Monthly Archives: May 2012

Hearty Kale Salad with Garlic Hummus Dressing

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As I mentioned yesterday, last weekend was busy busy.  It was the good busy though, enjoyed quality time with my Erik, friends, and fam.  Soaked up the sun.  Totally indulged :-) .  Well indulged for me, I think everyone has their own idea of indulgence.  It’s totally necessary sometimes, just as long as you jump back on your healthy track soon after :-)

That’s where this kale salad came in.  We were CRAAAAVING something healthy, in the form of greens.  And what better than…KALE!!!  It’s one of the best veggies, so rich in nutrients.  Has so many benefits, like being a cancer fighter and great source for antioxidants!

This salad was easy to put together, had great flavor with the hummus dressing, and was hearty and filling enough to stand alone as a meal.

For the Garlic Hummus Dressing you need:

  • 1/2 cup garlic hummus (I found a great Raw Garlic Hummus at Mother’s Market)
  • 3-4 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast – it adds a lot of kick and richness.  I used 4 will use 3 if I want it more mild
  • Juice from 1 lemon
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • a couple pinches of salt & pepper
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons water
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil

For the Kale Salad you need:

  • 1 large bushel of Kale, chopped and spines cut off
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 yellow onion chopped
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 cup almond and golden raisin mix*
  • olive oil

Makes about 4 large servings.

To prepare the Hummus, simply toss all the ingredients in a food processor (or blender) and pulse.  Slowly add the olive oil through the feeder.  If too thick, add another tablespoon of water.

 

For the salad, heat a couple teaspoons of oil in a large saucepan on low heat.  Add the kale and chopped pepper and onion.  Stir around for about 8 minutes until kale softens.  Remove from heat.  Add tomatoes, nut mix, and dressing.  Mix well and let sit for a few minutes.  Serve and ENJOY!!!

Spines cut off kale

*I bought a bag of almonds and golden rasins.  You can also just used chopped nuts such as walnuts, but the golden raisins work so well in this salad.

**Salad can also be made raw, I just like the kale to be softened a little.

Snaps!

Here’s a little recap of the weekend and part of the week.

It was a long one, filled with BBQing, a visit to the Scottish Festival (?), sun, friends, family, and most importantly, my man’s birthday!

Here are some snaps to recap!

My little buddy

View down to San Onofre beach

Skinny Girl Pina Colada, Delish!!

Peaches in the garden, so close to ready!

awesome Happy Hour spot in Laguna Beach, the Deck

Erik’s birthday dinner in Laguna <3

Hope it was an amazing Memorial weekend for all.  And special thanks to all those who have served this country, past, present, and future.  There is no way to thank these people enough.  xx

 

Mini Nutella Brownie Bites

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I’ll make this simple, this is a slightly guilty treat.  I do try to make my baked goods as healthy as possible, but per request of my man, I had to use Nutella.  And it’s fun to splurge sometimes.  It’s  all about moderation, right?  Yes, I think so ;-)

Since Nutella is soooo rich, and DELICIOUS, I used agave instead of sugar since it’s natural and I wanted to cut back on the sweetness.  I also decided to make them mini to make them feel a little less guilty.  But that kinda leads to eating a few.  Maybe that’s just us?  So try them mini, or regular size.  Use agave or try brown sugar.  Just try them, Nutella, Nutella, Nutella, it’s all good!

What you will need:

  • 1 Tbsp ground flax
  • 3 Tbsp warm water
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp melted coconut oil
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp non-dairy milk of choice – I use almond milk
  • 3/4 cup Nutella
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup Agave
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup vegan “butter” melted – I use Earth Balance
  • optional powdered sugar for sprinkling on top

Directions to Mini Nutella Brownie Bites:

Preheat oven to 325ºF and grease mini muffin tin (or regular muffin tin or brownie square tin).

In a small bowl or cup, mix ground flax and water.  Set aside to form gel like mixture (serves as egg for binding).

In another small bowl, mix flour and salt.  Set aside.

In a big bowl, mix gelled flax mixture, coconut oil, and almond milk for a few seconds with electric mixture.  Mix in Nutella, agave and vanilla until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add the flour mixture and butter.

