I’ve been making this for lunch and eating it a least a few times a week.

Nope, I’m not sick of it yet!

Part of why this caesar works so well as a make-ahead meal is that the main veg is kale, which is so hearty that it’s okay to sit in dressing for a day or two–I actually find it’s better once it soaks it up a little.  Kale is super nutrient-dense!

Instead of regular bacon, I’ve used tempeh bacon here.  I swear, it’s one of my favorite things.  Vegetarian or not, you should make this stuff.

The delicious spread of ingredients.

My salad is topped with garlic shrimp, and a little shaved parmesan.  I’ve also added tomato.

Now, onto the recipe!

Here’s what it looks like when you peer over it.

What’s  your favorite salad?

I’m an only child, so I’ve got no competition here, but if you’ve got siblings, I guarantee that making you Mom some of these may put you at the top of her list.  No joke.

You might want to make a double batch, though.  Because it might be your mom’s instinct to share.  But she shouldn’t have to…not on Sunday.

Here’s my roundup of recipes perfect for Mom.  Homemade chocolate can be sooo delicious, and fun to make!  It’s also probably cheaper than buying!  Also, these homemade chocolates contain simple ingredients, and are guilt-free.

Pistachio raspberry cups.

Cranberry White Chocolate Truffles

Ginger coconut truffles.

Breakfast in bed could be perfect too. Here are some of my favorites:

French toast cinnamon buns.

Mango coconut waffles with banana syrup.

Apple fritter pancakes.

And of course, a chocolatey breakfast option:

Double dark chocolate pancakes with salted peanut butter syrup. Oh yeah.

I used mango, beets, cucumber and tempeh bacon for some protein.

Here’s everything prepped:

You barely need a recipe insert, but here is mine:

I made a spicy peanut sauce for these…but I have to confess, I sort of improvised it.  It involved peanut butter, tamari, chili paste…and I’ll have to recreate it, but I encourage you to improvise as well!

They’re perfect for weekday lunches, or appetizers for a party.  If you make them ahead of time, be sure to separate them with some wax or parchment paper, because the delicate rice wraps can get stuck to each other.

What type of filling would you like put inside these fun rolls?

Ever.  Around here we’re obsessed with all things sweet, smokey, and spicy.  I’m also a little obsessed with waffles….but these waffles…they hold the best combo of flavours.

This recipe came together on Sunday after a trip to the gym–time for well-deserved waffles!  We only wished we had more collard greens on hand to make more.  So delicious.  Leftovers?  Perfect for dinner.  The collards get nice and crispy on the outside, and the ones inside the waffle get perfectly wilted–and you’d be surprised how many greens you can fit into a waffle!

Here’s the recipe:

Now, this is an ugly picture, but I’m sharing it to show you how it may look before you close the waffle iron.  Don’t worry, it’s magical, and all the greens will get hidden in batter!

I love the amount of veg you get in a serving here, and also how perfectly they’re done.  They’re not overcooked at all, and collards are so good for you!  Collards are an amazing source of potassium, vitamin A and vitamin C.  They’re a fantastic way to get some antioxidants.

I try to make sure to have dark leafy greens at least once a day.  Do you?

Orange zest has so much flavour!  If you have a high speed blender, you can actually just section the orange, and put the whole thing in, so you’ve zested and juiced it in seconds.  If not, you can still juice and zest and use the whole entire fruit.

The greek yogurt adds some protein and makes these super moist.  They’re quite dense, but not too heavy feeling.  I made them without baking powder or soda, but I think I’d add some next time.  It was a passover thing.

So delicious!

What type of doughnut would you like to see?

These are super, SUPER flavourful, and made of simple, healthy ingredients.  They are a splurge in terms of price, but well worth it.

Raspberry and pistachio is a dynamite combination.  Salty, sweet, and a little tangy, all enrobed in dark chocolate.  You’re welcome.

I reserved a bit of the filling, because I wanted to make pancakes out of it.  This was an excellent idea.  I then topped them with a raspberry chocolate syrup.  Delicious!

You don’t need anything fancy to make these. While I splurged on some plastic chocolate moulds the size of peanut butter cups, I actually prefer to use a mini muffin tin and some mini muffin liners.  It’s easier to wash than a mould–actually, you don’t really have to wash it.

I made mine relatively small, but you can fill them as much as you like–you just might end up with less, but bigger cups.  If you make them bigger, they could also take more time to set.

Most delicious mixture ever.

Here are those pancakes…sooo good. I think I’ll be making a double batch of this filling next time so I can use it all different ways.  So good.

Here are some of my other favorite chocolate recipes:

Ginger Coconut Truffles

Cranberry White Chocolate Truffles

Today I’m featured with a recipe at www.foodiepages.com, with these delicious macaroons. Perfect for passover…or anyone going gluten/grain-free.

You can see the recipe here.

Coming up next time: raspberry pistachio chocolate cups.  YES.  That is all I have to say.  Also, I made some orange date charoset for a seder tonight. I used this wonderful recipe from The Shiksa in the Kitchen. I hope my family is up for a change from the traditional apple stuff.  I have to say, 1 spoon of this was my dessert after lunch, and I’ll have no problem using this up all week if there’s any left after tonight!

