Strawberry, Banana, Almond Milk & Cinnamon Smoothie

Two weeks ago I posted a recipe for homemade almond milk, and told you how much it's changed my life. I continue to make it at least once or twice a week, and have loved incorporating it into my morning (and sometimes afternoon) smoothies.

In the morning I tend to go for a green smoothie. I like starting my day off healthy, with a hefty serving of spinach and/or kale. But every now and then I crave something sweeter, and I've come to love this simple combination of banana, strawberry, almond milk and perhaps my favorite ingredient in this smoothie: cinnamon.

I've been leaving the almond pulp in my almond milk for some added protein, and tend to throw in a little flaxseed into this as well. It doesn't affect the flavor because there's already a slight, but not overwhelming nuttiness from the almond pulp. 

Some people complain that smoothies aren't filling enough, and I tend to agree unless there's some form of protein and/or fiber. In this case, the almond milk and flaxseed fill me up, as does the half of a banana. If you're a skeptic, give it a whirl in your blender and let me know what you think. This also makes for a great afternoon snack or even dessert. 

Strawberry, Banana, Almond Milk & Cinnamon Smoothie

Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 1

1 cup homemade almond milk
1/2 frozen banana
1/4 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon flaxseed (sometimes I even add 1 tablespoon)
1 date, pitted

Blend almond milk and banana until smooth, then add strawberries, cinnamon, flaxseed and date and continue to blend until smooth. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Homemade Almond Milk

Over the past few years, almond milk has become a major staple of my diet. These days I go through at least a quart of it per week, if not more.

I was never a huge milk drinker. I can remember the constant battle with my parents growing up: "Drink your milk!" I do understand that calcium and vitamin D are both key to a healthy diet and more importantly, healthy bones, but both are attainable thorough other foods and/or supplements. Hello, leafy greens!

I've always loved almonds. Raw almonds, almond cake, almond cookies, almond extract in banana milkshakes (a childhood favorite), and so on, and son on.

So it's no surprise that when I tried almond milk for the first time, I immediately loved it. These days I use it in everything—smoothies, oatmeal, cookies, cakes, frosting—you name it. Somewhat surprisingly, it's also a great dessert substitute for those times when you're craving a little something sweet but don't want to over-indulge. It's perfect with a little cinnamon and vanilla.

As I experiment more in the kitchen, I've become really conscious of trying to avoid processed foods if and when possible. If it's easy enough, why not just make it myself? Which is exactly what I decided as I realized I was spending close to $3 a week on store-bought almond milk. Granted, $3 isn't $30, but it adds up over time, and making it would be more cost-effective. My grocery store sells a bag of almonds for close to $7 or $8, so I knew that wasn't doable. But Trader Joe's, on the other hand... They sell a 1-pound bag for $4.99. I'm sure if you buy raw almonds in bulk online it's even cheaper, but for now I'm content with Traders Joe's.

Oh, and have I mentioned how easy it is to make almond milk? And how much better and more natural it tastes than the store-bought, processed stuff? It's amazing, and I can't believe I didn't start doing this sooner. I made it for the first time on Wednesday morning, and I already consumed almost an entire batch and made a second one. I also love that you can play around with the flavor, depending on what you're using it for. Sure, there's always the standard, plain almond milk, or you can make it a little sweeter and more flavorful with dates, vanilla extract and a cinnamon stick or two. I'm also curious to try blending in a little fruit, like blueberries or strawberries. So, have I convinced you? I promise this is one of those things that is 100 percent worth the little bit of extra effort it takes.

Homemade Almond Milk

Time: 5 minutes active, 12 hours inactive
Servings: 1 quart

Ingredients:

1 cup raw almonds
4 cups filtered water for soaking
4 cups filter water for blending
1/4 teaspoon salt, divided in two
1 date

Optional:

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cinnamon stick

Soak almonds, 4 cups water, and 1/8 teaspoon salt for 12 hours or overnight.

