Vegan Asian Salad

Sometimes you go to the fridge and realize you need to go to the store. This salad is great because it was created out of the need to use up the rest of our produce before heading to Trader Joes again.  My husband and I were both surprised at how delicious this turned out! Not to mention it is super healthy and took only 25 minutes to make.  A perfect weekday night dinner.

Ingredients:
kale
broccoli
red bell pepper
cucumber
avocado
celery
bean sprouts
quinoa
sesame oil 
rice vinegar
lime
salt and pepper

While the quinoa was cooking, chop the kale and all the veggies and massage them with sesame oil, lime and rice vinegar (this is important to soften the kale and let the flavors sink in). Then toss it all together and enjoy!

Saturday Morning Green Smoothie

Ever since we received our Vitamix for Christmas (thanks mom), we have been experimenting with all different smoothie recipes.  I finally have created one which I have found to be the most refreshing and delicious recipe, like a healthy getaway to the tropics.  It is a green smoothie and is packed with veggies and fruits alike and should be used as a snack (not a meal replacement).  Oh yes, and I always use all organic produce.

Recipe: *    

1/2 cup pineapple juice

1/2 cup Coconut milk

1 spoonful Coconut Oil (optional)

1 1/2 large handfuls of spinach

1 handful kale

1/2 cucumber

1/2 apple

1/2 cup frozen mango

1/3 cup frozen pineapple

ice

*makes one large smoothie-just double portions for two

What's your favorite smoothie recipe?

Roasted Spaghetti Squash

Saturday was the first day of fall and I had to work all day/evening.  Upon getting off, all I wanted to do was cook a good meal, stay in with the husband and watch a movie while relaxing in sweats and an over sized t-shirt.  I decided to welcome in the season by cooking a winter squash meal, but still wanted something light.  Spaghetti squash was the perfect happy medium!  It can be substituted for any pasta dish and was super easy to make (BONUS: It is full of vitamins, fiber and folic acid and is only 42 cal/serving and unlike pasta, you will not be on carb overload)!

In preparing the squash, you can boil it or cook it in the oven or the microwave.  I chose to oven-roast mine while I was prepping the side salad and cutting up everything I need for the sauce (oh and drinking some Red wine). Cut the squash lengthwise, remove the seeds and pulp, and season with sea salt, fresh ground pepper and drizzled olive oil.  Preheat the oven to 350, and then roast it for 40 minutes.

Once the squash was done, I let it stand for a few minutes and prepared my sauce.  I sautéed thinly sliced garlic in about 1/4 cup EVOO for a few minutes on medium heat.  I then added sweet Golden tomatoes and let them blister in the mixture. After 3 minutes I added thinly sliced basil and Italian Seasonings and let the sauce simmer a bit more to release all of the flavors.  Once it was ready, I used a fork to scrape the "meat" of the squash out (it just shreds into long spaghetti-like noodles) and put it in a mixing bowl.  I then added the sauce and tossed it together with fresh diced Roma tomatoes (tomatoes are in full season right now), served it with a salad and topped it all with fresh grated Parmesan cheese!  So good and healthy!

I'm curious to know, have you made spaghetti squash before? If so, how do you like it best?!

Caprese Pasta

I love cooking at home, but sometimes it is difficult when you have a busy schedule and a lot of recipes can be quite complicated to fit in your time schedule.  This recipe is super simple yet delicious! This caprese pasta was incredibly flavorful yet light and was so easy to make even my husband could have done it (hehe-sorry Jon).  I used this recipe but I served it warm and added marinated artichoke hearts in order to give it a little extra flavor. YUM!