Summer Veggie Bowls with Avocado Herb Sauce

September 4, 2017

All the things you love about summer, packed into one bowl! Summer Veggie Bowls with Avocado Herb Sauce are an ideal vessel for using up all of summer’s bounty!

Happy Labor Day babes!! I hope you have a long weekend and are reading this from under a blankie snuggled up on your couch. I’ll be sipping my coffee slowly and working on a crossword in my sweatpants. I’ve been mulling over the idea of Labor Day and what it means to take a break…

Taking a slow day isn’t something I’m good at. I lost track of what it means to “do nothing” quite a while ago. In fact, unproductive days sometimes make me anxious and uneasy. Having a Type-A personality means I always want to be moving and checking things off my to-do list. And I’ve been working a LOT lately. Between my day job, blogging, and freelance, it sometimes feels non-stop.

With all the anxiety I’ve been having, it sort of feels like my body is screaming “SLOW DOWN you crazy woman!” It’s my job’s busy season and I don’t plan on taking a blogging break but I’m trying to incorporate more restful and restorative practices into my daily life. Crosswords. Creative DIYs. Just-for-fun recipes. And a cabin trip with friends in a few weeks! But when we all inevitably return to work on Tuesday, we might as well have a great lunch to take with us right?!

Enter, Summer Veggie Bowl! I’m clinging onto the last shreds of hot, steamy weather while I can. This bowl was the perfect way to pack in the very best my favorite season has to offer. The fun thing about bowls is that you can throw in literally whatever you want! I wasn’t planning on using zuke, but we had one wilting in the fridge. I planned on using chickpeas, but all I had was red beans. Talk about a happy accident!

The one item not optional in this recipe is the sauce. Ok, ok, I guess you could just use some plain avocado but I’m telling you this stuff is SO worth the 3 extra minutes. If you couldn’t tell, I’m on a real herby sauce kick (evidence). This particular concoction is just ripe avocados buzzed up with some yogurt, lemon, and tonnnns of herbs. Creamy dreamy goodness!

If you plan to pack these up for lunch, I recommend going in reverse order. Meaning: sauce on bottom, then mixed veg, then leafy greens. This keeps everything crispy and crunchy. I actually prefer to bring the sauce in a separate container and keep in in the fridge for daily dressing.

Take a break this weekend. And then everyday at lunch this week while you savor the flavors of a Summer Veggie Bowl….

Summer Veggie Bowls with Avocado Herb Sauce

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 4-5 bowls

All the things you love about summer, packed into one bowl! Summer Veggie Bowls are an ideal vessel for using up all of summer's bounty!

Ingredients

pint cherry tomatoes, halved
½ lb. green beans, trimmed and steamed
1 large zucchini, halved
2 cobs cooked fresh corn, or 1½ cups thawed frozen
1 can red kidney beans
2 cups spinach

Avocado Herb Sauce

2 avocados
1/3 cup plain unsweetened non-dairy yogurt
1 lemon, zest and juice
Small handful (3 Tbs.) each fresh parsley, dill, cilantro
1½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper

Instructions

Prep the veggies: Gather all veggies and prep them as directed. For the zucchini, grill cut-side down for 5 minutes or sear in a very hot pan. Let cool and chop. If using fresh corn, cut it off the cob after cooking.
Make the sauce: Add all sauce ingredients to a small food processor or blender and blend until smooth, scraping the sides as necessary.
Assemble: Layer spinach and vegetables into bowl and drizzle with sauce. Serve cold or room temperature.

http://areyoukitchenme.com/summer-veggie-bowls-avocado-herb-sauce/

Blistered Shishito Peppers with Herb Dipping Sauce

August 28, 2017

Fresh, tender peppers get charred to crispy perfection then dunked in a bright herb sauce! Blistered Shishito Peppers with Herb Dipping Sauce are a stunning snack that takes less than 10 minutes to prepare!

Shishito peppers. \Shi-shēt-tō\ 1. a sweet, East Asian variety of the species Capsicum annuum. [wiki] 2. Relative of Spain’s padrón peppers 3. The seems-fancy but really oh-so-easy appetizer or snack your next party or weeknight meal needs!

I’ve had shishito peppers a few times at restaurants but it wasn’t until recently that I stumbled across them at the farmers market. One of the many benefits of shopping locally and supporting small farmers is finding hidden gems like these! Since finding them a few weeks ago, I’ve bought a quart every week and eaten them the exact same way. I also did a little research and discovered that Trader Joe’s and some other grocery stores sell them in their produce section. Shishitos for all!

