A Green Drink

I think everyone has their version of this drink. It’s a great way to get in your greens for the day without woofing down a salad. But not all green drinks are created equal.
If you own a juicer, you will have noticed all that gobbeldy gunk that gets extracted as you make the juice, known as the pulp. You might also notice how many gosh darn fruits and veggies it takes to make one ounce of juice.
That is because when you juice something, you are taking out the fiber. And fiber is an important, and ESSENTIAL part of every diet. It helps ya poo. It helps ya feel feel full- and without it, ya gut goes: “Hay, whaddabout me?”
You see, the lil’ microbes in your gut actually eat the fiber you eat. This keeps them happy and doing all the things they need to do. Without it, they get pretty sad and tired, and tend to back you up and make you bloated. Not to mention that there are a ton of nutrients bound to that fiber that you are loosing when making a juice. Juice has no fiber.
Of course juicing can be a delicious and healthy habit, but don’t equate drinking a green juice with eating a whole bunch of kale. Its not the same thing. A better option is to throw all the things in a blender. They’ll be chunkier, but your gut will thank you.

A Green Drink

(this is a great one to start with, but I would encourage you to create your own!)
1/3 cup frozen mango
1/3 cup frozen pineapple
1 cup of greens like kale, swiss chard, or spinach
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon
1 cup of coconut water (plain water works too)
1 tsp spirulina powder (optional)
1 tsp matcha green tea powder (optional)

Combine all ingredients into a blender and blend until all the greens and fruit have pureed to a juice consistency. Pour in a glass and enjoy.

Cauliflower Quesadillas

Cauliflower is trending. Cauliflower is the new thing. Cauliflower rice, cauliflower steaks, cauliflower mash, etc, etc. Its really only a matter of time before people start grinding it up and putting it in their hair as a leave-in conditioner or leaving a floret hanging down from their rear view mirror as an ornament or something like that.

I first experienced this taste explosion at Diego’s in Newport, RI, which is one of my all time favorite go-to Mexican restaurants. You can learn more about them here . This is a unique quesadilla substitute for the average chicken-filled Q.

Cauliflower Quesadillas Recipe

(Adapted From Diego’s Newport)

Ingredients:

(makes 4)

1 medium head of cauliflower, chopped into bite size pieces

1/2 medium red onion (chopped fine)

1 can black beans (low sodium), drained

2 small garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

1 jalapeño pepper, diced.

8 medium corn tortillas

3/4 cup cheddar cheese (or your favorite cheese), shredded

olive oil

salt and pepper

cilantro for topping (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 425. Spread chopped cauliflower on a baking sheet and toss with salt, pepper, and olive oil to coat. Roast for 20 minutes or until they begin to brown.

Meanwhile, heat up one medium size saute pan on medium heat with 2 tsp olive oil. Saute red onion until translucent, then add chopped garlic cloves and jalapeño. Cook for 1 more minute then add black beans until hot. Remove from heat. Once cauliflower is done cooking, add to bean mix and season to taste.

Lay out 4 tortillas and spread 1/8 cup cauliflower filling and 1/8 cup shredded cheese to each. Place second 4 tortillas on top as lids. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Once hot, coat lightly with olive oil and reduce heat to medium-low. Add uncooked tortillas with filling to pan and cook until slightly charred. Flip and do other side. repeat with remaining 5 quesadillas.

I served warm with a cilantro salad and slices of avocado and tomato. Buen Provecho!

Beet Latkes

A couple of years ago we were celebrating my hippest friend’s graduation from the Rhode Island School of Design, and visited a local vegetarian restaurant The Garden Grille. When perusing the Menu, her veg-skeptical father shouted “Beet Latkes!?!” and so I ordered them and forced him to try. Man, were they good.

I love a good latke, there is really nothing like them. I have been picking up beets almost every week here at the farmer’s market, and had been looking for easy ways to prepare them, when I had a vision of those latkes we celebrated with not so long ago. And guess what? My friends father? He loved ’em!! (And if Fred likes them, so will you).

Beet Latkes

(Warning: Your kitchen may be filled with pink smudges after this cooking adventure)

2 Beets, Shredded

1 Potato, Shredded

1 Onion, Shredded

2 Large eggs, Beaten

1/4 cup of AP Flour

Salt, Pepper, and Spices to taste

About 4 Tbsp Olive or Vegetable Oil

Shred veggies with a vegetable (or cheese grater like I did) and combine in a large bowl. Add 2 beaten eggs and mix thoroughly. Mix in flours and spices to taste.

Heat vegetable oil or olive oil in a large skillet, enough generously cover the bottom of the pan. Turn stove top to high heat, until glistening. Add 1 Tbsp latke mix and press down with fork. After 2-3 minutes, or until brown, flip to cook other side. Transfer to a plate covered with a towel to collect excess oil, and repeat until batter is gone. Makes about two dozen. Enjoy on salads, or alone to dip in your favorite sauce or sour cream.

