Asparagus Soup- Healthy with Veg/Vegan/Whole30 Options

Asparagus Soup

This quick, healthy recipe comes together in less than 20 minutes. It is flavorful and filling, but not heavy. 
I served it with some gluten-free breadsticks I found at my local grocery and topped it with sliced asparagus and Parmesan. 
This recipe is easily adaptable to Whole30 and vegan/vegetarian diets as well.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
3 Shishito peppers (I had these lying around- I'm sure that another mild pepper would be a fine substitution)
2 lbs. asparagus, fibrous ends cut off, diced
2 tbsp. evoo or ghee
2 cups veggie or chicken stock
1/3 cup half and half (omit if whole30/vegan- if omitting, I might add a half tablespoon or so of ghee to add some of the rich flavor back in.)
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. cayenne
salt and fresh pepper to taste

Process: 

Heat evoo over medium high heat in a heavy bottomed stock pot.
Add onion- 3 min
Add peppers- 2 min
Add garlic- another min or so.
Add asparagus and continue to saute another 5-6 minutes
Pour in the stock you're using- simmer veggies until tender. 
Using an immersion blender (or regular blender, VitaMix or whatever you have)
Add the cayenne, half and half and Parm. 

Enjoy!

Forbidden Black Rice Salad

Forbidden Black Rice Salad- SO easy. So good. So healthy. A Summer (or spring/fall/winter) go-to side. Add grilled fish or chicken for a lovely light meal. 

Ingredients:
3c. black rice- cooked and cooled to room temperature
2c. diced snap peas
2 mini sweet bell peppers, diced
1/4c. diced onion
1tbsp coconut oil (or cooking oil of choice)

1/4c. seasoned rice vinegar
1tbsp. bragg's liquid amino acids (or soy sauce, if not GF)
2tbsp. peach/mango/orange preserves

Method.

In a medium/large sauté pan over medium/high heat, add the coconut oil. Sauté the onions until they just begin to turn translucent- 2 minutes. Add peppers, cook another minute. Add diced snap peas and sauté until they are just turning bright green, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and put all the veggies in a large bowl, reserve. 

In a separate small bowl, add the vinegar, amino acids and preserves. Whisk together. (A tsp. or so of sesame oil might be good in the sauce too if you have it on hand- but, not necessary.) Dump the cooled rice into the larger bowl that the veggies were cooling in and toss to combine. Pour the dressing over the rice/veggie combination and toss to evenly coat. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Healthy Baked Falafel Salad with Homemade Tzatziki

I love, love Greek food. Falafel is one of my favorite things- full of protein and packed with flavor. 

Tzatziki is delicious on most things- as a dip, on top of a salad, and on sandwiches and burgers. 

Below are lower calorie recipes for both- (of course, you could fry these falafel balls if you wanted.) The falafel can be served however you'd like- in GF pitas, as an appetizer with the tzatziki as a dip. You can even make the falafel into larger patties and bake them, using them like burger patties on sandwiches. Super versatile- we ate them on top of a salad greens with feta, chopped olives, cherry tomato chopped cucumber and lemon zest. We used the tzatziki as the dressing, with a dollop of hummus and just mixed it all together. SO satisfying!

Baked Falafel

 Ingredients.

2 12 oz. cans chickpeas- rinsed and drained
4-6 tablespoons organic oat flour

1 cup chopped onion

1 handful parsley finely chopped

1 handful cilantro, finely chopped

5 cloves garlic minced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2-4 tablespoons oat flour (or any other flour you have on hand)

Process.

Preheat oven to 350.

Add all ingredients except chickpeas and flour in a food processor. 
Pulse until coarsely chopped.

Add chickpeas into food processor and stir to incorporate. 
Pulse until the chickpeas are rough chopped and uniform in size with the rest of the ingredients. 
Do not blend to the consistency of hummus! Stop when they are still coarsely chopped.

Feel the mixture- you want it to be sticky- like the consistency of cookie dough. 
If it seems really wet, fold in the oat flour in 2 tablespoon increments to make it a little drier. 

On a lined or greased baking sheet, place heaping tablespoon-sized balls of the falafel mixture on the sheets. Press lightly to partially flatten them.

Bake 25-30 minutes, until beginning to brown. 
Flip and bake another 20 minutes until golden brown.

As the falafel is baking, make the tzatziki. 

Tzatziki

Ingredients.

