Goat Cheese and Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Have you ever chopped the top off a yellow pepper and looked into it? It's like a work of art created by mother nature and hidden, like a treasure, for you to discover.
Chopping the top off peppers to stuff them was something I had never done. Sure, I've sliced, diced and halved peppers but never cut the top off it. When I make stuffed peppers, I usually halve them and that's good enough. A little boat, filled with deliciousness. Having seen how pretty a stuffed roasted pepper was when served whole, I thought I would give it a try.
This recipe is simple and through the simplicity, a beautiful dinner is created. Though one pepper seems like quite a bit for a serving, it was just right. Then again that may have been due to the 2 hours of intense cardio I did prior to making these peppers.

Goat Cheese and Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Serves 1
(Tonight, I made 3. The recipe is easy to double or triple. Just adjust cooking times accordingly.)

1/4 cup dry quinoa
1 large bell pepper
1 tablespoon EVOO*
1/4 cup minced red onion
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup baby spinach
1/4 cup sliced white button mushrooms
1/2 teaspoon salt-free Italian herb seasoning
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese

• Preheat oven to 350F. Rinse quinoa and place with 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until all water is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Set aside and keep covered.
• While quinoa cooks, use a sharp knife to cut the top off the peppers and remove the seeds and membranes; keep the pepper whole. Set aside.
• Heat a medium skillet on medium high; add olive oil. Add onion and saute until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add garlic, carrots, spinach, mushrooms and seasoning and saute until vegetables are slightly tender, about 4 minutes.
• Transfer sauteed vegetables to a bowl. Mix in cooked quinoa, and gently fold in goat cheese.
• Fill pepper with the mixture. Place in a baking dish and bake uncovered for 15 minutes or until pepper is slightly charred. Serve warm or at room temperature.

*Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sea Monster Nori Wrap

I love wraps. They're the ideal 'to go' food. They're compact enough that you can eat and run while still having your hands relatively free to do other things. Now I am in no way a fan of eating on the go but lets be realistic here. Eating on the run is better than not eating at all. While tortilla type wraps are delicious, they can get boring pretty quickly. Here's a recipe I've come up with that blows the traditional wrap out of the water.

Sea Monster Nori Wrap

3 sheets of Nori
1 can tuna in water, drained
1 tbsp mayonnaise
black pepper to taste
1/2 green onion finely chopped
sprouts
1 avocado sliced

• In a bowl, mix tuna, mayonnaise, pepper and green onion.
• Place nori sheets on a clean, dry surface, shiny side on the counter (matte side up).
• Spread 1/3 of the tuna mix over the 1/3 of the nori closest to you (do not spread in the middle, this makes wrapping difficult) leave some nori uncovered on either side of the tuna.
• Top tuna with 3 slices of avocado and some sprouts.
• Roll as you would a burrito.
• Enjoy! These can easily be packed for lunch just make sure to place them in a container and not wrapped in saran wrap (otherwise it'll stick and be messy).

A Beautiful Disaster

Dinner had the potential to either be a train wreck or a phenomenal experiment. It fell somewhere in between. This sprouted from a craving for pasta I had while I was doing my hour of cardio today. I'm pretty sure I've been lacking carbohydrates because my mind goes at the speed of a turtle and my attention span is that of a gnat (yes, I've upped my fish oils. But that hasn't helped).

Now how to have pasta when you can't have wheat? Well there's rice pasta which I usually eat anyways but brown rice pasta? Isn't that a whole grain? I can't have whole grains. Does it count as a whole grain if it's ground up into a flour and made into pasta? Yeah. Complicated. So I compromised. White rice pasta. But white rice pasta is pretty boring and it sure as heck wouldn't satisfy a monstrous carbohydrate craving. So what else to put in there. Enter crimini mushrooms, kale, red snapper and coconut milk. Now my dinner has potential. The potential to either be a train wreck or a phenomenal experiment.

The result? A beautiful disaster! My pasta clumped together. So what? The rest. Phenomenal!

Pasta with crimini mushroom,
kale and red snapper coconut sauce

1/3 package of white rice pasta (or if you're not on this darn cleanse, use what ever you please)
2 tbsp coconut oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped, divided
1 piece of red snapper, bones removed
1 can coconut milk
1 container of crimini mushrooms
a pinch of provencal herbs
5 kale leaves, washed, center removed and roughly chopped

• Cook pasta (I won't tell you how I did it because clearly that's the wrong way haha)
• While pasta cooks, saute mushrooms in 1 tbsp coconut oil. When the mushrooms are half sauted, add the pinch of provencal herbs.
• While mushrooms saute, add 1/2 tbsp coconut oil to a small pan, fry half the garlic and add fish (medium low heat) to the pan. Cover. Forget about it. Don't uncover it for at least 5 minutes.
• Once mushrooms are cooked, set aside in a bowl. Take mushroom pan and add the remaining 1/2 tsbp coconut oil and the remainder of the garlic. Lightly cook garlic.
• Once garlic is sauted, add can of coconut milk. Let simmer until fish and pasta has finished cooking.
• Roughly chop cooked fish (remove the skin before chopping).
• Place drained pasta back into pasta pot, add coconut garlic sauce, kale, sauted mushrooms and fish. Warm throughout and serve immediately.

