Month: November 2015
Fall Recipes
Over the summer I started using a new produce box company, Papa Spuds, where I can order seasonal fruits and veggies in addition to recipe kits, meats, cheeses, eggs, and more and have them delivered on a bi-weekly schedule directly to my house! I love buying my produce this way because it helps me to eat seasonal and I get the freshest of the fresh! Papa spuds operates on a credit system allowing me to the pick the items I want and will use and gives the opportunity to pick the grower. I can choose local or out of state, organic or conventional, and can see ratings on different suppliers. My favorite thing is the recipe kits. These recipe kits normally highlight a specific seasonal ingredient giving you all of the ingredients you need besides minor things like olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and you get the point. The recipe is provided so your good to go! One of my most recent recipe kits was for Dijon Roasted Sweet Potatoes and they turned out great! I tossed them into a salad with chicken and other healthy ingredients to get this delicious dinner:
Dijon Roasted Sweet Potato and Kale Superfood Salad
This was definitely as good as it looks and super filling! The teff in this is a new ingredient I have just started using for its amazing health benefits. A grain used as a staple in many Ethiopian dishes, teff is a very tiny grain that is so small that it can only be eaten in its whole form. Containing 123mg of calcium per cup, teff leads all grains in calcium content and has the same amount of calcium as 1/2 of a cup of cooked spinach. Additionally, it is high in resistant starch meaning that it is high in dietary fiber which can help control blood sugar and can be beneficial for weight management and colon health. Teff is also high in protein and it has been estimated that Ethiopians get about 2/3 of their dietary protein from it (Whole Grains Council). Teff cooks similarly to quinoa, absorbing the water as it cooks. It is prepared in a 3 to 1 ratio, liquid to teff.
Now on to my second new fall recipe, Cornbread Waffles with Kale Salad and Rotisserie Chicken. I love making waffles because of how easy they are to make. I also very much love cornbread so naturally I had to come up with a cornbread waffle! I wanted to make this waffle healthy so I could use it as a hearty whole grain carb to go with my dinner. I am often pressed for time at dinner because my stomach has no patience so I have found my ways of making uncomplicated meals that are quick, healthy, and nutritious. I always make it a point to include vegetables and greens in addition to a lean protein and whole grain carb source. I quickly threw together this cornbread waffle recipe by meshing a couple of recipes in Purely Elizabeth’s Eating Purely Cookbook. I am still perfecting this one but I will give you my recipe for you to tweak as you feel necessary! Then to finish out this meal I got a plain rotisserie chicken, removed the skins and pulled the all the meat off the bones for use in this dinner and meals throughout the week. Then I chopped some kale and tossed with some other yummy ingredients and a homemade vinaigrette to make this dish:
Cornbread Waffles with Kale Salad and Rotisserie Chicken
Cornbread Waffle with Kale Salad and Rotisserie Chicken
Aside Posted on
Yield: 7 waffles, 3-4 servings of salad, 6-7 servings of chicken
Ingredients:
- Waffle
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch
- 1/2 cup sorghum flour
- 1/4 cup buckwheat
- 1.5 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1.5 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 2 eggs
- 6 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 cup plain nonfat greek yogurt (buy one with only 6 or 7g of sugar!)
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cashew milk
- 3 cups chopped kale
- 2 ounces pumpkin goat cheese
- 1/3 cup raw cashew pieces or pumpkin seeds
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries (reduced sugar ones if you can)
- Optional addition: 1/2 an avocado
- White Balsamic Vinaigrette:
- 3 tbsp. white balsamic vinegar (the one i used was white balsamic shallot vinegar but any good quality one is fine)
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp. dijon mustard
- pinch of salt
- pinch of pepper
- 1/2 tsp. agave nectar
Instructions:
- Start you waffle iron up to get it heated. While it is heating combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl (cornmeal through coconut sugar). In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, olive oil, greek yogurt and cashew milk.
- Add wet to dry and stir until combined. When waffle iron is ready spoon about 1/2 cup of batter into the iron (depends on your size of waffle iron here, I have to waffle iron that makes 2 square waffles so I do about a half cup for each waffle.)
- While the waffles are cooking combine the vinaigrette ingredients together in a mason jar and shake.
- Put all of the salad ingredients together in a bowl and toss together with however much vinaigrette that you desire.
- Once waffles are ready place one waffle on your plate, top with kale salad and some warm rotisserie chicken and enjoy! (can add extra dressing on top or top with my favorite maple siracha dressing which is a 3 to 1 ratio of siracha to maple syrup)
Dijon Roasted Sweet Potato and Kale Salad
Link Posted on
Yield: 3 servings
Ingredients:
- Dijon Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- 1.5 lbs. sweet potatoes, unpeeled, cubed
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 medium shallot, chopped
- 1/4-1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4-1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 3 tbsp. dijon mustard
- 1.5 tbsp. pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves (rosemary is also a good substitute!)
- 3 fully cooked chicken or turkey breakfast sausages, chopped up (optional)
- 1/2 cup teff
- 1.5 cups water
- pinch of salt
- 3 cups chopped kale
- 2 ounces goat cheese
- 1 fully cooked chicken breast, sliced (I buy this from traders joes, they sell them individually sealed and already cooked so they make it easy for me to prepare quick dinners in a hurry!) Use 2 if you do not add the sausage above.
- Maple Siracha Dressing:
- 3 parts siracha (3 tbsp siracha)
- 1 part maple syrup (1 tbsp. maple syrup)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 with the rack in the center of the oven.
- Place cut potatoes, shallots, and sausage (if using) in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to combine
- In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, maple syrup and thyme leaves. Pour mixture over potatoes and toss well to combine and evenly coat the potatoes. If you need more sauce to evenly coat you can always make more!
- Pour everything onto a greased baking sheet and roast in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. You may want to toss the potatoes around about 20 minutes to make sure they roast evenly.
- While the potatoes are cooking, salt the water and bring it to a boil. Once the water is boiling add the teff and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover the pot and cook until the water has been fully absorbed.
- Now to assemble the salad! In the large bowl the potatoes were tossed in, add the chopped kale, goat cheese, potatoes, teff, and chicken (may want to warm the chicken in the microwave briefly before adding). Toss everything together and serve with as much or as little maple siracha dressing as you like!
10k Life 