Yeah. I said it. It's true. Sometimes, I like nachos for dinner.

But the thing is, it doesn't have to be a guilt ridden ordeal. You can make nachos that are not-so-bad for you, or even possibly GOOD for you! Given the right ingredients.

This recipe has veggies, plant based protein, and fiber! And no gluten. I added cheese on top, but if your body has a hard time with dairy products, then you can put a dairy free cheese on top, or drizzle with a yummy cilantro-lime sauce after it's done cooking. You can use tortilla chips to dip, or mix it up with celery sticks, carrot sticks, rice crackers... anything else that lets the dip shine!

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp grapeseed or avocado oil
• 1 white or yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 peppers (green, yellow, red, orange), diced
• 1 can lentils rinsed and drained
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• optional: 1-2 cup grated Monterey jack or cheddar cheese
• Something to dip: tortilla chips, bean chips, celery, carrots, rice crackers...

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Heat a cast iron pan or other oven friendly pan on medium with 1 tsp grapeseed or avocado oil.
3. Add onions, garlic, peppers and saute for 5 - 10 minutes until onion is translucent.
4. Add spices, stir to coat.
5. Add lentils, stir to mix and cook for about 5 minutes.
6. Add can of diced tomatoes and their juices, let simmer for 10 minutes.
7. Turn stovetop off, add the cheese and bake in oven for 10 minutes, until cheese is bubbly.
   ** if you aren't using cheese, you can skip this step. I suggest making this avocado/cilantro dressing to drizzle on top before serving: detoxinista.com/avocado-cilantro-dressing-vegan/
8. Remove from oven - careful it's very hot!! Serve with your dippers of choice.

I'm still on my jackfruit kick! I can't believe how tasty these dishes are... I may have a small addiction developing...

This enchilada dish that I found on Upton Naturals site can be completely made from scratch from the tortillas to the enchilada sauce to the filling, or you can pick and choose depending on your time constraints. I highly recommend the tortillas if you are gluten free - you just can't buy gluten free tortillas these tasty. But, in a pinch, some corn or brown rice tortillas will do. I also highly recommend making your own enchilada sauce as this way you know exactly what is going in... no weird preservatives or sugar or chemicals.
I use the sauce from Oh She Glows: ohsheglows.com/2016/01/31/enchilada-sauce.
​
Tortilla recipe here: www.glutenfreebaking.com/how-to-make-gluten-free-flour-tortillas

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 green or red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 can young jackfruit
• 1 cup vegan cheddar cheese, divided (optional, or use regular cheese if you can tolerate dairy)
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• Hot sauce, if desired
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 8-12 small corn flour or brown rice tortillas, warmed
• 1 1/2-2 cups enchilada sauce, store bought or homemade, divided
• Toppings: diced green onions, sliced avocado, Tofuetti sour cream, cilantro, chopped tomato
  

Direct​ions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Drain liquid off of jackfruit then place it in a food processor or blender and pulse quickly until it looks like little bits of chicken.

3. Heat up the grapeseed oil in a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute for 3 minutes. Add the bell pepper, cumin, smoked paprika, and chili powder and stir to coat. Add the jackfruit and cook for 5 minutes until the vegetables and jackfruit are tender and flavourful. Remove from heat and stir in 1/3 cup vegan cheddar cheese, lime juice, and salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside the jackfruit mixture. Reserve the remaining cheese.

4. Coat the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish with enchilada sauce, approximately 3/4 cup. To assemble the enchiladas, fill a tortilla with 2-3 tablespoons of the jackfruit mixture, then roll it up and place seam side down in the prepared baking dish. Repeat until all the tortillas and/or jackfruit are gone, or the baking dish is full. If you’re using corn tortillas and having trouble with them cracking or ripping, make sure they stay warm so they are more flexible.

5. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce on top, then sprinkle with the remaining vegan (or regular) cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly, the cheese is melted, and the tortillas are golden. Serve garnished with fresh cilantro, chopped green onions, sliced avocado, chopped tomato, and vegan sour cream (Tofuetti is a great brand!), if desired.

* if you are looking to increase the protein content of the dish you can add a small can of drained black beans to the cooking jackfruit mixture.

