Salad: It's what's for lunch

SALAD

(photo source)

Is this what comes to mind??

Iceburg lettuce?

Guess what? Salad doesn't have to be boring! We eat salad everyday for lunch at home. Look at some of ours:

(Topped with salsa, avocado, and corn!)

(fire roasted corn and fennel!)

(watermelon radish!)

(topped with hummus!)

(marinated tempeh, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds!)

(lots of sprouts!)

Pretty colorful, no? I'm going to list suggestions of what you can put in your salad and what kinds of toppings to add, as well as where to find some great salad dressings!

HOW TO MAKE A DELICIOUS AND HEALTHY SALAD:

First, get out a BIG bowl!

Salad greens (don't just use one!):

Romaine lettuce

Arugula (a bit spicy)

Swiss Chard (try rainbow for color)

Kale-all kinds (can be a bit bitter or tough, depending on the type)

Any other lettuce types (find different types here)

Mizuna (a bit spicy)

Additional vegetables:

Carrots

Celery

Cucumber

Tomatoes

Bell peppers (all colors)

Radish (I love watermelon radish! Try Daikon radish for a milder flavor)

Onions

More unusual additions:

Cooked OR raw beets (adds sweetness)

Corn (I like fire-roasted, but raw is delicious too)

Sprouts (any kind, you can grow your own)

Fennel (has a licorice flavor)

Roasted red peppers

Broccoli florets (bite sized)

Cauliflower (try purple cauliflower for color!)

Olives

Capers

Hearts of Palm (sliced)

Toppings for additional flavor/protein/crunch:

Cubed tempeh (I like to marinate mine in a chili sauce overnight)

Cubed tofu

Black beans

Garbanzo beans
Edamame (soybeans)

Pumpkin seeds

Sunflower seeds (I use raw)

Avocado

Grains (add a scoop)-

     Brown rice

     Quinoa

     Millet (nutty flavor)

My favorite dressing: A big scoop of hummus on top of the salad, topped with red wine vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. Mix it all into your salad!

Other "dressings":

One scoop of hummus mixed with one scoop of guacamole or mashed avocado

For a Mexican style salad, top with salsa, black beans, and corn, with chopped raw hot pepper!

Massage some avocado and lemon juice into your salad, add cayenne for a kick

Try a new vinegar: fig, balsamic, red wine, apple cider, raspberry!!!

A few places to find tasty dressing recipes:

Healthy.Happy.Life.

Raw Vegan Power

Choosing Raw

Healthy Girl's Kitchen

Forks Over Knives book has great dressings

Here's a super easy salad recipe for you:

Quinoa Salad

3-4 cups cooked quinoa (I used red, but any will do)
1/2 avocado
1/2 cucumber, chopped
2 small tomatoes, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
Juice from 1 lemon (or to taste)
Salt/Pepper to taste
Garnish with fresh parsley (optional)

Mix quinoa with vegetables. Add avocado and lemon juice and stir it in well, so the avocado is mashed up. Add salt/pepper. Top with parsley, if using. 

Now go make an amazing salad!! What do you love to put in YOUR salads??

Eat smart,

T.

I got a pressure cooker!

We got a pressure cooker!!  An awesome anniversary gift :)  LOOK:

It's exactly what I wanted! Stainless steel inner pot included!

It's the InstantPot Duo60 (6 Qt). It can pressure cook, slow cook, saute, steam vegetables, cook beans, cook oatmeal, rice, etc...almost anything, including making YOGURT!!!. Such a cool tool. 

I thought I'd share some of the things I've made in it so far-

(Cooked up butternut squash)

(Cooking potatoes is so easy and quick!)

(YES, I made yogurt in the IP!)

(My soy yogurt with granola)

(9 minutes at pressure and this HUGE spaghetti squash was done!)

(Greens, with broccoli and carrots underneath, steamed perfectly)

(Braised sweet and sour red cabbage)

(Cider braised green cabbage with caraway seeds)

(Indian style curry)

This list will continue to grow. The IP saves electricity and cooking time! I have yet to try beans, but I bought some in bulk and I'm ready to give it a go. Which should I do first? Garbanzos? Kidney beans? Black beans? 

For those of you on Facebook, there's an awesome group there, just for vegan cooking in the InstantPot! The Veggie Queen, Jill Nussinow, is even in the group! Here's a link to her awesome pressure cookbook: "The New Fast Food". I bought it directly from her, since it takes a few weeks via Amazon. She sent it out very quickly! 

Here's the recipe for the delicious soy yogurt (I used WestSoy brand unsweetened plain soymilk). She's got a great video on there too, for step by step instructions. The last time I made it, I left it in there for 12 hours. Excellent! (It's also great on top of steamed potatoes with green onions and parsley!)

I'm excited to keep trying new recipes in the IP! Do any of you have one? Do you use a stovetop or a different electric pressure cooker? Do you love it? What are your favorite pressure cooker recipes?

Eat smart,

T.

Salem MA Restaurant Review

Last week we were able to spend the day on Boston's Northshore. This area runs along the coastline and includes Salem, Gloucester, Rockport, etc. I think we tried to cram too much into one day. Nonetheless, it was beautiful and we'd love to go back (maybe for an entire weekend next time)!

So we started in Salem....

Beautiful place and not overly crowded on a Sunday morning. Before we went I did my research on vegan restaurants. I found one that is not entirely vegan, but it was some of the best food I've ever had!

