Recipes Archives - Page 5 of 20 -

My Foodie To-Do List

Post author:Melanie
Post published:November 15, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Gluten-Free / Recipes
Post comments:10 Comments

It’s time for me to quit making excuses about getting busy in the kitchen. I miss being creative with my food, eating loads of veggies, and sharing recipes with you all. I’m going to work on getting back into the groove.

With the help of Pinterest and some of my previous blog posts, I have been inspired. I am adding the following food items to my foodie to-do list. My hope is that I can try to make something fun at least once a week, until I get back into the groove, then maybe more often than that.

Here’s what inspired me!

Portobello pizzas with tons of marinara sauce, veggies, and mozzarella cheese.

My Veggie Nut Pizza again with lots of sauce, cheese, and veggies.

My Thai Chicken Salad with Amazing Peanut Sauce

Broccoli and Cheese Soup from Peas and Crayons

Creamy cauliflower sauce over gluten-free brown rice or quinoa pasta and some broccoli and other veggies perhaps.

Polenta with Bolognese sauce

Buffalo chicken quesadillas

Spinach Quinoa Scramble

How’s that for a start? This lady needs to get back on track.

I need your advice: how do you get out of a cooking slump?

What’s on your foodie/recipe to-do list?

My First On Air Experience: Fox 9

Post author:Melanie
Post published:October 29, 2013
Post category:Breakfast / Events / Health / Recipes / Snacks
Post comments:35 Comments

Happy National Oatmeal Day!

Make yourself a bowl of oatmeal, or make some oatmeal cookies (monster cookies are my favorite!), or maybe even some oatmeal bars. It is such a versatile food; everyone can find a way to enjoy oats! Whatever you do, be sure to celebrate this heart healthy day!

Oatmeal is such a well-rounded food: it contains fiber, protein, fat, and carbohydrate. It’s truly perfect. It has soluble fiber which can help to lower cholesterol, which can in turn help to lower your risk of developing heart disease which is the number one cause of death in the United States. Learn more about the benefits of oats by watching my video below!

I was invited to promote National Oatmeal Day on Fox 9 morning news. I also found out it was going to be LIVE (yikes!). But this was obviously an opportunity that I could not pass up so I happily but nervously accepted. I did my homework and my prep work for the show, and then it was finally the big day: show day!

I woke up bright and early and put on a professional, tv-friendly outfit. Surprisingly, I wasn’t that nervous.

I began my drive over to their Eden Prairie office. I was calm as I recited a couple of the key points I wanted to be sure and make throughout the show.

When I got to the studio, I was greeted by the sweetest and friendliest security guard. I got all checked in, grabbed a large cart so that I could roll in my three boxes of stuff, and was greeted by more staff who showed me back to the kitchen.

I felt so comforted by the staff. They all made me feel very welcome and made me feel right at home. They informed me that my first teaser shot would be at 8:10. I had no idea what this meant so I admitted that I was a rookie and asked to explain what that meant. A teaser shot is a quick five second or so clip of me in the kitchen that the viewers who are watching Fox 9 will see before my segment. It shows them what is coming up next on the news.

So, as I was setting up the kitchen with all of my nummies, I was also being videotaped and it was playing live!

There were three teasers throughout the set-up time. In between I would touched up my makeup, continue setting up the set, chat with the crew, and try and stay relaxed.

Here is what the stage looked like when it was all set up by yours truly!

Right before my segment was about to air, anchor woman Dawn Stevens came in to meet me. She is a very sweet and beautiful woman! We quickly went over a couple of things and then all of a sudden the videographer or producer or someone was counting down 5–4—3–2–1. I looked over at Dawn when they were at three and I asked if we were really starting right now? She smiled and said “yup!”

And then the show began. I had a few nerves at the very beginning, but then I got into it and really enjoyed myself! The segment was only about four minutes but it seemed like I had about one minute to go through everything!

I am unable to embed the video into this post (it’s more than likely the user than it is the program :smile:), but if you haven’t checked out the video yet, you can see it here…

Video:

http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/23805766/baked-strawberry-oatmeal-triple-berry-oatmeal-scones

What an incredible experience this was! I had such a mix of emotions once it was over. I think I was having a hard time believing that I had just shot a live TV segment and that people had already seen my face on TV. I was overwhelmed and so happy and so proud.

