Buddha Bowl

While I love cooking, I typically don’t want to spend my whole day doing it.  I think that’s why so many people have gotten into meal prepping:  cook on Sunday and eat for the whole week.  I love the concept, especially when you have a busy week ahead of you, but I don’t want to eat the same thing every day!  Enter the Buddha Bowl.  

The recipe here is portioned for one serving, but you definitely don’t want to do all of this cooking for just one meal.  Lately, I’ve been cooking lots of quinoa, lentils, and vegetables and storing them away to build whatever kind of lunch I want that day.  Indian spiced lentils with spinach, caramelized onions, and sweet potato?  Quinoa with taco seasoning and grilled chicken, avocado, cherry tomatoes, and black beans?  The combinations are endless and perfectly accommodating to any and all leftovers that are hanging around the fridge.  Just make sure to add protein (both lentils and quinoa have tons of this!), lots of veggies, and any seasonings you want.

Sweet Potato Quinoa Buddha Bowl

-1/2 sweet potato

-1 c cooked quinoa

-1/4 of an avocado

-2 c kale, chopped

-1/2 tsp coconut oil

-1/4 of a roasted chicken breast

-1/4 c roasted chickpeas*

-sliced red onion

-cilantro

-salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, and red pepper flakes to taste

Roast your sweet potato at 400º for about 50 minutes to an hour or until it’s very soft.  (You can make this and the chickpeas at the same time)  Next add the kale and coconut oil to a pan with a little salt and pepper and cook until wilted.  Finally just add everything to a bowl and season to taste.

*For the roasted chickpeas, drain, rinse, and pat dry 1 can of chickpeas.  Then put them on a baking sheet with 1 tsp of coconut oil and a few dashes of cayenne pepper, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.  Bake them at 400º for 40 to 50 minutes, shaking every 15 minutes or so.  You want them to get very crunchy–usually a couple of mine burn while this is happening, but they taste great too!  These are one of my all time favorite snacks, so I usually make a couple of cans at a time.

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Vegan Chocolate Truffles

 

Ok stick with me here.  I’ve been dabbling in vegan cooking and baking lately.  I’m still definitely eating meat, but my main goal is really focusing on eating a lot more whole foods, especially fruits and veggies.  But it’s Valentine’s Day!  And you know I’m all about celebrating holidays with lots of festive foods, so I had to make some chocolates.

I’ve heard a lot about date “caramel” lately and decided to try it out for the first time last weekend.  My expectations were extremely low, but it turned out amazing!  I kind of can’t stop eating it with apple slices.  Yum.  This time I’m venturing in a little deeper and making some date caramel truffles coated in chocolate.  I decided to add shredded coconut and peanut butter to some of them because it sounded good.  Spoiler alert:  it was.  It’s hard to describe just how awesome these are.  Suffice it to say, it will be a miracle if any of them actually make it all the way to Valentine’s Day.

Date Truffles

-1 heaping cup pitted dates

-1 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted

-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

-Pinch of salt

-Optional: peanut butter and shredded coconut

First let your dates soften up in very hot water for about 20 minutes.  Drain and add them to a food processor with the coconut oil, vanilla, and salt.  Blend everything together until a ball forms.  Depending on your food processor this can take a few minutes.  Just be patient and scrape down the sides often.  Once you have a nice, smooth texture, place it in a bowl and put it into the freezer for about 10 minutes or until it’s firm enough to roll into small balls.  You can make these any size you want, but I made mine a little smaller than a walnut.  If you’re so inclined, roll some of them in the coconut and flatten the others out a bit and topped them with a little dollop of peanut butter.  Throw everything back in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

Chocolate Sauce

-1/2 c cocoa powder

-1/2 c coconut oil, melted

-1/4 c maple syrup

Whisk all ingredients together.  Finally drop the date balls into the chocolate sauce and set back onto the sheet tray.  The chocolate will start to set up immediately since the date mixture is so cold.  Dunk them back into the chocolate a second time, and then, you guessed it, back to the freezer just until the chocolate sets.  Store them in either the freezer or the fridge and enjoy!

Acorn Squash with Maple Balsamic Agrodolce

All the Thanksgiving food was amazing!  But now that the big day is over, I think all of our clothes are fitting a little tighter…and this will all be happening again in three weeks!  My rule is to never diet on the big holidays, but in between I like to focus on lighter dishes, just to keep everything balanced.  Over the next few weeks, we here at Adeline Alley will be sharing tons of our favorite healthy yet comforting meals–the perfect combination for these cold nights!

To get us started, here is my acorn squash with agrodolce.  Don’t be intimidated by the Italian;  “agrodolce” just means sour and sweet.  This sauce is typically made with vinegar and some sort of sweetener with minced onions.  This is all reduced down and poured over vegetables.  This healthy dish is definitely not lacking on flavor!

-1 acorn squash, seeded and cut into wedges

-2 Tbsp olive oil

-salt and pepper

-2 Tbsp minced red onion

-1/4 c balsamic vinegar

-2 Tbsp maple syrup

-2 Tbsp roasted pecans, rough chopped

-Combine the acorn squash, 1 Tbsp olive oil, salt, and pepper on a baking sheet.

-Roast at 400 for about 40 minutes, or until the squash is fork tender, flipping once.

-In the meantime, saute the onions with the second Tbsp of olive oil in a small pan over medium heat.

-When the onions are translucent, add the balsamic vinegar and maple syrup.

-Turn the heat to low and reduce the sauce by about half until it’s thickened and syrupy.

-Season the sauce with salt and pepper.

-Toss the roasted squash with the sauce and top with pecans.  Enjoy!

 

Fresh, Easy Argentinian Chimichurri

We all know that summer is the time for grilling–steak, chicken, seafood, veggies–and when you have food that is already cooked perfectly, you don’t want to cover it up with anything heavy!  How about an herbaceous sauce that has been paired with grilled foods for genenrations?  Reach for the chimichurri.  This traditional Argentinian sauce is light and bright and will add a perfect pop to anything you’re cooking.  Last night, I served mine on top of a flank steak, but then I also spooned a little bit extra over a cucumber tomato salad–yum!!!

Chimichurri

-large handful of parsley (or small bunch)

-large handful of cilantro (or small bunch)

-1/2 c. red wine vinegar

-3-4 garlic cloves

-1 shallot

-1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

-3/4 extra virgin olive oil

-salt to taste

In a food processor, blend together all the ingredients except the olive oil, being careful not to over mix.  Next, drizzle in the olive oil and season with salt.  Done!  This can be stored for several days in a tight jar in the fridge, but you’ll definitely eat all of it before then.  Enjoy!