Quinoa and Black Beans with Avocado and Tomato Salsa

I mentioned earlier that I went to Costa Rica for my spring break. It was great. Lots of sunshine, flowers, fresh food, beach time, great company. One thing that I missed the most, besides the sun of course, was the fresh and tasty food.

Most of Costa Rica's cuisine is like that of the majority of Latin and Central America. It consists of rice and beans, salsas, avocados, guacamole, and limes. I decided to make my own spin on the typical rice and bean dish. Instead of rice, I mixed in some quinoa.

Recipe:
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup already cooked quinoa
• 1/2 cup black beans, canned or already cooked fresh beans
• 1/2 avocado sliced
• 1/4 cup salsa
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Mix the ingredients together in a bowl
• Enjoy :)

It is a simple, vegan and gluten free dish one can eat for lunch or dinner. Enjoy :) 

#leanandgreen #healthy #vegan #glutenfree 

Zucchini Pizza Crust

On St. Patrick's Day weekend, I also made this recipe. It is zucchini pizza crust and it is gluten free! I didn't press the water out of the zucchini as much as I would have liked but now I know for next time. Pressing the water out of the zucchini is a huge step and using cheese cloth works best.

This is a relatively simple recipe but takes about 35-40 minutes in total. It was really delicious but I had to eat it with a fork because it was still a little bit mushy. Next time, really pressing the water out with cheese cloth should help it be a little less mushy. But it is a great alternative for those who are gluten free and cannot eat flour. And it tastes great with pesto and cheese. Anyways, I got the recipe from Tasty Kitchen. Here it is:

Recipe:
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25-30 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 whole zucchini
• 1 whole large egg
• 1 cup low fat Mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Pizza toppings of your choice

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees
• Wash and grate zucchini using a cheese grater
• Add to a bowl and allow to sit for 10 minutes
• Drain water from the zucchini by placing in a colander and pressing a large bowl on top or using cheese cloth and pressing the back of a spoon into the zucchini (cheese cloth works better)
• Place drained zucchini, egg, mozzarella cheese, garlic powder, and black pepper into a bowl and mix to combine

• Lay out a piece of parchment paper (I didn't have any so I just put on a glass baking dish) on a pizza stone and spread out the zucchini mixture in a circle using a spatula

• Bake for 20 minutes
• Remove from oven, add on your pizza sauce and toppings (I used the kale pesto from the recipe below and shrimp and ricotta cheese dollops)

• Return to oven and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes

• Let cool and then enjoy!

Bon appétit! :)

Kale Pesto

I haven't posted in weeks...I've still been cooking and taking pictures, I just haven't found the time to post anything. I was in Costa Rica for a week on my spring break (it was soo nice, wish I was still there) and then when I got back I had so much work to do. Now I'm back..but I have a handful of things to post about.

First off, a week ago in light of St. Patricks Day, I made lots of green dishes. One of them was this Kale Pesto I found from Healthy Vore. It was delicious. Now whenever I am craving pesto, I will make it like this. I eventually used it as a topping on a gluten-free pizza, it was soo yummy. Here's the recipe:

Recipe:
Serves 30, Total cook time: 6 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 cups torn kale, stalks removed, any kind
• 3 Tablespoons chopped walnuts
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

• Place kale, lemon juice, salt, garlic, and Parmesan cheese in food processor
• Pulse until ingredients are finely chopped. If it's too thick and doesn't blend well, add a few tablespoons of water
• Once everything is finely chopped, drizzle in the olive oil over the other ingredients
• Makes approximately one jar, you can move to a jar or put in a bowl and serve

Here's my finishing touch of carrot slices to add a little St. Patrick's day zest of orange and green! Hope you all had a happy St. Patrick's Day! 

...Enjoy this pesto on pasta, pizza, sandwiches, and fish/meats :)

Mediterranean Eggplant

I've been having an obsession with eggplant recently. It is so good and you can make it many different ways! I never knew the nutritional benefits of eggplant, so I looked it up on Livestrong.com. It's a vegetable so it obviously has plenty of good nutritional benefits for you. Here are some of them...

Some Nutritional Benefits of Eggplant:

• Chlorogenic Acid
• Antioxidant that can fight free radicals 
• Lowers LDL cholesterol- bad cholesterol
• Antimutagenic- Can protect cells from becoming cancer cells
• Antiviral
• Nasunin
• Antioxidant in the peel of the eggplant
• Antiangiogenic- prevents cancer cells from growing as quickly by preventing the increase of blood supply to the cells
• Good Source of Fiber
• Helps digestive system stay regular
• Helps prevent type 2 diabetes
• Lots of vitamin A, B, C, and Folate
• Rich in potassium, magnesium, calcium, and phosphorous

I decided to try a recipe of Mediterranean Eggplant to incorporate eggplant into my diet. I liked the recipe overall but would have cooked it a littttleeee differently. The recipe says to sauté the eggplant and I found that it will overcook the eggplant on the outside and undercook the eggplant in the middle. So next time I may bake it a little bit first and then sauté it or maybe try sautéing it on a lower heat. Here's the recipe:

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 large eggplant
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp fresh or dried parsley, chopped
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Directions:

• Combine all ingredients except for the eggplant in a tupperware contained and mix well
• Slice eggplant in 1/2 in. thick pieces and submerge in marinade in tupperware
• Put lid on tupperware and shake to ensure eggplant is fully covered in marinade
• Wait 30 minutes for marinade to absorb
• Heat up large skillet on medium heat on the stove and place eggplant on skillet when it is hot (no need for additional oil)
• Cook until brown on each side (3-5 minutes per side)
• Serve with extra marinade or just by itself

Enjoy this extremely healthy, mediterranean inspired eggplant dish :)