sesame lime black bean salad

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked black beans
• 1/2 small sweet onion, very thinly sliced
• 2 red bell peppers, diced
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeds removed and minced (keep seeds for extra heat)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. chili garlic paste (more or less to taste)
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt (more to taste)

Directions:

1. Mix black beans, onion and peppers together.
2. Whisk together garlic, lime juice, sesame oil, chili garlic paste, cumin and salt, and dress salad.
3. Let chill for at least one hour in the refrigerator and serve chilled or at room temperature.

vegan split pea soup

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. coconut oil
• 1 large Vidalia onion, diced
• 4 large carrots, sliced
• 3 ribs of celery, sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 7 cups vegetable broth
• 1 lb. split peas, rinsed and picked over
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 1/2 tsp. salt (you may need to use slightly more or less depending on your vegetable broth)
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• roasted chickpeas for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat coconut oil in a large pot over medium heat, and saute onion, carrots and celery for 5 to 7 minutes until lightly browned. Add garlic and saute for another minute.
2. Add broth, split peas, basil, cumin and oregano, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for one hour.
3. Add salt and pepper and puree to desired consistency. Top with roasted chickpeas, if desired.

Before we fully transition into overdosing on spring’s bounty of greens on greens on greens, here’s one more bowl of healthy comfort food to pay homage to the winter that just would not quit. This warm vegetable salad is very much inspired by a dish I fell in love with from True Food Kitchen in Newport Beach. Loaded with perfectly caramelized vegetables and dressed in a spicy horseradish dressing, this is the salad to eat when you’re not in the mood for salad.

roasted vegetable horseradish salad

Ingredients:

• 1 head of cauliflower, chopped into florets
• 2 sweet potatoes, diced
• 3 cups brussels sprouts, halved
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 scallion (white part only), finely sliced
• 1/4 cup champagne vinegar
• 2 tbsp. prepared horseradish
• 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2.5 cooked white beans
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
• 1/4 cup dried mulberries

Directions:

1. Pre-heat broiler. Toss cauliflower in a light coating of olive oil and salt, and roast under broiler until soften and lightly caramelized — about 10 minutes. Do the same for the sweet potatoes (which may take 15 minutes) and brussels sprouts.
2. While vegetables are roasting, sauté garlic, shallots and scallions in a teaspoon of olive oil over medium heat for three minutes. Whisk in the champagne vinegar, horseradish, red pepper, salt and olive oil, and remove from heat.
3. Once vegetables are finished roasting, mix with beans, pomegranate seeds and dried mulberries. Toss with dressing to coat evenly, and serve warm.

I know winter’s not done with us yet, but by some grace of the germ gods, I haven’t gotten sick this season. I’ve been around sick family, children, co-workers, clients, and somehow my immune system is standing strong and totally killing it. (Brb, have to go knock on some wood.) Anytime I’ve felt an inkling of anything sick-y, I’ve made this soup. It’s spicy, cleansing and so, so good. Also, it has noodles made of daikon radish, which when boiled in broth takes on an entirely different flavor. I’m not saying this soup is responsible for my superhero immunity, but I’m also not ruling it out.

spicy miso soup with daikon noodles

serves 2

ingredients:

• 4 cups water
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, very thinly sliced
• 1 jalapeño, very thinly sliced (keep seeds for extra spice)
• 2-inch piece of ginger, finely minced
• 1 clove of garlic, finely minced
• 1 large daikon radish, peeled
• 1 package of enoki mushrooms, ends removed
• 1/4 cup miso
• 2 cups of baby bok choy
• 2 eggs (cooked either soft-boiled or over-easy)

directions:

1. Add water, onion, jalapeño, ginger and garlic to medium soup pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer.
2. Spiralize daikon using a spiralizer. (The one we use is the Paderno.) Add spiralized daikon and enoki mushrooms to broth, and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Remove 1/2 cup of broth and whisk in miso paste until dissolved. Return to pot, along with bok choy. Simmer for 3 minutes, or until bok choy is cooked through but still bright green.
4. Divide into two portions, and top each bowl with an egg (soft-boiled or over-easy).

