Light Loaded Potato Soup

My roommate loves potatoes! In everything. So, we eat potatoes several times a month if not several times a week. We have our favorite staples, but every now and then we like to branch out and try our hand at something new. Both of us were in the mood for soup, so we decided to try a lightened-up version of loaded potato soup, and we very accidentally created this yummy concoction.


Light Loaded Potato Soup

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 4 medium-large potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 1 large sweet onion, finely chopped
• 2 cups vegetable broth*
• 2 cups almond or goat milk
• 5-6 oz goat cheese
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced

Instructions: 

1.  In a non-stick stockpot over medium-high heat, add the chopped onion and stir until fragrant and starting to brown, 3 or so minutes. 
2. Pour in the vegetable broth, and stir to remove any stuck pieces of onion from the bottom of the pan. Add the potatoes and boil over medium-high heat until tender. Add the milk, goat cheese, salt, and pepper and stir to incorporate. 
3. Remove the soup from the stove and either blend in a food processor or use an immersion blender to blend the soup. Return to medium heat and heat through. 
4. Top with sliced scallions, and season with salt and pepper, and enjoy. Can be served with crispy bacon and cheddar cheese if you desire.

Notes*
If you do not have vegetable broth (I never bother buying it), then just add the following:

• 2 cups water
• 1/2 tsp celery seed
• 1/4 tsp ground thyme
• 1/4 tsp  salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• dash of sage

Rustic Buckwheat Tart with Cherry Compote Filling

This recipe makes a delicious, rustic, crust that is great with any fruit filling. So good! Enjoy!

Gluten Free Rustic Buckwheat Tart With Cherry Compote Filling

Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients for the Crust:

• 3 Tbs Triple Sec
• 3 Tbs iced water
• 1/2 cup rice flour
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon xantham gum
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 6 Tbs cold butter, sliced thinly

Ingredients for Cherry Compote Filling: 

•  4 cups sweet cherries, pitted
• 3 Tbs dark brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 Tbs Triple Sec
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. In a food processor, combine the flours, cornstarch, sugar, xantham gum, salt, and cinnamon. Pulse to combine. 
2. Sprinkle in the cold butter, and pulse until the butter has formed small crumbles in the dough. 
3. Add the Triple Sec and iced water alternatively, one tablespoon at a time through the feed tube. Continue to add the liquid until the dough comes together and forms a ball. 
4. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. 
5. Remove the dough from the fridge and let it rest at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. 
6. Dust a work surface with buckwheat flour, and dust the dough disk with extra buckwheat flour. Roll out the dough into the shape of your tart pan. Place the removable tart pan bottom under the dough and fold the sides of the dough onto the pan (see the picture below). Assemble the tart pan and unfold the sides of the dough, pressing the dough into the corners. Place the dough in the freezer until firm, 15-20 minutes. 
7. While the crust is setting, add cherries, sugar, cinnamon, triple sec and cloves to the food processor bowl and process with 10 one second pulses to form a chunky sauce.
8. Pour the contents of the food processor into a small sauce pan and simmer on medium heat until reduced by about 1/3 and the liquid has thickened, approximately 20 minutes.
9. While the cherry mixture is reducing, remove the crust from the freezer and bake for 20 minutes at 425 F. 
10. Remove the crust from the oven and reduce the temperature to 375 F.  Fill with the reduced fruit filling and bake for an additional 30-40 minutes until fruit filling is cooked through. 
11. Remove the tart from the oven and let cool or serve warm. Feel free to fill the tart with an apple and cinnamon filling. Get creative and have fun with it! 

Adapted from The Bojon Gourmet

Simple and Healthy Peanut Butter

Have you ever stopped and read the ingredients on a jar of brand-name peanut butter? There are so many oils and other unnecessary products in there! One of my favorite snacks is peanut butter, it closely trails dark chocolate. However, I don't want my peanut "spread" to contain only 60% peanuts. What's the other 40% of my peanut butter comprised of?! I didn't feel like finding out, I just felt like fixing the issue.
Peanut Butter is one of those snacks I could sit down with a spoon and eat half a cup before I realized the damage I had done. Once I started making my own, real, peanut butter, I could only eat a few tablespoons before I was full and satisfied. How's that for real food doing its job to nourish your body and fill you up? It's incredibly simple and much cheaper than store bought butters. Needless to say, I won't be going back to store-bought peanut "spreads"...

