Roasted Poblano White Bean Dip

I love me some poblanos. Roasting them is my favorite way to cook them and it makes your house smell amazing! This dip is super easy to make and only takes a few ingredients. Be patient and roast your poblanos, it is so worth it. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
-1 Poblano Pepper, Roasted and Peeled 
          *How to roast peppers in an oven
-1 Can (15oz) Cannellini beans (Or other white bean), Rinsed and Drained
-2 TBSP Fresh lemon juice, About 1/2 Large Lemon
1 Clove Garlic, chunks
2 TBSP Olive Oil
2 TBSP Cold Water, more if needed. 
1/2 TSP Pink Sea Salt

Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend until desired consistency! Easy as dip!
Pair with some persian cucumbers or your favorite Gluten Free Cracker (Like Crunchmaster, pictured above) 

RiseBar

My life can get hectic between working different jobs, trying to run this blog, and having a social life. Having a busy day or lifestyle doesn't mean that we should make bad choices on what we are putting into our bodies. I am always looking for easy and healthy choices that can fuel my body with simple and pure ingredients. The nice folks at Rise Bar sent me some of their bars to try out and I am hooked! They come in three different types of bars, protein bars, breakfast bars and energy bars for whatever your needs may be. Not to mention the tons of delicious flavors! 

There are so many reasons to choose Rise Bar. They are all gluten free, all natural, non-gmo, free of preservatives, 0g transfat, and some of their bars are even vegan! 

100% Annie's Gluten Free Grub approved.

Check out their website and take a look around

RiseBar

Thanks again RiseBar!

Super Green Veggie Quinoa with Spinach Cashew Cream Sauce

Protein packed quinoa mixed with every green veggie I had in my fridge...perfection! This is an easy vegan dish for any meal. In my previous post, I showed you all how to make my spinach cashew cream sauce. This is one of the many ways to use it. I always have some leftover quinoa in my fridge for reasons like this. It is versatile and packed with nutrients. My favorite, of course is Ancient Harvest Quinoa company so head over to their website and check them out Ancient Harvest This dish can be served cold or warm and tastes amazing both ways! Enjoy XO

1 Cup Broccoli, Small Pieces

1 Zuchinni, Cut in Chunks

5 Asparagus, Cut in Chunks

1 Cup Kale, Small Pieces, Loosely Packed 

1 Clove Garlic, Minced

1 Cup Cooked Quinoa

1 TBSP Olive Oil

2-3 TBSP Spinach Cashew Cream

Use leftover quinoa or cook some quinoa. 1 Cup dry quinoa turns into about 3 cups cooked.

Cut and prepare your veggies.

Heat olive oil over medium heat. Quickly sauté the veggies and garlic for about 2 minutes. I personally don't like my veggies super cooked so it's all about preference on this step.

When the veggies are cooked, add in 1 cup quinoa and mix.

Add the spinach cashew cream and mix!

Easy! Vegan! Gluten Free! Enjoy XO

Jalapeno Kale Almond Dip

I really can't stop combining jalapeño and kale. This dip is so flavorful, slightly spicy and packed with vitamins and nutrients. Serve it cold with rice crackers or cucumbers.

1 Cup Raw Almonds

1/2 Cup Grapeseed Oil

1 Jalapeno, Seeded and Chopped

1/8 Cup Lemon Juice 

5 TBSP Nutritional Yeast

1/2 Cup Kale, Stems Removed

3 Cloves Garlic

1 TBSP Braggs Liquid Aminos

1/2 TSP Salt

3/4 Water

Put all ingredients into a food processor or blender until smooth. 

Enjoy! Xo

Goji Almond Pretzel Bites

We all need a little chocolate from time to time, add those powerful Goji berries and you have the perfect combo. Goji berries have a ton of nutritional benefits and have been used as a super berry for thousands of years. They have tons of powerful antioxidants which can boost the immune system and lower cholesterol. Not only that but they are packed with Vitamin A. What a delicious way to get so many benefits!

1 Cup Chocolate Chips (You choose your favorite! Dark chocolate has the most antioxidants) 

1/2 Cup Dried Goji Berries

1/2 Cup Almonds, Chopped

1/2 Cup Glutino GF Pretzels, Broken into Pieces

1 TBSP Agave Nectar

Mini muffin tins/candy tins

In a small saucepan (over low to medium heat) melt the chocolate chips. It's better to do this slowly so the chocolate doesn't burn. When the chocolate is almost melted, add the agave nectar. *You can always skip the agave nectar but I used bittersweet chocolate originally so I wanted to add a little sweetness. 

