Kale Lentil Rice Bowl

I have discovered that I am not a master chef who enjoys creating masterpieces. I do however love to cook myself yummy, healthy food. I'm coming to the conclusion that since I will never be an amazing recipe blogger, this section will serve more as a template to view how I think about ingredients and food preparation for the meals that I eat. Pretty much all of these recipes can be modified to suit personal taste buds. They are merely templates. This is no exception.

Bowls are a pretty big rage these days. Which is funny because it's basically about presentation. Whether in a bowl or on a plate, the basic concepts of combining a grain, vegetable, protein and healthy fat is fantastic. Here's one of mine.

Ingredients

1/2 cup Black Rice

1/2 bunch of Kale

1/4 cup Lentils

1/4 cup frozen Corn

1/2 Avocado

Salt, Pepper

Directions

Prepare rice as directed. Personally, I like using a dash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil with my rice.

While rice is cooking, cook lentils as directed.

When rice is half done, de-stem kale leaves and steam them.

When lentils are about done, toss in frozen corn to cook for the final few minutes.

When everything is cooked (hopefully ending approximately the same time): toss rice, lentils, corn, and kale together. Salt and Pepper to taste. Top with sliced avocado. Voilà!!

Southwest Salad

As I am back in the Southwest, I suppose this is as good of a time as any to introduce to you one of my go-to salads.  It's very easy to make.  The biggest prep is the beans. If you go the dried beans route like I do, they will require pre-soaking and a fair amount of cooking time. Personally, I prefer the quick-soak method where I bring the beans to a boil for a few minutes. Then I turn off the heat and allow the beans to soak. At least an hour later, dump the water and cook the beans with fresh water.

It should be noted that this salad can be made using different ingredients. If you want, try substituting different beans, different lettuce, whichever cheese you prefer or a different dried fruit. I also can't really give precise amounts because I always eye ball it and you can make as large or small a salad as you'd like.

Ingredients

• Butter Lettuce
• Soft cheese of choice (shredded or cut into thin strips)
• Black beans
• Frozen corn
• Goji berries

*Before you want to eat: Be sure to pre-soak and cook your beans.*

Wash and rip your lettuce leaves into bite sized pieces. Sprinkle shredded cheese or place the thin strips of cheese on top of lettuce.

Either finish cooking beans or reheat precooked beans. Add frozen corn and cook for an additional few minutes. While piping hot, use a slotted spoon to put the bean-corn mixture on top of the cheese on the lettuce.  This will melt the cheese and give the salad excellent flavor.

Allow the beans and corn to cool for a few minutes and then top with goji berries.

Easy Oven Chicken

This is a super simple Baked Teriyaki Chicken recipe that it very easy to make in large batches. If you are attempting to make large batches of food to have for multiple meals, this a great chicken option. Just double or triple the ingredients below.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp soy sauce (preferably use coconut aminos or liquid aminos as a soy sauce substitute)
• 1 ½ Tbsp honey
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 4 skinless chicken thighs
• Sesame seeds

Directions

1. Set oven to Broil on High. 
2. Mix soy sauce, honey and tomato paste in a bowl.
3. Coat chicken on all sides with sauce mixture. 
4. Place chicken in oven broiler.  Cook until well browned, about 10 minutes under the broiler. 
5. Flip chicken and brown second side until cooked through, about 4 minutes under broiler.
6. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

*This recipe can also be made on the grill for summer time grilling! The chicken will cook faster on the grill.*

Sweet Potato Chips

Here is another deliciously simple recipe!

For fans of sweet potato fries: I bring you Sweet Potato Chips!

(Essentially, I find chopping sweet potatoes into thin chips way easier than cutting them into nice looking fries.)

