Rich in protein, chickpeas do not contain any cholesterol or saturated fats. They have more zinc, folic acid and potassium than most other beans, and are a balanced source of macro-nutrients. Chickpeas are a great source of dietary fiber, which is essential in the proper functioning of the body.

Rich in protein, chickpeas do not contain any cholesterol or saturated fats. They have more zinc, folic acid and potassium than most other beans, and are a balanced source of macro-nutrients. Chickpeas are a great source of dietary fiber, which is essential in the proper functioning of the body.

An edible seed that comes from the desert plant Salvia hispanica, chia has more omega-3 fatty acids than the more well-known flax seeds. When added to water and allowed to sit for a few minutes, chia forms a gel, which, when consumed, slows the process by which digestive enzymes break down carbohydrates and convert them into sugar.

I’ve never loved oatmeal. I’ve eaten it plenty because (1) I’m a nutritionist, and it’d be sacrilegious to dislike oatmeal and (2) it’s an easy, filling breakfast. Taste wise, it’s good, but nothing to write home about. This is likely because I have a savory-over-sweet-tooth and don’t often crave sweet foods in the morning. Turns out I was approaching it all wrong — several years back, I discovered that you could make savory oatmeal. Of course you could — in the same way that you can prepare brown rice with sweet or savory flavorings, you can take your oatmeal sweet or salty. Mind blown, world brightened — my like for oatmeal blossomed into full-blown love. Ready to discover oatmeal’s more delicious cousin? (Okay, I’m biased, but I promise it’s good.) Whip this quick meal up, and enjoy it for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Savory Oats with a Soft-boiled Egg

Ingredients:

• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup steel cut oats
• 2 tbsp. chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 egg
• 1 cup spinach, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
• hot sauce (optional)

Directions:

1. Bring water and salt to a boil. Add oats, onion and garlic, then reduce heat and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on desired texture.
2. While oats are cooking, soft-boil an egg by either: (1) adding a room temperate egg to boiling water and cooking for 6 minutes or (2) steaming an egg for 7 minutes. When done, peel and set aside.
3. When almost all water is absorbed from oats, stir in spinach until wilted. Then, mix in nutritional yeast.
4. Top oats with the soft-boiled egg and add hot sauce, if desired.

The most recommended herb for liver detoxification, dandelion has been used for cleansing for more than a century. Among its many cleansing properties, it most notably stimulates the digestive organs and helps promote the liver and gallbladder to release bile.

A thick paste made from ground up sesame seeds, tahini is high in protein and a great source of calcium. It provides a B-vitamin boost – containing B1, B2, B5 and B15 – and plays an essential role in increasing metabolism, enhancing immune and nervous system function and maintaining healthy skin and muscle tone. Tahini is also a good source of vitamin E, which can reduce the rate of aging in body cells.

Part banana bread, part muffin — 100 percent delicious. These muffins are our favorite weekday grab-and-go breakfast/snack/pre-workout pick-me-up. They’re also our veiled attempt to healthify our favorite banana bread recipe, pour the mixture into muffin tins and call it breakfast for the whole week. Enjoy one or two warmed up with a pat of coconut oil or nut butter (preferably alongside a green smoothie or juice).

Vegan Banana Oat Bran Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. ground golden flaxseed
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. water
• 2 large ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1/3 cup raw honey
• 2 1/4 cup oat bran
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1.5 cup blueberries (optional)

Directions:

1. Whisk together ground flax and water until well combined. Let mixture sit in the refrigerator for 15 minutes until it forms a thick gel.
2. Preheat oven to 425°.
3. In the meantime, mix together mashed bananas, almond milk and honey. When flax mixture is ready, stir in.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together oat bran, baking powder and cinnamon. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
5. Fold in sunflower seeds and blueberries, if using. Divide mixture evenly between 12 muffin cups.
6. Bake for 15 minutes and then let cool in the pan for 5 minutes.