1 cup Greek Yogurt (I used 0%- but you can use whatever.)
Juice of 1/2 of a large lemon
1/3 cup cucumber, skin removed and minced (English cucumbers are best because their seeds are very small. if you use a regular cucumber, remove seeds.)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dill- fresh if you have it- minced
(optional- a little fresh parsley if you have it leftover from the falafel, finely chopped.)
Salt to taste

Mix all ingredients together- taste and adjust flavor as you see necessary.  
Cover and chill- the longer it chills the better the flavor.

Enjoy!

Ps- LOVE those funky dishes that are in the photos? Check out my Etsy page for handmade ceramic wares!

Chia Seed Pudding

Chia Seed Pudding

Really. Make this as soon as possible. 

My husband's review: "I could seriously eat this every morning for breakfast."

(And then, he also ate it for dessert after dinner...)

Chia seeds are packed full of protein, antioxidents and fiber. Chia seeds are the richest plant form of Omega-3's. They are a true superfood. 

And this breakfast pudding is my new favorite food. 

After we went through the first batch in less than two days, I doubled the recipe below and made a big batch. I think this will last in the fridge for 5-6 days- but I am sure that you will eat it all before that.

Above is a close up of raw chia seeds before being added to liquid. They make a great binder for gluten free baking- (use as a substitute for xanthan gum and/or eggs in recipes) when water is added they become a gel-like slurry. A few tablespoons will help replace the gluten in your baking recipes to give the dough more plasticity (aka, less crumbly.)

 I buy my chia seeds in bulk from the Good Food Store in Missoula, Montana. You can find them online and at many health food stores. Regular grocers are catching on as well- ask someone to help you find them if you are not sure. 

{Amazing, delicious and healthy} 

Chia Seed Pudding

Ingredients: 

(can be doubled)

• 1 cup vanilla soy milk (or, vanilla almond milk- or whatever kind of milk you have:)
• 1 cup Greek yogurt (use plain yogurt if you used vanilla flavored milk. If you used regular milk, use vanilla yogurt. I would not use vanilla milk and vanilla yogurt for fear that the pudding would be too sweet.)
• 1/4 cup black chia seeds (I get them in bulk at my local health food store.)
• 2 tbsp. agave nectar (or honey, or maple syrup... whatever you've got on hand. I bet you could also use a little jam as a sweeter option if you don't have any of the above sweetners.)

For serving: 

(optional, but recommended)

• Fresh berries (I used blue berries and strawberries)
• Sliced, lightly toasted almonds or walnuts

Process:

Combine milk, yogurt, chia seeds and agave nectar (or whatever sweetener you are using) in a bowl. 

Let stand on your counter for 30 minutes, then, cover & refrigerate overnight.  

In the morning- top with your favorite berry or  toasted nuts. 

Enjoy! 

Amy

Lilly's Vegan Blueberry, Cornmeal and Millet Flour Muffins.

Today I had a rare weekday off of work as a high school art teacher. I decided to do something nice for the ladies that I carpool to work with. Several of us are gluten-free. One of us has a laundry list of allergies-  coffee, wheat, soy, dairy, chicken, mushrooms and honey, to name a few. As you can imagine- cooking anything under these guidelines for the average cook is a bit daunting. Luckily for her, she is imaginative when she sees a recipe- being able to effortlessly adapt and replace problem ingredients with ones that she will not have an adverse reaction to. 

I like to think that I am decent at doing that as well, but with wheat, oil and healthy alternatives.

Below I've adapted a Blueberry muffin recipe to be egg free, and have much less sugar than the original and no oil. I also swapped out the honey for agave- since my dear friend has an issue with honey as well. I added ground flax seed, mostly for it's amazing health benefits. The muffins come out both crunchy and soft, and not too sweet. Perfect for a weekday breakfast (especially while commuting with friends.) <3

Dry Ingredients:

3/4 c. GF cornmeal (non-GMO project verified, if you can find it.)
1/4 cup millet flour
3/4 c. brown rice flour
1/2 c. cornstarch
2tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 c light brown sugar
1/4 c ground flax
1tsp. cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:

1/4 c. agave nectar
1/3 c. unsweetened, organic applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla (bourbon vanilla if you've got it!)
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. egg replacer in 1/4 cup warm water (or, 2 eggs)
(an extra 1/2 cup warm water- to adjust batter)
Lemon or orange zest, optional, to taste. (I used orange b/c I didn't have any fresh lemons.)
1 cup fresh (*or frozen) blueberries

Process: 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a stand mixer, mix together dry ingredients
Add wet to dry, mix until combined.
The batter will be drier than traditional wheat batters- if you used frozen blueberries that will add a little moisture as they cook out. 
(Feel free to add some of the extra warm water in 2 tbsp. increments as you see necessary.)

