CHICKPEA SHAWARMA SALAD WITH QUINOA, VEGGIES AND LEMON

By the time this post goes live I will be back in Arizona after 2 1/2 weeks in California. It was part work part play.

As is everything in my life. Balance right? When making a recipe to post on the blog I always keep you guys in mind and find a balance between taste/health/accessability.

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I'll ask myself the following questions: Will the ingredients be easy to get at the grocery store, is it easy to make and to scale up or down? Is the recipe easy to color outside the lines with and sub in or out different ingredients based on what you franz might have on hand? Are the flavors and textures balanced? Is it healthy, will it taste great AND will it photograph nicely (lol- I worry about that last one a lot)?

These are all the things I think about when I'm cooking for someone other than for myself which is more than half of the time. I'm eating for one or cooking for the blog/instagram, a workshop, friends/family, and soon (hopefully) a couple personal chef/health coach clients.

This salad hits each piece of criteria to a T. Lets explore shall we?

• easy to make - check

• easy to find ingredients- check

• easy to scale- check

• easy to substitue different ingredients- check

• balanced flavor- check

• textures- check

• healthy- check

• tastes GREAT- check check

• photogenic- check

I love this salad for picnics, meal planning/prep, potlucks, not boring lunches at work, healthy dinner with a girl friend served with a cold glass of Sav Blanc. You name it. I'm feelin it.

Go make this.

PS I am L O V I N G this album. Its been on repeat for I kid you not like two months now.

Ingredients

FOR THE SALAD:

2 Cups dry quinoa

4 Cups vegetable broth

1-15 Ounce can of garbanzo beans/chickpeas

2 cucumber, chopped in 1/2 cubes (about 4 cups)

1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered (about 2 cups)

1 Cup black or kalamata olives, halved

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 small onion (about 3/4 cup)

1/4 Cup sunflower seeds or pine nuts

1 Cup flat leaf parsley, chopped, loosely packed

1 lemon, juiced and zested

2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar

2-4 Tablespoons coconut oil or olive oil

4-6 Tablespoons feta or almond/tofu feta cheese

SHAWARMA SEASONING

2 Teaspoons cumin

2 Teaspoons turmeric powder

2 Teaspoons smoked paprika

1/2 Teaspoon cinnamon

1 Teaspoon black pepper

pink salt to taste

Instructions

1. Cook the quinoa. Add vegetable broth and quinoa to a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil, cover and lower to a simmer. Cook until tender and water is absorbed. about 7-10 minutes. once cooked turn of heat and set aside.

2. Prep onion and garlic: dice onion, minced garlic, set aside. Toast sunflower seeds or pine nuts: heat a large dry frying pan over medium high heat. Once hot add the seeds or nuts and toast for 2-3 minutes stirring frequently to prevent burning. Transfer to small bowl and set aside.

3. Open and strain the chickepeas. Pat dry with a paper down and remove as much liquid as possible. Be sure to remove excess water to prevent oil from splattering when added to the pan. Heat 1-2 Tbsp coconut oil to the same pan used for the nuts over medium high heat. Once hot add the chickpeas. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring often.

4. Add another 1-2 Tbsp coconut oil to the pan with the chickpeas if necessary. Add in the onion and cook for 30 seconds. Reduce heat to medium low. Add in the garlic and all the Shawarma Seasoning. cook 8-10 minutes or until chickpeas are slightly crispy, stiring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

5. Prep the olives and veggies: slice olives in half. Halve or quater the tomatoes. Cut the cucumber in half and remove the seeds with a spoon, then cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Remove the stems and chop the parsley.

Add the tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley and quinoa to a large bowl. Add the lemon juice and zest and white wine vinegar. Toss to coat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Divide the quinoa veggie mix amongst plates, top with chickpea shawarma, spinkle with seeds or nuts and top with feta if using. Dig in and enjoy!

COCONUT CABBAGE SALAD WITH MINT PESTO TOFU

Firstly, thank you to all of you who took the time to read my last post and leave such thoughtful comments. I often feel like the internet is so saturated and this blog goes unread (except by my mom and boyfriend lol) but last week fueled some motivation to keep sharing authentically on here. Although it is very theraputic for me and I LOVE creating this blog its also something I do to inspire and connect with others. So thank you. That last post was lengthy and the fact that many of you took the time to read it and comment moves and surprises me in the best way.

