roasted herbed potatoes

i don't know about you, but on weekend mornings all i want is coffee, my comfy couch and an easy breakfast. none of this standing at the stove all morning, covering, uncovering, stirring, lowering and raising the temperature to try to give the potatoes a golden brown crust on the outside and get them perfectly fluffy on the inside.

seriously badass beets

i know a lovely, wild, beautiful woman from my college days when i was the nanny for her 3 gorgeous children and i was an assistant at her preschool. i just recently (finally, thankfully) got back in touch with her. she, and 2 friends of hers, have been plowing, planting, weeding and harvesting up a storm on their new farm, 3 graces farming, which is a 5 minute bike ride from our house. i will talk more (lots more) about the farm another day, right now i really just really need to talk about this salad.

vegan potato, chickpea + spinach vindaloooooo

this meal is a shortcut way to get dinner on the table in no time. there is zero shame in using pre-made sauces and if you shop right, they can be delicious and healthy. i found this vegan vindaloo sauce in the refrigerated section of my local hippie market and they also make a butter sauce and a tikka masala sauce. 

i also just like to say vin da looooooo, so there is that.

black beans with cumin, lime and cilantro

these tasty beans come together lickety-split and are an inexpensive, low-fat, high fiber vegan base to be used for...

 

burritos

tacos

nachos

huevos rancheros

taco salad

are you ready? this is so easy...

paleo cauliflower rice

tonight, we will be having paleo stuffed red peppers for dinner, and part of that recipe is cauliflower rice.

its so simple to make and we will be using it twice- tonight in our stuffed peppers and tomorrow night in fried rice.

citrus thyme salt rub

these baked spuds were tasty and simple, two of my favorite things when it comes to getting dinner on the table!

i threw together a quick little rub, rubbed the clean potatoes with a generous amount of olive oil and then rubbed all of the citrus salt all over the four taters. i let them sit at room temperature for a few hours with the rub on, baked em and called it dinner (topped with broccoli, cheese and a little bacon, of course).

roasted acorn squash, kale and cannellini bean salad

whoooosh.

did you hear that?

the holidays are officially here. they swiftly swooped down upon us and have settled in for a while.

holiday parties, gingerbread men, lighting the menorah, hot chocolate with peppermint shnappes, egg nog spiked with bourbon, frying latkes, shopping until you d r o p.

with all the rich food, cocktails and general busy-ness that go hand in hand with the holidays, sometimes you just need to give your stomach and your soul a little break.

draw a tall glass of water (walk away from the bourbon) and cook yourself a delicious, healthy, hearty meal of a warm roasted acorn squash, kale and cannellini bean salad. add some shaved parm if you don't feel the need for it to be vegan...

tabbouleh salad

this salad is another simple recipe straight outta my new favorite cookbook, mad hungry. tabbouleh is a light, refreshing and lemony salad that is super filling when piled into pita bread with some salty feta shards and a smear of hummus.

creamy bulgur wheat in coconut milk

bulgur wheat is a whole wheat grain that has been cracked and partially pre-cooked. as a whole grain, it is a naturally high-fiber, low-fat, low-calorie vegetarian and vegan food ingredient. 

when you cook it with some coconut milk, a cinnamon stick, a little honey or organic cane sugar and a splash of good vanilla extract you get a creamy, lightly coconuty breakfast. add in some thinly sliced almonds for a little crunch and i think this is one helluva start to your day!

spiced apple crisps

let's talk about impulse buys.

now, i don't mean that $268 top you bought on a whim at anthropologie ( i'm sure its ab-so-lutely fab. keep it, don't take it back!). i actually mean impulse food purchases.

i am a girl that loves a good salty/crunchy/ sweet snack as much as the next, and so my usual impulse buys lean towards snacky foods- barbara's natural cheese puffs, oreos, sour cream and onion pop chips and sometimes, apple chips. i try to fool myself into thinking that since the apple chips are made from apples they (duh) must be healthy, but then i get home and look at the label and see that they are actually fried, and have preservatives in them with consonant and vowel combinations that my mouth and brain are unable to form.

fail.

so what's a hungry girl to do?

make my own, of course!

chai concentrate

cinnamon is one of those distinct spices that brings to mind colorful leaves on the ground, cozy sweaters and a pleasant chill in the air. one sniff of its spicy aroma, and i'm thinking about fall and all the lovely and cozy things that come with the season.

stuffed red bell peppers

after a lovely vacation- hanging with friends, sitting on the beach, drinking beer, wine and more beer and eating our way all over santa barbara- all my body is craving are salads and vegetables.

lovely green slices of zucchini, slivers of yellow summer squash, pretty little leaves of baby spinach, and bright, bold red bell peppers. throw in a little rice, some white wine (just a touch), homemade tomato sauce and some cheesy breadcrumbs and dinner is just about on the table.

spiced indian chickpeas, naan and lemony garlic + mint yogurt sauce

these chickpeas were out of this world tasty. they are spiced up with lots of tantalizing and delicious spices like garam masala, cinnamon and cayenne and are feisty, flavorful and tangy if you add a squeeze of lemon at the end like i did. i also added some chopped up fresh cilantro at the end of cooking the chickpeas and that brought a nice, bright freshness to the dish.

chocolate and peanut butter cups (aka sheer happiness)

you know when something is so dang amazing that you don't know exactly how to describe it, and the fear of simply not doing it justice makes your brain freeze up?

um...yah.