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Clean Eating Archives · Page 7 of 20 · Rachel's Nourishing Kitchen

Category: Clean Eating Page 7 of 20

Two Soups for You! {Moroccan Chickpea & Curried Butternut}

It’s the perfect time of year for a nice big bowl of soup. As the weather cools, my body starts to crave foods like that, so I give it what it wants!

Soup is the ultimate savory comfort food for fall. Remember back to when you were a kid and your parents gave you a bowl of chicken noodle soup when we were sick? How about a dippable bowl of creamy tomato soup for your crunchy, buttery grilled cheese sandwich?

Foods like these are comfort foods because they give emotional comfort to us when we eat them.

Today I’m going to share recipes for two soups we recently tried from culinary translator and food as medicine guru, Rebecca Katz.

I recently wrote a post about her cancer-fighting, brain-boosting, longevity-promoting cookbooks and her famous Magic Mineral Broth. If you missed it, check out that post here. You’ll use the mineral broth in both of these soups, which is why we made it in the first place!

Broth

I love the rich flavors of today’s soups, especially the Moroccan Chickpea and Vegetable Soup. When I lived in Spain in college, I was in the southern town of Granada, so I was just a couple hours north of Morocco.

It was at that time that I first started to get comfortable trying new foods and experimenting with what I put on my plate. It also served as my introduction to Moroccan food.

I can’t say that I was always excited to be more adventurous with food, but the payoff has been incredible! I now enjoy so many different types of food and ethnic cuisines I would have not even thought to try before that experience.

The second soup uses my favorite fall squash – butternut – and incorporates healing spices like turmeric, ginger, and cumin along with a rich, creamy can of coconut milk.

Butternut Squash Closeup

I found it to be a little thinner than I prefer, but you can always use less broth to start and then add more to thin it out.

If you’re looking for some immune-boosting, heart-warming, soul food for this weekend or upcoming week, try one of these two soups! They are delicious and packed with flavor.

Get the recipe for the Moroccan Chickpea and Vegetable Soup.

Moroccan Chickpea

And the recipe for the Curried Butternut Squash Soup.

BSquash Soup

Immune-Boosting Magic Mineral Broth

On one of my morning walks, I was listening to an interview that Evelyne Lambrecht of Elevate Your Energy did with “Author, Educator, and Culinary Translator,” Rebecca Katz.

The topic was Eat Well for a Healthy Mind and Longer Life, and Rebecca’s playful, positive approach and style intrigued me.

I love finding other people in this field who are out to make the world a better place through food, health and healing and who do it in a positive, build-you-up way. It’s what I aim to do as well!

Rebecca says this about her work:

I teach people how to connect the dots between foodbig flavor…& vibrant health!

She invented the term “Culinary Translator” to describe what she does, which is essentially translating nutritional science to the plate. She got to this place in life after a stressed-out career in the business world led her to seek a more nourishing life.

She’s an expert on eating for health and healing, especially for when it comes to boosting immunity, protecting the body and brain from chronic conditions (especially cancer), and living longer.

You can find her cookbooks here on Amazon.

Katz Books

We’ve made some of her recipes over the past few weeks and have not been disappointed!

The base of many of her soup recipes starts with her Magic Mineral Broth. Here’s what she has to say about this nourishing, immune-boosting staple:

This rejuvenating liquid, chock-full of magnesium, potassium, and sodium, allows the body to refresh and restore itself. I think of it as a tonic, designed to keep you in tip-top shape.

I’ve made my own vegetable broth before using scraps from things like celery, carrots, onions, scallions and other veggies (find that recipe here), but I wanted to give this one a try.

It’s loaded with healing, nutrient-dense, mineral-rich ingredients like garlic, celery, leeks, onions, sweet potatoes, and kombu (a seaweed that has been a pantry staple of ours for years!).

MMB Ingredients

You can sip this broth on its own, especially when you are feeling a bit run down and want a mineral boost, and you can also use it as the base for any soup recipe that calls for vegetable broth.

