Fennel and Clementine Salad With Lemon Garlic Dressing

Since it's getting warmer outside, I've been craving more and more raw, fresh food instead of hearty warm dishes. The result? Salads galore. I usually have pretty much the same salad during the week- a combo of dark greens, mixed veggies and cottage cheese for protein. Even though I love this salad, I decided it was time to switch it up and make something a little more gourmet. I decided that fennel was the way to go. 

I love the taste of fennel. It's similar to black licorice, with a sweet flavor that is great raw or cooked. I thought that it would go especially well with tangy and sweet clementines topped with an acidic splash of lemon combined with savory garlic. 

Fennel and Clementine Salad with Lemon Garlic Dressing

By Caroline Mac

Makes 1 serving

Ingredients:

1/2 bulb of fennel, outer layer peeled and thinly sliced, some greens reserved for garnish

Approx. 1 cup salad greens of choice (I used Trader Joe's Power Greens)

1 clementine, peeled and broken into sections

1 t olive oil

1/2 t lemon juice

1/2 t apple cider vinegar

1/4 t minced garlic

1/8 t ground black pepper

1/8 t Penzey's Trinidad Lemon Garlic seasoning (You can use a combination of lemon pepper and garlic powder as well)

Step 1: Spread greens across the bottom of your dish to create a bed of lettuce.

Step 2: Place clementine sections around the edge of the greens. Create a tower of fennel in the center.

Step 3: Whisk oil, lemon, vinegar, garlic, and seasoning together until thoroughly blended. Drizzle over  the fennel. Garnish with fennel greens.

Enjoy! 

~Caroline~

Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

My friend Paige and I were overdue for a cooking night. Our choice? Stuffed bell peppers! Since neither of us had ever made this dish, we decided it would be safest to follow a recipe. Next time I'll definitely create my own! This yummy recipe is protein packed and was really delicious. I added a little extra heat to up the Mexican-style feel of the dish. It would still taste great without the spice, which I why I put "to taste" next to the cayenne. I can't wait to create my own fillings in the future!

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
Adapted from Vegetarian Times

Ingredients:
1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped
2 T olive oil
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 T ground cumin
Cayenne pepper, to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced

10 oz frozen chopped spinach, partly thawed
2 15-oz  cans fire roasted diced tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved
15 oz can black beans, no salt added, rinsed and drained
3/4 c dry quinoa
3 carrots, peeled and grated
1 c shredded cheese (I used vegan cheese)
4 large red bell peppers, halved lengthwise, ribs removed

Step 1: Heat oil over medium-high heat and saute onion, celery, and garlic until tender and fragrant. Add cumin and cayenne and saute for another minute. Reduce heat to medium, add tomatoes and spinach and cook for 5 minutes or until liquid is mostly evaporated (there will still be some, which is ok).

Step 2: Stir in beans, quinoa, and carrots, as well as 2 cups water. You can use a little less water is there is still a lot of water from the spinach and tomatoes. Bring this to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Quinoa should be tender. Stir in cheese.

Step 3: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour tomato juice in the bottom of a baking pan. Fill each pepper half  as full as possible with quinoa mixture and place in baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before eating.

Enjoy!

~Caroline~

Spicy Roasted Garlic Brussel Sprouts

Give these garlicky brussel sprouts a try the next time you're craving a healthy, flavorful vegetable dish.

Spicy Roasted Garlic Brussel Sprouts
By Caroline Mac

Ingredients:
1 lb brussel sprouts, cleaned and cut into halves
9 cloves of garlic, whole and peeled
2 T olive oil
1/4 t Trinidad lemon garlic seasoning
1/4 t cayenne pepper


Step 1: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread brussel sprouts and garlic on  a baking dish.

Step 2: Mix olive oil and seasoning together and drizzle over brussel sprouts. Gently toss until evenly coated.