I can’t wait to do more! I hope this is just the beginning of my on-screen career! 😉

I want to thank the staff at Fox 9 for making me feel so welcome, so comfortable, and for having me on the show.

I also want to thank Driscoll’s and Sneaky Pete’s for partnering with me. You are so incredible and I am extremely grateful for you.

So how about I share that delicious recipe with you all for Baked Strawberry Oatmeal bars?!

Photo courtesy of Fox 9

This recipe is from Driscoll’s Berries and you can find it on their website: http://www.driscolls.com/recipes/view/7548/Baked-Strawberry-Oatmeal

These bars are so insanely easy and they are so delicious! I was excited to have leftovers from the show. I left some for the staff but the remaining bars I took home and wrapped individually so that I can have the for breakfast or a snack whenever I want!

So go enjoy some oats on this National Oatmeal Day and let me know how you enjoyed oats today in my comments section!

Disclaimer: I was compensated for the show as well as the products needed for the show however all opinions expressed are my own.

Weekend Happenings: Soups, Weddings, Family Time

Post author:Melanie
Post published:October 14, 2013
Post category:Breakfast / Family / Product Reviews / Recipes
Post comments:9 Comments

Hello, hello! How was your weekend? Mine was FANTASTIC!

It started on Friday. I made myself a super nummy smoothie in my new Ninja Ultima.

In the smoothie (all frozen fruits and veggies):

Kale
Blueberries
Pineapple
Bananas
almond milk
peanut butter
flax-seed
cocoa powder

I gave it a whirl in the Ninja…

So far I have used the Ninja for smoothies and I also used it last night when I made a batch of soup! I love it. It is so efficient! I can’t wait to make nut butters in it. I am hoping the clean up is a lot easier than when I make nut butter in the food processor!

Friday morning I met up with my mom or our annual girl’s day. This year we decided to go to Whole Foods to do some shopping, have lunch at Panera, go for a walk with Abbie around the neighborhood, and just veg out together. It was so nice and so relaxing! I can’t wait for our next one!

Oh, and don’t act surprised when you hear I got the French Onion Soup once again at Panera. It is just my fav! Next time though I might have to try that squash soup, right Katie?

On Saturday we attended my cousin’s wedding. It was fun getting all dolled up and hanging out with my family for the day.

On Sunday…more family time! We met up with Dana’s parents in the morning for a while and then went to my parent’s house to hang out with Scott and Nicole before they headed back home. No wonder my weekend was so fabulous, it was full of family time!

In the afternoon I whipped up a batch of veggie soup to eat throughout the week. It’s packed with bone broth, broccoli, green beans, zucchini, onion, carrots, celery and more. I am hoping it turned out well! If so, I will share the recipe!

While the soup cooked, I heated up myself a bowl of four bean quinoa chili from the freezer and added some cheddar cheese to the top. Mmmmm mmmmm! The perfect meal on a cozy Sunday evening.

I have been all about the soups lately. The fall weather has finally nestled in and the forecast is looking like 50’s this week! Bring out the sweaters, slippers, soup, pumpkin scented candles, and let’s get a fire going in the fireplace! Cozy city! LOVE.

What did you do this weekend? Have you been enjoying any soups yet this fall?

Four Bean Quinoa Chili & GIVEAWAY WINNERS!

Post author:Melanie
Post published:August 30, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Giveaway / Gluten-Free / Recipes
Post comments:30 Comments

Well, hello there! Happy Friday!

Who wants some of this?

I have LOTS of leftovers around here! This always winds up happening to me…I have the intention of making a small pot of chili, or soup, or anything really, and it turns into a humongo amount. Lucky for me soup freezes well and I have an extra freezer in the garage.

I know some of you out there probably think I’m totally crazy for making chili on a 95+ degree day, but it’s not like I slaved over it in kitchen. I let the crock pot do the majority of the work for me.

Here’s how I did it…

I chopped up the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic and lightly sautéed them in a small amount of olive oil on the stove top for 5-7 minutes (more detailed instructions below). I then transferred the veggies to the crock pot along with all other remaining ingredients except the beans. I used canned beans and I didn’t want them to get too soggy and/or mushy by adding them too early.

I actually let this whole concoction sit together overnight only because I knew I wouldn’t have time to throw this together in the morning, but you could most definitely do this all the morning of.

