Warm Lentil & Kale Bowl w/ Poached Egg

Wow…where the hell did summer go?! It disappeared in a day! Amanda and I were absolutely cooking out for a run on Friday and now it’s freezing and raining! I needed something to warm me up last night for dinner and barely had any groceries in the house…so this is what I came up with. It sounds a bit weird but it was actually pretty good! Simple, easy, HEALTHY dinner :) ENJOY!

Ingredients

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1/4 onion, chopped
• 1/4 head of cauliflower, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 large stems of kale, chopped (remove stems)
• 1 can lentils
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 cups chicken broth (organic, low sodium)
• pepper to taste
• 2 eggs

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan or pot, heat up the olive oil. Add the carrot, onion, cauliflower and garlic and sauté for about 5 – 8 minutes.
2. Add the kale and continue to cook until the leaves wilt (about 3 minutes).
3. Next, add the lentils, bay leaf and chicken broth and bring mixture to a boil.  Cover and let simmer for about 30 minutes.
4. Poach up your eggs once the lentils are done and you’re good to go. Salt and pepper to taste. You can also serve this with a scoop of brown rice if you like.

Note – you can use whatever vegetables you have in your fridge that need to be used up

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Amazing!  I’ve wanted to try making pizza crust with cauliflower for so long but just never got around to it or found a recipe that wasn’t stupidly complicated. Thank you Eating Bird Food for this great pizza crust recipe! I changed it up quite a bit and it tasted incredible! Great alternative to regular wheat crust.

Now that I’m back in school almost full time and spending lots of time working with Amanda at Krystalfit, I’m finding way less time to cook :(  Hopefully once my schedule gets settled on a regular routine I’ll get back to making myself new, delicious dinners and snacks more often! But for now, I’m guessing my meals are going to be much more simple…ugh!

This recipe takes a little bit more time to prepare but is well worth it!  Enjoy! :)

Makes 2 servings        Prep Time: 15-20 min       Cooking Time: 40 min

Ingredients

1. 1/2 head of cauliflower
2. 1/2 cup goat cheese mozzarella cheese
3. 2 tsp italian seasoning
4. 1 egg, beaten
5. 1/3 cup brown rice flower
6. 2 tbsp cornmeal (optional)
7. your choice of pizza toppings

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Using a food processor, pulse up the cauliflower until it resembles rice.  Next, sauté the cauliflower rice in a pan over medium heat for about 8 minutes.
3. Once the cauliflower is done, add it to a large bowl with the remaining crust ingredients and give it a good mix.
4. Spread the dough out evenly on a greased baking sheet. It should be about 1/4 inch thick.
5. Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until golden brown and crispy around the edges.
6. Remove from the oven and cover with your favourite pizza toppings.
7. Broil the pizza for another 5 minutes or until the toppings are hot and the cheese is melted.

Caprese Skewers

These little skewers were so much fun to make! Thank you Pinterest for the great appetizer idea and my lovely sister for helping assemble all these little guys :) Great alternative to the unhealthy appies that are normally served at dinner parties. If you’re not a cheese eater, substituting avocado for the mozzarella would work perfectly. If I had been making these for just myself, that’s exactly what I would have done.

I think assembling the skewers is pretty self explanatory, but I’ll write up instructions anyway lol.

Ingredients:

• grape tomatoes
• basil leaves
• little mozerella or bocconcini balls
• little wooden skewers
• balsamic vinegar or balsamic reduction (optional)
• olive oil

Directions:

• To assemble, place one tomato, 1/2 a basil leaf, one bocconcini ball, and another tomato onto a wooden skewer.
• If you like, drizzle with a little bit balsamic and olive oil.

Asparagus Zucchini Noodle Salad

I’m completely obsessed with my new vegetable spiralizer.  It’s probably the most amazing kitchen gadget I’ve bought in a while.  Definitely worth every penny…and it was only $40 on Amazon!! I make zucchini noodles to go with pretty much everything right now and I didn’t even like zucchini before I bought the spiralizer.  They just taste like whatever sauce you put on! Awesome grain-free alternative to regular noodles!

I made this delicious zucchini noodle salad to accompany the Father’s Day dinner I made last weekend. Everyone seemed to really like it!  The only thing I would do different is make the zucchini noodles a little shorter…it was hard to dish up lol.

Ingredients:

• 2 large zucchinis
• 1/2 red onion, minced
• 2 cups asparagus, chopped into bite size pieces
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 slices of bacon, raw and diced (optional)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp coconut oil

Directions:

• Using a vegetable spiralizer, peel the zucchinis into noodles. Set aside.
• In a large skillet, melt the coconut oil over medium heat.  Once hot, add the garlic, bacon and onions.  Sauté them until the onion is caramelized (about 5 minutes).
• Add in the asparagus and thyme. Cook for about 5 minutes.
• Once the asparagus is almost fully cooked, add in the olive oil and zucchini noodles. Toss the noodles until warm and combined with the rest of the dish. Serve and enjoy!

My amazing vegetable spiralizer!