Cooked Veggies on Couscous (vegetarian!)

Simple, yummy, and meat free (for all you vegetarians!), this dish is a perfect post-work out dinner. It's packed with protein, and who doesn't love couscous?

You will need:

1/2 cup of water

1/2 cup of couscous

1 tbsp of lemon juice

1/2 sweet potato, peeled and diced

1/2 red pepper

1/2 yellow pepper

1 small zucchini

1 handful of mushrooms

1/2 cup of chickpeas

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 tsp rosemary

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup of crumble feta

1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro

Serves 2 (or so).

Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 450 F

2. Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in couscous and lemon. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand until ready.

3. In a large bowl, toss together all vegetables, chickpeas, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Spread vegetable mixture in a large roasting pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Roast for about 25 minutes, stirring once or twice, until vegetables are tender.

4. To serve, combine hot vegetables, cooked couscous, feta cheese, and fresh cilantro in a large serving bowl and toss well. Enjoy!!!

Avocado Fried Egg

This is simple, really tasty breakfast, full of protein and all your essential fats. Mel was making it when I got back from the gym this morning and just the smell makes my mouth water!

You will need:
1 egg
1 avocado
Salt, pepper, paprika

Prep:
1. Take an avocado and cut it length-wise down the middle until it is split in two. Discard the seed, and slice the avocado once more so that it is divided into two or three length-wise sections.
2. Cut a small hole in the middle of one of the sections.
3. Melt butter (or use PAM) on a pan over medium heat. Place the slice of avocado on the pan, and then crack an egg into the hole. Cook until desired.
4. Add salt, pepper and paprika to taste, and serve with whole grain toast. I also like to use the extra avocado as avocado butter for my toast, simply by mashing it into a spread. So yummy! Enjoy!

Vegetarian Quinoa-stuffed peppers

Easy to make, absolutely delicious. I like to eat them with some brussel sprouts, but they are generally pretty filling on their own! They are full of flavour, and all the nutrients your body needs!

You will need:
2 peppers, assorted colours
1/3 cup of quinoa
2/3 cup of water
1/2 tsp of curry powder
1/2 tsp of cumin
1/2 tbsp of olive oil
5 or 6 small mushrooms
1 clove of garlic
1/4 cup of peas
1 cup of spinach
1/4 cup of crumbled feta
1 tbsp of lemon juice
Pepper to taste
1/4 cup of cilantro

Serves two.

Prep:
1. In a pot, bring the water and quinoa to a boil, and then add cumin and curry powder. Turn the heat down to low, and let it simmer before taking it off the stove top.
2. Neatly cut the tops off of your peppers, and extract the seeds and innards. Discard the stem, but keep the tops and dice them.
3. Heat olive oil up in a pan, and mix in the diced pepper tops with garlic. Once these become soft, add the spinach, mushrooms, and peas. Cook until all vegetables are soft.

4. In a large mixing bowl, stir together your feta, lemon juice, cilantro and pepper. Then add your pan o veggies, and the quinoa. Mix well.

5. Preheat your oven to 375F. Scoop the quinoa-veggie mixture into your peppers. Placed stuffed peppers on cooking sheet covered in tin foil. Lightly cover the peppers with tin foil. Cook peppers or 40 minutes, removing the tin foil top from your peppers at approx 20 minutes.

Corn, Blackbean and Mango Salad

Lunch has always been a meal that I reserve for salads, it's really important to get your veggies. But that doesn't mean it has to be boring! This salad is delicious- zesty, sweet, and lots of protein as well. It is suppose to serve four, but Mel and I ate almost the entire salad ourselves for lunch! Try it, you won't regret it. 

You will need:

1 can (540 mL) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (398 mL) whole-kernel corn, drained
1 large mango, peeled and diced
1 cup chopped tomatoes of your preference
2 tbsp minced fresh cilantro
2 tbsp of lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 small avocados, diced

Serves four.