Black Bean Soup

Four cans o’ beans. That seems like a lot of beans, doesn’t it? Well, guess what? That’s only going to be about $4. I even found 6 ounce cans of black beans for 78 cents each- whadda deal! I know I post a lot of soups on here, but I love soup so I don’t care! Its my blog isn’t it?

This is a really hearty and delicious soup- and one of my personal favorites since I was a little girl. My dad and I always shared a love for this soup at Mexican restaurants, and it wasn’t long until I wanted to make it for dinner myself. This soup is filled with protein, fiber, and iron (my personal favorite micronutrient- I’m a nutrition nerd maybe?)This soup is also very easy to make- besides maybe the fact that you have to blend it, but I bet it would be good in whole bean form too! I enjoyed this soup on a rainy Washington fall night, and it tasted delicious. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped fine
2 large carrots, chopped fine
6 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
4½ teaspoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 (15-ounce) cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups vegetable broth
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Ideas for garnishes: diced avocado, extra cilantro, bell peppers, cheddar cheese, tortilla chips…
INSTRUCTIONS
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onions, celery and carrot and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft- about 10 to 15 minutes.
Stir in the garlic, cumin and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in the beans and broth and bring to a simmer. Cook until the broth is flavorful and the beans are very tender, about 30 minutes.
Puree about 4 cups of the soup at a time in a blender until smooth (warning- HOT!!) Return the pureed soup to the pot, stir in the cilantro, vinegar/lime juice and salt and pepper, to taste. Done!

Simple Roasted Vegetables

Look at this exotic beet.

I’m gonna tell you a secret. I’m gonna tell you how to make yourself look like a culinary school graduate by blindly grabbing farmer’s market produce and throwing it in the oven for a ‘lil bit. People will ooh and ahh and you will beam. Dead serious. I impress people with this zero-effort dish all the time and I have no intentions of stopping anytime soon.

Step One: Go to the farmers market and buy whatever vegetables look good.
*the more exotic vegetables you buy, the more you will look like Ina Garten. Note: purple cauliflower, golden beets, leeks, etc.
*p.p.s – you can use SNAP benefits at many national farmer’s markets and often receive coupons or discounts for doing so. Google it in your state!
Step Two: Wash vegetables and chop them into bite size pieces.
Step Three: Throw vegetables in a pan with olive oil, salt, and pepper- a lil’ rosemary if you’re feeling fancy.
Step Four: Roast in oven @ 400 degrees until vegetables are tender.

Girl, you fancy. Yer basically Ina Garten.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Come on.

I know you love this soup.

I know that you tense up when you see it on the menu, or in a beauteous, hot cauldron in a cafeteria, or dining hall (such as mine for the two years I was a dining-hall-goer). It’s so good, but is basically, really, just cheese-drenched broccoli, and very little broccoli at that. I personally love this soup, but also have a bit of a problem eating essentially just cheese for dinner, cause my stomach is like “Hey, where’s the rest of the stuff?”. So I added more stuff to see what would happen. And let me tell you, it tastes just as good, and alas, not that expensive to make.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup with other Stuff in it
1 drizzle of olive oil
1 bunch broccoli
1 small onion, chopped
2 Cloves of garlic
1 cup shredded carrots
2 medium red-skinned potatoes, diced
1 Tbsp. butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups vegetable broth
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup grated extra-sharp Cheddar
1 teaspoon Teriyaki sauce
1 Cup of skim milk
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Separate the stems and the florets from the broccoli. Trim and discard the bottom of the broccoli stems. Finely chop the stems and coarsely chop the florets and set aside separately.
Drizzle olive oil in a large pot and heat over medium heat. Add the broccoli stems, onions, carrots and potatoes and cook, stirring, until softened, 7 to 10 minutes- then add garlic. Add broth, salt, teriyaki sauce, pepper, and nutmeg, and then reduce to a simmer.
In a medium saucepan, heat butter until melted, and then add flour, forming a roux. Slowly pour in milk until thickened. Slowly pour into vegetables and broth and allow simmering until vegetables are tender.
Meanwhile, combine the reserved florets and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover and continue to steam until the florets are bright green and crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add the entire contents of the pot with the florets to the soup Stir to combine and remove from the heat. Garnish with basil, or whatever you like!

Big Moves, Small Budgets

I moved across the country with a man who wears a Flamingo shirt.

The buffalo, however, stayed right where he was in South Dakota.

The feeling of freedom is hard to describe. Right now I am young and the world is my oyster. Once I felt that college diploma in my hand, I knew there was nothing holding me down in Rhode Island. It was time to go exploring this big, bad globe. Only, there was a boy I really liked, so he joined. Our trip was incredible. We saw a whole lot of this beautiful country (America- yes, it really is beautiful).

How’s this for some true American Food??

And now, we are trying on a different coast.

