OhYaGood

Whole Food Lover + Recipe Hacker

Autumn Quinoa Salad

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My husband and I were just in NYC where the food was of course outstanding. I only “cheated” with one dinner indulging in some fantastic gluten and soy filled ramen at Ivan Ramen. It was heavenly but I certainly paid for it with an instant headache and all swollen the next day. Nothing a little hike on the Brooklyn bridge couldn’t fix.

One of my favorite meals was at a place called Tiny’s near our hotel in Tribeca. It was an egg dish with crispy quinoa served with greens and poached eggs. Similar to a hash. Definitely something I’ll have to try in the kitchen. For now though, I need to detox which means salads every damn day, including this little gem.

Autumn Quinoa Salad
 
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Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: American
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • ½ cup roasted sweet potatoes or butternut squash, 1-1½ inch cubes
  • 1 Tablespoon oil, I used avocado
  • 2 cups arugula
  • ½ cup quinoa
  • 4 slices of bacon, chopped
  • 10 dried figs, halved
  • 1/ 4 cup pumpkin seeds
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400° F
  2. Toss potatoes with oil and spread onto a baking sheet to roast for 40 minutes or slightly browned
  3. Meanwhile prepare quinoa and render bacon on the stove for 10 minutes
  4. Let potatoes and bacon cool for five minutes before tossing with arugula, figs and pumpkin seeds
  5. Dress with your favorite vinaigrette or make one with 3 Tablespoons olive oil, 1 Tablespoon of your favorite vinegar, cracked pepper and salt to taste
  6. Best at room temperature

 

Mexican Corn

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Well it’s about time. Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to keep posting. I was feeling a bit defeated and focused more attention on community driven projects. I’m still doing those things but with summer, I’ve got a teeny bit more time to do my stuff. Think tv shows, sprinklers and some mandatory quiet time so I can do what I need to do.

This recipe comes from my favorite cookbook, Food Lab with some alterations to make it not only dairy-free but with short cuts. I first had Mexican Street Corn aka Elote in Sedona, Arizone this spring at a wonderful restaurant of the same name. I think I ate an entire pound of it. It’s a fairly simple dish and according to my family, the cheese wasn’t necessary. Hope you like it as much as I do.

Mexican Corn
 
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Recipe type: Side Dish
Cuisine: Mexican
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 bag of trader joes, frozen roasted sweet corn (about 3 cups)
  • 2 tablespoons of oil, i used avocado
  • 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
  • ½ cup of green onions, thinly sliced
  • ½ cup of cilantro, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced or grated
  • 2 tablespoons of trader joes diced jarred sweet and spicy jalapenos
  • salt
  • chili powder
Instructions
  1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the frozen corn and spread evenly. Let simmer for a few minutes before stirring. Cook for another two minutes or until evenly heated through.
  2. Mix the mayo, green onions, cilantro, lime juice, garlic and jalapeno together with the cooked corn. Add salt and chili powder to taste. Serve room temperature or hot.

 

Sesame Carrot Noodles

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If you shop at Costco, you are no stranger to the ginormous 10lb bag of carrots that are available in their produce section. So often I would reach for them then think “there’s NO way we could get thru all of these” and put them back. Well, on Monday, I gave into the challenge and to my surprise, we’ve actually eaten a good portion of them. However, it was time for a new variation besides raw sticks. So I came up with this delicious “noodle” dish using my spiralizer. It tastes so much like a Japanese seaweed salad with out the jelly like texture. I’ll be honest, my kids weren’t sold but my husband and I slurped them up.

 

Sesame Carrot Noodles
 
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Recipe type: Side
Cuisine: Asian
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients
  • 7-8 large carrots or 4 cups of spiraled carrot noodles
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 1 T sesame oil
  • 1 tsp garlic, minced
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ⅛ tsp pepper
  • ¼ cup rice vinegar
  • ⅛ cup + 1 T light oil like avocado, olive or vegetable, divided
  • ⅛ cup coconut aminos
  • ½ T red onion, finely diced
  • black or white sesame seeds
Instructions
  1. Spiralize the large part (about 1½ in in circumference) of the carrots to make into noodles
  2. Toss the noodles into a large skillet over medium heat with the Tablespoon of oil for about 5 minutes or until carrots are slightly softened
  3. Whisk together remaining ingredients except for onions and seeds for the dressing and pour over noodles
  4. Garnish with red onion and sesame seeds

Celery and Grapefruit Salad

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Celery_Grapefruit_Salad_loHappy 2017! Naturally, my first post of the year is a salad. Even though I’m not a big new years resolution kind of gal, I certainly can appreciate the need to eat better after too many cookies. Seriously, I made my peppermint cookies at least a half dozen times over the course of a month. Could. Not. Stop.

