I have always loved kale (Ken even considered naming our son, “Kale” instead of “Cruz” — true story), but this kale caesar salad has taken my love of the dark leafy green to a whole new level. Like, I could eat four heads of kale in one day and be happy and content. This is an easy salad, with a super tasty homemade dressing that lasts in the fridge for several weeks. Once I discovered the recipe from Epicurious, I have literally made this salad 2-3 times a week. I can’t stop, won’t stop, why stop. So here is the recipe. Enjoy!
Ingredients for Salad:
If you want a rich, decadent, chocolatey, vegan dessert*, then THIS IS IT. Vegan Peanut Butter Cups.
Every time I am at Whole Foods, I end up picking up a “Morning Glory” Muffin to snack on. Both my daughter and I love them: sweet, moist, and healthy. So I decided to bake a batch of them myself! After scouring the internet to find the recipe that suited my taste, here is the one I found on eatingwell.com. I modified them slightly and love the result! They are refined-sugar free, gluten-free (because I used gluten-free flour), and nutrient packed!
For the past couple of months, I have been more into *real* desserts than *healthy* desserts. But now that it is the start of a new, clean, fresh year, I am back to loving / craving / wanting / needing healthy desserts. And this dessert is the perfect one — incredibly healthy, no refined sugar, no wheat, real ingredients, easy to make, and super delicious. WIN WIN WIN — almost like digging into an overflowing ice cream hot fudge sundae. This recipe is from 101 Cookbooks, one of my all-time favorite food blogs. Check it out! And make these cookies! They are part banana bread — part oatmeal — part macaroon. All in one deliciousness!
Just like last week, I have copied yet another soup recipe from GOOP. Too good not to, so I did it again. Imitation is flattery. #CopyCat #SorryImNotSorry
Ingredients:
Theoretically, you could just go to the GOOP website and find this soup. But hey, it is more fun when I post, right? So full acknowledgement, this soup is copied EXACTLY from GP. AND IT IS SO GOOD! And healthy! And the perfect way to start the New Year! So go on and make it. And pretend that I was genius enough (or had the staff) to create it myself.
Ingredients:
This past weekend, we had our dear friend Katie Kaiser from Stanford visit. In addition to being a great friend, she is one of the most phenomenal cooks I have ever encountered — as I still remember all her dinner parties during Business School and the meals she put together. So I asked her if we could cook together so I could learn some of her tips, skills, and recipes. POT OF GOLD! We cooked up a storm and she taught me so much — stay tuned for her various recipes that will be featured on the blog, Thank you, Kaiser! We love you! And so here is one of her recipes, delicious Vegan Spinach Dip!
Ingredients:
Ingredients
Now that it is officially cold (FML) in NYC, I am craving warm, hot, filling, comfort food. So what could be better than apple steel cut oatmeal made in the slow cooker? The perfect go-to breakfast to keep you warm and satisfied.
Apples!
As the self proclaimed Granola Queen (both in terms of the noun “granola” and the verb “granola”), I have played around with making granola bars. This granola bar is a winner. It takes under 30 minutes, requires no baking, has no sugar (unless you count honey and/or dates as sugar), and is delicious (obviously). MAKE ‘EM!
Ingredients:
Guest blogger alert! Here’s Ken… When he starts watching too much football on Sundays, I can usually guilt him into cooking/doing a guest blog post during commercials. And his Jets are terrible so it’s not like he’s missing much. Enjoy:
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If there’s anything in the vicinity of unhealthy on this blog, it’s a safe bet that it’s coming from me. While I try to make an effort to combine healthy and, um, not-totally-girly, (see: Grilled Artichokes, Grilled Fruit, Grilled Romaine Salad, Lemon-Mint Pasta with Bacon, and a Guy’s Guide to Pregnancy), things like Beer Can Chicken are more up my alley. Without further ado…. heart stopping mac and cheese.
So, apparently when you follow supermodels on instagram, you start to think that you yourself are IN FACT a supermodel. Yep, that is right. I strut like one, dress similarly, resemble one, and I am a model now. OK. Not really, but I *do* eat Karlie’s Kookies which most supermodels boast about chomping down on instagram. So that makes us similar, right? What is a Karlie’s Kookie? Well, all the celebrities and fashionistas eat them (and post them on instagram), so they must be healthy AND delicious at the same time. And what do you know? They really are. Cross my heart, swear to god, these little cookies are made out of healthy ingredients and are so tasty good, too.
My goodie bag.
