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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Cioppino

Oh January!  The air is crisp and haunted with daunting thoughts of New Year’s resolutions.  I am all for pulling out my yoga mat, and of course we’re always looking to eat a little healthier, but at what cost!  My goal this year is to make healthy food that I’ll actually want to eat!  Flavorful food that you will look forward to cooking and eating is the key to sticking with any diet, and this cioppino really hits the spot.  This warm Italian seafood stew is full of seafood, veggies, and a little wine, so it’s pretty much the best thing you’ll ever eat.  I’m not exaggerating when I say this is one of the best things I’ve ever made.

Cioppino

-3 Tbsp olive oil

-5 cloves garlic, chopped

-1 yellow onion, sliced thin

-1 fennel bulb, chopped

-1/2 tsp salt

-1 tsp crushed red pepper

-1 1/2 c white wine

-2 28oz cans whole peeled tomatoes

-7 c fish stock

-1 lb mussels

-1 lb shrimp, shelled

-1 lb cod (or other firm white fish), cut into 1-2 inch pieces

-Tarragon, chopped fennel fronds, and lemon wedges to garnish

Add the olive oil, garlic, onion, fennel, salt, and red pepper to a large stock pot over medium heat.  Allow these to soften and lightly brown, about 12-15 minutes.  Add the wine and tomatoes, slightly crushing the tomatoes with your spoon.  Let this all simmer away for about 20 minutes.  Next add the fish stock and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.  It can be a little tricky to find fish stock (I actually ended up making mine), but if you can’t find it, just use vegetable stock instead.  Now it’s time for the seafood!  Add the mussels first and cover the pot.  Let this cook for about 5 minutes and then add the shrimp and cod.  These should really just take about 5 minutes more to finish cooking.  Absolutely feel free to use different seafood (clams, scallops, halibut, etc.) depending on what you like and what is fresh in your area.   When you’re picking out your seafood, check out what’s fresh, but don’t forget about the frozen section too for all types of fish and even mussels!  Finally just garnish with fennel fronds and tarragon plus a squeeze of lemon and serve with crusty bread for dipping.  Enjoy!

Step 1.  Chop and caramelize veggies.

Step 2.  Add tomatoes and wine and let simmer.

Step 3.  Add fish stock and simmer.

Step 4.  Add seafood and cook through.

 

Step 5.  Garnish and enjoy!

Zucchini with Lemon and Walnuts

I can’t tell you how much I love this “recipe.”  Honestly this had barely made it to the plate before I was tucking into it.  It’s a classic Italian veggie dish that is definitely a crowd-pleaser… Plus it’s gorgeous and takes five minutes to make–chop, plate, enjoy!  This is about to be one of the dishes you’ll make every week.

-2 small zucchinis

-juice of 1/2 of a lemon

-1/4 c walnuts, roasted and chopped

-1 Tbsp olive oil

-salt and pepper to taste

Cut off the ends of the zucchinis and slice them paper thin–I like using my mandolin for this part.  Arrange the ribbons of zucchini on a platter, squeeze the lemon juice over, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and finish with the walnuts.  Wasn’t that fast?!  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!

 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta and Pine Nuts

This is a Thanksgiving side that I first made in 2010, and have made by request every year since.

They need to be made the day of Thanksgiving (which is sort of against everything we preach), BUT they can be served warm or room temperature which is helpful with the timing of everything.

  

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta and Pine Nuts

Serves 3-4 (should be at least doubled for a Thanksgiving side)

Ingredients:

Brussels Sprouts, 1 lb

Pancetta – can substitute thick cut bacon, 3 Tbs (or 2 ounces)

Olive oil – 2 tsp

Sea Salt – 1/4 tsp

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Pine nuts – less than 1/4 cup

Granulated Sugar – 1 Tbs (optional but recommended)

Fresh Parmesan

Directions:

Save yourself time and buy the pre-washed brussels sprouts and chopped pancetta.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

Cut the brussels sprouts in half and remove any grey/brown bits

Combine top five ingredients together in a bowl

Place on an aluminum foil lined cookie sheet, best if they don’t touch so they will roast instead of steam

Roast for 40 minutes, turning once.

While roasting, place pine nuts and sugar into a heated, dry skillet. Stir these constantly as they can burn in the blink of an eye. These will take 5 minutes max.

Once Brussels sprouts are done, put into serving dish and top with sugared pine nuts, freshly grated parmesan and ground black pepper.

Serve.

Enjoy!