Naraya Cooking Health Recipe

Hello again! 

It's been two weeks since I've been here and I'm so happy to be back. Today I've brought with me a salad that I think you'll love as much as I do. As a food blogger, I tend to skip around a lot but I've made this a few times over the last few weeks which means it must be pretty darn good. It's one of those salads I find myself craving. I'm totally in love with sweet potatoes at the moment (and forever more) and they are great in salads. The crispy shallots take it to another level. Truth is crispy shallots equal awesomeness! And the simple lemon tahini dressing adds a creaminess making this a salad dream come true. At least for me anyway, I love creamy dressings! There's nothing wimpy about this salad either. It's a perfect warm salad to keep you cozy and happy. I've also got plans for another sweet potato salad coming your way soon...it'll have a Thai peanut dressing. Oh yes, and its soooo good! But in the meantime, I urge you to pick up everything you need for this salad and get on it, pronto!

Follow my kitchen on Instagram. It's where I share most of my daily meals and inspiration with a sprinkle of randomness thrown in. I'd love to have you join me! 

Ingredients

Simple Lemon Tahini Dressing

Roast: Place sweet potato and chickpeas on a large rimmed baking sheet lined with a silpat, parchment paper or lighlty greased. Drizzle with oil, toss to coat. Sprinkle a few dashes of salt, garlic and chili powder of choice over top. Place in oven and roast for about 25 - 30 min, stirring once half way through, potatoes will be ready when they are fork tender. Ovens vary so your cooking time may be more or less.

Crispy shallots: Heat remaining oil in a small/medium pan over medium heat, add shallots and cook for about 5 minutes stirring frequently. Lower heat to medium low and cook the shallots until nicely browned, about another 5 - 10 minutes. Once browned to your liking, remove from pan and set aside on a paper towel lined plate (if you leave them in the pan to cool, they may cook a bit more (possibly overcook) since the pan will still be hot). Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper if you like.

Dressing: Place the dressing ingredients in a small bowl, mix well and add a more water as needed to thin. Set aside. 

To serve, add leafy greens to serving dish/plate, top with 1/2 of the roasted sweet potatoes and chickpeas along with 1/2 of the crispy shallots. Add a sprinkle of pepitas over top and drizzle with 1/2 of the dressing. Add a squeeze of the remaining lemon half over to if you like!

Serves 2. 

Prepare your vegetables and gather your cranberries and seeds. 

Mix kale, carrots, bell peppers and dressing together. Let set for about an hour at room temp or in the refrigerator (this will soften the kale nicely and reduce the bitterness). Serve in individual bowls topped with cranberries and seeds. If you don't have time to let the kale marinate with the dressing, the salad will still be great! 

Serves 2

Roast your cauliflower and prepare your quinoa...



Mix the dressing and gather the rest of the ingredients...



toss everything together and you're ready for a flavorful and filling salad!

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Cut cauliflower into florets. Lay in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet. Add a drizzle of oil and toss to coat. Roast in the oven for 40 minutes, mixing the cauliflower around half way through. Remove from oven, let cool. 

Rinse your quinoa using a fine mesh sieve (honestly, I usually skip this part but have it here for good measure. Don't feel you have to do it but you may find that you prefer it that way.) In a medium pot/pan, add quinoa and water, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Once done, turn heat off, uncover and let rest for 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together the ingredients for the dressing. Set aside to let the flavors develop. Taste for seasoning adding anything extra you might like. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine quinoa, cauliflower, apple, raisins, shredded coconut and dressing, toss well to coat. 

Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Enjoy this flavor combination, it's delicious!

Summer in California is setting in, the temperatures are rising and salads are always welcome. I've been on an olive loving kick lately, as well as a chickpea kick (I'll tell you why soon), so this salad hit the spot with some salty olives, fresh sweet grape tomatoes & red bell peppers, refreshing cucumbers, red onion and fresh cooked chickpeas. All dressed up with a light vinaigrette and nice dollop of hummus. This salad didn't start with a dollop of hummus, but half way through eating I added a scoop and decided it needed to be included in the recipe (and photo), although I list it as optional. It adds such nice creaminess and rounds it out the salad well. If you find raw kale too hard to eat, even after letting it relax in lemon juice, a dollop of hummus will definitely do a world of good for you. It adds a nice creaminess to the overall salad while masking some of kale's bitterness. Similar to the Every Day Nourish Bowl, we now have another option of whole hearted goodness to choose from when a craving for salads occur! It's simple, accessible, not too expensive and good for you. Cheers to all of those things! :)

I have some fun news to share! I'm going to be immersed in all things chickpeas the next few months. I figured this post is a great place to introduce a project I've been working so hard on called, CHICKPEA: THE CHICKPEA HANDBOOK/COOKBOOK. It's all you need to know about chickpeas, with chapters containing information on nutrition, history, types, sprouting, growing (gardening), storing & selecting, flour, cooking and a few other relevant chapters. Plus, it will include upwards of 100+ recipes (not sure where to stop since there's so many good ones I want to add), including pictures of each one. It will include all of the favorite chickpea recipes from the blog and a ton of new ones. I'm excited out of my mind for this project! I was asked a few months ago what was the one ingredient that was important in my kitchen and my answer was chickpeas. They are so versatile and I use them often, especially for my hummus which is so much more than just a dip. After toying around with a couple cookbook ideas, doing a chickpea cookbook seemed so right. I want to celebrate the chickpea in all its glory and showcase its versatility, all the way from breakfast to desserts. It's a perfect fit for me and I know it will be a useful addition to any kitchen library! It's meant to be used often and will have my signature simplicity with a few recipes to kick it up a notch. I'm shooting for the end of the year but am really in no hurry as I want this book to be amazing. I ♥ chickpeas and think we should all eat more of them!

