Creamy Green Smoothie Bowl

If you are on Instagram, you have surely seen millions of perfectly staged pictures of smoothie bowls.  Never once did the thought of pouring my smoothie into a cereal bowl and eating it with a spoon appeal to me.  Just drink it like a normal person!  But finally I realized a few good things about the bowl concept.  First, you can arguably make a lot more of the smoothie–never a bad thing in my book.  You can also put lots of crunchy, delicious toppings on it, making it feel like more of a meal than just a drink on the go.  This morning I decided to take the leap.  I made one of my favorite smoothie combos slightly thicker than usual and loaded on the toppings.  The result?  Absolutely delicious.  I’m a believer.

Creamy Green Smoothie Bowl

-1 c kale (or spinach)

-1/2 avocado

-1/2 banana

-spoonful of peanut butter

-squeeze of honey

-1/2 c to 1 c almond milk

-toppings: shredded coconut, crushed plantain chips, toasted almonds (or anything you like)

Blend everything but the toppings and pour it in a bowl.  Place the toppings on–arranged in lines, obviously for Insta. 😉

 

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Quick Roasted Salmon Over Spinach and Grapefruit Salad

Making healthy food choices is always a goal of mine, but now that I’m pregnant I have a much bigger reason to focus on it!

There are just SO many pregnancy rules these days, it’s really exhausting – everyone has opinions and does things their own way. I’m trying to follow just a couple of reasonable rules: everything in moderation, be mindful of what I am putting in and on my body. As you can see these are normal food/life rules to follow as well. I made this salad last week when all I wanted was takeout, but I knew I had a few things already at home that could turn into a tasty and nutritious dinner. Salmon – lean protein and omega 3s, spinach – folic acid and iron, grapefruit – vitamin c, etc.

 
Quick Roasted Salmon Over Spinach and Grapefruit Salad

Ingredients:

Salmon

One grapefruit, segmented

Spinach or spinach/arugula mix

Feta crumbles (leave off for dairy free option)

Nuts of some sort, I used pepitas but anything salted and toasted will do the trick to add the necessary crunch

Dressing:

Olive oil – 1 part

Red Wine Vinegar – 2 parts

Small squeeze of juice from the Grapefruit

Kosher Salt

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Salmon:
Small sprinkle of our Homemade Taco Seasoning (side note — I keep a batch of this seasoning in a ball jar with my spices because I love it so much, and it makes it so much easier just to have it)

Touch of salt and pepper

Drizzle of olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375

Line baking sheet in aluminum foil for easy clean up
Place salmon skin side down, if no skin spray aluminum foil so it won’t stick. Roast for 375 for 8-10 minutes

Remove skin with spatula (should be easy when lifting salmon from the baking sheet) then place warm salmon on top of dressed salad.

Enjoy!

Tuesday’s Table – Kale Salad with Quinoa, Feta and Crasins

On Saturday night I had Jonathan Waxman’s excellent Kale Salad at Adele’s in Nashville. It reminded me that I haven’t made one of my favorite kale salads in a while, and I have never posted it on our blog before. One of my dear friends introduced me to this salad over a year ago, and I have made it many times. It is inexpensive, healthy, and keeps well! It will keep in Tupperware in your fridge from Mon-Th/Fri. And that’s usually exactly when I eat it – the work week. It is the perfect, easy lunch to take with you to work or to have all ready to eat in the fridge.

  

  

Kale Salad with Quinoa, Feta, and Crasins

Salad:

1 large bunch of kale, washed well, dried, and torn/chopped into small bits

1/2 c. cooked quinoa, prepared according to package

1/4. c. crumbled feta

1/4 c. crasins

1/4 c. toasted pepitas/pecans/pine nuts (pick your favorite or use whatever nut you have, just toast them first)

Dressing:

2 Tbs. olive oil

juice of one lemon

1 small clove of garlic, minced

1 tsp. dijon mustard

freshly cracked black pepper

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Directions:

While you are preparing your quinoa according to its packaging (boiling water, letting it absorb said water, etc.), wash and dry your kale. Kale can be quite sandy so really rinse each leaf, then let dry. Once mostly dry pull leaves from their stems and tear or chop into small bits.

Prepare dressing.

