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Ginger Garlic Flank Steak

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Tonight was all about ginger garlic flank steak! Let’s get real…nobody has time to spend 2 hours in the kitchen serving up Martha Stewart style dinners every night.  If you have time on a Sunday or during the holidays that’s obviously when it’s more realistic to be able to dedicate the time to that type of cooking.   For the rest of the days that you are running around like a crazy person trying to get everything accomplished, including dinner, this meal can easily fit into a hectic day.  We really try our best to bring you meals that are healthy and inspiring but don’t require 100 ingredients and hours of cooking.  This ginger flank steak is so simple to make and we promise that you won’t be slaving away in the kitchen all night long!

You can throw the steak in a ziplock bag the night before to marinade overnight.  For the marinade just mix up soy sauce, sesame oil, olive oil, honey, fresh ginger, garlic and fresh squeezed lime juice and add it to the bag with the steak.  When dinner time rolls around the next day, simply sear the steak on each side for about 3 minutes.  Complete cooking by finishing it off in the oven at 425 degrees for about 5 minutes.

Stephanie Heymann Photography

You can serve the steak over rice or cauliflower rice like we have done and add a steamed veggie like green beans or broccoli.  Dinner really doesn’t get much easier than this, and it’s delicious!!!

Stephanie Heymann Photography

Ginger Garlic Flank Steak
 
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 pound flank steak
For the Marinade:
  • 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon oilve oil
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
  • 2 cloves garlic - chopped
  • juice of ½ fresh lime
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, mix ingredients for marinade and pour over steak in either a large ziploc bag or baking dish. Marinate in refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
  2. Preheat oven to 425°. Preheat grill pan on high heat. Sear meat on both sides for about 3 minutes each until a deep brown crust achieved. Transfer grill pan to oven and continue cooking for about 5 more minutes for medium rare or a little longer for medium.
  3. Remove from oven and transfer meat to cutting board and let it rest for 10 minutes. You can tent with foil loosley to keep warm.Cut thinly on the diagonal or against the grain to ensure the pieces are tender.
Great served with cauliflower rice and steamed green beans as shown.

Chocolate Espresso Chia Pudding

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Chocolate espresso chia pudding is on our top 10 breakfast list! Dessert for breakfast?  Sounds too good to be true, right?  Not only is this chocolate espresso chia seed pudding super healthy, it will also put an extra pep in your step with the addition of espresso. Chia seeds are one of the best things you can eat and the perfect way to start off your day.  They are a whole grain food and although they are tiny little seeds they are among one of the most nutritious foods you can get your hands on.  They are packed with fiber, protein and omega-3 fatty acids.  So loading up on these tiny little seeds is always a good thing!

This pudding takes all of 5 minutes to put together, but it needs to sit overnight to set up.  Make it before you go to bed, when you wake up breakfast will be ready!  Top with fresh strawberries or raspberries and enjoy!


Chocolate Espresso Chia Pudding
 
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1½ C unsweetened almond milk or other nut milk, or dairy milk of choice
  • ⅓ C chia seeds
  • ¼ C unsweetened cacao powder
  • 3 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 Tbsp instant espresso powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ½ tsp cinammon
  • himalayan pink salt or kosher salt to taste
Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredient together with a wire whisk, make sure to thoroughly incorporate the cocao powder. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight for pudding to set.

Winter Vegetable Soup

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Winter Vegetable Soup please.  It’s a new year and it’s time to get back to healthy eating, starting with this vegetable soup.  This soup is a great way to clear out your vegetable drawer and provide a hearty and healthy meal at the same time.  I have to admit that my kids gave me some major eye rolls when I told them they were having vegetable soup for dinner, they were less than thrilled.  I was pleasantly surprised when we sat down and all 3 ate their entire bowls.  I actually heard one of them say…”wow, this soup is actually really, really good!” Score!  I know this sounds weird but I get a little giddy inside when I throw 10 different types of vegetables in a bowl and my kids eat everything….I’m always hopeful, but it doesn’t always work out that way.

Okay, so this soup is really easy, it just requires a lot of chopping.  You can either chop as you go or have you veggies already chopped before you start assembling the soup.

