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Spring Salad with Lemony Turmeric Yogurt Dressing {Paleo, Dairy-free, Whole30, Vegan}
This Spring Salad features a vibrant Lemony Turmeric Yogurt Dressing that is creamy, tangy, fragrant and bright! It’s aromatic and complimentary to so many dishes, from grilled or roasted veggies, potatoes, crudite, or even chicken or fish – but it’s especially perfect with a seasonal salad with bright, spring veggies.
This gorgeous Spring Salad with Lemony Turmeric Yogurt Dressing features Silk Almondmilk Yogurt Alternative. A great option for those that have to eat dairy-free. In addition to being dairy-free and plant-based, Silk’s Almondmilk Yogurts are free from high-fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, flavors or preservatives are verified by the Non-GMO Project, they are responsibly produced and are free of gluten, casein, peanuts, egg and MSG. Now available in NEW Almondmilk 24oz tubs (Plain & Vanilla), if you wanna give it a try, grab a coupon for Silk’s Almondmilk Yogurt Alternative here.
This beautiful, golden Lemony Turmeric Yogurt Dressing comes together in minutes using the blender. It’s rich, creamy, thick, tangy and vibrant and it can be used in so many other recipes, beyond your standard green salad. Try drizzling over roasted veggies like cauliflower, Brussels sprouts or bok choy or grilled eggplant or asparagus. It would also be lovely over chicken or fish or overtop your cauliflower rice.
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Skillet Baked Eggs and Greens with Herby Feta Yogurt Drizzle
Breakfast for breakfast, breakfast for dinner, breakfast at any time, this flavor-loaded Skillet Baked Eggs and Greens with Herby Feta Yogurt Drizzle is a one-skillet meal that you too will be obsessed with.
If you haven’t deducted from the insane amount of breakfast and brunch posts – I love eggs. I love meals centered around eggs. I like eggs for breakfast, just fine, but I also really love eggs for dinner. Shakshuka is one of my absolute, all-time favorite dishes, but to be fully honest, baked eggs of any kind will forever have my heart.
I also have a really big soft spot in my heart for one-skillet meals, especially those that can get me everything I need in one gorgeous pan. This meal is a fabulous, versatile dish that can be served at any meal – breakfast, lunch or dinner. With a gorgeous bed of nutrient-abundant greens, laced with the caramelized shallots and scallions, topped with the most perfect, soft, baked eggs with luscious, runny yolks, it’s all topped with a rich, drizzly, herby, feta-yogurt sauce that is the finishing move to end all finishing moves.
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Overnight Grab and Go Yogurt Chia Pudding Parfait
This nutrient-dense, creamy, rich Overnight Grab and Go Yogurt Chia Pudding Parfait is the perfect, customizable, easy meal that’s packed with quality protein and fat, plus lots of valuable micronutrients, to keep you full, energized and well-fed for a busy and healthful day ahead!
With back-to-school and back-to-real-life being the reality for many of us right now – easy meals, fuss-free eats and healthy food that fits into a busy lifestyle, these are all of great importance to staying on track with our mindful lifestyles.
I know breakfast can be especially challenging, mornings are busy and grabbing something carb-loaded, sugary or sandwiched between bread – that can be easiest and most convenient. I get it! But, you’ve all heard my spiel about building a fire for your day. The general idea is that quality fats and proteins, they are the like solid log on your fire, the energy that will burn slowly, more steady and for longer, no huge and sudden drop off! However, carbs and sugars, those are kindling. These are the sticks and the leaves, the bits of crumpled up paper, that burns up super quickly. So, you get that jolt of fire (aka energy) POOF and then it’s gone, there’s the big crash when your fire goes out and then you inevitably need to add even more kindling (or even better, a log) if you can ever hope to stoke a fire that will last throughout the day.
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Grilled Romaine Salad with Blueberries, Avocado and Creamy Lemon Tarragon Vinaigrette
As I sit to write the posts for this website, 2-3 times a week, often I find myself lacking the words. I am no writer, have never claimed to be. I am sure my sentence structuring is atrocious, I am certain my posts are littered with typos and poor punctuation skills. I generally didn’t start this website to share my personal thoughts on life or my beliefs, as often as they do trickle into the pages by default. I mostly have always had a strong desire to help make a difference for those, like me, that struggle with their health, are challenged by navigating the ever-evolving landscape of eating and food and what it truly means to be well.
As our worlds are all constantly changing and shifting, as life seems to get busier than ever for us all, I find myself more called to want to simply live my life without a filter, to share my experiences in all their realness and hopefully, simultaneously, inspire you to be excited about getting into the kitchen and tapping into your own creativity. I want you to approach food and your health without fear. I want you all to feel empowered to be your own advocates and to never settle for anything other that feeling amazing, every day. My hope is also that through sharing my recipes, how-to’s and other tips here on the website and on social media, that everyone knows eating well doesn’t always have to be about the crazy flavor combos and complicated ingredients that you can only buy online or at a specialty food store. I think we all have to admit that even though weeknight meals deserve a little flair sometimes, a totally boring, basic
bitchmeal of veggies and some baked fish, that isn’t exactly instagram-able – that’s totally OK, too. -
Greek Lamb Gyro Bowls with Tzatziki
Being away from my family living in California, it has gotten a bit easier with time and there are less and less tears over random moments, holidays, but one of the things I miss most is Sunday dinner as one a big family.