Cleanse or no cleanse. Enjoy :) This is pretty darn delicious! I'm already looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Just say NO! to wheat, dairy, soy, corn, nuts, seeds, whole grains...

...and the list goes on!

I've been dealing with certain health issues since I've been 18 (this is pre Australia trip... which was a LONG time ago!). They've been persistent and at times so frustrating and painful that I've cried myself to sleep. So last week I put my foot down and told the naturopath that he could do ANYTHING he wanted to make these damn symptoms go away. I've been seeing the same naturopath for 3 years now and he's been great. He's helped me with many aspects of my health but this certain issue has been stubborn and has stuck around despite our efforts. Last year the symptoms decreased and things were actually manageable for a while. Three months ago everything came crawling back and I'm back at square one.

So, step one to feeling better is to heal my small and large intestine. This means I'm not allowed to eat the following for the next three weeks.

Wheat
Dairy
Soy (or any soy products) - bye bye tofu :( and Braggs
Corn (or any corn products)
Seeds
Nuts
Whole Grains
Roughage (think celery, cucumbers - they also have seeds so they're definitely out, tomatoes, bell peppers cabbage, carrots, lettuce)
Berries
Caffeine
Alcohol
Carbonated beverages
Chocolate - OH NO!!!!
Popcorn
Spicy foods (such as chili powder, salsa, black and cayenne pepper, paprika, cloves, cinnamon...)

Now when I saw the list I was like what the heck CAN I eat! I think that would be a better list to be given. Along with diet plan so I don't have to think about what I should eat (though not eating seemed like the easiest option at this point). Basically he said that leafy greens are ok as is meat. Oh and avocados too! Yay!

So I've come up with a couple delicious recipes. Those I'll post. But otherwise my dinners have been comprised of a mountain of greens and a slab of fish. I've replaced my chocolate intake (usually I pack a square of chocolate in my lunch. It does the trick) with gummy bears.

As for the health issues... two days into this whole mess my symptoms are all but gone. They resurfaced a little but went away a day later. I'm on day 5 now. Almost 1/3 done :) Yay! Looks like this should be worth it in the long run.

Waking from my gulttonous coma

The untouched tin of home made cookies and chocolate box are proof that I probably over did it this year. Of course just because I've over done it, does not mean that I will now starve myself. No way. I just plan on eating lighter, healthier again. When breakfast seems too heavy I usually go for a freshly juiced drink or a protein smoothie. This Veggie Detox drink I found in the latest issue of Bon Apetit. It's a wonderful way to start or end the day.

Veggie Detox

2 firm bosc pears, stemmed, cut into wedges
1 3/4 piece fresh ginger
5 medium carrots, cut into 2 to 3 inch pieces
2 celery stalks, cut into 2 to 3 inch pieces
1 baby beet, scrubbed, cut into wedges
1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley (stems and leaves)
2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Working in batches, push the above ingredients into juicer. Stir in lemon juice at the end. Serves 2.

Passion Imprinted

Two days ago I was rushing around, trying to get ready for work as quickly and quietly as possible. As usual when Sean stays over, I'm late. I have trouble peeling myself away from my bed because I'd rather spend a lazy morning with him than go to work (even though I really enjoy what I do... which is what makes this such a problem). So there I was, fresh out of the shower, about to start straigthening my hair and at the same time cooking rice, steaming kale and frying tofu. I started heating the oil for frying and then went to straighten a layer of hair. I went back to the hot pan and threw the tofu in the pan. By the time I realized I was tossing it in at the wrong angle, it was too late. Hot oil splashed my tummy, the front of my hip and my thigh. It hurt. I swore. Tears stung my eyes. Damn it! I really didn't have time to nurse an injury now too! Out came the ice pack and I continued to cook and get ready while icing my burns. I spent the rest of the morning wishing I could not wear underwear or pants because the feeling of the material rubbing against my burn was excruciating. I spent the day with ice packs stuffed down my pants. Most clients didn't notice. They're face down, asleep or looking up at the ceiling. Had they noticed, I would have explained. But I felt that 'you're therapist was cooking naked and burnt herself with oil' was on a need to know basis.
Last night I was laying in bed and I wondered: what if these (or the top one at least which is kind of an ugly purple colour) burns turned into permanent scars? How would I feel? I observed the contrast of the largest purple burn against my skin. The edge a shocking contrast against my white tummy. The smaller pinkish splatters look like they will fade. The bottom streak has blistered, I know those will heal with time. But the most obvious one, what if that was permanent? I realized I would be ok with that. I already have two tattoos representing who I am. This would be just like that. Representing my passion for cooking and my appreciation for the naked human form.
So now I wait for things to heal. Regardless of the outcome, I'm ok with it.