**Enchilada photo take from: Uptonnaturals.com

I call these bowls Buddha Bowls because while living in Vancouver when I would go to any restaurant in Chinatown, the vegetarian option would be called a Buddha Bowl. Of course, in Chinatown they usually had a Chinese/Vietnamese/Korean style, but I've adopted it as any mixed bowl of veggies, grains, legumes, topped with a delicious sauce of some sort. 

Last night was the Mexican Buddha Bowl.

It was so hot last night so I definitely wanted something fresh that required minimal cooking. I threw on some rice and while that was cooking I cooked the black beans and chopped up the various veggies to put on top. I love Buddha Bowls because you can really tailor them to whatever you have in your fridge - great to use up bits of veggies hanging at the bottom of the drawer.

Rice:

• 1 cup rice
• 2 cups veggie broth
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce or pureed tomatoes
• 1/4 diced onion

Directions: (you don't have to be fancy with the rice either - you can just use regular white or brown rice if you're in a hurry!)

• Saute the rice grains in a bit of oil, add in the cumin and garlic powder. Stir
• When it becomes fragrant, add the broth, tomatoes, diced onion and bring to boil. 
• Turn it down and let it simmer on low until the rice is nice and fluffy.

Beans

• 1 can black beans
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 1/4 cup veggie broth
• 1 clove garlic

Directions: 

• Heat your pan and cook the garlic for 30 seconds.
• Add the cumin, salsa, broth, and beans
• Stir every couple of minutes until the liquid has boiled off.

Toppings:

• Kale: chopped and lightly massaged with olive oil
• Garlic scapes and green/red/yellow pepper lightly sautéed in oil
• Salsa
• Avocado or guacamole
• Tofuetti (vegan sour cream, bought at Sobeys)
• Fresh grape or cherry tomatoes
• Cilantro

Directions:

• Once the rice is done cooking, place in a bowl and top with beans and any or all of the above toppings! Enjoy.

This bowl is great because you get your antioxidants from the colorful veggies, the fiber and protein from your black beans, and if you cook in a cast iron pan, you will get a nice amount of iron that leeches from the pan while cooking. And also: an easy gluten free, dairy free, meat free, nut free dish!!  

​The Nor'easter yesterday gave Tony and myself the push to get in the kitchen and cook up our own storm! Tony brought the camera in and put his amateur photography skills at work for me.

We cooked up a delicious Mexican themed bowl with a base of polenta (a gluten free cornmeal) topped with black beans, veggies, salsa, and vegan sour cream. Yum! We had left over polenta so the next morning we fried it up in coconut oil and topped with eggs. Double yum! (recipe to follow)

Polenta is a great gluten free option. It's quick and easy and very versatile. The black beans are the source of protein for this meal, and the veggies give us the fiber we need!

This recipe is gluten free and vegan, adapted from www.edibleperspective.com; she breaks down the recipe in a nice step by step guide. Enjoy!

for the onions + peppers

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 1/2 sweet bell peppers, sliced
• sea salt

1. Heat the coconut oil in your largest pan over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and peppers and stir frequently until just softened. 5-7 minutes.
3. Generously sprinkle with salt, stir, then reduce heat to med-low for about 25-30 minutes until fully golden brown and caramelized.  Stir every few minutes.

for the black beans

• 2 teaspoons coconut oil
• 1 3/4 cup cooked black beans, rinsed + drained
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup salsa, not chunky
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• sea salt

1. Heat the coconut oil in a pot over medium heat.
2. Add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds – 1 minute until fragrant and lightly browned.
3. Stir in the black beans, veggie broth, salsa, cumin, and a few pinches of salt.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer uncovered for 10 – 15 minutes until thickened and almost all of the liquid has cooked off, stirring occasionally.
5. Taste and add more salt if desired.

for the polenta

• 1 cup dry polenta grits
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional if vegan)
• few splashes of hot sauce
• sea salt + black pepper

Check your individual bag of polenta grits, exact instructions may vary.

1. Bring water + veggie broth to a boil.
2. Slowly stir in the polenta grits, add a few pinches of salt, and reduce heat to simmer.
3. Stir occasionally for 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the cheese [if using], hot sauce, and a few pinches of black pepper, then cover for 5 minutes before serving.  If it thickens too much add a bit more water and heat over med-low until smoothed out and creamy.
5. Taste and add more salt if needed.

for the quick guacamole

• 2 avocados
• 1 lime
• sea salt

1. Mash the avocado and add the juice from 1 lime.
2. Mix together with a few pinches of sea salt.
3. Taste and add more salt if desired. 

