Zoodles & Homemade Pesto

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I had my sister in law over this weekend visiting from NYC. She mentioned homemade pesto and how you can pretty much make it from anything green! She also said I should give a shout out to Bitter Sweet Sara. I put the untraditional pesto to the test and it was good! Above are my zoodles and homemade pesto. 

Making the zoodles are easy! The hard part for me was getting the right proportions of greens to nuts to cheese to oil. I did a little investigation and took a poll online, and the proportions below seem to work great! 

• 2 cups greens, 1/3 cups nuts, 1/2 cup grated hard cheese, and 1/2 cup oil
• this blog also talks about pesto and ratios

I used basil, arugula, baby kale, cilantro and parsley. Stems and all! I also used EVOO, walnuts and parmesan cheese. I might have gone a little green crazy....

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What do you put in your pesto? What do you put your pesto on?

Super Quick Homemade Pizza

First off, this pizza is NOT gluten or dairy free.

Secondly, it is so easy to make.

And lastly, it is crispy and delicious!  

(Gluten free?? Do not fret I'll have a gluten free pizza recipe up next week!) 

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Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups whole wheat white flour
• 1/2 cup oat flour. I made my own- just take 1/2 cup of oats and blend them to make  flour!
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbs EVOO
• 3/4 cup water

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  Directions :

• preheat oven to 450
• mix together all dry ingredients : both flours, salt and baking soda
• add in water and EVOO - mix until moistened - there may still be some dry flour floating around but don't worry you will get that mixed in the dough in your next step.
• add a little flour to your table surface and dump out the "dough" mixture on top -  knead dough into a ball. You have two options:

1. Wrap the dough ball tightly in plastic wrap and put in fridge to use later that day 
2. Roll it out right then and there.  

• Grab a rolling pin and make your pizza crust! I like to make mine pretty thin, but not so much that it falls apart. 
• Spray down a baking sheet.
• Place you crust on top of baking sheet and place in oven for 12-15 minutes (depending on how thin your crust is). It will get slightly golden brown around the edges. Take out tray and add your toppings. I kept it simple and added tomato sauce and cheese. Place back in oven for 10 minutes.
• Top with some spices like oregano, chili flakes, and/or garlic powder. Add a fresh green like arugula or basil. Possibilities are endless!

How did you make your pizza?  

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Easy (and delicious) Baked Falafel

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 I really enjoy falafel. The two best falafels I ever had were in Israel and the Jewish quarter in Paris. I have never tried to make Falafel at home because deep frying things is messy and not really my thing. But baking things, I love baking things. This recipe is the bomb dot com (Amy if you are reading this, that was for you).

This recipe is so good. I mean SO good! Camera man approved, and we all know how critical he is. I literally just ate a plate of falafel. Next time I will either put it in a pita with all fun veggies, or make it with a great side salad: cucumber and tomatoes diced very small with EVOO and lemon juice. Something like this.

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Ingredients: 

• 1 Cup Raw garbanzo beans (aka chick peas) these beans will be soaked in water for at LEAST an hour- over night is great. DO NOT USE CANNED BEANS- it will NOT work for this recipe. 
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander (if you do not have coriander do not worry- just skip it)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 small onion or 1/4 of a medium diced
• 2-3 tbs EVOO

Directions:

• preheat oven to 375 (I like to put the pan in the oven so it is hot when you put the falafel on it)
• soak beans for at least an hour -or overnight in water
• drain beans and rinse
• dice onions and garlic
• put everything in food processor: beans, oil, onions and garlic, dry spices cilantro and parsley
• mix for about 1-2 minutes or until it is well mixed
• Take the pan out let it cool off just a little. Add a generous amount of EVOO to the pan. Make little balls with the falafel mixture. Mixture will be softer than you expect it to be. Do not worry if it is a little runny.
• Bake the balls for 15 minutes - turn them over with spatula and bake for another 10-12 minutes. You want a little browning on top. 

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TAHINI DRESSING:

This dressing is very versatile and it can be used as a salad dressing or you can dump it  right into a pita wrap filled with falafel and veggies. Or you can dunk your falafel right into the dressing like I did!

