Mango|Strawberry|Banana Smoothie+

Many people point out that smoothies are high in sugar. Which is true, but there’s more to the story 📖 Fruit contains natural sugars and is also full of vitamins, antioxidants, fiber. Smoothies are an easy way to get a few servings of fruit in. This smoothie includes 3 fruits, almond milk, ice, and some crunchy toppings all blended together.

Frozen fruit 🍓— in this recipe, I used all fresh fruit, but (!) it’s a great idea to keep some frozen fruit on hand. It won’t spoil or go moldy on you mid-week, which is always a bummer when that happens esp with berries. I usually keep bags of the following stored in my freezer for quick additions to smoothies: organic blueberries, strawberries, mango chunks (Trader joes carries a good selection)

Recipe & Ingredients:

• Mango

• Strawberries

• Banana

• 1+ cup almond milk

• 1 Tbsp or more chia seeds

• 1 Tbsp or more cacao nibs

• 1 Tbsp of more hemp seeds

• ice.
  
  Blend together. Add more ice or milk as needed.

Finished product - garnished with cacao nibs and hemp seeds

Simple and bright ingredients!

Cacao nibs + hemp seeds + chia seeds

Almond Flour Choc Chip Cookies

These cookies are exceptional. Though I didn’t create the recipe, I did successfully make a batch of cookies without burning them to a crisp! This is success in my book :)

My weekend meal prep consisted of making these cookies and I don’t regret it. These cookies are an excellent mid-day treat with a cup of tea.

Recently, a client asked me if I ever just splurge. I’m often talking with people about healthy recipes and taking photos of vegetables, so the question makes sense! My answer to her was not an easy yes/no response. If I want something, I generally eat it after a brief check-in/pause: Does the chocolate cupcake with pink icing and rainbow sprinkles look delicious? Yes. How will I feel an hour after eating it? Totally gross from excess sugar and gluten. If I can avoid the feeling of being unwell later, that’s generally my goal.

These cookies are grain free and gluten free and all the things. Made with almond flour, maple syrup and coconut oil, they’re soft and a bit chewy. Because they’re not full of sugar and refined flour, they’re enjoyably sweet without the sugar crash after.

Our society moves quickly, and I think we get caught up in a momentum to move from one thing to the next. Think about how we eat on the go - in between tasks and meetings etc. Do we even process that we’re eating? How can we expect that our body is processing and absorbing nutrients appropriately if we’re already onto the next thing in our minds? Do I enjoy dessert? Yes, 100%. I just try to build in an extra moment of space so that it’s mindful and not impulsive.

The original recipe is linked here.

In the version above, I added a extra coconut oil (for flavor and texture) and a splash more of vanilla extract for flavor. Additional add-ins to consider: cinnamon, nutmeg, cacao nibs.

Rainbow bowl - Purple potatoes, watermelon radish, healthy fats

My general dietary goal is to fill my plate with as many (naturally occurring!) colors as possible. Eating the rainbow may sound trite, but it has a lot of merit in my opinion and pushes me to eat more vegetables. Thinking about eating bright colors also pushes me out of any mid-week beige ruts that are so easy to fall into during a busy work week (pasta sounds cozy, toast is easy…)

By eating a plant based diet and focusing on eating whole foods, I’ve been able to skip the extra math and science skills required to read a long and complex food label these days ;) Sticking to the basics of whole foods and mostly plants has made it much easier to maintain a stable weight and feel healthy overall. I don’t get bogged down with counting calories or worrying about how much sugar is hidden in a dish.

Plus, eating this way has been an experience in discovering new vegetables that I didn’t may much attention to before. The watermelon radish in this salad bowl looks like any other root vegetable on first glance. I’m sure I’ve walked past watermelon radishes many times before - not realizing how vibrant they are on the inside. Same goes for the purple potatoes - I’m not sure that I fully appreciated the vibrancy of these underground gems until recently.

Royal purple potatoes like the ones in this salad are high in phytonutrients and potassium and vitamin B-6 and plenty of other things that help us regulate blood pressure, lower cholesterol etc. Purple potatoes (and sweet potatoes, etc) are really affordable and nutrient dense.

Basics: Arugula salad w/ tomatoes, watermelon radish, purple potatoes, hemp seeds, avocado, cilantro. I roasted a batch of purple potatoes the day before and then simply sliced and added to this salad.

Dressing is Dijon mustard + olive oil + lemon juice 🍋

Instead of focusing on macronutrients, I typically just try to fill my plate with as many (naturally occurring!) colors as I can. 

