Veggie Crunch Salad

This can really be done with any veggies, but I definitely recommend using red cabbage as the base. For the rest of the veggies- feel free to mix it up. This bowl is full of fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, that are all needed for healthy bodies. Just serve with some protein and you have a great meal!

Veggie Crunch Salad 

Ingredients:

1handful chopped red cabbage

1/2 English cucumber, chopped

1 handful cherry tomatoes, chopped 

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped 

1/4 avocado, cut into chunks

Handful fresh parsley, roughly chopped

Juice of half a lemon

1 teaspoon olive oil 

Salt 

Pepper 

Directions: 

1. Dump all ingredients into a large bowl, mix, and serve!

Rainbow Salad

If you think salads are boring, then you've been making them wrong! Salads are my go-to almost everyday and they always contain healthy fats, lean proteins, and loads of colorful vegetables. I always choose a base of dark leafy greens such as kale, spinach, or arugula. My main source of carbohydrates comes from roasted sweet potato or roasted butternut squash. One of my favorite vegetables to add are brussel sprouts. Roasting them brings out their rich, nutty flavor. Mushrooms, zucchini, asparagus, and bell peppers are some of my other favorite vegetables to roast or grill and add to salads. I always pick a lean protein such as chicken, fish, shrimp, tofu, or Beyond Meat Chicken Strips. My absoulte favorite dressing is so easy. Plus, it packs a ton of flavor with very little calories. There are so many ways to make salads delicious, filling and satisfying. Because let's face it, lettuce and grilled chicken is NOT going to cut it. The more colors you can add to your bowl the better!

Paprika shrimp, roasted sweet potato, tomatoes, blueberries, avocado, spinach, roasted brussel spouts and my Honey Mustard Dressing 

Roasted Chickpeas: The Perfect Crunchy Meal Addition

Looking for a way to dress-up your everyday meals? Roasted chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) lend a savory, delicious crunch and flavor to any of your favorite dishes. Through it in salads, soups, stir-fries . . . anything! You can even snack on them on their own - who needs chips?

One half cup of chickpeas contains approximately:
         - 100 Calories
         - 20 g CHO
         - 7 g Fiber
         - 6 g Protein
         - 1 g Fat

*Note: I always choose the lowest sodium option available when buying canned beans, and I rinse them before using. The nutrition information varies slightly depending on which brand you use*

Chickpeas are a great source of fiber. Approximately two thirds of the fiber content found in chickpeas is from insoluble fiber. This means insoluble fiber DOES NOT dissolve in water. It adds bulk to your stool, and increases the passage of food through your stomach and intestines. Long story short: it keeps you regular ;) . Fiber helps you to stay full longer since it slows down digestion. In addition, fiber has been shown to reduce cholesterol levels, and may decrease the risk of colon and rectal cancers. EAT YOUR BEANS : )

Basic Roasted Chickpeas

Ingredients:

1 can Chickpeas (preferably no-salt-added), rinse, drained, patted dry
Sea salt to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Place chickpeas on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
3. Spray chickpeas with a non-stick spray or olive oil mister. Sprinkle with sea salt.
4. Bake for about 30-40 minutes until lightly browned and crispy!

Make it sweet:

Same as above, but omit the salt and add cinnamon and stevia!

Make it spicy:

Same as above, but add paprika, chili powder, cumin, etc., anything goes!

Crunchy Napa Cabbage Asian Slaw with Snowpeas, Almonds, and Cilantro

There is not enough time in the day for me to do everything I want to do! Today was my first day off in WEEKS- no work, no interning. Of course I had school work to do and errands to run, but it was SO nice to sleep past 5 am and do my work at my own leisurely pace. I spent a little time in the kitchen and had a nice variety of meals today. For breakfast, I decided to finally try Spinach Protein Pancakes. I decided to just use my own instincts instead of following the recipes I found and threw this lovely tower together:

 

These will be posted soon! They came out delicious, but I want to tweak them tomorrow before I share

them. And !NO! you do NOT taste the spinach. They are light, fluffy, pancake delicious-ness :)

Today was the first day of the #powerplateaday challenge hosted by @powercakes! LOVE this challenge since I basically have a huge bowl of veggies and protein EVERY day! You can check out the challenge at @challengeapp, or download the application on your phone! Today's #powerplate consisted of arugula, cumin/paprika-dusted shrimp and zucchini, roasted brussel sprouts, bell peppers, acorn squash, and fat-free feta crumbles. Mixed up with my 3-ingredient balsamic dijon dressing :) 

Dinner was roasted asparagus served alongside vegetarian chicken strips, acorn squash, and miso-roasted eggplant all mixed and cooked together with a few hits of liquid smoke. YUM. Keep it simple, plan ahead, don't waste food!!

Ok, now on to the slaw :) 

I've been wanting to post this recipe since I made it last week, but I had deadlines to meet and papers to write :( . So, after getting some work done, I am sharing an awesome recipe that was inspired by Kalyn's Kitchen. Every time I see a cabbage salad recipe I always think "That looks so good, I'm definitely making this!" annnnnnd then I don't. I'm not really sure why?! But, I finally went ahead with this recipe and I'm happy I did. I was originally planning on making it for two days worth of lunches, but it tasted so good when I was "testing" it that I ate it for dinner that night! The leftovers were fantastic the next day with my vegetarian "chicken" strips.

