Fig Zucchini Pasta and Hemp Seed Crumble

Being summer time, I love eating fresh fruit and vegetables. My mom and I grow a vegetable garden every year, and one of our (and many people's) biggest yielding crops is our zucchini. I am always looking for new recipes to use our abundance of zucchini in. This recipe caught my eye because it looked so fresh and easy to make. Plus, it had figs! Figs are one of my favorite foods, both dried and fresh. Once again, being summer, there are plenty of fresh figs in the store!

Lauren and I made this dish the other week (when we also made No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Bars and Raw Peach Cheesecake). Let me tell you, this dish is actually amazing. I can't even express how amazing it is. It took about 15 minutes total to make and was gone it about 5. We both went back for seconds and only had a tiny bit left over. The figs add a sweet taste, while the garlic in the hemp crumble gives it a savory taste. The zucchini pasta is light and fresh, yet the crumble adds some protein and substance to the dish.

The Hemp Seed Crumble, as you may notice, makes a little extra than you need for the pasta. The crumble tastes cheesy and can be used a vegan parmesan cheese. It works great on any type of pasta, salads, or even on pizza!

Adapted from Nutrition Stripped
Serves 2

Ingredients:

Pasta:

2 zucchini, spiralized
2 cups fresh mission figs, sliced
1/2 avocado, diced
juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp olive oil
pinch of sea salt
dash of black pepper

Crumble:

Makes 4 Servings
3 Tbsp walnuts, chopped
2 Tbsp hemp seeds
2 Tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted and chopped
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
pinch of sea salt
1/2 clove of garlic

Directions:

Pasta:

1. Spiralize the zucchini. This will vary depending on your spiralizer. Cut the end off each zucchini before spiralizing, then peel the long way. If you don't have a spiralizer, you can use a vegetable peeler instead. Place zucchini in large bowl.
2. Add sliced figs and diced avocado and stir.
3. Add the lemond juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Top with Hemp Seed Crumble. (I use about half of the crumble and save the rest)
5. Enjoy immediately! Extras should be kept in the fridge.

Crumble:

1. Toast pine nuts until fragrant and golden in color.
2. Using a knife or food processor, chop the walnuts and pine nuts until they are coarsely crumbled.
3. Add nuts hemp seeds, nutritional yeast, and garlic to small bowl and stir until combined.
4. Add sea salt to taste.
5. Crumble will keep in the refrigerator for 3 weeks.

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Indian Lentil Soup

I love indian food. I love lentils. I love soup. So when I found this recipe on Green Kitchen Stories, I added it to my never ending list of things I want to make. Mama Wendy informed me she had red lentils she wanted to get rid of, so immediately I decided to make this soup for family dinner.

I feel like when I describe any food I make, I describe it as yummy. Once again, this soup was so good. I mean, I love the three main parts of it, so it was a for sure win. Even my little sister liked it; she even went back for seconds! 

The soup got pretty thick, so if you want it more soupy feel free to add more vegetable stock, or let it simmer less. It had just the right amount of spice in it, enough to give it a kick, but nowhere near enough to leave you needing to wash down every bite with water. For the most part, this soup is pretty easy and quick to make. Chopping the vegetables is the only timely task,and since my chopping skills are still a working progress, it took me some time.


Serves 6 large servings

Ingredients:

2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, very finely chopped
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground chili
3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
200g red lentils, rinsed
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
a pinch of sea salt
2 tomatoes, diced (roma work well)

Directions:

1. Prepare the vegetables. Finely chop the onion and ginger. Peel and slice the carrots. Peel and dice the potatoes about 1/2-inch big. Dice the tomato.

2. Heat the olive oil in a big soup pot on low heat. Add onion, garlic, ginger and all the spices. After about a minute add the potatoes, carrots and the lentils, stir it around another minute before adding the broth. 

3. Let it boil on low-medium heat for 30 minutes, stir occasionally, taste the soup and add more salt and spices if needed. Add the tomatoes and let it boil for 5-10 more minutes.

**Feel free to place pot on simmer plate on low heat if you need to keep it warm for an hour or so. Wait to add the tomatoes until 10 minutes before serving.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

As I mentioned in the previous post, Lauren and I love to bake together. I also mentioned that we made Paleo Nut Bread, Cauliflower Crust Pizza, and Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies over Christmas break. 

This pizza was perfect, seriously delicious. I plan to make it again and again, and it was so easy too! Lauren originally found the recipe here, but of course we tweaked it. Her crust seemed very un-crust-like, so we decided squeezing the cauliflower in a dish towel would do the trick of getting the extra liquid out. This gets rid of every last bit of unwanted moisture and allows the crust to firm up. We also topped it differently since neither of us wanted bacon and we had no spinach in the house. Our toppings included kale, chicken, onions, and green peppers. Since I don't eat cheese, we made it without cheese, but feel free to add it if you want. For that matter, feel free to top it with whatever you want!

Makes two 9-inch pizza crusts

Ingredients:

Cauliflower Crust:

1 Head cauliflower
2 Egg whites
Spoonful of coconut flour
Garlic powder
Italian seasoning (oregano, marjoram, thyme, basil, rosemary, sage)

Toppings:

Tomato basil pizza sauce
Kale
Chicken
Spinach
Onions
Black olives
Green peppers

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Rinse and grate cauliflower into a rice-like texture using cheese grater
3. Put cauliflower "rice" in a large pot, add a small amount of water, and steam till soft.
4. Drain then put cauliflower in thin dish towel and squeeze out rest of liquid. Let cool.
5. Take your cooled down cauliflower and add spices, eggs whites and spoonful of coconut flour to bind it. Mix and separate into even portions.
6. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet. Mold each portion into a pie crust on your paper and place into hot oven.
7. Cook crust for 10-15 minutes or until it feels firm (it will depend on how thick you make the pies and how wet the cauliflower is.)
8. While crust is cooking cut up toppings and brown in pan over stove.
9. Take crust out of oven, add sauce, and layer your toppings. Put back in oven for 5 more minutes.