I grew up eating delicious home cooked Greek food. My family, they know their way around the kitchen. Everyone has their specialties and their things. My mom is an incredible baker, while not Greek herself she has mastered Greek desserts and pastries, baklava, koulourakia cookies. My dad is the king of savory, the grill master, the Greek God of souvlaki, marinated grilled leg of lamb, roasted potatoes among many other specialties. Sadly while my dad makes THE best lamb you’ll ever eat, neither he nor anyone else in our family has ever mastered homemade gyro. Whenever my parents serve up gyro, which isn’t super often, it usually comes already prepared and frozen. Meh. It makes me sad that we aren’t making it ourselves. Also sadly, these pre-made gyro meats tend to be very processed and they almost always contains gluten, so naturally I won’t touch them. Short of going to a more traditional shop, cart or restaurant, where they cook the meat traditionally over a spinning spit or rotisserie – it’s impossible to get the real thing, I haven’t had it in many, many years.
Traditional Greek gyro, from what I have read, is made with whole cuts of pork, slowly cooked rotisserie style, and thinly shaved, while Americanized Greek gyro is the pressed, almost sausage-like, thinly sliced minced beef and/or lamb blend. Usually served in a pita, wrap style it is a meal that I never get to eat, yet I still find myself craving it.
I am home in New York right now, with my family, visiting and meeting my brand new nephew Keaton James, born just three weeks ago. As I was preparing for this trip home to Buffalo, I got giddy at the thought of all the homemade Greek food I would be eating. Greek food is my comfort, it’s what I crave at the holidays, when I am homesick or when I come down with a bug. Greek food from a restaurant is just never the same and somehow making a big feast of Greek food at home, just the two of us, while I do it occasionally, it just never tastes the same to me. This is the food best served with a large group of the people you love most. A big Greek feast needs to come with a side of very loud chatter, tons of laughs, stories from back in the day and it needs kids running around the very same living room that my dad ran around as a little kid.
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Roasted Blueberry and Lemony Yogurt Popsicles
In my opinion, it isn’t summer until you make the first frozen treat of the season! I’d love to say I have the energy and time to bust out the ice cream maker every week throughout the summer. I don’t. Homemade ice cream is good, but just so much work and there are so many steps. Honestly, popsicles are my favorite! Always an easy way to celebrate the season and all of it’s beautiful, fresh offerings. I also love that if you are smart with your ingredients you can make popsicles that will work for just about everyone at your party, no matter their eating style or preferences. No need for an ice cream maker or anything besides popsicle molds and you can even skip on those, just pour these into paper cups, add a popsicle stick and call it a day. Easy!
If you haven’t been able to tell by the 5 years of posts up until now, I am slightly obsessed with roasting. OK a lot obsessed. It’s my easy answer to bringing out the best in foods. Fruit or veggies, there is just something about roasting, even in the dead of summer, I refuse to deny myself. Especially when it concerns fruit, roasting brings out the inherent sweetness, it provides pretty bursts of color and flavor and it’s a simple way to maximize all that juicy, saucy, sweet goodness. So yes, I am complicating something meant to be simple, by adding the extra step with the oven here, but you have to just trust me on this one.
These popsicles have the perfect mix of sweet and tart, one of my favorite combos. I tend to go light on the sweetness myself, so if you want them more sweet than tart, you may want to add a bit more coconut sugar when roasting and/or more maple or honey. I like to barely fold in the roasted berries, to keep the gorgeous swirls of purple, violety blue.
I opt for my homemade coconut yogurt to keep these popsicles dairy-free/vegan, but you can also go with Greek yogurt, regular yogurt or goat’s milk yogurt. I just suggest whatever you choose, to go with full fat if you can, this give you the rich creaminess and the extra fat which cuts down on the icy factor.
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Lettuce Wrapped Grain-free Sweet Potato and Broccoli Veggie Burgers with Cilantro Sauce
I think we can all agree that with summer nipping at our heels, there are certain foods that conjure up feelings of quick, light bites perfect for our busy summer schedule that we all tend to pack solid. Quick meals that can be eaten outside on the deck or around the pool are usually on the menu in our house. I know for me, I think of burgers. Besides tacos, it’s the quintessential food that you can eat with your hands without much fuss. Unfortunately, if you can’t have grains this means rolls are either out of the question or you have to find a grain-free alternative that doesn’t require tons of prep.
I, for one, prefer to simply go without the rolls, after all it’s all about the burger, not matter what kind. I adore a good lettuce wrapped burger. I find that crunch is a great fresh texture. I also love a good homemade veggie burger. With the right ingredients and toppings, it can be a meal on it’s own. So many store-bought veggie burgers are loaded with legumes or grains/gluten, soy, gluten and other things we some of us may not be able to have. The list of ingredients can be quite long and by the time you’ve found a comfortable seat at the store to sit down and read through them all, you get to the end, only to find it just won’t work for you.
