Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Hummus is a food that I typically buy pre-made. In my mind it's a lot cheaper, and quicker to just buy it already made. But recently, I've tried to steer away from pre-made/convenience foods and put more effort and love into the food that I am eating. By doing this, I came up with this yummy hummus recipe that is actually much cheaper than pre-made and takes less than 20 minutes to whip up. Also, by making your own you can control what you put in your hummus. Most store bought hummus has preservatives and is high in oil.

The red peppers can definitely be left out, and the flavor can be changed to whatever you'd like. Add more garlic if you would like a more garlic heavy hummus, add cilantro and lime for a Mexican inspired hummus, or different spices to create whatever kind of hummus your hummus loving heart desires! 

Most hummus recipes call for tahini which is similar to peanut butter but made with sesame seeds. This ingredient is pretty expensive, so I have found that just using raw sunflower seeds tends to take on the tahini flavor.

All you need for this recipe is the list of ingredients below and a blender or food processor. This makes about 2 cups of hummus, so it'll last for up to a week and is perfect for dipping any type of vegetables or chips in, spreading on toast, or putting in a wrap, the possibilities are endless!

Ingredients: 
1 can garbanzo beans (rinsed)

1 (12 or16 oz) jar roasted red peppers (rinsed)

1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds

1 lemon (juiced)

1 Tbsp. dijon mustard

2 Tbsp. raw apple cider vinegar

2 cloves garlic (mashed)

1 tsp. salt 

2 tsp. pepper

1 Tbsp. cumin

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Store in an air-tight container for up to two weeks.

 

Massaged Kale Salad

With kale being in season, I thought I would share with you all my simple, and easy kale salad recipe. This salad is great because it lasts in the refrigerator for almost an entire week, and is a great to pack for lunch or even a snack. It's very easy to make, with simple/inexpensive ingredients.

Massaging the kale allows all the nutrients to get released, and also takes a lot of the bitterness out of the green. I love massaging my hearty greens, like kale, because it gives it a great texture and flavor. The quinoa in this salad can be taken out, but I highly suggest using either quinoa or rice to help make this dish a full meal and more filling. Also, either rice or quinoa will add protein and some complex carbohydrates to the salad. 

Kale and Quinoa Salad

7-8 servings

Salad:

3 cups kale (roughly chopped)

1 Vidalia onion (diced)

1 English cucumber (diced)

2-4 medium sized carrots (diced)

½ cup cherry tomatoes (whole or cut in half)

½ cup raisins (or other dried fruit)

½ cup seeds or nuts (pumpkin, sunflower, almonds, pine nuts)

1 cup dry quinoa (optional)

Dressing:

2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

4 Tbsp. balsamic vinaigrette

3 Tbsp. Raw apple cider vinegar

1 lemon (juiced)

1 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. black pepper

3 Tbsp. oil (optional)

Prepare quinoa in water or stock (chicken, vegetable, or mineral), let cool. Place rinsed and chopped kale in bowl, and gently massage with clean hands for 5 minutes or until the kale has become soft and a vibrant green. Combine the rest of the veggies, fruit, and nuts/seeds, as well as the cooled quinoa.

Wisk together the ingredients for the dressing and combine with salad.

Store in air-tight container for up to a week.

I also was able to create a Nutrition Facts label for this recipe with a food processing program that my school has. Each serving is about a cup of the salad. Check out that vitamin A and fiber content! 

Asian Inspired Quinoa and Kale Salad

I absolutely love quinoa, kale, and Asian food . . . so I thought it was only necessary to come up with a recipe that combined all three of those things. This recipe is super simple, fairly cheap, and packed with protein. This makes a great lunch that you can pack to take with you to school, or work.

What's great about this recipe:

Quinoa is an amazing superfood. It's packed with protein and has all essential amino acids (which are the building blocks of protein). Another great thing about quinoa is that it is gluten free, so if you have celiac or have a sensitivity to gluten this is a great grain to incorporate into your diet.

Edamame is another great source of plant based protein. I love to use edamame because it is the most unprocessed form of soybeans. When buying edamame, look in the frozen vegetable section of the grocery store, and stick with organic edamame since soy is usually grown from GMO seeds.