Once your veggies are chopped and thrown in your dutch oven or soup pan you can add the chicken broth and chopped tomatoes.  Bring the soup to a boil and reduce to simmer and cover for about 10 minutes until the veggies are cooked through.

Remove the bay leaves and add chopped spinach and S&P to taste and you are all set.  Serve it up with some chopped fresh parsley or grated romano cheese and you have a healthy meal that hopefully your kids will eat too! PS, I served this with a side of broiled Naan bread topped with a sprinkle of cheese because it’s somewhat of a soup rule, at least in our house anyways, that you always need to have a little bit of bread to dip into the soup!

 

 

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Winter Vegetable Soup
 
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Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 2 tsp good quality olive oil
  • ½ yellow onion, diced
  • 2 leeks, white parts only chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 Tbsp chopped thyme
  • 1 medium zucchini, chopped
  • 1 bell pepper (not green), diced
  • 2 medium carrots, chopped
  • 2 stalks celery with leafy tops, chopped
  • 1 28oz can diced tomatoes
  • 5 C organic chicken broth
  • 2 C spinach, stems removed and chopped
  • S&P to taste
Instructions
  1. Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and leaks and and saute for 5 minutes. Add garlic and thyme and saute for another minute.
  2. Add remaining ingredients except for spinach and S&P. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer, continue to simmer with lid on until vegetables are cooked through - approximately 10 minutes.
  3. Turn off heat and remove bay leaves and add chopped spinach. Season woth S&P to taste.
  4. Top with fresh chopped parsley or grated romano cheese.

No-Bake Chocolate Coconut Date Bars

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No-bake chocolate coconut date bars. Trust us when we tell you that you can have a healthy candy bar!!  Seriously, these little gems are like nothing you have ever tasted before.  They are so rich and decadent and yet, they are made with clean, wholesome ingredients!!  Once again, a total WIN!  We love using dates as a natural sugar.  They are so versatile and offer the perfect amount of sweetness…actually, a lot of sweetness but we are not complaining.  Do you remember those little candy bars called an Almond Joy?  Well, these no bake chocolate coconut date bars are a take on those little candy bars but without all the freaky ingredients!  And, how awesome is a dessert that you don’t have to bake either?  You just mix the ingredients in a food processor, press it into a baking dish, melt some chocolate to smear on top and pop them in the fridge until they firm up and you are ready to cut them into squares.

So few ingredients and yet so amazingly delicious!!  Eating these right now! Buh bye!

 

 

 

Chocolate Coconut Date Bars
 
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Serves: 24 squares
Ingredients
  • ⅔ C raw, unsalted almonds
  • ½ C flaked unsweetened coconut
  • 25 medjool dates - pitted
  • 2 Tbsp cacao powder
  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
  • ⅛ tsp salt
  • ½ C semi sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Place almonds in a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Add dates and process until finely ground and combined. Add coconut, cacao powder, coconut oil and salt and process until combined (texture will be sticky).
  2. Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper. Press date mixture into pan. Melt chocolate chips in microwave safe bowl then spread chocolate over top of date mixture.
  3. Place pan in refrigerator for at least 1 hour. When ready to serve, remove date mixture from pan, place on cutting board and cut into small squares. Store in airtight container in fridge.

King Crab Legs Brushed with Lemon Vermouth Butter

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King crab legs brushed with lemon vermouth butter, are you kidding me? You are looking at our Christmas tradition right here, and I can hardly wait because it’s almost time to have this feast once again.  King crab legs are a huge treat and our entire family thoroughly enjoys every last bite when it comes time to eat them.  We used to boil the crab legs to warm them and then serve them up with garlic butter, but everything changed when my neighbor told us to cut a strip down the center of each leg, throw them on the BBQ and baste them with vermouth, butter and fresh lemon juice.  Major game changer!!!

The crab is already pre-cooked when you purchase it from the store so you are really just warming it through to serve, so it only takes a few minutes on the grill.  The tricky part is getting a very sharp pair of kitchen scissors and cutting about a 1/4 inch strip out of the shell on the back side of the crab leg.  If you look at this picture closely you  can see the strips that are cut.  By cutting this strip it allows for the vermouth/butter/lemon to really soak into the crab meat so there is no need to serve any additional butter or sauces when it comes time to serve the crab. Another huge bonus with the strip cut out is it makes accessing the meat so much easier, you really don’t need crab crackers when you prepare the crab this way.