Spoon heaping spoonfulls into your lined muffin tins- makes 10-12 large muffins.
Bake 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool on a wire rack. 

Enjoy!

(Going into the oven- nail color OPI My Vampire is Buff.)

NOTES: Best when warmed up- remember, they are made with corn meal, thus, supposed to have that crunchy/grainy texture. In a good way.

*If you use frozen berries- you might want to cook them a little longer or the area around the blueberries could be a little under done. (Frozen berries release more water, making the dough around the berry a little soft.) I would worry about this is they weren’t vegan but since there is no egg or dairy to cook out, them being a little soft is not a problem (other than texture.)

Apple Oatmeal Muffins

{coffee + apple oat muffin = today is going to be a good day.} 

I adapted this recipe from this fantastic blog to make it gluten free. I swapped the oil for applesauce, added ground flax seed, and used regular oats. They came out perfectly. I think they would also be good with a shredded carrot in the batter. I'll try that next time. AlexandraCooks says you can use up to 1 cup of steel cut oats in this recipe for a little crunch. I only used 1/3 of a cup. But if you try it, leave a comment below and let me know how it goes. 

I brought these muffins to my girlfriends that I carpool with. Also, to my Advanced Art Studio class. All provided rave reviews. I think this recipe is a keeper. 

Currents: Christine Joy

Once a month I take my art students 'into town' to the Missoula Art Museum. The MAM offers a Teen Artist Workshop  for young artists every second Wednesday of the month. 
It is free and they provide materials, pizza and snacks. Awesome.

Anyway, as the kids were working on making found art sculptures with working artist James Louks, I snuck out to take a look at the current exhibitions at the MAM.

I am so glad I did.

{I completely fell in love with the flowing, rhythmic sculptures of Christine Joy.}

They are astounding.

No loose ends. 

No visible ties. 

The sculptures are made of branches that are bent, twisted and shaped into giant vessels, knots and shapes of all sorts. They reminded me of giant skeins of yarn... which seems fitting. The smell that the willow and the wax together create in the gallery is comforting. Warm and cozy, like knitting on a rainy day. Another MAM patron and I laughed at ourselves for not wanting to leave.

Steamed Mussels in Shallot, Garlic and White Wine Sauce

This is a SUPER easy, impressive & amazingly delicious dinner for two. 

Elegant and light, you will want to make this over and over. (Already planning to make it for my sister and mom who are coming to town from Ohio next month!)

Steamed Mussels in Shallot, Garlic and White Wine Sauce <3

Zucchini Bread

This is adapted from my Grandmother's recipe... hers called for nearly 1 cup of oil, 3 cups of sugar and 6 eggs! As a kid, I used to love eating this bread, warm out of the oven with butter on top. However, as an adult, when she sent me her zucchini bread recipe, I was shocked at the ingredients.
So, here is my version, wheat free and super 'lightened up'. Don't worry, I didn't skimp on the taste.
Delicious.

Amy's Gluten Free Zucchini Bread

(Makes 2 loaves)

Ingredients:
2 smashed brown bananas (or, 1 cup applesauce)
⅓ c. water
⅓ c. agave
2 tsp. lemon juice
3 cups shredded zucchini (easiest to do this in a food processor if you have one. If not, you can use a cheese grater on the largest size hole)
4 eggs (remember, you are making 2 loaves... or egg replacer)
2 cups oat flour
1 ⅓ c. brown rice flour
⅓ c. white sugar
⅓ c. brown sugar
1 ½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves (if you don’t have ground cloves, you can use allspice... I would cut it down to ½ tsp.)
(optional: chopped walnuts... a couple big handfuls)

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Prepare two bread pans (can also make one loaf in a pie pan... if you have a lovely cake stand you've been wanting to use :)
3. In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine bananas (or applesauce), water, agave, lemon juice, shreeded zuccihini and eggs. Beat until eggs are combined, 30 seconds or so.
4. Combine the remaining (dry) ingredients together in another bowl: oat flour, brown rice flour, both sugars, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and cloves. (and walnuts, if using.)
5. pour batter equally into the prepared pans.
6. Bake 50-60 minutes. (in my oven, exactly 60 minutes is perfect for bread. The time will be a little less if you are making a round pie-plate shaped bread... about 30 minutes.)
7. Check that the bread is done with a toothpick inserted in the middle. If it comes out clean, the the bread cool. If not, bake at 5 minute increments until it is done.

