Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Lightened Up Protein Power Goddess Bowl

Source (pics, too): Oh She Glows

That vegan lady strikes again.

As I am officially off of my 6 month eating plan (CAN I GET A AMEN?!), it's time to add some freaking VARIETY back into my diet!! Without blowing it, that is. I don't want to waste all of that hard work, so I got to hunting down some healthy salady foody type thing to keep my eating hole satisfied and intrigued.

I was going to prep a bunch of stuff yesterday for the week, my visit with my irresistibly adorable nephew when predictably late.

I STILL COOKED, DAMN IT.

Starting to cook when it's already past your bedtime is really super fun, you guys.

But not being prepared leads to snackers anon meetings.


Yield: 6 cups
Ingredients:
  • 1 cup uncooked green lentils (yield 2 & 3/4 cups cooked)
  • 1 cup uncooked speltberries (yield 2 cups cooked) OR grain of choice, like brown rice (I used quinoa)
  • 1/2 tbsp olive oil, for sautéing
  • 1/2 red onion (~1 & 1/3 cups), chopped
  • 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 large tomato, chopped
  • 3 cups spinach or kale, roughly chopped (I used Lacinato kale) (I used regular ol kale)
  • 1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
  • 1 batch of Lightened Up Tahini-Lemon Dressing (recipe below)
  • Kosher salt & black pepper, to taste
  • Lemon Wedges & lemon zest, to garnish

Directions:
1. Cook lentils and speltberries (or grain of choice) according to package directions. I did this the night before to save time. Drain and set aside. (To be honest, both lentils and quinoa take a while to cook and I was way tired and impatient and noticed that they have similar cooking times. You see where I'm going with this. I cooked them together. AND IT WORKED.)
2. Prepare the Lightened Up tahini-Lemon dressing in food processor (see below for recipe).
3. In a large skillet over low-medium heat, add your olive oil and sauté the chopped onion and minced garlic for a few minutes, being careful not to burn. Now add in the chopped red pepper and tomato and sauté for another 7-8 minutes.
4. Stir in the chopped kale or spinach and sauté for another few minutes, just until tender. Stir in the full batch of tahini-Lemon dressing, the cooked & drained grains and lentils, and simmer on low for another few minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the minced parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste and garnish with lemon wedges and zest. Makes 6 cups.

Lightened Up Tahini-Lemon Dressing

Adapted from Tahini-Lemon Dressing.
Yield: Just under 1 cup of dressing
Ingredients:
  • 1/4 cup Tahini (it's by the pb in the store, JUST SO YOU KNOW)
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
  • 1/4 cup Nutritional yeast or a bit more, to taste (I have no idea what that is and am too lazy to look it up. I found it in the bulk section at Whole Foods and am trusting that it won't kill me)
  • 2-4 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil, to taste
  • 1 tsp kosher salt + freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
  • 3 tbsp water, or as needed

Directions:
1. In a food processor, add all ingredients and process until smooth. Makes just under 1 cup.

My notes:
Tahini smells weird and is not, in fact, the yogurt sauce that I thought it was. The chick is vegan, Summer, DUH it's not yogurt. It's just like peanut butter, but with sesame seeds instead of peanuts. Weird, right? It separates like a MOFO. Like, rock hard solid crap on the bottom and a ton of oil stuff on the top. Yum?
Also, I was all "omg hey! I totally have some green lentils!!!" and tossed some in with the brown-ish lentils that I had bought. Wrong. SPLIT PEAS ARE NOT LENTILS. I have no explanation. I amaze myself sometimes.
Being tired and cranky and smelling weird things when I made this made me a wee bit hesitant to try it today. But, I did! And it's pretty tasty (although not on my favorites list, to be honest)! And REALLY healthy.
IMG 5706   Lightened Up Protein Power Goddess Bowl

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