Kale of course is another superfood, packed with tons of nutrients. I love throwing kale into dishes like this, because it just packs more nutrients into a dish. Also kale is in season right now, so it's pretty inexpensive.

Liquid Aminos are a great product to have in your refrigerator. The taste is almost identical to soy sauce, but isn't filled with sodium and preservatives like real soy sauce is. It is also non GMO and gluten free unlike most soy sauces. I love that it has all the amino acids, which are so important for our bodies to have and use.

Asian Inspired Quinoa and Kale Salad 

(Vegan/Gluten Free/Nut Free)

Servings: 4

1 small bunch of kale 

4 medium carrots

1 cup broccoli 

1/2 yellow onion 

1 cup edamame (shelled)

1 cup dry quinoa

Dressing:

1 Tbsp. miso 

1 Tbsp. dijon mustard

4 Tbsp. liquid aminos 

2 Tbsp. raw apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp. rice vinegar

1 tsp. grated ginger

1. First, you want to cook your quinoa. I like using a rice cooker, because it's super simple and you can just put in the water and quinoa and walk away until it's done. But you can also do it on the stove top, just bring the quinoa and water to a boil and then simmer it on medium until all the water has been absorbed. 

        

2. Next, chop up all your vegetables. I like to chop up my carrots in thin sticks, because I think it looks nice and gives a great texture to the dish, but you can dice them if that's easier. 

Also, be sure to rinse and de-stem your kale!

               

3. Now it's time to sauté! Get a large sauté pan and lightly spray it with whatever type of cooking spray you prefer, and turn the heat on a little past medium. Once the pan is nice and hot add in your vegetable and edamame and cook until soft.

4. Cook the kale in a large pot on medium heat with the lid on. This way you can soften the kale and it will shrink in about half it's original size.

   

5. Once your vegetables are cooked and your kale is wilted, throw your vegetables in the pot along with the kale, and add in the cooked quinoa as well. 

6. Now it's time to make the dressing. Simply put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them together with a fork. Then, add in the dressing to the quinoa and vegetable mixture. 

                

    

And that's it! A quick and easy dish that can be eaten throughout the week for lunch or dinner. I suggest topping it with some fresh avocado and sesame seeds.

What Is Gluten and Should You Be Eating It?

You could easily say that a "gluten-free" diet has become a trendy thing to do, but is it really a diet that people should follow? Is it something that should be adopted by everyone? Should you really spend ten dollars for a little loaf of gluten free bread? And what even is gluten, and why is it so "bad"?

Many people that are on a gluten-free diet don't even know what gluten is, and why it is supposedly bad for you. This Jimmy Kimmel video sums up most people's idea of what gluten is...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdJFE1sp4Fw

Unfortunately, this video is quite accurate of the general knowledge gluten. Most people don't understand why they are not eating it, and this can be dangerous for people to cut something out of their diet without full research and understanding.

    So what is gluten, and is it really necessary to eliminate it from your diet?




Gluten is a protein that is found in some grains (primarily wheat) which provides stretch and binding in the product the grain is in. Unfortunately, gluten can often get added to almost anything to provide texture and consistency so it can be difficult to identify what contains gluten.



    Now that you know what gluten is, should you give it up?

The main reason people should eliminate gluten from their diet is not because it is "bad" or unhealthy but because of how their body reacts to it. Many people have a sensitivity or intolerance to gluten, which can result in many different ailments (digestive problems, fatigue, hormone imbalances, migraines, poor skin health, inflammation, mood swings). If you are having any sort of health problem, like the ones I mentioned, then you may have a problem digesting gluten. There are lots of people that once they eliminate gluten from their diet, feel much better and realize that their bodies perform much better without gluten. There are a few different tests that you can get done to see if your body is sensitive to gluten, or you can just completely eliminate it for a few months, then introduce it back into your diet to see how your body reacts.

    Is a gluten-free diet healthier?

There are so many gluten-free products that are marketed as being healthy, or better for you. While the actual product may possibly contain "good for you" ingredients, it isn't the "gluten-free" aspect that makes it healthy. For some people, gluten-free products may digest better and help them feel better but for most people gluten doesn't have a large impact on their overall health. Many gluten-free products are assumed to be healthy, resulting in people overeating them. So just because a product is gluten-free it doesn't mean that you can eat limitless amounts of it. A gluten-free cookie is still a cookie.

