sesame seared wild salmon over a bowl of quinoa, leeks, kale + broccoli

Sometimes I get caught up on coming up with unique recipes for this blog, that I get away from the real deal food I eat on a daily or weekly basis. Not today.

This meal right here is pretty much our go-to Monday night meal, especially this time of year when we're in the peak of wild salmon season. It's feel good food that is easy to make and hits all the right notes of flavor and health to makes this one of my favorite at home. A great dinner for just the two of us.

Since I post mostly vegan and vegetarian recipes on this blog, I thought twice about posting a seafood recipe here, but this blog is really all about overall health, and wild salmon is one of the healthiest foods on the planet.  

Wild salmon is so good for you. You know this. Loaded with Omega3's, wild salmon is straight up food for your brain. When looking for salmon, the only word you need to look for is WILD. None of this organic farmed salmon. There simply is no such thing as "organic" salmon.   

I am pretty picky about my seafood, just like I am my produce and most other things I eat and prepare. I eat salmon because of all of the health benefits, but I stay away from many other types of seafood, especially farmed seafood and deep water fish that contain high levels of mercury. 

It's all about being a conscience eater and knowing exactly where your food comes from before it makes it's way back to your kitchen. 

 

For my vegan and vegetarian friends, you can make this as a warm quinoa salad and omit the salmon all together. On days I cannot find a good piece of wild salmon, that's what I do. I am kind of addicted to the ginger sesame dressing that goes over this dish. You can put that dressing over anything and it will make it feel like a special meal.

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sugar snap pea + cilantro slaw

When I chop a lot I think a lot. 

Even thought there's a lot of thinking going on when I'm chopping, it's the kind of thinking that clears my head the same way running or exercise would.

I am not good at not thinking, I wish I was a little better at it. In yoga when they tell you to quiet your mind, that's right about the time that my mind starts to wander to some far-off bizarre places. It probably sounds a little like this:

I want to adopt another dog that is a cross between a newfoundland and a king charles cavalier
ahh! I forgot to email so and so back
I really want a yellow mixing bowl
a nice wrap dress for the summer would be a great addition to my wardrobe
I need to get a pedicure

I've had a lot on my mind recently. Nothing crazy, but we just have a lot going on right now. It's impossible to stay balanced all the time, so when things are a little off kilter, I need to find ways to make it back to my center place.

Yoga usually gets me there (despite my wandering mind), and chopping. Lots of chopping.

Maybe that's how this slaw recipe came to be. Maybe I just needed to chop it out.

As I am sure you know, I am a sucker for twists on classic recipes. This recipe takes a classic slaw and adds a lot of fun surprises. The cilantro mayo dressing is light, bright, and happy, and the snap peas add this lovely little unexpected crunch. It all goes so well together that this side dish might become the main event. 

This slaw would pair well with so many things. It would be killer on top of these quinoa burgers I made recently, or maybe beside some shish kabobs, or a nice piece of fish .... or if you're like my husband, you can just eat it straight out of the bowl for lunch (yes, he did that). 

Now that summer is coming up, I love to have fun recipes like this handy for when we are grilling or if I need to bring something to a friend's BBQ. It's vegan (depending on the type of mayo you want to use) and gluten-free, so you won't have to worry about food preferences or allergies with this dish. 

I realize that fresh sugar snap peas are seasonal and are only around for a short time so make this while you can. They tend to taper off around mid-summer around here. If you want to make this and cannot find sugar snap peas, a snow pea would be a okay substitute, or you can just make it without the snap pea. Even though the snap peas are the real treat, the cilantro mayo and cabbage can still hold it's own. 

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rhubarb ice cream with pistachio chunks | dairy-free

I don't like things that are complicated. 

I especially don't like complicated recipes. I like things that are easy, intuitive, and make sense. I'm not lazy, I just like to keep things simple. 

Ice cream is simple. I know, it may seem like a daunting task, but trust me, it is not. It's not complicated, it just takes time and patience. Something that I don't always have a lot of, but I am trying to teach myself to. 

About two years ago, I bought the ice cream attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer. When I purchased the ice cream attachments, I had visions of myself pulling out the ice cream maker over and over again to make fresh ice cream for friends and neighbors all summer long. Lovely thought, never happened.

This year will be different. This year I have learned to have a little patience in the kitchen, and a lot about planning ahead. Something I did very little of up until the past few years. Menu planning, soaking beans, cooking grains ahead of time all have given me a whole new respect for patience and planning in the kitchen. 