We used this broth to make a few of her soups, and I will post about them this weekend, so you can have some new ideas for soups to try this fall and winter.

Click the picture below or click here to get the full recipe for Rebecca’s amazing broth!

Broth

Butternut Squash & Quinoa Harvest Salad {Gluten-Free}

One of the coolest concepts I learned about in my health coach training was food energetics.

Steve Gagne, an expert on the topic and author of the book Food Energetics: The Spiritual, Emotional, and Nutrition Power of What We Eat, taught us about the energetic properties of certain foods.

Now before you start thinking I’m going a little out there on you, listen up!

You may have already noticed this without even thinking about it based on how your food preferences change seasonally.

In the warmer months, we often crave lighter foods – salads, smoothies, raw fruits and vegetables, and chilled soups like gazpacho. These foods are naturally cooling, support our body’s detoxification processes and keep us feeling light during the hot and humid months.

As the fall approaches, we naturally turn to more warming comfort foods – things like hot soups, stews, chilis and squashes. We crave warming spices like cinnamon and ginger. We look forward to holding a piping hot mug of cocoa or tea.

IMG_2662

In other words, during the warmer months we crave lighter, cooling foods. During the colder months, we naturally go for grounding, warming foods and drinks.

Squash is one of those grounding fall foods and happens to be one of my favorites. There are so many varieties of squash that you could have a different one every day for weeks and not get bored!

Today’s recipe pulls in one of my absolute favorite squash and the one most of us are familiar with and have tried before – butternut squash.

In case you want a little how-to about how to cut up this vegetable, check out the guide below. I find that it helps to peel it with a good quality vegetable peeler BEFORE cutting it up, but it works either way. Once you’ve cut it up, then dice it into cubes for this dish. 

Butternut squash how to

I made this recipe for my Going Gluten-Free without Going Crazy workshop in October and it was one of the most liked dishes I served all night!

We combine the roasted butternut squash with my #1 herb of all time – rosemary – and toss it with some dried tart cherries, toasted pecans, and a simple apple cider vinegar Dijon dressing. To add some lightness and a bit of peppery spice, we mix in a bunch of arugula, one of the tastiest salad greens out there.

We’ve since made it multiple times, so it’s quickly become one of our fall staples. It would make the perfect side for Thanksgiving dinner or for any fall or winter meal.

When we were on a trip to Upstate New York last month, we even served it with a (slightly overcooked!) fried egg on top. This one is a keeper 🙂

egg with quinoa salad

Squash Salad Banner

 

Butternut Squash, Quinoa & Arugula Harvest Salad

This salad makes for a hearty side dish to a fall meal and combines some of our favorite fall ingredients – squash, pecans, and cranberries. You can serve it with a side of chicken or fish or add some chickpeas to up the protein content.

Salad

  • 1 large butternut squash (peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes)
  • 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary (minced)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil (extra virgin)
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
  • 1 cup quinoa (rinsed and drained)
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries or tart cherries
  • 4 cups arugula
  • 2/3 cup pecans (toasted and chopped)

Dressing

  • 1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil (extra virgin)
  1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.

  2. In a large bowl, combine squash, rosemary, and 2 tablespoons oil. Season with salt and pepper. Spread in a single layer on baking sheet. Roast in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, stirring every 12-15 minutes, until squash is tender. Let cool completely.

  3. While squash is cooking, cook quinoa. Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh strainer until water runs clear. Fill medium saucepan with 1 3/4 cups water and add quinoa. Bring to a boil then cover with a lid and reduce heat to simmer for 12-15 minutes. Once water is just barely absorbed, remove pan from heat and leave covered for 5-7 minutes. Remove lid and fluff with a fork. Spread quinoa on a parchment lined baking sheet to cool and prevent it from clumping together. This last step is optional but really helps!

  4. In a small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients in the order listed.

  5. In a large bowl, combine roasted squash, quinoa and dried fruit. Pour dressing over mixture and gently toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add arugula and pecans, gently tossing to coat.