Drain, discard water, and rinse almonds thoroughly. Place in blender, add 4 cups water, and blend. Add date for sweetness (taste it, you can always add another one). For additional flavor add vanilla extract and soak cinnamon stick in milk once you transfer it to a container for storing in your refrigerator.

If you want to keep the almond pulp (I generally do), it's good to go as is. But if you want a smoother texture that's lower in calories, strain the milk through cheesecloth into a separate bowl/container, squeeze to remove all the liquid, and discard pulp.

This should keep in your refrigerator for up to five days.

Gluten Free Vanilla Maple Chia Pudding

The precise moment escapes me, but sometime over the past year I introduced chia seeds into my diet. Do you ever learn about or notice a new type of food, and then all of the sudden you start seeing that food everywhere? The evolution of my relationship with chia seeds was not dissimilar.

We all know I'm a sucker for healthy foods. So let's be perfectly honest: chia seeds had me at omega-3 fatty acids and fiber.

If you've eaten chia seeds before, you'll know that when soaked in liquid, they develop an interesting texture. Almost slimy and gummy-like. In other words, not for everyone. But don't let that deter you. If you're turned off, you don't have to eat them on their own, like in a pudding. They blend seamlessly into smoothies.

When I decided to write this post, I figured I'd do a little digging to find out exactly what the health benefits of these curious little seeds are. I came across a great article on The Huffington Post that lists ten reasons why you should add chia seeds to your diet. To start with, they can help boost energy, stabilize blood sugar, aid digestion, and lower cholesterol. And as I mentioned previously, they're also full of omega-3 fatty acids and fiber. One ounce has 11 grams of fiber, which is 42% of the daily recommended value, not to mention 4 grams of protein. If you're interested you can read the nutritional information here.

Adding chia seeds to my daily breakfast smoothie was as far as I'd gotten, but recipes for chia pudding kept popping up on my favorite food blogs. Last weekend when I was home in Bethesda, MD, I stopped to pick up a green juice from Purée (a new-ish juice bar in the area that I highly recommend), I grabbed a container of their chia pudding to see what all of the fuss was about. I was an immediate convert. Mixed with cacao and almond milk, and topped off with a big heap of cashew butter and more cacao, it was perfect. The texture of the cashew butter melded nicely with that of the soaked chia seeds, and the combined flavors were delightful. The pudding was sweet without being too sweet, and the infusion of cacao added an incredibly satisfying flavor. (I'm hoping that after this glowing review, Purée might be so kind as to share the recipe with me.)

In the meantime I'll share with you a simple recipe of my own that I developed this week. What I've come to like the most about this is that for a dish relatively small in volume, it's very filling. A perfect energy-booster before a morning workout (necessary for those 45-minute SoulCycle classes I love oh-so-much), or an easy on-the-go snack for those days when you're running from one thing to the next. In fact, I'm eating some right now.

Gluten Free Vanilla Maple Chia Pudding

Time: 2 minutes active, 30 minutes inactive
Servings: 2

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chia seeds
1 cup plus 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 teaspoons pure maple syrup, depending on desired sweetness

Place chia seeds, 1 cup almond milk, and vanilla extract in a jar and mix with a small whisk or fork for 5-10 seconds. Let sit for a minute or so, and then mix again for another 5-10 seconds. Do this for about 2-3 minutes, or until chia seeds start to absorb almond milk and expand. Add maple syrup. Transfer to a refrigerator and let sit for at least 30 minutes (can also be made the night before).

When you're ready to eat the pudding, test the texture. You may want to, as I do, add more almond milk to break up the consistency. If the flavor isn't quite to your liking, add more vanilla extract, maple syrup, or even cinnamon. Strawberries, blueberries, or blackberries would also make a nice topping.

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Blueberry & Cherry Crisp

Sunday night my boyfriend and I were getting ready to watch Breaking Bad and knew I wanted something sweet to help alleviate my anxiety. First, because as of Sunday there were only three episodes left of the entire series. Second, anyone who watches it knows how insane it is.