Open Face Vegan Sandwich

When you’re pressed for time and creativity to cook a full meal, open-face vegan sandwiches are a nice fall back 👏No cooking required, very little chopping needed.
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On sliced gluten free bread, I added a few generous layers of the following:

• Sun-dried tomato hummus

• Thinly sliced beet greens

• Avocado slices

• Raw/fermented red beet and cabbage kraut

• Hemp seeds.

I used raw beet greens because I had beets and didn’t want the leafy greens at the top of the bunch to go to waste. If you don’t have beet greens: arugula, spinach, bok choy, romaine, or other greens will work just fine too! Beet greens are highly nutritious and can be sautéed or steamed as well.

I generally try to add fermented food to my diet each day - at least one meal, hopefully more. In this case, the raw kraut is just a mixture of organic red cabbage, red beets, pears, sea salt and garlic that I picked up at the grocery store. It keeps for several weeks in the refrigerator and is a great topping to salads, sandwiches and many other dishes as a way to sneak in probiotics throughout the day.

Other fermented foods foods beyond sauerkraut that I try to incorporate into my diet include kimchi, kombucha, kefir, yogurt, miso. Though, I’m not sure how those would work out on this sandwich :)

Spiced Chia Seed Pudding w/ Dates + Walnuts

I have found that chia seed pudding does not start out looking great (see pic below), but with some whisking and mixing and time in the refrigerator, it turns out looking perfect. If you want to assemble a healthy breakfast or dessert and don’t have time to cook or bake something, this is a really perfect make-ahead idea.

Chia seeds are high in antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, calcium, and iron. They are powerful little seeds and I like adding them to my diet.

Ingredients:

• Chia seeds

• Almond milk

• Maple syrup

• Vanilla extract

• Cinnamon

• Nutmeg

• Walnuts

• Dates

Recipe: Combine 6 Tbsp of chia seeds with 2 cups of almond milk, maple syrup (1 tsp), vanilla extract. Shake/whisk and then let it sit for 5 minutes. Whisk 2 more times before storing in the refrigerator overnight. Once it sets, scoop out and top with chopped dates, cinnamon and nutmeg, crushed walnuts. Makes ~2-3 servings.

Tricolor Salad w/ Citrus Dressing

Cruciferous veggies (cauliflower, cabbage) and a root veggie (carrot) make this a hearty and sturdy salad that will last a few days in the refrigerator. Top with a protein of choice and make this a complete meal, tasty side dish, or a slaw added to tacos. The acidity of the citrus dressing balances flavor, and in this case adds lots of vitamin C and immune benefits.

Ingredients:

• Carrots

• Cauliflower

• Purple cabbage

• 2 lemons

• 1 orange

• Hemp seeds

• Cilantro

• Olive oil, sea salt, black pepper
  

Chop carrots, cauliflower, purple cabbage. Juice 2 lemons and 1 orange into a separate bowl. Whisk together with several tablespoons of olive oil, dash of sea salt and black pepper. Pour over the veggies and mix it all together. Top with freshly chopped cilantro and hemp seeds.

AvoBanana Smoothie

On first glance, a typical banana smoothie. Unless a smoothie has some fats and protein in it, it usually leaves me feeling hungry and not satisfied. This smoothie is different though because of some key additions: Avocado and Chia Seeds.

Ingredients:

• Almond milk (or other non-dairy milk) - 1 cup

• Banana

• Avocado

• Chia seeds

• Spices: Cinnamon, Nutmeg

• Vanilla extract

• Ice

Recipe: Blend up the ingredients!

A few notes:

• I prefer unflavored/unsweetened almond milk - and add a bit of vanilla extract to give it more flavor without the sugar and unknown ingredients

• In addition to chia seeds, you could consider adding hemp seeds and/or flax meal for some added protein + good fats

• Spices/Flavor: In addition to cinnamon and nutmeg - another good smoothie addition is cocoa powder or cacao nibs. Adds an extra punch :)

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Stuffed sweet potatoes can be used as a nutritious and affordable main dish - or as a side. Or as a snack :)

Ingredients:

• Quinoa

• Red lentils

• Sweet potatoes

• 1/2 onion

• Olive oil

• Salt and pepper

• Smoked paprika

• Nutritional yeast - 1/2 cup

• Garnish: Chives, Hemp seeds (or walnuts), Arugula

Weeknight meal hack: Pop the sweet potatoes in the oven the night before you plan to use them. Depending on size, sweet potatoes take ~45 mins to bake fully in the oven. If that feels too long for a weeknight, I recommend cooking a few at the beginning of the week, store in the refrigerator + use throughout the week in recipes like this one.