Ready to grab your Meatless Monday by the (veggie) balls? Today’s recipe is a slightly modified take on the Meatball Shop’s incredible vegetarian lentil balls. The original recipe is pretty healthy as is, but with a few tweaks (less oil + no cheese), I feel good about making + devouring these as often as I do. I love them served over a bed of roasted broccoli and, if I’m feeling fancy, dipped in some good barbecue sauce.

lentil meatballs

slightly adapted from the meatball shop

ingredients:

• 2 cups lentils
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 large carrots, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 - 1 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional)
• 3 tbsp. tomato paste
• 8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, finely chopped
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

directions:

1. Bring two quarts of water to a boil in a medium stockpot. Add lentils, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until lentils are cooked through. Drain lentils, and set aside to cool.
2. Add the olive oil to a large pan and sauté the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, salt and crushed pepper (if using) over medium heat for 7 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables are fork tender. Add the tomato paste and stir to coat all vegetables evenly; cook for another 3 minutes until the tomato paste smells fragrant. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, for 15 more minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and allow to cool to room temperature. When cool, add the lentils to the vegetable mixture.
3. Add the eggs, nutritional yeast, panko, parsley and walnuts, and mix by hand to incorporate. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Oil two baking sheets.
5. Roll the mixture into golf ball-size meatballs, and make sure to pack the mixture firmly together. Arrange at least 1/2 inch apart from each other.
6. Bake for 30 minutes until lightly browned and cooked through.

#failproofers (and hopefully non-failproofers, too!): we’re eating real food this week! If you haven’t jumped on the real food bandwagon yet, this is your chance. Take this week to fall in love with the simplicity and deliciousness of sticking to real food; the results will follow. Tired of healthy food that tastes healthy? This recipe is for you. It’s warm, comforting and filling enough to fuel your body without weighing you down. It’s delicious enough that you’ll eat through the leftovers without giving in to the ‘let’s just order Seamless’ temptation.

black bean soup with sweet potato croutons

ingredients:

• 1 lb. dried black beans
• 2 tbsp. coconut oil
• 2 medium yellow onions, diced
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 4 celery stalks, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, roughly minced
• 1 jalapeño, sliced (to decrease level of spice, remove seeds)
• 1 tbsp. cumin
• 2 tsp. coriander
• 2 tsp. oregano
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (double this for extra heat!)
• 8 cups of vegetable broth
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2 tbsp. coconut oil
• 1 lime, juiced
• sea salt, to taste

directions:

1. Soak dried beans in water overnight, or for at least 6 hours. Once soaked, rinse under cold water for a minute.
2. Heat coconut oil in a large pot over medium heat. Saute onions, carrots and celery for 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic, jalapeno and spices, and saute for another minute.
3. Add beans and vegetable broth to the pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, covered, for one hour.
4. While the soup is cooking, pre-heat oven to 450ºF. Toss sweet potatoes with coconut oil and sea salt (to taste), arrange on a baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes, tossing halfway.
5. Once soup is cooked through (black beans should be fork tender), puree with an immersion blender. Season with salt to taste (add 1/4 teaspoon at a time; amount needed will depend on the level of salt in your vegetable broth) and additional cayenne pepper if desired. Stir in lime juice.
6. Top each bowl of soup with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sweet potato croutons.

Resolved to eat more veggies in 2015? Here’s a good place to start. This roasted veggie side is so damn simple: turn on your oven, toss in a little oil + flava flave and roast for 10 minutes. That’s it, you’re done. And thanks to the natural flavor of shishitos (helped along by sesame oil + Maldon salt), you’re going to love this whole eating more veggies thing.

roasted sesame shishito peppers

ingredients:

• 1 lb. shishito peppers
• 2 tbsp. toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce, tamari or Bragg’s
• 1 tsp. Maldon sea salt flakes

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF.
2. Toss peppers with sesame oil and soy sauce, and arrange on a baking sheet.
3. Roast for 10 to 15 minutes until browned and crispy.