Anyway, I had some frozen farmers market blueberries and cherries in the freezer and figured I'd throw together a nice little dessert. In the past I've made a similar version of this recipe using millet flour and quinoa flakes, but since I didn't have those ingredients I decided to improvise. Instead I used coconut flour (which I've been baking with more regularly and like because it contains a good dose of fiber) and coconut flakes. To be honest, I liked this as much, if not more. The coconut flakes, which were toasted by the time this was ready to come out of the oven, added a really nice, crispy texture.

Dessert isn't always the easiest when you're gluten free, but this is a very simple, easy and fool-proof recipe. It's the perfectly balanced dessert. The coconut flour is fairly dense and the recipe doesn't call for a lot of sugar, so it's not overwhelmingly sweet. And while it's ideal in the summer, it's most certainly a dish you can make all year round.

Gluten Free Blueberry & Cherry Crisp

Time: 30 minutes (5 minutes prep, 25 minutes cooking)
Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 cup blueberries

1 cup cherries
1 teaspoon sugar

1/3 cup coconut flour

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup coconut oil

1/3 cup coconut flakes

Preheat the oven to 350º. Cover the inside of a cake pan with a very thin layer of coconut oil (spray).

Place the blueberries and cherries into a bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Toss to coat. Pour into the greased pan and distribute evenly.

In a separate bowl, combine coconut flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add the coconut oil. Rub coconut oil and dry mixture together with your hands to create a dough-like texture.

Sprinkle the crumble topping over the blueberries.

Bake in the center of a pre-heated oven for 25 minutes, or until browned. Remove and serve immediately. I'd suggest serving it with a scoop of vanilla or coconut ice cream the crumble is slightly dry and ice cream compliments it well and gives some added moisture. 

Spinach & Almond Smoothie

Breakfast can be a tricky meal, particularly for those following a gluten-free diet. Before I was diagnosed with celiac disease I'd typically have a bowl of cereal (something filling, like Kashi), a piece of toast with butter, or a maybe even a bowl of oatmeal. And sure, there are a number of gluten-free cereal (although frankly, I haven't found any I like), bread (my favorite is Rudi's Multigrain, which I only eat toasted), and oatmeal options (Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Quick Cooking Oats) out there. But I still find breakfast challenging.  

Not long after my diagnosis I went to see a nutritionist and she encouraged me not only to look at my diet, but also at how the food I was eating was making me feel. And not just gluten. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that some foods were proving difficult for my body to digest. That was especially true in the morning. Gluten-free oatmeal, bread, and granola weren't sitting well, and I wanted something besides Greek yogurt or fruit. 

About a year ago I started experimenting with smoothies. Common sense told me it would be much easier on my body to digest liquid in the morning. Plus, I've always love smoothies. Fruit and yogurt seemed like the obvious choice to me, but I was finding myself hungry well before lunch and decided to introduce protein powder. Less than thrilled with the protein powder I purchased (it was really quite a disgusting green kind), I opted to take an alternate route. I'm sure there are plenty of perfectly fine protein powder options out there, but I figured throwing in nuts, chia and flax seed would give me a little added (and more natural) protein.

Around the same time, I started adding spinach for extra vitamins. Some people are completely averse to spinach smoothies, but spinach has a relatively subtle, almost sweet flavor when blended with the right ingredients. This has come to be one of my favorite recipes, and I love the way the spinach, almond milk, banana, pineapple, and almond come together. Plus, the chia and flax seeds give it a slightly extra nutty flavor. The flavors combine in a surprising, satisfying way. It's perfect for breakfast, and thankfully keeps my hunger at bay until lunch rolls around. So if you're looking for a little breakfast inspiration, may I suggest you try this? Something tells me you won't be disappointed.

Spinach & Almond Smoothie

Time: 5 minutes

Servings: 1

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh spinach

1 cup frozen pineapple

1/2 frozen banana

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 tablespoon sliced almonds

1 tablespoon chia seeds

1 tablespoon flax seeds

While I can dream about it, I don't have a Vitamix. My blender is strong, but through trial and error I've found it's easiest to first blend together the spinach and almond milk, creating a liquid base. Then I blend in the pineapple, followed by the banana. Last I add the almonds, chia and flax seeds. Make sure everything is fully blended. Transfer to a glass and serve immediately (it tends to get a little grainy the longer you wait to drink it, as I sometimes do when I head to the gym first thing in the morning). 