Healthy, Real, Peanut Butter

Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Total Time: 30 Minutes

Makes about 1.5 cups of Peanut Butter

Ingredients:

• 1 16oz bag of raw blanched peanuts
• 4 Tbs Honey (or maple syrup for vegan option)
• 1 tsp salt (I use Himalayan pink sea salt)

Instructions: 

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 F. While the oven is preheating, spread the peanuts out on a baking sheet. Once oven has heated up, place the sheet of peanuts in the oven and roast until they start to turn light brown, approximately 15 minutes. Remove once they start to turn brown, because they will continue to cook once they are removed from the oven. 
2. Allow the peanuts to cool for 10 minutes. Once the peanuts have cooled, place them in a food processor and process until they form a grainy flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the salt and the honey and continue to process until smooth butter is formed. The amount of time this will take will vary based on the food processor, approximately 10 minutes. 
3. Store peanut butter in a Tupperware container in the fridge. The oils in this butter will not separate like store-bought "Natural" Peanut Butter.

Homemade Hummus

Most hummus recipes call for olive oil, however my sister and brother-in-law try to avoid oil whenever possible. So...one day I made my homemade hummus recipe without oil and it was incredible! I also played around with a few additives and found that every flavor combination was incredibly delicious. Essentially I made 1 batch of plain hummus, then divided it into three batches and added different herbs/veggies, resulting in a mini trio hummus sampler. So yummy! Below are full recipes for an entire batch of hummus, and a full batch of the variations. In the picture, I had one scoop of each flavor of hummus (not plain) and shredded cucumber strips. Makes for a delicious and light lunch!

Homemade Hummus (with 3 variations)
-Pesto Inspired
-Cilantro Jalepeno
-Roasted Red Pepper

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

Classic Hummus Ingredients: 

•  3 Tbs lemon juice
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/3 cup tahini
• 1 14oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt (I like to use pink Himalayan sea salt)
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• dash of cayenne

Instructions: 

1. To make the classic hummus base, combine the lemon juice and water in a measuring cup. Measure out the tahini and set aside. 
2. Add the chickpeas, garlic, salt, cumin, and cayenne to a food processor and pulse until the chickpeas are almost fully ground. 
3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. With machine running, add the lemon juice-water mixture through the feed tube. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and pour the tahini over the chickpea mixture. Process until smooth. 
4. If you like plain hummus, then you are done! Refrigerate and enjoy. If you like a little variety, three varieties are below. 

Pesto Hummus:

Ingredients: 

• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1 Tbs lemon juice

Instructions:

1. Follow Classic Hummus Recipe and add an additional tablespoon of lemon juice to the water mixture. 
2. Add the pine nuts and basil when you add the chickpeas. Process and enjoy!

Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus:

Ingredients: 

• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves
• 1 Tbs pickled jalapeno slices, drained

Instructions:

1.  Follow Classic Hummus Recipe, adding the cilantro leaves and jalapeno slices to the processor with the chickpeas. Process and enjoy!

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup roasted red peppers, rinsed and dried

Instructions:

1.  Follow Classic Hummus Recipe, adding the roasted red peppers to the processor with the chickpeas. Process and enjoy!

Winning Pan-Seared Lemon Pepper Salmon

This is my dad's signature recipe. Anytime I go home to visit him, you can guarantee that we will be having salmon, and you won't hear me complaining either. It is DELICIOUS! Definitely one of my favorite family recipes, and it's time to share it!

Pan-Seared Lemon Pepper Salmon

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1.5-2 lbs salmon fillet or fillets (one larger piece of fish is easier to cook at one time, less turning over)
• Lemon pepper
• 6-8 cloves of garlic
• 1 Tbs olive oil for the pan
• 1-2 lemons

Instructions

1. Liberally season all sides of the salmon filet or filets (if using multiple small filets). 
2. Remove the skin from the garlic cloves and cut into large chunks. 
3. In a large non-stick skillet, heat 1 tbs of olive oil over medium-high heat.  
4. Once the oil is shimmering, add the chunks of garlic and brown. Once the garlic is goldon brown, remove the garlic from the pan.
5. Add the salmon to the now empty pan, skin side down and brown for approximately one minute. Flip the fish and brown the pink side for one minute. 
6. Reduce the heat to medium low (3 on an electric range) and flip the skin side down again. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and allow the fish to cook for about three minutes. 
7. After the fish has cooked about three minutes, squirt lemon juice over the length of the fish (a larger piece of fish requires more than 1 lemon) and top with the browned garlic pieces. Cover again and reduce heat to low (1.5 on an electric range). 
8. Cook on low for 10-15 minutes until fish is bright pink and tender. My dad likes to serve it with rice, but feel free to serve it with any of your favorite sides. I like to serve it with my Summer Melon Salad. I hope you love it as much as I do.

Summer Melon Salad

Sometimes you are struck by a crazy idea, and it works! That's what happened here. I was home visiting my dad, and I wanted to use the produce that was already at his house while still having a light, healthy, and cool meal option. Thus, this little star was born.

