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Contests & Giveaways, Dinner, Lunch, Raw, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Slam Dunk Lettuce Wraps + Dole Giveaway

I love DOLE Chopped Salads because it’s a quick and easy way to eat more rabbit food. They’re filled with all sorts of goodies like different lettuces (green cabbage, red cabbage, and kale), broccoli slaw, carrots, and even snap peas! It’s an easy way to change up my usual all spinach or all kale salad and get some different textures and new flavors in the mix. My fav way to eat a chopped salad is to pour the entire bag (yup, all 4 servings! Only 100 calories and 8 grams of fiber for the entire thing!) into a gigantic mixing bowl, throw on some homemade dressing, mix it up, and nom nom that shiznit up. Straight out of the mixing bowl. Awww yeahhhh. But besides eating the entire bag like a rabbit, I love branching out and making new recipes. For example, I love filling spring rolls with the Asian Blend for a quick and easy appetizer when friends come over!

Since March Madness is just around the corner and basketball is all about those slam dunks, I teamed up (no pun intended!) with DOLE Salads to make the ultimate dunk recipe! Serve them up while watching the March Madness games as a fresh snack that’s so healthy, you can dunk into that sauce alllll you want! I love that the Asian Blend is filled with green cabbage, red cabbage, kale, broccoli slaw, snap peas, and carrots. It makes for a super easy veggie filling for my lettuce wraps with little prep!

These fresh Asian lettuce wraps are so easy to make, and even easier to devour!
They’re a total slam dunk!

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Dole-Chopped-Salad-Asian-Blend-Helathy-Lettuce-Wraps-4Love this adorable chopping block from DOLE to chop my ingredients! This bamboo Mezzaluna style chopping block comes with a double-bladed herb knife that actually stores inside of the unit when it’s not in use!

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Slam Dunk Lettuce Wraps
Serves 4-5 as an appetizer or 1 as a meal!

Lettuce Wraps:
2 cups DOLE Chopped Asian Blend
1/2 cup cooked quinoa, chilled
2 Tbs cashews, chopped
2 Tbsp Sweet Chili Sauce
5 butter lettuce leaves

Sweet Chili Sauce:
3/4 cup rice vinegar
3/4 cup honey
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp chili pepper, finely chopped
2 tsp red-pepper flakes
1/2 tsp coarse salt

Cook and chill quinoa beforehand. Combine all ingredients for the sweet chili sauce, mix well, and refrigerate. In a mixing bowl, combine the DOLE Chopped Asian Blend, quinoa, and sweet chili sauce. Scoop the filling into lettuce wraps using a 1/4 cup measuring cup. Dunk into sweet chili sauce as desired, and enjoy while watching March Madness!

The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown
Produce: Dole Chopped Asian Blend and butter lettuce
Whole Grain:  quinoa
Protein: none
Plant Based Fat: cashews

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I’m hosting a giveaway in collaboration with DOLE Salads & EatingWell!
One lucky RFFMBT reader will win:

(Free) DOLE Salads coupons to try DOLE Chopped Salads
DOLE chopping block
DOLE reusable grocery bag
The Simple Art of EatingWell Cookbook
EatingWell Fast & Flavorful Meatless Meals Cookbook

*Must use a valid email address and be a US resident to enter.
Giveaway ends on Friday, March 14th at 11:59pm PST.
Winner will be announced on Saturday, March 15th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Want more dunk able March Madness recipes to make with DOLE Chopped Salads?
Checkout their “Super Dunk” dip & “Avocado Spring Rolls,” both featuring DOLE Chopped Asian Blend!

| 120 Comments
Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Maple Lemon Tempeh

Today’s recipe is from one of my favorite healthy recipe blogs, Eating Bird Food (Obviously bird food and rabbit food is where it’s at!). I had been dying to try Brittany’s Maple Lemon Tempeh Cubes recipe since I first saw it last week and finally got around to making it today! I love Brittany’s blog because she has some amazing flavor combinations and great healthy recipe ideas. I love her approach of healthy eating and I think you will too!

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I made these tempeh cubes to eat on top of a salad but ended up having a serving straight from the oven with a fork! They have just the right amount of crispiness and tons of flavor.