You will never make crab the same way again, BBQ and baste all the way baby!! Stay tuned…if you happen to have leftovers we will be posting the BEST crab cakes that will make you want to have some crab for leftovers every time. You should really just plan on buying a little extra crab so you can have the crab cakes in your life, you don’t want to miss out!

crabinshell

King Crab Legs Brushed with Lemon Vermouth Butter
 
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Serves: Approx 7+
Ingredients
  • 6-7 King Crab Legs
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
  • ¼ C vermouth
  • ¼ C freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
  1. Using sharp kitchen scissors ¼ inch strip down the back of each crab leg.
  2. Heat bbq to high. Place crab legs directly on grill with the cut side facing up. Brush butter mixture over thr crab legs, repeating throughout the 5 minutes the crab is on the grill. Remove crab when heated through.
  3. Serve with fresh lemon wedges.

Lemon Basil Zoodle Salad

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It’s zoodle time again! We just cannot get enough of these!  Not only are they fun to make, they are just so versatile and pair well with a variety of ingredients. (Note- If you’re not familiar with a spiralizer look up Spiralizer How-To under the video tab of our website)  We like to break out the spiralizer and curl up a bunch of zucchini to have on hand for a few days.  They actually keep very well in an airtight container.  How great is it to have something like this ready to go?  It’s really true that you will make better food decisions if you do a little preparation.  For this salad, we simply used zoodles in place of lettuce.  It’s a salad that we make all the time its  unbelievably good and easy.  The lemon basil dressing is bursting with flavor and a very critical part to this recipe!

spiralizer

Sauté spiralized zoodles in a teaspoon of olive oil until they begin to break down, about 5 minutes.  While the zoodles are cooking chop cherry tomatoes, avocado, basil and feta. Add all ingredients to a medium bowl with cooked noodles.  top with pine nuts, drizzle with the lemon basil dressing and season with S&P. Tada, done!!! Healthy and delish meal done and ready to eat in 15 minutes!

zoodleavocado2

Lemon Basil Zoodle Salad
 
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
Zoodle Salad Ingredients:
  • 2 large zuchinnis, spiralized
  • 1 tsp good quality olive oil
  • 1 C cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 avocado cut into ½ inch chunks
  • 3 oz feta cheese, crumbled
  • ¼ C loosely packed fresh basil, cut into strips
  • 2 Tbsp toasted pine nuts
  • S & P to taste
Lemon Basil Vinaigrette Ingredients
  • juice of 1 extra large lemon or 2 medium lemons
  • 1 clove garlic chopped
  • 1 C loosely packed fresh basil leaves
  • ¼ C 0% plain greek yogurt
  • 1½ Tbsp honey
  • ¼ C good quality olive oil
  • S & P to taste
Instructions
  1. Heat oil in large sautee pan over medium heat. Add fresh zuchinni noodles "zoodles" and sautee for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and place in bowl. Add halved cherry tomatoes, avocado, feta, basil and toasted pine nuts.
For the vinaigrette, add all ingredients except for olive oil into a blender or use an immersion blender. Blend until basil is thoroughly mixed. Slowly drizzle olive oil in with blender on until combined. Add S & P to taste.
  1. Drizzle lemon basil vinaigrette over the zoodle salad. Season with S & P to taste.

Maple Cinnamon Roasted Pear Salad with Creamy Balsamic Vinaigrette

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I know we say this every time we post a new salad recipe but this might be our blue ribbon salad right here.  It’s Bosc pear season and that basically mean that the time has come to roast pears because everything is better roasted. Once the pears are roasted it’s a whole new world…eat them plain, serve them with some vanilla bean ice cream….YUM, or top one on your next salad.