Green Smoothie

This spring, one of my colleagues introduced me to a delicious green smoothie recipe (thanks, Marissa!), and I've been hooked ever since. I've tested a number of different versions, mostly depending on what I have in my refrigerator. And since I drink this almost every morning, I like at least a little flavor variety.

What I love about this smoothie (which another colleague calls "Green Slime"), is that it's so healthy (full of iron, Vitamin A, omega-3 and fiber) and easy to digest in the morning. For a while I was on a quinoa and gluten-free oatmeal breakfast kick, but both were proving too tough on my stomach first thing in the morning.

Not to mention the fact that this is very filling and keeps me satisfied until lunchtime rolls around. Below is my regular recipe, although I will say I added a small green pear this morning (cut up with the skin) and added a nice, fresh flavor.

Green Smoothie

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Servings: 1.5

Ingredients:

3 cups spinach
1/2 banana
1 cup pineapple
1 tablespoon fresh mint
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
1 1/2 cups ice
1 cup water

Put everything into a blender and mix until smooth. Enjoy!

Side note: I usually blend the ice and water first, then add everything else. It depends on how powerful your blender is.

Lentil, Kale, and White Bean Soup

Today is the perfect day for soup. At least, if you're in New York City. It's dark and rainy and windy. All I want to do is curl up in my bed and read a book or watch a movie (or, let's be honest, finish the season finale of Keeping Up with the Kardashians).

Soup is such a cozy food, don't you think? There's something so comforting about it. Maybe it goes back to my childhood, when my parents would feed me chicken noodle soup whenever I was sick. Perhaps there's a bit of nostalgia there.

Regardless, I love soup, and I'm having a blast venturing into the field of soup-making. This summer I made Yellow Tomato and Mango Gazpacho, on Sunday I made Cucumber Avocado Soup (recipe coming later this week), and last night I made the most delicious Lentil, Kale, and White Bean Soup. It was inspired by a friend's lentil soup recipe, but I threw in some additional ingredients and made it my own. It was incredibly flavorful and satisfying, and I can't wait to experiment with other soups this fall and winter. If you have any requests, feel free to post them in the comments section below. In the meantime, stay dry!

Lentil, Kale, and White Bean Soup

Serves 5
Total cooking time: 45 minutes (prep time: 15 minutes; cook time: 30 minutes)

Ingredients:

1/4 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, diced

3 carrots, chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

1 cup lentils
1 can cannellini beans
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 head kale, stems removed and leaves chopped
2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
2 tablespoons fresh oregano
1 tablespoon freshman rosemary
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a large pot sauté the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery in extra virgin olive oil for 4-5 minutes. Stir in the lentils, cannellini beans, tomatoes, kale, chicken broth, oregano, rosemary, and vinegar. Simmer on medium heat for 25-30 minutes, or until carrots and lentils are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer to a food processor and blend to the consistency of your choice. This really brings out all of the flavors and creates and creamy consistency, which I prefer to a non-blended consistency. 

Serve immediately and enjoy! 

Roasted Vegetables with Rosemary

Roasted vegetables are a staple of my diet, particularly in cooler weather. They're so easy to make and so satisfying to eat. The great thing about roasted vegetables is that you can work with whatever is in season. As long as you have olive oil, salt and pepper, and an oven, you're good to go.

After last weekend all I wanted to eat was a big plate of vegetables. I went to Whole Foods and slowly made my way through the produce section, picking the best looking vegetables from local farmers. By the time I made it to the checkout counter, my grocery basket was full of carrots, zucchini, red onions, sweet potatoes, and heirloom cherry tomatoes. I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture before I chopped everything up and threw it in the oven. But can you blame a girl? I was starving.

