Zoodles & Homemade Pesto

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I had my sister in law over this weekend visiting from NYC. She mentioned homemade pesto and how you can pretty much make it from anything green! She also said I should give a shout out to Bitter Sweet Sara. I put the untraditional pesto to the test and it was good! Above are my zoodles and homemade pesto. 

Making the zoodles are easy! The hard part for me was getting the right proportions of greens to nuts to cheese to oil. I did a little investigation and took a poll online, and the proportions below seem to work great! 

• 2 cups greens, 1/3 cups nuts, 1/2 cup grated hard cheese, and 1/2 cup oil
• this blog also talks about pesto and ratios

I used basil, arugula, baby kale, cilantro and parsley. Stems and all! I also used EVOO, walnuts and parmesan cheese. I might have gone a little green crazy....

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What do you put in your pesto? What do you put your pesto on?

Sweet Potato, Baby Kale and Lentil Soup. Seriously AMAZING!

This soup is SO special. Yes I love vegetables but this soup is so special not because of the wonderful veggies but rather because of the seasoning. It is VERY flavorful and intense, in a good way. This could go down in history as one of my favorite (non pureed) soups. My friend gave me this recipe from Pinterest and I switched it around a tad to make it my own.

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Ingredients:

• 3 medium sized sweet potatoes peeled and cubed 
• 2 cups baby kale (you can use more if you would like!)
• 1 cup brown lentils
• 2 tomatoes (vine ripe if possible) chopped
• 1 medium size onion diced
• 1 1/2 TBS Turmeric
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander 
• 1/3 tsp cayenne pepper or more if you  like heat!
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbs fresh ground ginger
• 1 tsp salt (more to taste if you would like)
• Pepper to taste (adding pepper increases the bio availability of turmeric- helping your body absorb more of the nutrients!) 
• 6 cups vegetable broth 
• 1 cup water

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Directions: 

• Heat the largest pot you have for 40 seconds over medium heat, then add about 2 tbs of EVOO or any other oil you prefer. Warm up oil for another 20 seconds then add in chopped onions and stir for 3 minutes.
• Add in all the spices including the ginger. Stir for another 2 minutes.
• Add in tomatoes and lentils. Stir for a minute then finally add in your sweet potato, 6 cups broth, and 1 cup water.
• Bring pot to a boil, cover and reduce to low, letting cook for about 30 minute. 
• After about 30 minutes add in your baby kale and let it cook for another 10 minutes.

Comment below and let me know how it goes! Did you make any changes to the recipe?

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** If I am going to be eating/ serving all the soup right away I add in all the Kale while cooking (like the recipe says). BUT if I know that I will be reheating it and eating it for the next couple of days then I only add in some kale, and right before I heat up the soup to eat the next day I will add in more fresh baby kale! ALSO, if you do not have kale feel free to use baby spinach, or regular Kale just cut up small.

Fiesta Quinoa side dish or snack

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Quinoa is just awesome. And this easy to make, looks like you worked harder than you did dish makes it even better! This can be served cold or at room temperature so it is perfect for summer.You can make this for your next BBQ or to keep in the fridge ready to take out and eat as a snack or side dish.  (** the picture above does not have black beans OR cilantro)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Cooked Quinoa
• 1.5- 2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes cut in half (you can cut it again to make it smaller if you wish)
• 1 large avocado
• 1 can or 2 cups black beans (you can get canned black beans or make them fresh! Follow bag directions for fresh black beans)
• 3 ears fresh corn
• 1 batch cilantro chopped 

Directions:

• Cook your Quinoa and then set aside to cool off completely
• dice tomatoes 
• chop cilantro
• dice your avocado 
• if you are using fresh beans this may take a whole night to prepare. Follow package directions. You can use cans if this is all you have.
• I think fresh corn is BEST for this dish. So try to avoid the canned stuff. How to make corn? You have options:

1. grill
2. boil
3. bake (simple and comes out really good! Add salt and paper to the corn before you place in the oven)

Let the corn cool off and then CAREFULLY cut the corn off the cob. 

After everything is prepared and cooled off you will get a large flat dish to lay out your quinoa. On the side mix the avocados, black beans, corn, tomatoes and cilantro. To this mixture add 3-4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and one whole juicy lemon! Salt and pepper to taste. 

Place dressing and vegetable mixture on top of quinoa. Do not mix. The vegetables are meant to say on top of the quinoa and get mixed in as people serve themselves.

This makes an amazing dish. If you have leftovers it keeps great in the fridge! Enjoy!

sweetgreen Boston opening

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I heard about sweetgreenback in November 2012 from a friend of mine who was obsessed with it when she lived in DC. When she heard it was coming to Boston she made sure to email me and tell me that it will become my favorite salad spot in Boston, and I think she is right!

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After teaching a fun and sweaty dance class I met up with my friend and photographer Lucie Wicker for a sneak peek tasting at sweetgreen!

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I might have been the happiest customer in the history of sweetgreen and kept cheering after everything. What? I love salad!

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Salad:

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I opted for the guacamole salad after three different people told me that it was the best. After my salad went through the assembly line they asked if I wanted any more toppings. EEEK. I said yes! How could I say NO?  So, I added raw beets, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and spicy quinoa. I guess with that many "add on's" I did NOT get the "guacamole salad".

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Let me tell you I was SO full from that salad. It was delicious, and they really give you a good amount of each topping. I was most pleasantly surprised by the dressing. I asked for it on the side (as I always do) but after trying it I realized I would have been just fine with it mixed in the salad already. It felt light and fresh and after talking to some of the sweetgreen employees I found out that all of their dressings are homemade! SCORE.

Dessert: froyo. I had to stand up and stretch a little before dessert time. But after a few belly taps I was ready to go!

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 I love crunchy things in my ice cream and froyo. Whenever there are graham crackers or waffle cone pieces I always get that! So yes, that is what I got this time too. I had them throw in 2 little candied pecans because someone said they were "amazing". Normally I would not have asked for the pecans. But yes, they were quite awesome.

I love this place and will go back for sure. If you are in Boston GO CHECK IT OUT!