. 

Bake apples, beets and chickpeas for 20 minutes, until beets have softened and the liquid in the chickpeas is mostly gone.

While those are baking, prepare your millet, kale and honey mustard sauce. 

Prepare millet according to package directions - I use a 1-1 grain-water ratio. 

Remove the kale leaves fromt the stems and chop leaves roughly to 2-3" pieces.  In a large skillet, heat 1 T. water and add garlic cloves, cook over medium heat until garlic is fragrant, then add kale. Cook over medium heat until kale is wilted. 

In a small bowl, whisk together honey mustard ingredients and set aside. 

When ready to serve, place in your bowl a serving of millet, cover with kale, add beets and apples, then chickpeas. Drizzle with honey mustard sauce and sprinkle with walnuts, if using. Voila! 

Easy and Delicious "Meatless" Balls!

Little balls of protein packed goodness. These are just so great.

When I cook up some lentils for any recipe, I cook a couple of extra cups so I have an excuse to make "meatless" lentil balls. 

The key ingredient here is fennel. Do not leave out, substitute, or skimp on the fennel. You can use ground fennel, but I like to chop the seeds as I find it rather therapeutic. Little fennel seed shards flying everywhere while you chop away with your chef's knife. That's the stuff...

Anyway, in addition to being super easy to make, I love lentil balls because you can make them ahead of time and keep them in the fridge for spaghetti night. 

Tonight was spaghetti night here.  We took the boys sledding after school and needed a hot, quick and hearty meal when we got home. 

Easy and Delicious "Meatless" Balls

2 C. Cooked brown or green lentils
1/2 C. Rolled oats
1 T. Tahini, sunbutter or almond butter
2 Chia or flax eggs (2 T. of ground chia or flax mixed with 6 T. water)
2 t. Chopped fennel seeds or ground fennel
1 t. Garlic powder
1 t. Onion powder
1 1/4 t. Salt
1 t. Thyme, crushed between your fingers

Preheat your oven to 375 and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Put lentils in your food processor and pulse about 10 times to break them up and start making a lentil paste. Add all additional ingredients and pulse again, about 20 times or until everything is incorporated and it becames dough like. 

Use your hands to roll 1" balls. You should get about 28 balls. 
Bake for 15 minutes. Flip the balls and cook an additional 10-15 minutes. 

Usually these just get added to some pasta. This time, however, I gave myself a little throwback to my meatball sub-obsessed days. I wrapped these babies up in a monstrous swiss chard leaf with the tomato sauce and was immediately transported back to 5th grade. It was weird. And super good. Also weird. But mostly good, so I'm most likely doing that again. 

If you're looking to spice up and bulk up spaghetti night, make these lentil meatless balls! 

I also really love making my own tomato sauce; but in this case I wanted something quick and easy that I could just heat up. If you are looking for a good jarred tomato sauce, I have been very impressed with Aldi's Simpy Nature brand Organic Tomato Basil. This stuff is oil free, has less than half the sugar of most jarred pastas, tastes great, and is only $1.99 a jar! 

Happy Spaghetti night!

The Bowl of the Week! Quinoa, Chickpea bowl with Spinach and Smoky Maple Tempeh

Our most frequent meal here would best be described as simply a "bowl".  I love experimenting with different vegetables, proteins, and flavor profiles.  A bowl also makes an awesome burrito filling, nacho or baked potato topping.

You can plan on seeing a featured "Bowl of the Week".

Bowls are an easy way to incorporate a variety of vegetables and nutrient-dense whole foods into your diet. You can easily make a large batch on Sunday to enjoy throughout the week, allowing you to enjoy a healthful meal that will fuel you through your busy schedule when you're in a hurry. 

Say goodbye to fast food and TV dinners! 

Today I'm sharing a low-fat, yet filling bowl that has simple flavors and tons of protein.

 Quinoa and Chickpea bowl with Spinach and Smoky Maple Tempeh (Serves 4)

3 C. Cooked quinoa
3 C. Cooked or 1 1/2 Cans (drained and rinsed) of chickpeas
1 Recipe of Smoky Maple Tempeh
1 medium red onion, sliced thinly
2 T. Fresh lemon juice
2 Garlic cloves, minced (You can just use one clove if you prefer, I like things garlicky!
Lemon Tahini Sauce (optional)
Several heaping cups of fresh spinach
Salt to taste

Lemon Tahini Sauce - taken from Forks Over Knives
This delicious dressing is super easy to throw together and will really bring the flavor profile of your bowl up a tier or two. Feel free to omit if you don't have tahini, but I highly recommend it! 

1/4 Tahini
2 T. Fresh lemon juice
2 Garlic cloves
2 T. Water (or more, to thin to your liking)

Start by heating a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon of water and your onion. Cook until the onion begins to soften, then add the garlic and cook for an additional two minutes. Add lemon juice, 1/2 t. salt, quinoa, and chickpeas and mix to incorporate. Then throw in your spinach and tempeh bites. Taste for salt and continue to cook until spinach has wilted and everything is warmed through. 

Drizzle with lemon tahini sauce, if using, and serve hot!