Step 3: Roast for 15- 20 minutes or until brussel sprouts are tender and the outsides are browned and slightly crispy. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

Peanut Tofu and Avocado Spring Rolls

It's finally feeling like spring! I found it only appropriate to start the season off with spring rolls! Basically, I created two recipes- a broiled peanut tofu, and the spring rolls that it was encased in. These are great for parties, lunch boxes, or just as a quick and healthy snack.

Peanut Tofu and Avocado Spring Rolls
By Caroline Mac

Note: Allow plenty of time to prepare this, as the tofu takes a couple of hours to marinate.

Ingredients:
Peanut Tofu:
11 strips of extra-firm tofu, pressed (Strips should be about 1/2 inch thick)
1/4 c crunchy peanut butter
1 T soy sauce
1 T rice vinegar
2 t sesame oil
1t lime juice
1/8 t Penzey's Singapore seasoning
Just under 1/4 t stevia
4 drops sriracha hot sauce
1 t water

Wraps:
3/4 avocado, sliced into 11 slices
1 bag Trader Joe's Broccoli slaw (you won't use the whole bag)
11 small shitaki mushrooms, washed and dried
11 spring roll rice wrappers (you can get these in the Asian section of most supermarkets)


Step 1: Mix all ingredients for the peanut tofu together, except for the tofu, until thoroughly blended. Coat each slice of tofu in the sauce, place in an oven-safe dish and allow tofu to marinate for a couple hours.

Step 2: Broil tofu in the oven for approximately 6-8 minutes on each side, or until each side is golden and crispy. Allow to completely cool before making rolls.

Step 3: Prepare first rice wrapper as according to the package. Typically, you soak the wrapper in warm water for a few seconds until it becomes flexible, place it on a towel to dry, and wrap it around your filling.

Step 4: Place one piece of tofu, one mushroom, one slice of avocado, and a small bunch of slaw in the center of the wrapper.

Step 5: Fold over one side of the wrapper, making sure to keep the ingredients compact. Fold in the top and bottom of the wrapper and continue rolling it until the ingredients are securely inside.

Step 6: Repeat this process for the remaining 10 wrappers. Serve with a sauce of your choice. I've had them with both sweet and sour sauce and a peanut sauce. Both tasted great!

Enjoy!

3000!

The blog has officially hit over 3000 views! I'm pretty excited. After all, I wasn't even sure if I'd stick with this when I first created it! 

I feel like I should do something epic to commemorate this milestone... Suggestions? 

Once again, thank you to everyone who has checked out my recipes, shared my posts, or contributed to my vegetarian/ vegan knowledge in any way!

Stay healthy and eat god food!

~Caroline~

Almost 3000!!!

Nine more views and I hit 3000 you guys!!! Woohoo! Thanks!

Italian-Seasoned Veggie Sauté

I'm always looking for new sources of protein and this week's discovery (though it has been around for a while) was seitan! I had tried a bit of southwestern-style seitan from the Whole Foods salad bar and was immediately hooked. The texture is really great and I discovered that I can buy it in a wide variety of flavors! After proceeding to the refrigerated section of the store, I chose Upton's Naturals Italian-style seitan. Two words: Absolutely delicious. Here's the recipe I chose to incorporate it into!

Italian-Seasoned Spring Sauté
By Caroline Mac
Makes 1 serving

Ingredients:
2 oz Italian-style seitan, chopped
1/2 c chick peas
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/3 c sliced white mushrooms
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 leaves fresh basil, chopped
Handful of mixed leafy greens (I used Trader Joe's Power Greens)
1/2 T olive oil
1/2 t Penzey's Green Goddess dressing seasoning
Lemon pepper to taste
Splash balsamic vinegar

Step 1: Add olive oil celery, carrots, mushrooms, basil, and garlic to a pan and heat over medium-high heat. Saute mixture until garlic becomes fragrant and veggies begin to tenderize.

Step 2: Add chick peas and seitan and continue stirring until everything becomes heated through. Add Greens, seasoning, and balsamic vinegar and saute until greens become wilted and soft.

Serve warm.

Enjoy!

~Caroline~