This time of year is tricky when it comes to seasonal produce or lack there of but one thing I seem to always have on hand is celery, my soup staple and dip boat. This salad is chalk full of the refreshing and crunchy vegetable and even includes the greens so don’t pitch ’em. You could easily use some fancy oils like hazelnut or walnut for more complex flavors but the salad is good as is and who wants to go buy an $8 bottle of oil that will likely go rancid before using it all. Practicality wins in my book!

Celery and Grapefruit Salad
 
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Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: American
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 3 celery sticks
  • ½ chopped fennel bulb
  • 1 grapefruit, peeled and sliced to your liking
  • 2 T roughly chopped celery leaves
  • 1 scallion, thinly sliced crosswise
  • 3 T hazelnuts or walnuts, roasted and chopped
  • ½ teaspoon minced garlic
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • ⅛ cup lemon juice
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Roast hazelnuts or walnut at 350 F until brown (about 5 minutes) cool completely before roughly chopping
  2. Mix together grapefruit, celery, fennel, celery leaves and green onion into a medium sized bowl
  3. Whisk together minced garlic, oil and lemon juice and drizzle into the salad
  4. Toss and garnish with chopped hazelnuts and salt and pepper

 

Roasted Roots

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roasted_roots_loYou say potato, I say rutabaga. I like rutabagas. I just tried cooking them for the first time this week and I'm a fan. It's reminds me of a turnip, except better flavor. I added them to my chicken vegetable soup earlier this week (YUM!), then I just roasted them with their sweeter cousin, the carrot. I think this recipe turned out great and it's very versatile. The addition of onions is key because they get this lovely charred flavor. The crudo at Burch Steakhouse here in Minneapolis is served with a charred onion reduction and it's been stuck in my brain ever since. This recipe could be a great side dish to bring to the holiday gatherings.
Roasted Roots
 
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Recipe type: Vegetable
Cuisine: American
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients
  • 1 large rutabaga, diced about 1-inch square
  • 5 medium-sized carrots, diced similar size to the rutabaga
  • ¼ red onion, roughly sliced
  • 2 Tablespoons oil (I used avocado)
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°
  2. Toss vegetables in oil and herbs
  3. Roast for 45 minutes or until browned edges, stirring at the halfway point

Kale Beet Salad

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kale_beet_salad_loGeez. The holidays aren’t even upon us and I’m already throwing kale onto the site. I can’t apologize. This recipe was pretty much by accident and turned out delicious so I must share it. I’ve been wanting to post a kale recipe but I’ve ESPECIALLY been wanting to make a recipe with toasted walnuts because they are the BEST complement to any salad.

Now since I can’t add two recipes with my software, below is the hemp dressing I whipped up that paired well:
HEMP VINAIGRETTE
3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
4 Tablespoons olive or avocado oil
1 teaspoon maple syrup (omit for Whole30)
1 teaspoon hemp seeds

Kale Beet Salad
 
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Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: American
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 3-4 beets, cooked, peeled and quartered (I used the packaged kind all ready to go)
  • ½ bunch (or about 6 leaves) of dino kale, stems removed and roughly chopped
  • 2 slices of red onion, quartered
  • ½ cup of dried apple slices, cut up
  • ½ cup of toasted walnuts, chopped, (to toast place on a baking sheet into the 400° oven for 5 minutes or slightly darkened)
Instructions
  1. Toss all the ingredients together
  2. Drizzle with the dressing and toss again with your hands, paying special attention to coat the kale

 

Roasted Potatoes

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roasted_potatoes_loWelp. School has begun. We've all maintained our sanity and I'm LOVING my free time. By free I mean, it's chock full of the things I've been wanting to get done. House stuff like cleaning and organizing, appointments like the dentist (Yipeee!) and of course blogging. I have a long list of recipes I want to tackle so bare with me in the next few months. They might not feel very seasonal but whatever. I'm sure you'll still dig what I come up with. So, If you've been to my house in the last, oh, 6 months or I've made you dinner, you've probably gotten a taste of my roasted potatoes. I call them mine because I never read a recipe to make them, I just starting doing them and adding stuff and wah-la! I love how easy they are and how they go over so well with guests, even the wee young ones. The huge bonus, leftovers with eggs in the morning or whenever really. I've done this same recipe without the lemon zest on sweet potatoes and it turns out just as good. They go with just about everything too!
Roasted Potatoes
 
