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I have to say, it is a super gratifying feeling to wake up every Monday morning to find two big bags of healthy, local, organic produce and groceries just waiting on my doorstep. It’s like a blank canvas of healthy awesomeness. What delicious things will I whip up this week? It’s a surprise every time.
I’ve partnered with Milk & Eggs, an amazing farm direct grocery delivery service, to bring you guys some delicious, super seasonal, and always healthy recipes a few times a month. I’m so excited to share some of my favorite dishes with you!
To read more about my experience with Milk & Eggs, check out my full review of the super cool company and what they’re all about. Scroll to the bottom of the post for a discount code off your first order!
This week, I ordered a dozen Chino Valley Organic Eggs, some Straus Family Creamery Organic Greek Yogurt, wild-caught Arctic Char, Alvarado Bakery Organic Sprouted Whole Grain Bread, and of course, the Organic Farm Sampler Bag.
I got tons of greens (organic kale, green leaf lettuce, spinach) and a package of beautiful strawberries that I was super excited to use, so I whipped up the two yummy recipes below, in addition to many others than I’ll share with you in a few weeks.
For a creative way to use a bunch of greens, I made kale pesto rice bowls that are a blank canvas to use up all kinds of yummy veggies and whatever else you have in your fridge! They’re also an awesome way to add a bunch of greens to an otherwise white-ish food (rice).
The recipe is inspired by two of my fave cookbooks, Thug Kitchen: Eat Like You Give a F*ck(for the baked tofu) and Everything I Want to Eat: Sqirl and the New California Cooking (for the bowl).
You can customize this dish pretty much any way you want, using whatever veggies you have on hand, and a variety of plant or animal proteins.
| Prep Time | 20 min |
| Cook Time | 30 min |
| Passive Time | 2 hours |
| Servings |
bowls
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- 1/2 cup brown rice organic
- 2 small beets scrubbed or peeled, julienned or sliced into thin strips with a peeler
- 2 cups veggies of choice (optional) sliced avocado, julienned carrots, steamed or raw broccoli, sliced bell peppers all work great
- 1 lemon 1/2 zested, then the whole thing juiced
- 1 tbsp fresh herbs chopped, I used dill
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 block tofu organic, (wild caught salmon or free-range organic chicken would work great here too)
- 1 orange juiced
- 1/4 cup tamari organic, gluten-free, low-sodium
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger minced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp Sriracha (optional)
Ingredients
Baked Tofu (or other protein of choice)
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- Prepare the tofu (or other protein) and marinade in advance. The longer it marinades, the better! If using tofu, place it between two paper towels and cover with something heavy to drain some of the liquid. The longer you drain it, the better, but if you're lazy or in a rush, 10-15 minutes will do. After it's drained, slice tofu lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices. If using animal protein, prep it for baking.
- Whisk together the orange juice, tamari, ginger, garlic, olive oil, and sriracha. Place tofu (or other animal protein) in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet or baking dish. Pour the marinade over it, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 hours. If using chicken or salmon, you can put the pieces into a large ziplock bag with the marinade, and refrigerate.
- When you're ready to cook, preheat oven to 450º.
- Remove tofu (or other protein) from the refrigerator, and place on a lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, flip and spoon some marinade over it. Bake for 10 minutes, flip again and spoon rest of the marinade over it. Bake for 5 more minutes, then remove from oven. If using salmon, bake for 10-15 minutes (check it at 10), until flakey. If using chicken, you'll have to look up cooking times, since I don't cook meat and have no idea! ; )
- Make the brown rice, according to package instructions.
- Toss the shaved beets with the other half of the lemon juice and a tsp of olive oil. Let sit.
- Combine all ingredients for the kale pesto, except the olive oil in a food processor. Process on high for a minute, pausing to scrape the sides. Slowly add in the olive oil and process until relatively smooth.
- Once rice is done, toss it with the chopped herbs, pesto, lemon zest and 1/2 the lemon juice. Adjust salt to taste.
- Divide the rice between three bowls. Top each with 1/3 of the baked tofu, the shaved beets, and whatever other veggies you want to add.
I also wanted to make a fun, adult and toddler friendly breakfast with those beautiful organic strawberries. French toast is one of my favorite comfort foods, and I’ve been determined to make it healthier, especially before I get little M obsessed with it too.
The best and easiest way to make healthy french toast is changing the kind of bread you use. I like to use sprouted, whole grain bread instead of the typical crappy white bread, which instantly makes it a healthier, fibrous breakfast, instead of a high glycemic sugar bomb for the body.
The other healthy modifications include omitting sugar or maple syrup, and using peanut butter and fruit instead! Peanut butter is naturally sweet, and makes this yummy french toast even higher in protein, which is great. If you need even more sweetness in the batter, you can mash up a banana and mix it in, but I personally find that the peanut butter plus some added berries when serving makes the french toast sweet enough, and I can feel good about serving it to my toddler.
| Prep Time | 5 min |
| Cook Time | 7 min |
| Servings |
adult + 1 little
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- 2 large eggs organic, cage-free
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract organic
- 1/2 cup coconut milk carrageenan-free (you can also use homemade or store bought carrageenan-free almond milk)
- 1 tbsp peanut butter organic
- 4 slices sprouted whole grain bread (you can also use your favorite whole grain gluten-free bread!)
- 1 cup berries sliced
- 1 tbsp virgin coconut oil organic, unrefined
Ingredients
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- Whisk together the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl.
- Heat a large skillet (I like to use cast iron) over medium heat, and add coconut oil.
- One by one, soak the slices of bread and place them on the skillet.
- Cook until lightly browned, about 3 minutes on each side.
- Arrange on two plates and top with sliced berries. If serving to a toddler, cut into hand-size strips.
- You can top with a sprinkle of shredded, unsweetened coconut!
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October 30, 2016
That kale pesto sounds great! I’ve always like kale, but don’t really know what to do with it most of the time, so it usually becomes part of a soup. I’ll have to try this out the next time I have some 🙂
November 10, 2016
That peanut butter french toast sounds delicious! I can’t wait to make this for my kids. Thanks for the recipe!!