Once cooled, pop out of the pans and wrap in foil. Leave on the counter for 2-4 days (if it lasts too much longer than that, I might pop it in the fridge.)

This bread is delicious topped with butter, honey butter especially.
OR
If you are looking for a dessert option, it is really good with cream cheese frosting.
Below is my favorite recipe from a Good Food Store cooking class:

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz. unsalted butter, softened
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. lemon juice

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter and cream cheese.
2. Add sugar, one cup at a time.
3. Add lemon and vanilla
*note: make sure that the zucchini bread is cooled. Cream cheese frosting has a tendency to melt. So, if you are going to save the leftovers, make sure to put them in the fridge.

Banana Bread

A few of my friends recently became gluten free. One of them is Emily, who introduced me to the amazing gluten free granola recipe I posted a few days ago. Anyway, she called a few times asking for my banana bread recipe. I looked and looked and couldn't find it. I knew that I had a fire (meaning, totally rad) zucchini bread recipe that I adapted from my grandmother's recipe and posted (before I had my own blog) on the (amazing) BijaBody blog. I sent that to her to tide her over. However, that did nothing for the brown bananas that we both had lying on our counter-tops.

I adapted several recipes with no luck (either too dry and crumbly, totally obscure ingredients or super fat-camp ingredients). 

Today, I made a loaf that I think is wonderful. Light and fluffy, moist and not crumbly at all. I plan to take it camping this weekend, and possibly make banana bread french toast. :)

First, you need to make this flour blend. You'll only use 1 1/2 cups of the blend for the banana bread recipe below. Store the extra in an air-tight container for future use. 



Amy's GF Oat Flour Blend:

1 1/2 cups oat flour
1 cup tapioca flour (sometimes called tapioca starch, same same.)
1 1/2 cups potato starch or corn starch (or, some combination of the two, whatever you've got on hand- as long as it equals 1 1/2 cups total)

Mix with your hand until combined. 

Ingredients: 

2 large eggs, at room temperature. *important. make sure they are room temp.
3/4 cups of sugar (I use Wholesome Sweetners Non-GMO Organic Sugar, Evaporated Cane Juice)
1 cup mashed (or three small) over-ripe bananas
1/3 cup 0% fat Greek Yogurt
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups Amy's GF Oat Flour Blend (recipe above)
1 tsp. xanthan gum (important: this is your binder. Bob's Red Mill has this in bags- it is spendy but you don't need much. A little will last a long time.)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
*optional, but worth it: 1 tbsp. ground flax seed (if you only have whole you can grind it in a coffee grinder- provides a great nutty flavor and amazing health benefits) and 1 tbsp. whole flax seeds. They provide an unexpected crunch.
*1/2 cup of add-ins (either dark raisins or other dried fruit, roughly chopped nuts or chocolate chips.)

Process:

1. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Prepare a loaf pan by greasing it with butter and sprinkling it with fine rice flour. (or whatever GF flour you have.)

2. In an electric mixer, beat the room temp. eggs with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugar and beat until well blended. Add the mashed banana, Greek yogurt and vanilla. Beat until smooth.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together (by hand) the oat flour blend, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder, ground flax seed and cinnamon. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat the flour mixture into the liquid ingredients until they are well blended and the batter thickens slightly. Stir in the extras if you are using them- (whole flax seed and the dried fruit or chopped nuts or chocolate chips.)

4. Spread evenly into the prepared loaf pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean- 45-50 minutes. Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes. Remove the bread form the pans and cool completely on the wire rack. 

5. Slice and serve. Top with Greek yogurt and honey, honey butter or just serve it up plain. 

Enjoy!

The Best Granola

Seriously, it is the best granola I've ever made. 
And, quite possibly the best granola I've ever had. 
Not too sweet, super crunchy, great flavor. 
Perfect as a snack or over yogurt, you will make this over and over!

