Tag: salsa

Recipe: Loaded Salad

Loaded salads are baaack!

I remember planning for a vegan pregnancy. 2 months into the pregnancy and I craved a hamburger. I still ate a lot of #veggies and fruit, but meat was back on the menu. Salads weren’t satisfying anymore, which totally bummed me out. Any of you who’ve dealt with pregnancy cravings KNOWS what I’m talking about when I say, “What baby wants, baby gets!” Now I’m past breastfeeding and starting to feel more in control of my eating. Enter stage left, the grand and ggloriousLOADED SALAD!! This salad tastes great and fills my belly.
Ingredients per salad:
5 oz lettuce
1 roma tomato, diced
3 sweet mini bell peppers, diced
1/2 cup hummus
3 tablespoons spicy nut mixture
1/4 cup salsa for salad dressing
5-6 kalamata olives, pitted

Directions:
🍅Using large bowl, layer in this order
🍅Lettuce
🍅Salsa sprinkled on lettuce
🍅Hummus in corner with kalamatas on top
🍅 Tomatoes in 2nd corner
🍅Bell peppers in 3rd corner
🍅Peanut mixture in 4th corner

Optional toppings:
Radishes
Avocado
Celery
Carrots
Seeds – chia, sunflower, and/or #pumpkin

Fill your belly and feel great! I’ll see you at the table!

Salsa Chicken and Rice Bake

I love easy to prepare dishes that are full of flavor. In our house, anything Mexican is pretty popular, so this dish was and easy success.

Original recipe from TipHero.
Serves 4
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients:
– 1 cup uncooked basmati rice, rinsed
– 1 can corn kernels, drained
– 1-15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed (Jen’s Note: Omit if your breast feeding and beans don’t work well with baby)
– 1-16-ounce jar salsa
– 1 cup chicken broth
– 1-½ teaspoons ground cayenne pepper (Jen’s Note: Omit for less spice)
– 1 teaspoon oregano
– ½ teaspoon salt
– ¼ teaspoon black pepper
– 2 large chicken breasts (about 1-1/2 pounds), thawed (Jen’s Note: Cut in half length wise)
– 1 cup shredded cheese blend
– 2 green onions, sliced

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. In an 8-inch-by-8-inch baking dish, add the rice, black beans, corn, salsa, chicken broth, chili powder and oregano. Stir to combine. (Jen’s Note: Or, use a 8×11″ dish and you can add a third chicken breast)
  3. Cut the chicken breasts into 2 pieces and submerge into the liquid in the baking dish as far as possible.
  4. Cover the casserole dish tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour, until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed.
  5. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with cheese. Return to the oven and bake just until the cheese has melted.
  6. Top with green onions and serve.

Jen’s Note: We like to have garnishes like sour cream, cilantro, lime, hot sauce, so have those on hand to enhance the dish. Serve with green salad for a great, easy, week day meal!

I’ll see you at the table!

Healthier condiment choices

healthy condiment choices

Veggie burger + mayo = what’s the point of having the veggie burger anyhow?

When ordering a veggie burger, ask for no condiments so that you can control what is added to the burger.

Typically, I use mustard because of low sugar and oil content. But, if ever you have access to salsa or hot sauce, grab it! Lower salt, sugar and oil in these condiment choices.
What’s your favorite healthy condiment?

I’ll see you at the table!

Restaurant Review: Baja Cactus – California

 

bajacactus

Restaurant review: One of my favorite Mexican dishes is tortilla soup. This might have been the best I’ve ever enjoyed! This one had right amount of veggies and fresh tortilla strips and the best broth ever. Other guests devoured their mole chicken enchiladas, verde enchiladas, Sonoran grilled steak. Awesome chips and salsa and virgin margaritas! Next time I’m back in Temecula, I’m totally going back!

Restaurant Review: Taco Janes – California

taco-janes-san-anselmoTaco Janes in San Anselmo!

I’ve heard great things about Taco Janes in San Anselmo for years, so I was pleased to join my mom her long time BFFs for dinner. While the menu sports plenty of meat lover Mexican dishes, I was delighted to find several veggie based dishes too. I enjoyed the veggie burrito (with optional wheat tortilla). Easy to request no cheese or sour cream for vegan dish. chips and salsa was rockin’ good! Other ladies really enjoyed the salmon on salad and fish tacos. Looked great! This is a great place for family dinner, date night, gathering of friends. If you have opportunity to meet the restaurant owner Matthew, take the chance to ask him about his photography on the walls – he has an eye for capturing Cuban culture in photography.

Recipe: No Cheese Nachos

no-cheese-nachosBefore going nutritarian, I was a sucker for nachos and all the cheesey gooey goodness. So here’s my version of no cheese nachos!
Ingredients:
Rice/bean chips
Diced tomato
Vegetarian chili
Cubed avocado
Chopped cilantro
Salsa

Just as good as the real deal!

Recipe: Vegan Bean Enchilada Casserole

bean-enchilada-casseroleEasy to make, a ‎vegan bean casserole is delicious and any meat lover I’ve served this to, is impressed! I make for left overs and freeze in individual serving sizes.

Ingredients:
6 cups bell pepper, roasted 15 min 350 degrees
1 large yellow onion, diced
4 clove garlic, diced
2 15 oz cans corn, drained and rinsed
2 15 oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 28 oz can tomato sauce
1 10 oz can Rotel
1 tablespoon no-salt seasoning
2 teaspoon cumin
1 package corn tortillas

Directions:
Using a high powered blender, mix roasted peppers, tom sauce and Rotel until smooth. Set aside. (You’ll probably have extra, I use for other sauces or base for hominy soup.)

Water sauté onion and garlic for 5 min.
Add corn, beans, half tomato sauce mixture, spices and heat through about 15 minutes.
(If you have extra, use in hominy soup.)

Using 9×13 lasagna dish, pour about 1.5 cup tom sauce on bottom and spread out.
Then layer bean mixture and tortillas until pan is full. Drizzle more tom sauce on top.
Bake 30 min at 350.

Serve with fresh guacamole, salsa, lime wedges, chopped cilantro. Enjoy!!

Restaurant Review: Taqueria 27 2 – Utah

taqueria27Always great to connect with friends. When I can share a new restaurant with them is even better. Restaurant review this time: funny servers, lentil with veggies yummy but serving too small, same goes for side of rice. Abundant chips & salsa… with the special hot sauce is spicy-hot-delight! Dessert donuts were ok, but not worth the sugar rush. veggie taco not nearly as good as the pear beet taco last time. Dinner time is much louder than lunch, less conducive to conversation. All-in-all still a great spot for vegan yumminess! I’ll be back again… probably just for lunch.