I decided to make enough so that I could bring the leftovers for lunch the rest of the week, which worked out perfectly. I'm a huge fan of incorporating leftovers into lunch. It makes life a lot easier.

This recipe, although the ingredients may vary depending on what's available at Whole Foods or the farmers market, will be my go-to this fall and winter. Whether as a main course, a side dish, or in a salad, roasted vegetables are so flavorful and full of nutrients. You really can't go wrong.

I tossed in some quinoa at the last minute to add some protein and additional texture. I'm a huge fan of roasted chicken, but didn't have enough time or energy to make it this time around. Keep your eyes out for a roasted chicken recipe in the coming weeks.

Roasted Vegetables with Rosemary

Ingredients:

2 large carrots
1 medium sweet potato
1/2 large red onion
1 large zucchini
1 1/2 cups heirloom cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons rosemary, chopped
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions: 

Preheat the oven to 400º.

Chop all of the vegetables,  except for the tomatoes, transfer to a large pan, and drizzle with olive oil. Toss in the rosemary and make sure all of the vegetables are lightly covered with olive oil. 

Transfer the tomatoes into a small pan and drizzle with olive oil. They need to be cooked separately because they release a lot of water, and you don't want that mixing in with the other vegetables.

Bake for 30 - 40 minutes, or until tender and golden. Drain the water from the tomatoes and mix together in one pan. Serve hot. 

Gluten-Free Blueberry Crumble

Gluten-free dessert keeps getting better. Now there's a sentence I'd never thought I'd say! Or at least, not until recently.

This past weekend I was home at my parents' house right outside of Washington, DC for my grandmother's 90th birthday party (!). We had a bunch of family in town, so I wanted to make something special for dessert Friday night and when I happened upon this recipe from Gluten-Free Goddess I immediately knew I had to try it. 

My family loves blueberries, and with summer quickly winding down I wanted to be sure and take advantage while they're still in season. If you're looking for a gluten-free dessert to make for the fabulous Labor Day barbecue you're probably going to, this is it. 

The recipe called for quinoa flakes, millet flour, and coconut oil, none of which I had cooked with before. There's nothing like a new challenge in the kitchen, right? I've seen quinoa flakes called for in a number of recipes recently so it was only a matter of time. I went to our local grocery store, which has an extensive gluten-free section, but I couldn't find quinoa flakes or millet flour, so I quickly made my way over to trusty old Whole Foods. Lesson learned! 

In total, this took about 35 minutes to make. 10 minutes of preparation, and 35 minutes in the oven (while we were eating dinner). Super easy and super delish. 

Gluten-Free Blueberry Crumble

Serves 6

2 pints fresh organic blueberries, washed

1 tablespoon sugar (preferably raw sugar)

2/3 cup quinoa flakes

2/3 cup gluten-free millet flour

2/3 cup organic light brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 cup coconut oil

Preheat the oven to 350º. Cover the inside of a 9-inch baking pan with a very thin layer of coconut oil.

Place the blueberries into a bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Toss to coat. Pour into the greased baking pan and distribute evenly.

In a separate bowl, combine the quinoa flakes, millet flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and sea salt. (Note: the original recipe called for 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, but my family agreed it was too salty, so I cut it to 1/8 teaspoon. You may even want to cut the salt entirely.) Add the coconut oil. Rub the coconut oil and dry mixture together with your hands to create a sandy, crumbly texture.

Sprinkle the crumble topping over the blueberries.

Bake in the center of a pre-heated oven for 25 minutes, or until it is browned and slightly bubbling. 

Set the crumble aside on a rack and allow it to cool a bit before serving. I served it warm over a scoop of my favorite Talenti Tahitian Vanilla Bean Gelato.

It was a big hit and everyone agreed that they would never have guessed it was gluten-free. Success!

Gluten Free For All now has a Facebook page. Be sure to "like" the page for regular updates beyond what is posted here.  

Yellow Tomato and Mango Gazpacho

I made my first soup! I don't know why I've been intimidated by the thought of it for so long, because I've had numerous people tell me how easy it can be to make.