You see..., time is the most vaulable resource you have.

Its the one thing you can never truly get back once gone. You can loose all the money in the world and still figure out a way to earn it back. You can loose your health but through eating nourishing foods, movement and medicine you can potentially regain it all back and maybe even be healthier then before you got sick.

Relationships can be lost and regained, cities and towns can be rebuilt, faith can be restored, but time..., once it's gone, it's gone. So the fact that you take the time to read my blog truly truly means a lot to me. Some of your attention and priceless time was spent here, on my little space on the internet.

But with that I find myself thinking about the importance of how we spend our time. What we choose to do with it defines us in many ways. Are you spending it on activities that bring you joy and make the world a better place? Are you wasting someones time by not telling them how you really feel? Are you stuck in a check out line where the cashier is moving slowly or on the 405 fwy (god help LA) or at the airport with a delayed plane?

We've all been there. We've all had our time wasted. And I am sure I speak for us all when I say that it doesn't feel very good. At best we learned something from those experiences that we can take with us on our journey through life. At worst we feel upset and angry about it, maybe we even let it ruin our day.

My goal is to never waste your time on here. To always provide value, inpsiration, relatability and damn good food. Like this motha effin salad. Its top knotch and will take less then an hour (maybe 45min if ya move quickly)of your time but worth every second of effort; it's so good. This salad taste better the longer it sits making it a perfect choice for picnics, potlucks, meal prep you name it. This salad will take you places! And won't be a waste of your time.

What makes this salad so special is the Coconut White Balsamic Vinegar. There are several decent ones on online and truly reccomend picking up a bottle. If you want to make this but don't have the balsamic try lime juice, coconut water and rice vinegar mixed together to taste. I did not test this but I think it would yield similar results.

Below are some other options:

Coconut and Lime Infused Aged White Balsamic Vinegar Coconut and Lime Infused Aged White Balsamic Vinegar Coconut White Balsamic Vinegar

Ingredients

MINT PESTO

see recipe below

14 Ounces extra firm tofu

COCONUT DRESSING

1/2 Cup sesame oil

1/4 Cup coconut white balsamic vinegar (WORTH IT, link above) (you can substitute equal parts coconut water to rice vinegar if you want)

1 lime, zested and juiced

1/4-1/2 Teaspoon pink salt to taste

CABBAGE SALAD

1 medium green cabbage, thinly sliced

1/4 small red cabbage, thinly sliced

3/4 Cups chopped cilantro, loose pack, plus more for garnish

2 large carrots, peeled and grated

1 red bell pepper, julliened

2 Cups edamame, shelled GMO free

1 cucumber, sliced into ribbones with vegetable peeler or cubed

1 avocado, cubed or sliced

1 Cup cashews, toasted and chopped

1/2 Cup green onion, thinly sliced

1 lime, zest and sliced as garnish on the side

Instructions

1. Pre-Heat oven to 425f

Then make the Pesto:

2-3 cups fresh mint, stems included, rinsed and chopped 1/4 cup walnuts 2 garlic cloves 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, more for smoother pesto 1 medium lemon, juiced and zested 1/4 cup cilantro, leaves and stems Pinches salt & pepper, to taste

Put everything in a food processor or high speed blender and blend until smooth.

1. Prep the Tofu:

Drain tofu block and press between a clean dish towel or paper towels. Then slice into 4 even bricks. Press again to remove more moisture. Cut into cubes.

In a cast iron skilled over medium high heat, melt one tablespoon of coconut oil or cooking oil of choice. Let the cast iron get really hot then add in to tofu. You want it to sizzle when added. Thats how you will get a crispy exterior and soft interior.

Toss the tofu a couple times for about 5-7 minutes until golden brown on most sides.

Remove, place in a bowl and mix with 1/4 the mint pesto. Toss to coat. then transfer to a baking/cookie sheet. Spread out the tofu and put in the oven for 7-8 minuts. Then toss and roast again for another 7-10 minutes.

Then turn off the oven but let the tofu hang out in there while you finish prepping the salad ingredients. This will help remove more moisture from the tofu so its a nice texture in the salad.