Warm & Cozy Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal {Gluten-Free}

Sometimes we read books that transform us and the way we think, and once we’ve read them, we’re never the same.

That’s how I feel about a book I recently finished reading, The Slow Down Diet by Marc David.

I’m putting together a separate post about the key takeaways from the book, but as a sneak peek, one of them is to SLOW DOWN and listen to your body.

Sure, it’s not a mind-blowing revelation, and it’s something most of us have been told before, but I’m finally at a point in my life where I’m open enough to hear it.

The other day, after I woke up, I drank a tall glass of water, sipped my cinnamon tea, set up my oil diffuser (like a candle but better!), and did a video session of Yoga with Adriene.

I’m going through her 30 Days of Yoga series and am LOVING it!

It helps me stay focused and grounded first thing in the morning and brings more oxygen into my mind and body for clearer thinking and a boost to digestion.

After my yoga session, I was ready for breakfast and headed into the kitchen.

I’ve started being more intuitive about what I eat. Instead of just gulping down a smoothie on my way out the door, rushing to get to whatever is waiting for me for that day, I’ve been taking more time with eating. I’ve been pausing before making decisions about what to eat and paying attention to what my “gut” is telling me.

So, instead of robotically slamming a smoothie every day (typical time to belly = 60-90 seconds), I’ve gone back to basics and have been enjoying some of my favorite breakfast foods, foods I can chew.

Foods that are warm. Foods that are packed with flavor and texture.

PS Oatmeal

The first image that popped into my mind as I was standing at the door of the fridge that morning was a warm and cozy bowl of oatmeal, perfect for the cooler weather we’ve been having.

For me, oatmeal is one of the best comfort foods for fall, especially when it’s full of flavors like cinnamon, ginger, clove, and maple.

My favorite oats to use are Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free Oats. Almost every grocery store sells them. I even got to meet Bob Moore himself at the Natural Products Expo last month.

_20150918_105415

It was super cool!

I’ll be sharing a recipe for Banana Nut Oatmeal in November, but in the meantime, give this pumpkin spice version a try and let me know what you think!

PS Oatmeal Banner PS Oatmeal Closeup

Servings: 3-4

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 cups water
  • Pinch sea salt
  • 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats (old-fashioned, not quick cooking)
  • 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
  • 2 tablespoons almond butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon ground flax seed (flax meal)
  • 2 tablespoons 100% pure maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons chopped pecans, lightly toasted
  • Optional: scoop of unflavored protein powder (I like Vital Proteins collagen peptides)

Directions

  1. Bring water, salt, and oats to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir for 5 minutes.
  2. Stir in pumpkin puree, almond butter, vanilla and protein powder and stir. Remove from heat and cover for 5 more minutes.
  3. Stir in ground flax meal and maple syrup.
  4. Pour into serving bowl and top with chopped pecans.

Vegelicious Quiche: Perfect for Brunch (Or Any Meal!)

I’ve always been a fan of breakfast.

As a kid, breakfast was special because it gave me time to read the back and sides of cereal boxes. Cereal was my prefered breakfast of choice, so I’ve read hundreds of boxes at this point in my life.

Until my early 20s, I was a pretty picky eater, and I liked plain, simple foods.

I remember going to brunch every now and then (not something we did regularly!) and seeing that quiche was always one of the dishes served.

I wasn’t a fan. I didn’t like vegetables mixed into things…or touching each other. I liked them on their own, coated with spoonfuls of Kraft Parmesan cheese, thank you very much.

Now that I’m an adult, I’ve expanded my breakfast options beyond a bowl of Cheerios and am much more adventurous about how I start my day.

I now LOVE quiches, frittatas, and omelets, and as recently as the past year have come to love both overeasy and sunny-side up eggs. Our friend, Joe, has been known to call the latter “dippy eggs.”

IMG_2528

My culinary nutrition instructor, Meghan Telpner, came out with her first cookbook (The Undiet Cookbook) earlier this month and in it is a recipe for a cool new spin on a breakfast quiche, one that uses a single, inexpensive, simple ingredient as the crust – millet.

