Fried Cauliflower Rice

Coming at you with another quick and easy lunch idea! This one uses cauliflower rice, which I’ve recently discovered and is pretty dang good! It also is loaded with veggies and includes some eggs to get in that protein.

There are so many options for a base when it comes to making “fried rice”- normal white rice, brown rice, and quinoa are all tasty options. But this cauliflower rice just lightens everything up while also being super delicious! The flavour of the cauliflower adds so much to the dish. In addition to that cauliflower, the rainbow of veggies in this speedy meal includes carrots, celery, red pepper, purple cabbage, and red onion. So good!

All of that yummy veg is sauteed first so that they have a chance to get nice and tender. Once they do, everything moves pretty quickly, so make sure you have your ingredients handy. The cauliflower rice gets added- I used some I had in the freezer- along with the eggs, and then everything is seasoned with salt and pepper. The cauliflower only needs to be sauteed for the amount of time it takes the eggs to cook, so that it doesn’t get super mushy, and is still rice like.

I seasoned this dish very simply with just some salt and pepper, to really let all of those beautiful veggies shine! It’s so tasty, fresh, healthy and delicious, and is perfect for meal prepping the night before school, as a quick dinner, or a simple lunch at home. I love the eggs in here because of the great protein they offer! However, if you want to veganize this dish, you can easily substitute for chickpeas or beans.

Hope you like this fast and tasty take on a simple dish!

Yours Truly,

Olivia:))

Fried Cauliflower Rice

  • Servings: 1
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Ingredients

-1/2 tbsp olive oil

-1/4 a red onion, diced

-1/2 a red bell pepper, diced

-1/4 cup grated purple cabbage

-1 small carrot, chopped

-1 stalk of celery, chopped

-1 1/2 cups cauliflower rice, fresh or frozen (grate or process cauliflower florets)

-2 eggs

-Salt and pepper to state


Directions

1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a pan. Add in the veggies, except for the cauliflower rice, and sautee until tender, about 6-8 minutes.

2. Add in the cauliflower rice and the eggs, and scramble the eggs with a wooden spoon as you stir the rice into the veggies. Continue to sautee until the eggs are cooked through.

3. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. Serve warm.


Tahini Roasted Cabbage Wedges

Veggies are so good! By now you have probably gathered that I love them. They’re so versatile and can be both light AND hearty at the same time, which is exactly what these Tahini Roasted Cabbage Wedges achieve.

Just like my Smoky Roasted Cauliflower Steaks, these wedges can be either a satisfying main course, or a delicious side dish! They’re full of flavour and are roasted delicious perfection. You get those outer leaves that are all crispy, yet the centre of the cabbage isn’t too soft and retains a bit of bite. So say goodbye to the days when purple cabbage was all boring and one-note; there’s a whole symphony going on over here!

I started by cutting half a head of cabbage into four nice and thick wedges. Purple cabbage is such a gorgeous vegetable! Not only is the colour amazing, but all of the layers are just so pretty.

After the wedges were ready to go, I got the sliced tahini rub alllllll ready to go. I love tahini, or sesame seed paste, a lot, and have a big tub of it in my pantry, so I’m always looking for ways to use it in my cooking! And on this cabbage it is magic🙌 I mixed some of it with a BUNCH of different middle-eastern inspired spices that all work together so well! This forms a delicious rub/paste that gets slathered onto the cabbage.

And by slathered I mean I definitely got in there with my hands and gave this cabbage a nice massage😂 You gotta make sure to get that tahini rub into every nook and cranny for maximum flavour! The cabbage then goes into a nice and hot oven to get crisp and caramelized on the outside, and tender but not to soft on the outside. So good!

As aforementioned (wow look at these fancy words), these wedges are so good by theme selves with a bit of hummus, as a side with some protein, or as part of a bowl! I even had mine with some tomato sauce and it was super tasty😋 They have so much flavour, an amazing texture, and look gorgeous with a bit more tahini drizzled on top! Hope you enjoy😊

Yours Truly,

Olivia:)

Tahini Roasted Cabbage Wedges

  • Servings: 4
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Ingredients

-1/2 a head of purple cabbage, cut into 4 wedges

-2 tbsp tahini

-1 tsp cumin

-1/2 tsp garlic

-1/2 tsp chilli powder

-1/4 tsp cayenne

-1/2 tsp oregano

-1/3 tsp paprika

-1/4 tsp cinnamon

-Salt and pepper to taste


Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Mix together the tahini and all of the spices in a small bowl. Scoop about a 1/2 tbsp of the mixture onto each cabbage wedge, and rub it all over the surface, coating all of the wedges.