I have a close friend who is hands down the best cook in the world (actually, tied with my mother). Everything she makes in the kitchen is scrumptious, delicious, and out of this world good (she is also beautiful, loving, caring, stylish — damn I have AMAZING FRIENDS!!!!!). So when I was at her house last week and devoured a whole gallon of salad, I had to know HOW DO I MAKE THAT DRESSING? The salad was simple — cabbage and tomatoes — but I couldn’t stop eating it. It was the most delicious two ingredient salad I had ever tasted — all because of the dressing. My friend, embarrassed, said that the dressing was store bought (not her typical style) and said it cost her $17 for the bottle (NYC — your prices are totally bonkers a$$ crazy!).
Salad! But what makes the salad is the dressing….
Nothing better than a QUICK and easy dessert to make and devour! 3 ingredients.
Ingredients:
Torte / Quiche / Pie = All the same deliciousness. Especially when made by my Mama. Yep, the best cook in the world gave me a lesson on how to make tortes. Unbelievably tasty, and a home-run for any dinner / lunch / brunch dinner party. (My mom is such a pro in the kitchen that she made 8 of these tortes — all different fillings — in ONE afternoon. IF ONLY I had the charisma, talent, and energy that she has!) This torte was one of my favorites: mushroom. It is not simple, not vegan, gluten-free, or light — but it is full of flavor and a perfect addition to your plate. Center stage. This recipe was found from the Nordic Bakery Cookbook, which is amazing.
I know I have a lot of haters of my healthy desserts (mainly, my husband, father, and brother…see the pattern), but THIS HEALTHY DESSERT is a must-make and must-eat. And not to be hated on. Even my father ate it and asked for more (true story). So, do me a favor and make it. I found the recipe off of my new-to-me-favorite-healthy-food-blog, Deliciously Ella. With a little bit of creative editing, here is the recipe for Raw Chocolate Coconut Bites. Yes, they are vegan. No, they are not nut-free. Yes, they are delicious. Yes, I promise.
Ingredients:
Chia seeds are a super food. Incredibly healthy and nutritious, they also make an awesome pudding. Try it!
Made it to Oregon after an oops-where-is-the-airport-bathroom-uh-oh-kid-had-an-accident type of situation. That = unfun. Oregon = Green, calm, rainy forest (Oregon, didn’t you get the memo? I came out for SUMMER not Spring-Fall-Winter rain!). My mother is a cooking machine and since we are so many at the house, she is now a member of not one, but TWO CSA boxes. Yep, ladies and gentlemen, more greens and kale and chard and spinach than you can ever imagine. Wednesdays *and* Fridays! Not that I am complaining because there is nothing better than fresh farm vegetables, but my mother has to get creative with all the greens in the house. And this recipe (random concoction created by Nana Proskurowski) was unbelievable. So good that I had to recreate it the next day!
Ingredients:
I don’t love celery. Actually, I dislike it. But for some reason, I love this celery salad. Weird because the salad is celery plus a little parsley and shallots. Call me crazy. But trust me, this salad is crunchy, refreshing, summery, and tasty.
OK. I’m jumping on the bandwagon. In recent weeks, I have seen a couple blog posts on “two ingredient pancakes.” I tried them, and you MUST give them a shot. They taste and look like pancakes, but they aren’t. Truly magical.
Ingredients:
BOOM. Two ingredients.
Cheese from a can???? YUP, that’s right. And amazing, high quality cheese, too. So delicious that you will want to eat the entire can in one sitting!
Jackpot! Pot of gold! Cougar Gold!
All of my favorite recipes are originally made by my favorite chef, my mama. My mother is hands down the most inventive, creative, and talented chef in the kitchen (among many other traits and accomplishments). And this green bean salad has been in her repertoire for years, and as a result has become one of my go-to-salads. It is fresh, easy, healthy, and good in any season. Enjoy!
Yep, another Gwyneth Paltrow recipe. I can’t help myself!!!! I love her recipes and ingredients so much!!! Plus if I eat like her, I will look like her, right? These cookies are the bomb (yep, used that word, say what 2003). They are dense, sweet, healthy, and hit-the-spot. They are more like a granola bar than a cookie. But healthy snack trumps oreos anyday.
New York finally got a whiff of Spring yesterday! The birds sang, the sun glistened, it reached a whopping 43 degrees, and daffodils emerged (in bodegas, but still…..) Spring, colors, chirps, here we come! Goes hand in hand with a dollop of bright orange goodness to kick start your salad! Here is a recipe for the perfect Japanese carrot ginger dressing. Who knew a dressing could taste so delicious? Must try! (but be careful, it kinda looks like soup. It is not soup).