Gluten-free products often times contain ingredients that are more nutritious than a product containing gluten. Most of these products replace gluten with healthy ingredients. For example, the gluten may be replaced with flax, or chia seeds causing the product to have added health benefits. But at the same time, a gluten-free product may contain ingredients that are just as unhealthy as the glutenous version. That is why it is very important to look at the ingredients!

    How do you know if a gluten-free product is actually free of gluten?

Companies that market a product as gluten-free must actually be completely free of gluten. These products are carefully regulated to ensure that it doesn't contain gluten. There are some products that are naturally gluten-free, but through processing gluten is introduced. Oats are a great example of this. Naturally, oats are gluten-free but because of the processing, gluten is introduced and the oats become glutenous. This is when buying oats that are packaged saying they are gluten-free is necessary if you're following a gluten-free diet.

    Final thoughts on gluten...

For most people gluten does not have a large impact on their overall health. But for some people, avoiding gluten may be helpful. If you're considering giving up gluten, do some research and make sure that you fully understand what it is and how if effects you. When it comes to buying gluten-free be aware of marketing ploys that may take advantage of the "gluten-free trend" to make a product seem healthier when it really may not be. Always check the ingredient list before believing anything you may see on the front of a product.

I personally avoid gluten because I am slightly sensitive to it, and I feel my best when I avoid it. But for some people this may not be true. Like most all things, it varies for each person. Just remember that gluten itself is not unhealthy, it is a person's digestion of gluten that may be the cause of a person's bad overall health.

But also, like any "diet" if you're making a conscious effort to read labels, think before you eat, and be cautious of the food you're putting in your body that is all that really matters. Fruits and vegetables are all gluten-free, so if following a gluten-free diet means you're eating more fruits and vegetables then keep it up!



**Celiac disease is quite different than an intolerance or sensitivity to gluten and can be very serious. It is a completely different subject, so if you think that you may have celiac disease, definitely go talk to your doctor!

The Laughing Seed | Restaurant Review | Asheville, NC

Have you ever eaten something that was so wonderful, you knew that you'd never forget it....not only the meal, but the atmosphere or events that were taking place while eating it? I call these "life meals." I love asking people what their life meals are, because I feel like it really helps me to understand that person.

For a while, my "life meal" was a vegetarian sandwich I had in New York City, followed by a huge slice of tiramisu. It was one of those meals that was so good I knew I wouldn't forget it. But last week, my life meal changed...

My sister and I drove to Asheville to go to a concert, but before the concert, we stopped by a restaurant called The Laughing Seed to get some dinner. The Laughing Seed is almost all vegetarian, vegan and/or gluten free. The menu was filled with so many different options, from salads to soups, raw dishes to cooked, cocktails to beer, Indian to Mexican cuisine, so deciding what to order took quite some time. I finally decided on a raw dish that was both vegan and gluten free. It was called The Dragon Bowl, here is the description from their menu...

Dragon Bowl $12 (V, GF)

An all-raw version of our Harmony Bowl. A layer of cauliflower/nut rice, an assortment of seasonal vegetables, arugula, avocado, and sunflower seed/beet pate topped with housemade kim chee and our organic purple kraut. Served with miso-tahini sauce.

I loved being able to order straight from the menu and not have to ask for no meat, or no cheese. As soon as they brought out my food I was so excited, it looked beautiful and smelled amazing. I of course took photos, because even before eating it I knew this was my new life meal and I didn't want to forget it. It was delicious and I can't wait to go back and order it again. 

 

My sister, who isn't vegetarian or gluten free ordered the Tico Taco Salad (A bed of organic mixed greens topped with black beans, shredded Jack cheese, our grilled spiced crumbled Tico tofu, salsa, brown rice, guacamole. cherry tomatoes, red onion, and fresh jalapenos. Served with organic blue corn chips) and a blueberry pineapple mixed drink. She said that it was also amazing, and she was definitely just as pleased with her meal as I was with mine. 

The Laughing Seed in general was an amazing restaurant and if you're ever near Asheville I highly recommend you try it out! The ambiance was so relaxing, filled with flowers and twinkle lights. The service was great, the food was perfect, and I will definitely remember it for a very long time. The link to the website is http://laughingseed.jackofthewood.com