Since I did let this mingle overnight, it allowed for my quinoa to soak for a long time before cooking, which can aid in digestion. Again, this is a step you can skip if you would like.

The next day I gave it all a stir and turned the crock pot on low at 12:00 pm (this is still without the beans and chiles). This mingled in the crock pot for four hours.

Then I added the beans and the chiles (you could add the chiles to the ingredients that were already in the crock pot, I just kind of forgot/got too lazy to open up the can I guess!

Three hours later when we arrived home, I did some final taste testing, added some additional seasoning, and gave it one last stir.

I chopped some cilantro and fresh avocado to top off the chili.

I got’er all served up!

And I devoured.

You can add any other toppings you like—cheese, sour cream, Greek yogurt, green onions, etc!

So pretty, right? Call me crazy but I can eat chili any time of the year no matter how hot it is. Now, if I didn’t have air conditioning, we would be talking a whole different ball game.

Four Bean Quinoa Chili

Print

Serves: 12

Ingredients

1 large onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup quinoa (uncooked)
3 cup chicken broth**
2½ Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp cumin
2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ tsp smoky paprika
salt and pepper to taste
sprinkle of garlic powder
**you could substitute vegetable stock and make this recipe 100% vegan
sprinkle of onion powder
1-15 oz can black beans
1-15 oz can chili beans
1-15 oz can red kidney beans
1-15 oz can white kidney beans
1-4 oz can of diced green chiles
cilantro (optional topping)
avocado (optional topping)

Instructions

Lightly saute onions, garlic, carrots, and celery on the stove top for 5-7 minutes.
In a large crockpot, add the sautéed vegetables, quinoa, broth, and all spices. Stir, cover, and turn crockpot on low. Let this go for 4 hours.
After 4 hours add in the beans and chiles and stir. Recover and let cook for another 2-3 hours.
Give it one last stir and taste test to make sure seasonings are spot on. Add additional seasonings if desired.
Serve in pretty bowls and top with cilantro and avocado!
Enjoy!

What do you think? Am I crazy for making hot chili on a super hot summer day? Do you ever eat soup in the summer?

*********************

Now, to those of you hanging around to find out if you are the winner of the Dara Torres meet and greet, spin class, and free ear buds, your wait ends here.

The two winners are:

1. Katie @ Daily Cup of Kate

2. Stacy Elling

Congrats you two! I will get an email out to both of you with the details of the event!! Thank you all of you who entered!

HApppppppppyyyy Friday!!

Basil Mint Mojito and a Simple Dinner Idea

Post author:Melanie
Post published:August 20, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Recipes / Workouts
Post comments:10 Comments

Hello, hello!

Are you looking for a cool and refreshing bubbly drink to help beat the summer heat? I have concocted a healthified version of a Basil Mint Mojito!

I wrote a guest post for Hannah over at Clean Eating Veggie Girl. Head on over there and check it out!

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I have been seriously slacking on any type of strength workouts over here. I am beginning to feel it too. I am going to slowly incorporate back in some weight-bearing strength exercise:

Planks
Push-ups
Tricep Dips
Squats
Lunges
Yoga

I am going to keep it super low-key and not stress about it, but at the same time want to form a habit of doing it so it becomes just an everyday thing I do like brushing my teeth. So that’s that!

***************

Dinner last night was incredibly delicious and so simple! I sautéed zucchini, onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms in olive oil and seasoned them with salt, pepper, and oregano. Then I plated them over quinoa and topped them with a spoonful of hummus and chopped green olives.

This whole thing came together in five minutes so there’s no excuse not to make it! You could even throw some cooked chickpeas in there to add more protein. I am in love with this dish and may make it again for dinner tonight!

******************

How’s that for randomness? I hope you all have a fabulous Tuesday and I’ll catch up with you soon!

xoxo

What’s for dinner tonight?

Greek Quinoa Salad

Post author:Melanie
Post published:August 14, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Gluten-Free / Recipes
Post comments:9 Comments

Happy Wednesday!

As I mentioned yesterday, I am on a quinoa kick. At the beginning of the week I usually prepare a large batch of quinoa so that I am able to enjoy it easily throughout the week.

I generally add the quinoa into a big mixed greens salad or serve it alongside of some chicken kabobs or stir-fry, but sometimes I get fancy. I got fancy this week.

