Healthy Hummus

I love hummus. I pretty much eat it every day during the work week as I have a salad for lunch and I use it as dressing. Sometimes I'll make my own dressing or use salsa but hummus is my fave. I NEVER use store bought dressing.....unless I'm dining out.

I usually always make my own hummus as it's so easy and so cheap but lately I've just been so busy! But this weekend I took it easy and made it my mission to make it. Mission accomplished! I love a good challenge. LOL Even if it's a tiny one like this......with myself. :)

Healthy Hummus

Ingredients

2 small cans chickpeas (2 1/4 cups)

1/2 tsp sea salt (or to taste)

1/2 - 3/4 lemon, juiced

3 tsp tahini (I used raw)

1/4 cup water, or as needed

Sunflower seeds (garnish)

Paprika (garnish)

Directions:

Place all ingredients into a blender or food processor and mix until smooth. Add salt to taste and more water as needed.

Serve with veggies, pita or have it on your salad like me! You can add a little olive oil if you like but I use water to make it smooth and omit oil to keep the calories and fat content down. I generally don't like to use oil in cooking like this. I like to get my fats from avocado, nuts and seeds. I try to cook with as little as possible. Fats are good for you and necessary for life, I just like to get them from the right places and def think we consume too much!

Eat awesome my friends!

Peace

xoxo

K

A Mexican Fiesta: Chipotle burrito bowl, salsa and guacamole

I am addicted to the burrito bar at Whole Foods on Robson Street. I think about it all the time. So I figured it was about high time that I recreate it so that I can satisfy my craving without breaking the bank. It can turn into an expensive habit you know. Lol

I'll start with the salsa and guacamole, the toppings and make my way to the bowl itself.

Salsa

Ingredients

2 lg tomatoes

1/4 red onion, diced small

1 red pepper

1 jalapeno, minced

1 handful cilantro, minced

1/2 lime, juiced

1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions

1. Slice the tomatoes like you would to put on a sandwich or burger. Then dice into small, even cubes.

2. Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly, taste and add any additional seasonings to your tastes.

3. Enjoy. Seriously. :)

Guacamole

Ingredients

1 avocado

1 jalapeno

1/4 red onion

1/2 lime, juiced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp sea salt

Directions

Put all ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth. Enjoy.

Salsa and guacamole from scratch. Yum

Chipotle Burrito Bowl

Ingredients

2 cups pinto beans

1 1/2 cups frozen corn

2 small sweet potato, chopped

1/2 red onion

1 carrot, chopped

1/2 bunch cilantro, minced

1 lime, juiced

2 tsp chili pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 cup veggie stock

3 chipotle peppers, minced

brown rice

Directions

Add sweet potatoes, carrots and onions to pan and saute in a little water for 3 minutes, covered. Add beans, corn, chipotle peppers and veggie stock, cover and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. Stirring occasionally. Add remaining ingredients and simmer on low for 10 minutes.

Layer your burrito bowl with brown rice, Chipotle pinto beans, guacamole and salsa and Enjoy!!!

And there you have it! The only thing missing from the bowl that whole foods does is the BBQ tofu. Which I must make next time. I thought I had tofu at home, but I don't even have BBQ sauce anyways. They all have so much sugar. I'll have to be on the hunt for the best one. Any recommendations?

I have been searching for gluten free and/or sugar free chipotle peppers for some time now. They are always canned and filled with sugar and wheat. But I found these puppies at my fave local Asian grocery store, West Valley Produce. If you're a Vancouverite, its on Bute street right about at Davie, across from the liquor store. LOVE this place. Good prices. And they have quite a bit of veggie stuff too and almost all my fave Asian items. I've never heard of Morita Chiles but I love trying new foods so I picked these up too. In fact they had so many different dried peppers I'd never heard of. I'm gonna go get more next time. I have no idea what to do with them but it sure is gonna be fun! lol

Then I picked up a couple cans of black beans. I always like to have them handy for those nights when you've forgotten to soak some beans or just need something quick. What I dislike about canned beans is how much salt is in them. These babies have none! Yup, I said it. NONE.



And they're organic! I actually love this brands coconut milk. They have the tiny little 160ml ones and the 70% less fat versions, which I'm a big fan of.

So get on this burrito bowl folks! Its hot hot hot! Ole! lol

Peace

xoxo

K

Gettin Fresh

I've known the glory of collard greens for a while now. They are probably the best vegetable for a person to eat. They have pretty much everything and beat kale in terms of nutrient density. Although not by a landslide. Kale is awesome. I eat it almost every day. Collards are something I'd like to bump up to almost every day too. 

Here are some facts about collards that I got from this website.

Look at that!!! And at only 49 calories per 100 grams, that's awesome! So instead of using tortillas or other lettuce for wraps, use collard greens. You'll get way more nutrients and more bang for your buck. If you want to know how to use collard leaves as wraps watch this video by Ani Phyo. She's awesome. LOVE her. I really want to add more raw foods in my diet and she is def an expert. Check her out!

Anyways, back to what I made. I picked up some of these collard greens, hummus, cucumber, apple and green onion and made some wraps! OMG they were so yummy. So fresh and delish. 

Collard greens, cucumber, apple, green onion, carrot and hummus. YUMMMMM

My first attempt

Yah baby!

My work space today. 

Collard greens, green onion, apple, cucumber, hummus, homemade pumpkin and hemp seed spread, and homemade mustard.

My lunch: Chickpea lentil veggie soup and some wraps

Look at how delicious that looks! And they are super easy to make. Just wrap and go! I great way to start off the New Year. It is after all International Diet Month. lol I just made that up, but its basically true. Although you would never know by coming to my office. People are still bringing in baked goods and chocolates. Driving me crazy!!! Come on! Everyone's on a diet in January. 