Being an (almost-1 course to go!) nutritionist, I’m very interested in many peoples’ dietary choices. I don’t think a good diet is one size fits all. For example, we eat vegan at least a few times a week at home…but to us that means eating tons of veggies. I always feel great when I eat loads of veggies.

However, I’m not the biggest fan of vegan food that pretends to be other things (fake chicken, fake cheese, all kinds of soy concoctions)…though I really wanted to give a vegan cheesecake a chance. This recipe is actually a vegan cheesecake, but I’ve renamed it, as, being a lover of cheesecake, for better or for worse, I just couldn’t call this cheesecake. It is delicious and smooth and creamy, and I’m indeed in awe of how cashews can turn into this mousse, but this ain’t no cheesecake.

That doesn’t mean it’s not pretty.  I brought it to a dinner at a friend’s house, and everyone liked it, but we all decided it wasn’t a cheesecake.  This recipe is from the Vegan Post Punk Kitchen.  Check it out here.  I have to say, I was quite amazed at the crust–and the crust is definitely something I’d repeat.  It came together in seconds in my Vitamix (thought any food processor would do the trick).  I’d use this crust for any no-bake dessert.  I think it’d be a great option for these lemon squares.

Onto the topic of dairy.  I was particularly interested to find a happy, healthy cheesecake alternative because so many people are lactose intolerant.  There are lots of campaigns out there to make us think that we need dairy. Here’s the thing:  many people have lactose intolerance because we’re not designed to drink milk beyond childhood.  We’re also the only species on the planet that consumes milk from another animal.  Many people are lactose intolerant because we stop producing lactase, the enzyme that allows us to drink lactose.

We’re led to believe that milk is the key to calcium, but there are so many other way to get calcium.  Broccoli, sesame seeds, any dark leafy greens…so many ways! Here’s an article about how milk actually decreases the calcium in your bones http://saveourbones.com/osteoporosis-milk-myth/

But I doubt you’d be having cheesecake everyday anyhow.  I might experiment with this again…or maybe play with goat cheese. Maybe a hybrid of cashews and goat cheese would be the perfect compromise. We’d get a tang in a dairy form that is more easily digestible by many.  Goat’s milk more closely resembles human milk, and it is therefore a lot easier to digest.

If you’re looking for a mousse, though, this is a delicious option.  It’s extremely filling.  I didn’t have a 9″ cake pan that the recipe called for, so I used a 6″, and also made a bunch of mini muffin size bites. The minis were the perfect portion size.

Cashews have excellent health benefits!  They have the same heart healthy oleic acid as olive oil.  They’re also rich in magnesium, which can help you and your muscles relax. They are rich in one class of flavanols that can help prevent cancer.  The strawberries are a good source of vitamin C.   So, cheesecake or not, this isn’t a bad cake!

What are your thoughts on dairy?

I am not going to do too much talking about the Vitamix, but all I have to say is that I make quinoa flour from whole quinoa in about 10 seconds.  I’m not exaggerating.  It’s insane.  Other than a celebratory smoothie, this was the first recipe I made with it.  I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 6 today with no alarm…and got baking.  I can’t believe I can make my own flour in 10 seconds.  This weekend we’ll be buying some wholegrains so we can make fresh flour whenever we want!  This means way more nutrient dense grains.  Though quinoa is actually a seed!

That said, don’t worry if you don’t or can’t make your own flour.  You can use store bought flour, quinoa, or any other kind (after all, I was adapting a whole-wheat recipe).

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I wanted to play with the idea of a lemon poppyseed loaf–but with a healthier spin.  Here’s the transformation that happened to the ingredients:

• Whole wheat flour became Quinoa Flour, so now the bread contains a complete protein
• White sugar became Coconut Sugar, so now the sweetener is lower glycemic
• “healthy butter spread” (or whatever that means..I’d rather see butter on the list), became Coconut oil, which helps you to flush fat, and is burned easily for energy
• soy or low fat milk became Almond Milk
• I added Chia Seeds to increase the fibre and the omega 3′s which are good for your brain!
• I doubled the zest, making some orange zest and some lemon zest.  Did you know that the zest is more nutrient dense than the juice?

Everything else stayed as is.  While this is very delicious and delicated, next time I might opt to replace some of the almond milk with lemon juice, to up the lemon flavour.  The ginger is anti-microbial, which is awesome. Onto the recipe!

What’s your favorite kitchen appliance?

I’d never made maracons before…and though they always look extremely pretty, they’re a little too sweet for me.  Until now.

These are super crunchy and delicious!  Just don’t have too many…and don’t have them too late at night because the coffee content can effect you.  Yes, I learned this the hard way.

Perfect for when you just need a bite or two of something sweet, but don’t want to overdo it.  While these do use sugar, I opted for coconut sugar, which is lower on the glycemic index, so you won’t get a sugar high and crash.

I recently finished paper on the cardiovascular benefits of cocoa…and good news! It has been shown to help lower blood pressure.  The trick is, you have to make sure it’s high quality chocolate. The darker the chocolate, the more flavanols, and the more antioxidant content. White chocolate does zilch. Raw chocolate is the best.  The studies I looked at did use some mainstream chocolate…but watch your intake. Everything in moderation! 50g a day is plenty.

In the mood for some more sandwich cookies? These are awesome too!