Curried Chickpeas with Rice

Here’s another recipe from Cooking Light magazine, which I adapted to make even healthier.  The original recipe used pork but I made it vegetarian by using chickpeas instead.  I also swapped out the regular dairy milk and used light coconut milk, and swapped the white flour to millet flour, although it would probably be just fine without any flour at all.  I added garam masala and increased the amount of curry powder because the original was bland.  I think the result is a really nice vegan meal.  Having pre-cooked rice and chickpeas on hand makes it a super-fast weeknight meal. Continue reading “Curried Chickpeas with Rice”

Asian Salmon with Spinach and Brown Rice

This recipe for asian salmon with spinach and brown rice was modified from a recipe I found on a blog called “For the Love of Basil.”  My version uses brown rice instead of white, arrowroot instead of corn starch, and fresh spinach instead of frozen. I made these substitutions because I believe they are healthier and any little change I can make to a recipe to make it healthier is worth it.

Incidentally I also used white sesame seeds but only because I tend to have them on hand, unlike the black ones she uses, which I don’t think I’ve ever bought in my life.  As far as I know there is no difference in the nutritional value of black vs. white sesame seeds.

Oh yeah, and as usual I adjusted the prep time because limes don’t juice themselves and garlic doesn’t mince itself.

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Asian Salmon with Spinach and Brown Rice Yum
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Course Main Dish
Cuisine Asian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Asian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Votes: 0
Rating: 0
You:
Rate this recipe!
Add to Shopping List
This recipe is in your Shopping List
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°.
  2. Cook rice as directed. I cook mine in a rice cooker, and it takes about 60 minutes. (Or use previously frozen rice.)
  3. Sauté the garlic and pepper flakes with olive oil until garlic is lightly golden and fragrant, about 1 minute.
  4. Stir in maple syrup, tamari sauce, and lime juice and cook until it starts to bubble.
  5. Whisk arrowroot powder into 2 teaspoons of water until mixed thoroughly, then stir into the sauce. Cook until it is thick; about 2-3 minutes.
  6. Place salmon fillets on foil lined baking pan. Top each fillet with 1 teaspoon of sauce. Bake 10-12 minutes or until cooked through (still slightly pink in center).
  7. Meanwhile, add coconut oil to a non-stick pan and put on medium heat. When oil is shimmering add spinach and gently stir until wilted and giving off water. Remove from heat.
  8. Put about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of rice in each bowl, top with 1/4 of the spinach, and then a salmon fillet. Remove the salmon skin as you put it in the bowl.
  9. Top each bowl with 1/4 of the remaining sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
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Black Bean and Salsa Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

This meat-free dinner is adapted from a recipe my husband found on his favorite cycling podcast website. So you know it’s got to be good if it was developed with athletes in mind, right? Well, we made this and dug into it and thought we went to heaven.  The spicy smoky flavor of the black beans combined with the creamy sweet potato is a marriage of flavors that’s meant to be. I’m not kidding, try it and if you don’t see angels I will eat my cycling socks. Continue reading “Black Bean and Salsa Stuffed Sweet Potatoes”

How to make “Bowls”

“Bowls” are a newly popular concept, and for good reason. They are fresh, generally quick to put together, tasty, and relatively inexpensive.

Think Chipotle, SweetGreen, or pretty much any of the “healthy fast food” franchises popping up in malls across the country. Essentially it’s a pile of stuff in a bowl, with lettuce/greens on the bottom, and stuff on the top. Hm… sounds kind of familiar, right? Like a salad bar? Yep, exactly like a salad bar. The difference is in the marketing, and the proportions. it’s a little bit of salad with a lot of “stuff” arranged in a colorfully pretty selection of “wedges” around the edge.

Literally, it’s just a bowl of different wholesome, nicely flavored ingredients, that you then pour some sauce on and mix together, like… well… like a salad. Yeah.

Creamy Rice with Salmon

I got this rice with salmon (arroz con salmon) recipe from a food blog written by a Columbian woman.  I’m so sorry I’ve lost track of the url of that web site but I made a lot of changes to the recipe anyway, so it barely resembles the original.

I removed several ingredients, changed several others, and used leftovers to compile the dish instead of creating it from scratch.  It was surprisingly good!  I served it with sautéed beet greens but I recommend choosing a side veggie that’s more neutral in flavor, like broccoli or green beans.  The beet greens were good but the strong flavor overpowered the more subtle taste of the rice dish. Continue reading “Creamy Rice with Salmon”