Coconut-Cauliflower Rice and Guilt-Free Pizza Crust

Cauliflower has become popular for its healthy and nutritious alternatives to rice and bread. It works great as a side dish to any protein, or even as a meal mixed in with tofu or chicken. The great thing about it is that once the rice is made, the possibilities are endless! I turned mine into Coconut-Cauliflower Rice and a Guilt-Free Pizza Crust.

First, prepare your cauliflower by cutting it up into small florets. Rinse well and let it air dry, or dry all of the pieces with a towel. Make sure to cut off any brown spots that might be on the top of your cauliflower. Next, take a food processor or cheese grater to get your cauliflower into its "rice" form. If using a food processor, make your rice in batches. You can also do this step by hand, but it is a long and annoying process- you've been warned!

                     

To make a rice side dish, simply sautee some onions in a pan and add in your cauliflower "rice". I used Coconut Oil Spray and Unsweetened Coconut Flakes to make a nutritious version of coconut rice. You can make cauliflower rice any way you want- try adding almonds, cayenne pepper, garlic, or anything else you want! Sautee for about 5-10 minutes and with serve main meals like grilled chicken or broiled fish.

                                             

To make the pizza crust, start by preheating your oven to 450 degrees. Mix your cauliflower rice in a bowl with 1-2 egg whites. Add in seasonings of your choice, like basil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Spray a cooking sheet or a long casserole dish with cooking spray and bake for about 15 minutes- the thicker you make your crust, the longer it will take. You can line the dish with parchment paper to make it easier to remove when it's done. Once the crust is slightly browned on top, remove from the oven and add any toppings that you want, like low fat cheese, tomato sauce, and veggies. Stick back in the oven for another 1-2 minutes if using cheese to let it melt and enjoy your pizza! 

                                

                           

                               

Recipe for Coconut-Cauliflower Rice:

1 Head of Cauliflower

Coconut Oil Spray or 1 Tbsp of Coconut Oil

1 Tbsp Unsweetend Coconut Flakes

1/4 Cup Chopped Purple Onion

Season to Taste

Recipe for Guilt-Free Pizza Crust:

Cauliflower Rice Made from 1 Head of Cauliflower

1-2 Egg Whites

Season to Taste

*Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes or until slightly browned

Hard-Boiled Quail Eggs with Grilled Asparagus and a Grilled Peach Salad

While doing a Whole Foods run with my mom the other day, we came across some quail eggs. These little guys are actually the most adorable thing I've ever seen! Out of curiosity, we decided to buy them and see what we could do with them. We came up with the idea to hard-boil the eggs and serve them with asparagus. This makes the perfect side dish to any meal, like fish or poultry. Try your local Whole Foods Market, or equivalent, to find the eggs.

           

Preheat your grill to high. Cut off the tough ends of your asparagus and grill for about 5-10 minutes, until they have a nice char. If you can't grill the asparagus, roasting them works just as well. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil. Gently place your quail eggs in the pot and boil for 4 minutes. Once boiled, place the quail eggs in a bowl of cold water. Simply wait a few minutes and then peel. Slice your hard-boiled quail eggs in half, place over the asparagus, and season to taste with salt, pepper, and ground cayenne pepper.

Serving suggestion: Serve next to a large salad with grilled peaches (recipe below) for a refreshing and nutritious meal. Cut peaches in half to grill and quarter to serve.

                              

Makes 4 Servings

Recipe:

1 Pound of Trimmed Fresh Asparagus Spears

1 Container of Quail Eggs

Season to taste with salt, pepper, and ground cayenne

Grilled Peach Salad:

4 Cups Greens (Spinach or Mesclun Greens)

2 Peaches, Diced

1/4 Cup Chopped Purple Onion

2 Tbsp Pomegranate Seeds

2 Tbsp Light Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette

*Grill asparagus and peach halves on high heat for 5-10 minutes
* Boil eggs for 4 minutes

Roasted Veggie "Chips" and "Fries"

Roasted vegetables became my new favorite snack once I gave up my potato chip addiction. Veggies are great because you can make them as salty and as crispy as you'd like to replicate things like chips and fries. Plus, they're full of nutrients and completely guilt free! Well, I was definitely having a salt craving today and saw that I had some cucumber and baby carrots in the fridge. Obviously I decided to roast them. Now, it might sound weird to hear "roasted cucumber", but trust me... it's amazing. They come out moist yet crispy, and are really satisfying. The baby carrots taste really sweet when roasted, almost like sweet potato fries, but with much fewer calories.

                               

Start by preheating your oven to 450 degrees. Cut your cucumber of choice into thin slices (try to keep them uniform so they all cook at the same time). You can substitute the cucumber for summer squash, like yellow squash or zucchini. For the carrots, just cut some baby carrots in half length-wise. You can substitute the carrots for butternut squash as well. Spray a sheet of aluminum foil with Pam Olive Oil Spray or Coconut Oil Spray and add your veggies. Season with sea salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper- or any other seasonings of your choosing. Spray veggies with Pam and place in the oven for about 10-12 minutes, turning once halfway through. Serve with salsa, homemade queso, or ketchup and enjoy!

                              

Serving Size: Make as much as you'd like!

Recipe:

Pam Spray (Olive or Coconut Oil)

1 Cucumber, Sliced (Or summer squash)

1 Bag of Baby Carrots, Cut Lengthwise (Or butternut squash)

Season to taste

*Roast in oven at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes, turning once

Bunless Portobello Mushroom Burger

Summer is a great time for BBQ's, which means a lot of hot dogs and hamburgers. This can really start to take its toll on your healthy eating choices. You can easily make your own leaner and healthier burger by substituting the meat for a Portobello Mushroom Cap. They are thick and juicy, and not to mention taste great. You can add all of the toppings you want to a mushroom cap and it will feel like you are really eating a burger, without the guilt.