Spoon into muffin tin or spread in square tin.  For mini tin, bake about 15-18 minutes, or toothpick comes out clean.  Regular tin or square should probably take about 30 min.  Remove and sprinkle with powdered sugar while cooling.  Enjoy!!!

 

 

Do you all love Nutella as much as my guy?  He’s totally mildly obsessed.

**if you want to make these vegan, use vegan hazelnut spread instead of Nutella.  Available at most health food stores

Taco Tuesday Vegan Fiesta!

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Taco Tuesday, original post huh?  But seriously, who doesn’t LOVE Mexican food?  And here in Southern California, there’s about 1 good restaurant on each block, each claiming it has the best Mexi food in town.  And it is all goooooood,  only problem?  It’s mostly burritos the size of your head.  Or taco plates the size of your torso filled with greasy rice, beans, cheeses, and more.  Add a couple cervezas or a margarita, ay dios mio….

Here’s a healthier, easy Taco Tuesday meal.  Just heat up some CORN, not flour, tortillas, add some beans, and load on the veggies.  Easy peasy and delicious!  Now you deserve a beer or marg with your meal!

What you’ll need:

  • Corn tortillas – make sure the only ingredients are corn and water, maybe lime or lemon too
  • Beans – see below for my homemade “re-fried” bean recipe
  • Chopped lettuce
  • diced tomato
  • sliced avocado
  • shredded “vegan” cheese – I used an almond based mozzarella
  • fresh chopped cilantro
  • any other veggies you choose – I sautéed mushrooms

Fixings for the tacos & tostadas

For the beans, I would either use low sodium black beans, or get creative and re-fry them, in a healthier way.  I had some left over black beans from my last batch of homemade beans and decided to try it…

Cooking down the water

You will need:

  • 1 1/2 cup of beans ( which will be enough for 3 tostadas or about 6 tacos) or 1 can
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 3 minced garlic cloves
  • 1/2 tsp salt – more if needed
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • pinch of cayenne pepper

In a small bowl, mash-up beans with fork or spoon until beans are pretty well mashed.  In a medium skillet on medium heat, heat a tablespoon of vegan buttery spread, I use Earth Balance.  Add onion and garlic, stirring for about 5 minutes.  Add mashed beans and 2 tablespoons of water.  Mix with onion.  Add spices and combine.  Stir for a couple of minutes.  Reduce heat to low.  Beans should become paste like.  

In another pan on medium heat, heat up a tiny bit of oil.  One at a time, heat up tortillas, cooking for about 2 minutes on each side; or you can simply warm in oven or microwave.  Remove beans from heat.  Spread beans on taco shell and fill with veggies.  Top with fresh cilantro, salsa, hot sauces…and ENJOY!!

Fixin’ up the tacos

Tostada base

Tostada Fiesta!

What is your favorite Mexican food?

Snaps!

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Here are some snaps from the past week.  It was another GORGEOUS weekend here in SoCal.  Truly amazing.  Spent a lot of time outside, gardening, poolside, walking the dog, BBQ in Hermosa Beach with a great group, and finally topping off the weekend with a baby shower for my cousin’s new wife.  Can’t wait to meet little Rusty Johns :-)

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Spring is EVERYWHERE…Don’t my parents have some beautiful bushes in their yard?  I think so!

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My girl, doing her thing.  She owns this trail!

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Some yummy grubby grub.  Vegan taquito plate from Mother’s Market

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BBQ Hermosa Beach.  James Fest!

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Strawberry babies.  Hard work in the garden should be paying off soon :-)

And finally, my juice of the day…the Greenie Green

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1/2 cucumber, several parsley sprigs, 3 giant kale leaves, 2 handfuls of spinach, 3 celery sticks, 1 apple, 1 peeled lemon, 1 peeled lime.  Reeeefreshing!

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend as well!

xo, gigi

Lavender Cupcakes

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Along with the great weather we had last weekend, we got to celebrate those beautiful, loving, selfless women we call MOM!  We had some family in town, along with all my brothers and the bf, which added to how special the day was.  I could NEVER do anything grand enough to show my love and appreciation for what my mommy (yep, still call her that, or Cindyloo) does for me, buuuut my baking is a good start.  She’s got a sweet tooth like her little girl ;-)

She LOVES Lavender and often times smells of it.  I decided to try my luck with baking it.  I admit, I was more than a little hesitant.  It’s a lovely, soothing scent, but I wasn’t sure if it would taste too bitter or earthly.  I even tasted a couple buds before, a tiny bit bitter, but very mild in taste.