Prep:
1. All you do is put all of these wonderful ingredients in a bowl, and mix! 

Gluten-free white chocolate peanut butter blondies

We're all about our healthy food....but this recipe is definitely NOT good for you....but it is sooooooo good. I made these blondies for my friend Lisa for her birthday. She is on a gluten-free diet, and she also happens to be lactose intolerant. This recipe was a perfect substitution for a birthday cake. No dairy, no wheat, and absolutely delicious. I suggest eating them almost right after taking them out of the oven, the practically melt in your mouth. 

You will need:

1 bag of white chocolate chips

1 cup of butter

1 cup of brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 cup of peanut butter 

Pinch of salt

1 cup of ground almonds (if you have a nut allergy, you can substitute this for rice flour and it works just as well!)

1 tbsp of baking powder

Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 325. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a mixing bowl beat sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt.

3. In a saucepan over low heat, melt butter and chocolate chips and stir together. The butter will probably not be completely absorbed in to the chocolate, most of it will float on the top.

4. Add melted butter-chocolate mixture to the mixing bowl and mix well before adding peanut butter. 

5. Mix in ground almonds and baking powder.

6. Pour onto baking tray and place in oven for 25 to 30 mins. Serve with a glass of milk and enjoy!!!

Vegetarian Sweet Potato Soup with Orange and Ginger

Had I known Mel was going to make a sweet potato soup tonight as well, I would have waited to make mine! I basically had two dinners tonight because I couldn't resist trying. This soup is absolutely marvellous, thick and zesty, just packed with flavour. This one takes a little longer as far as prep goes, but it is totally worth it, and it makes alot (which means you can store away the leftovers in your fridge for a rainy day when you're too tired to be creative).

You will need:

6 cups sweet potatoes, peeled, cubed
1 and 1/2 cups onions, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
5 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon orange zest, grated
1 tablespoon ginger root, grated
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Prep:
1. Preheat oven to 425F
2. Spray a shallow roasting pan with non-stick spray. Add yams, onions, olive oil, and garlic and stir well. Roast, uncovered for 25 minutes. Stir once, halfway through cooking time.
3. Transfer mixture to a soup pot. Add broth, orange zest, ginger root, clove, cumin, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered for 10 minutes.
4. Transfer soup to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth- you may have to do this in batches- this is large recipe, so not all of it may fit in a small blender.

 

5. Put back in the pot to heat the soup back up again. Serve hot with a swirl of sour cream in the centre. Garnish with fresh cilantro- it's ridiculously good.

Vegetarian Sweet Potato Stew

Don't let the name decieve you, this isn't a really thick stew that will make you feel bloated and heavy after a few bites. I would identify with this as more a soup. This is by far one of the best soups I've ever tried. Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite foods on earth, so if you like sweet potatoes, you'll like this. Warm, sweet, and savoury, this soup has a surprising array of flavours and spices that will make your taste buds squeal with pleasure. And don't worry, there's no catch- this soup is very healthy! One bowl is only 250 calories, and its loaded with good veggies and protein. Try it! You won't be disappointed.

You will need:

2 tsp olive oil

1 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

3 cups water

3 cups peeled, cubed sweet potatoes 

1 can (540mL) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp each ground cumin, curry powder, and chili powder

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tsp each peanut butter

Fresh cilantro

Serves for 6.

***TIP: Make sure you have all your ingredients out, chopped and prepared before you start cooking. I made a mistake of doing things as I went, and regretted it- I was rushing around making a mess of the kitchen! I was just too excited to start. But be prepared before you start putting things in the pan, don't make my mistake.

Prep:

1. Heat olive oil in large saucepan or pot over med-high heat. Add onions, celery, green pepper, and garlic. Cook and stir until vegetables begin to soften.

2. Add all remaining ingredients, (peanut butter and cilantro). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, about 20 minutes.

3. Stir in peanut butter and cilantro. Mix well. Simmer for 5 more minutes.

4. Serve hot and enjoy!