Spinach Salad with Pomegranate and Avocado

Ingredients
*1 pomegranate
* 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
* 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* Coarse salt and ground pepper
* 2 bunches flat leaf spinach, stems trimmed, well washed and dried
* 2 tablespoons roasted, hulled sunflower seeds
* 1 Hass avocado


1. Halve pomegranate lengthwise and seed. Working in a bowl of cold water, use your hands to separate seeds from membrane. Membrane will float to the top; discard. Scoop out pomegranate seeds and pat dry.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together 3 tablespoons lemon juice, mustard, and oil; season with salt and pepper. Toss spinach, sunflower seeds, and pomegranate seeds with dressing in bowl. Transfer to a serving platter.
3. Halve avocado and remove pit. Scoop out flesh and thinly slice lengthwise; drizzle with remaining lemon juice. Transfer to plate and arrange salad on top. Serve immediately.

Fruit Bowl with Apple Tahini Sauce

Oh. My. God. I love international food. Which is a plus because international food tends to love me right back.

Tahini. That is the word of the day. Familiarizing yourself with it. Become part of it. Eat it. Tahini is a sesame paste that is ground from either shucked or un-shucked seeds (depending on what culture you are getting it from). It is high in proteins and complex carbs. It has a nice nutty taste and when combine with the ingredients in this sauce has the perfect satisfying nutty after taste that can throw a sauce right over the edge of good into greatness.

Sauce (4 servings):
1/4 cup of Tahini
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 tbsp agave
2 tbsp water

Combine all of these into a food processor and blend well.

Dish:
4 cups of assorted fruit. (I used oranges, banana, pears and green grapes)
1/4 cup of toasted, unsweetened coconut flakes.

Arrange fruit in serving bowls. Drizzle with Tahini sauce and top it off with the toasted coconut.

Mediterranean Pasta with Artichokes, Olives, and Tomatoes & Costtini

Mediterranean Pasta with Artichokes, Olives, and Tomatoes
Ingredients:
* Coarse salt and ground pepper
* 12 ounces whole-wheat spaghetti
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1/2 medium onion , thinly sliced, lengthwise
* 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced crosswise
* 1/2 cup dry white wine
* 1 can artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed, and quartered lengthwise
* 1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, quartered lengthwise
* 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes , halved lengthwise
* 1/4 cup grated Rice Parmesan cheese, plus more serving
* 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water. Return pasta to pot.

Next in a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Add onion and garlic, season with salt and pepper, cook, stirring occasionally until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Add wine and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes.

Stir in artichokes and cook until starting to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add olives and half of the tomatoes; cook until tomatoes start to break down, 1 to 2 minutes. Add pasta to skillet. Stir in remaining tomatoes, oil, cheese, and basil. Thin with reserved pasta water if necessary to coat the spaghetti. Serve with additional cheese.

Crosttini

Ingredients:
*Olive olive
*Day old bread loaf
*Herbs

Directions:

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Next slice the bread up into long pieces. Its alright if the bread feels a bit tough.

Mix the olive oil and herbs together well to taste. Using a pastry brush. Spread to olive oil/ herb mix onto each piece of bread. Take bread and put the peices back together so that it looks like a normal loaf again.

Wrap in tin foil and place into heated oven. Heat for 10-15 minutes, until the bread us crunchy on the outside a the oil has seeped through the inside dough.

Blue Berry Green Tea Smoothie

1/2 cup of frozen blueberry's
2 cups of green tea (Room temp)
1 tbs agave nectar

Divide blueberry's into the compartments of an ice cube tray and fill with green tea. Freeze.

Puree in blender with remaining tea and agave until smooth.

Mango Coconut water Smoothie

A perfect lunch or Breakfast on the go! Contains Fruits, veggies, protiens, and healthy fats.

Ingredients:
2 cups of fresh mango chunks
2-3 tbs of lime juice
2 cups of unsweetened coconut water
Pinch of cayenne pepper

Put all ingredients in blender and combine well.

Kiwi Smoothie

As I said before a major detox is in order after the Christmas and Holidays. That being said dont be surprised if many of the posts coming up are smoothies for two reasons:
1. As I said some cleansing is in order.
2. Smoothies are awesome.

Ingredients:
4 ripe Kiwi
1/2 cup of freshly squeezed Orange juice
1 tbs Agave
1 cup of ice

Stick in blender and combine well.

Makes two servings.

Leek and Potato Soup

I do not do well in the cold anymore and it has been cold here in North Carolina! I am visiting my parents for Christmas and my father is one of those people who though his house has to have a heater, that does not mean he has any intention of using it.

My Solis? Soup. I have been making most of my meals so a nice leek soup seemed to be a good way to go. In fact it was so good that my whole family, despite the fact that they always make fun of my vegan tendencies, joined in on some!

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 leeks, white and light green parts washed and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
2 cups chopped yellow onion
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 large Yukon Gold potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and cubed into 1/2-inch cubes
4 cups vegetable stock
2-3 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves

Heat soup pot over medium heat and add the oil.

Add the leeks, onion, and sea salt and saute for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the onion begins to turn translucent.

Add the garlic and stir well. Cook for 1 minute more.

Add the potatoes and vegetable stock, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Cook 20 minutes.

Remove the soup from the heat and use an immersion/stick blender to blend the soup in the pot or ladle the soup into a blender, 1 cup at a time. Blend the soup with the fresh rosemary leaves until smooth and free of chunks. Pour smooth soup into a heat-proof bowl and continue until all of the soup has been blended.

Transfer the blended soup back to the original soup pot and warm over low heat until heated through. Serve hot.