  

Combine dressing with kale.

  

Add crasins, feta, nuts (that need to be toasted, do this on your stove top in a matter of 3-5 minutes – make more than you need and save them. You will use them!) and hot quinoa. I like adding the quinoa as soon as it’s finished cooking so it can help almost soften the kale.

  

Put in air tight container and in your fridge.

I make this on Sunday night and have it several days during the week. I love it! I also love that its a cold salad but tastes a bit like fall. Perfect for our in between weather!

Enjoy!!

Tuesday’s Table – Vietnamese Noodle Bowl “Bun”

Bun or a Vietnamese rice noodle bowl, is one of our favorite dishes to get at Kien Giang – an authentic, hole in the wall Vietnamese restaurant on Charlotte Ave. in Nashville. This recipe is gluten and dairy free, but you won’t feel like you are missing out on anything!

This is a great recipe for using “protein” leftovers. I often have leftover pork tenderloin, grilled chicken, or even steak and this is the perfect recipe to bring it back to life. You can also do this recipe with shrimp or chicken, recipes for those included. Besides leftovers shrimp would be the fastest option but if you have chicken on hand use that.

   
 
Nuoc Cham (sauce for veggies and noodles) –

• Juice of 2 Limes
• 3 Tbsp. Fish Sauce
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. warm water
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1/2 of a fresh jalapeno pepper, finely chopped (optional)

Noodles and Veggies –

• 1/2 package of rice noodles or vermicelli
• 1 large carrot or 4-5 baby carrots, julienned
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled and julienned
• several romaine lettuce leaves, shredded
• mint and basil, torn
• 1/2 lime cut into wedges
• lime zest (optional)
• fresh jalapeno (optional)

  
Directions:

Cook the rice noodles according to the package (topped with boiling water for about 9 minutes) and cool by running them over cold water. *If using the brand Thai Kitchen (not recommended but widely available) stir constantly while topped with water.

Drain thoroughly and top noodles with meat, veggies and nuoc cham.

Serve and enjoy!!

Sauteed Shrimp –

• 1 lb. shrimp
• 1 Tbsp. Canola Oil
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
• Squeeze of lime juice

Directions:

• Heat canola oil in a saute pan
• Add shrimp then 1 minced clove of garlic and red pepper flakes
• When shrimp are opaque they are done cooking, remove pan from the heat and squeeze lime on the shrimp.

Chicken –

• 2 chicken breasts, sliced into thin, long pieces
• Juice of one lime
• 3 Tbsp. canola oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce (Tamari for GF recipe)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients for chicken marinade with the chicken in a large ziplock and let them marry for a couple of hours. When you are ready to eat, let this sit out for 10-15 minutes to come to room temperature before cooking in a very hot, preferably cast iron skillet.

Fresh Margaritas

All of this hot weather certainly calls for an ice cold cocktail, and nothing screams summertime to me like homemade margaritas!  This recipe is drawn from another margarita recipe by Julio Bermejo, a legend in the San Francisco bar scene and definitely the man you want to be making you a stiff drink.  While he suggests using agave instead of sugar, I was plum out of agave!  So I made a simple syrup instead.  Just heat 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup of water over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.  Make sure you let this cool completely before adding it to your cocktail.  You can certainly save any leftover simple syrup in the fridge for any future cocktail making adventures.  If you would like to make it Julio’s way, just add 1 Tbsp agave to 1 Tbsp water ( no need to heat) before moving forward with the rest of the recipe as usual.

Fresh Margaritas

-2 Tbsp simple syrup

-2 Tbsp fresh lime juice

-1/4 c. tequila

Add everything to a shaker with lots of ice, shake well for about 30 seconds, and strain into a glass with even more ice in it.  Yum!

If you want to make it even better, try rolling the rim of your glass in a little salt or sugar first.  Here’s what I suggest:

Margarita Glass Rim

-1 wedge of lime

-zest of 1 lime

-1 1/2 Tbsp sugar

-1 Tbsp kosher salt

In a shallow dish, combine the lime zest, sugar, and salt.  Then rub the rim of each glass with the wedge of lime and roll them in the salt mixture.  Finally fill each glass with the margaritas, and you’re set!  Enjoy!