In the mini muffin tins, pour 1/2 inch melted chocolate into tins.

Add the goji berries, broken pretzels, and almonds on top.

Let the candies set in the fridge until the chocolate is hardened. 

(They taste a little better at room temperature but store them in the fridge)

That's it! Too easy for so much flavor!

Enjoy! Xo

Spicy Glazed Mushrooms

I debated posting these mushrooms because they are SO easy to make but everyone is always looking for quick and easy side dishes! Literally, this takes less than five minutes to make especially if you are using pre-sliced mushrooms. Not only is this sauce great on mushrooms but could go on any vegetable to make a saucy, spicy, yet healthy side dish. 

1-2 Cups Mushrooms, Sliced

1 Clove Garlic, Minced

2 TSP Tamari (Gluten Free Soy Sauce)

1 TSP Chili Garlic Sauce

1/4 TSP Sesame Oil

1 TSP Grapeseed Oil 

Mix your sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

In a skillet, head the grapeseed oil over medium heat.

Add your mushrooms and sauté until cooked. 

*I personally don't like my mushrooms too cooked so I only sautéed them for about a minute. 

When the mushrooms are cooked to your liking, add the sauce. Heat sauce and mushrooms for about 20-30 seconds and you are good to go!

Garlic Herb Butter

This is probably the only time you will see me go "Paula Deen" on my blog. As much as I loooove me some butter, I try to avoid it as much as possible. I don't cook with butter much but believe me, I miss it. One reason I don't eat butter much is because I don't eat bread! The best part is smearing a big glob of butter on some french bread. Without french bread what's the point of a bunch of calories and fat? Well, I have found the reason for extra calories. We all deserve a little butter from time to time, especially when it's mixed with roasted garlic. 

2 Heads of Garlic

2 Sticks of Unsalted Butter

1/4 TSP of Salt (Unless you use salted butter)

Your Choice of Herbs

*I used fresh parsley, basil, and dried oregano flakes

The first step (and best step) is roasting whole heads of garlic. 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Cut off the tips of the garlic (Shown above)

Drizzle olive oil in the bottom of a dish and then all over the garlic. ALL over. 

Cover the dish with aluminum foil and crimp the edges so it's sealed.

Roast in the oven for 35-45 Minutes.

Start checking around 25 minutes to make sure it's not burning.

Your house will smell amazing at this point. 

Once your garlic is roasted, let it cool down before trying to get the individual cloves out.

(You can also stop here and not make butter. Roasted garlic can be used for so much!)

Cut the sticks of butter into little chunks.

Put chunks into a large bowl and let sit for a little bit until it's softer.

Once your garlic is cooled and butter is soft, take a fork and start squishing the garlic into the butter. 

Add salt and herbs and keep mixing until it's mixed.

It is okay if the butter gets super soft and soupy because it will harden back up in the fridge.

Roll the butter into parchment paper and wrap up! Stick it in the fridge and you are good to go!

P.S. How cute is my heart parchment paper, I love asian markets.

Basic Basil Pesto

Every person needs this recipe in their back pocket. It is so easy to make and takes less than five minutes to put together. You can use this pesto on gluten free pastas, fish, chicken, potatoes and anything you want. The fresh basil tastes so much better than anything store bought and has tons of benefits. Basil has powerful antioxidants and tons of vitamins, especially vitamin K. 

 Store it in an airtight container in the fridge. 

2 Cups Fresh Basil, Loosely packed

1/3 Cup Pine Nuts

1/2 Cup Olive Oil

2 Cloves Garlic

1/3 Cups Parmesan Cheese

Blend all ingredients in a food processor. 

*You can use fresh garlic if you like the taste of fresh garlic

To mellow out the flavor of the garlic, boil 1 inch of water and add garlic cloves for 1 min. Take out and cool down. 

Sweet and Sour Cabbage

The worst part of the week is going through your fridge and seeing how much produce was wasted. My goals for the year was to save more money and waste less food. It has been a refreshing challenge trying to create new dishes before our fresh veggies and produce go bad. This dish all started with a bag of cabbage. The cabbage stared at me for a week saying "maaakeee something with me." I have never been a big cabbage fan, and seems like the only way I eat it is with fish tacos (I end up picking off most of the cabbage too) Well friends, here it is! An amazing, delicious way to eat cabbage. I made it two nights in a row because it was so satisfying, and because it was a huge bag of shredded cabbage. 

This quick and easy side dish is a great addition to any asian themed meal. 

