lunch
Midday meals maintain our energy through the afternoon - include a protein, high fiber carbohydrate and at least a half plate of vegetables.
poke bowl delight
My husband & I are big fans of these omega-3 fatty acid, anti-oxidant rich bowls. They are easy to prepare, colorful, delicious & nutritious! Who wouldn’t be into ‘em?! If you care to try yourself, have at the recipe below.
Prep: 20 minutes | Cook: 15 minutes | Total: 35 minutes
Yield: 2 servings | Serving Size: ~2 cups of entire meal total in each bowl
Ingredients
2 Tablespoon soy sauce or liquid aminos (or coconut aminos work too)
2 Tablespoon avocado oil
1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 Tablespoon melted honey
1/2 inch piece of ginger root, peeled & grated
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoons salt or to taste
1/8 teaspoons pepper or to taste
2 cups or 60z fish/seafood (omega-3s!)
2 cups brown or basmati rice, cooked (follow package instructions)
2 handfuls snap peas
2 handfuls carrot, grated
1/2 medium avocado, cubed
4 Tablespoons Tahini
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Siracha or garlic powder + chili powder to taste
Optional personal toppings by bowl: sesame seeds for topping, fresh squeezed lime juice from 1 lime wedge and a drizzle of siracha
Directions
1. For the seafood/fish marinade, mix soy sauce (or aminos), avocado oil, toasted sesame oil, ginger, garlic powder, salt & pepper together in a medium bowl or glass pan.
2. Add seafood/fish to marinade & coat well. Let the seafood/fish marinade in the fridge for 15-30 minutes or overnight if you prefer a richer flavor.
3. Meanwhile, prep the rice, grate the carrots, slice the avocado, & rinse the snap peas.
4. Mix tahini, lemon juice & siracha (or dashes of garlic powder & chili powder to taste) together to make a sauce. FYI: You made need to add water to thin.
5. Heat a cast iron skillet on high & place the seafood or fish in the pan with the marinade. Sear for a few minutes on each side, until the outer edges are a light brown & the middle flesh is cooked to your desire (for tuna steaks, we go for light pink, slightly raw in center). Remove them from the heat.
6. Assemble your poke bowl, starting with 1 cup rice, then add 1/2 cup carrots, 1/2 cup snap peas, 1/4 avocado & 3 oz seafood/fish in a clockwise fashion (or however you damn well please). Top with 1 tablespoon of the tahini siracha sauce & a sprinkle of sesame seeds.
*The sauce would look prettier if drizzled in a zig zag pattern, but I got lazy. Make it as pretty as you want!
turkey & carrot pho recipe
This pho will warm you up on a cool, rainy autumn day! It can be a lunch or dinner meal — whatever suits your fancy. It’s probably easiest to prepare it on a weekend or as a dinner meal if and when you have a bit more time to allot to cooking in the kitchen. It’s a simple recipe, and there is no need to stand over the simmering pot the whole time, though the aroma will surely call to your nose. This is one of favorite gluten free “soup” recipes thanks to its delectable taste and rich profile of nutrients, including electrolytes, beta-carotene, H2O, protein, healthy fats, fiber and many anti-inflammatory bioactive compounds. Hope you enjoy it as much as me!
Prep: 15 minutes | Cook: 40 minutes | Total: 55 minutes
Yield: 4 servings | Serving Size: 2 cups pho
Ingredients
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive or avocado oil, ghee or grass-fed butter
1 white onion, diced
1 lb ground turkey or chicken
8 cups low sodium broth, any kind (I prefer beef or chicken bone broth for this)
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons coconut palm sugar
4 star anise
4 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick, broken up into pieces
2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thirds
3 large fresh carrots, thinly sliced crosswise
3 fresh green onions, sliced green parts only
1/2 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced (about a handful)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (about a handful)
8 oz package of brown or white rice noodles (I use Traditional Pad Thai rice noodles, 100% organic heirloom rice, by Lotus Foods)
Optional personal toppings by bowl: chopped fresh mint, fresh squeezed lime juice from 1 lime wedge and a drizzle of sriracha
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
1. Heat oil, ghee or butter in a large soup pot over medium heat.
2. In the same pot with the oil, add the chopped white onion and poultry. Sauté until onion is translucent and poultry is golden brown.
3. Stir the broth, fish sauce and coconut palm sugar into the pot.
4. Put the star anise, cloves and a broken cinnamon stick in a cheesecloth, tie with string and add to the pot along with the ginger root.
5. Bring to a boil, then down to a simmer for 30 minutes. Add the carrots at the 20-minute mark or sooner if you want them softer. While you wait, prep the green onions, basil and cilantro and start the water for the rice noodles in a separate pot on high.
6. Once the 30 minutes are up, pull the cheesecloth bag with the spices in it out. Then add a large handful of chopped green onion, basil & cilantro to the pot.
7. While the above herbs simmer in the pho for 5 minutes, add the rice noodles to the pot of boiling water. Follow package instructions for preparing and straining the rice noodles.
8. Then pull the pho from the burner. Portion out the pho and noodles into 4 servings and mix one serving of each them together.
9. Top with fresh mint, cilantro, squeezes of lime juice and siracha as desired. Add salt and pepper to taste – you likely won’t need much because the broth and fish sauce are salty already.
Optional modification:
·If you prefer your basil, cilantro and green onion to be bright green and fresh, add them at as toppings when you serve the pho instead of simmering them for 5 minutes.
SUMMER SEASONAL PRODUCE…