If you’ve never had tempeh before, you have to try it!
Tempeh is one of my favorite plant based vegan proteins. It’s similar to tofu because it is made from soybeans, but it’s taste and texture are completely different. Tempeh is much more textured and firm since the soybeans are cooked and slightly fermented, and has a mild nutty flavor. It’s low in fat and high in protein and calcium, making it a great addition for stir-frys and salads.

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Maple Lemon Tempeh
Adapted from Eating Bird Food
Serves 3

1 package tempeh (I recommend LightLife’s Three Grain)
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons water
¼ teaspoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon powdered garlic
fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Heat oven to 400°. Chop tempeh into bite size cubes. Heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet on medium-high heat. Once melted and hot, add tempeh and cook for 2-4 minutes until the tempeh turns a golden brown color. While the tempeh is browning, mix together the lemon juice, maple syrup, water, basil, garlic, and black pepper. Pour mixture over tempeh and stir around to coat the tempeh. Sauté for 2-3 minutes. The tempeh should be nice and brown on both sides. Transfer the tempeh cubes to a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes in the oven until crispy. Remove from the oven, plate and serve.

The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown
Produce: none
Whole Grain:  none
Protein: tempeh
Plant Based Fat: olive oil
Free Extras: lemon juice, basil, garlic, pepper

To make a complete Rabbit Food Pyramid approved meal with your Maple Lemon Tempeh, here are some ideas!
Meal Idea 1: Combine with 2 cups of veggies (carrots, snow peas, broccoli, cauliflower, and peppers) and serve with 1/2 cup of brown rice.
Meal Idea 2: Combine with 2 cups of chopped kale and wrap into a whole grain tortilla or wrap.
Meal Idea 2: Serve on top of 2 cups of spinach and 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa!.

| 7 Comments
Breakfast, Lunch, Raw, Recipes, Smoothies, Snacks, Vegan, Vegetarian

Copycat {whole foods} Tropical Green Smoothie

I am really really excited to tell you guys that I am an official contributor for Olympic gold medal winning gymnast Shawn Johnson’s website The Body Department! The goal for Shawn and TBD is to provide a safe and healthy place for young women to come and talk about health and body image in a positive way. You can see my Contributor Profile on TBD, where Shawn will be sharing some of my recipes and tips to live a healthy vibrant life! She also posts some great workouts that you guys will love!

I went to Whole Foods the other night after spin and ended up ordering the BEST smoothie. I’ve been making my Simple Green Smoothie every morning, but I’m quite certain that this is my new go to! The best part is that it’s just as simple to make! See my video below to watch me make this smoothie step by step!

Below is the 24 oz Tropical Green Smoothie that I purchased from Whole Foods for $5.95.
It consisted of spinach, coconut water, banana, pineapple, and mango.
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I love getting smoothies from juice bars and markets when I’m low on time and groceries, but sometimes I don’t think their smoothies are thick enough for my liking and I drink them in a nanosecond. My recipe is a little bit thicker but to my knowledge, tastes exactly the same as theirs! If you like thick smoothies, you are in the right place! But if you like your smoothies a little thinner, no problem, just add some extra coconut water to this recipe!

Below is my Copycat Tropical Green Smoothie!

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Copycat {whole foods} Tropical Green Smoothie
Serves 1

1/2 – 1 cup coconut water (I used O.N.E.brand)
1 frozen banana
1/2 cup pineapple
1/2 cup mango
huge handful of spinach

Start with 1/2 cup of coconut water and add more if needed or desired. Blend until creamy and smooth.

Vitamix Blending Tips:
Some of you have asked me what settings I use on my blender.
Vitamix blenders can look intimidating, but they are so easy to use!

  • Start by placing all of the ingredients into the blender, followed by the lid, and plunger.
  • I usually start off on variable 5 as I jam all of the ingredients down with the plunger.
  • Once the ingredients have all been pushed to the bottom, I like to bring the variable speed up to 7 or 8 until it starts moving on it’s own without the plunger.
  • Once the ingredients start blending without the help of the trusty Vitamix plunger, I hit the “HIGH” switch and let it run until it blends super smooth and even!

