Smart Snacks

Health

Before I decided to cut meat out of my life, I loved a good chicken salad. Sometimes I see a rotisserie chicken salad at the supermarket and feel a tiny pang of sadness and regret (not really, but I do get a craving every now and then). So, imagine my utter joy when I came across this mashed chickpea salad recipe from The Simple Veganista.

The ingredient list is short and sweet, just like the preparation. It requires no cooking, just a little chopping ,a little mashing, a little mixing, and a lot of face-stuffing.

And oh my, it is so, so delicious – very reminiscent of a good ole’ chicken salad. But don’t take it from me – try it yourself! I put a slight spin on her original recipe, but kept it pretty close to the original.

You’ll Need:

1 can (15 oz.) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
½ cup shredded carrots (you could also dice carrots)
½ cup green onions, sliced
¼ cup Simply Mayo (if you want a vegan mayo that tastes like mayo, TRY SIMPLY MAYO. Amazing.)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Sea salt and cracked pepper to taste
Dash of garlic powder (ok, I used more than a dash… I like a lot of it)
Juice of ½ lemon (optional, but adds refreshing flavor)

The prep:

Drain and rinse your chickpeas, then mash them in a bowl with a potato masher or the back of a fork, until your desired texture is reached.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir until mixed.

You’re done! All you need to do now is serve it on a sandwich, with crackers, on a bed of greens or straight up out of the bowl. My favorite way to eat it is in a pita pocket with spinach.

It is an amazingly delicious lunch, dinner and snack, full of protein and fiber. Let us know what you think!

What smart snacks are you enjoying?

Image: Emma

mushrooms
Health

This is one of my favorite quick and easy snacks to prepare. Portabellas are often called the meat of the vegetable world, so these little guys are super filling, and can double as an appetizer, wrap filler or salad topper.

Here’s what you’ll need to make about 30 garlicky portabella bites:

  • 5 large portabella mushrooms
  • 3 large eggs
  • 4 cups garlic and herb breadcrumbs
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

Step-by-step instructions:

  1. Remove the gills from the portabellas and rinse them.
  2. Slice them into strips. You can cut the strips in half if you want to make the bites smaller.
  3. Beat the three eggs together, mixing in the garlic powder and as much salt and pepper as you prefer.
  4. Dip the portabella strips in the egg mixture.
  5. Dip them into the bread crumbs, coating all sides of the portabella.
  6. Place a tbsp. olive oil in a pan and swirl to coat the pan.
  7. Place the pan over medium heat and place the portabella strips on the pan, cooking for around 3 minutes on each side. Depending on the size of your strips, you may need to cook for longer. When the crust is golden brown, flip them.
  8. Tip: to save for later, coat the mushrooms in the batter and put in the fridge for later – you can cook all of them up later in under 15 minutes!

These taste great with ranch dressing or aioli!

What smart snacks are you enjoying? Share below!

Image: Big Bear’s Wife

smoothie
HealthRecipesWellness

Busy people have a lot of breakfast criteria: it needs to be nutritious and filling, give us lasting energy, and be quick and easy to prepare. Sometimes taste falls by the wayside in our attempts to make something fast and get out the door.

Smoothies generally fit the “filling, nutritious and quick” criteria, but it can be hard to hit the right mark. Sometimes they’re too liquid-y and not filling enough. Other times they just taste like nastiness in a cup. It’s hard to make a good one, and I’m not going to drop $5-10 every morning for someone to make me one.

For these reasons, I’ve never been a smoothie person. Something about this smoothie, though, makes me excited to get up and eat breakfast! You can throw it in a bowl or to-go cup. It is pretty thick, though, so I recommend a spoon.

Here’s what you’ll need:

5 strawberries, fresh
1 banana, frozen
1 tbsp. almond butter
½ cup Greek yogurt or light yogurt (any flavor, although strawberry or vanilla work best in my opinion)
¼ cup oats
¼ cup spinach or kale (or both!)

To make it, simply combine all ingredients into a blender and pulse on high until your smoothie reaches a consistency you like. Then, pour it into a cup or a bowl and sprinkle a handful of oats on top. It’s that easy.

Tip: if you want a thinner consistency, try replacing the yogurt with coconut milk.

Tip: cut the strawberries in halves or quarters, and break the banana into quarters before or after freezing. This makes things easier on the blender.

This smoothie makes an awesome immune-booster, too. I drink it whenever I’m sick and it soothes a sore throat and lessens cold symptoms.

What breakfast foods get you through your day?

Image: elana’s pantry

recipe 1
HealthRecipesWellness

As a vegetarian who hates eggs, I have to get my protein somewhere, which means I use a lot of legumes in my cooking. And, most of the time I’m too busy (read: unwilling) to cook an elaborate meal. Thus, I rely a lot on no-cook recipes to get me through my days.

Below are two of my newfound favorite bean dips that make perfect spreads and sandwich/taco fillers, veggie dips, or just meals on their own. They’re filling and delicious, and best of all, they each take under 20 minutes to make!

recipe 1

Spicy Mango Black Bean Salsa

Summer is technically over, but I live in Texas, which means it still feels pretty dang summery. So, I’ve used it as an excuse to continue making my refreshing mango salsa. This is one of my absolute favorites; I put it on tortillas to make vegetarian tacos, use it for nachos, put it on salads or just eat it plain.

1 Keitt mango (very large) or 2 medium sized mangos cut into small chunks
1 tomato, diced
1 small red onion, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
1 avocado, chopped
1 can black beans
Jalapenos (either 1 fresh, chopped, or as many pickled jalapeno slices as you please)
Juice from 1 lime
Salt and cracked black pepper (to taste)
Hot sauce (as MUCH as you want! Cholula is my favorite)
Red wine vinegar (just a dash)
Cilantro (a pinch)

This is so easy.

First, rinse and drain the black beans. I like to keep as much liquid out of the salsa as possible. Next, pour the beans into a large bowl with everything else, and mix it together. This recipe makes a good amount of salsa; at least three meals’ worth.

I like to play around with the amount of hot sauce/jalapenos/red wine vinegar/salt and pepper/other ingredients. Sometimes I add random spices, like paprika, and sometimes I add in corn. The point is to make it your own! Taste it as you mix, adding ingredients as you see fit.

There are a lot of different flavors involved in this one, so it makes for an awesome meal.

recipe 3

Kale & White Bean Hummus

I love this dip. I put it on sandwiches with cucumbers, shredded carrots, sliced bell peppers and chopped red onion (you could add feta and other veggies, too) and it’s so delicious. It also makes a perfect veggie dip and goes great on pita bread. This morning I ate it straight with a spoon.

2 cans white or cannellini beans
½ cup pesto
Balsamic vinaigrette
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Literally, pour all the ingredients into a food processor. Mix them. Done. Add balsamic, salt and lemon juice as needed once mixed. Like I said, this goes perfectly on a veggie (or meat if you’re into that) sandwich.

What smart snacks are you enjoying?

Images: Maggie Hoffman, Nora Kuby