If you’re scratching your head wondering what millet is, I’m here to help.

I’m going to bet that everyone reading this has seen it before, even if you’ve never eaten it.


Quiche Millet Crust

It’s one of the main ingredients in…birdseed.

But, fortunately, this ancient gluten-free grain is not just “for the birds” and was cultivated in East Asia as far back as 10,000 years ago!

You can use it in recipes just as you would use couscous, quinoa, or rice, but you can also turn it into a crust, which is what Meghan did for this recipe.

Quiche Banner Quiche Aerial Quiche Aerial Whole

If you don’t have one of the veggies called for in this quiche, swap them out for what you do have. Dishes like this are versatile and lend themselves to modification, so be creative!

If you’d like to up the flavor of the crust, I suggest adding maybe a half teaspoon of sea salt to the millet while it cooks. You can also cook the crust itself for 10-12 minutes before adding the egg mixture to it.

The next time I make it, I think I will saute a couple cloves of garlic in the pot the millet cooks in, so that flavors gets infused into the crust. I might even press some fresh thyme leaves into the crust before adding the egg and veggie mixture on top 🙂

*Want the recipe for this vegalicious quiche? Get it here!*

The Ultimate Gluten-Free Bread Stuffing {Paleo}

Last weekend, my husband and I went out of town for a little fall getaway and spent a long weekend in the Adirondacks of Upstate New York.

With all of the (exciting!) things that have been going on in the way of travel, presentations, cooking demos, and workshops, I was in need of a break, and Bill and I were overdue for some time to reconnect and relax.

It was SO beautiful, and fall was in full swing. We captured this beautiful view of the town of Lake Placid, overlooking Mirror Lake.

ADK

This is my favorite time of the year for those reasons and because I absolutely love fall food.

Roasted root vegetables. Creamy squash soups. Savory stews. Hearty chilis. Heart and soul-warming cups of tea and bowls of oatmeal.

Hungry yet?

And with Thanksgiving coming up next month, things like turkey, stuffing, roasted Brussels sprouts and pumpkin everything will start to take center stage.

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to teach a workshop and cooking demo about Going Gluten-Free without Going Crazy. (I’m working on a few other posts all about gluten, so stay tuned for those.)

But, in the meantime, we’re going to focus on one of the top-rated meals I served at the class that everyone loved…Paleo Bread Stuffing!

Stuffing Aerial

After the class, one of the attendees said:

That stuffing recipe is officially my new go-to. I’m confident I’ll blow away my 3 sisters-in-law this Thanksgiving, which isn’t easy to do.

If you’re ready to wow some of your family members this year, look no further than this recipe.

Most gluten-free bread is full of LOTS of other ingredients (they have to put something in if they take out the key ingredient in bread…gluten) and tends to have less fiber than its gluten-containing counterparts. Because of that, I’m not a huge fan of eating bread just because it’s gluten-free.

A “gluten-free” label on a package doesn’t deserve the health halo so many of us have given it. It’s 100% necessary for those with Celiac disease and people avoiding gluten for medical reasons, but “gluten-free” does not automatically mean “good for you.”

But this bread is different.

SM Bread Box SM Bread Closeup

It’s naturally gluten-free and only has 6 SIMPLE, REAL FOOD ingredients. The bread mix is from a company I met at the Natural Products Expo – Simple Mills – and all you need to make it is oil, apple cider vinegar and eggs!

  1. Almond Flour
  2. Arrowroot Powder
  3. Flax Meal
  4. Baking Soda
  5. Sea Salt
  6. Organic Coconut Sugar

That’s how the label of a packaged food should look. Let’s not compromise quality of ingredients just because we’re not making it ourselves! 🙂

Here’s the recipe! You are going to LOVE it.

Stuffing Banner Stuffing Closeup

The Ultimate Gluten-free Bread Stuffing (Paleo)

For a healthier spin on this year’s stuffing, try this recipe!