Surprise!  They turned out delicious.  Didn’t rise too much though, but everyone agreed they were yummy and unique.  And they don’t have to say they like everything.  They are family, they can be honest, right??  It wouldn’t totally devastate hurt my feeling at all :-) But really, they were totally tasty!


Lavender Cupcakes with Honey Buttercream Frosting

Makes 12 cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup vegan “butter” – I use Earth Balance
  • 1 cup sugar – try using raw, organic
  • 1/4 cup oil – I use coconut oil, melted
  • 2/3 cup + 2 tablespoons almond milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons dried lavender buds, chopped
  • 2/3 cup of almond milk
  • several drops of red and blue food coloring

For the Honey Buttercream Frosting:

Adapted from : Savory sweet life

  • 1/2 cup vegan “butter” I use Earth Balance
  • 8 ounces of vegan cream cheese substitute – I use Tofutti
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons of honey – omit if making completely vegan

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin tin with cupcake liner.  Should make 12.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together.  Add in coconut oil and 2 tablespoons of the almond milk.  Mix until well combined. 

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in lavender buds.

Mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Stir in the milk and food coloring drops.  Start with 4 drops of each color and add until you reach desired purple color. 

Scoop batter into cupcake lined tin.  Bake for 20-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Remove and let cool completely.

Frosting:
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the “butter” and “cream cheese”. Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing on low.  Beat until creamy.  Beat in the vanilla extract and honey.

Scoop frosting into a piping bag fitted with tip of choice, or just spread them over the cooled cupcakes. Enjoy!!

Grilled Salmon

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Was last weekend perfect everywhere or just Southern California?  I swear, just when my mind starts to wonder thinking about other places I want to live, SoCal pulls out the big guns.  Blue skies, warm weather…heaven.

Time for Saturday morning hikes, Farmers Markets, beach, pool, sunset wine, BBQs…summer!!

I got all that in this past weekend, which led me to this meal.  I like to soak up as much of the gorgeous weather as I can.  BBQing just goes perfectly with warm summer weather, and it’s so quick and easy…I get more outdoor time :-)  win win!

After a late afternoon hike, we headed over to Santa Monica Seafood, which is my favorite place to buy seafood.  So good, you should totally check it out if you are in LA or OC.  Anyway, we bought a couple big pieces of Salmon.  Cooked up with some potatoes and asparagus we got at the Farmers Market…Deeeeelicious!

All you need is a fresh piece of fish for each person eating, a lemon, some vegan “butter” ( I use Earth Balance), fresh rosemary, veggies of choice, we used potatoes and asparagus, and some salt and pepper!

We first prepped the fish.  Put each fish on a piece of foil, long enough for fish to be completely wrapped in.  On the fish, I put about a tablespoon of “butter”, squeezed fresh lemon juice over fish, and topped with a little salt & pepper and about 1 1/2 tablespoons of rosemary.  I used about a half lemon on each piece of fish.   Scrunch sides of foil up toward center, but leave a couple of inches open on top, don’t completely cover.  Warm up BBQ and set fish aside.

Preheat oven to 375.  Line baking sheet with foil.  Start a pot of boiling water.  Cut up baby potatoes, and when water boils, add to pot.  Boil for about 8 minutes, until tender, but not so soft they fall apart. Drain water, and in colander, run a little cool water over potatoes to cool so they can be touched.  Coat with olive oil (about 1-2 TBSP), rosemary (another 1-2 TBSP) and salt.  Place on baking sheet and put in oven.  While potatoes are cooking, boil another pot of water.  Cut off white/light green asparagus ends and place in boiling water.  Boil for 5-8 minutes, until tender.  Remove and repeat process for potatoes except without rosemary.  Remove potatoes and place asparagus on baking sheet WITH potatoes.  Place back in oven.