After taking inventory in the fridge, I realized that I had just about everything I needed to make a Greek inspired quinoa dish: quinoa, zucchini, tomatoes, and basil from the farmer’s market, red onion, red bell peppers, feta cheese, and everything I need to make my own Greek dressing (olive oil, red wine vinegar, spices). The only thing I had to buy at the grocery store to make this salad complete was kalamata olives.

This dish involves a little bit of chopping and mixing, but all in all it is pretty simple! I made my own dressing but you could certainly buy your favorite Greek or Italian salad dressing at the store in this salad, and that would be just fine.

What’s great about this dish is that you can make it the night before you want to eat it, and just add finishing touches right before you serve it.

So to begin, I had cooked a huge batch of quinoa with half chicken broth and half water. I scooped two cups of the cooked quinoa into a medium bowl. Then I chopped up zucchini, red onion, red bell pepper, grape and cherry tomatoes, and kalamata olives. I mixed the quinoa and veggies and set them aside.

Then, I mixed up my dressing (the recipe is below). I poured half of the dressing over the quinoa and combined it gently into the salad. I covered the salad and put it in the fridge for the night.

The next day I removed the salad from the fridge, added in the rest of the dressing, gave it a stir and topped it with fresh feta cheese and fresh basil!

Botta bing, botta boom! Beautiful. I couldn’t stop snapping photos, it was just so pretty!

Greek Quinoa Salad

Print

Serves: 8-10 as a side salad

Ingredients

3 cups cooked quinoa (cooked in half chicken broth and half water)
½ cup red pepper, diced
½ cup zucchini, diced
½ cup cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered
⅓ cup red onion, diced finely
½ cup feta cheese
3 Tbsp fresh basil, cut into shreds
Dressing:
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp. garlic powder
1½ tsp. dried oregano
1½ tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. onion powder
¼ tsp. salt
¼ Tbsp. ground mustard
cracked black pepper

Instructions

In a small container, mix up the dressing. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine quinoa, red pepper, zucchini, tomatoes, red onion, and half of the dressing. Give it a gentle stir, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge overnight (or for a couple of hours).
The next day, remove the salad and add in the remainder of the dressing, mix to combine. Finish by sprinkling feta cheese and fresh basil on top of salad. Enjoy!!

Are you utilizing locally grown, in-season vegetables?

Clean Almond Chocolate Cookies

Post author:Melanie
Post published:August 6, 2013
Post category:Gluten-Free / Recipes / Snacks / Sweet Treats
Post comments:8 Comments

Thursday, August 8th is Miracle Treat Day at Dairy Queen. Dairy Queen will donate $1 to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals for each blizzard purchased. Make Thursday a DQ Blizzard day if you have one in your area!

So speaking of ice cream, I have been seriously craving it, like in a really bad way. When these cravings arise I will make myself a batch of banana soft serve but ya know what, I’m not going to lie, it’s just not the same. I can’t wait for the day when my body is stable enough to enjoy a frozen ice cream treat now and again!

Until then, I will continue to find substitutions to the sweet treats my body has been craving.

On Monday, we had a cool and cloudy day here in Minnesota; the perfect cookie baking kind of day. I whipped up a batch of clean almond chocolate cookies! I was inspired by a recipe from the Clean Blog but made quite a few changes, so I wanted to make sure and share my recipe with you all.

These cookies are gluten-free; made from almond and coconut flour.

They are refined sugar-free; sweetened with coconut nectar and applesauce.

They are rich and chocolatey thanks to raw cacao powder and cacao nibs.

And they are pretty darn delicious if you ask me.

They have a rich chocolatey flavor, they are subtly sweet, and Dana and I have really been enjoying them for the last few days! We can’t always have cookies around or we would turn into cookie monsters, but it’s fun to have them around the house every once in a while!