Simple ingredients (I’m looking at you, tempeh) get by with a little help from their friends (a.k.a. condiments, sauces or anything that imparts flavor). In this case, it’s barbecue sauce that takes tempeh from bland to something craveable (really). And instead of relying on store-bought (likely sugar-laden) barbecue sauce, we’re whipping up a fast and easy homemade version that’s a bit more virtuous and just as delicious.

bbq tempeh

ingredients:

• 1/3 cup organic tomato paste
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 3 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
• 1.5 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1.5 tbsp. raw honey or maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1.2 tsp. black pepper
• 8 oz. organic, non-gmo tempeh, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp. coconut oil

directions:

1. Blend all ingredients except for tempeh together until combined.
2. Pour 1/2 cup of sauce over tempeh slices and let marinate in the fridge for at least one hour.
3. Heat oil in a large saucepan, add tempeh (along with barbecue sauce) to the pan and saute for 5 to 7 minutes until sauce is absorbed and tempeh is lightly browned.

I found these little guys at the farmer’s market last weekend and, of course, needed to buy ten of them. (Thank god I have bari arm strength.) Among a sea of familiar gourds, the sign in front of these new-to-me honey nut squash said that they were a pint-sized version of butternut squash (duh) but intensely sweeter. Half of my brain thought, “Riiiiight, these are mutant baby butternut squash with a made-up name.” The other half thought, “So cute. So tiny. And sweeter than butternut?” We know how this story ends — had to have em, had to find out. The verdict? That sign wasn’t lying. They’re super sweet, so good and the cute tiny-vegetable factor really shouldn’t be overlooked.

stuffed honey nut squash

ingredients:

• 8 honey nut squash
• 1 tbsp. coconut oil
• 2 cups shredded cabbage
• 1/2 medium onion
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup raisins, dried cranberries or dried cherries
• 1 tsp. kosher salt.
• 2 tbsp. tahini
• 1 tsp. raw honey
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp. cumin
• 1 tbsp. warm water

directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 425ºF. Cut each squash in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds and bake skin side down for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the size of your squash.
2. While the squash is baking, heat coconut oil in a medium pan and saute onion and cabbage for 7 to 10 minutes, until soft and cooked through.
3. Mix together cabbage, onion, cooked brown rice, sunflower seeds, raisins and salt.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together tahini, honey, garlic, cumin and water. Set aside.
5. Remove squash from oven, stuff with rice mixture and drizzle with tahini sauce.

It’s the Monday after Thanksgiving. Hopefully you had one very fun gluttonous day and then got right back on track. But in the event that you were on a leftovers diet through the weekend, consider this your friendly reminder that it’s time to eat some damn veggies. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure they taste good. Case in point: sriracha honey hasselback sweet potatoes. It sounds like a mouthful because it is: sweet, spicy and vitamin-packed enough to virtuously wave the white (clean eating) flag.

sriracha honey hasselback sweet potatoes

ingredients:

• 4 medium sweet potatoes
• 4 tablespoons coconut oil, divided
• Maldon sea salt flakes
• 4 teaspoons raw honey, divided
• sriracha, to taste

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Cut each potato hasselback style (cutting slits into the potato but leaving the bottom in tact; you can get full directions here).
2. Brush each potato with 1/2 tablespoon of coconut oil. Sprinkle with salt. Bake for 20 minutes.
3. Remove from oven. Brush each potato with an additional 1/2 tablespoon of coconut oil, making sure to get into the slits. Return to oven to bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, until cooked through and golden brown on the outside.
4. Drizzle one teaspoon of honey + sriracha (to taste) over each potato. Sprinkle with additional Maldon salt flakes, if desired.