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This is one of our most popular recipes. Enjoy!

This recipe takes the chopped salad recipe from earlier today and makes it vegan. 

Ingredients:

broccoli slaw

purple cabbage

Shredded carrots

Celery

Fennel

Green onions

Italian parsley leaves

Diced red bell pepper

Snow peas

Garbanzo Beans

Cumin Seeds

Coconut Oil

Salt & Pepper to taste

Drain & rinse two cans of garbanzo beans.  Toss with salt & pepper, 1 Tablespoon cumin seeds, 2 Tablespoons melted coconut oil until well mixed.  Spray a sheet pan and heat oven to 375 degrees.  Roast the beans for 20 minutes until slightly crispy.  Cool and add to the veggies. Want it spicier? Try chopping up a hot pepper and tossing it in. Any dry, crunchy vegetables work great for this. 

Fast & Easy Chopped Salad (20 minutes max not including the shopping)

Without dressing this salad will hold up in the fridge (if well wrapped or in a “Tupperware” type container) for up to 5 days Just spoon out a portion into a bowl; add dressing; toss and eat!  Healthy fast food. 

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A hearty and delicious vegetarian entree that even meat eaters are likely to enjoy.  Loaded with a healthful variety of veggies and a small amount of cheese, this is packed full of nutrition.  This dish originated in Italy, although the “where” in Italy is not universally agreed upon.  There are many varieties of this recipe, most of which contain these basic ingredients: tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, basil, and eggplant, usually layered in a casserole.  In some areas of Italy hard-boiled egg slices are also included!

For the recipe, click more…

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Here’s a fun project for the upcoming weekend: make a salad. And not just any salad. Like, a MEGA salad. See if you can top 10 different ingredients. But wait! There’s more. You need to make that salad out of ingredients you get solely from your local farmer’s market. There are a couple of things you’ll get out of this experience. For one it will get you out of the house. That’s never a bad thing. You’ll also get a chance to explore a bunch of fruits and vegetables with which you may not be entirely familiar. This is a good thing. Ask questions! What is this? What does it taste like? Would it be good on a salad? Most everyone you’ll meet will be friendly and will be happy to answer any questions you might have. Once you’ve explored a little bit and gathered up all your ingredients you can return home to prepare and eat your mega salad. Enjoy!

For bonus points (redeemable for high fives!) try taking public transportation to the market.

Just a friendly reminder that you can buy the Cookin’ Up DVD up top there. It’s an excellent back to school gift. 

Before I say anything else, let me say this: this recipe turned out really well. I’m pretty a harsh critic of the things I make, and this was good. 

While I was making it I kept thinking I wasn’t going to post it here. It seemed like too many steps to thrust on beginning cooks. I was definitely feeling overwhelmed. Not only did I have to make a delicious vegetable and gravy mixture, but I also had to nail the mashed potatoes. And that’s hard to do since everyone has their own personal mashed potato tastes. And right as my inner monologue was reaching its complaint crescendo it turned out I was done! Nice. Once you get everything chopped and cooked (which took about 30 minutes) all you have to do is combine the two parts and bake it. 

So, my final opinion is that this recipe is a-ok for new and inexperienced cooks. I’d say it’s on the moderate side of easy, but absolutely doable. And worth it, especially during the fall*. 

*I had the bright idea to make it during the summer. This, in terms of temperature of the kitchen, was a bad call. 

This is the easiest, healthiest ice cream ever. All you do is take frozen bananas, peel them, cut them in chunks, and toss them in a food processor until the texture resembles ice cream. If you don’t have a food processor (and lots of people don’t) you could probably get away with using a blender. Just maybe keep it to one banana at a time. 

Once you’re turned the bananas into ice cream you can add peanut butter, or even better, nutella. This is the site where I first read about it. 

Reasons why this is awesome: you have complete control over what you’re eating, it’s healthy, and it tastes awesome. 

Pro-tip: buy bananas now and freeze them. Sadly most homes don’t come with ways to freeze bananas quickly. 

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Not that this terribly surprising, but what parents eat in front of their kids influence their habits. 

But teaching teens to make healthy food choices starts at home, says Joan Salge Blake, a registered dietician and clinical professor at Boston University.

“Probably the most important thing is ‘Monkey see, monkey do,’” she says. “They’ll just eat whatever you eat.” 

Combining this news with the benefits kids get from cooking with their parents at home makes it seem like a doubly important thing to do. So, parents: eat better at home. And kids: make sure your parents are setting good habits for you. 

I invented this! Not the concept, there’s lots of recipes online. But none of them were exactly what I wanted. So back to my original point: I

I really need to take less blurry pictures.

invented this! 

Ceviche, as I’m sure you’re aware, is traditionally made with fish and the cooking is done slowly by using the acid in limes. You end up with incredibly well textured fish that has a great flavor. My girlfriend is a vegetarian so I wanted to find a fish-free version of this dish that we could eat. It’s awesome for summer time when it’s hot out because you don’t have to use the stove at all. Just chop. 

Anyway, here’s the recipe:

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