Almond Cacao Cookies

Print

Serves: 3 dozen cookies

Recipe adapted from Clean blog: http://blog.cleanprogram.com/almond-butter-chip-cookies/

Ingredients

½ cup coconut flour
1 ½ cups almond meal/flour
½ cup coconut sugar plus ½ cup to coat dough balls
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 Tbsp raw cacao powder
1 cup raw cacao nibs
¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
1 Tbsp coconut oil
¼ cup almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup almond butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a non-stick baking pad or coconut oil.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cacao powder and cacao nibs. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the applesauce, coconut oil, almond milk and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients slowly into wet ingredients and mix until well combined.
On a small plate, sprinkle ½ cup coconut sugar.
Roll batter into 1 inch balls, then roll in coconut sugar, and place on the baking sheet leaving about an 1½ inches between cookies. Use your hand or the back of a cup to flatten the cookies to about ½ inch.
Bake for 13-15 minutes. Let cookies completely cool on the pan.ENJOY!

Have a great day friends. Enjoy a cookie!

Raw Vegan Truffle Brownies

Post author:Melanie
Post published:July 27, 2013
Post category:Recipes / Snacks
Post comments:14 Comments

Happy weekend my friends! I hope you all have some fun and relaxing plans this weekend. I will be spending the day out on the lake in the sun—eating, laughing, kayaking, pontooning, playing yard games, and sitting by a roaring fire. If that doesn’t say relaxation I don’t know what does.

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Raw Vegan Truffle Brownies

I wish I could take credit for these amazingly chocolatey brownies, but I can’t. I can thank Julie and PB Fingers for introducing me to these bad boys. They came across this recipe on cook.me, and if you were to have a look at their recipes, I’m sure you’d find something titillating enough. I already personally thanked them for this incredibly easy and delicious recipe, and I have a feeling after you make these, you will do the same.

They are vegan, gluten-free, and use no refined sugars.

The first time I made these brownies I made them into fudgy truffle bites like Julie had done.

source

The first batch flew out of our house in less than a week. These taste like fudgy, soft, dark chocolate truffle brownies so it’s no surprise they didn’t last long.

This second time around making these I got a little lazy so instead of forming a bunch fudgy little balls, I made them into brownie bars and of course they taste just as great!

There are only four ingredients that go into these bars:

2 cups walnuts
1 cup dates
1/4 cup cocoa powder
unsweetened coconut flakes

First process the walnuts in the food processor. Then add in the dates and the cocoa powder and process until a dough-like texture forms.

If you want to make balls, simple grab a small handful of dough and use hands to form balls. Place into plastic bag filled with coconut flakes. Give a gentle shake to coat the balls and store the balls right in the coconut bag.

For the brownie bars: ** I actually made 1.5 of the recipe for the brownie bars because it fit better in the pan** Line a 9 x 9 baking pan with saran wrap, sprinkle the bottom with coconut flakes, press the mixture down to form brownie-like bars, sprinkle more coconut on top, and press it in so it sticks. Cut into little squares and serve!

Julie captured the texture of these babies better than I could…

source

Thank you Julie! I am in love with these fudgy babies!

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One last thing to share. I used up the leftovers from my lentil stuffing and created an awesome lunch yesterday. I sautéed broccoli and mushrooms, then added in the lentils to heat through. Meanwhile I cooked an over-easy egg. Once the veggie mixture was heated through I plated it and topped it with my egg! So easy, so delicious and satisfying!

Have a great weekend!!

Cinnamon Muffins {refined sugar-free and gluten-free}

Post author:Melanie
Post published:July 26, 2013
Post category:Breakfast / Gluten-Free / Recipes / Snacks / Sweet Treats
Post comments:8 Comments

The perfectly sweet way to start your day…with mini cinnamon muffins! They are cute, sweetened with honey and no refined sugar, gluten-free and would be PERFECT with a little smear of nut butter. Although I recommend taking time in the morning to sit down and thoroughly enjoy your breakfast, I know that this isn’t always realistic in the busy world we live in, these muffins would be perfect for on the go.

Since they are mini-size you can decide how many you want to enjoy at any given time. They also make a perfect pick-me-up snack or even for dessert. You could even bake up some apple slices with cinnamon and crumble one of these little guys right on top of your apple slices! Or crumble one on top of some Greek yogurt! I’m getting all excited over here! Mmm, mmm.

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

**Note: Although these are made with no refined sugar, they still contain sugar from the honey. Just something to be aware of! 🙂

Recipe adapted from stiritup.me and Elana’s Pantry.