You need to plan ahead to make ice cream, it not something you can decide to make for dessert at 5pm the night of, but it is totally worth the effort. It takes a leisurely two days to make, or one full day (starting in the morning and ending at night) but only about 30-45 minutes of physical work. I like that. 

I am not going to plan ahead for just any type of ice cream, if I am going to break out the ice cream maker it is definitely going to be for something special. This ice cream recipe is something special. Rhubarb lends itself so well to ice cream and the pistachios are the perfect crunchy compliment. 

When I was making this, I couldn't stop licking the bowl. It was almost impossible for me to not eat it all in one sitting ... It's ridiculously good. 

This recipe contains no dairy, no refined sugar, and just a little maple syrup to sweeten it up. I fed this to a few dairy ice cream lovers and they had no idea that it was dairy-free. The coconut milk gives it a creamy consistency that you would get from heavy cream, and it does add a slight coconut flavor which only adds to the overall experience. 

When you make ice cream at home, I find that is it best enjoyed right out of the ice cream maker. It's so good you probably won't have any leftovers anyways. 

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spring pea + fava bean guacamole with root chips

Today is the start of one of my favorite weekends of the whole year. 

I'm a huge fan of summer and this weekend signifies the start of the summer for us here in the east coast. Although summer's official start date is not until late June, this is the weekend for us that the grill get uncovered, some new plants get planted, and the flip flops get dusted off. 

One of my favorite things about summer is cooking and hanging out with friends. Grabbing vegetables straight from the garden or the nearby farm stand, and having people over for a causal meal is just the best.   

Backyard BBQs, beach picnics, long leisurely brunches. That's what summer is all about. 

I love to have nibbly bits around whenever we are entertaining, and guacamole is always a popular snack. Sure, you can buy gaucamole in the store, but it is so much better (and impressive) when you make it at home. 

I love to fanci-fy otherwise simple foods. Adding peas and fava beans is a super easy way to make a regular guacamole a little fancier. Since it is not officially summer yet, this snack is a marriage of a few great spring vegetables that you can still find right now, and one of my favorite summertime snack foods. 

I am keeping this short and sweet, because I am off to cook for a big girls dinner tonight. I am so excited to kick off the summer with a huge home-cooked meal celebrating friends.  

Happy weekend!

 

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4 delicious + healthy smoothies for summer

Now that summer is approaching, I am all about smoothies. For breakfast, for a snack, or just for fun. 

Today, I am sharing my four of my favorite smoothies recipes over at Modern Parents Messy Kids.

Head over there for some juicy info on all the super ingredients in these smoothies, and of course, for some more pretty pics. 

Here are the recipes I am sharing over there today:

Chocolate Almond Butter

½ cup of almond butter

1 cup of rice milk

2 tablespoons of raw cacao powder

1 ripe banana

3 tablespoons of hemp seeds

Acai Blueberry Chia

1 cup frozen organic blueberries

1 packed of frozen acai

1 Greek style yogurt

½ cup of rice milk

Peach Mango Carrot 

1 ripe mango

1 ripe peach

1 carrot

1 cup of rice milk

1-2 tablespoons of flax

Happy Green Smoothie

a handful of spinach (kale, or any dark leafy green will work)

1 avocado

1 ripe banana

1 apple

1 tablespoon of flax or hemp or chia seeds

a couple of leaves of cilantro / parsley (optional)

1 + cups of water

SOME GUIDELINES FOR MAKING A SMOOTHIES

• To make the smoothies, it is best to add the liquid first, and then about half of the ingredients. Blend, and then add the remaining ingredients. At the end add about 3-4 ice cubes and blend one last time.
• Always be sure to remove any stems or seeds from the fruit, and if your ingredients are organic do not peel the skin (they contain lots of healthy nutrients). Also, be sure to dice the ingredients, it makes for easier blending.
• Always look for what is fresh and in season, and organic is always best. Frozen is great too, especially for the fruits that are not in season, but be sure to look for frozen organic ingredients as well.
• The ingredients listed here are mostly a guideline. Feel free to add in other ingredients that you think would work well or leave something that you do not like or have on hand. Experiment. Find out what works for you.
• You can make these ahead of time, and store them in an airtight container in the fridge. Mason jars work great for this. They will stay fresh for about 1-2 days.
• Have fun + enjoy!