Healthy Cooking Recipes: Clean Eating Edition: Quinoa Recipes, Superfoods and Smoothies
medium sized yellow onion, diced
1 large red bell pepper, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms (crimini or button)
1 cup sliced okra (optional)
4 cups water
juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp soy sauce or Bragg’s liquid aminos
2 tbsp olive oil (use extra virgin olive oil)
2 tsp thyme
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Preparation:
In a large, heavy stock pot, sauté the onions, garlic, jalapeno peppers and okra in 2 tbsp olive oil until the onions and garlic are fragrant and begin to turn translucent, about 3 minutes over medium heat. Stir regularly to prevent burning.
Add the ground beef, lemon juice and soy sauce and continue cooking until the ground beef is cooked through, 5 – 7 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes and water and bring to a low boil. Add the Savoy cabbage, kale and mushrooms and reduce to a simmer. Cook, covered, for 30 – 45 minutes; keep warm until ready to serve.
Slow Cooker Beef and Sweet Potato Curry
Number of servings: 6
Ingredients:
1 ½ lbs top sirloin, diced
1 large sweet potato, cut into roughly 1” cubes
2 cups cauliflower florets
1 cup green beans, rinsed, trimmed and cut into halves crosswise
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 ½ cups beef stock
2/3 cup coconut milk
3 tbsp red curry paste (green curry paste may be substituted, if you prefer)
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
3 cups cooked brown rice, for serving
Preparation:
This recipe is incredibly easy to make. Simply prepare all of the ingredients with the exceptions of the cauliflower florets and green beans and place them in a slow cooker or crock pot and cook on low, covered, for 7 hours.
After the curry has been cooking for almost 7 hours, prepare your cauliflower and green beans, add to the pot and cook for another hour – which gives you plenty of time to cook the brown rice. Serve hot over brown rice.
Side Dishes and Appetizers
Roasted Eggplant Salad
Number of servings: varies
Ingredients:
The eggplant:
3 large eggplants
2 roasted red peppers, diced
2 green bell peppers, cored, seeded and diced small
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
½ cup parsley (use flat leaved Italian parsley), chopped
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil (use extra virgin olive oil for this recipe)
juice of 3 lemons
salt and black pepper, to taste
crushed red pepper, to taste (optional)
The yogurt sauce:
2 cups plain Greek yogurt
½ cup peeled, diced cucumber
1 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
2 tsp olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
a pinch of salt
Preparation:
Start by heating your oven to 450 F and lining a baking sheet with foil. Pierce the eggplants with a knife or fork in a few spots. Place the eggplants on the foil lined baking sheet and bake for 35 – 40 minutes or until they collapse. Remove the roasted eggplants from the oven and allow them to cool until they’re safe to handle.
Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise. Scoop out the flesh (a grapefruit spoon may be helpful for this task) and transfer into a bowl. Discard the skins. Add the juice of 2 lemons to the bowl and allow the eggplant to marinate in the juice for 10 minutes.
Transfer the eggplant into a fine strainer and using the back of a large spoon, press the eggplant against the mesh to force out as much moisture as possible. Remove the eggplant from the strainer and chop coarsely. Transfer the eggplant back to the bowl and add the diced peppers, tomatoes, minced garlic, chopped parsley, basil, extra virgin olive oil and the juice of another lemon. Set the mixture aside.
Now you can make your yogurt sauce; this part is a lot easier than preparing the eggplant. Simply place all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix well to combine. Serve the eggplant salad along with the yogurt sauce and whole wheat pita bread or pita chips.
Pomegranate Carrots
Number of servings: 4
Ingredients
3 ½ cups of carrots, sliced into ¼” thick rounds
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp salt
1 cup pomegranate juice, unsweetened
a pinch of cinnamon
black pepper, to taste
chopped fresh parsley, for garnish (use flat leaved Italian parsley if possible)
Preparation:
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or medium saucepan over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the sliced carrots to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the salt and coriander, stir and continue cooking for another 1 - 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the cinnamon and pomegranate juice and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat for 15 – 20 minutes, stirring regularly until the juice has reduced to a glaze and the carrots are tender. Serve hot topped with chopped parsley.
Broccoli with Bell Peppers
Number of servings: 6
Ingredients:
4 cups broccoli florets (fresh, not frozen); you can also include sliced broccoli stems in the dish if you like
1 medium sized yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 medium sized red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 medium sized tomato, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil (use extra virgin olive oil)
1 tsp oregano
6 cups water
1 tbsp grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
salt and black pepper, to taste
Preparation:
Bring 6 cups of water to boil in a large saucepan. Add the broccoli florets to the pan and boil, covered for 2 minutes. Drain and transfer the broccoli to a bowl of cold water immediately; allow the broccoli to cool in the water for a minute, then drain and pat dry with a clean kitchen towel.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Once the oil is hot, sauté the peppers until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the blanched broccoli florets, minced garlic and oregano and cook for another 2 minutes,