Brown Rice with Fresh Cilantro and Lime

The family wanted tacos. I was looking for something that I could have alongside them...something fairly easy and tasty, something that would allow me to fill up on something healthy. This was a nice side dish to serve alongside. Yum!

1 cup dry brown rice
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil or grape seed oil
1 scallion, thinly sliced, white and green parts divided
2 tsp minced garlic
1 3/4 cups organic or reduced sodium vegetable broth
1 lime, 1 tsp grated zest and 1 Tbs juice
1 tsp reduced sodium soy sauce
3 Tbs chopped cilantro

Rinse and drain the rice. Heat a pot with a tight-fitting lid over medium-low heat and pour in the oil. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the white parts of the scallion and the garlic and gently cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add rice, broth, and imd zest and bring to a boil on high. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 40 minutes. Do not remove the lid whir cooking. Remove from heat and allow rice to rest for 5 minutes. Add the green parts of the scallion, lime juice, soy sauce, and cilantro, and fluff with fork.

Dark Chocolate Whole-Wheat Brownies

Sometimes you just NEED a little something sweet...and these brownies are perfect! One of my biggest weaknesses are good homemade cookies and brownies so I am always on the hunt for a healthier version. Even my daughter who said, "Ewww!" when she heard what I was making loved these.

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup boiling water
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup grapeseed or canola oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/1/2 cups granulated raw sugar
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour, plus extra for dusting
3/4 tsp all-natural sea salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and light flour (using whole wheat flour) the bottom only of a 13 x 9 inch pan. In a large bowl, whisk cocoa powder with boiling water until dissolved. Add chocolate chips and stir until melted. Stir in oil and vanilla. In a separate bowl, beat eggs until frothy and which in sugar. Add to the chocolate. Add the flours and salt all at once and fold in until just moistened. Pour batter evenly into the pan and bake on bottom rack until a toothpick inserted 2 inches from the side of the pan comes out clean or slightly moist, about 25 minutes. Cool completely before cutting. Makes 20 brownies. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Honey-Glazed Roasted Carrots

I am always looking for healthy side dishes that help change up the ordinary steamed and plain veggies. My daughters weren't too sure about this at first (Peppers, ginger, AND honey, mom???), but after they tried it they declared it a winner...and I do too!

*It makes quite a bit so you may want to cut down the recipe.

3 lb medium carrots, peeled and cut into 3 inch pieces

1 red chili pepper (such as fresno or serrano), halved, seeded, and thinly sliced  

1 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely grated

4 TBS olive oil

Kosher salt and pepper

3 TBS honey

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, toss the carrots, chili and ginger with the oil, 3/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Put on baking sheet (I used two in order to spread them out) and roast until golden brown and tender, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven, drizzle the honey over the carrots, and toss to coat. YUM!

Frozen Banana Yogurt Pops

My girls love ice cream...and I needed to find a healthier alternative to enjoy while they were enjoying it! I came across this and thought it was way too easy of a recipe to actually be something that would work...but easy works for me so I tried it. They are great and satisfy my sweet tooth. This would be great with strawberry yogurt too.

vanilla yogurt (I use either nonfat yogurt or Greek yogurt)
bananas
sliced almonds
craft sticks

Cut the bananas in half and insert a craft stick into one end. Dip the half banana into vanilla yogurt and roll it in sliced almonds. Set it in a dish to put in freezer. Once frozen, enjoy!
Fast, easy, and good!

Calico Corn Salsa

This is a GREAT recipe! I love Texas Caviar, but I do not like what all the beans in that recipe do to me. I was also a little leery of the bottled Italian dressing that my recipe called for. I wanted something that was TOTALLY clean and I stumbled across this recipe. I like the peas in it, but my daughter would like me to leave them out and I think it would taste great that way too. The Dijon mustard and the lime juice add a nice little zip and the cumin adds great flavor.

1 1/2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1 TBS olive oil
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/3 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup lime juice
1 TBS Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp all-natural sea salt
2 TBS minced fresh cilantro

In a large bowl, combine the corn and peas. In a nonstick skillet, cook cumin and oregano in oil over medium heat for 2 minutes. Pour over corn mixture and stir to coat evenly. Stir in the beans, tomato and onion. In a small bowl, whisk the lime juice, mustard, garlic and salt. Stir in cilantro. Pour over corn mixture and stir to coat. Refrigerate leftovers.