Summer Fit Salad, by Diane

It's hard to make a salad look as good as it tastes, but this salad is so yummy and healthy and I'm obsessed. It's easy to make, and keeps well so you can have it multiple times in the week for lunches too!


Ingredients:

Salad:

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup roasted red peppers, sliced
1 cup carrots, julienned
1 1/2 cup baby bella mushrooms, steamed for 1-2 minutes to soften
8 large kale leaves, deveined and rough cut into smaller pieces
1 can black beans, drained
4 cups spinach, rinsed

Dressing:

1 cup plain greek yogurt (I used low fat)
2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp chili powder
2-4 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1-2 small avocados, smashed
1/4 cup cilantro, rinsed and chopped (leaves only)


Directions:

1. Steam the sweet potato cubes until just soft (you want them to have a little bite to them).

2. While the potatoes cook, make the dressing by blending all ingredients together with a whisk. The final version should be a bit thicker than traditional dressing as shown here:

3. Combine the remaining salad ingredients in a large bowl, but place the kale in between the mushrooms and sweet potatoes and cover the bowl so it steams lightly as well. After 5 minutes your kale should be softened, and then you can combine with the dressing and eat! Or, you can steam the kale separately and add in with the other ingredients.

Raw Dairy Queen "Blizzard", by Diane

In my quest to eat more nutrient-dense foods I have discovered that the more raw I eat, the better I feel. With that being said, there are certain things that I crave- one of them being blizzards from DQ. After thinking on this, I realized that my previously favorite dessert of frozen banana "ice cream" (literally whip them in a blender for 3 minutes and it's like ice cream!) can be turned into a blizzard of any flavor! So tonight I made a mock up of my favorite, Georgia Mud Fudge. DQ's version has chocolate ice cream, fudge brownies, chocolate chips, and pecans. My recreation was obviously not the original but super chocolatey and sweet, and pretty close in flavors! This was pretty much a hit from the first bite!! I had to remind myself of the calories even though it was raw, otherwise I would have made another 4 batches.

You can really go anywhere with this idea, fruity flavors work just as well. The other day I made a cookie dough version by blending raw cacao beans, dates, and coconut flour (or finely ground cashews works well too) in a blender and forming balls that dropped into the banana cream base (with some cocoa powder added in)- yum!

Ingredients:

3 frozen bananas
1/4 cup almond or coconut milk (I like raw but you can use whatever)
2 tbsp almond butter
2 tbsp raw cocoa powder
1/4 cup raw cacao beans
1/2 cup dates
1/4 cup pecans

Directions:

1. Blend the first 4 ingredients in a blender on the highest speed for 3-4 minutes. You will need to stop every few seconds to push the bananas back to the bottom to blend. Add in more milk if needed. (This is going to be your regular base to add anything else to, unless you don't want the cocoa or almond butter in which case just blend the first two ingredients)

2. Drop in remaining ingredients and blend to your desire. I blended for a few seconds only because the chocolatey dates were left in larger chunks reminiscent of the brownies.

Moroccan Chicken with Lemons and Olives

This is one of my most favorite recipes, so much so that it's hard for me to believe I haven't posted this over the years. It's simple, amazingly tasty, and impressive for company. Combined with a bed of couscous and mint tea you really can't go wrong!


Ingredients:

2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground pepper
4 chicken breasts, cubed and patted dry
2 tbsp EVOO
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 cup water
juice of 1 lemon
2 lemon peels, sliced thinly
1 cup green olives, pitted (reserve 1/2 cup liquid)

1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4-1/2 cup dates, sliced

Directions:

1. Combine spices in a large bowl, add in chicken and toss to coat. Refrigerate for one hour.

2. Heat EVOO in a large saucepan on medium high heat. Add in chicken and brown on all sides.

3. Lower heat to medium low, add in garlic and onions, cover, and cook for 15 minutes.

4. Add in water, lemon juice, and olive liquid to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom to loosen any bits that have browned. Add in remaining ingredients, lower heat to low, cover, and cook another 30 minutes. All liquid should be evaporated, if not cover and cook until liquid is gone.