I love soup. Hot soup, cold soup. If I ever buy lunch at work, which is pretty rare, you can bet I'm buying soup. Even during the summer. Fresh & Co., which has five locations in Manhattan, serves delicious soups, a number of which are gluten-free. My favorites are their split pea and kale, lentil, and quinoa soups. Oh, and I should also give a quick plug to The Splendid Spoon, a subscription-based soupery based in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Friends of mine own it and best of all, they deliver! Their soups are incredibly good and I believe all of their ingredients are local.

So why, until last night, had I never made soup? Oh right. I was intimidated. Well, I told myself before I started this blog was that I wasn't going to let myself be intimidated in the kitchen anymore. One of my goals is to get out of my comfort zone and try recipes that intimidate me. Not all of the time, of course, because as I've mentioned, I want to post quick and easy recipes as much as possible, but the only way I'm going to become a better cook is by pushing myself.

I recently subscribed to the DailyBuzz Healthy Living's "Today's Top 9" daily email, which aggregates their top nine favorite recipes from around the blogosphere. There's usually a theme, be it an ingredient, cuisine, etc., and yesterday's theme was mango. When I saw this recipe for Golden Tomato + Mango Gazpacho from The Smart Kitchen I knew it was going to be dinner, and my first attempt at making soup!

Much to my dismay summer is quickly coming to an end. I want to make the most of the local seasonal ingredients available as often as possible. So after work I walked down to the Union Square Greenmarket and bought as many of the ingredients as I could: yellow tomatoes, yellow peppers, and a sweet onion. The cucumber is straight from my dad's garden right outside of Washington, DC, where I was over the weekend.

Yellow Tomato and Mango Gazpacho

Makes about 3 and 1/2 cups (about 5 servings)

3 cups yellow tomatoes, coarsely chopped (roughly 2 large tomatoes)
1 cup yellow bell pepper, coarsely chopped (roughly 1 large pepper)
1 cup cucumber, peeled and coarsely chopped (roughly 1/2 large cucumber)
1 cup mango, peeled and coarsely chopped
1/3 cup sweet onion, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and pepper to taste
Mint or cilantro for garnish

Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Pour into a bowl and it's ready to eat! I added chopped mint, fresh from my new mint plant, but cilantro would probably taste just as good.

This was incredibly easy to make (chopping time included, it probably took 20 minutes at the most) and the perfect summer soup. I'm a little embarrassed to tell you that it was so good I had not one but three bowls last night.

And, as a total side note, I have to tell you that as I write this I'm sitting here listening to Regina Spektor's new album, What We Saw From the Cheap Seats, and it's fantastic. Listen to "Don't Leave Me (Ne me quitte pas)." The perfect song to start the day!

Hummus

If you're gluten-free (and honestly, even if you're not), you'll probably agree that finding good, healthy snacks can sometimes be challenging. My snack time is usually around 4 pm, when the work day is starting to wind down, my lunch is wearing off, and I need an extra kick of energy if I'm going to hit the gym after work.

For a while I was eating these thinkThin bars for protein, but they weren't sitting too well, and I realized that was because they contained soy, which I have since cut out of my diet completely (and I've been feeling much better).

Anyway, hummus has always been a go-to snack for me. Hummus and pretzels (I love Glutino's Gluten Free Pretzel Twists, but they also contain soy), hummus and red pepper, hummus and cucumber, hummus and carrots, the list goes on and on. I'm trying to remember when I really fell in love with hummus, and I think it must have been college. It seemed to be one of the only healthy snack options in our dining hall, and I have very fond memories of devouring containers and containers of hummus with my college roommates.

Since I've been eating it all of these years I figured I'd give it a shot and try making it from scratch. Boy have I been missing out! Home made hummus is a) delicious and b) incredibly easy to make.

I'm guessing that a lot of you love hummus as much as I do, and I strongly recommend that you try this at home. I've been bringing it to work and having it as a late afternoon snack, and it's also a good go-to (rather than chips and salsa) when I get home at night and need a little something to hold me off until I make dinner.

