Your new go to salad when you're not too sure what you want for dinner at night, or if you need a make ahead lunch for a work or school day. A tip I want to share with you is that you can actually make double or triple the amounts of quinoa and lentils and freeze the extra. They honestly don't take long to make at all, but I have found that at times a frozen stash comes in handy. Plus, when you thaw them, you can add them to practically anything, and season them differently each time as well. These two ingredients are extremely versatile. I have even seen them in breakfasts, sweets, baked goods and breads, etc.
Quinoa / Did you know that it is actually a seed? But even though not technically a grain, it is still considered a “whole grain” food. There are several varieties of quinoa {red, black, and white}, and you can sometimes buy a "mixed" bag at the market, which gets you a mixture of the varying nutrient values in each. White is the most popular and commonly found variety found in stores. It is gluten-free, low on the glycemic index, high in fiber, antioxidants, and protein, containing all of the essential amino acids that we need. Click
here for more recipes with quinoa.
Lentils / Nutty and earthy in flavor, lentils are a great addition of nutrition into your diet. There are several varieties of lentils {green, red and brown}, with brown being the most commonly used. Lentils are low in cholesterol, are good source of protein, folate, and iron, and promote digestive health with their fiber content. Enjoy them in soups, salad, spreads, dips for vegetables, or even baked into sweet or savory goodies.
Arugula / Also known as Salad Rocket, arugula and its peppery-kick are the perfect flavor to fulfill that "umph" I am sometimes missing in my meals. Arugula is a rich source of phytochemicals, a great source of folic acid and Vitamins A and C, and is one of the best vegetable sources of Vitamin K. Arugula is great both raw and cooked. Plop it atop {vegan} pizzas, mix it into your salads, create an
arugula pesto with it, or even add it into your next soup.
I had a little too many plantains at once, so I decided I needed to somehow put them to use. If you can use extra ripe bananas up and make banana bread, why couldn't you do the same with plantains and make some plantain bread? Well, I got to it, and succeeded! I was able to create this delicious gluten-free plantain chai nut bread that I am sharing with you today.
More often than not, the guests who I have over when I am ripening plantains freak out over the "rotten bananas" I have on my counter."Oh my goodness, why are you bananas so rotten!?" Plantains ripen in a whole different way than bananas. Instead of waiting for brown spots and a yellow color as in regular conventional bananas, plantains come green, have a thick skin, and reach their ripest when fully black.
Where are all my mango lovers at?!
Mango salads, soups, smoothies or just a plain ol' mango mono meal. All are always the best, right?
Atualfo mangoes are always my favorite. For me personally, I love that they are less stringy, that they are creamy dreamy when fully ripe, and that they are almost always the most affordable mangoes in my area. I was inspired by 
A healthy and delicious raw vegan carrot cake that is low in fat, gluten-free, and filled with nothing but the good stuff. Yes, you can have your cake AND eat it too AND feel amazing afterwords. You don't have to worry about any more of that "detoxing" nonsense after a long birthday weekend.