I might need to perfect this dressing a bit but I think this works:

• juice from 1 large lemon
• 2 tbs of tahini
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cumin
• a little water to get it mixing and some EVOO (pour maybe 2 TBS of EVOO and as much water as you think to make it the consistency you want. Maybe 1/4 cup ?)
• sometimes garlic powder is good!
• BLEND TOGETHER :)

I rarely ever measure the dressing and I kind of just go for it! Play around with this dressing recipe or look up another one that you like. Let me know how it goes! How did you eat your falafel? 

XO

Raw Red Salad with EVOO and Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing

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I recently got a spiralzier and love it! Do you have one? Amamzing right?! This is the one I have.

I think spiralized fruits and veggies are so much more fun to eat and can make any dish look fancy. I am totally on a spiralizing kick right now (I actually have spiralized sweet potatoes in the oven right now with some salt and EVOO). 

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Zucchini pasta! Just adeded EVOO, garlic, and tomatoe sauce.  

This past weekend we celebrated the Camera Mans birthday! We had both of our families over for a late lunch/early dinner. Both my mom and mother in law came over a little early to help me cook, I could not have done it without them.

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Of course this is a carvel ice cream cake.  

We made burgers, orzo salad, shrimp in a spicy garlic sauce, a plate of fresh veggies and my raw red salad.  If you are ever in the mood for something deep red, full of nutrients and just beautiful, then this is your salad. 

Its crunchy, light, and so fresh. 

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Ingredients: 

• 1/2 purple cabbage 
• 1 large apple
• 1 raw red beet
• 1 raw golden beet
• 2 medium sized carrots  
• evoo
• apple cider vinegar  

Dressing: (this makes 1 cup, you can reduce it if you want. Add as much or as little to the salad. I like a lot of dressing with this salad)

• 3⁄4 cup Olive Oil
• 1⁄4 cup Apple cider vinegar
• add salt to taste

Directions: 

For the salad all of the vegetables/fruit should either be put through a food processor or a Spiralizer, OR very thinly cut by hand. The point of the salad is for it to be cut up thin making it fun easy to eat. 

The dressing is very simple and gives the salad the bite it needs. You could add a dab of honey to the dressing but I think the beets, carrots and apples give the salad the sweetness it needs. 

enjoy! 

XO

Sweet Potato, Baby Kale and Lentil Soup. Seriously AMAZING!

This soup is SO special. Yes I love vegetables but this soup is so special not because of the wonderful veggies but rather because of the seasoning. It is VERY flavorful and intense, in a good way. This could go down in history as one of my favorite (non pureed) soups. My friend gave me this recipe from Pinterest and I switched it around a tad to make it my own.

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Ingredients:

• 3 medium sized sweet potatoes peeled and cubed 
• 2 cups baby kale (you can use more if you would like!)
• 1 cup brown lentils
• 2 tomatoes (vine ripe if possible) chopped
• 1 medium size onion diced
• 1 1/2 TBS Turmeric
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander 
• 1/3 tsp cayenne pepper or more if you  like heat!
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbs fresh ground ginger
• 1 tsp salt (more to taste if you would like)
• Pepper to taste (adding pepper increases the bio availability of turmeric- helping your body absorb more of the nutrients!) 
• 6 cups vegetable broth 
• 1 cup water

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Directions: 

• Heat the largest pot you have for 40 seconds over medium heat, then add about 2 tbs of EVOO or any other oil you prefer. Warm up oil for another 20 seconds then add in chopped onions and stir for 3 minutes.
• Add in all the spices including the ginger. Stir for another 2 minutes.
• Add in tomatoes and lentils. Stir for a minute then finally add in your sweet potato, 6 cups broth, and 1 cup water.
• Bring pot to a boil, cover and reduce to low, letting cook for about 30 minute. 
• After about 30 minutes add in your baby kale and let it cook for another 10 minutes.

Comment below and let me know how it goes! Did you make any changes to the recipe?

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** If I am going to be eating/ serving all the soup right away I add in all the Kale while cooking (like the recipe says). BUT if I know that I will be reheating it and eating it for the next couple of days then I only add in some kale, and right before I heat up the soup to eat the next day I will add in more fresh baby kale! ALSO, if you do not have kale feel free to use baby spinach, or regular Kale just cut up small.