Layer the polenta with the black beans, veggies, salsa, vegan sour cream (found at Sobeys in the natural food refrigerator), a sprinkle of cheese, green onions, cilantro... what ever you choose!

Celebrating Canada Day with Mexican food... and it couldn't taste so right. This was so good that we didn't even take the time to capture a pic, we had to use the picture from the original website: www.number-2-pencil.com

This dish was so easy. So delicious. So gluten free. And could be so many other things... it's very easy to switch things up to your liking! We added lots of fresh veggies and indulged with cheese and sour cream, but this dish would taste great vegan... or with some chicken if you are so inclined! We were actually inspired by an amazing little cafe in Chester called the Compass Rose. It had vegetarian, gluten free options, lovely sidewalk seats to sit with our pups, awnings to shade us from the brilliant sun...what more could you ask for? Go check it out!




Ingredients

• 3 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 diced yellow onion
• 1 red pepper diced... or green, yellow, orange...
• 1 handful cremini mushrooms, diced
• 1/2 of a zucchini, diced 
• 1 handful swiss chard, chopped.... or spinach, kale...
• 1 handful frozen corn
• 1 cup of uncooked extra-long grain rice
• 1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 15oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 2 cups of veggie broth
• 2 cups of colby jack, monterey jack or cheddar cheese
• kosher salt and pepper
• freshly diced tomatoes
• diced green onions
• diced romaine lettuce
• sour cream
• guacamole
• cilantro leaves (we didn't have this but I really wish we did!)

Instructions

1. Sauté onions in 2 tablespoon of olive oil until they start to soften. ***
2. Add peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, corn, swiss chard and briefly saute.
3. In the other side of the pan add an additional tablespoon of olive oil and sauté uncooked rice for about 2 minutes or just until some grains start to turn golden brown.
4. Stir in black beans, canned tomatoes, broth, garlic powder, chili powder and cumin.
5. Bring to a simmer, cover and reduce heat to low.
6. Cook about 20 minutes or until rice is tender.
7. Season with additional salt and pepper as needed.
8. Sprinkle with cheese, recover and let set for 2-3 off heat to melt cheese.
9. Garnish with fresh tomatoes, green onions, romaine lettuce, cilantro, sour cream and guacamole.

** For the vegans: leave out the cheese and sour cream!
*** For the meatatarians: add diced boneless, skinless chicken breasts to the sauteing onions with salt and pepper over medium heat until it starts to brown.

Am I ever glad to be home safe. Tony and I journeyed home in the storm yesterday from Fredericton hitting the worst of the weather. We planned the trip to miss the "Saturday" storm, but sometimes no matter how much planning you do, life decides to give you a wee challenge. So we went slow and steady and tried our best to attract safety into our adventure.

Needless to say, we felt we deserved a treat upon our arrival home. Hence: TACO NIGHT!

We grabbed a taco kit from the grocery store, and despite one or two preservatives/chemicals, the kit wasn't so bad... the tacos were made from corn flour so we decided that life is about moderation and we grabbed some fresh veggies, organic cheese and sour cream and cooked ourselves into a stress-free zone.

I improvised and made some "taco meat" with lentils, chopped red peppers and mushrooms and spices, and it turned out amazing! We definitely didn't miss the ground beef in this recipe; the flavours were the main attraction here!

Ingredients:

• Taco kit (tacos, taco spices, taco sauce)
• Sour cream or Tofuetti (vegan sour cream)
• Organic marbled cheese, shredded (try Daiya vegan cheese or opt out of cheese if vegan)
• Fresh lettuce, shredded
• Fresh tomatoes, diced
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 1 can of lentils, drained and rinsed
• 1 large handful of cremini mushrooms, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 onion, diced

Directions:

• Start cooking onion over medium heat in large frying pan. Add lentils, red pepper and mushrooms and cook for 5-7 minutes.
• Add taco spices and 1/2 cup of water, let cook down for about 10 minutes
• Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350F and once heated, warm taco shells for 5 minutes
• Place shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and taco sauce in bowls and have your assembly line ready for serving!

** To up our veggie serving, I made a plate of lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado as well for a side salad.