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Watch this video to see how to make cauliflower rice, then click on this link to get my recipe for Lemon Cauliflower rice
How to make Cauliflower Rice
Tag Archives: vegetarian
Cucumber Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette
Lemon and basil Cucumber Salad
I have a confession to make, sometimes I make salad when I don’t want to cook a side—okay maybe I do that more than sometimes, I do it a lot. There is a reason I named this blog lazy girl dinners. This salad is a result of me being lazy and needing to use the ingredients I had on hand. It was a hit with both my husband and my daughter. It was the first time I got her to eat cucumber without chewing it up and spitting it out. Slicing them with my spiral vegetable slicer had everything to do with that because when it comes to getting her to eat something, it always comes down to texture.
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Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: none
Total time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
2 large cucumbers sliced thinly
4 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of fresh basil, finely chopped
Sea Salt to taste
Directions:
Add the lemon juice, olive oil, sea salt, and basil to a small bowl and whisk together. Spoon as much of the viniagrette as you’d like over a serving of the cucumbers and enjoy!Note: If you are serving this at a dinner party–yes it’s lazy but it’s elegant and very delicious–then be sure to spoon the vinaigrette over the salad just before serving, otherwise the cucumbers will loose their crunch and get soggy.
Gingered Greens
Gingered Rainbow Chard
I am fortunate enough to live close to a few natural foods markets. One of the natural foods markets that I frequent has an onsite restaurant, it happens to serve only vegan food, and the food is amazing. My best friend and I used to make it a Sunday routine to meet there for brunch and then shop for groceries together afterwards. It was the best of both worlds for both of us, we both have a love of food and food shopping, and of course spending time together. One of my favorite dishes at this natural foods market restaurant was a dish called gingered greens. It hit all the right notes for me, tangy and soul satisfying all at the same time! We always asked the waiters to tell us what was in this dish, because of course we wanted to remake it at home, but every time we asked we’d get different answers or worse no answer at all. Needless to say I’ve tried this dish several times with less than stellar results. This week when I went to my local farmers market, they had rainbow chard, and I thought, this is my chance to get it right! Maybe it took me going into this with a bit of confidence, or maybe it was just a stroke of luck, I don’t know, but I think I struck gold with this one!
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Ingredients:
4 cups of rainbow chard, chopped
3 small cloves of garlic, grated
1/2 teaspoon of ginger grated
1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon of olive oil or ghee
2 tablespoons of cilantro roughly chopped
Sea Salt to taste
Directions: Heat the oil along with the ginger and garlic for 20-30 seconds
Add in the chard, saute until the greens wilt, then add the apple cider vinegar
Cook for another 5-7 minutes or until the greens are tender, season with a little sea salt, add in cilantro, transfer to a bowl and enjoy!
How to Make Brazil Nut Milk-How to make nut milk
How to make Brazil Nut Milk-a video D.I.Y. While you’re at it check out my recipe (non video) for Almond milk: http://wp.me/p3zq5p-mP
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D.I.Y. Herbed Feta Spread
Creamy Herbed Feta Cheese Spread
If you don’t know I’ve expanded my blog to include video blogging. I just started it so you haven’t missed much besides subscribing to my awesome channel (subscribe here) 🙂 I love feta cheese, it’s one of the few cheeses that I can eat without getting a tummy ache. However, besides that, it’s delicious, and extremely versatile, it goes well on salads, pizza, and as an accompaniment to lamb burgers. The next time you have a dinner party break this spread out with an olive tray and some good crackers, and your dinner guests will be raving about it for days!
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Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: none
total time 10 minutes
Ingredients:
6 ounce package of feta cheese
1/2 cup of fresh mint finely chopped
3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme leaves removed from the stems
1/4 cup of water
Directions: add the feta cheese to a blender or food processor, and pulse to break it up. Slowly add in water, add 1 tablespoons at a time, until your spread reaches desired consistency. I was happy at around 3 tablespoons of water. Transfer the creamed cheese to a bowl and add in herbs, mixing well until combined. Serve with pita bread, chips, or crackers, you really can’t go wrong with this spread. Enjoy!
Asparagus and Mushrooms
Asparagus and Mushrooms
I don’t know what it is about the Vernal equinox and the ushering in of spring, but it floods me with inspiration, and the need to get things done. It’s like my body gets a signal on March 20th every single year to create, and I just feel so inspired. Maybe it’s because I’m a spring baby, my birthday falls just 2 days after the first day of spring. Maybe my need to create is attached to that as a reminder that I’m getting old and need to get things done! For the last few weeks I’ve lived in my kitchen, creating recipes for this blog and my book. I have so many in my cue. Just yesterday I created four new dishes, in under 2 hours, and I’m still going to test out more recipes today. Yesterday I shared an avocado Pepita salad dressing, today I’m sharing another green recipe for asparagus and mushrooms. The season for asparagus is so short, so when it rolls around I always try to eat as much as I can.
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Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
2.5 cups of crimini mushrooms sliced
2 cups of asparagus sliced on a bias
3 cloves of garlic chopped
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil
sea salt & black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of soy sauce (optional)
Directions: Heat oil in a skillet with garlic. Add the mushrooms and season them with salt. The mushrooms will begin to release water, cook them until the water evaporates, about 7 minutes, then add the butter. Cook until mushrooms brown, then add in the asparagus and soy sauce if you’re using it. Cook until asparagus is tender, about 4 minutes, serve and enjoy!
