Wild rice with sauteed vegetables

One of my favorite meals.. I make this a lot for my family.

1 cup wild rice blend (follow instructions on package)

2 large carrots

2 celery stalks

1/2 onion

1 portabella cap

4 regular mushrooms

4 garlic cloves minced

splash of olive oil

Opt.  Salmon fillet

My go to wild rice favorite

 Dice carrots, celery, mushrooms, garlic and onions. Saute in a pan with a splash of olive oil and cook until tender.

Place your rice and sauteed veggies in a large bowl and mix well.

Optional..  I grilled a salmon fillet on my grill after marinating it in soy sauce and garlic for about an hour.  Placed it on a plate and cut it up in chunks and placed some on all our plates.. it was delicious.

Baked kale

I have discovered my new favorite "great for you" snack..  I've been hearing from a dear friend how wonderful baked kale chips were and have never even seen them at the grocery store.  I was a super lucky and loved recipient of a huge bag of kale from my aunts garden.  (can you say favorite niece?:)  now, said dear friend is a bit jealous of my bounty...  but still my biggest fan...

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and simply tear the kale into bite side pieces, discarding the hard middle stem, and place on a light colored baking sheet.  (The first time I tried this I put them on my dark "seasoned" cookie sheet and drizzled olive olive oil on top and burnt it... you may better luck.)  Sprinkle with salt.

Some of the kale stalks were the size of my arm

Place in the oven for 5 minutes and take it out and make sure they're not sticking to the bottom and move them around a bit.  Put back in the oven for 5 minutes..  they should be very green and very crispy and dry.. I took off what was done and put the others back in for a minute or two. 

As you can see the taste testing of the kale chips leaves huge gaps on the cookie sheet :)

Place them on a plate and season them with whatever you like... we had them so far with nutritional yeast and with just plain salt.  Delicious!  They are melt in your mouth, crispy, and wonderful.. they even remind me of roasted pumpkin seeds.  If you've never had kale chips.. it is worth trying and a really quick and nutritious snack to whip up. 

Spinach salad with sweet potato

Who puts a salad on a blog, right? Well, me.. While making this I was on the phone with my biggest fan. I was telling her how pretty everything was and how wonderful the sweet potato smelled, so I wanted to share it with her and maybe inspire some beautiful salads everywhere.

spinach
tomato
bell pepper
black olives
carrot
Dressing: 1 T. olive oil, sprinkled in some red wine vinegar, salt and vinegar into a little plastic bowl with lid and blended. Then drizzled onto the salad.

Baked sweet potato: poke holes in potato and place on baking sheet for 1 hour in a 400 degree oven. I put a little pat of butter and drizzled a little bit of local honey on top.

Everything was fantastic.. so that's why I had to post a salad :)

Eggplant, Roma tomato & Basil

2 small eggplants
Olive oil
4 roma tomatoes
basil leaves
salt, pepper & garlic powder
spinach & garlic cloves (opt.)

I peeled and sliced my roma tomatoes lengthwise and set aside.

I sliced my eggplant lengthwise in 1/4 inch slices.. sprinkled with salt and sat aside for 20 mins. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels and place on your baking sheet.

I sprayed olive oil on each side of my eggplant slice.. sprinkled garlic powder, salt and pepper. Place under broiler for 6 or so minutes and then flip over and repeat on the other side until you get your desired doneness. I like mine a bit charred :)

Once done, place tomato and basil leaf...

and roll.. Place baking sheet back in the oven just long enough to heat the tomato and basil...

Meanwhile.. I chopped my fresh garlic and sauteed in a bit of olive oil until fragrant..

threw a couple handfuls of spinach and cooked on low until wilted

Put spinach on plate and place your eggplant rolls on top and ENJOY!

Although it was super delicious, my only wish would be that eggplants were seedless. I spent a lot of time separating the seeds from my bite. Would I have this again? Definitely! It was very quick to prepare. This recipe was adapted from The Practical Encyclopedia of Whole Foods by Nicola Graimes.