Food

Big Ol’ Salad

September 8, 2016 by Zucchini Runner in Food, Main Dish | Comments Off on Big Ol’ Salad

It’s hard to follow up last week’s post with something more epic than giant old growth redwood trees, so I’m opting to share my favorite salad recipe. Simple and to the point, and oh so very filling! I have these salads 1-4 times a week, depending on my craving for a salad and they are always about the same, so here goes!

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Serves 2 adults

4-6 cups of mixed baby salad greens (this can be your favorite washed and ready to eat blend)
1/2 a cucumber, diced
1-2 carrots, diced
1/4 of an orange, red or yellow bell pepper, diced
2 green onions, diced
1 small radish, sliced extremely thin and then chopped even smaller (quartered)
1 tomato on the vine, chopped
2 pepperoncinis, diced
2 of your favorite veggie burger patties, cooked and cut into .5″ chunks
(I really like Sunshine burgers.)
2 TBSP. of your favorite dressing, homemade is best if you can! But if not, Annie’s makes a delicious Balsamic Vinaigrette

1. Pile all the greens high on a dinner plate.
2. Start with dicing the cucumber and placing half onto each dinner plate loaded with greens.
3. Continue down the list of ingredients in the same manner.
4. Top with your favorite dressing, making sure you measure it out first, so you don’t go overboard on the calories and fat. You don’t want to undue all the hard work you put into the salad. 🙂

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If you like more crunch, or “water lettuce” as my niece calls it, you can do 2-3 cups of the mixed baby greens and then 2-3 cups of diced romaine. I did that on this particular salad, because the blend we bought had some arugula in it, and neither of us are fans of arugula!

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The nice thing about adding a veggie burger to the top, is that it adds a filling and warm component to the salad. Not only is the salad volume huge, but you also get the rice and protein from the burger as well.

What is your favorite salad dressing?

Potato Protein Bar

August 12, 2016 by Zucchini Runner in Food | 2 Comments

Have you ever gone to a baked potato bar at a restaurant or school cafeteria? It’s usually loaded with butter, sour cream, bacon bits and chives. Well, this week I’m giving you some healthier, plant-based versions to try out. These are a perfect weeknight meal – easy and simple – especially if you use a microwave. If you don’t that’s fine too! The second you step foot in the door from work or wherever, get the oven preheating and pop your washed potato in the oven! In 45 minutes, after you’ve changed from your work clothes, enjoyed a nice beverage on the patio and unwound a bit from the workday, your spud will be ready for some delicious veggie toppings – that just so happened to be loaded with protein too. These will leave you feeling very full with plenty of energy stored up to greet the next day.

Black Bean & Salsa

1 potato of choice, baked

1/2 can of black beans (about 3/4 c.), simply rinsed and drained – no heating required

A healthy blob of salsa

Sprinkle of nutritional yeast – good for a cheesy flavor (optional)

A pat of coconut oil

Top with your favorite creamy dressing – pictured below I used Follow Your Heart Creamy Italian

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11 g of protein with the beans and nutritional yeast

Pea & Brussels

1 potato of choice, baked

~20 frozen, pre-packaged brussels sprouts

1 c. frozen, pre-packaged peas

Sprinkle of nutritional yeast – good for a cheesy flavor (optional)

A pat of coconut oil

Dash of black pepper

Dash of salt

Drizzle of balsamic vinegar

  1. Boil the brussels sprouts and peas in water on the stovetop for about 5-8 minutes until heated through.
  2. Drizzle nutritional yeast, oil, pepper and salt over the sliced open potato before adding the greens.
  3. Drain the veggies and dump over potato, add more oil, nutritional yeast, pepper and salt. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
  4. The potato on this one was HUGE, so I ended up giving the last 1/4 of this to Mr. Zucchini Runner! Very filling!
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16 grams of protein in the peas and brussels alone. 🙂

 

Beans & Onion

This one got a little crazy, as I was in a super rush making it! But it was delicious and looked beautiful!

1 potato of choice, baked

1 c. of canned kidney beans, rinsed and drained

3/4 c. frozen, pre-packaged green beans

2 red onion rings, coarsely chopped

A pat of coconut oil

A dash of real salt or sea salt

Top with your favorite tasty dressing – pictured below I used Annie’s Balsamic Dressing.

  1. Place frozen green beans with the chopped onion and kidney beans in a steamer, and steam for 5-7 minutes.
  2. Cut the baked potato in half, then cut each half in quarters.
  3. Dab on some coconut oil.
  4. Dump the steamed onions and beans on top.
  5. Top with some salt and your favorite dressing.

22 g of protein, cause like I said, I went a little crazy with this one. 🙂

The key with any quick food, is to make it colorful. If it is visually appealing, not only are you making your eyes happy, but you are making your cells happy. The more color, the more variety of nutrients in the food!

What is your favorite kind of potato?

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