Hummus

2 cloves garlic (or, if you like it really garlic-y like I do, you can use 3 cloves)
1 can garbanzo beans, half the liquid reserved
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons tahini
1 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh parsley
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest

In a food processor, chop garlic. Pour garbanzo beans and remaining liquid into blender. Place lemon juice, tahini, and salt in blender. Blend until creamy and well mixed.

Transfer the mixture to a medium serving bowl. Add fresh parsley for garnish and lemon zest if desired.

The next time I make hummus I may try and come up with a jalapeno recipe for some extra kick. Stay tuned!

Quinoa with Pesto and Arugula

I know what you're thinking. Another quinoa recipe?  But this is why I love quinoa so much! You can use it in almost any dish.

I'm quickly working my way through the pesto I made last week. I had it on gluten-free bread for lunch, on rice pasta for dinner, and so on. When I was deciding what to make for dinner the other night, I figured why not toss it on some quinoa and see how it tastes? Quinoa is a good substitute for pasta, and honestly, a bowl of quinoa is probably better for you than a bowl of pasta, since it's full of protein.

Let me back up. I had a bit of an indulgent weekend... A delicious dinner Friday night at Osteria Morini in SoHo for my boyfriend's birthday (the grilled artichokes sans bread crumbs, octopus, and grilled pork chop were all incredible), Saturday afternoon at the Yankees game and a bacon cheeseburger (no bun) at Royale in Alphabet City, Sunday brunch at El Almacen in Williamsburg, not to mention lots of wine and cider... I ate and drank a ton. Oh, and of course I made these Sunday. So by Monday night I was craving a healthy, balanced meal.

I picked up a tomato from the Union Square Greenmarket on my walk home from work, some organic arugula at our local market, basil from the plant in our apartment, and I was set. All I needed to do was cook the quinoa. If that's not an easy meal...

Quinoa with Pesto and Arugula

1/2 - 1 cup cooked quinoa (I prefer to cook my quinoa in stock rather than water; it gives it more flavor)
1 tablespoon pesto
1/2 organic tomato, diced
A few fresh basil leaves
1 - 2 cups organic arugula
The juice of 1/2 fresh lemon

Cook the quinoa. Once it's off the stove, mix in the pesto, tomato, and basil.

Place the arugula on a plate and squeeze the fresh lemon juice over it (I also added a little balsamic for an extra flavor kick). Pour the quinoa mixture over the arugula. Enjoy!

This was so tasty that I had it for lunch the next day, and I'm sure I'll be adding it into my regular rotation (at least until summer is over). 

Strawberry, Peach, and Quinoa Breakfast

Not too long ago I made a culinary-life-changing discovery: The Queen of Quinoa's blog. If you've never heard of the Queen of Quinoa please take a few minutes (which may quickly turn into a few hours) and make your way over to this little gem. She has some amazing recipes, one of which I decided to try out this morning. Well, now I have a new breakfast obsession.

I eat a lot of quinoa. It's a staple of my diet. Some weeks I'll have it for breakfast and lunch. Some weeks for lunch and dinner. One of the challenges I face is to find ways to incorporate it into different dishes so that I don't get sick of it. And really, it's not the quinoa that I get sick of, it's the other ingredients.

When I saw this recipe I was practically salivating. I tweaked it slightly, and it includes some of my very favorite ingredients: strawberries, peaches (it's prime peach season right now), almond butter, almond milk, and cinnamon.

If you're looking for something different to eat for breakfast, I strongly recommend you try this. It's so easy, so filling (quinoa is full of protein), so healthy, and so, so good.

Strawberry, Peach, and Quinoa Breakfast 

1 peach, pit removed and cut into chunks

1 cup strawberries, chopped

1/4 - 1/2 cup cooked quinoa (warm or cold)

1 teaspoon almond butter

1/8 - 1/4 cup almond milk (depending on how liquid-y you want it to be)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Combine the cooked almond butter, almond milk, and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Mix with a spoon until fully combined. Then add the quinoa and fruit, mix it all together, and enjoy!