Quick One-Pot Ratatouille

This recipe is an old stand-by for me. Though it's entirely fruit and veggie, it's incredibly filling and satisfying. I use it on nights that I'm not really in the mood for cooking but we all need a really good meal. This can either be made on the stovetop or baked in the oven if you're not partial to watching the pot.

Quick Ratatouille
1 eggplant
1 large onion
2 red peppers
1 yellow squash
1 zucchini
1 large can of diced tomatoes
1 to 2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup red wine (optional)
1 cup cheese for baking (optional)
2 tablespoons spicy pasta seasoning
(I use a mix of red pepper, oregano, bay leaves, basil and garlic)
Dash salt
Coconut oil for sauteeing

If baking as a casserole, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large stock pot, heat about a tablespoon of coconut oil on medium-high. Throw in roughly-chopped onion and salt and give it a quick stir. Let the oil and onion sit in the pot for 3-5 minutes to caramelize. While onions are caramelizing, cut the eggplant, peppers,
zucchini and yellow squash into cubes. Throw veggies into the pot with the can of diced tomatoes and stir to mix. Add spices and mix again. At this point, you can either transfer the mixture to a large casserole dish or leave in the pot. Once the mixture is in your preferred container, add wine and just enough vegetable broth to cover. If baking, sprinkle cheese on top if preferred and pop in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes or until the top is bubbly and browned. If leaving in the stock pot, cover and lower heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.

This recipe freezes great too if you're into making meals in advance. It pairs great with a big caesar salad and a glass of red wine! Until next time, keep it clean!

Pumping Up Your Meals with Nutrition

Last week we talked about amping up your nutrition by filling out your meals with vegetables on the side. But what about those of us with family, significant others or children who think vegetables are kind of icky? Here's a few creative ways to get extra servings in painlessly, sometimes without them ever knowing!

Burgers and Meatballs

Whether you use ground meat or a meatless protein for your meatballs, it's easy to hide a few extra servings of veggies in these. Use a food processor to grind up onions and whole tomatoes to a fine paste, and swap some of the meat for ground up zucchini, yellow squash or even cauliflower. Mushrooms will make your meat even more savory. Mix these in with your meat and spices, form into balls and cook as usual. This meat mixture also works great in lasagna, and leftover "burgers" are good to put on a nice plain bed of lettuce with dressing for those who usually pick out everything but the meat.

Soups

Add extra nutrition to your broth by adding steamed and pureed vegetables like carrots, butternut squash and eggplant. The blended veggies will add a creamy texture and loads of extra fiber.

Baking

Swap out some or all of your flour in cookie and cracker recipes with almond flour, brown rice protein, pea protein, coconut flour or cashew flour. If you make your own nut milk, you can dry the leftover ground nuts you strain from the milk in the oven and use it in place of flour. You can also buy flours in bulk online or at your local market (though online is usually cheaper).

Batter

Lots of veggies are great breaded and baked or fried, my favorites being zucchini and broccoli. To eschew the eggs in the batter, combine one tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons cold water for every egg you need to replace and stir. Let this mixture sit and stir occasionally while you're preparing the rest of your food, and in a few minutes you'll have a gel with the same texture and binding qualities of an egg. Use coconut or cashew flour in place of wheat flour in your recipe and you have a much more nutritious meal.

Smoothies

Adding an avocado or fresh coconut to the base of your smoothie instead of a banana makes for a creamy and rich start to your day (or after meal dessert!). A couple handfuls of fresh sweet romaine lettuce or spinach, or even steamed vegetables like carrots or cauliflower will bulk up a smoothie while still leaving it tasting fruity.

Chips

Baked vegetables seasoned just right will come out crispy and delicious like chips. For kale, remove the middle stem and break into chip-sized pieces. For zucchini or squash, slice thinly. For a simple chip, marinate the "chips" lightly in coconut or olive oil, place evenly on a cookie sheet, dust with your favorite seasonings and bake. For more robust chips, marinate in salad dressings like tahini and soy sauce, lemon and orange, salt and vinegar, or even a cheesy dressing. Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes or until crispy. And remember to flip them!

Dips

For creamy dips like ranch or yogurt, squash and cucumbers blend nicely and add a crisp fresh flavor. For salsas, try something with more crunch like celery or bell peppers.

Adding in and replacing your traditional ingredients with veggies, fruit, nuts and seeds will help immensely in making you and your family healthier. After they eat it and see how delicious it is, teach them about what ingredients you're using next time they cook with you. Trying new colorful fruits and vegetables will be much easier for them to swallow. And until next time, keep it clean!

Reasons to Go Local!

   Today, I received my first delivery from an online farmer's market here in Austin called Greenling. Greenling is a small company that gathers fresh produce and other products from local farmers and businesses and delivers it directly to your doorstep! The local box is a selection of the best fruits and veggies from the farmer's harvest that week. This week's box included a huge watermelon, blueberries, squash (I got butternut but other varieties were given also), kale, Bibb lettuce, basil, pears, potatoes, and an ear of popcorn! Upon opening my green box full of goodies, I got to thinking just what is so special about buying locally grown and produced food.
   First off, local food looks and tastes better. Conventionally grown produce is picked way before the fruit or vegetable is fully ripe, that way it can be shipped to the stores and sold before going bad. Local food, however, is left to grow until fully ripe before harvesting. That way, your food matures properly and the flavor is at it's peak. Local food is also better nutritionally for you. The less time it takes to get from the farm to your table, the better the nutritional content. Conventionally grown produce is left to sit on trucks and in packing plants, losing vital life force as the days pass by.

   Buying locally also helps the economy in your community. You can put your dollars directly into independently owned businesses instead of the giant corporations. Supporting small, family run farms is so important now more than ever since these farms are slowly becoming extinct and replaced with large industrial agriculture.
   Local farmers are also less likely to use chemicals, pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics, and genetically modified seeds. You can actually meet the farmer face to face and ask questions about your food too! You can buy your produce from a farmer's market, or if you're lucky, there might be something similar to Greenling in your area! I encourage everyone to support local businesses as much as they can! And as always, stay green and clean!!! :)