 

Crunchy Napa Cabbage Asian Slaw with Snowpeas, Almonds, and Cilantro
Adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen

Salad Ingredients:

1 small head Napa cabbage, thinly sliced then coarsely chopped (about 3 cups)
1 cup diagonally sliced snow-peas (I steamed mine and let them cool before slicing)
1/2 cup sliced red bell pepper
1/2-3/4 cup fresh cilantro (optional, but HIGHLY recommended!)
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Dressing Ingredients:

1 tablespoon white vinegar
1-2 packets Truvia
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon  garlicpowder
1/4 teaspon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger puree
1/4 teaspoon chili garlic sauce (or Sriracha)
1/3 cup low-fat mayo (or regular)

Directions:

1. Place cabbage, snow peas, cilantro, and bell peppers into a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the vinegar, Truvia, soy sauce, garlic powder, sesame oil, ginger puree, and chili garlic sauce. Whisk in the mayo until all ingredients are combined.
3. Toss the salad ingredients together and add the dressing until evenly coated.
4. Toast the almonds in a dry pan over high heat for 1-2 minutes (Don't let them burn!). Add almonds and toss gently.
5. Serve.

Save the leftovers for lunch the next day. Great tossed with grilled chicken/tofu/tempeh - whatever you've got!



 

Creamy Miso Dressing

I wasn't too excited about the last miso dressing I made for my kale salad, so I came up with a really delicious one the other day. I adapted it from www.eatingwell.com: 

1/2 cup Light Silken Tofu (Any silken tofu works)
2 T Rice Vinegar
3 Tablespoons Miso paste
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 t ground ginger
1 1/2 t flaxseed oil (any neutral oil will work)
1 garlic clove, crushed

Blend all ingredients together until smooth. Done :)

For about 2 Tablespoons: 40 calories, 5 g carbs, 1 g fat, 1 g protein

Served this with fresh organic arugula, miso-baked sweet potato, asian baked tofu, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and avocado. Absolutely delicious!

The Most Perfect Fall Salad EVER: Roasted Butternut Squash and Arugula with Tahini Dressing

I think this might be the BEST salad I have EVER made. I made it an hour ago and made every person in my family try a bite. I still can't stop thinking about it. These ingredients are MEANT to be together. I made extra dressing so I can make the salad again for lunch tomorrow. It's a hearty salad with super healthy ingredients so you feel nutritionalized (I just made that word up), satiated, and all warm and delicious inside. Not sure if that made sense, but I really cannot describe how incredible this salad is...

The original recipe is from Redbook Magazine, but I tweaked it a bit to make it lower in fat/calories and sugar. I also added Roasted Sausage-Less Sausage to add more protein :)

Salad:

1 Butternut Squash, peeled, halved, seeded, and cut into 1-inch chunks (Mine came out to about 3 1/2 to 4 cups)
1 1/2 t olive oil
1/4-1/2 t paprika
1/2 t salt
Less than 1/4 t black pepper
3 T pumpkin seeds
8 cups baby arugula
1/3 cup coarsely chopped parsley
1/4 cup raisins
4 oz fat free feta crumbles
Trader Joe's Sausage-less Sausage (optional)

Dressing:

2 T plain Greek Yogurt
2 T Tahini
1 T lemon Juice
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/4 t salt

1. Heat oven to 375 F.
2. Salad: In a large bowel, toss squash, oil, paprika, salt, pepper. Spread out evenly on a sprayed baking dish. Roast about 25 minutes, stirring halfway through under squash is tender. Sprinkle squash with the pumpkin seeds for the last 5 minutes of roasting. If using the sausage-less sausage, roast in the oven during the last 10-12 minutes of the squash cooking.
3. Dressing: Whisk together all of the ingredients. Whisk in 2 T boiling water.
4. In a bowl, gently toss squash, arugula, parsley, raisins, feta and sausage-less sausage (if using). Drizzle dressing over salad and EAT!!

I made enough of the squash and salad for 4 servings, but only mixed 1 serving worth of salad with the dressing since it was only me eating. I will make the salad again and toss with the dressing when I'm ready to eat it so its not soggy. SO DELISH :)

Current Salad Obsession

I've been switching up my typical lunch of a protein "panini" and zucchini noodles with an absolutely delicious, easy, healthy, hearty, salad. So I wanted to share :). There's no oil in my salad dressing- it doesn't need any!! And since there isn't, it allows me to throw in a little more avocado than I normally would when there's other sources of fat in my meal :)!

Mixed Greens with Avocado, Feta, and Lemon Garlic Dressing

Ingredients:

1 garlic clove chopped
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Mix these three together at the bottom of the bowl you'll be making your salad in (I use a BIG one). That's it- dressing DONE! Now the salad:

2 cups mixed greens with herbs (I use an organic brand from Whole Foods
1/4 avocado, cubed
2 T corn
5 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cucumber, sliced
3 T fat free feta
1/2 t oregano
Cooked shrimp (I've also used steamed lobster and baked tofu!)

So, Add the lettuce to the bowl and toss it around a little. Add the rest of the ingredients and EAT!

NOTE: I keep a bag of frozen corn in the freezer, nuke what I need in the microwave or just let it defrost on a plate while I prepare the rest of the salad.

Also, you can also throw a few sliced black olives in there which would be tasty.

Here's my salad with shrimp:

Salt and pepper to taste

Here's my salad with Baked Tofu: