Tag: greens

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Matcha Spinach Protein Bowl

I love making smoothie bowls for breakfast because they’re so versatile and tasty! They also pack a ton of nutrients and don’t make me feel heavy or gross throughout the first half of my day. I always use Vega Vegan Protein Powder as a base. I’ve tried whey based ones and my stomach does not agree with them and they are usually way too sweet.  Vega also has antioxidants and greens and no artificial additives or sweeteners, so basically it’s the best! I get the vanilla one at Costco and it’s super high quality and not too expensive. I usually use matcha and frozen bananas as well but from there the recipe varies day to day! It’s always nice to add a seed or nut on top to make them crunchy and the ginger is a nice touch.

{serves one}

      • 1 scoop Vega Vanilla Protein Powder (I usually don’t fill it up all the way because the scoops are HUUUGE)
      • 1/4 tsp matcha powder (heaping)
      • 1/4 tsp ground dried ginger
      • 1/2 frozen banana
      • 1 handful frozen spinach

to top:

  • drizzle almond butter
  • 1/4 tsp crushed hemp seeds (or chia or flax)
  •  fresh fruit (whatever you have, I used raspberries, blueberries, passionfruit and melon)
  1. blend first 5 ingredients, you may need to add a little water if it’s too dry, you can add ice or more frozen banana to thicken it up if it gets too runny
  2. pour into a bowl, top with last three ingredients

© 2018, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

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Mean Green Pasta, with Goat Cheese!

 

I didn’t want to go to the store yesterday so I whipped up this pasta with all stuff we had in the fridge/freezer/pantry. I like this frozen Kale/Spinach mix from Costco, it’s great for smoothies and cooking! Soft goat cheese is a great base for sauces. It’s melts down so easily and pairs well with just about anything.

{serves 3-4}

  • 1 box Banza penne (or pasta of your choice)
  • 3 oz goat cheese
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1/4 white onion
  • 5 cups frozen greens
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 10 green beans
  • 1/4 cup pistachios
  • olive oil
  • parmesan and red pepper flakes for garnish
  1. mince garlic and chop onion, heat oven to 350º F
  2. heat olive oil in a large skillet or wok and add garlic, onion and mustard seeds
  3. when the onion has turned opaque add the greens, you can use any frozen greens you’d like, squeeze in lemon juice
  4. meanwhile bring salted water to a boil for pasta (according to box instructions)
  5. when greens are heated add goat cheese and stir until it’s well incorporated
  6. cook pasta, toast pistachios for 5-7 minutes or until smelling toasty
  7. once the goat cheese is melted and stirred in, turn off heat and cover the sauce
  8. chop green beans removing ends, chop pistachios roughly and set aside
  9. serve green sauce over pasta, top with green beans, pistachios, red pepper flakes and parmesan

© 2018, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

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Spanakopita

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We love spanakopita. We also just went to Costco and bought a pound bag of spinach so it seemed only natural to make spanakopita. This is definitely not traditional, but we tried to use what herbs we had growing and make it a little easier and healthier with just sautéing everything and dumping it on the pastry- nothing wrong with that!

  • 1 puff pastry
  • 4 large kale leaves
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped of each; basil, mint and parsley
  • 3/4 lb spinach
  • 1/2 large sweet onion
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 6 oz feta
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts
  • pomegranate seeds for garnish

{serves 6}

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[wilt your greens but not too much]

  1. pre-heat oven to 400º F and bake the puff pastry for 15 minutes (on a baking sheet) it should balloon up; after pre-baking lower heat to 350º F
  2. dice onion and mince garlic
  3. in a large nonstick skillet heat olive oil over medium heat then add onions and garlic, stir occasionally until opaque
  4. add mustard seeds and some red chili flakes if desired
  5. meanwhile, clean and roughly chop kale, spinach, basil, parsley and mint
  6. then add the greens to the sauté pan and lower heat, cook until wilted and dark green (see above photo), add pine nuts and crumble 3/4 of the feta into the mix, remove from heat
  7. with a slotted spoon (to leave behind liquid) move the greens onto the puff pastry, leaving about a 1/2 inch border
  8. bake for about 20 minutes or until the pastry is starting to brown, then remove from oven and crumble the rest of the feta over the top then put under broiler for 2 minutes on high or until cheese starts to get brown
  9. remove from oven, let cool for a couple of minutes then garnish with pomegranate seeds and additional herbs

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© 2016, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

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Farro with Crispy Prosciutto, Toasted Walnuts and Feta

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Farro is one of my favorite grains. It’s good for you, goes a long way and has a great texture. Crisping up prosciutto is also a great way to add texture and lots of flavor. The apricots, feta and walnuts balance out this ‘salad’ with sweet-salty-earthy flavors.

  • 2 cups pearled farro (dry)
  • 8 oz (1/2 lb) prosciutto
  • 1 cup walnuts
  • 1/2 cup feta
  • 1/2 cup scallions
  • 1 cup dried apricots
  • dash of nutmeg
  • glug of champagne vinegar
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • a couple of handfuls of spinach
  1. pre-heat oven to 350º F and spread walnuts on a small baking tray and toast for 8 minutes
  2. cook farro according to instructions (2 cups farro, 4 cups salted water)
  3. in a skillet heat one tablespoon olive oil and lay prosciutto in one flat layer, cook for 15 minutes on low or until brown on the bottom then flip each piece and continue cooking until crispy, remove from pan and let cool
  4. move farro to a large bowl when finished cooking and season to taste with remaining tablespoon olive oil, champagne vinegar and nutmeg
  5. dice dried apricots into small pieces, slice green onions, tear prosciutto and break walnuts into smaller pieces and crumble feta into the farro bowl
  6. when you’re almost ready to serve, roughly chop or tear spinach and stir into the salad

© 2016, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

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Sauteed Chard with Dates and Garbanzo Beans

summer bulgur-heirloom tomato salad
This was another attempt to use up large amounts of greens before they wilted past the point of no return. I love making warm wilted greens in the winter instead of salads. It’s so much more satisfying and comforting. The combination of sweet dates and savory spiced garbanzo beans adds complexity and takes these healthy greens to a whole new level. If it wasn’t already good enough, another reason to eat chard is its’ plethora of health benefits. It has lots of antioxidants, vitamin C (for immunity), vitamin K (for bone strength), omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin A, calcium, potassium and iron (red blood cell production).

According to “nutrition-and-you.com”, regular inclusion of chard in the diet has been found to prevent osteoporosis, iron-deficiency anemia, and vitamin-A deficiency; and believed to protect from cardiovascular diseases and colon and prostate cancers

  • 1/2 can garbanzo beans
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 large bunch green chard
  • about 8 cups-worth spinach
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 10 dates
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • salt pepper
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1tsp red chili flakes
  • 1 lemon (juice)
  1. heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat and mince garlic
  2. add garlic to the pan with the cumin paprika and chili flakes
  3. drain garbanzos and add them to the skillet, stirring to coat them in the spices
  4. continue cooking, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes, until garbanzos start to brown a little bit
  5. slice chard and spinach and add chard in batches to the skillet, pit and slice dates
  6. in the first batch add the water and cover for 1 minute
  7. then remove cover and add more chard, flipping so that the already cooked greens are on top
  8. continue this process until all of the chard and kale are cooked about evenly, turn the heat down
  9. add the sliced dates and mix in, remove from heat and move to a large mixing bowl
  10. squeeze lemon juice in and mix, adding salt and pepper to taste

© 2014 – 2015, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

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Parsley Chimichurri

In our CSA we sometimes get large bundles of herbs and I always get excited and think that I’ll create a recipe specifically around those greens. But sometimes (often) they get pushed to the wayside and I get distracted by other more exciting things. Like cauliflower. Or pomegranates. Then they get sad and start to wilt and I haphazardly try to figure out a use for them before they’re gone. I was pretty happy with how this creation came out. Parsley has such a strong, unique flavor. It pairs well with a lot of different proteins. We had this with out breakfast hash and then I used it again later that day to marinate some tempeh for dinner. It would be great with chicken, steak or fish also.

  • 1 bunch parsley
  • 1 lemon (juice)
  • 3 tsp ground pepper
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • salt to taste
  • red chili flakes
  1. slice stems off of parsley and chop parsley coarsely
  2. juice the lemon into a food processor and add half the parsley and half the olive oil
  3. blend until semi-smooth then add the rest of the parsley and olive oil
  4. continue blending until the parsley bits are about the size of the red chili flakes
  5. add red chilli flakes, pepper and salt and pulse briefly
  6. this is great as a marinade or dipping sauce for fish, chicken or tempeh

© 2014 – 2015, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

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