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Ingredients

• Sweet Potatoes
• Coconut Oil
• Sea Salt
• optional: other spices

Directions

(You can make as large or small of a batch of chips as you like)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F
2. Wash the sweet potatoes first and slice off any weird spots or points.
3. Slice the potatoes into very thin chips.  
4. Lay the chips out on a rimmed cookie sheet. -If you are making a large batch, you may need two cookie sheets because the chips won't get as crispy if you pile them up too high on top of each other.
5. Melt coconut oil and brush both sides of the chips with a light coat of oil.
6. Sprinkle sea salt over top of the chips (+ any other spices of choice)
7. Bake at 400°F for approximately 30 minutes.  (can be longer or shorter depending on desired crispiness, size of batch and how thin the chips were sliced.)

Roasted Cabbage

So simple.  So delicious.

All you do is chop up cabbage, brush it with coconut oil and top with sea salt and pepper.  Voilà! A simple vegetable side dish.  

As a plus, for those on a budget, cabbage happens to be one of the most affordable vegetables available. 

Ingredients

• 1 small cabbage or 1/2 of a large cabbage
• 2+ Tablespoons of melted coconut oil
• Sea salt and pepper

Remove the cabbage's core and chop cabbage into large pieces.  Place cabbage pieces on a rimmed cookie sheet.  Brush the cabbage with melted coconut oil.  Top with sea salt and pepper.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-40 minutes depending on desired crispiness.  Eat up!

Awesome Raw, Vegan Nut Burger

Inspired by the deliciousness that is The Nut Burger at Follow Your Heart located in Canoga Park, CA.  If you are in the Los Angeles area- go to Follow Your Heart and get The Nut Burger.  

If you can't make it to FYH, you can make a homemade version.  You can use any type of nuts and seeds that you prefer, but personally I think the tahini and coconut aminos are required.  I recommend using at least 2 different types of raw nuts/seeds for best flavor.  I use 2-4 different types of nuts/seeds at a time.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of presoaked mixed raw nuts and seeds (ex. almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds)
• 2 Tablespoons of tahini
• 2 teaspoons of coconut aminos

Process the presoaked nuts in a blender or food processor first until they are in small pieces.  Add the tahini and coconut aminos.  Process again until a chunky paste forms.

That is your "burger patty meat."

Then top with avocado and sprouts.

You can make a burger, an open faced version on one piece of toast, or cute hor d'oeuvres on crackers as shown in the picture.  Depending on your bread/cracker choice, they can be gluten-free and/or raw.

Enjoy!

Colorful Bean Hot Salad

This is another makeshift recipe which can be modified with different vegetables and beans to suit individual taste.  This is not a traditional salad as it is sautéed, but I think it looks like a 'Hot Salad' so that is what I am calling it.  Hooray for eating lots of colors!

Ingredients

Serves 1

• 2 leaves of Swiss Chard chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped Onion
• 1/4 Portabello Mushroom
• 1/4 cup Yellow Squash
• 3/4 cup Cannellini Beans (soaked and cooked)
• 1/2 an Avocado sliced
• 1 T coconut oil
• pinch of Sea Salt

In a skillet, sauté the onion, squash and Swiss chard stems in coconut oil for a few minutes.  Add in the mushrooms and beans, along with a pinch of sea salt, and sauté for a couple minutes.  Add in the swiss chard leaves and sauté until they are wilted.  Salt to taste.  Serve topped with slices of avocado.  Enjoy!

Vegetarian Soup-Stew

I call this a "soup-stew" because it has the the thickness and heartiness somewhere in between a soup and a full-on stew.  This is one of my favorite soups.

I invented this soup out of what I had available in my pantry when I needed to make a vegetarian-friendly meal.  It was a big hit, but it can absolutely be modified to suit personal tastes. The measurements are all approximate and can be adjusted.

