The Ultimate Quinoa Bowl

This is my most frequently made dish by far - we do them at least once a week. Quinoa bowls are super easy and fast to make, plus they're healthy and delicious. I'm a fan of adding a fried egg on top, as well as avocado (always!), but you can do a ton of different combinations depending on what you prefer. 

To prepare my favorite, you'll need the following: 1 avocado, 1 sweet potato, a bunch of kale, 1 fried egg, and quinoa. Cook the quinoa according to the package (I believe it's one cup of quinoa to two cups of water or broth). I highly recommend using broth to cook the quinoa over water, because it makes it much tastier. I'd even go a step up and cook it in bone broth for a little extra nutrition and health benefits! I also love to add some turmeric to my quinoa once it is cooked for a major anti-inflammatory boost.

While the quinoa is cooking, bake the sweet potato and kale in the oven. Peel and dice the sweet potato and toss the cubes in 1 tbsp coconut oil, 1 tsp rosemary, salt and pepper. Place them on a tray lined with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until soft. As for the kale, remove the stalks and rip the kale into smaller pieces. Toss the pieces in 1 tbsp olive oil and salt and bake on another baking sheet for about 15 minutes or until crispy. Finally, heat a little bit of coconut oil in a frying pan and crack 1 (or however many eggs you want) in the pan and fry them. Another option would be to do poached eggs if you want to get really creative.

This is my absolute favorite quinoa bowl combination - it's warm, hearty, and savory, plus it's extremely filling and yummy. The fun thing thing about these bowls is that you can pretty much throw anything into them, depending on what you have in your fridge. Broccoli, carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, corn, pretty much any kind of meat, cheese, and so much more. You can also make a more refreshing bowl with mint, fruit, avocado and corn - this makes a great summer salad!

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sweet potato
• 1 avocado
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• a bunch/handful of kale
• coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon rosemary
• tumeric
• salt & pepper to taste

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Kale & Hempseed Pesto Pasta with Baked Salmon

Yum. yum yum yum. That's pretty much all I can that say that describes this recipe. And as usual, it's HEALTHY. No but seriously, this is gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan (without the salmon), and a super satisfying and filling meal. The pesto is made of hemp seeds, which are a great source of essential fatty acids (omega 3 and such), plus they're full of protein (you can find hemp protein powder everywhere!). It also includes kale, cashews (or any time of nut you want), lemon, basil, and a few other things I decided to throw in to make it taste a little cheesier and richer. 

I've made this twice already in the past couple weeks. The full recipe lasts me a couple days worth of lunches (or dinners). The only unique tool you need is a food processor... If you don't have one, I'd seriously consider investing in one, because so many recipes these days require one. Or at least recipes that involve nuts seem to require one. I have a teeny tiny one because when I originally wanted to buy it, I didn't want to spend a lot of money. Now, I'm considering investing in a larger one since I use it so darn often! 

Read on for instructions and ingredients!

Ingredients:

• Gluten free pasta or soba noodles (I used an entire package of gluten free rice pasta)
• 1 filet of salmon
• 1 bunch of lacinto kale - stalks removed (about 2 large handfuls)
• handful of parsley
• 1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1/3 cup hemp seeds
• 1/2 cup cashews (or pine nuts)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 tbsp of nutritional yeast (optional)
• Pinch of sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees (for the salmon - you can omit this if you aren't cooking salmon).
2. Rub the salmon with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place it on an baking tray covered with aluminum foil skin down. Bake for 4-5 minutes per half inch of thickness. 
3. Cook the pasta per the instructions on the package.
4. Throw the rest of the ingredients for the pesto into a large food processor and process until you reach a smooth consistency. 
5. You can omit the garlic & nutritional yeast if you prefer - the original recipe didn't call for it, but when I made it the first time, it was just missing something. The nutritional yeast gives it a little bit of a cheesy flavor that normal pesto has, and the garlic was just a great addition also.
6. Mix the pesto with the pasta, top with the salmon, and enjoy!

*Recipe adapted from The Chalkboard Mag

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Vegan/Gluten-Free Spiralized Lasagna (Part 2)

Today, I'm going to share part II of the spiralized vegan (and gluten free) lasagna - which describes how to actually make the lasagna. On Monday I shared how to make cashew cheese which you will use in today's recipe. This recipe really isn't too complicated, but if you want it to be vegan, you do need to make the cashew cheese which takes a little bit of prep. Otherwise, you can just sub ricotta cheese. You will need a spiralizer for this recipe though, but trust me, it is so worth it. It's also only $30! 

I found this recipe so worth the time and prep. It was delicious and lasted me literally a full week of lunches. Everyone at work kept asking what smelled so good in the office! Read on for step by step instructions.

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash
• 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 6 fresh sage leaves
• 4 sausage links, decased (I used Applegate chicken sausage)
• 5 cups chopped kale
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 large shallot, minced
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1.5 cups cashew cheese (or ricotta if you're not going vegan)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees
• Cut the bottom off of the butternut squash (the part with the seeds). Slice off the top so that it is completely flat, and peel the squash. Slice halfway through the squash (the long way, and only to the center). Spiralize the squash using blade A (you can find which blades are which here). 
• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sage and cook until crispy, and be careful not to burn. Remove them from the pan and place aside for later.
• Crumble the sausage in the hot skillet and cook until browned (about 5-7 minutes).
• Add in kale, garlic and shallot to the pan with the sausage, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the kale is wilted.
• Remove from pan and gather all prepared ingredients. Take out the casserole dish and add a layer of butternut squash to the bottom. Add a layer of the kale and sausage mixture next. Then, add a layer of the cashew cheese (or ricotta). Top with a layer of butternut squash and continue layering until you have desired thickness (or run out of ingredients).
• Cover casserole with tin foil and bake for 40-45 minutes. You'll know the casserole is done if you can pierce the butternut squash easily.
• Remove casserole and sprinkle with sage topping. Let sit for 5 minutes and enjoy!

*Adapted from Inspiralized

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