Late Summer Recipes

I know, it’s already fall in some places, but it’s still been hot here in Texas, so I wanted to jot down a few of our end-of-season eats delicious eats.  I’ve had a special treat of David helping me in the kitchen lately (he knows I love when we cook together), and I like the new ideas and flavor combinations he brings.

Breakfast: I am still on a major smoothie kick; can’t stop, won’t stop.  They are too delicious and there are too many possibilities!  Plus a great way to get all my vitamins + antioxidants straight away.  I’ve been making green smoothies when I have time at home on the weekends and/or if I don’t go to the gym on the way to work.  If I swim in the  AM and drive to work directly afterwards, I usually drink a small kid’s Horizons organic milk to refuel immediately, then I have some overnight (soaked) oats once I get to my desk.

The overnight oats the the bottom right above were spectacular: oats, chia seed, pumpkin seed, flax seed, soaked in milk and topped with frozen blueberries, fresh raspberries and fresh figs.  And spiced with cinnamon, cloves, ginger and a little maple.  Maybe I went overboard, but it was SO good.  I like them served cold or at room temperature during the summer.

Lunch:  I normally pack my lunch for work, but when we have time on the weekends, I love to make a colorful creation.  Below left is an adaption of Oh She Glow’s the Big Vegan Bowl.  I think I had this two days in a row it was so good.  Who doesn’t want a big dollop of hummus on everything?!  I am also having an obsession with purple cabbage.  It brightens my plate.  Below right is a standard egg-veggie-rice scramble that we do around here.  I like 1 egg + 2 egg whites with nutritional yeast and a stir fry of whatever veggies I have with a little soy or tamari and sesame seeds over brown rice.  David said he could eat this everyday at work if only they had a kitchen.

Dinner:  I had been doing some reading on how great lentils are for you (fiber, folate, protein) and decided to cook more of them lately.  By chance I whipped up some lentil tacos (or fajitas?) with onion, bell pepper, jalapeno and some taco seasoning (which I keep a little bag of on-hand).  These were a hit!  We ate them twice in one week and served them with a side of fruit.  Dragon fruit is pictured below.

I also decided to get some variety in my dark leafy greens and get collards instead of the usual kale.  I always forget about collards, then when I get them realize how versatile they are.  They were awesome for burrito wraps (see this tutorial), with lots of veggies, brown rice, tofu and hummus inside.  They also worked really well in smoothies.

We’ve also enjoyed pizza night lately using Whole Food’s pre-made frozen pizza dough.  It’s not homemade, but it’s one of our favorites.  We like that we can add our own toppings and usually end up with some sort of margarita-like pizza with dollops of cheese (not too much!).

And lastly David surprised me by picking out a recipe and cooking this amazing Mango-lime Ceviche!  We used poached Swai fish (Asian catfish which I preferred to US catfish – still a “Best Choice” at Seafood Watch). It was so fresh and flavorful, and I already asked if we could make it again.

Dessert: David and I cannot find dark chocolate better than Equal Exchange Extra Dark Chocolate 80% which I buy on Vitacost or iHerb.  It is the BEST, and it is organic & fair trade.  I also found the trick to suck on chocolate instead of chew it.  It lasts longer and you get to taste all the flavors.  Don’t knock it until you try it!