Charred Broccoli and Pesto Pasta Recipe

Sometimes I get really bored of salads and want some other kind of veggies. I was talking to my girl friend on the phone while walking through Ralph’s whining about how I needed to switch my greens up. As I was perusing the produce section, I noticed that the broccoli was on sale. “Broccoli is on sale for 99 cents,” I tell my friend.

“Ooh!” she exclaims. “Make some charred broccoli!”

“Huh? How do you do that?”

She described how she just threw it in the oven on high heat and that it was super simple to make. She told me how the tops get really crunchy and how delicious the almost burnt pieces tasted. I said, “Why not?” and threw some broccoli into my basket.

I went home, cut up the pieces, tossed them in some EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), garlic salt and popped them into the oven. Several minutes later, I took them out, and DAMN– they were delicious! The charred parts added this smokey flavor that I immediately fell in love with. It did need some acidity, so I scrounged through my fridge and found a lime. I squeezed the juice on top of my broccoli and WOW– perfection! I was obsessed. This was my new favorite side dish!

Broccoli packs 11.2 grams of protein per 100 calories so this is a total winner for vegans and vegetarians! For a little easier math, 1 cup of broccoli has 31 calories and 4.2 grams of protein. I ended up chomping down on 2 cups of my charred broccoli giving me 8.4 grams of protein for lunch, keeping my energy levels up for the rest of the day.

Now, what to fix for my main dish? I had some organic brown rice pasta and decided to make a pesto garnished with sun-dried tomatoes. These two dishes together made the most satisfying lunch! Not only was this a healthy meal, but it was incredibly affordable too. And took me minutes to make.

Try it out and let me know what you think by commenting below!

What creative ways do you cook your vegetables? I’d love to hear about your tasty treats as well!

Thank you for reading and come back next week for more tips on how to make tasty food that is healthy and affordable!

Much Love,

Alicia

Charred Broccoli Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 whole head of broccoli
• 3 tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
• 2 tbsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• ½ lime
• Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Line a baking tray with aluminum foil.
3. Chop the broccoli head into small pieces of florets. Put into a bowl.
4. Toss the broccoli in the EVOO, garlic salt, and black pepper.
5. Lay the broccoli evenly on the pan.
6. Pop into the oven and bake for 15 minutes. **If you want it extra charred, leave in for an additional 5 minutes.
7. Take out and place onto your plate.
8. Squeeze ½ a lime on top of your broccoli.
9. Enjoy!

Pesto Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 8 oz. organic brown rice pasta
• 3 tbsp pesto
• 2 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Boil some water in a pot. Add a sprinkle of salt.
2. Pour in pasta and cook for 7 minutes.
3. Take out and drain.
4. Add to a bowl and toss in your pesto. Mix well.
5. Add the sun-dried tomatoes on top. Mix well.
6. Serve and enjoy!

Vegan Raspberry Ice Cream

 

 

Ice cream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

Oh my god, do I love ice cream! I was craving some of that creamy cold goodness last night, so I opened my freezer to see what I could concoct.

To my joy, I found some frozen raspberries and frozen bananas (TIP: they keep in the freezer for up to 6 months!). I looked in my pantry and found some coconut cream. All the ingredients necessary to make a delicious vegan ice cream!

I threw the ingredients in my blender and about 1 minute later: VOILA! RASPBERRY ICE CREAM!

 

I did add one packet of Truvia to sweeten it, but damn– this came out so well! Rich, creamy, and full of flavor. I’m gonna have to make some more with some chocolate nibs blended in. It quenched my thirst for ice cream and was the easiest thing to make. Try and and let me know how it goes in the comment box below.

Happy and Healthy Eating!

xoxo

Alicia

 

 

VEGAN RASPBERRY ICE CREAM

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

1 cup frozen raspberries

2-3 frozen ripe bananas

1/3 can coconut cream

1 packet Truvia (optional)

Directions:

1. Place all items in your blender and blend. Add coconut cream as needed to make into a creamy consistency.

2. Serve and enjoy!

Detox Green Soup

This weekend I ate my way through crazy amounts of chips, popcorn, and a pint of Haagan Das’s Caramel Cone ice cream. Mmm! Unfortunately, it caused me to break out like crazy! I needed to detox ASAP!

I searched online for a good detox green soup recipe to make so I could restore my balance in my body again.  My friend recommended Kirstie Allie’s Green Soup recipe. She had made it many times before and said that it was delicious and cleansing. I took a look at the ingredients and liked everything on it, so I decided to give it a shot! I added a few more ingredients that I knew had extra cleansing power (garlic and ginger), so I added those to the mix. I also halved the recipe because I didn’t have a pot big enough to fit all the ingredients in. It still produced enough soup for 7 days, so I have my halved recipe below.

The soup came out fragrant and delicious! Give it a try if you need to detox or if you are just wanting a healthy meal. The best part about this recipe is:

• it makes such a large batch, I have plenty of soup for the rest of the week! Definitely a time saver!
• I have a healthy meal already prepared in the fridge so I am not tempted to buy junk food
• the nutrients give me energy to get through the rest of the week and scrub out the crap in my tummy

Give it a try! I’ve added my tweaks to the recipe below. Enjoy!

xoxo A

 

DETOX GREEN SOUP RECIPE

(adapted from Kirstie Alley and Sean Prenter)

Ingredients

• 4 shallots
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 knubs ginger
• 4 leeks
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 big bunch asparagus
• 2 big bunches broccoli
• 1 big bunch spinach
• 2 32 oz. containers organic chicken broth or vegetable broth
• 1.5 tbsp sea salt
• Black pepper for taste
• Cayenne pepper for taste (optional)

Directions

1. Prepare all the veggies. Peel and slice the shallots thinly. Peel and mince garlic. Peel and chop ginger. Cut the leeks just above the white part, peel the outer layer off and cut them open lengthwise. Rinse them out well, then chop into chunks. Cut hard ends off asparagus. Cut stems off broccoli.

2. Put EVOO in a large deep pot. Turn heat to medium-high. Put shallots into oil and sweat shallots. Make sure they don’t brown.

3. Add 1 tbsp sea salt, garlic, and ginger.

4. Add leeks and asparagus. Allow them all to sweat. If they get too dry, add a little bit of chicken/vegetable broth.

5. Once they are all sweated down and tender, break the broccoli into small chunks and put them in the pot. Cook for 2 minutes.

6. Then add 1 whole container of chicken/vegetable broth. Cook for 10 minutes.

7. Add 2nd container of chicken/vegetable broth, and continue to cook for another 5-10 minutes. Keep an eye on the color. You want the broccoli to remain a bright green color.

8. Add spinach and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

9. Turn heat off and season with the rest of salt and pepper.

10. Transfer soup into blender in increments. Puree mixture.

11. Pour into a bowl and enjoy!