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I hope you guys enjoy this smoothie as much as I did!
And I apologize for all of the smoothie recipes recently, it’s so hot in CA! We literally haven’t had winter at all here, boooo. I want snow and hot soup!

| 16 Comments
Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Snacks, Vegan, Vegetarian

Quinoa & Beet Kale Dolmades

Thank you so very much for your comments on my last post. You are all so beautiful and I appreciate you sharing your personal stories with me : ) Your support is incredible and I’ve never been so moved my complete strangers before. What am I talking about, I feel like I know some of you by now because I get to talk to you on Facebook and Instagram all the time! I just adore you guys!
Oh, and I just realized that I really need to update my fitness page since my routine has definitely changed from when I first started this blog. Working on that right meow!

To start the weekend off right, I made some Quinoa & Beet Dolmades made with Tuscan kale for the ultimate veggie snack! The idea was inspired by my friend’s mom who is a chef (she makes amazing Greek food)! Instead of traditional dolmas with meat and grape leaves, I changed it up with quinoa & kale! They’re so refreshing, I think you will absolutely love them slathered in hummus. The cooked kale wrap turned out awesome and I cannot wait to try this same technique with some more recipes! I hope you have an amazing weekend and eat lots and lots of rabbit food!

xo
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Quinoa & Beet Kale Dolmades
Serves 1

4 leaves of dinosaur/Tuscan kale
1/2 cup beets, grated
1/4 cup uncooked quinoa + 1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp orange zest

Cook quinoa to package instructions. Fill a separate pan with water and bring to medium/high heat. Place washed kale leafs spine/stem side down in the warm water, cover, and soak for 10-15 minutes until the leafs become flexible (This will help you to roll the dolmades without the leaves breaking). Add grated beets, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and orange zest to the cooked quinoa. After the kale leaves have become pliable, remove from the water and pat dry. One by one, place kale stem side up, add 2 Tbsps of quinoa mixture, fold edges in and fold tightly (like a burrito). Once all leaves have been rolled up, place them in a pan with olive oil and 1/2 cup of water. Cover and set to medium/high heat. You want the water and oil to simmer but not boil. Let the dolmas cook in the covered pan for 45 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of water at a time if needed throughout the process. Once the leaves have darkened, remove from the pan and transfer to a plate. Enjoy with hummus!

Note: I love these after the have chilled in the refrigerator!

The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown
Produce: kale & beets
Whole Grain: quinoa
Protein: none – enjoy with 1/4 cup hummus
Plant Based Fat: olive oil
Free Extras: lemon juice, orange zest, & balsamic vinegar

| 11 Comments
Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Balela Salad

Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you: a healthy Middle Eastern dish!

I’ve been addicted to Trader Joe’s Balela Salad (Middle Eastern chickpea & black bean salad) for a while now. Balela is savory and tangy with a gratifying bite. Plus, thanks to the amazing plant-based protein and fiber, it’s quite filling. I’m pretty sure you guys are going to be hooked like I am!

It’s amazing on it’s own, but if you are following the Rabbit Food Pyramid, you can add some lettuce and tuck it into a whole wheat pita pocket, or serve over a bed of lettuce and quinoa!

Love my new bunny bowl that Brett gave me for Christmas! It’s so photogenic : )

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Balela Salad
Serves 1
1/2 cup chickpeas, cooked (I use Eden Organic – No Salt Added Chickpeas)
1/4 cup black beans, cooked (I use 365 Organic No Salt Added Black Beans)
1/4 cup chopped fresh tomato
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp cup chopped red onion
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
Pinch of cayenne
Salt & Pepper to taste

Rinse and strain cooked chickpeas and black beans. Chop, tomato, garlic, red onion, parsley, and mint. Combine together with the chickpeas, beans, lemon juice, olive oil, and apple cider vinegar. Add cayenne, salt and pepper to taste. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator.
Note: This dish is best after the chickpeas have marinated for several hours of overnight.
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Make your meal RFFMBT Pyramid approved:
Serve over a bed of lettuce and quinoa
or
Add lettuce and tuck it all into a whole grain pita pocket!

The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown
Produce: tomato, garlic, red onion, parsley, mint (1 cup of lettuce if desired)
Whole Grain: None (1/2 cup of cooked quinoa – or 1/2 whole wheat pita pocket if desired)
Protein: chickpeas & black beans
Plant Based Fat: olive oil
Free Extras: lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, cayenne, salt & pepper

… I love rabbit food!

| 8 Comments

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