Cinnamon Muffins (refined sugar-free, gluten-free)

Print

Serves: 3 dozen mini muffins

Ingredients

1 cup almond flour
1 cup brown rice flour
¼ cup coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp cinnamon
3 Tbsp flax seed + ½ cup water
¼ cup coconut oil, melted
¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
½ cup raw honey
3 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Topping:
¼ cup honey
2 Tbsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat two mini muffin pans with cooking spray. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine all flours, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
In a food processor combine flaxseed and water and process until frothy.
In a large bowl, beat together the flaxseed mixture, oil, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla.
Slowly blend dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined.
Carefully spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.
In a small bowl, combine the topping ingredients: melted coconut oil, honey and cinnamon. Mix well and spoon over muffins.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until tooth pick inserted into middle muffin comes out clean.

Happy Weekend!!

Cauliflower Mashed “Potatoes” with Lentil Stuffing

Post author:Melanie
Post published:July 24, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Gluten-Free / Recipes
Post comments:11 Comments

Thanksgiving in July

It was Thanksgiving at our household last night. Thanksgiving in July? You bet. There are no rules about Thanksgiving food. It also happens to be one of my all-time favorite meals.

So I did it. I got creative! Thanks to some inspiration from Pinterest, I pulled together a savory meal.

The cauliflower mashed “potatoes” inspiration was courtesy of Nom Nom Paleo. The only difference is I steamed my cauliflower in a bowl in the microwave instead of on the stove. Oh, and I didn’t use nutmeg either.

So basically here’s how I made my cauliflower mash:

Place cauliflower florets and a little bit of the stalk into a microwave safe bowl. Fill with approximately 3/4 cup water. Cover with plastic wrap. Microwave for 5 minutes.
Remove from microwave, stir the cauli, cover back up, and microwave for another 5 minutes.
Remove from microwave and add in three chopped garlic cloves. Cover again, and microwave for 3 more minutes.
Remove from microwave and carefully place cauliflower and garlic into a food processor. Try to exclude the excess water in the bottom of the bowl. Add in 1 Tablespoon of butter (grass-fed organic preferred).
Process until you have reached a smooth consistency like mashed potatoes!
Season with salt and pepper. Serve with my lentil stuffing!

The stuffing was extremely easy to make. I started off with 2 cups of cooked lentils (I cooked mine in chicken stock to add more flavor). You can set those aside to begin with while you prepare the other veggies.

I first sautéed 1/2 cup each of diced carrots, onions, and celery. I then added 1/2 cup of diced zucchini and sautéed for a couple of minutes (more detailed recipe below). Lastly I added in all of my herbs and seasonings as well as the cooked lentils and let everything cook through.

When it came time to plate I plated the cauliflower mashed potatoes first, followed by the lentil stuffing. In retrospect, I wish I would have used a different colored plate! It would have made for a prettier photo. Oh well!

Here is the complete lentil stuffing recipe:

Lentil Stuffing

4.0 from 1 reviews

Print

Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil or pumpkin oil
½ cup carrots, small diced
½ cup onion, small diced
½ cup celery, small diced
½ cup zucchini, small diced
2 cups lentils cooked in chicken broth
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried parsley
sprinkle of garlic powder
salt and pepper

Instructions

In a medium saute pan, heat oil on stove over low-medium heat.
Add carrots, onion, and celery and saute for 4-5 minutes.
Add in the zucchini and cook for 2 more minutes.
Add in the lentils and the rest of the seasonings and stir.
Continue to cook and stir until heated through for 3 more minutes.
Serve on top of cauliflower mashed "potatoes". ENJOY!

I felt like I was eating mashed potatoes with stuffing from Thanksgiving dinner. The slightly crunchy texture and savory flavor of the stuffing reminded me exactly of the “standard” Thanksgiving stuffing, and the cauliflower mashed potatoes tasted surprisingly similar to mashed potatoes!

If you are vegetarian or vegan, you could replace the chicken broth with vegetarian broth and exclude the butter if you wish, and you would be set!

This recipe may seem a little out there to some, but don’t knock it ’til you try it. You will be pleasantly surprised at the flavor and textures of this dish!

Happy ~~Thanksgiving~~ Wednesday!!

If you get the chance, hop on over to Katie’s blog at Running4Cupcakes. I wrote a guest post for Katie today about making Almond Butter which will be going up at some point today! Since I’ve lightened my peanut butter consumption, I have become a pro at making super creamy and slightly sweet almond butter!