Lunch

Lunch

Cashew Ginger Brown Rice Bowl with Dole Premium Celery Hearts

Dole-Premium-Celery-Hearts-Less-Stringy-Celery-Cashew-Ginger-Brown-Rice-Bowl-1Have you ever made a nice little snack of celery and peanut butter, and then bit into it only to struggle to get an actual bite because strings of celery just wouldn’t break and were stuck in your teeth? Yaaaa, not a fan! That feeling of stringy celery always gave me the heebie jeebies, but luckily Dole has changed my celery fears to cheers! You can now enjoy a special variety of celery that is exclusive to Dole that has a milder flavor, snappier crunch, and less stringy texture. Introducing Dole Premium Celery Hearts!

I love these tender young stalks for snacking because they really are exactly what they say: milder less celery-ish flavor, super easy to snap, break, and crunch, and way less stringy than any other celery I’ve eaten! Another reason I love Dole Premium Celery Hearts? I try not to add additional salt to my recipes, and celery has a natural salty flavor, which is great for Asian dishes, like my Cashew Ginger Brown Rice Bowl below!

I’m starting 2016 off right with a fully balanced Rabbit Food Pyramid approved meal for you guys! It’s pretty crazy that this lunch/dinner meal is a single serving for one person. At first, when you are chopping and prepping, it seems small, but once you add everything together, it’s a pretty awesome sized meal! It’s remarkable how much volume vegetables give to a dish once you add the RFFMBT recommended serving of 2 cups! Heres to a healthy & happy 2016 with tons of fab new Rabbit Food Pyramid approved meals that are totally filling, satisfying, and always tasty!

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Cashew Ginger Brown Rice Bowl with Dole Celery

1/2 cup sliced Dole Premium Celery Hearts
1/2 cup sliced red bell pepper
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup brown rice
1/2 cup shelled edamame
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp orange juice
1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
2 Tbsp cashews, crushed

1. Cook brown rice ahead of time and measure out 1/2 cup. Set aside in a bowl.
2. Prepare your vegetables: slice the celery, bell pepper, carrot, and chop the onion.
3. Whisk together the rice vinegar, orange juice, and ginger. Transfer the mixture into a saucepan. Add chopped vegetables and edamame to the pan and sauté in the mixture over medium heat until slightly tender.
4. After vegetables have finished cooking, add them to the bowl of brown rice.
5. Top the veggie bowl with crushed cashews. Enjoy.

The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown
Produce: Dole celery, bell pepper, carrot, & onion
Whole Grain: brown rice
Protein: edamame
Plant Based Fat: cashews
Free Extras: rice vinegar, orange juice, &  ginger

Health & Happiness
xo-Catherine

Let’s Taco ’bout Cinco de Mayo

Just when I thought today was great because it’s Cinco de Mayo, I realized it’s ALSO Taco Tuesday. Ummmm, how deliciously fitting!

So I know when you think of Mexican food “healthy” isn’t the first thing that comes to mind, but trust me, not all Mexican food has to be bad for your waistline! Celebrate Cinco de Mayo and Taco Tuesday tonight with these festive lightened-up tacos!

Spicy Korean TacosSpicy Korean Tacos
A vegan take on Korean street tacos from one of my favorite food trucks in LA, the Calbi truck! Made with my favorite Asian hot sauce Sriracha, tofu, cabbage, carrots, tofu, sesame seeds, sesame oil, wrapped up in fresh corn tortillas!
>>Get the recipe here<<

The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown
Produce: cabbage & carrots
Whole Grain: whole corn tortillas
Protein: tofu
Plant Based Fat: sesame oil & sesame seeds
Free Extras: vegetable broth, Sriracha, and tamari
Black Bean Fajita TacosBlack Bean Fajita Tacos
These low sodium, low fat, gluten free, vegan tacos are a favorite on my blog! Made with fajita style vegetables, sallt-free seasonings, black beans, homemade guacamole, and served in warm corn tortillas!
>>Get the recipe here<<

The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown
Produce: bell pepper & onions
Whole Grain: whole corn tortillas
Protein: beans
Plant Based Fat: avocado
Free Extras: jalapeño, garlic powder, lime juice, vegetable broth, fiesta lime seasoning

Balsamic-Tofu-Pineapple-Avocado-TacosBalsamic Tofu & Pineapple Tacos
Take your tacos tropical with a combination of pineapple, avocado, and tangy balsamic glaze for a mouthwatering combination of flavors! This recipe is vegan, gluten free, low sodium, and low fat yet full of flavor!
>>Get the recipe here<<

The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown
Produce: pineapple
Whole Grain: corn tortillas
Protein: tofu
Plant Based Fat: avocado
Free Extras: balsamic and honey mustard

 

No-Sugar-Added-Paloma-CocktailPair your tacos with a Skinny Paloma (no Sugar added) by one of my favorite bloggers and fellow Dole Ambassador: Brittany from Eating Bird Food (I love bird food and rabbit food, obvi!)! If you haven’t checked out her blog, do it now!