1 TBSP Olive Oil

1/2 Onion, Sliced

3/4 Cup Cherry Tomatoes, Halved or Quartered

2 TBSP Rice Wine Vinegar

1 TBSP Sambal Oelek (Chili Garlic Sauce)

1 Zucchini, Cut in Chunks

8-10 Ounces, Shredded Cabbage

In a large skillet, heat 1 TBSP Olive Oil over medium heat. Add onions and sauté for 3 minutes until onions start to turn translucent. 

Add the cherry tomatoes, zucchini, rice wine vinegar, cabbage and sambal oelek and sauté for a few more minutes until cabbage is tender.

Serve hot and enjoy! xx 

Southwestern Quinoa Bake

Remember how I told you that I have a 5 pound bag of organic quinoa?

I am pretty sure that the quinoa keeps multiplying because there is barely a dent in the bag. Here is another quinoa recipe. You can never have too many quinoa recipes at your disposal. Quinoa is a supergrain! 

1 Cup Cooked Quinoa

1 Zucchini, Cut in Chunks

2 Cloves Garlic, Minced

1/2 Cup Corn, Frozen or Fresh

1/2 Small Red Onion, Chopped

1 Small Can of Green Chiles (4 Ounces), Chopped 

1 Jalapeño, Seeded and Diced 

1/2 Cup Black Beans, Rinsed

1/4 TSP Salt

1/2 TSP Cumin

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees.

Cook quinoa according to package or use plain leftover quinoa.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix.

Pour into an oven safe dish.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until zucchinis are cooked.

Serve hot and enjoy! xx 

Curried Cashew Green Beans

One thing I love about Indian food is the majority of it is Gluten Free. When I first became Gluten Free, it was tough. Changing my lifestyle from eating California burritos all the time to a Gluten Free lifestyle was a drastic shock to my carb loving system. I took a trip to San Francisco during the first few months of being Gluten Free, and was stressing that I would be the "difficult" friend. We ended up at an Indian restaurant in the Mission District. As a Gluten free newbie, I went straight to the manager and talked to him about my options (I still recommend talking to the manager or chef when eating out). The menu was huge. In my mind I was about to have a choice of two things. The manager then pointed out two things on the menu..."You can have everything but this and that" 

My jaw dropped and my stomach started grumbling. You mean I can have all of this?!?! That's when my love affair for Indian food started. I began trying Indian food restaurants and sampling different dishes and curries. I try not to eat out too often so creating satisfying Indian dishes was a goal. Here is a great little side dish to accompany an Indian style meal. I always prefer to get vegetables fresh and organic when possible. Skip the canned veggies and stick to fresh to obtain all the benefits and vitamins you can. 

Green Beans or French Green Beans, trimmed

1/2 Cup Cashews

1/4 TSP Salt

1/4 TSP Garlic Powder

1/8 TSP Ground Ginger

1 TSP Curry Powder

2 Egg Whites

Heat oven to 400 Degrees. 

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. 

In a food processor, add cashews and grind. Some small chunks of cashews are fine. My food processor doesn't get all of them!

In a bowl, mix ground cashews and all the spices. 

Pour cashew spice mixture on a plate.

In a different bowl, separate the egg whites and toss the yolk in the garbage.

"Bread" the green beans by dipping them in the egg white, then the cashew spice mix.  

Line the cashew "breaded"green beans on your baking sheet and bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until green beans are cooked and cashews are crispy.

Serve hot with sriracha and enjoy! xx

Jalapeño Mashed Potatoes

Potatoes are any gluten free foodies best friend. They go well with everything, super easy to make, and naturally gluten free. Hey, carbs are okay sometimes right? Here are two easy potato recipes to add some spice and flavor to any meal. You can make them and leave them as mashed potatoes or keep going and make them into little crispy potato cakes. Eat up and enjoy! 

3 Pounds Golden Potatoes, Peeled

3/4 Cup Sour Cream

3 Cloves Garlic, Minced

1 Jalapeño, Seeded and Diced (or more if you like them!)

1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese, Grated

1/4 Cup Vegetable Broth

Rice Flour 

Boil peeled potatoes until soft enough to mash. Mash potatoes. Add in sour cream, broth, garlic, parmesan cheese and jalapeño. Mix and enjoy! xx

Potato Cakes

Follow instructions for mashed potatoes. Let potatoes cool and form into cakes. Heat 1 TBSP grapeseed oil in large skillet. Sprinkle rice flour on both sides of potato cakes. Crisp until golden brown. Enjoy! xx

Spiced Lime Cashews

A perfect snack for an afternoon pick me up. These little cashews are bursting with tangy lime and smokey spices. 