We are both serving with Americorps in Tacoma, WA, and though we get to share a tiny, one room apartment (but hallelujah, big kitchen!), we make next to nothing. We have both gone through the terrifying (though for me, should be familiar) process of applying for SNAP benefits, and have been really trying hard to make our food budget work. This year is going to be the ultimate struggle for me as a foodie, but I am excited too, because I think I can rise to the challenge. Whether is saving vegetable scraps and freezing them to make broth, picking lavender, rosemary, wild blackberries, and apples, or doubling our benefits at the Farmer’s Market, we are making the best of it. So far, I love this city and all it has to offer me- and maybe living on a budget doesn’t have to be bland. With that being said, it is looking like this blog will shift gears a little bit, to be more focused on cheap, affordable, easy, and healthy recipes.

I want to leave with a link to an amazing free cookbook (the PDF is free!) which emcompasses all of these aspects. Leanne Brown studied Food Systems at NYU and thinks people should have good food every day. She created a cookbook “Good and Cheap” which is is a collection of recipes for people with limited incomes, particularly those on a $4/day food stamps budgets. And it is awesome! Here is the link to the PDF

https://8b862ca0073972f0472b704e2c0c21d0480f50d3.googledrive.com/host/0Bxd6wdCBD_2tdUdtM0d4WTJmclU/good-and-cheap.pdf

or you can visit her website http://www.leannebrown.com

Let the taste of my new life begin.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

Probably the best part of being a nutrition major is that a required course is a lab in which you play with food. Sometimes it is boring, such as concocting starch pastes and racing them down a plastic sheet to see which was most viscous. Or when we cooked broccoli for three hours….

Like, what?

Mostly though, we would walk in and our professor would say something like “we are having a whole-grain feast today, no lab report- yay!” or “today we are making pizzas, just for shoots and giggles!”. Needless to say, this “lab” has provided me with some of my favorite-ever recipes- including these scrumptious peanut butter bars. This recipe uses olive oil as a fat, which sounds “eh”, but works. I would say these are a good desset or breakfast or whatever your fancy. The chocolate chips are my addition because chocolate. Thanks URI Foods lab! I’m going to miss your weirdness!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

2/3 cups whole-wheat flour

1 cup loosely-packed brown sugar

1 cup dry old-fashioned oatmeal

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

1 large egg, beaten

1 Tbsp 1% milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine the flour, sugar, oats, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. Blend together the olive oil, peanut butter, egg and milk in another bowl, using a fork or whisk. Make an indent in the center of the dry ingredients and add the liquid ingredients. Using a rubber spatula, combine the ingredients together. Press the mixture into a 9×9 inch non-stick baking pan and bake for 14-15 minutes, until the edges are browned. Cool in the pan. Cut into 16 bars. Place on a plate and serve.

*ADD: Chocolate chips, raisins, walnuts, peanut butter chips, other delicious things

Oaxaca, Mexico

Hello there.

I’d like to show you some pictures of a place I went a while ago.

I’m not going to talk much.

These pictures speak for themselves.

If this meaty picture doesn’t peak your interest, then I’m not really sure what will.

It’s Oaxaca Mexico, a place I have since dubbed “delicious food capital of the world”.

These fresh markets were everywhere.

And I ate crickets.

This was an organic farmer’s market we visited upon our first day there.

Have you ever had beet, carrot and orange juice? Well, you should!

Salad with fresh grapefruit and orange. I think these colors say it all.

Heaps of cafe con leche was consumed. These people know how to make their coffee!

A delectable tostada with fresh greens from the farmers market. Fresh juice squeezed right in front of me.

For desert, a toasted coconut muffin.

Aaand of course, more cafe con leche.

There is a little fire going on under that stone, and when this Zapotec woman grinds the cocoa beans and adds just the right amount of sugar, it melts and begins to glisten- making fresh, still warm chocolate. That was probably one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted.

It is so so wonderful to travel, and to be able to experience the taste of a place.

I hope I get to do this often in my life.

Food for Thought

Everyone is taking pictures of their food these days. It seems to me that the human pre-meal ritual has switched over from saying grace and praising god, to hashtagging, gramming and showing the world how beautiful our meals can be. Snap, filter and post, so that the world will know of your delicious chow. I may not have an iphone, or an instagram for that matter, but this is not actually a technological phenomenon that bothers me. I kinda like it.

People appreciating their food? I’m ay okay with being in that large club.

I sort of found myself wishing it were easier for me to share my breakfast this morning, because it felt like so much more than breakfast.

After a great night out in Newport, RI with this pal, one of my oldest and dearest friends, I found myself on my porch this morning, eating eggs, looking out onto the hazy ocean, smiling and loving life.

And so, this isn’t just a quick pic of my breakfast, it is a small documentation to the immense happiness and contentment that is my life. What I would really like to say is that I am grateful to be eating and feeling well, appreciative of my beautiful friends and loving family and more than thankful to be living on this tiny island by the sea.

I think that’s what all the instagrammers are trying to say. Look at how lucky I am world. Amen!