1. Make the dressing: combine all ingredients in a bowl or container and whisk vigorously to combine. Season with salt and more lime juice to taste. Adding more vinegar if necessary.

2. Prep the cabbage: thinly slice the green and red cabbage then add to a large bowl. Ideally you want a 4:1 ration of green to red. In my opinion thats the best for texture and taste. Add in half the cilantro and 3/4 the dressing reserving the rest. toss to coat and let it marinate in the fridge while you prep the other ingredients.

3. Prep other salad ingredients: grate the carrots, julliene the red bell pepper, defrost the edamame or shell if necessary, chop the green onion, peel cucumber, cube the avocado. Squeeze with lime juice and salt if you want. I did. just adds to the overall flavor at the end but totes optional.

Toast the cashews: in the cast iron used for the tofu whip down with a paper towel and then heat up over medium high heat. NO OIL - you want it dry. Then add in the cashews and toast for 3-4 minutes turning every so often to brown on all sides. Then remove, let cool and roughly chop.

1. Remove the tofu from the over and let it sit on the counter for 5-10 minutes to cool. Then toss with most of the remaining mint pesto.

You might have some left over pesto which is SOO GOOD on avocado toast so if theres extra save it. Its also great with rice bowls, noodle bowls or with roasted veggies.

1. Make the Salad: layer the ingredients on top of the marainated cabbage. All the veggies, then the tofu, avocado, crushed walnuts, green onion, extra cilantro, lime slices and the remaining dressing.

serve and enjoy!

TURMERIC RICE BOWLS WITH GOLDEN CAULIFLOWER, POTATOES AND BLACK BEANS + SOME THOUGHTS

This is a long winded post where I spill the beans. Ready?

If I told you that exercise caused endorphins and endorphins make you happy you'd probably knod or roll your eyes at me for the obvious-ness of my statement. Truth be told, I had nearly forgotten about the positive vibe tidal wave that came after a good sweat sesh. You see, the past few months have been strange. Not in the sense that odd things are happening, its just that my life has never looked the way its looked recently.

When I decided to put the cafe up for sale my dad and I both thought that it would take a year to find the right buyer. I assumed I'd have time to figure out what my next move was, what I'd want to create and how I'd go about creating it. Much to my surprise we had 4 interested parties in a week and a serious one who put in an offer within two. Before I knew it I had signed a contract to sell a cafe I had put my heart and soul into to build. A cafe I quit a great job for. A cafe I moved states for.

The process that was supposed to take a year was done in a handful of whirlwind weeks. The whole thing gave me whiplash it happened so fast.

There were of course opportunities to back out of the deal along the way but I am a BIG believer in divine timing: that life unfolds exactly as it should, in the time it should. No faster and no slower.

This belief is what helped me keep my cool through the process. It is what had me saying to myself and others that if I wasn't supposed to be selling right now there wouldn't be a buyer right now. Period. I truly believed that.

I still do.

But that brings us to where we are now. Since the tail of January I've had nothing and everything to do. No responsibilities and all the responsibilities. What do you do when you can do nothing and anything? This position is so strange.

And honestly I was starting to let it get to me.

What am I doing? What do I want to do? How will I make money? If I've learned anything its that starting a buisness and being an entreprenuer takes vision and patience. And hard work.

The lack of clarity I've felt the last few months was unfamiliar and I was starting to get depressed. I have always defined myself by my career and job title which might be a typical Type-A tendancy but I digress. I don't technically have either of those right now. What the HELL am I now? Who the hell am I now?

I was feeling lost and answer-less.

Then I went on a run (first one in weeks) and something began to shift. I began to feel less heavy in my heart and way less cluttered in my brain. That night I felt excited. Then I went on another run although this time I ran faster. Pushed myself harder. And then WOOSH! That tidal wave I mentioned earlier.

Possitive vibes started rolling in.

I realized that I have been going about this time in my life all wrong. All Negative. Why is the brains auto pilot mode negative? Such bullshit. I realized while in this positive bliss state that there is a lesson in the space, in the transition. A lesson in patience perhaps or in being still. Two things I am not particularly good at. Maybe there's a lesson in opening up to what the universe has for me and letting it guide me in the direction I am headed. How fortunate a position to be in. With all of that I come to gratitude and grace.

