zucchini – Discover Healthy Food

Recipe: Stuffed Bell Pepper and Steamed Asparagus

17438080_494117124045466_2501886692655366144_n Healthy veggie based meal: stuffed bell pepper and steamed asparagus.
Ingredients:
4 yellow bell peppers, tops cut out and seeds rinsed out
1 package of saffron rice, prepared per package directions
1 roma tomato, small dice
1 zucchini, small dice
1 small yellow onion, small dice
3 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Olive oil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Cook saffron rice per package directions
3. On medium heat, saute onion and zucchini in olive oil or water for 5 minutes, then add tomato and garlic and saute for 1 minute.
4. Add cooked rice, parsley to zucchini mixture and stir to combine. Using a tablespoon, scoop rice mixture into bell peppers.

Note: You can use other bell peppers, but I prefer the mild, sweeter flavor of yellow.
5. Place 4 stuffed bell peppers into 8×8 glass baking dish. Add water around the outside of peppers, 1/3 the way up the pepper.
Note: If you’re preparing ahead of time, store in refrigerator for up to 2 days, covered in plastic wrap. Add water when ready to bake.

6. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes, or until the skin of peppers begins to wrinkle. If your peppers are really thick, you may need 5-10 more minutes. Better to over bake than under bake.
7. Serve with steamed asparagus.

For a more robust meal, serve with crusty bread and large green salad.
I’ll see you at the table!

Asian Noodle and Vegetable Stir Fry

Sometimes I think I was born on the wrong continent. I LOVE Asian food. I especially love Asian noodle dishes. Here’s a great dish that works well for adults and kids.

Ingredients:

1 package of rice noodles – I recommend getting something fresh, not frozen nor dried, in the refrigerator section of an Oriental food store.

1 zucchini, 1/4 inch slices

1 carrot, 1/8 inch slices – if you have a mandolin or quick slicing machine, it goes much faster and more consistent thickness

2 celery stalks, 1/4 inch slices

1/2 white onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 head of broccoli, cut into small florets

Cilantro leaves, peanuts and lime wedges for garnish.

Water for the water-sautéing.

For the meat lovers: Add one pound of shelled shrimp.

Sauce ingredients:

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons Sriracha – omit if you don’t like spicy

1/4 rice wine vinegar

1/4 teriyaki sauce

Before you start cooking, mix together the above ingredients and set aside for when you’re ready to add the sauce to the stir fry.

Directions:

First start with cooking your noodles per the directions on the package. Strain your noodles and set aside in a bowl. You’ll want to run warm water over them later to break up the “stuck” noodles before adding to the stir fry.

Using a large wok on medium high heat, add 1/4 cup of the water (not using oil saves calories and fats) then immediately add the garlic and white onion. Keep moving the veggies so that they don’t stick and add a little water as needed. Cook for about 3-5 minutes, or until the onions are clear.

Add the other veggies and keep adding water as needed. Use the lid if you want to keep the steam in the wok.

If you’re adding shrimp, do that now. It should only take 1-2 minutes to cook the shrimp.

Add the sauce and heat through with the veggies. Should take about 2-3 minutes.

Add the noodles and stir through, getting the sauce and veggies mixed thoroughly. Take care to not stir too hard and break up the noodles. Better to keep the noodles intact – looks better.

Serve immediately. Allow the diners to add their own garnish.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Lentil Vegetable Soup

While traveling, I look for places to stay where I have access to a kitchen which allows me to cook healthy food and save money from eating out all the time. A pot of soup that is ready to eat whenever I’m hungry is a great way to eat healthy too.

On the first night of this two week trip to Spain, I headed to the grocery store and bought several items to sustain me for a few days. Perhaps I bought too much because while walking home, several times I had to set the bags down in order to give my arms a break!

Cooking for someone else can be interesting too because they don’t always like what you like to eat. But, luckily my travel partner is game to try anything I will cook on this trip. She is curious to know what it would be like to try some recipes that don’t have sugar, oil nor salt.

Lentil Vegetable Soup: (Yield: 2 quarts)
Ingredients:
Half red bell pepper, diced
Half broccoli head, rough chop
Half yellow onion, diced
2 clove garlic, minced
2 small turnip, diced
5 small yellow potatoes, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 stalk leek, white end sliced in 1/4 inch rounds
2 medium zucchini, diced
3 stalk celery, diced
1-12oz can diced tomatoes
2 cup cooked lentils
2 cup frozen peas
2 tablespoon Italian seasoning

Directions:

Using a large soup pot, on medium high heat, water sauté the onion for about 5 minutes.
Add garlic and leek, continue water sauté for 3 minutes.
Add carrot, celery, bell pepper, continue water sauté for 3-5 minutes or until celery is soft.
Add broccoli, zucchini, can diced tomatoes, lentils and seasoning. Stir thoroughly and bring to soft bubbling boil.
In a separate pot, boil diced potato and turnip for 10-15 minutes until soft. Strain and add to vegetables when they have reached the soft boil. Stir to thoroughly incorporate.
Using a handheld blender, purée about 1/3 of the soup mixture. If you don’t have a blender, then you can enjoy a chunkier style.
Add the frozen peas, turn down heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
If you want it spicy, add 1 teaspoon dried chili pepper flakes.