What to do:

• Cook the sweet potatoes in the oven (350 for 45 minutes - until soft on the inside)

• In a separate pot, cook the quinoa (1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water ~ 15 mins)

• Separately, cook up the red lentils (3 cups of water to 1 cup of lentils ~15-18 mins)

Chop the onion and then sauté in olive oil. Careful not to burn the onions, stir regularly and sprinkle with salt, pepper, smoked paprika. Once the quinoa has cooked, fold the quinoa in to the onion mixture. Add the lentils and keep stirring to combine. Add a generous amount of nutritional yeast and keep stirring. Add a tiny bit of water if it helps to combine all the ingredients.

Sweet potatoes - Cut those in half (lengthwise) and remove some of the filling with a spoon. Be careful not to remove all of the filling as it helps to strengthen the skin so that we have a sturdy boundary and can add the filling. Save the sweet potato filling in a bowl.

Smash the sweet potato with a fork. Add the sautéd quinoa/lentil filling to the bowl and use a spoon to combine into a paste. Using a spoon, fill the sweet potato boats with heaping spoonfuls.

What I love about this:

• You don’t have to follow an exact set of measurements to produce something delicious. I intentionally didn’t include specific measurements here, because it’s up to you! Using the basic ingredients listed above and some herbs/spices and a bit of salt will yield something delicious and satisfying. It’s entirely plant-based, so you don’t have to worry about undercooking something and getting sick.

• Nutrient density - the quinoa + lentils + hemp seeds (or walnuts if you can’t find hemp seeds) are high in protein and help to make this a complete meal. The sweet potatoes and onions bring their own nutrients to the table — like a surplus of vitamin A, potassium and other vitamins (C and B-6).

• The “garnish” in this recipe is more than that - the hemp seeds are a great source of healthy fats and protein. The arugula packs in extra vitamins (like A, C, and K) and adds a peppery flavor to contrast the sweet/savory combo of the rest of the dish.

Vegan Cream Cheese with Chives

I made vegan cream cheese - and it was not hard and made for some easy breakfasts during the work week! Cashew cream cheese with chives — recipe below:

Ingredients

• 2 cups of raw cashews

• 8 tbsp lemon juice

• 1/2 cup chives, chopped

• Sea salt, water

How To:
Soak raw cashews overnight (6 hours at least). This is an important step as this softens them and makes blending a breeze. Strain and place cashews in blender + lemon juice + dash of sea salt + some water. I recommend blending in batches and adding water as needed to keep the blades turning. Blend until super smooth. Add some chives towards the end of blending. Reserve some chives for additional stir-in and garnish.

Health benefits:
Because this is plant based, and doesn’t have dairy - you get to skip the cholesterol, excess sodium, and saturated fat that often makes up store-bought dairy cream cheese and spreads.

Cashews = healthy fats, protein, iron, magnesium, potassium. Making this spread also means you can control the amount of sodium. Additional add-ins like smoked paprika, nutritional yeast, other herbs would also be delicious. Experiment away!

Store for a few days in refrigerator or freeze portions.

Cauliflower Herbed "Rice"

Herbed cauliflower rice is a cozy staple over here in these chilly winter months. Make a batch of this as a base and use as you would with real rice. Top with other veggies, sauces, and protein sources for a complete meal.

Cauliflower Herbed Rice, Phot:

Ingredients:

• Cauliflower - 1 head, raw

• Olive oil

• 1 onion

• Herbs and spices: rosemary, oregano, sage, etc.

To make: Cut cauliflower head into smaller sections. In a few batches, add to a food processor or blender and pulse until you get the desired consistency. If you don’t have a food processor, you could cut the cauliflower by hand into the smallest pieces. (It takes forever, but I have done it a few times when I didn’t have a powerful food processor).

Dice onion, sauté in a skillet with oil and a dash of salt and pepper. When onions are cooked down a bit (5-8 mins), start adding the cauliflower “rice” and stir regularly. Cauliflower should soften in 3-5 mins. Sprinkle with herbs (herbs de Provence mixture or similar — rosemary, marjoram, oregano, sage, thyme) and mix well.

Nutrients galore: Cauliflower rice is a gluten free version of something like couscous - same consistency. It’s an excellent source of potassium, vitamin B-6 & Vitamin C. Magnesium and calcium too!