The BEST Granola

Ingredients:
1/4 cup coconut oil (can use canola oil if you don't have coconut)
1/4 cup agave
1/4 cup organic, local honey
1tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract (optional, but yummy if you have some lying around)
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick cooking, certified GF if needed)
3/4 cup slivered almonds (or walnuts or pecans)
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raw pumpkin needs
2 tbsp ground flax seeds
3 tbsp whole flax seeds
1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup diced dried apricots (or any other dried fruit) *optional (I like to use apricots, prunes and cranberries/craisins)

(Check out more of my handmade ceramics! https://www.etsy.com/shop/PotsbyAmy)
{nailpolish- OPI Don't Touch my Tutu!}

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with a silpat mat or parchment paper.

2. Mix the  oil, agave, honey, cinnamon, vanilla and almond extract together until smooth.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the oats, nuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, ground flax, and salt. 
(TIP-*depending on the dried fruit you use, you can put it in now, or wait until after it comes out. I used apricots and dried plums. The apricots were fine to go in and bake with the granola. The plums turned into super chewy plum rocks. Next time, I will add them at the end. To be safe, maybe wait till the end to add any dried fruit until you've tested it out.)

4. Add the wet to the dry and stir, making sure everything is coated evenly.
Spread evenly on the baking sheet. 
5. Bake, stirring once or twice, until golden and crispy. About 26-30 minutes. 

6. Remove the granola from the oven and break it into bite-sized clumps while it is still warm.
Let it cool completely and then add your dried fruit, if you didn't already in step 2. 
Store in an air-tight container.

Lovely with shredded coconut on top too! 

Serve over greek yogurt or with your favorite milk and fresh fruit. Yum!

Chocolate Apricot Chunk Muffins

When I first came into contact with this recipe, I thought the lady telling it to me was crazy. Black bean, banana and coffee muffins? I was sitting in a Good Food Store gluten-free baking class- and would have never believed how good they were if I wouldn't have tried them for myself. Not only are the gluten free, they are also refined sugar free and SUPER easy to make and adapt. Chocolat-ey, fudgy, chunky and healthy, these moist muffins can be eaten for breakfast, as a snack or for dessert. (For dessert, top with cream cheese frosting- recipe below- or make the batter in a cake pan and layer with strawberries and fresh whipped cream :)

Ingredients:

15oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed

2 brown bananas OR 1 cup applesauce

1/4 cup of coffee, brewed and cooled (leftover from morning is perfect)

1 1/2 cups oat flour, OR 1/2 cup oat flour, 1/2 cup white rice flour, and 1/2 cup brown rice flour

1 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tbsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup agave OR 1/2 cup agave, 1/2 cup honey

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 cup rough chopped dried fruit (dust with a few teaspoons of corn starch to keep the fruit from sticking together) Some favorites are dried apricots, cherries, cranberries and blueberries. 

(optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips)

Process: 

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Place the drained and rinsed black beans in a food processor with the brown bananas. Process until smooth. Add cooled coffee, blend to combine. Set aside.

3. Mix salt, baking powder, cocoa powder and oat flour (or oat, rice flour blend, whichever you are using.)

Set aside.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, add egg and agave (or agave/honey mixture, whichever you are using.) Using the whisk attachment, whisk on medium until light and frothy. (<-- Important! White foamy froth is good news.) 

5. Reduce speed, add vanilla and the black bean, banana and coffee mixture. 

6. Add the dry mix all at once. Mix. 

7. Add the chopped fruit that has been dusted with corn starch and chocolate chips if using. Mix till all is well combined.

8. Fill the cups of a muffin tin- the batter should come almost to the top of the cups. 

9. Bake 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. 

Store in an air-tight container and enjoy all week!

(If making this as a dessert- top with cream cheese frosting once cooled. Also, you can totally pour this into a cake pan and make it in the shape of a cake.... delicious.)

Perfect Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 oz. unsalted butter, softened

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla extract

2 tsp. lemon juice

1. In th ebowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter and cream cheese.

2. add sugar one cup at a time

3. add lemon and vanilla. 

Quinoa + Kale Mini-Burgers with Avocado Tzatziki

Quinoa + Kale Mini-burgers with Avocado Tzatziki

Week night dinner, ready in well under an hour. My husband said, "these things are like falafel on steroids." The avocado tzatziki really puts them over the top. As always, a little Sriracha is good too. 