3. Place the cabbage wedges on a parchment lined baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes, until tender all the way through.

4. Remove from the oven and serve warm.


Coconut Curried Vegetable Rice

Hi friends! It seems that there’s a theme running through my recipes this week, and that theme is SIMPLE DELICIOUSNESS. Maybe you don’t think of curry being that simple. But guess what, this one is. We’re making good use of the stuff you’re already got in your spice cupboard and pantry and we’re making it into something super tasty.

I wanted to make some sort of curry paste for this, but I didn’t have many of the traditional curry paste ingredients. So I made my own take on a curry paste, using common ingredients that I DID have. We’re talking chilli powder, ground ginger, soy sauce, basil, curry powder, lemon juice, and a bunch of other good stuff. I like the concept of this paste because if you don’t want to make curry out of it right away, you can put it in the fridge for a few days until you’re ready to use it.

It’s also great because it acts as your flavour bomb for the whole curry! All of the spices and flavour you need for the whole dish is found in it, making for a super easy single application of amazingness.

All of the veggies in this dish really sing too. I love a good rainbow in my curries, and almost any veggie would work in here, so feel free to do some substituting with what you have and what you like. I personally found my own heavenly combo of mushrooms, onions, bok choy, red peppers, and carrots to be very nice.

The vegetables get cooked down together in some coconut oil, then sauteed a bit more when the curry paste is added, and then everything simmers together in some coconut milk. To make this heartier and more of a one-pot meal, I thought, why not add in some rice? So brown rice gets thrown in too and cooked in all of the delicious flavours.

Once this curry is done, your house will definitely smell really good and you’ll have a few meals worth of awesome curry rice stocked up in your fridge. I love how flavourful this is, and how it has just the perfect amount of spice! Plus, it goes great with any protein you choose to add, and is so hearty and comforting.

Hope you enjoy!

Coconut Curried Vegetable Rice

Serves: 3-4

Total Time: 70 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Curry Paste:

  • 1/2 tbsp chilli powder
  • 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • Juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/4 of a white onion, diced

For the Coconut Curried Vegetable Rice:

  • 1 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1/4 of a white onion, sliced
  • 1 red pepper, sliced
  • 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
  • 4 white mushrooms, sliced
  • 8 stalks of baby bok choy, cut into halves
  • 1 serving of Curry Paste (above)
  • 1 400ml can of coconut milk
  • 2/3 cup brown rice
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. To make the Curry Paste, combine all of the curry paste ingredients in a blender or food processor until a paste-like consistency is reached. Don’t worry about small chunks of onion; these will be cooked in with the curry. Use immediately to make Coconut Curried Vegetable Rice or store in the fridge for up to 3 days before using.
  2. Heat the coconut oil in a large, deep skillet. Add in all of the veggies for the curry and cook until the onion is translucent and the peppers are beginning to soften, about 6-8 minutes.
  3. Add the curry paste to the pan and sautee for another 2 minutes.
  4. Dump the coconut milk into the pan and give everything a good stir to combine. Season generously with salt and pepper, and stir in the brown rice.
  5. Bring the contents of the pan to a simmer and turn the heat to low, covering the pan and letting the curry cook for 35-40 minutes, until the rice is completely cooked through.
  6. Remove the pan from the heat season more to taste with salt and pepper, serve warm and enjoy!

I love this recipe so much and I hope you guys do too! See you Friday:))

Yours Truly,

Olivia;))

Fresh Baked Falafel

Hey guys! Welcome to my first recipe of 2021- I wanted to start the year off right and this recipe is SO GOOD. We’re making amazing homemade falafels that are packed with flavour and are super healthy too! All you’ve gotta so is follow three simple steps; blend, shape, then bake, and you can be poppin’ these bites of deliciousness into your very own mouth.