                                       

Start by cleaning your mushroom cap and removing the stem. Then marinate it in the flavor of your choosing, like sugar-free BBQ sauce, less sodium teriyaki or soy sauce, or balsamic vinegar. Marinate in a bag for about 30 minutes to an hour. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Place your mushroom cap in the oven (or on the grill) for 10 minutes cap side down, then flip and cook for another 10 minutes- if you're grilling, cooking time will be a few minutes shorter on each side. While it cooks through, sautee some scallions as a garnish. Once your mushroom cap is done, put some romaine lettuce, tomato, scallions and crushed red pepper on top and you have a bunless burger!

You can use a Whole Wheat English Muffin if you're looking for a more traditional style "burger". Other great toppings are low fat cheese and avocado. If you still want the meat but none of the bread, cook two portobello mushroom caps and use them as the bun for your burger.

Makes 1 Serving

Recipe:

1 Portobello Mushroom Cap

1 Slice Tomato

1/2 Cup Romaine Lettuce

1/4 Cup Scallions

1 Tbsp Less Sodium Soy Sauce (Or marinade of your choosing)

1/4 Tsp Crushed Red Pepper (Optional)

Season to Taste

 *Cook at 400 degrees for 10 minutes on each side (20 min total)

Summer Watermelon Salad

Salads don't always have to be made with lettuce and tons of dressing. There are so many different varieties of salad, like potato, tuna, pasta, and fruit. On hot summer days, I love to eat watermelon. It has about 92% water by weight, so it's extremely hydrating- perfect for summer! It's also high in Vitamins A and C and helps strengthen immunity. Though watermelon is usually used as a snack or for dessert, I made it into an extremely satisfying summer lunch.

                                 

This might be the most simple salad I've ever made, but definitely one of my favorites. Start with your watermelon- buying a fresh half or whole watermelon is much cheaper than buying precut or prepackaged watermelon (it also tastes much better). Cut your watermelon into bite size pieces and place in a bowl. Next, take your cucumber and slice into very thin pieces. If they come out too thick, just cut them in half. Mix in some balsamic vinegar and throw a few pumpkin seeds on top for protein. Now you have an extremely quick and refreshing summer salad! Feel free to toss in some fat-free feta cheese, which tastes great with watermelon.

Makes 1 Serving

Recipe:

1 Cup Watermelon

1/2 Cup Cucumber

1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1/2 Tbsp Pumpkin Seeds

Light Chicken Cacciatore

Making the same grilled chicken for dinner can start to get pretty boring. Chicken Cacciatore is a great and healthy way to keep this protein in your diet, with much more flavor and excitement. While most Chicken Cacciatore recipes call for flour and olive oil, I left them out to make a lighter and much healthier version (you can still use oil, it's a healthy fat!)

                  

Start by cutting up your chicken breasts into small, bite size pieces (you can always leave them whole, just make sure they cook through). Heat up a skillet and sautee your garlic, onion, and bell pepper with Pam Spray. Add in your diced chicken breast and cook through. Next, add in your dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio, and bring to a simmer (dry red wines work too). Add in a full can of petite diced tomatoes with juice, capers (you can substitute for olives), oregano, and basil. Season to taste and stir to cover all of the pieces of chicken. Bring back to a simmer and cover for about 20 minutes. You can serve your Chicken Cacciatore on its own, on a whole wheat tortilla, whole grain bread, or with whole grain pasta. Always add a side of veggies and serve hot!

                   

Makes 4-6 Servings

Recipe:

Pam Spray

2 4 Oz Chicken Breasts

1 28 Oz Can Petite Diced Tomatoes With Juice (I used Hunt's)

1/3 Cup Dry White Wine (I used Pinot Grigio)

1 Medium Onion Diced

3 Cloves Chopped Garlic

1/2 Cup Chopped Bell Pepper
1 Tbsp Capers (You can substitute for 1/2 Cup of whole or halved olives)
2 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Basil
1 Tsp Dried Oregano
Season to Taste

Chopped Lean Ground Turkey

One of my absolute favorite meals growing up has to be my mom's homemade Sloppy Joe. It was the perfect combination of chopped ground beef, tomato sauce, and a bun to soak it all up. I wasn't quite ready to give up my favorite comfort food, so I switched up the recipe a bit... okay a lot (sorry mom!). I swapped out the ground beef for lean ground turkey breast. Turkey itself is already leaner than beef, but the white meat (aka the breast) is leaner than the dark meat so try to avoid using mixed ground turkey if possible.

                           

Start by sauteeing garlic, onion, and chopped bell pepper with Pam Spray in a large size pot. Add in your ground turkey- as it starts to brown, constantly break it up with a fork. Once all of the pink turns to a light brown, add in a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. I always add a sprinkle of crushed red pepper for a metabolism booster. Mix everything together and cook for another 5-10 minutes until the meat is a medium brown. Make sure to stir constantly so nothing burns! A few suggestions to serve your chopped ground turkey are on its own, on a whole grain bun, or on a whole wheat tortilla (see recipe), all with a side of veggies.

                             

-You can use ground turkey to make your own meatballs, turkey burgers, stuffed peppers, or even chili. The possibilities are endless!

Makes 4-6 Servings

Recipe:

Pam Spray

1 20 Oz Package of Lean or Extra Lean Ground Turkey Breast

1 14.5 Oz Can of Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes (I used Hunt's)

1/4 Cup Chopped Red Onion

1/4 Cup Chopped Bell Pepper

2 Tsp Minced Garlic

1 Tsp Crushed Red Pepper (Optional)

Season to Taste