All posts tagged: clean recipes

Easy Southwestern Baked Eggs

Sunday, i.e., e.g., aka The Day Before Dreaded Monday (or more appropriately in my world known as Sunday Funday), is the giver of many wonderful things. Sunday kinda makes all the other days of the week look just a bit shoddy; it’s the show girl day of the week, all frills and fun! Not only do I heart Sundays, but I also love sleep, because it’s like a time machine to breakfast. And I enjoy brunch even more, since it’s basically breakfast for lazy people who can’t get out of bed on time. It should be no surprise, therefore, that I practically live for Sunday Brunch. Please tell me I’m not the only weekend hedonist out there! Since I follow the religion of yoga + brunch on Sundays, I feel it’s my sacred duty to uphold this tradition each and every week. We either go out to bottomless boozy brunch (thank you D.C. for you’re endless list of restaurants who participate in this debauchery) or have friends over. If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: …

Veggies on Mexican Lime Rice + Handmade Tortillas with Cilantro-Jalapeño Sauce

GOD BLESS TEXAS…. I’m a Texas girl, y’all, and you know we do tacos, tortillas and football on the reg. In my home city Dallas, Tex-Mex is practically a revered as a sacred art. I myself have devoted endless hours to “studying” said art by way of eating non-stop Mexican cuisine and drinking many a margarita. I just wanted to make sure I left no stone unturned in my quest to find the perfect burrito. I’m very devoted to my research, obviously!  I have yet to experience a mambo taxi (a frozen marg that maybe should be illegal) I didn’t want to add to my list of Possible Last Supper Options. I really do keep this list, because you just never know. The Boy Scouts only think they came up with that motto. Not so fast, Eagle Scout! I was born touting that as my personal mantra! But I digress. Anyway, D.C. offers many great food experiences, but sometimes a girl likes to get back to her roots and go a little wild, Wild West on dinner. And so I did. …

Roasted Tomotoes + Mushrooms on Creamy Polenta

FARMER’S MARKETS ARE LIKE DISNEY WORLD: ABLAZE IN COLOR, YOU’LL SPEND MORE THAN YOU PLANNED, AND YOU’LL LEAVE FEELING LIKE YOU HAVE BEEN SOME PLACE MAGICAL… There’s something really spectacular about wandering around a local farmer’s market on the weekend. My inner hippie loves being surrounded by so many varieties of gorgeous, vibrant foods, but those brilliant colors are more than aesthetically pleasing; the rich shades are actually derived from chlorophyll and anthocyanin, which are basically nature’s gift wrapped up in food. You can read about the 10 Benefits of Chlorophyll if you are a fellow nerd and love learning to the max. If you want to know about the nutritious benefits that come with different colors of veggies and fruit, check out this article “Colors of Vegetables & Their Nutrients.” Or, you can just take say, “Produce is the best; I’m convinced!” and carry on with this recipe đŸ™‚ As much as possible, I try to support local farmers who practice humane farming methods and produce GMO free crops. I recognize that usually this is …

20 Minute Veggie Bibimbap

If you’re a lucky duck, at some point in your life, you’ve enjoyed eating bibimbap. Firstly, it has THE world’s most awesome name perhaps ever, and secondly, it’s insanely delicious and healthy. Since moving to DC, my husband and I have a little tradition of taking an evening walk over to a restaurant called Mandu, where we first discovered this little bowl of yum. After ordering it no less than a million times give or take, it finally dawned on me that I could make this easy recipe (light bulb moment!). One of my amazing Korean friends taught me how to cook it, and the rest is history. Dinner got easier, my husband thinks I’m amazing (the credit goes to the bibimbap), and everyone is happy—including our pocketbook. While the traditional way to cook this meal uses meat and a lot of sesame oil, my variation is lighter on the cooking oil by using an oil mister; it’s also vegetarian. I added how to prepare and cook the beef, in case you’re more into clean eating and less …

Paleo Banana Pancakes

Can’t you see that it’s just raining? Ain’t no need to go outside… Maybe we can sleep in Make you banana pancakes Pretend like it’s the weekend now… ~Jack Johnson Jack Johnson might just be the muse of this recipe, because I’m pretty sure this song is the unofficial soundtrack to banana pancake making expeditions everywhere. Yes, yes I did listen to it while I was whipping these magical treats breakfast together. Thank you Spotify for letting me DJ up my own life. Wika wika wah! (Can you believe Samuel married me? I.am.such.a.nerd) I love, love, L-O-V-E banana pancakes. What I don’t love is gluten or committing carbocide in the morning (scratch that, I love it too much, but am trying to practice healthy habits these days…sigh), which a typical stack of pancakes usually involves both. Fortunately, with this suuuuuuuper easy recipe, we can have our cakes and eat them too—pancakes, that is. I searched through several recipes, tried out quite a few, and experimented with my own variations till I found a version that …

