Superfood Salad (and bonus skin treatment!)

Hi there folks! Long time no see. I've been busy with the holidays and FINISHING COLLEGE (yay!) and am now applying for jobs, so forgive my lack of posts lately. But now that I'm back, I'm excited to bring some new changes to the blog and start writing about more than just food!

I've actually been on a new, pretty strict eating plan as of late, so that's another reason there haven't been any new recipes lately.

But here's one I haven't shared yet, and it's one of my absolute favorites. This salad is a great meal to make on the weekend and eat for lunch all week. As a bonus, you can actually give yourself a little natural skin treatment after you make it! Cooking and a relaxing spa treatment, sounds like a perfect weekend, no?

Superfood salad with quinoa, kale, avocado, and more goodness

Serves 4-ish

Ingredients

For the salad:

• 1 cup dry quinoa (rinsed and drained)
• 1⁄2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 avocado, pitted and diced
• 1 bunch kale, de-stemmed and chopped
• 1⁄2 cucumber, sliced
• 1⁄4 red onion, sliced

For the dressing:

• 1⁄4 cup lemon juice
• 1⁄4 cup olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste

Note: The diet I'm on is very restrictive on oil and salt. Today I would blend the avocado right into the dressing instead of the olive oil, and use a salt-free lemon pepper seasoning instead of the salt and pepper. In case you want to up the health quotient on this even more!

Method

1. Cook the rinsed quinoa in 1.5 cups water, over low heat in a pot or rice cooker for about 15 minutes, or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Set aside to cool, chill in fridge. (Quinoa can be prepared up to a day in advance)
2. Chop tomatoes, avocado, onions, cucumbers, and rinse black beans and combine in a medium bowl. De-stem and chop kale and place in a large bowl.
3. Mix lemon juice, oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Pour dressing over the kale and “massage” for a few minutes. This helps improve the texture and flavor of kale.
4. Mix all ingredients into the dressing and kale mixture.

Makes about 4 servings as a main dish, 6 as a side. Will last 5-7 days in the refrigerator.

Optional: Skin Treatment

Some of the ingredients used in this salad can be used as skin treatments after you finish making the salad! 

• Scrape the skin of the avocado and rub the extra into any dry skin as an intense moisturizer. 
• Leave on for a few minutes and set some cucumber slices on your eyes.
• After a few minutes, wash off the avocado with a warm wash cloth.
• You can use any leftover lemons/lemon juice as a toner.

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Thanksgiving Reflections, 2014 Edition

Thanksgiving 2014 was another great one, and I'm still feeling the glow days later. My parents came up for the second year in a row, and we shared a plant-based Thanksgiving feast that I have been planning for weeks.

I shared my menu a few weeks ago, and there were only a few changes since then. In the end it was all vegan, gluten-free (except the rolls), and refined-sugar free (stevia and maple syrup in the pie). Here's how it all turned out:

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Autumn Kale Salad

Fall is my favorite produce season - I love picking up persimmons and pomegranates at the farmer's market. This year my Thanksgiving salad mixes those flavors with other autumn staples like pumpkin seeds and cranberries. The result is a tender, crunchy, sweet and savory salad that will give you plenty to be grateful for.

Kale salad with quinoa, persimmons, pumpkin seeds, cranberries, and a pomegranate vinaigrette

Serves 4-ish

Ingredients

For the salad:
(I didn't measure this part. These are approximate amounts and don't need to be exact, so adjust to your preference and what you have on hand)

• 1 large bunch kale, stems removed and torn into pieces (or a prepared bag - but lose those pesky stems)
• 1/2 small shallot, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup pepitas, lightly toasted
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1 ripe fuyu persimmon, peeled and sliced into half-moons
• 1/2 cup cooked quinoa
• Pomegranate seeds (optional, but probably perfect)

For the dressing:
(There will be extra, so you can be generous with the dressing, make more salad, or half the ingredients for the dressing if you want to keep it light)

• 1/4 cup 100% pomegranate juice (juice it yourself or buy it - but make sure it is 100% pomegranate juice with no added juices or sugars)
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Put kale into large bowl
2. Whisk together salad dressing ingredients and pour a small amount into the kale (use your own judgement/preference here, but enough to moisten all of the leaves).
3. "Massage" the dressing into the kale until it is tender and just wilted. You may want to wear gloves or plastic bags over your hands for this.
4. Add the remaining salad ingredients and toss, adding more dressing if desired (or serve it on the side).

