Naraya Cooking Health Recipe

I've been loving sandwiches lately. It's a nice change from all the soups I've been eating. After seeing this wonderful recipe from Katy's Kitchen which features caramelized onions I was all in to give a grilled hummus sandwich a try. As you probably already guessed it did not disappoint! I wanted to create something a little faster and decided to simply sauté my onions until golden around the edges, saving the caramelized onions for another time. This sandwich is warm, juicy, full of simple flavors that come together and will melt in your mouth. I love everything about it...even the slight messiness of eating it and the onion breath afterward...so worth it! Since the protein amount is on the low side, I recommend pairing this with, or having after, a vanilla or Chocolate protein shake. Or maybe this Banana Split Protein Smoothie. You may even consider this Almond Chunky Monkey Ice Cream or Raw Chocolate Banana Ice Cream with an added scoop of protein powder and a splash of non-dairy milk. It will round out your meal perfectly making sure all your nutritional needs are met. Then give yourself a pat on the back for making such great choices!

Ingredients (serves two)

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium pan over medium high heat, add sliced onion and cook, stirring occasionally until golden around the edges and tender, about 5 - 7 minutes keeping an eye on the last 2 minutes so they don't over char on the edges. Set aside. 

Heat your griddle over medium high. Depending on what type of griddle you are using, you may want to lightly grease it. I used a cast iron griddle and didn't grease mine.

Layer both inside slices of bread with a generous amount of hummus. Add a layer of sautéed onions, then sliced tomato, arugula and a sprinkle of salt & pepper. Add top slice of bread and gently press down. Drizzle or brush olive oil on the top. Place oiled side on griddle and cook for about 2 - 3 minutes, or until golden (times may vary, check periodically so the bread doesn't burn). Before flipping, drizzle or brush the top with olive oil. Using a good size spatula, flip and cook for another 2 -3 minutes until bread is golden once again and sandwich is warmed through.

Slice and devour!

Notes:

If your bread is on the larger side, you may consider slicing it in half either before layering and/or grilling.

If your humus is on the thicker side, thin it out with a little water making it less pasty and more like a mayo consistency.

I know, I know...another salad! :)

Another salad is born!

Happy Monday! Cheers to another refreshing raw recipe for our collection. These raw pasta dishes are always the ones that leave me feeling so refreshed and at my best. They are perfect for the warmer spring and summer months ahead. So far we have Creamy Zucchini Pesto with 'Noodles', Spicy Kale Pesto with Zucchini Noodles, 'Raw'sta Pasta with a marina'raw' sauce and now this simple zucchini pasta with a creamy avocado cucumber sauce. This is a nice addition, and one I think you will enjoy time and time again. 

I have adapted my recipe from this one from Feasting at Home. I have added a few extra goodies like tomatoes and jalapenos as well as changing up the puree a bit. I love the combination of avocado and cucumber. The cucumber adds a wonderful refreshing twist that I think you'll just love! This comes from my Avocado and Cucumber Soup recipe that can be used in many ways, ie..soup, guacamole, or sauce. I find the addition of the tomatoes and bits of jalapeno to be delicious and a nice accompaniment to the overall dish. Feel free to keep this simple like the original recipe or use what you have on hand making it your own. I've also seen lots of recipes that just use avocado without any cucumber for the puree and that is great too! Feel free to omit the cucumber in this recipe and add an extra avocado if you like for variations (you may like to add a couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil if you do). You can even add some arugula to the puree instead of using basil. Lots of ways to change it up and keep it fresh!

Green and healthy...

You can either julienne the zucchini by using a julienne tool or you can spiralize using a spiralizer. Both ways are great. The julienne tool is much smaller and will fit nicely in your utensil drawer. The spiralizer on the other hand is a bit larger and cumbersome, but well worth the space as I do use mine fairly often. 

Enjoy!

 This is one of those unusual dishes that turned out to be fantastic. It's quite colorful and almost surreal looking. This came about as I had an extra fennel left over from my Butternut Squash and Fennel Lasagna and a beet that I was going to use in another recipe but decided against it. A google search of fennel and beet brought me to a few various recipes, some of which included my favorite apple, the Fuji. I came up with my own version using this wonderful dressing. To be honest, I don't really care for beets much but trying to work them into my lifestyle. This salad is perfect! The beets and all the flavors come together beautifully making it a go to salad that can give me the excellent beet nutrition that I'm looking to add to my meal rotation every now and then.

You could also use other colored beets too. I experimented with a yellow one and it was just as colorful and tasty as well. The maple pecans really add a nice touch. I can't imagine not making this salad without all of these ingredients as they each add their own special touch but you can adjust to suit your flavor palate. I'm looking forward to more of this in the future using some of the other colored beets again as well...really delicious!

Enjoy the flavor sensation !