Serve hot with bread or toasts. For a fuller meal, add a green salad and fruit for dessert. Enjoy!

Note from my travel companion: She added salt because is accustomed to eating food with added salt, but overall loved the soup and ate several meals from this one pot. Guess she liked it!

In the comments section below, let me know what you think of the recipe. Thank you!

Healthy food close to home and far away tastes great and fuels your body to have the energy to enjoy the trip. I’ll see you at the table!

Recipe: Spicy veggie marinara and quinoa pasta

I have craved pasta for weeks, so I found some quinoa pasta at Sunflower Market. The pasta is really yummy… I’ll definitely this pasta again. Below is the spicy marinara sauce recipe I put together. Turned out great! This has some kick, so if you can’t handle the heat, omit the Rotel and red pepper flakes.

Yield: 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 20 oz can tomato sauce
1 can Rotel original
1 can diced tomatoes
2 zucchini cubed or round slices
1 head broccoli cut into pieces
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons black pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 package of 4 veggie sausages, cut into 1/4 inch rounds
Water

DIRECTIONS:
On medium heat, use a 4 quart soup pot to water saute’ the onion and garlic for about 3 minutes, add the remaining ingredients plus 1/2 cup more water. Cover and stir occasionally for 20-30 minutes. This is a great make-ahead recipe that can easily be reheated for when you’re ready. Serve over warm pasta.

Recipe: Vegan tofu veggie stirfry

I’ve been in the mood for a stir fry with tofu, so I cleaned out the fridge from all the veggies I could get my hands on. Ultimately, the recipe turned out really good.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 white onion sliced
3 clove garlic, minced
4 baby bokchoy, cut into fourths lengthwise
2 c carrots sliced diagonally
1 head of broccoli cut into florets
1/2 orange bell pepper julienne sliced
2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and diced
2 zucchini sliced
1 package extra firm tofu, cut into rectangular slices about 1/2 inch thick
Tofu seasoning: Mix together 1 tablespoon each cumin, chinese five spice, crushed red pepper, white pepper
Water for stir fry
1/2 cup cilantro, rough chop for garnish
1 lime, cut into fourths for garnish
For extra heat, use chili paste or Sriracha for garnish (a little goes a long way)

DIRECTIONS:
Start with cooking rice because you’ll want the rice ready to eat before the stir fry is cooked. We used 2 cups brown rice, which yielded about 6 cups cooked. We like to have extra rice on hand for left overs. Rice cookers are a wonderful invention!

Preheat oven to 400 Degrees. Line 1 cookie sheet with parchment paper so that the tofu doesn’t stick. One piece at a time, coat the tofu slices with the tofu seasoning and lay the slices on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, then flip the tofu slices and bake for another 10 minutes. Should be firm, with a little crispness on the edges. If not crispy, don’t bake longer because can get too hard. Once ready to serve, diagonally cut the tofu rectangles.

While the tofu is baking, cook the stir fry. Heat large skillet on medium-high heat. Add about 1/4 cup of water and water sauté the onion, garlic for about 3 minutes, adding water as needed so that the veggies don’t stick. Add the other veggies and continue to water sauté until cooked al dente – about 5 minutes. Covering the pan helps keep the moisture in for the sautéing

To serve, bed of rice with veggies and tofu rectangles on top. Garnish with cilantro, lime and Sriracha. No oil, no salt, no sugar, no explaining vegan needs to a Thai waiter. How do you say “bon appétit” in Thai anyhow?

Enjoy, my friends!

Vegan lifestyle tip: Wraps

Knowing that there are times I don’t want to cook, I make sure to keep my kitchen stocked with things that are fast and easy to make.

Wraps are one of my favorite ways to eat quickly, but healthy. Helping me to stay true to my vegan way of eating.

In this wrap, I reheated some left over yellow squash and zucchini stir fry, with salsa, spiked sour cream, and guacamole. Fold up the end and roll the sides together… It’s almost like eating a Mexican burrito, but lighter and healthier.

The trick is to have ingredients on hand and ready to go all the time, including:

Guacamole
Fresh salsa
Spiked sour cream
Left over cooked veggies
Ezekiel Bread wraps (LOVE these)

Look in your fridge and make sure that you have ingredients to be used in multiple different dishes. I promise, it’ll make your life easier! Plus, you’ll be more inclined to eat healthy because you’ll have yummy stuff ready to go!