Enjoy the salad, and of course, this will be in the book! :)

Ingredients 

Enjoy!

I'm all about quick and easy when it comes to eating. Sometimes I don't mind more intensive recipes in the kitchen but for the most part, I like to keep it simple. Today's recipe is just that. About as simple as it gets while satisfying my hunger and leaving my taste buds happy. I simply used pre-cooked steamed lentils like the ones Trader Joe's carries (Melissa's also carries steamed lentils if you can find them in your grocery store). They have tons of flavor and don't need much of anything. I'll even top them on a big bed of leafy greens, drizzle on something spicy and be happy as can be. Done and done! Here the lentils worked well with this sun-dried tomato hummus. I imagine plain, garlic or red pepper hummus would be delicious! Hummus is a great spread that lends creaminess to the wrap. You won't miss that there isn't any cheese.  Adding some leafy greens to the wrap gives some freshness, and of course a little spice from the red pepper flakes completes my wrap. I'm a sucker for red pepper flakes and most things spicy. Plenty of protein and flavor in this wrap. I hope it inspires you to gather your ingredients and roll up your own. They also make for great brown bag lunches!

If you're interested in a few quick sweet treat ideas, I just updated my Raw Hemp Bites and Raw Ginger Snaps. They are both no bake, no added sugars and amazingly delicious!



Start by making your hummus...



Layer everything as you see here and roll, gently but tightly, starting from the fullest side (in this case I rolled from left to right).



LENTIL & SUN-DRIED TOMATO HUMMUS WRAP

I've always been a self-taught learner, a do-it yourself kind of girl. From household fixings to health fixings, and now to minor website fixings, I've done my fair share of learning how to take care of things myself. You may have noticed the mini-facelift on the site. I've been tweaking it around here & there after much reading and fumbling around on the computer. lol I'm finally done, for now anyway! After the few minor setbacks (I had a slight learning curve), I'm so happy to be finished bringing new things and life to my little blogspot with only spending my time (for what's it's worth, if I had to start this blog over again I would use WordPress, just saying). For starters, there is a new page up top containing MY PANTRY & KITCHEN ESSENTIALS. I hope to elaborate on this page in the future. I've also added an INSPIRATION & RESOURCE page which is still in progress. Here and there you'll find a few other new bells and whistles that were done completing my mini makeover. I hope it's easy to navigate and more pleasing to the eye. This is my personal space on the web and I like to have it as fresh and clean as possible. Now enough about that and without further ado, I hope to inspire you with this everyday nourish bowl!

 

Enjoy and be grateful!

I'd love to see your masterpieces!
#thesimpleveganista

Ingredients

Heat water to boiling. Pour water into your cup, add ginger, let set for a few minutes, add lemon, cayenne and sweetener. Stir and enjoy!

Serves one.

Alternately, if using a small sauce pan to heat your water, add the ginger to the water and then heat. I use a tea kettle to heat my water and prefer to add my ginger once the water is heated and poured. 

You may be familiar with the Spicy Lentil Wraps from Trader Joe's. They are one of four vegan wraps available at the moment, the other's being a Veggie Wrap, Falafel Wrap and Eggplant Wrap. I love all of these wraps with the Spicy Lentil Wrap and Falafel Wrap being my favorites. Out of them all the Spicy Lentil Wrap has the highest protein amount with 14 grams and is the one I usually grab for. Lentils are an excellent addition to your diet. Not only are they a great source of protein but also fiber, vitamin B and a few essential trace minerals your body needs to function well, all of this with very low fat. If you have a local Trader Joe's near you, check out the lentil wrap and the other wraps too. Also, take a look at this list of vegan products they have to offer. Items do change from time to time but this is a great list to get you started. A few other favorite grab-n-go items I love at Trader Joe's are the Lentil Soup with Ancient Grains, Black Bean and Corn Enchilada's, Tofu Spring Rolls and a few various salads.

As for the tahini sauce and chili paste, the sauce is pretty straight forward and is meant to be on the thin side. It can be used as a drizzle for each bite. It can also double as a salad dressing, or drizzled on steamed or roasted vegetables! The Trader Joe's chili paste uses a recipe that is made up of red pepper flakes that I just didn't get around to recreating, maybe I'll come back to it later, but rather decided to use ready made chili paste that I've been loving lately. I use the Huy Fong, Garlic Chili Paste or their plain Chili Paste. I love this stuff and have been steaming vegetables topping it with either of the chili paste as all the flavoring I need, maybe a dash of pink salt too. I definitely love my spicy food! If you haven't given it a try, I highly recommend it. It can be found in the Asian section of your grocery store or bought online. There's more to love about chili peppers than just the flavor, they are good for clearing congestion, fighting inflammation, boosting immunity, act as a topical pain reliever, help with weight loss and can stop cancer cells. If you can take the heat, get your spicy on!

 Both are super hearty and filling!

Enjoy!