1 Cup Cashews

1 TBSP Olive Oil

Juice from 1 Lime

1/2 TBSP Smoked Paprika

1/4 TSP Chili Powder

1/4 TSP Garlic Powder

Sea Salt for tossing

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and toss until cashews are coated with spice mixture.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place cashews in a single layer on baking sheet.

Cook in oven for 15-20 minutes until toasty brown color.

Shake around cashews halfway through cook time.

Cool and toss with sea salt. Enjoy xx. 

Toasted Cashew Butter

I try to grocery shop by what's on sale each week. I wait patiently every week until wednesday morning when I open my email, and see the new weekly sale flyer and do a little happy dance as I get to plan the weeks recipes. This week, cashews. For the first recipe, is this delicious Toasted Cashew Butter. This cashew nut butter is the perfect combination of sweet and salty. Toasting the cashews brings out their sweetness. They make your house smell heavenly too!

1 Cup Raw Cashews

1/4 TSP Sea Salt

1/4 Cinnamon 

3 TBSP Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Spread cashews in a single layer on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. 

Roast Cashews for 10 minutes, toss around at 5 mins.

Let the cashews cool (You can speed up the process by sticking them in the freezer for a few minutes)

In food processor, combine cooled cashews, sea salt, cinnamon and olive oil and blend until desired consistency. 

Spicy Rice Cakes

Being on a budget doesn't mean you can't create easy delicious meals. This side dish was less than $1.00 to make and would go great with a saucy fish or chicken or sautéed veggies. They are super quick and easy to make. 

2 cups cooked Jasmine Rice

1/8 Cup Tamari (Gluten Free Soy Sauce)

1 Clove Garlic, Minced

1.5 TBSP Sriracha

2 Green Onions, Chopped, green parts only

1/4-1/2 Cup Shredded Carrots (about half carrot shredded)

1 Egg

1/4 TSP Sesame Oil

1/4 TSP Korean Crushed Red Pepper

3 TBSP Grapeseed Oil

Rice Flour for sprinkling

Heat grapeseed oil over medium heat in a large skillet

Combine all ingredients and mix. Form into little patties and sprinkle with rice flour.

When oil is heated, place gently into oil and cook until golden brown. Sprinkle more rice flour and flip.

Drain on paper towels, drizzle with sriracha and serve hot. Enjoy xx

*You can test to see if oil is hot enough by sticking the bottom of a wooden spoon into your oil. If little bubbles start forming around the wood, your oil is hot enough to crisp items. 

Pickled Red Onions

Out of all of the recipes on this blog, you HAVE to make these pickled red onions. Sometimes the most simple foods change your life. 3 ingredients is all it takes and your mouth will be thanking you for years. My fridge will always have a jar of these. We ran out yesterday and I made more yesterday. They are that amazing. Seriously though, I don't think you get it... Make these! 

1 Medium Red Onion

1 Cup Rice Vinegar

1 TSP sugar

Thinly slice red onion. 

Add onions to a medium bowl and pour in vinegar and sugar.

Make sure all of the onions are covered with the vinegar mixture. 

I usually put some plastic wrap over the onions and push it down so the onions stay submerged.

Put onions in your fridge for 3-4 hours.

Add onions to an airtight jar and store in fridge.

Put these onions on everything! Salad, sandwiches, soups, quesadillas, rice, veggies... everything.

Chili Garlic Eggplant

Eggplant isn't everyone's favorite vegetable but this recipe will change your mind. It is so flavorful for being such an easy recipe. I prefer to use the small japanese eggplant that you can find at asian market's,  but the larger eggplants work too (pictured). You can use this sauce on any vegetable for a simple side dish to accompany your meal. Quick, easy and cheap? Best combination ever.

1 Large Eggplant or 3 Small Japanese Eggplants

1 TBSP Sambal Oelek (Chili Garlic Sauce)

1 TBSP Tamari (Gluten Free Soy Sauce)

1/2 TBSP Brown Sugar

1/4 TSP Sesame Oil

1 Green Onion, Green Parts, Chopped

Heat oven to 350 Degrees.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cut eggplant into round disks.

Mix Sambal Oelek, Tamari, Brown Sugar, Sesame oil in a bowl. 

Toss Eggplant in sauce and make sure both sides are coated.

Cook in oven for about 10 minutes until you can easily poke a fork through the eggplant.

Serve hot and enjoy! xx