Gluten Free Banana Bread

When I was growing up, I had an obsession with banana bread that I’ve yet to live down with my family. I was a little more than mildly fanatical about it, and since it’s not exactly cake and it’s not really just bread, I would usually try (unsuccessfully) to convince my mother that it was in my best interest to let me eat say…the entire loaf. Let it not be said that I was afraid of carbs as a child. Though I’ve developed a moderate ability to reign myself in when it comes to committing total carbocide, I still just love a delicious, moist piece of banana bread with a cup of tea and a good book. That’s a scene from a little corner in my heaven, friends đŸ™‚ Being gluten free, sugar free, preservative free, etc etc etc often feels like it ends up being taste free. Texture can be unpleasant as well, and the final result is a really bad knock off from whatever original recipe from which it was fashioned. I don’t …

Smoked Salmon + Goat Cheese Veggie Omelet

Ok, it’s not vegetarian. But it’s pretty damn delicious. You might already know that I follow a vegetarian/vegan diet 90% of the time, and occasionally I will eat fish, eggs, or goat cheese when I know they’ve been obtained through humane methods and are organic. An obvious modification to this omelet is just take out the salmon and it’s equally delicious. It’s been a really long time since I ate any meat, and when my husband and I popped into the market before starting a lovely Sunday Funday together, I saw smoked salmon waiting for me: must.have.now. That was my instinctive reaction, and want my stomach wants, it’s gonna get on any given Sunday. We ritualistically do a large brunch with friends every Sunday, but I had a laaaaaate late night out with a group of friends the night before and just wanted a low-key day of lounging about with my favorite human in the entire goddamn world (um, my husband, in case you are not good at guessing games). I threw together a quick …

Zucchini “Meatballs” in Fragrant Thai Coconut Broth

Vegetarians rejoice: we too can have meatballs with our goddamn meal, just like all those carnivores out there. This soup is soooo.freaking.yum. Well, it’s really good that is, if you like Thai dishes, coconut milk, and tons of exotic seasoning. Plus, coconut milk is amazingly good for you. So, hip hip hooray! Another plus is that the ingredient are light enough to make a good summer soup. My husband really hates ginger (and yet…he married a ginger kid. Conflict of interests? I should say so…) and so he wasn’t as big of a fan of this soup as I thought he’d be (I expected Domestic Goddess awards, but it was not to be. Note to self: no ginger root for Samuel!) However, despite his ginger flavor aversion, he was blown away by the amazing aromatic quality and how tasty the “meatballs” are. In a nutshell, it’s pretty heavenly. Forget Calgon taking you away, these flavors will make you feel like you’re a million miles from home in the best way possible. Soup is such a comfort …

Vegetarian Stir Fry & Rice Noodles

Sometimes the internet gods are against us. I put together this post last night and gave myself a little pat on the back for being ahead on my to do list, only to wake up this morning and find my post had been mysteriously eaten by the internet. There was no trace of it, not even in my drafts. Is nothing sacred anymore!!!!! Ahhhhh! First world problems, man. They’ll get you every time. I’m pretty sure my fat large boned and dainty cat deleted it by trying to sleep on my lap top. Thanks for that, Mademoiselle Kitty. Not to be defeated, I rallied on and decided to re-write this recipe. In another life, I must have lived somewhere in Asia. I love the culture, the religions, the people, and especially the food. Fortunately, so many of the dishes are easy to make and incredibly healthy. I can also experiment with tons of vegetarian and vegan options. Um, #WINNING! Yay for me and all other plant eaters out there! Sometimes, it can be fun to play …

Spicy Rosemary Sweet Potato Fries

I love anything and everything sweet potato related. In addition to being such a bright, beautiful veggie, it’s chocked full of amazing nutrition. They’re an excellent source of vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene), vitamin C, manganese, copper, pantothenic acid, and vitamin B6. But wait! There’s more! They also provide potassium, dietary fiber, niacin, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, and phosphorus. Oh, and did I mention they taste so damn good? And they’re a mega versatile food? For real. Get off my plate and into my belly! Since sweet potatoes are naturally sweet, their flavors play nicely with savory spices. A mix of sea salt, with a generous covering of Mexican, Indian, or Mediterranean seasoning completely changes the taste of the humble sweet potato and adds incredible dimension to the taste. Simply put, sweet potatoes make for amazing fries. And since these fries are roasted instead of fried, you can assuage your conscious and assure your waistline that this is a healthy side dish. Take note, metabolism! Don’t you dare try to start a mutiny! But I …