While the veggies are cooking, place the fish, in the foil, on the grill.  Cook to liking, we keep them on for about 10 minutes.  Remove fish, potatoes, and asparagus.  Enjoy!!

And you can’t forget a nice bottle of vino ;-)

What are your favorite things to throw on the BBQ?

Creamy Avocado Hummus

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Ciao Cleanse!

So my 3 day juice cleanse is now my two-day juice cleanse.  I gave it a good fight, but juices (juicing machine? liquids?), you win!  Last night was hard, I had ZERO energy.  I was pretty foggy too.  Today I felt the same way.  I had my first Green Juice but after that I decided to throw in the towel.  A couple of reasons are:

  • I am already pretty darn healthy and I think the 2 days was a good break for me
  • I DO NOT like feeling tired, unfocused.  I also don’t like lacking the energy to work out :-(
  • Since I juice daily, I feel I already get a lot of the benefits

I still think cleanses are great.  I’m totally open to doing this more often, but only for a day at a time.  I think a cleanse would be more beneficial (but way more hard) to someone who needs a complete diet make-over.  

Now, with solid foods back in the equation, I thought I’d whip up something tasty.  Since I have only had liquids the past couple days, I thought a hummus would be perfect to dip loads of veggies into.  It’s something light, but solid, just what I’m craving.  Honestly, even caffeinated tea hit the spot.  I’m weak, but my tummy is happy ;-)

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Creamy Avocado Hummus:

  • 1 15 oz can Garbanzo beans, rinsed
  • 1 lemon 
  • 1 medium ripe avocado
  • 1 tablespoon Tahini 
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon cumin
  • Option – chili powder for some spice!

Here’s the easy part…toss the beans, lemon juice, tahini, garlic, salt, and cumin in a food processor.  Begin mixing for a couple of minutes, drizzling haf the olive oil in through the top.  After a couple of minutes, add the avocado.  Start the processor again, and add remaining oil.  I had to stop the processor and mix up the mixture a couple of times.  Continue mixing for about 5-7 minutes, until creamy and well combined.  Taste and add more salt or oil if needed.  Enjoy with fresh-cut up veggies, pita, crackers, spread on a sandwich, wrap…the possibilities are endless.

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Enjoy!!

xo-gigi

Juice Cleanse Day 2!

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So I am day 2 of the Juice Cleanse!  Yesterdays post was all over the place, much like my head I think.  I felt like I was in the clouds most of the day.  

Morning Report:  That foggy head feeling isn’t quite as intense today, but I certainly do not have normal focus and energy.  I do however feel lighter and not bloated at all (sorry for using that word, for some reason I think it’s the worst).  My skin also feels super hydrated!

Midday Report:  Similar to morning, less foggy head though.  Not hungry whatsoever.  I actually haven’t been hungry this whole time.  I am just craving something to chew and something salty ;-)

Night Report:  Feeling tired, but spending two hours gardening might have contributed to that.  I feel more alert, way less foggy that earlier.  My body still feels light and not puffy at all.  I was a little concerned I would be retaining water but I don’t think that is the case.  I have only had 4 juices so far.  I am a little too tired to make the last one.  I am just going to pop over to Mothers Market and buy a fresh pressed juice there.  This might be the hardest part because I LOVE that place.  Seriously, and the juice bar is next to the kitchen.  Waaaa, only one more day though!!

Here’s today juices, and again, the recipes are mostly derived from The Power of Juicing…

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Juice 1:  ”Satin Skin” – 4 carrots, 1 apple, 1/2 knob of ginger root, handful of spinach

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Juice 2:  ”Body Cleanser” – 2 carrots, 1/2 cucumber, 1/2 beet, lemon (peeled)

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Juice 3:  ”Liver Mover” – 1/2 beet, 2 apples, 1/2 knob of ginger, 1/4 cucumber, lemon (peeled)

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Juice 4:  ”Champ” – 3 carrots, 2 apples, 4 large kale leaves

I’ll be back tomorrow with the final update…EXCITED!!!  I’m already thinking up recipes for Friday!  And by already I mean I have been since yesterday, hmm.  

*Side note – I don’t say it but try to buy all fruits and vegetables should organic, especially for juicing