  • 1 box Simple Mills artisan bread mix (or 1 medium loaf gluten-free bread)
  • 1 tablespoon ghee (AKA clarified butter)
  • 1 cup celery (chopped)
  • 1 cup carrots (chopped)
  • 1 medium onion (chopped)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary (chopped)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme (chopped)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh sage (chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
  • 1 cup walnuts (chopped)
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries (chopped)
  • 3 large eggs (whisked)
  • 2 cups broth (chicken or bone both preferred)
  1. Bake the bread that morning or the day before according to the directions provided on the back of Simple Mills Artisan Bread mix bag.

  2. Preheat oven to 350°F.

  3. Cut the loaf bread into cubes; toast the cubes in the preheated oven about 10 minutes to draw out the moisture. Add walnuts and toast another 8 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

  4. While the bread cubes are toasting in the oven, heat a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat and sauté celery, carrots, and onion in ghee for 5-8 minutes or until the vegetables have developed some color and are tender.

  5. Raise oven temperature to 400F.

  6. Add toasted bread, herbs, walnuts and cranberries to pan and toss to combine. Remove pan from heat. Whisk eggs together and pour on top of bread mixture, tossing to coat evenly. Then, pour on the broth and toss to combine.

  7. Pour veggie/bread mix into a baking dish and bake for 30 minutes, covered. Remove lid/cover and bake uncovered for 10 more minutes to crisp up the top. Sometimes we give it a stir and then put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes or so, depending on how crunchy you like it!

  8. If you save it for a day or two, I find that adding 1/2 cup-1 cup of broth to the mix to remoisten it before heating it up in the oven helps and prevents it from drying out. Enjoy! 🙂

You can find Simple Mills products on Amazon, at Target, MOMs Organic Market, Wegmans, and Whole Foods.

Happy National Kale Day! {10 Kale Recipes Plus a Must-See RNK Video}

My friend Natalie texted me this morning to wish me a “Happy National Kale Day.”

She’s super thoughtful and was actually the person who got me an awesome Eat More Kale shirt last year for my birthday. I was so excited that I had to make a short video dedicated to today’s vegetable of honor!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IP4jVrh0Do

In addition to posting that video on my Facebook page today about why kale is so awesome and some tricks for how to make it taste good and NOT bitter, I thought I’d whip up a quick blog post 🙂

Kale is related to some of my other favorite veggies, including cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts! It scores 1,000 on the ANDI scale, which measures the nutrient density of a food. In English, that means it packs in a TON of micronutrients (vitamins, minerals essential for our health, growth and development).

The more nutrient-dense our diet is, the better off we will be!

Kale is loaded with antioxidants that protect our body (inside and outside!) from damage caused by things like stress, poor diet, lack of activity and smoking.

This leafy green also contains isothiocyanates (say “eye-so-thio-CY-a-nates”) more simply known as ITCs. These compounds have strong cancer-preventive properties. Not only that, but kale contains over 45 flavonoids, a type of phytonutrient (FIGHT-o-nutrient) that protects plants from disease as they are growing. Flavonoids protect our bodies as well AND are give plants their colorful pigments.

Veggies at the San Diego Farmer's Market, including lots of kale!

Veggies at the San Diego Farmer’s Market, including lots of kale in the middle!

Kale is full of micronutrients like beta carotene, vitamin K, and vitamin C. Vitamin K is an important nutrient involved in blood clotting and one cup of kale contains 7 times the RDA for vitamin K.

You may have heard people express concerns about eating too many leafy greens if they are on blood thinners. In fact, the well-known anticoagulant drug Warfarin (Coumadin) works by blocking the function of vitamin K, which is why anyone taking those medications should talk to their doctor about any dietary changes like significantly upping their intake of vitamin-K containing foods.

When there are ways to naturally support our body rather than using medication, I’m all for it!

Kale is anti-inflammatory and detoxifying, so it helps us calm the fires inside of our body and get rid of toxins that can build up as a result of how we live, including how we eat. Dr. Mark Hyman, Director of the Center for Functional Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, writes and speaks about how inflammation and toxicity are two of the reasons we are sick, develop disease and have trouble losing weight. Check out his video about it here.