And there you have it. Happy Thanksgiving!

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Cheesy Vegetable Kale Chips

Those delicious cheesy kale chips you can buy at the store are delicious and oh-so-healthy, but at about $5 a bag they are quite an investment. This is a pretty easy batch you can whip up for about half the price, yielding about 3-5 times as many chips. SCORE!

(If you want a simpler, faster roasted kale recipe without all of the cheesiness, I gotcha covered too)

This recipe is super fleixble. You can make them in the oven or dehydrator, using a blender or food processor, and you can even mix up the ingredients if you want. Swap lime juice for the lemon and squirt in some sriracha sauce. Use sun dried tomatoes instead of a carrot. Go nuts and be creative and enjoy the magical disappearing act that follows (read: these taste great and you will eat them quickly).

Onward to the recipe!

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Hollylujah! Onion Rings

There's a burger spot in our neighborhood with vegan options, and my boyfriend and I like to go there after an active day, or when we're simply feeling indulgent. I love their vegan and portobello burgers, but their onion rings are the BEST, and probably the reason we go about once a month. They're beer-battered and deep fried and probably not even vegan though, so I've been jonesing to come up with a healthier alternative to make at home.

The idea to make them with almonds was always there, in order to lower the carbs and make the fats healthier. But I started off a bit over-zealous, planning to make the almond milk at home and dehydrate the leftover almond crumbles to turn into almond flour and a crunchy coating. This is exactly what I did, but it took forever, so next time I will probably simplify a bit. :) In fact, I have come up with a simple method, so I will share all of your options in this post, depending on where you fall on the zealous-ometer.

Note: I will continue to tweak this recipe and add more photos and an instructional video. But if you can't wait, give it a go!

On to the recipe...

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Healthy Pad Thai? YES.

Hello hello! I am back from a wonderful visit in Los Angeles with friends and family. I was anxious to get back to cooking, so I stopped at the store on my way back into town and stocked up on a bunch of fresh ingredients to fill my week with new recipes. Among them was a spaghetti squash and some powdered low-fat peanut butter, both of which were calling me the next day when I was craving pad thai.

Pad thai is delicious, but never really considered healthy, so I was on a mission to reduce the guilt of this incredible dish as much as possible. Using baked spaghetti squash instead of rice noodles cuts the carbs down by about 30g per serving, and by using powdered peanut butter, the fat is reduced by 85%.

Here's a nutritional comparison for this recipe vs the same exact one prepared with regular peanut butter and rice noodles:

This recipe: 135 calories, 3g fat, 21.1g carbs (full nutrition facts at the end of this post)
Traditional: 430 calories, 16.7g fat, 55.9 carbs

The numbers don't lie. Onward to the recipe!

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Marinated Portobello Burgers Recipe

My adventures in creating recipes from farmer's market finds continue...

There was a mushroom stand on Sunday with baskets of various mushroom varieties, all marked at $5 a basket. There was only one portobello basket left, and it was mine. I knew right away that they would become burgers, so all that was left was to decide on a marinade. Here's what I came up with...

Why I put the lettuce on the bottom, I'll never know.

Onward to the recipe!

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Zucchini Pasta with Walnut Pesto (low-carb and low-calorie)

I had a pretty great Sunday. It started with my first-ever Zumba class and swimming with my good friend Nena (whose awesome Tech blog you can find here, btw). Afterward, there happened to be a farmer's market in the parking lot, so we got some cash and went produce hunting. I scored on a lot of goodies that will be sure to inspire many new recipes this week. Here's my loot:

GET IN MAH BELLY

Inspired by the unhealthy hummus we found there, we went back to my house and made the hummus that I posted yesterday, and then I started to think about what else I could make this week. I got some extra long zucchini that would make great noodles, and so much basil would have to become pesto. So yesterday afternoon I got to work, determined to make a delicious new pasta dish that would be as healthy as possible.