Roasting pears is about as simple as it gets.  Use a vegetable peeler to peel the pears, cut them in half and use a melon scooper to remove the core.  Heat brown sugar, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla and cinnamon in a saucepan until dissolved and pour over the pears.  Roast for 30 minutes, crank up the heat and broil for the last 1-2 minutes.  Your pears should look just like this.

pearcooked

Allow the pears to cool before serving over greens, otherwise the salad will wilt. We think arugula is the perfect green to pair with the pears (see what I did there??…pair with the pears! haha). The arugula has a peppery flavor which is the perfect  contrast to the sweetness of the pear.  Add some gorgonzola or blue cheese, toasted walnuts and dried cherries and you are almost all set.  Drizzle with our creamy balsamic vinaigrette and you’re in business.

pearplaed2

This is a great make-ahead salad because you can roast the pears and make the salad dressing in advanced.  It should take you less than 5 minutes to assemble the salad and have it on the table.  Once you’ve roasted these pears you will never look at Bosc pears the same way again!

pearplated1

 

Maple Cinnamon Roasted Pear Salad with Creamy Balsamic Vinaigrette
 
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Serves: Pears serve 8 /salad serves 1
Ingredients
For the Maple Cinnamon Roasted Pears:
  • 4 Bosc pears
  • ½ lemon
  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
  • ½ C pure maple syrup
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar
  • ½ tsp vanilla
  • ¼ tsp cinnamon
  • small pinch kosher salt
For the Creamy Balsamic Vinaigrette:
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • 2 Tbsp 0% greek yogurt
  • 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
  • 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 3 Tbsp good quality olive oil
  • 2 C arugula
  • ¼ C toasted walnuts
  • 2 Tbsp blue cheese or gorgonzola
  • 2 Tbsp dried cherries or cranberries
Instructions
For the Maple Cinnamon Roasted Pears:
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel the pears with a vegetable peeler and cut in half lengthwise. Use a melon scooper to scoop out the core. Rub all sides of the pear with the half lemon and place in a large casserole dish cored side up.
  2. In a small saucepan over medium heat melt coconut oil, maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Heat until melted and sugar is dissolved - about 3 minutes.
  3. Spoon the syrup over the pears and bake 30 minutes. Turn the oven to broil for the last 1-2 minutes, careful not to burn.
  4. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
  5. While the pears are roasting assemble the salad dressing.
For the Creamy Balsamic Vinaigrette:
  1. Using a food processor, blender, or immersion blender - add all ingredients except olive oil and process until smooth, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and continue to process until incorporated. This makes ½ C dressing, use desired amount for the salad and store the remainong dressing in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
  2. Assemble the salad with the pear on top of a bed of arugula sprinkled with the walnuts, blue cheese and dried cherries and drizzled with the creamy balsamic vinaigrette.

Roasted Poblano Peppers Stuffed with Chicken

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If you have never roasted a poblano pepper before, you have got to try it!  “What is a a poblano pepper?” you ask.  The poblano is a mild chili pepper originating in the state of Puebla, Mexico.  Poblanos tend to have a mild flavor and are delicious when stuffed with a variety of ingredients.  For dinner tonight, I decided to use onion, chicken, leftover corn, fresh tomatoes and cilantro.  Now, in the past, I would have combined all of this with rice but with all the cauliflower rice rage going on these days, I used that instead.  WOW!!  Absolutely delicious!  The beauty of cauliflower rice is that it seriously tastes so much like rice that it’s just a no brainer…bye bye carbs!  I just happen to love the mellow chili flavor of the poblano pepper.  Top these guys off with a little shredded cheese, cilantro, fresh avocado and maybe a little dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt.  Yum!  Don’t be afraid…go for it!

poblano1

 

The skin gets nice and bubbly when you roast these guys!  Let them get a little blackened and then leave them in a paper or plastic bag for 5 minutes to steam.  Now, just get your hands in there and start peeling the skin off!  It’s so fun!  But be careful with the peppers because they can be fragile.  Cut a slit down the center so you can get the seeds out.

poblano2

How delicious does this chicken mixture look?  It’s seriously so good!  I cannot wait to make these again!