If you want to learn even more about the awesome benefits of kale, check out this post by Authority Nutrition about the 10 Proven Benefits of Kale.

Oh, and if you want to be entertained, make sure you check out my National Kale Day tribute video on Facebook!

In the meantime, here are some recipes to try (and check out others on the National Kale Day website):

My Famous Super Food Kale Salad!

My Famous Super Food Kale Salad!

Med Kale Salad

  1. “Taste the Rainbow” Super Food Kale Salad (my signature salad that gets RAVE reviews!)
  2. Upgraded Kale Waldorf Salad
  3. Mediterranean Chickpea and Sundried Tomato Kale Salad
  4. Mini Kale & Mushroom Breakfast Frittatas
  5. Peachy Keen Kale Salad
  6. White Bean & Fennel Soup
  7. Caribbean Island Breeze Smoothie
  8. The Recipe that Will Make You Fall In Love with Kale All Over Again from MindBodyGreen
  9. Lentil & Carrot Salad with Kale from Serious Eats
  10. Bobby Flay’s Sauteed Kale from Food Network

Do you have a favorite kale recipe or one that you want to try? If so, feel free to share it below!

Meghan’s Chocolate, Chocolate Pancakes {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free}

As I shared in a post earlier this week, my culinary nutrition instructor, Meghan Telpner, just released her cookbook.

I’ve had the opportunity to try some of the recipes in it, and they are awesome!

Every recipe is based on using real, whole, unprocessed foods, and no refined sugar, gluten or dairy products, so it’s totally aligned with how I eat and what makes me feel best.

She also has a quirky sense of humor and honesty that makes the book fun to read.

Today I’m sharing with you my experience of making her “Chocolate, Chocolate, Say It Twice Pancakes.” 

undiet pancakes

When we’re cooking and baking, gluten-free, we can’t just swap a gluten-free flour for white flour because the gluten-free flours don’t contain the main ingredient that creates the “doughy-ness” that most of us love so much about bread…gluten!

That’s why you’ll see that this recipe uses a blend of gluten-free flours, including brown rice, buckwheat (which does NOT contain any wheat or gluten), arrowroot and chickpea flour. The company Bob’s Red Mill sells these at just about every grocery store, so they should be accessible to most people.

Meghan posted the recipe on her website as a sneak peek to the book, so I’m going to send you over there, today.

Here’s what the finished pancakes looked like when I made them.

pancake bite closeup pancakes

Bill was a big fan and had them for dinner last night alongside these greens and Meghan’s vegalicious quiche with a secret ingredient gluten-free crust. I’ll be post

*Click here to get the chocolate pancake recipe!*

If you haven’t already, pre-order the Undiet cookbook to get access to some super cool FREE bonuses, including:

  • Two Undiet meal plans
  • Bonus recipes that didn’t make the book
  • Online smoothie class
  • Online launch party

AND be entered to win these awesome prizes:

No-Bake Chocolate Walnut Brownies {Gluten-Free, Paleo, Vegan}

My friend Sarah came over for dinner last night, and after making some yummy stuffed sweet potatoes from this new cookbook, I wanted to whip up a quick and easy dessert, which is what prompted me to make these brownies!

I love that these are no-bake, made with heart healthy, brain boosting walnuts and antioxidant-rich cacao powder, and topped with crunchy cacao nibs.

I find that Amazon has the best deals on cacao powder and nibs, so I’ve linked out to them below in the ingredient list. Viva Labs is one of the brands I love!

These are easy to make…and easy to eat 🙂 Make them this weekend!