Should you ever have the craving for egg-less scrambled eggs (trust us, it’s a thing), we’ve got you covered. Meet the tofu scramble — more precisely the best tofu scramble. We didn’t conceptualize this dish; it popped up a while back, at first on the (healthy) food porn corner of the interwebs and then on NYC restaurant menus, as an answer to vegan hankerings for cheesy scrambled eggs (sans eggs, of course). And we’ve thoroughly experimented with more flavor variations than you could imagine. This is the one we revisit time and again because it’s (1) delicious - holy flavor, is this really tofu? (2) healthy - protein, healthy fats, vegetables? yes, please and thank you and (3) quick, easy and versatile enough to eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

The Best Tofu Scramble
Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. extra firm sprouted tofu (1/4 of a block)
• 1 tbsp. coconut or vegetable oil
• 1/4 small red onion, diced
• 1/2 red pepper, diced
• 1/4 jalapeno, seeds removed and minced
• 1/2 cup black beans
• 1/4 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. coriander
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 2 tbsp. water
• 1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
• 1/2 avocado, diced

Directions:

1. Place tofu on several layers of paper towels. Gently press out as much moisture as possible, then mash tofu with the back of fork. The size of your tofu crumbles is up to you, and they don’t need to be uniform.
2. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion, red pepper, jalapeno and tofu and let cook for about 5 minutes. You’ll want to stir this around once or twice but not too often; we want the tofu to brown a bit, and it needs to stay put to do so.
3. Add black beans and corn.
4. Mix together turmeric, cumin, coriander, salt and water. Add to the pan, making sure that the tofu is fully coated, and cook for another 5 minutes. In the last minute of cooking, stir in nutritional yeast.
5. Transfer to plate and top with avocado. If you’re craving extra heat, top with your favorite hot sauce.

Want breakfast/lunch/dinner on the table in under 15 minutes? We’ve got you covered with today’s Meatless Monday recipe. The ingredients are minimal, the steps are foolproof and, with 15 minutes of mostly hands-off cooking time, little to no patience is required. This is healthy eating, simplified.

paprika chickpeas & kale

serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. + 2 tsp. coconut oil, divided
• 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup cooked
• 1 tbsp. Spanish paprika
• 2 cups finely chopped kale
• 1/4 lemon
• sea salt, to taste
• 1 egg

Directions:

1. Heat 1 tbsp. coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add red onion, chickpeas and paprika to pan and toss until chickpeas are evenly coated with oil and paprika. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, gently stirring every few minutes to prevent burning.
2. When chickpeas look lightly browned and crispy, stir in kale and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until kale has wilted. Season with salt and a squeeze of lemon. Remove from pan.
3. Heat remaining oil and fry egg. If you love your taste buds, you’ll be careful to leave the yolk a little runny. Top kale and chickpeas with fried egg, and enjoy.

If you feel like you’ve been eating root vegetables in excess since Thanksgiving, please don’t complain; they’re delicious, in season and good for you, so eat up while you can. If you’re getting bored of roasted vegetables, it’s time to switch up your preparation. One of our favorite ways to infuse new flavor into the trusty, old root vegetable + olive oil + sea salt equation is (1) roasting our veggies in coconut oil and (2) taking advantage of peak citrus season and dressing our veggies with a light, orange-y vinaigrette. Extreme veggie makeover? Not quite. But it’s pretty damn good.

roasted root vegetable & farro bowl
serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 cup farro
• 2.5 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups diced butternut squash
• 2 cups diced carrots
• 2 large beets, peeled and diced
• 3 tbsp. melted coconut oil
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (approximate yield of one orange)
• 2 tsp. honey mustard
• 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. flaky sea salt
• 1/2 cup shaved asiago

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Bring farro and broth to a boil. Reduce to low heat, cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Drain off any excess liquid.
3. Toss squash, carrots and beets in coconut oil. Arrange on two baking sheets and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until vegetables are beginning to brown lightly.
4. Whisk together oil, orange juice, mustard and vinegar.
5. When farro and vegetables are done, toss to combine and add sea salt. Coat evenly with dressing and mix in asiago. Serve warm.