Portabello Mushroom Salad with Butternut Squash and Wild Rice

I have a new obsession that I have to tell you about.. It's the restaurant, Sweetgreen. Sweetgreen is a "fast food" restaurant that specializes in delicious and nutritious salads. Everything is always fresh, well-sourced, and amazing. 

One of their seasonal salads right now is called "Portobello, Squash, and Wild Rice Bowl." It is seriously one of the best things I've ever eaten. I decided to try and recreate it. Even though it's not as good as the original, it's pretty darn yummy.

I know I've mentioned before how challenging it is for me to decide what to bring to work for lunch. I get bored of things so quickly, and it's always a challenge to come up with something new and exciting.

After tasting Sweetgreen's salad, I knew right away that I would make my own version and bring it to work all week long this week :)

To find out all of the health benefits of Portobello mushrooms, check out one of my other recipes here.

Ingredients:

6 cups spring mix

 2 cups arugula 

1 cup sliced baby Portobello mushrooms

 3 cups butternut squash chunks

 1 onion, diced

2 tbsp. butter

1/4 cup chopped basil

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 cup dry wild rice mix

salt/pepper to taste

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

2) Cook wild rice to package instructions.

3) Heat a small skillet over medium heat.

4) Add 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp. olive oil. 

5) Add onions into skillet and reduce heat to medium/low. Cook onions until caramelized- about 40-50 minutes. 

6) Place mushrooms and squash on 2 baking sheets lined with foil. Coat them with 1 tbsp olive oil and salt/pepper and use your hands to combine.

7) Roast veggies for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through. 

8) Prepare salad- place spring mix and arugula in a bowl, add squash, mushrooms, rice, and onion.

9) Serve with your favorite dressing. (I just used a little lemon juice and olive oil)

*Recipe makes about 5 salads

Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie Balls

I'm not a big believer in diets that eliminate complete food group like the Paleo diet and the Atkins diet. I personally believe that these diets aren't sustainable and the minute you go back to eating the things you eliminated, you gain all the weight back almost immediately. 

I am, however, a believer in forming a diet into a lifestyle that you can easily follow and incorporate into your everyday living. The diet/lifestyle that I try to follow is the clean eating diet. This means eliminating white flours, refined sugars, and additives from your diet.

I have to be honest with you though, I feel like I've been cheating on this diet since Christmas and I desperately need something to put me back on track. I decided to do a no-sugar challenge for 25 days to cleanse my body and get back in a good grove. 

The basic rule in this challenge is you cannot eat any food with added sugar. This includes natural sugars as well such as maple syrup, agave and honey. The only sugar that is acceptable is the sugar contained in fruit. 

The hardest part of this diet is going to be eliminating staple pantry items that have added sugar in them such as tortilla chips, Sriracha and ketchup. It's crazy how sugar sneaks its way into all of these things!

My hope is that after these 25 days, it will be so easy to get right back on the clean eating bandwagon!

Anyway, back to this recipe! I wanted to make a yummy chocolatey treat that I can have any time during this challenge. I tweaked my former power ball recipe to use dates instead of honey and it came out AMAZING. 

Dates are jam-packed with minerals which help strengthen bones and fight diseases such as osteoporosis. Dates are also great for digestion as they contain a ton of fiber which helps to cleanse the digestive track. Dates are also a great source of iron which help to make you feel more energized and less lethargic. 

In the picture above, I photographed cacao nibs in my palm. Cacao nibs are also a superfood (to be featured in a future recipe) that allow you to add chocolate to treats without added sugar. I bought them on Amazon.com here.

Ingredients:

15-18 pitted Medjool dates (taste as you go and add more if mixture isn't sweet enough)

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 cup oats

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup all natural creamy peanut butter

1 tbsp. water

3 tbsp. chia seeds

3 tbsp. cacao nibs (optional)

Directions:

1) Combine first 7 ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Taste for sweetness and add more dates if needed.

2) Add chia seeds and cacao nibs (if using) and pulse a few times.

3) With wet hands take a spoonful of the mixture and roll it into a ball. Place on a non-stick surface.

4) Refrigerate balls for 1 hour before eating/storing.

*Recipe will yield between 15-20 balls.

*Balls will keep in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks or in the freezer for months. 

Southwestern Black Bean, Tomato, and Avocado Salad

Growing up, I remember my parents were always social butterflies. They hung out with their friends a lot and seemed to have a lot of dinner parties. When my parents were invited over to someone else's house, my mom would always prepare part of the meal to bring over. She always taught me that you can never go to someone's house empty handed. If you don't want to cook something you should either bring chocolate or flowers- just something to show your appreciation.

When our friends invited us over for dinner the other night, I knew I wanted to cook something to bring over. I was looking for something I could make a few hours ahead of time and store in the fridge until it was time to head over. 

My friends happen to LOVE avocados and Southwestern flavors, so I decided to make a yummy and healthy Southwestern salad. 

This is the EASIEST salad to make and it's so simple, yet so delicious. The lime juice really coats the avocados well and prevents them from browning so you can make this hours in advance. 

The cherry tomatoes in this recipe are the superfood I want to tell you about. Tomatoes provide Lycopene which is what makes them that brilliant red color. Lyocpene is linked to good bone health and may help prevent against osteoporosis. Lyocpene is also said to reduce the risk of getting certain cancers such as prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer. 

Ingredients:

1 pint cherry tomatoes- halved

1 can black beans- rinsed and drained

1.5 cups frozen corn kernels- thawed

1 avocado- diced

2 limes- juiced

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. sea salt

Directions:

1) Combine cherry tomatoes, black beans, corn, and avocado in a serving dish.

2) Make the dressing by juicing the limes, adding the olive oil and the spices. 

3) Whisk dressing together and pour over salad.

4) Allow salad to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

5) Serve with tortilla chips to dip!