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Recipe type: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 3 lbs of yukon gold or red pototoes, diced
  • ⅛ cup avocado oil (or olive oil)
  • 1½ teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme or parsley (I prefer lemon thyme), 2 teaspoons if you're using dried herbs
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • optional: 3 teaspoons garlic, minced (about 2 cloves)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F
  2. Dice potatoes to 1 inch squares or smaller and make sure they dry after washing them
  3. Toss the potatoes with the remaining ingredients in a bowl
  4. Spread the potatoes onto a cookie sheet making sure they are spread out evenly
  5. Roast in the oven for about 45 mins, stirring once to brown evenly

Watermelon Salad

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watermelon_salad

It’s summer in full swing which means loads of fresh produce with little effort, right?! That’s been my motto anyways. I feel way more like a prep cook just slicing and dicing. I also have a wedding I’m bridesmaiding in a matter of days so all baking and sweet dishes are going to have to wait till after. Let’s just say I’ve been scheming an ice cream dessert for quite a while I hope to attack. Oh and that breakfast cookie I teased everyone with on instagram.

Watermelon has been so incredible these last few weeks and my family has already eaten three whole ones. The girls devour it. I’m an overachiever myself. This salad has made it especially wonderful. It’s a play on an appetizer a friend of mine introduced me to years ago that included buffalo mozzarella. That would also make a great addition to the salad if you can eat cheese. That or feta or ricotta salata.

Watermelon Salad
 
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Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: American
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1 cup cubed watermelon
  • 1 cup halved tomatoes, cherry or grape
  • ¾ cup diced seedless cucumber
  • small bunch of mint, finely diced
  • small bunch of basil, finely diced
  • (optional) balsamic vinegar
  • (optional) honey
Instructions
  1. Prep first 5 ingredients and mix into a bowl
  2. Whisk balsamic and honey together or use a already prepared glaze to drizzle over the salad

 

Roasted Broccoli

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Roasted_Broccoli

I’ve been making this about every other day this last week. We finally joined costco and I have to say my favorite thing to buy are the large bags of already cut up fruits and veggies. So behold roasted broccoli. I can’t say it’s super kid friendly since only one of my kids will even touch it but that could be because the other kid won’t let hardly anything green touch her lips. This super easy recipe is derived from Nom Nom Paleo’s roasted green bean recipe. Derived… or maybe virtually the same but replacing the beans with broccoli. I use Red Boat fish sauce which is sugar-free and has wonderful flavor making it Whole30 complaint too.

Roasted Broccoli
 
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Recipe type: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 lb of broccoli florets, trim stems and make the same size
  • 1 tablespoon oil, coconut or olive work great
  • 2 teaspoons fish sauce
  • a squeeze of one lemon wedge
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400ª F
  2. Spread your bone dry broccoli evenly onto an oven safe dish, cookie sheet works fine
  3. Drizzle the broccoli with olive oil and fish sauce
  4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until broccoli has a slight char, stirring once halfway
  5. Squeeze with lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste

 

Chai Pear Sauce

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chai pear sauceI am totally jealous of all those east-coasters who were forced to stay home these last few days and get creative in the kitchen. Although I’m sure it sounds way more romantic than it probably is. I’ve just always loved being forced to take whatever I have in my cupboards and coming up with something enjoyable to eat.

This recipe came to me simply because I had almost an entire 5 lb bag of firm pears no one besides me was eating. I had never made apple sauce but always wanted to. This seemed like a perfect opportunity and a creative success, I might add. Apples can certainly be substituted but I’m not certain what varietals would work best. Let me know if you try one that works well.

Chai Pear Sauce
 
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Recipe type: Sweets
Cuisine: American
Serves: 4 cups
Ingredients
  • 6 bartlett pears, cored and sliced into 1-inch wedges
  • 2 cinnamon sticks or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 star anise
  • ¼ teaspoon cardamom
  • 1 clove or ⅛ teaspoon
  • ⅛ teaspoon ginger
  • ¼ cup water
  • ¼ cup maple syrup (omit for whole30)
Instructions
  1. Prepare pears (I didn't remove the peal because I like mine slightly chunky and I'm lazy but if you prefer a smoother sauce, you'll have to peel the skin off)
  2. Add all ingredients into Slow Cooker or Instant Pot
  3. Slow cookers need about 4 hours on high
  4. Pressure cooker set to manual on high for 15 minutes (it'll take 10 minutes to let it get to high pressure)
  5. When cooking is finished, fish out the cinnamon sticks, star anise and clove
  6. Place remaining ingredients into a blender or use an immersion blender to mix into a smooth sauce
  7. Leftovers can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 5 days