Creamy Avocado Pepita Dressing
Creamy Avocado Pumpkin Seed Salad Dressing
One of my daughters first foods was avocado. Aside from it being an easy go to for me, because it didn’t involve cooking or complicated prep, it was the perfect food for her nutritionally. For a year of her life she ate smashed avocado gleefully without complaint. I was sort of heart broken when she suddenly decided that she’d had enough of it and started to refuse to eat it. As you all know from reading this blog, nothing makes me happier than when my daughter eats her veggies. This week when I was at the farmers market, I picked up a few avocados from my avocado guy, just so I could make this salad dressing for her. Recently she has taken to eating salad, but only if the salad is well dressed, preferably with a salad dressing that she loves. This particular dressing is awesome! There isn’t one bad thing in it, not one! If you love the mayo based Pepita salad dressing served at El Torito, then you’ll love this even more! I prefer it thick and undiluted, but you can make it thinner by adding either water, or oil, until your desired thinness has been achieved. You can use raw pumpkin seeds, but I prefer the nutty flavor of pumpkin seeds when roasted for this dressing.
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Prep Time: 5-7 minutes
cook Time: none
Total time: 5-7 minutes
Ingredients:
1 Avocado
4 teaspoons of lemon juice
4 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds roasted
Sea salt black pepper
2 cloves of garlic
1 tblsp of olive oil
Water (optional)
Directions: place all ingredients in a small blender and process until smooth. It you’re using water add it 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency, drizzle over salad greens, toss well, then serve! My daughter loved this, and we did too! It is so good!!!!
White Bean and Kale Soup
Kale and White Bean Soup
I feel like I haven’t shared enough vegetarian recipes with you guys, at least not as a full meal. My daughter is just beginning to appreciate veggies the way my husband and I do…thank God, I was beginning to worry she would be one of those kids who would refuse everything green. But somehow, and by the grace of god she has taken to eating veggies. While I was making this she kept reaching up to steal pieces of carrots! It made my heart leap with every bite she took! She loves this soup, and I love that she loves it, because it’s nothing but veggies!
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Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Total time: 35-40 minutes
Ingredients:
1 bushel of organic kale, sliced thinly
1 cup of shallots, chopped
1 cup of carrots, cubed
1 cup of celery, cubed
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
3/4 cup of white wine Sauvignon Blanc
4 cups of vegetable stock
1.5 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon of thyme
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of olive oil
15 oz can of Organic white beans, drained and rinsed
Directions: Heat the oil on medium heat, add garlic, shallots, celery, and carrots, cook until tender,
add in thyme and kale, sauté for 5 minutes.
Add in the wine, vegetable stock and beans, bring to a boil and cook until greens are tender about 15 minutes. Add in lemon juice, adjust the seasoning with sea salt and black pepper, serve and enjoy!
Charbroiled Sardines with parsley and thyme
Charbroiled Sardines with Parsley and Thyme
It’s not often here that I can walk up to my local Whole Foods Market fish counter and get fresh sardines. So when the opportunity to do so occurred, I jumped at it. I am a huge fan of small sustainable fish, like sardines, and smelt. I’ll even go out on a limb and say that I like smelt fish more than sardines, but smelt fish are even harder to come by than fresh sardines. If you’ve never made fresh sardines before, then you have been missing out! They’re so easy to make, and so delicious!
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Prep Time: 7 minutes
Cook Time: 7-10 minutes
1 pound of fresh Sardines split down the middle
1/2 cup of parsley
1/4 cup thyme
1 clove of garlic
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Sea salt and Black pepper to taste
Directions: Pre-heat the oven to 400F. Line a bake sheet with parchment or foil. Pulse all the ingredients with the exception of the sardines in a small blender or processor. You can skip the processor and opt to chop all the herbs finely and then mix with the oil and lemon. Place the sardines on the lined bake sheet, add the herb mixture to the inside of each sardine. Season with sea salt and black pepper then place in the oven and cook for 7-10 minutes, or until sardines are cooked through and have charred on top a bit. Remove from the oven, serve and enjoy!
Persian Cucumber and Tomato Salad
Persian Cucumber and Tomato Salad
My daughter has reached a turning point in eating! I have a feeling it has a lot to do with the fact that she her 2 year molars are coming in, which makes things easier to chew. But in the last few weeks we’ve seen a change in her mindset too. She’s taken to saying “to eat is good for you?” Or insert name of food item “is good for you?” If we say yes, then she eats it! I feel like I’ve struck the mommy lotto because now things she wouldn’t consider eating, she’s now eating, all because we say it’s good for her. One of the things I have been trying to get her to eat, but she never would, is cucumbers. It has been a complete over night shift! She wouldn’t touch them before, but now she loves them because they’re good for her. She also loves tomatoes, this Persian salad is one of my favorite salads to order when we go out for Persian food. So I thought I’d try it out on her and of course she loved it! I’m not a big fan of onions in my salads, because they tend to over power the rest of the ingredients in a salad. I don’t know where I learned this tip, but soaking the onions in water before adding them to things, mellows the onions a bit. I let them sit for 5-10 minutes and drain them before adding them to my salad, the onions still have flavor, but less of a “oh my god I just ate a raw onion” bite! I prefer to use red onion, or shallots in this recipe, but brown onion works just as well.
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Prep time: 5-10minutes
Cook time : none
Ingredients:
1 cup Organic Persian Cucumber cubed
1 cup of organic cherry Tomatoes quartered or halved
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Sea salt to taste
2 tablespoons of red onion finely chopped, soaked in water for ten minutes then drained just before adding them to salad.
Directions:
Add all the ingredients to a bowl toss well and enjoy!
Lazy Girl Dinners 