When asked, the farmer who grows them told us that about 1 in every 12 peppers should be spicy. Not like jalepeño, light you up, ruin your meal spicy but more like a mellow burn. BUT. I wouldn’t know, since of the hundred of these I’ve eaten, not a single one has been spicy. *shrugs*

If you were to find your mouth a little firey from a spicy pepper, don’t fear! The herb dipping sauce will cool you right down. But trust me, even if your mouth isn’t on fuego, you’ll still want to drink this stuff. I’ve been making a batch of this every week and am mildly obsessed with dipping all my veggies in it. It’s basically homemade Ranch.

When you serve shishito peppers at your next game night, your guests will think you’re a fancy-pants, world-class, well-traveled chef. You don’t have to tell them it took 10 minutes and was the easiest thing you cooked all week. Your secret’s safe with me.

Blistered Shishito Peppers with Herb Dipping Sauce

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 2-4 servings

Fresh, tender peppers get charred to crispy perfection then dunked in a bright herb sauce! Blistered Shishito Peppers with Herb Dipping Sauce are a stunning snack or appetizer that take less than 10 minutes to prepare!

Ingredients

1 quart (8oz.) shishito peppers
1 Tbs. avocado oil, or vegetable oil (optional)
Sea salt

Herb Dipping Sauce

1/3 cup plain non-dairy yogurt
2 tbs. mayo
½ lemon, zest + juice
¼ cup dill, finely minced
2 tbs. parsley, finely minced
1 green onion, finely minced
1 tsp. salt
Pinch pepper

Instructions

Make the sauce by combining all ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Place a large cast iron skillet over high heat and add oil, if using. Once the oil is hot (a drop of water should shizzle), toss in the peppers. Leave them undisturbed for 4 minutes.
After 4 minutes, use tongs to check that the peppers are charred on one side. Once they are, flip and cook another 3-4 minutes. Remove to a plate and enjoy immediately with dipping sauce.

http://areyoukitchenme.com/blistered-shishito-peppers-herb-dipping-sauce/

What I Ate Wednesday

August 23, 2017

What I Ate Wednesday just isn’t the same if you weren’t celebrating Taco Tuesday. This full day of eats doesn’t disappoint!

Happy Wednesday! First, I want to take a second and say THANK YOU to everyone who responded to, reached about, or otherwise reacted to my Friday Feels post last week. The love I received was amazing but even better was hearing that you were able to connect and relate. There’s comfort in knowing other people are going through parallel struggles and that there is a space for open and healing conversation. To that end, I want to give you a quick life update…

As I shared, I had a pretty major anxiety backslide a few weeks ago that left my brain simultaneously spinning out of control and completely numb. During my time of crisis, my body’s natural instincts took over to guide me through the chaos of simply getting through the day. I ate intuitively, gave my body exactly what it needed, and didn’t stress about food. I’m constantly amazed at the human body’s ability to tell you exactly what it needs…

Now that I’m on the upswing and feeling much more mentally stable, I noticed some disordered thoughts creeping back in… “Is that tummy fat on my midsection?” “Should I be making up for the week of eating whatever I want?” Let’s get two things straight right now: 1.) It is entirely possible (and very likely) that my body did not actually change in any way in the course of one week. 2.) If it did, IT DOES NOT MATTER. I was in crisis and my body was simply doing what it needed to do to keep me functioning and alive. Plus, a little tummy fat never killed anyone. (No really, I promise.)

I’m proud that I’m able to call out these disordered thoughts but it’s clear I still have some work to do in my recovery. Every day is a step

Now shall we get on to what really matter??! This is What I ATE Wednesday after all!

Per usual, split a banana with bae on the way to the gym.

I took a quick hiatus from the smoothie game last week, but I’m straight back at it this week with my fav Chocolate Cherry Beet Smoothie.

John prides himself on picking out the largest watermelon in the store every week, even though we are only two little people. I’ve been eating so much, I think I see some green stripes poking through my skin…

Lunch was the same salad I’ve been eating forever but FINALLY shared with you this week. Seriously, you MUST make this Beet Green & Quinoa Salad. I’m addicted. (Added some Manitoba Harvest hemp hearts for some extra protein and fat!)

You know when you were a kid and you bit into a peach and the juice ran down your chin and it was the best feeling in the world? Yeah, I channeled that while standing at my desk in the afternoon today…. I probably looked that that crazy coworker. Not mad.

Tacos. Need I say more? Ok, ok I will… I met friends for tacos and margs at Local Cantina (fav tacos in town!). I can’t get enough of the Migas taco (hold the dairy). 10/10.

Some more watermelon, a little R&R, and suddenly we’re halfway to Friday…

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