poblano3

Roasted Poblano Peppers Stuffed with Chicken
 
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (diced into small bite sized pieces)
  • 4 poblano peppers
  • ½ cup diced tomatoes
  • ½ fresh corn
  • ⅓ cup diced yellow onion
  • 1 clove garlic - minced
  • ¼ teaspoon cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon chili powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1 tablespoon cilantro - chopped (plus more for garnish)
  • ½ cup shredded cheese (we used montery jack and cheddar mixture)
  • 1 cup riced cauliflower (can find in most grocery stores, we buy at Trader Joe's, or rice yourself by adding cauliflower florets to a food processor and pulsing until the texture resembles rice.)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 450 °
  2. Place poblano peppers on a baking sheet and cook until skin is charred - about 3 minutes per side. Rotate peppers so all sides are charred evenly.
  3. Once charred, remove from oven and place in plastic bag (or a bowl covered with plastic wrap) to steam for 5 minutes. This will allow skins to peel off easily
  4. Preheat oven to 350°
  5. While peppers are steaming, heat olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium high heat.
  6. Add onions and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes
  7. Add diced chicken and dry seasonings and saute for about 5 minutes
  8. Add diced tomatoes, corn, riced cauliflower, cilantro and saute for roughly 3-5 more minutes
  9. Remove from heat and set aside
  10. Remove skins from peppers, then carefully remove seeds from insides
  11. Place peppers in a baking dish and fill with chicken mixture
  12. Top with shredded cheese and bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted
Good Thyme Tip - Top with sour cream or Greek yogurt, cotija cheese, fresh avocados or your favorite salsa.

Sautéed Vegetables with Ricotta

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Sautéed vegetables with ricotta is a winning flavor combination. Thanksgiving is over and it’s possible that you might still be in a food coma.  Chances are you might need some more veggies in your life about now….I know I do!  Think of this dish as a hearty, warm spinach and veggie salad, the spoonful of ricotta on top finishes it off perfectly…and let’s face it, everything is better when it’s topped with ricotta!  The inspiration for the dish came about by simply getting creative with the ingredients that were in the fridge.  Turns out it was a giant win, we love it when that happens!! There is just something that works perfectly with this combination of flavors.

veggiericotta

Freshly sautéed vegetables topped with a generous dollap of creamy ricotta is all this meal needs.  Serve it as a side or as a meal, you will love this combo!

ricottabite

Sautéed Vegetables with Ricotta
 
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Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • 2 zuchinnis, chopped into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 ear corn, steamed and kernels removed
  • 2 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
  • 2 C packed fresh spinach
  • 2-3 Tbsp low fat ricotta
  • S&P to taste
Instructions
  1. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and sautee for 1 minute, being careful not to burn. Add chopped zuchinnis and cook, flipping occasionally browning all sides. Add spinach, tomatoes and corn. Cook until spinach is wilted, season with S&P to taste. Transfer to serving bowl and dollap ricotta on top.

Harvest Pumpkin Butter

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Why spread boring old butter on your toast when you can have PUMPKIN butter?  Oh and by the way, it doesn’t have to just be toast…mix it in yogurt, top on oatmeal, serve over ice cream. If you need a last minute Thanksgiving side dish, toss a couple of tablespoons of this pumpkin butter with chopped sweet potatoes and bake.  Sweet potatoes made easy! Need I say more?  Probably not but I will.  Let’s just continue to take full advantage of the fact that it’s finally fall and whip up a batch, or 2 or 5. Don’t mind if I do!

Side note…it’s very confusing to me why this is called pumpkin butter when it’s dairy free.  Who names this stuff anyways?  Shouldn’t it be called pumpkin jam or spread or something that makes more sense?  Why did they have to go messing up the obvious and put this in the butter category when clearly it’s NOT a butter!  Random rant but really, let’s get with the program and call it what it really is…pumpkin jamspread.

pumpkinbutteraction

Stephanie Heymann Photography

How cute does it look in the little mason jar?   It makes the best hostess gift if you have any fall parties on the schedule too.  So enjoy the pumpkin butter NOT butter jamspread!

pumpkinbutter

Stephanie Heymann Photography

Harvest Pumpkin Butter
 
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Serves: 2 Cups
Ingredients
  • 1 - 15 oz can pumpkin puree - not pie filling
  • ¼ C brown sugar
  • ¼ C maple syrup
  • ½ C unsweetened applesauce
  • ½ lemon, juiced
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp kosher salt
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients together in a saucepan over medium heat until it begins to bubble. Reduce heat to simmer, continue cooking uncovered for 20 minutes.
  2. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Spread on everything from toast to pancakes, mixed into yogurt, oatmeal or baked on top of butternut squash.
  3. Store in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.