First off- blend! You’ve heard of a one bowl recipe, but have you ever heard of a no bowl recipe? Probably not until now, but that’s right- this recipe calls for no bowl and only one blender or food processor. All of the fresh and amazing ingredients for our falafels are being thrown in there and simply combined until a nice, even consistency is reached. I didn’t call these FRESH Baked Falafel just for fun either. We’ve got fresh parsley, freshly squeezed lemon juice, minced garlic, chopped onion, and so many other ingredients to make these chickpea nuggets come to life! I also used some oat flour to bind everything together, but if you prefer to use another kind of flour you can go ahead.

Step two- shape! I got out a little spoon, scooped tablespoon sized amounts of falafel mixture into my hands, and formed them into flat patties. This shape is the best for baking because the outsides get nice and browned while the inside still cooks all the way through. This step is pretty straight forward, and also fun and kind of messy.

Finally- bake! These babes bake for fifteen minutes on one side, then get flipped and bake for another fifteen. The result is a golden brown, toasty falafel that is amazing on or in just about anything. Bowls, salads, wraps, sandwiches; you name it, these will take it up a notch. I recommend making a double or triple batch, freezing them, and pulling them out when you want something fast and tasty.

Hope you enjoy these amazing Fresh Baked Falafels!! Let me know how they turn out when you give this recipe a try:)

Fresh Baked Falafel

Serves: Makes 9-10 Falafels

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 cup fresh parsley
  • 1/4 cup oat flour
  • 1/2 a white onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tbsp tahini
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Add all of the falafel ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend until everything is completely combined.
  3. Scoop the mixture out from the blender by tablespoon fulls and form into discs about 1/4 inch thick. Spread them out on a parchment lined baking sheet.
  4. Place the falafels in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. At this point, remove the pan, flip the falafels, and then place them back in the oven to bake for another 15 minutes.
  5. Take the falafels out of the oven, let them cool, and enjoy in bowls, salads, wraps, or sandwiches, or just dip in hummus.

Have fun making and eating these Falafels! See you guys Wednesday with another great recipe:)

Yours Truly,

Olivia:)))

Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies

Hey guys! I’m so excited because it’s Christmas Eve tomorrow!! And so to celebrate Christmas Eve Eve, we’ve got to have some more cookies! If you thought I could let a holiday season go by without making any sort of peanut butter recipe, then you would be mistaken. Peanut butter is still one of my favourite things on the planet, and so I had to make a delicious cookie using it!

I was inspired by the Kraft peanut butter cookie recipe, which I make a lot for my family. It’s super simple, using only peanut butter, sugar, and an egg, but I wanted to make it a bit healthier, and also add a super fun and delicious surprise inside! So I started by mixing together some oat flour, natural peanut butter, an egg, and some maple syrup. Natural peanut butter is one of my best discoveries over the past few years- you get all of the pure, peanut flavour without any added hydrogenated oils, sugar, or maltodextrin! If you haven’t already, make the switch because it’s definitely worth it:) Oat flour is another thing that’s great to have on hand; it’s just ground up oats. I keep a little bit in a small bag so it’s ready to use in speedy recipes like this!

Mixed up together, the ingredients make a nice dough that is easily rolled up into balls. This is where the surprise comes in! I stuck a frozen blueberry in each dough ball and then covered it with dough, flattening the whole thing a bit with my hand. The blueberry gets nice and melty and gooey in the oven, making for a super tasty centre and sort of a peanut butter and jam combo. The cookie itself is delicious as well! And they only bake for about 15 minutes, so they’re the perfect last-minute Christmas treat, either for Christmas day, or maybe after all the business is over and you want to relax with a peanut-buttery snack.

Enjoy these simple and tasty cookies!!:)

Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies

Serves: Makes 9 Cookies

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup creamy, unsalted natural peanut butter
  • 2/3 cup oat flour
  • 3 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 egg
  • 9 frozen blueberries

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Mix together the peanut butter, oat flour, maple syrup and egg in a medium sized bowl.
  3. Take a tablespoon sized amount of dough and roll it into a ball. Place a frozen blueberry in the centre, then roll again so that the blueberry is completely covered by dough. Put the ball of dough on a parchment lined baking sheet, and flatten slightly using your fingers. Repeat until you have 9 cookies on the sheet.
  4. Bake the cookies for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom.
  5. Cool completely and enjoy!

Have an amazing Christmas everybody! I’ll have a recipe coming oat on Christmas Day so make sure you check it out if you want a fun snack to make with your family. I hope you all spend time with loved ones and have a great holiday:))

Yours Truly,

Olivia:)))