Ingredients.

for the burgers.
1 cup quinoa
2 c. water
4 eggs, whisked
1/3 c. parmesan or feta (I used a bit of both)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 c. steamed kale
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 medium carrot, shredded 
1 c. gluten free breadcrumbs 
evoo

for the avocado tzatziki

1 c. 0% greek yogurt
1 small avocado, mashed
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/3 c. diced cucumber (peeled, optional) + more for garnish

Method- burgers.

bring the quinoa and water to a boil. reduce to simmer and cook until quinoa is tender and has absorbed all the liquid. about 20 minutes. allow to cool to room temperature. (if you are crunched for time, dump it on to a cookie sheet. spread it out and pop in the freezer for about 8 minutes... cool down with the quickness).
Combine all the other ingredients except the evoo (kale needs to be cooled as well so that it doesn't cook the eggs...) into a large bowl. let it all hang out together for a few minutes (5ish) to get all comfortable. (maybe take this opportunity to pour yourself a glass of vino...). the burger batter should stick together to form patties- should not be runny. (if runny, add a bit more bread crumbs. If crumbly, drop another whisked egg in there...but if you followed the instructions above, it should be just about perfect.)

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. After the skillet comes to temperature, add the oil (this helps food to not stick. What a trick, right?!). Drop in the mini-patties one by one. Resist the urge to move them. They need to get all golden and lovely on the bottom, so let them be. I did about 5 per batch. After 3-4 minutes, check the bottoms by sliding a spatula underneath and peeking to see the bottoms. If they are golden, flip 'em over. If not, give them a little more time.
Once you do the flip, press them slightly to flatten them a bit. Again, don't touch them until they are golden. If you mess with them too much, they will crumble on you and you will be a sad, sad little chef.

Let the burgers cool on a paper towel (to soak out any extra oil). 

Method- tzatziki.

Once your avocado is mashed, add all the ingredients together. Mix. Done. (again, your ingredients need to all become friends in there. SO, the earlier you make this, the better it will taste. Make sure you've got a receptacle with a tight fitting lid to keep it in until it is go time.)

Serve the burgers with a dollop of tzatziki and sprinkle on some cucumbers and avocado if you've got some extra. 

Enjoy!

2013 Dirty Dozen

I try to eat mostly organic. I think about where my food comes from. I avoid eating and cooking with wheat. I especially pay attention to where meat comes from. We have a garden, shop at the farmer's market when available, and live on a street book-ended by two local grocers. I cook in big batches, but eat it all week. We use everything. I know that eating ALL organic ALL the time is hard. It is expensive. The Dirty Dozen is a list that I try to memorize, and try to buy organic when at all possible. (Costco has done a great job lately of having organic produce. With new items increasing. Thank you Costco!)
 I like that there is a clean 15 list, so that during months when it is a little tight, or things are out of season- I can buy non-orgainc things from that list and feel ok that I am not totally poising myself with my 'healthy' foods. 

Below is the 2013 Dirty Dozen list- with Apples at the top. (Perhaps we should update the old 'An apple a day' saying....)

DIRTY DOZEN 2013

Apples

Strawberries

Grapes 

Celery

Peaches

Spinach

Bell Peppers

Nectarines 

Cucumber 

Potatoes 

Cherry Tomatoes

Hot Peppers

This list was released by the EWG (Environmental Working Group). The above fruits and veggies are the highest in pesticide residue- even AFTER washing them! (read: It is important to buy the above fruits and veggies organic). 
Huffington Post, where I got this information, also released the 2013 'Clean 15' list. See below for the cleanest 15 veggies and produce:

CLEAN 15

Corn

Onions

Pineapple

Avacado 

Cabbage

Frozen Sweet Peas

Papaya 

Mangos

Asparagus

Eggplant 

Kiwi 

Grapefruit

Cantaloupe

Sweet Potatoes

Mushrooms

I still have my qualms about GMO corn, and GMO everything really. But for me, the above list is really nice to have to reference, for when organic is not a viable option. 

I get mango, asparagus, avocado, cantaloupe and frozen sweet peas in bulk at Costco. If they start to turn, I freeze them (the fruits) and use them in smoothies. 

Here's a great salad recipe, that calls for asparagus and avocado- buying in bulk sometimes forces you to have a mass cooking of veggies, and this salad would be perfect for getting rid of those ones who are on the edge. So good!

Eat healthy, be happy. 

Amy