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Summer Berry Probiotic Smoothie
I am sure you have read plenty of articles and posts about the many benefits of probiotics by now. Rather than carrying on about their many wonderful benefits and why you should be including them in your daily life, I though it better to just share a delicious Summer Berry Probiotic Smoothie that is sure to make your belly happy.
If you do want to read all about how wonderful probiotics are and all of their many incredible benefits, I encourage you to check out this great post: 3 Tasty Ways to Heal With Priobiotics. I also encourage you try your hand at making your own probiotic-rich water kefir or my simple homemade coconut milk yogurt – two wonderful ways to easily include more of that beneficial bacteria in your life.
This smoothie is not only rich in probiotics, from the yogurt and probiotic drink, but I also included other super-food ingredients sure to please your tummy! Ginger, which has long been known to alleviate symptoms of gastrointestinal distress, and provide calming, anti-inflammatory and immunity boosting properties. Cinnamon, another digestive aid, known not just for it’s comforting, warming, aroma, but for it’s powerful anti-bacteria properties, its help with reducing bloating, and its help in improving circulation and digestive discomfort. Finally, I added some chia seeds, which is a great way to include healthy omega-3 fats and of course, one of your digestion’s other friends – fiber. Plus, I really love how thick chia seeds make my smoothies!Read the rest of this entry »
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Quinoa Croquettes with Cilantro Yogurt Sauce
I had a short time at home yesterday between leaving the studio and heading over to the Rock Harbor Yard to set up for the Hallwalls Artists & Models Stimulus event, that we are screen printing live at tonight. I decided since I was eating alone, it would be a good time to try something different and new (in the event I royally screwed it up). I came across this recipe from Anna Getty’s book Easy Green Organic that she shared on etsy and knew it was something I was going to love, since I have become a huge fan of quinoa. Quinoa is gluten-free, high in fiber and a complete protein which makes it a perfect grain for the gluten-free vegan. Quinoa is great as a replacement for rice or couscous.
I changed the original recipe a bit to what I had on hand and also to make it gluten-free. The original recipe called for adding shredded zucchini in addition to the carrots, but since I didn’t have any, I opted to go without. However, I definitely plan on making these again and including it.
The croquettes had just the perfect amount of “fried” crunch, that I actually felt like I was cheating and eating something unhealthy. The quinoa has such a beautifully nutty flavor and there is a subtle tartness from the cilantro sauce. I ate 3 of these as a meal, but they would be great as an appetizer or a side with grilled or roasted vegetables.
These turned out so good and I was sure my husband, Mark, could use a good snack. So, when I headed over to the warehouse to meet up with him, to start setting up our press and to print the first color on our poster, I decided to bring him a small leftover container of the croquettes, and a bit of the sauce to drizzle over. He was so happy and could not stop talking about them.
Quinoa Croquettes with Cilantro Yogurt Sauce
Serves 6Cilantro Yogurt Sauce:
1 large bunch fresh cilantro, stemmed
1/4 cup soy sauce (I used low sodium gluten-free tamari)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 small white onion, quartered (about 1/2 cup)
1 cup of non-fat greek yogurt (Goat milk yogurt is great here as would be any other non-dairy yogurt)
1/3 cup olive oilQuinoa Croquettes:
1 cup quinoa, washed thoroughly*
1 medium carrot, peeled and grated on medium holes
1 scallion, finely chopped (white and green parts)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
6 sprigs fresh parsley, stemmed and minced
1 large egg
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1 tablespoon tapioca flour
Vegetable oil for cooking(if you don’t wish to make these gluten free, omit the brown rice and tapioca flours and just use 1/4 cup all purpose flour)
To make the sauce, combine the cilantro, soy sauce, vinegar, and onion in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Stop the motor and add the yogurt and olive oil. Blend until creamy. Transfer the sauce to a container with a lid and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
To make the croquettes, combine the rinsed quinoa with 2 cups of water in a small pot and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the water is completely absorbed. Remove from the heat and transfer to a medium bowl to cool.
When cool add the carrot, scallion, garlic, salt, parsley, egg, and flours. Mix well. Using your hands, form the mixture into patties about 1/2 inch thick and 2 inches in diameter.
Pour just enough oil into a large skillet to cover the bottom of the pan, and heat the oil over medium heat. Working in batches, lay the quinoa cakes in the pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. (You can probably cook 5 to 6 patties at once.) When the cakes are golden, turn them over and cook until the second side is golden. (Check by lifting up a side with a spatula.) Add additional oil as needed, and remove any brown bits that accumulate in the pan as you cook.
Remove the cakes from the pan and place them on a plate lined with a recycled brown paper bag. Serve hot, drizzled with the Cilantro Yogurt Sauce. Or put the yogurt sauce in a bowl for dipping.
*The key to cooking quinoa is to make sure to adequately rinse the quinoa through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the bitter protective saponin coating that protects the grain from being eaten by birds and insects.
