Mushroom, Garlic and Roasted Red Pepper Cous Cous

I don’t consider myself a recipe creator. I do, however, love food and appreciate how it can fuel our bodies. The magic that happens when you mix different flavors and textures is the added bonus.

I get inspiration from things I’ve eaten, or recipes I’ve read.

Don’t be intimidated when you read below. There is a lot of different things happening (in the stove and on top) but I promise it’s easy and all comes together beautifully.

Ingredients:

1 box of plain cous cous

1 roasted red pepper cut in half

1 whole garlic head

1 container of Baby Bell Mushrooms 

1 onion chopped 

1 whole cauliflower cut into bite sized pieces  

Juice from 1 lemon 

2 tbs tahini 

1 tbs almond butter

Broth 

EVOO

Salt

Pepper

Cumin

Parsley 

IN THE OVEN:

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce:

•Cut a red pepper in half - take out the insides put some olive oil on it and roast for about 20 minutes in the oven at 350.
•At the same time roast a whole garlic clove: Cut off the top of the garlic as to expose the cloves, add some olive oil on the top and wrap it in tinfoil. Cook for about 30 minutes Also at 350.
•cauliflower: roast a whole cauliflower with evoo- salt- pepper- pop in the oven with the pepper and garlic

ON STOVE TOP:

While things are cooking in the oven…

•Cook cous cous according to directions while cous cous cooks .....

•sauté onions, after slightly brown, add mushrooms - cook until mushrooms have released their juices - you really can’t overcook mushrooms

Tahini sauce: (this will go on the side or on top of the dish)

• 2 tbs tahini

• 1tbs almond butter

• Juice of 1 lemon

• Salt

• Cumin

• Some broth to bring to desired consistency

Roasted Red pepper and garlic sauce:

• After red peppers and garlic have cooked and cooled: blend the whole garlic clove (squeeze or pick out softened cloves) and roasted red pepper together. Add some broth some salt, pepper and olive oil and some cumin.

Assembly:

To the cooked cous cous add the roasted red pepper garlic sauce and the mushrooms/onions. Mix. Top off the couscous mixture with roasted cauliflower, tahini sauce and fresh parsley. Enjoy!

Roasted Carrot Hummus

This has got to be one of my favorite homemade hummuses. The roasted carrots make it SO special! The roasting of the carrots does make this hummus a bit longer to prep, but it is worth it! I used FRESH chickpeas with this recipe, but if you do not have time to cook the chickpeas or do not have fresh chickpeas on hand, 2 boxes will do just fine.

This recipe makes a good amount of hummus. You can eat it all, give some to a friend, or store it in the fridge for the week and eat it with pita chips, cucumbers, celery and carrots.. is that weird to eat carrot hummus with carrots?

You will need some kind of bender for this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 4 large sized carrots - roughly chopped
• EVOO for roasting carrots
• 2 tbs EVOO to put in HUMMUS while mixing
• salt (you will add salt to the carrots and then more to the hummus while mixing)
• pepper
• 1 cup raw dried chick peas (you will be cooking these, I did it in a crockpot just add water and cook for a couple hours on high) OR 2 Boxes/BPA free cans of chickpeas
•  1/4 cup tahini
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon turmeric 
• 1 garlic clove chopped
• Juice of 1/2 large lemon or 1 small lemon
• 1/2 cup-2/3 cup water - depends on how thick your hummus ends up being. Add water as needed.

Directions: 

* If using fresh chickpeas cook them according to package,

• preheat oven to 400 degrees
• place roughly chopped carrots coated with EVOO, salt and pepper in the oven for about 20 minutes or until tender. 
• While carrots are cooking squeeze your lemon, measure out your 2 tbs of EVOO, 1/2 C tahini and all of your spices (cumin, paprika, turmeric and salt). 
• Dump the chickpeas, cooked carrots and all your mise en place (aka all the food you prepped) in the blender- don't forget your garlic clove.
• Blend and slowly add in water. You will need to pause and scrape down the sides and then start to blend again.
• Your hummus is done when it is smooth and all mixed. It will be a beautiful orange color and will taste AWESOME! You can serve it in a bowl and add a bit of EVOO to the top if you wish.

ENOY! XO

Mango, Lime, Chili, Sea Salt Salad

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YUM! In this mango salad you will find sweet, salty, tangy and hot flavors that all come together to make an awesome experience in your mouth! A must try for the summer.

Ingredients:

• 2 mangos
• Juice of 1 lime and some zest
• 1-2 tsp red chili pepper flakes (more or less if desired)
• Sea Salt (Pink Salt if you have)

Directions:

• Cut mango into cubes
• squeeze lime juice
• add in salt, chili pepper flakes and mix everything
• cover and let it sit in fridge for at least 20 minutes before serving

Enjoy! 

Dairy free tomato soup! YUMMY!

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Yesterday I made a tomato soup. I read different recipes and came up with my own. The final product was delicious. A definite thumbs up!

Ingredients:

10 vine ripe tomatoes cut in quarters

5-7 garlic cloves

EVOO

1-1.5 tsp cumin

1tsp coriander

salt

pepper

basil

oregano

1 Cup chicken or vegetable stalk

cayenne pepper (optional for a little kick)

goat cheese (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450

Dice tomatoes into quarters and put them in a baking dish. Cover the tomatoes with EVOO and add plenty of salt, pepper, oregano, and basil. I would say add enough salt not TOO much, but do not be afraid to add the pepper, oregano, and basil.

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In the dish place 5-7 garlic cloves. They will get nice and soft as they cook in the oven and will add great flavor to your soup.

Place the tomatoes and garlic in the oven for 35 minutes. As they cook you will notice juices emerging from the tomatoes and a wonderful smell will fill in the air! Mix the tomatoes twice. Once after 15 minutes and again after 25 minutes.

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After the tomatoes are cooked, carefully take the dish out of the oven as the tomatoes will now be sitting in a lot of tomatoes juices.

Heat a large pot (one that you would make a soup in) and add EVOO or vegetable oil, crushed garlic, cumin, coriander, and a little cayenne pepper if you want a kick.  I would add about 1/2 tsp-1tsp of each, less for the cayenne. Feel free to add more of the seasonings and make sure there is enough oil so that the seasonings do not get stuck to the bottom of the pot. Do not let the garlic burn. Put the fire on medium to low heat. You want it to sizzle for about 3-5 minutes. Keep mixing.

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Add the tomatoes and all of their juices to the pot of seasonings and mix for a minute.

Add 1 cup of chicken or vegetable stock. Mix everything and simmer on low for about 3 minutes.

Take the tomato mixture off the heat and let it sit and cool down. After about 10 minutes  blend everything. You can puree if you have an immersion blender. Or you can pour it in your blender like I did! Works great.

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I made the soup with a grill cheese sandwich on the side. YUM. For my camera man I added a tsp of crumbled goat cheese, in his bowl, to give it a little more creaminess. Camera man said he LIKED the tomato soup!!!! This could be one of the very few dishes he has given positive feed back on. WOW.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!