 

mango-margarita-frosty-30Looking for a virgin drink/mocktail for Cindo de Mayo? My friend (and another Dole Ambassador) Kathy from Healthy Happy Life has the most amazing Juicy Mango Margarita (Mocktail) for all of you bunnies!

Have a fun and safe Cinco de Mayo!
Health & Happiness
xo-Catherine

Golden Kale Salad

This week is seriously flying by! Thank you all so much for the love on my Youtube Video! I’m overwhelmed with the positive response and support from all of my bunnies. You guys are so encouraging and I am beyond excited to make more videos ASAP!

It’s so crazy that Matt’s week an a half home between tours is already over, it went by way too fast! On Wednesday morning I drove him to the airport at 5:30am and dropped him off for the next leg of the Pierce the Veil/Sleeping with Sirens tour in Europe and the UK. This leg is only 3 weeks long, which makes being thousands of miles apart seem like a piece of cake compared to the last run which was 2 months! I can’t wait for him to come back so he can be my taste tester again. I mean, he missed out on an amazing kale salad today! Although I’m sure the waffles he’s eating in Belgium right now are pretty darn good.

The first time I had this salad was a couple of weekends ago when my mom and I were at the UCLA Theta house for an alumni tea! As I was inhaling this salad I asked my mom “did the girls have Lemonade cater the event?” I asked one of the girls at our table who catered the event and she very excitedly said “Maddy and her mom made everything!” Um, what?! One of the college chapter girls (Maddy S., head of Alumnae Relations) made all of the delish healthy salads and veggie dishes at the event! I was seriously so impressed by her talent! I mean, I thought the entire event was catered! I immediately had to go and find Maddy and ask her for this kale salad recipe, which she told me that her mom learned about from Smitten Kitchen! I obsessed over this salad since the first time I had it, and I have been making it nonstop ever since!

You guys already know this about me, but if I make a recipe that yields 4-6 servings, I will literally eat the entire thing in one sitting. I don’t know why, but sometimes I feel like I was born without any real sense of fullness or portion control. Even after years of staying pretty on track, it’s still hard for me. If there’s a gigantic bowl of macaroni and cheese sitting in front of me, I’ll most likely finish the entire thing, and if I know there’s leftovers in the fridge I’ll eat them… so I’ve found that the best way to control portions is to only make one serving at a time. Hence the single serving meals! Plus I’m only cooking for myself most of the time anyways! I know a lot of my readers are young and not cooking for families, so single serving meals are a great fit for their lifestyle, but for my readers who do cook for their families and baby bunnies, all of my recipes can easily be doubled, tripled, etc. to fit their needs! All bunnies are accepted here, my blog isn’t one size fits all. I just like to show you what works for me!

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When it comes to removing stems and ribs from lacinato kale, I’ve found that removing the leaves by hand from the base upward is much easier than trying to cut them off with a knife.

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Golden Kale Salad
Serves 1

2 cups lacinato kale, chopped
¼ cup panko bread crumbs
¼ cup pecorino cheese (or parmesan)
2 Tbsp golden raisins
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp walnuts, chopped
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil

1. Rinse kale. Remove heavy stems and ribs from kale. Stack sections of leaves on top of one another and roll them into a tube, then cut them into very thin ribbons crosswise.
2. In a small saucepan over low heat, simmer white wine vinegar, water and raisins for 5 minutes, until plump and soft. Set aside in liquid.
3. In a small bowl, mix lemon juice and olive oil.
4. Place chopped kale in a large bowl. Add lemon juice and olive oil mixture and massage into the kale until evenly coated.
5. Add panko bread crumbs, raisins (without excess liquid), pecorino, and walnuts.
6. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving, if you can, as it helps the ingredients come together.

If you have extra time, this salad is even better with toasted walnuts! Heat oven to 350. Toast walnuts on a baking sheet for 10 minutes, tossing once. Let cool and coarsely chop before adding to your Golden Kale Salad

The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown:
Produce: kale and golden raisins
Whole Grain: panko bread crumbs*
Protein: pecorino cheese
Plant Based Fat: walnuts and olive oil

*Although panko bread crumbs are not whole wheat, they are made of wheat, so when it comes to the Rabbit Food Pyramid, they fit in the whole grain portion of the puzzle for a balanced rabbit food meal!

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Rosemary Coconut Stove Top Sweet Potatoes

My schedule has been insane recently. I feel like this is the first time in a while that I’ve actually slept in my own bed for more than 3 nights in a row! I feel so lucky that I get to travel for my job, and that my job allows me to travel for leisure as well. Last week I made a very last minute unexpected trip to Chicago to see Matt, and the week before that I was in Seattle with my momma!

Matt-and-I-Chicago-February-2015
So I originally posted about this recipe back in August when I was in New York – I know, it took me long enough, right? While I was in NY, my friend Dominique and her roommate Kat made me these Sweet Potatoes for dinner and I was obsessed! This was the first time I had seen someone cook sweet potatoes over the stove, and it changed my life! Cooking sweet potatoes over the stove is so easy and pretty much fool proof!