Ingredients

• 1 cup mushrooms chopped
• 1 whole onions chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 zucchini chopped
• 1 yellow squash chopped
• 1 large jar of diced tomatoes (jar rather than in a can preferred)
• 1 1/2 cups barley
• 3 cups chick peas (soaked)
• 4+ quarts of vegetable stock (or saved steamer liquid)
• 3 T butter
• Salt and Pepper

In the bottom of a large soup pot, sauté the onions in 2 T of butter until starting to brown.  Add the mushrooms, garlic, a pinch of salt and another T of butter and sauté until the onions have caramelized.  Add the vegetable stock, jar of tomatoes with juice, chick peas and barley. Bring to a boil and simmer for approximately 20-30 minutes.  Add the zucchini, another pinch of salt and some pepper.  Allow to simmer until everything appears cooked through (approximately 20 minutes). Taste, and add salt as needed.

Vegetable Steam-Sauté

This is my favorite way to make an awesome, nutrient dense, vegetable side dish.  You can use any vegetables that you want.  I typically include onions, garlic, some denser veggies (beets, squash, carrots etc), mushrooms and a green.  But this method can be used for any combination that suits your fancy.

The important part here is the process, not the actual ingredients. I recommend chopping all of your vegetables first.  Or at least chopping the vegetables that will need to go into the pan early.  Also, if using garlic, chop that immediately so that it has time to sit for 10 minutes.  This allows the the allinase and the alliin to react with one another and convert to the active allicin.  Allicin is the active ingredient in garlic responsible for its antibacterial, lipid-lowering, anti-oxidant properties.  Unfortunately, allicin is not present in fresh garlic, it must be crushed in order to cause the reaction.  You want to make sure this reaction has a chance to take place before it is cooked, or the heat will destroy this process.

Choose a large skillet with an accompanying lid.

Choose an oil that can take high heat, such as coconut oil, avocado oil, or ghee.

Have a quality sea salt on hand. 

Add approximately 1 T oil to the pan and heat on med-low.

If using onions, they will go in first and sauté until golden.

Then add the heavier, longer cooking vegetables (chopped), a large pinch of sea salt, and enough water to barely coat the bottom of the skillet.  Put the lid on, and allow the vegetables to "steam" for 5 minutes, or until mostly cooked through.

Prepare the next round of vegetables that will go in- shorter cooking vegetables such as mushrooms and garlic.  

After the vegetables are done steaming, remove the lid.  Add the next round of vegetables and another pinch of salt.  The water will evaporate and we will once again be sautéing the vegetables.  When all the vegetables are mostly done, add in the final batch of short cooking vegetables- probably greens.

Sauté for a few minutes until done, taste and salt as needed.

Option: if you want to give your steam-sauté a flair you can add additional sauces.  For example, I sometimes like to add coconut aminos for an asian flare. (Coconut aminos are a great substitute for soy sauce.)  Get creative and have fun.  This is a great way to cook almost any vegetable you may have at home!

Coconut Curry Butternut Squash Soup

This is a great, warming, butternut squash soup for cold weather with a coconut-curry spin.

Ingredients

• 1 large butternut squash
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion chopped
• 1 large apple peeled and chopped
• 1 14 ounce can of coconut milk
• 2 cups vegetable broth (or saved steamed vegetable liquid!)
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 2 tsp ginger powder (or fresh grated)
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• salt and pepper
• cinnamon

1.  Bake the squash.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice the squash into 1/2 - 1 inch thick pieces.  (The thinner the slices, the less bake time.)  Wrap the slices up tightly in a giant piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet.  Bake for 30-50 minutes depending on the size of the slices. You want to be able to easily remove the skin.  Peel squash and set aside.

2.  Saute Onions. In the bottom of a big soup pot, saute the onions over med-low heat until they golden.

3.  Add. Add the apple, squash, broth and spices.  Simmer until the apples are tender, about 10-15 minutes.

4.  Process. Transfer the solids to a food processor and blend until smooth, then transfer back to pot.  (Or use an immersion blender inside of the pot if you have one.)

5.  Finish. Add the can of coconut milk and simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add cinnamon to taste if you so desire.  Lastly, you can serve with a dollop of greek yogurt (or non-dairy yogurt).  Enjoy!
 

Recipe modified from A Thanksgiving Feast, No Turkey's Allowed published in The New York Times November 1, 2011.