my perfect lunch, as of late

this meal became a fast favorite for us- it’s simple, tasty and makes us feel just a little bit fancy for some reason. as lou put it: “i’d order this in a restaurant”. that statement describing a salad and coming from my husband says it all, really.  i also give you the amounts below just as a guideline. when i make this i am chopping and tossing things into the bowl with abandon rather than measuring things out- it’s not something i think you can mess up!  hope you enjoy!  

the what

2 cups of cooked quinoa at room temperature or chilled (how to cook quinoa here)

1/4 c. chickpeas, drained and rinsed if canned

1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped 

1/3 cup tomato, chopped

1/4 cup rough chopped almonds (raw)

2 cups of wild arugula

rosemary sourdough toast

1/2 avocado, smashed

3-4 tablespoons of lemon juice

1 tablespoon of EVOO

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp pepper

the how:

to make the dressing combine lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper in a small bowl and mix. taste to make sure you like and modify if it’s too sour for your liking (add a little more olive oil if it is!)

in a large mixing bowl combine quinoa, chickpeas, red onion, tomato, almonds, and dressing. toss until everything is coated.  add arugula and mix thoroughly.

i prefer this to sit and chill in the fridge for a bit before serving. and then right before serving i squeeze a little more lemon juice and a little bit of sea salt on the individual bowls. mmmhhhmm. 

avocado toast is possibly the best thing to happen to me since these. all you need is rosemary sourdough toast, smashed avocado, chunky sea salt and black pepper. use all liberally.  

a little tip

so a friend recently told me that Whole Foods does this totally sneaky thing where they’ll put a bunch of similarly priced items together on the shelf, and include one item that has no pricing info….and the sneaky part is that the item that’s unpriced is SO much more expensive than all the rest! and it’s easy to think that it’s priced similar to everything around it or mistake another item’s pricing and throw it in your basket and then not notice that you’ve paid $23 freakin dollars for a bottle of balsamic vinegar.  I’ve been keeping my eyes out and he’s totally right!  I’ve done a little bit of my own investigating (read: bringing unmarked items to the cashier and finding out the prices) and every single time the item has been significantly more than the things around it! (in one case from the bulk section all other trail mix was between 5.99-8.99/lb and this one was $15.99/lb!)  there’s a reason everyone jokes that whole foods should be called “whole paycheck” but i do believe there are ways to shop reasonably there (refer back to this post for more tips!)

* photo by lou. isn’t it amazing if i do say so myself?

playing with lavender

i’ve been harvesting lavender from the yard for a recipe i’m working on that i can’t wait to share when i’ve worked out the quirks (luckily it’s one i don’t mind re-doing as there’s something very sweet involved!). and isn’t this lavender just so spring-y and pretty?!  

in other news, i have a little st. patrick’s day surprise scheduled for tomorrow (hint: it involves a four legged family member).  i’d also just like to say a quick thank you to you all for reading, your comments and support. it means the world to me. have a lovely weekend my friends! 

baba ghanoush

I would say that the day we discovered that I can make a mean baba ghanoush Lou’s heart grew 15% larger, a la The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. It’s one of our most favorite snacks, but for a long time we were buying a pre-made kind from Whole Foods. Not anymore my friends. Now we can eat it by the bucketful! It’s insanely easy, and even though eggplant is a nightshade vegetable (and allegedly not the best for you) i will focus on the antioxidant properties and eat up with a big fat happy smile on my face!

the what: 

1 large eggplant, 2 small eggplants

1 1/2 tablespoons tahini

juice of one lemon (or more, to taste)

3/4 tsp sea salt

4 cloves of garlic

olive oil

chopped flat leaf parsley

the how:

slice eggplants in half, the long way

using tongs, char eggplants over open flame on your stove until equally blackened and crispy.  

once they’re sufficiently crispy (this is important because it’s where the yummy smoky flavor comes from) place eggplants on a baking sheet and roast at 375 degrees until they can be easily pierced with a fork.

remove eggplant from oven and peel off skin (careful not to burn yourself!) combine garlic, tahini, lemon juice, eggplant and salt in food processor and blend until it’s a consistency you like. i prefer a pretty smooth baba ghanoush, so i let it run for a bit.

drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle chopped parsley over the top.  serve with pita, pita chips, spread on sandwiches, eat with veggies, on a  plate with humus/olives/feta/mint & sliced cucumber. there are so many possibilities! enjoy, and do let me know if you make it and mix it up at all! {be warned, this makes a very large batch meant for sharing!}

4 recipes

these pretty photos caught my eye over the past week, here are four recipes i’m hungry to try. have any of you tried to make almond butter before?  i’m just a little confused as to how it doesn’t turn into almond milk (which i’m also excited about making!)

source/recipes found here (clockwise left to right): sugarandcharm scandifoodie thelittleredhouse naturallyella

date balls, get in my mouth

If the voice in your head didn’t scream THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID when you read this post title, well you must be one classy lady (or man). Now that we’ve got that out of the way, on to the date balls (hehe).  These suckers are so sweet and tasty, you may even trick yourself into thinking you’re eating some cookie ball or super dense donut. I swear, it happened to me. And to make matters better, they are so quick, easy and cheap to make that you’ll probably want to send me a thank you batch.  {please, resist- I’ve eaten too many this week already}

the what:

2 cups of dried merjool dates, de-seeded

1 tablespoon of almond butter (substitute peanut butter if you’d like)

2 tablespoons of water

shredded coconut 

the how:

slice each date in half and pull out the seeds. put dates, almond butter and water in food processor and pulse until it has become a thick, sticky paste.  wet fingers and scoop roughly one tablespoon of paste out of food processor.  form it into a little ball and roll in a plate of dried, shredded coconut. refrigerate to firm them up and then eat them as snacks, dessert or breakfast (my choice). enjoy!