IMG_2208 Yield: 20 servings

Ingredients

  • 3 cups raw walnuts
  • 2/3 cup raw cacao powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
  • 1 cup pitted Medjool dates, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes to soften
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup shredded coconut, lightly toasted
  • 1/4 cup raw cacao nibs

Directions

  1. In a food processor, blend walnuts, cacao powder, salt and cinnamon until nuts are finely ground.
  2. Drain dates and squeeze out excess water. Add dates, vanilla and toasted coconut to food processor. Process until mixture sticks together. If needed, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time to make brownies more moist.
  3. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. Press brownie mixture into the dish. Sprinkle with cacao nibs and press nibs into brownies.
  4. Put in freezer for 30-60 minutes to firm up and then cut into 20 squares.
  5. Refrigerate brownies in an airtight container for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 2 weeks.

Easy Sauteed Greens & Onions {Paleo, Vegan}

As often as I share recipes for sweet treats and snacks, you might think that’s all I eat!

Fortunately, that’s not the case.

In fact, I’m a huge fan of vegetables and I eat LOTS of them. I eat vegetables at almost every meal and am a big fan of what Michael Pollan has to say about them:

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He goes on to say:

THAT, more or less, is the short answer to the supposedly incredibly complicated and confusing question of what we humans should eat in order to be maximally healthy.

Pollan’s advice is something that everyone in the nutrition community can 100% agree on, which is a rare thing these days.

Most of us spend so much time pitting one diet against another that we lose sight of the basic, universal truths all of us believe and know to be true about food and want people to know.

That’s why I wanted to share this recipe with you today. It’s loaded with plant-based goodness.

I’ve been cooking this dish for over 5 years and, for whatever reason, had never taken the time to share it with you!

greens onions

What prompted me to do it was hosting a table at two client health fairs in the past week and sharing my passion for G-BOMBS. G-BOMBS is an acronym coined by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, who wanted to come up with a simple way to remember the most nutrient-rich, anti-aging, immune-boosting, disease-preventive, protective foods on the planet.

You can read more about G-BOMBS in this blog post (which happens to be the most often read post on this blog!), but to sum it up here, it stands for:
Greens
Beans
Onions
Mushrooms
Berries
Seeds

This dish uses 4 of the 6 GBOMBS, but I’ve made a version of it with all 6 and will share that in another post.

A stack of Swiss chard at the farmer's market!

A stack of Swiss chard at the farmer’s market!

In this recipe, I’m using Swiss chard, a leafy green vegetable that often has colorful stems (rainbow chard) or white stems (regular chard). It’s a softer green than kale or collard greens, and it works really well in this recipe and in frittatas.

It’s packed with anti-aging antioxidants, anti-inflammatory compounds, supports bone health because of its high vitamin K and magnesium content, and has even been found to benefit blood sugar regulation – a KEY to having sustained energy and maintaining a healthy weight. Read more about this super star veggie here.

It comes together in about 20 minutes and is great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. We use it as a side dish and can easily split the whole thing between the two of us. It’s versatile, too.

Don’t have Swiss chard? Use kale.
No pumpkin seeds? Try sunflower seeds.
Out of red onions? Use yellow.

Just make the dish. It’s delicious, packed with nutrients and flavor and is simply prepared. Simple is doable, and simple is often best 🙂 Enjoy!

greens saute words greens plate

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients
1 tablespoon coconut oil or ghee (clarified butter)
1 red onion, thinly sliced into half moons
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup water
1 1/2 bunches Swiss chard
1 1/2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 of a large lemon)
1/4 cup lightly toasted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
1/4 cup dried cranberries or goji berries (optional)
Scant 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

  1. Cut off stems at base of chard and compost or toss it. Chop chard leaves into 1/2 inch strips and set aside.
  2. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt oil/ghee. Add onions and cook about 10 minutes or until soft and translucent.
  3. Add the garlic and cook until soft, but not browned (it turns bitter when it browns). Add 1-2 tablespoons water to prevent sticking, if needed.
  4. Turn heat to medium-high and add greens and remaining water and toss with tongs to combine. Cover with a lid and cook for 4-5 minutes until greens are wilted but still BRIGHT green.
  5. Remove from heat and toss greens with cider vinegar (or lemon juice), pumpkin seeds, cranberries and sea salt and pepper, to taste, until everything is evenly coated and combined.

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