The pumpkin and hemp seed spread I just made up. And I didn't write down a recipe but here's what I did:

Raw Pumpkin Hemp Seed Spread

Soaked 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds for the day. Then added those plus 1/2 cup raw hemp seeds, 1/4 red onion, 2 garlic cloves, a little water, dash of sea salt and blend in the food processor until smooth. 

I've been eating that with carrots and celery and putting it in my wraps. Good source of protein and another million other health benefits. Hemp is so great for you. Its such a versatile plant. I'm almost out of my hemp seeds, looks like I'm going to have to go to Costco soon! Yah for Costco for selling them. Brilliant move. :)

Made a good little Thai lentil soup for tonight's Bachelor night!!! Also gonna roast some veggies and my friend Jessica is bringing the wine. Love it that I have friends who like to eat their veggies, drink wine and watch trashy shows on TV. Ha. 

PS a friend told me that if you click on my pics that you can take a closer look at them. ALL of them at one time. Learn something new every day!

Peace

xoxo

K

Whole Foods to Thrive recipe review: Indian-Spiced Lentil Hemp Patties

The last recipe I made from this book was so easy and delicious I figured that others would be too so I took a crack at another one. If you wanna check out the Black bean chili pizza I made, you can do so here. This time I made a burger pattie, but I didn't eat it like a burger with a bun and such. 

Indian-Spiced Lentil Hemp Patties

Ingredients

2-3 tbsp coconut oil, for frying

1 cup diced yellow onion

1 stalk celery, minced

1 cup red pepper, diced

6 medium cloves garlic, minced

14 tsp ginger powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 cup hemp seeds

3 tbsp sprouted flax powder or finely ground flax seeds

1 1/4 cup cooked red lentils

1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions:

1. In a medium frying pan, heat 1 tbsp coconut oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery and red pepper, and saute until the onion is translucent and the vegetables are soft. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute longer. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl.

2. To the vegetable mixture, add the remaining ingredients and mix well, mashing the lentils with a fork. Adjust salt as needed. Hand-shape into 4-6 patties.

3. Heat the remaining coconut oil in a large frying pan over low heat. The lower the heat the better, as it will allow the patties to cook longer and get a better crust.  Place the patties on the pan carefully and cook until brown underneath, about 10 minutes.  Flip the patties over and repeat on the other side. Serve warm.

Veggie mixture

Hemp seeds and ground flax seeds

All ready to go!

NOTE: I did not have a red pepper in the house so I used a carrot and an extra stalk of celery. I also processed all the veggies in the food processor including the onions and fried them at the same time. I used NO oil, just water. I kept the heat at medium to prevent it from sticking. I also didn't have red lentils, so I subbed green lentils. THEN I didn't pan fry, but I baked them at 375 for 25 minutes on each side. (depends on size). I only sprayed a little Pam on it. 

YUM

Topped with spinach and my Tahini Dressing

Mmmm, patties, raisin chutney, roasted delicata squash, and kale

Delish meal for 2

This meal is so loaded with fiber and protein its insane. The raisin chutney I just threw together at the last moment. I've always thought chutney's were so complicated to make but I was wrong. 

Raisin Chutney

Ingredients

1 cup raisins

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp chili flakes

1/2 red onion

1/4 cup water

1 tsp fresh ginger

Directions

Put all ingredients in a food processor and processor until smooth-ish. I just pulsed till the raisins were no longer full raisins. Was for about a minute or so. 

Also, cuz we're red wine whores, we picked up a bottle of wine to go with our afternoon lunch. Have you ever had this bottle before? Its a cheapo bottle, under 15  I think. But the reason I got it was because of the bottle. I loved the chili pepper on it. AND bonus, it was quite delish! I'll def get it again. 

Of course its empty.

Peace

xoxo

K

What the Fig??

My work has gone fig crazy! They loved my fig-a-licious dip and have devoured it every time I've made it; which is twice. I got a big bag of fresh figs again from a coworker and asked to come up with a fig dip for someone who can't eat nuts. So I did. Plus I made one with nuts.

What the Fig dip

- 4 fresh figs
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 1/2 tsp sea salt

1. Roast figs and garlic for 30 minutes. Wrap garlic in tin foil. Figs do not need to be wrapped.
2. Caramelize the red onion by frying it in a pan with enough olive to coat the onions and a bit extra for about 15 minutes or until brown
3. Put all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth

YUM!!!

I also had a hankering for pasta.

Creamy Potato Spaghettini

- 1 red potato, sliced
- 2 carrots, sliced
- 5 shitake mushrooms, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 3 kale stalks, leaves removed
 1 tsp dry veggie stock
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp seat salt
- 2 tbsp chili flakes
- 4 tsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp cornstarch, mixed with cold water
pepper

1. Boil potato and carrots until soft
2. Drain and put aside
3. Use a tablespoon of olive oil and fry the garlic and the mushrooms for 3 minutes.
4. Add remaining ingredients EXCEPT for the cornstarch. Add 1/2 cup water and cool for 10 minutes.
5. Add cornstarch mixture and cook until it thickens.
6. Serve on top of whole grain spaghettini noodles and enjoy!

This was some goooood pasta. Very satisfying indeed.

I finally opened one of the new bottles of wine I got from a friend as a gift. Its from Napa Valley. Its from Duckhorn Vineyards in Napa Valley and is a Cabernet Sauvignon from 2007. It is DELISH.

Anyways, I'm off to bed.

Peace

xoxo

K