Which brings us to this bowl.

I've never before had the patience or the time to make beans from scratch. Who does really? (its 2017!). Lots of people I'm sure but this girl? This girl has NO patience. And up until recently she had no time (at least that's how I saw it). The whole soaking over night then soft boiling, then simmering for hours. No way... All that for beans?

I'll just buy a can.

But now, with this "everything to do/nothing to do" space I'm in, sure why not?

So I gave it a try. I made black beans from scratch and you know what? I freaking loved it.

With each step I was able to see the change in the beans as they got closer to edible little morsels. I was able to control the flavors too which ultimately made them pair well with this Indian spiced bowl of veggies and things.

And the taste, holy shit... its soo much better than canned.

The whole from scratch thing..., sure it took hours and often times we barely have time to grab a can opener but

you know what? It was well worth the wait and well worth the process.

I trust that in time I will say the same thing about this period in my life. I know that this time has purpose and as long as I continue to make conscious efforts and action corrolated with what I want things will develope and grow into something clear and vivid. I need to stay patient and refine my vision, adjust the seasoning as I go. The end result will taste that much sweeter.

Just like the beans.

If you've read this far, thank you. That sure means a lot.

With all the good vibes, babe. Make this bowl!

Ingredients

FOR TURMERIC RICE

2-3 Cups cooked rice

1/2 Cup onion, diced

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tablespoon turmeric powder

2-3 Tablespoons coconut oil

FOR THE CAULIFLOWER

1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into florets

1/2 Cup onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1-2 Tablespoon curry powder

1-2 Tablespoon coconut oil

2-3 Tablespoons white wine vinegar

salt & pepper, to taste

FOR THE POTATOES

5 fingerling potatoes, sliced

1-2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1-2 Tablespoon turmeric powder

pink salt and pepper, to taste

KALE SALAD

3 Cups kale, de-stemmed, chopped

1 Teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1 medium lemon, juiced and zested

FOR THE BOWLS

4 Tablespoons mint pesto, recipe below

1 can of black beans or make from scratch, Recipe below

2 Scoops sauerkraut, I used Wild Brine brand

1/2 avocado, sliced

Instructions

1. FOR THE RICE

Cook rice according to package. I used white basmati rice.

Heat a large frying pan of medium high heat. Add coconut oil. Once warm add in the onion and sautee for 3-5 minutes. Once translucent add in the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Lower heat to medium low and add in the turmeric powder and mix around. If it is dry in the pan then add a little more coconut oil before adding in the rice. Once added stir to coat and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

1. FOR THE CAULIFLOWER: Pre heat oven to 425f. Roast cauliflower with a little oil and salt for about 20 minutes or until fork tender. **(You can add the potatoes to this tray too, steps below)

Using the same frying pan as the rice, heat more coconut oil over medium high heat. Add in the onion and cook until translucent. 3-5 minutes. Then Add in the garlic, cook for 30 seconds stirring constantly. Add in the curry powder and more coconut oil if pan is dry. Then add in the cauliflower and stir to coat. Mix well until cauliflower is golden yellow in color. Add in vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste.

1. FOR THE KALE: Add washed and trimmed kale leaves to a bowl. Massage with the oil and salt between your fingers. Squeeze on lemon juice and mix well. Divide amongst serving bowls.

2. FOR THE POTATOES: Add sliced potatoes, oil, turmeric and salt and pepper to pan. Toss to evenly coat.

Roast with the cauliflower at 425f removing after 15 minutes or until fork tender.

1. FOR THE BOWL: Divide rice, cauliflower, potatoes, kale, mint pesto, black beans, avocado and sauerkruat amongst bowls. Dig in and enjoy!

BLACK BEAN RECIPE:

Following the package instructions prepare the beans as necessary. Then Add in 3-4 garlic cloves whole, about 1/2 onion chopped, and 2-3 TBSP vegetbale broth base preferrably from Better Than Bouillon

I put 1 heaping cup to 1 1/2 cup beans in each bowl when serving.

MINT PESTO RECIPE:

Follow this recipe but use mint instead of kale and removing the cilantro!