Summer Melon Salad

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 3 ears white corn 
• 1 ripe cantaloupe
• 1 tsp sugar
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 tbs chopped fresh basil leaves
• dash of cayenne

Instructions

1. Shuck corn and break in half. Boil water in a deep pot and add teaspoon of sugar and corn. Boil the corn until a knife inserted into a kernel enters without great difficulty, but the kernel is still firm.
2. When corn is cooked through, drain the pot and fill it with cold water and a handful of ice cubes and allow to cool. This stops the corn from cooking any more and cools it off for handling later. 
3. While the corn is cooking, carve melon into little balls using a melon baller or round teaspoon measure and place in a large bowl.
4. Once the corn has cooled, cut the corn from the cob and add to the bowl. 
5. Add the lime juice, chopped basil leaves and dash of cayenne and toss to combine.

Notes
*Feel free to add about a cup of fresh pineapple or strawberries to the mix. So delicious!

Best-Ever Chocolate Quinoa Cake Revisited

I'm on the gluten free bandwagon. I do not have Celiacs disease, however I am gluten intolerant and since having quit gluten (nearly 2 years ago) my asthma is essentially nonexistent. That being said, before starting my gluten free lifestyle, I had been addicted to baked goods for two reasons; the carbs and the sugar. At the time, I was a Junior in college and a half and full marathon runner. Thus the love of carbs. I am very sensitive to caffeine and therefore required an alternate stimulus to stay up and study, thus the addiction to sugar. I realized that eating 4 cups of white rice followed by 3 servings of sugar coated cake was not a nutritious or sustainable diet, nor did I particularly enjoy my regular sugar-withdrawal headaches.
It was right after finals, having eaten gummy worms and ice cream for dinner all week that I realized this had to change. I gave gluten free a month-long trial period and substituted my unhealthy sugar cravings with peanut butter. After gaining 5lbs and realizing that my whole diet needed a tune-up, I recommitted to my health on January 1, 2013. Sure, new year resolutions are quaint and rarely followed through, however, in my mind if it's worth my time it's worth all of it. That being said, I've been gluten-free ever since and I don't regret it. I'm still learning to control my addiction to sugar and refined carbs, but I've made leaps and bounds in my progress to improve the overall health of my diet.

That being said, I can still go for a bit of chocolate cake every now and then. I am, and ever will be a chocoholic and have no intentions of changing that. Why? Because I don't care for Hershey bars and sugary treats. No, I love dark bitter chocolate and in moderation, not excessively.

Therefore, when I cam across a recipe for Chocolate Quinoa Cake (I love quinoa too!), I had to give it a go. Unfortunately, I don't care for excessive oils in my food, and I recently found out I'm slightly lactose intolerant as well. As this cake called for coconut oil and butter, I had to work around that.

So...I adapted the recipe and wasn't disappointed.

Best-Ever "Healthified" Chocolate Quinoa Cake

Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Total Time: 1 Hour

Serves 16

Ingredients:

Cake

• 2 cups cooked quinoa*(I prefer red quinoa)
• 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (or preferred milk)
• 4 whole eggs (or 4 tablespoons ground flax and 1/2 cup water for vegan option)
• 3/4 cup plain applesauce (preferably no sugar added) 
• 1 cup organic evaporated cane juice or white sugar(or 1/2 cup honey)
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Special Dark) 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Chocolate Ganache

• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or 4 oz dark chocolate
• 1/8 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup almond milk

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and then line two round cake pans (or a 9x13” pan) with parchment paper.
2. In a food processor or blender, combine the eggs (or flax and water), almond milk (or preferred milk) and vanilla extract then blend for ten seconds to combine.
3. Add the cooked and cooled quinoa along with the apple sauce and blend until completely smooth, about thirty seconds to one minute.
4. With food processor running, add the dry ingredients (cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt) through the feed tube.
5. Divide the batter between the two pans and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool 10 minutes. 
6. While the cakes cool, melt the chocolate chips over medium-low heat in a double boiler. As they melt, slowly stir in the cocoa powder and almond milk until incorporated. Remove ganache from heat and allow to cool slightly.
7. Cut around the cakes in the pans with a thin knife and invert one round onto intended final surface. The cake rounds are quite fragile, so avoid moving them around too much. Pour approximately 1/3 of the ganache onto the top of the cake.** Stack the second round on top of the first and pour remaining chocolate ganache on top of the stacked cake. Allow the chocolate sauce to cool, then cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Notes

* 3/4 cup dry quinoa will yield approximately 2 cups cooked quinoa. I rinse my quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer then add it to 1.5 cup boiling water. After adding the quinoa, I cover the pot and reduce the heat to medium low, allowing it to cook for 10-12 minutes or until all of the quinoa is fluffy and translucent, so as to avoid any uncooked crunchy pieces form being incorporated into the cake.

**Instead of icing the middle of the cake with chocolate, fresh fruit or fruit preserves can be layered between the two rounds. I like to blend about 4 tablespoons raspberry preserves with 1/2 cup raspberries and spread the mixture between the cake layers for a different approach. Thin strawberry slices are another great alternative.

Cake adapted from making thyme for health