If you've never made zucchini noodles, you're missing out. Cooked just a little, zucchini closely resembles the texture of pasta, and when you add some sauce you can hardly tell the difference. It makes a great lasagna noodle as well. 

To cut the noodles, a special slicer is ideal. I have a mandoline slicer (this one) that can make julienned strips, but this spiral slicer is officially on my wish list. If you don't have the appropriate slicer or the cash to splurge on one right now, you can use a vegetable peeler to create long, flat, linguine-like shreds. I don't recommend just using a knife for this, though. I tried it once, and the results were not worth the time and effort required.

Whether you peel the zucchini first is up to you - it's really just a question of aesthetics and nutrition. The skin adds a bit more color and fiber, but I'd recommend peeling your zucchini if it isn't organic, to reduce your chemical intake. However you choose to slice your noodles, stop when you get to the seeds. I like to save the insides for other recipes - they're good grilled! :)

If you want more info on the various ways to prepare zucchini noodles, check out this thorough Wikihow article. 

Ummm, hi.

Onward to the recipe!

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Black Bean Tofu Scramble

I love to cook, and while I frequently make modifications to recipes, I very rarely create my own from scratch. This morning I decided to make an exception and throw together a tofu scramble with what I had lying around. The result was a very versatile recipe that can easily be adapted to suit whatever is currently in your kitchen!

I had one half of a twin pack of organic sprouted tofu from Trader Joe's, some veggies, spices, and an onion. Here's what I came up with:

Ingredients (fills 8 tortillas)

• 1 tbsp olive oil (or 1/4 cup water or vegetable broth, if you are limiting fats)
• 1/2 onion, diced (roughly 1 cup, and I used red)
• 2/3 cup bell pepper, chopped (any variety, I used a frozen mix)
• 1 jalapeño, diced (optional, and can be seeded to lower heat - but I like it spicy!)
• 1 clove garlic, minced (I adore frozen Dorot cubes)
• 7.5 oz tofu, drained and pressed
• 1/2 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tbsp chili powder
• salt and pepper (or other seasonings) to taste
• Tortillas
• Your favorite salsa (Mine is Trader Joe's habanero and lime) 
• Toppings of your choice (spinach, tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, etc!)

This recipe can easily be doubled if you have more tofu and veggies on hand, and most anything can be tweaked to suit your tastes.

Method

1. Drain the tofu and slice into 1-2 inch thick slabs. Set a few layers of paper towels on a plate, lay the tofu on top, and cover with more paper towels and another plate. This will "press" the tofu and the paper towels will absorb any excess moisture. Let this sit for a few minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.
   
   
   


2. Discard the paper towels and mash the tofu with a fork, until crumbly.

3. Heat the oil (or substitute) in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion, peppers, garlic, jalapeño (if using), and a few dashes of salt. Saute for 2-3 minutes.
   
   
   
4. Add the tofu, spices, and black beans and stir to combine. Cook for another 3-5 minutes, then remove from heat and season to taste.
   
   
5. Warm the tortillas with your preferred method (I like heating them straight over a flame)
   
   
6. Fill each tortilla with scramble and top with salsa. Then add whatever other toppings you like! I chopped some spinach and cherry tomatoes, but I can't wait to try this with avocado!
   
   

Want to try this recipe? Have any questions or suggestions? Let me know in the comments!

Nutrition (Per 1/8 serving, scramble only)

• Calories: 78
• Total Fat: 3.4 g
• Saturated: 0.6 g
• Polyunsaturated: 0.2 g
• Monounsaturated: 1.3 g
• Trans: 0 g
• Cholesterol: 0mg
• Sodium: 160.5 mg
• Potassium: 46.7 mg
• Carbs: 8.1 g
• Fiber: 2.2 g
• Sugars: 1.4 g
• Protein: 4.6 g
• Vitamin A: 12.2%
• Vitamin C: 34.9%
• Calcium: 7.5%
• Iron: 6.3%

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