LIFE ALIVE!

The inside was so colorful! We went on the early side, so there weren't too many people in there yet. I ordered the Goddess demi-bowl (after I ate it, I wished I'd gotten the larger bowl):

I got the sprouted legumes instead of tofu. Awesome ginger sauce covering carrots, beets, broccoli, kale, and brown rice. It was the most amazing food ever!! I could eat that dish everyday. Now I must try to replicate it. Hmmm.....

S ordered the Warrior Salad, also delicious:

...topped with hummus and tofu!

I also ordered the Jive Alive juice, which was very ginger-heavy. Good, but it was burning my throat a bit.

The place is maybe 95% vegan. They have a few items that are not....not sure why. Doesn't matter to me....I WILL BE BACK!

If you're interested, they also have beer on tap and kombucha.

After Salem, we continued on to Halibut Point:

Then to Rockport (which was outrageously packed with tourists):

And lastly, Gloucester!

I had the urge to see the ocean......and so we did!

Have you been to the Northshore? What's your favorite part?

Eat smart,
T.

Matcha Green Tea Latte

In yesterday's post, I said I wanted to try a green tea latte. So.....here it is!

I used the Kiss Me Organics matcha powder for this.

Matcha Green Tea Latte:

Boil about 1/4 cup water. 

Add 1 tsp matcha powder to cup.

Add the boiling water to the cup and whisk until green tea is dissolved.

Add about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup frothed non-dairy milk.

Sweetener to taste (optional)

Here, you can see the tea powder with the water before I added the soymilk:

I think, technically, you're supposed to use a bamboo whisk, but I didn't have one.

When I first tasted it, it was a bit grainy. You should wait a minute for things to settle at the bottom of the cup before drinking. After the 1st minute, no more graininess! I didn't add sweetener, but I might try it next time for a dessert-like drink.

See yesterday's post if you want to enter to win this matcha powder!

Eat smart,

T.

Organic Matcha Green Tea Powder Giveaway[GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED}

I haven't had a giveaway in a while.....I also haven't been posting as much since we've moved to the North East. I DO update my facebook page though, if you'd like to keep up with me there. I will try to do more posting on the blog. You can help by reminding me on my facebook page!!

(photo from KissMeOrganics)

Organic Matcha Green Tea Powder

Why is it good for you?

It is very high in antioxidants (EGCG).

It contains L-Theanine which induces relaxation without drowsiness.

It increases energy levels, lasting up to 6 hours, but without the nervousness or jitters of other kinds of caffeine.

And it tastes great!

I recently got a bag of matcha powder, so I decided to try it in a few recipes. 

(photo from KissMeOrganics)

I was a bit freaked out at first when I saw this on the bag:

.....so I smelled.....slowly.....but it smelled great! Very grassy and refreshing. Phew. 

A nice color.....not ultra bright, but not nearly as dull as it looks in this picture either. (ok, I need to start taking pictures with my real camera again)

So first I made these Matcha Green Tea Chocolate Chip Brownies:

(don't you love the green color??)

They were absolutely delicious....a really nice, strong green tea flavor. Unfortunately, they were pretty gooey and had to be refrigerated for quite a while before I could get squares out of them. If you love green tea, I highly recommend making these with the matcha powder!

I wanted to make a green tea latte, but I'd already had enough coffee today. So I will maybe make some tomorrow and let you know how it turns out!

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Today I made this Matcha Morning Loaf:

You can see the "mashed banana" in it. That's ok, it tastes delicious. The green tea flavor isn't as strong in these, but still there. And it's quite tasty. Nice with a cup of coffee. (you can get double the caffeine!) It took a while to bake (about 35 minutes), but very worth it. I'll make this again, perhaps with a little extra matcha powder added and pureeing the banana first. 

I love this matcha powder! It is CULINARY grade, which is how it is labeled right on the package, so it's great in baking. I will test it out with a latte and let you know how that tastes! 

I've never had or used matcha powder before, so this was a first for me. I've always liked green tea. It's great to know that it (matcha) won't give you the caffeine jitters, like coffee!

Now for the GIVEAWAY!!

Enter to win a 4 oz bag of Kiss Me Organics Organic Matcha Green Tea Powder:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only.

The winner will receive a coupon code to cover the purchase on Amazon, and will be refunded the shipping cost (if there is any). 

GOOD LUCK!

Share this giveaway on Facebook via this link (links to the product on Amazon).

PS-this is my first time trying Rafflecopter for the giveaway...I apologize in advance if something goes wrong. 

Feel free to follow my blog! The more followers I have, the more chances I'll have to do giveaways and reviews! (I lost several followers when I switched URL's, unfortunately)

Eat smart,

T.

(disclosure: I was given a 4 oz bag of this matcha powder by Kiss Me Organics for a review. However, I asked them to do a giveaway as well, so one of my readers could try it too)

Summer Garden

I thought I'd share some pictures of my garden so far this summer. I've been growing chard, lettuce, kale, mizuna, tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers, hot peppers, alpine strawberries, tomatillos, radishes, carrots, beets, peas, garlic, onions, oregano, and basil. (along with a couple of mystery squash type plants that grew from semi-composted seeds)

We had a few pest problems along the way:

 (we named him bugsy)

We've gotten some great produce thus far!

What are YOU growing in your garden??

Eat smart,

T.