Rosemary-Coconut-Stove-Top-Sweet-Potatoes-1 Rosemary-Coconut-Stove-Top-Sweet-Potatoes-2 Rosemary-Coconut-Stove-Top-Sweet-Potatoes-3 Rosemary-Coconut-Stove-Top-Sweet-Potatoes-4 Rosemary-Coconut-Stove-Top-Sweet-Potatoes-5 I have an induction stove that ranges from heat level 1-9 and I left it on level 5 for the duration of my cooking time. My potatoes cooked perfectly in 13 minutes! Of course the cooking time varies depending on the size of your potato and pan. If you potato is larger, you can add 1 tsp more of coconut oil.

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Rosemary Coconut Stove Top Sweet Potatoes
Serves 2

1 sweet potato
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
1/8 tsp sea salt

Wash and dry sweet potato. Cube sweet potato into about 1 inch pieces. Place cubed sweet potato, coconut oil, rosemary, crushed garlic, and sea salt into a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir until sweet potato is evenly coated in the coconut oil and herb mixture. Cover for 12 minutes and stir occasionally (about every 2 minutes). Continue cooking until sweet potato is soft or desired texture is reached (12-15 minutes). Serve immediately.

The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown:
Produce: none
Whole Grain: Sweet potato*
Protein: none
Plant Based Fat: Coconut oil

*So I get asked fairly often if a potato counts as produce under The Rabbit Food Pyramid. While yes, a potato is classified as a vegetable it is also considered a “starchy food.” I know that a potato is not a whole grain, but I would put potatoes in the whole grain category since this is where the starchy foods like breads and rice fit into the puzzle. Basically, if you are trying to lose weight, I would try to avoid creating meals that combine potato as your vegetable serving, and then rice as your whole grain serving since it makes for a starchy, heavy meal. Something more appropriate and balanced would be a green vegetable salad with mushrooms and bell peppers as your vegetable serving and potato as your whole grain or starch serving! Or even red bell peppers as your vegetable serving stuffed with sweet potatoes as your whole grain/starch serving! I hope this helps you to better understand how to create balanced meals with the pyramid, and to see why certain foods are in the categories they are!

Rabbit Food Meal Tip: Complete this meal with a salad of 1.5 cups field greens, 1/4 cup of chopped mushrooms, and 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper as your vegetable serving, and 1/2 cup cooked lentils as your protein serving tossed with balsamic vinegar!

Dole Spinach Hummus & Pita Christmas Trees + Giveaway

Dole-Christmas-Tree-Spinach-Hummus-Pita-10Dole-Christmas-Tree-Spinach-Hummus-Pita-1 Dole-Christmas-Tree-Spinach-Hummus-Pita-4Dole-Christmas-Tree-Spinach-Hummus-Pita-2 Dole-Christmas-Tree-Spinach-Hummus-Pita-3Dole-Christmas-Tree-Spinach-Hummus-Pita-5 Dole-Christmas-Tree-Spinach-Hummus-Pita-6 Dole-Christmas-Tree-Spinach-Hummus-Pita-8 Dole-Christmas-Tree-Spinach-Hummus-Pita-9Seasons green-ings little bunnies! Christmas is approaching and it’s time to think outside of the box, I mean bowl (salad bowl, that is!) for creative healthy holiday appetizers! I created these adorable Christmas tree appetizers out of pita bread, pretzel sticks, homemade spinach hummus (made with Dole Baby Spinach), and red bell peppers as decorations. There is no cooking required, which makes it a win in my book, plus they’re great for kids and adults. These adorable little appies will be the talk of any holiday party! Lettuce celebrate! ha ha ha!

Dole Spinach Hummus & Pita Christmas Trees
Makes about 1 1/4 cup of hummus
Each pita round makes 8 “trees”

Dole Spinach Hummus
2 cups Dole Baby Spinach, packed
1 cup chickpeas
1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp tahini
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 – 1 whole clove garlic
pinch of sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until evenly mixed. Scrape down the sides of food processor with a spatula occasionally if needed.

Christmas Trees
whole grain pita bread
pretzel sticks
1 red bell pepper

Cut each round of pita bread into 8 triangles. Gently poke a pretzel stick into the bottom end of each pita using a twisting motion. Spread a thin layer of spinach hummus on each piece of pita. Thinly slice and chop the bell pepper into small pieces and decorate the pita trees (like tinsel or garland).

For more healthy holiday recipes, try Dole’s Laurel RougeWinter Citrus SaladButternut Hummus Tartine with Parmesan, and Green Pancakes with Pear-Lime Relish!

Health & Happiness
xo-Catherine

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Must use a valid email address to enter. Must be a US resident to enter. Giveaway ends on Sunday, December 21st at 11:59 PM (PST).
1 winner will be randomly selected and announced on Monday, December 22nd.

This post has been sponsored by Dole. I received compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

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