This one's for a girl named Summer...

Summer is a health-minded, sweet-natured girl who moved to San Francisco from Florida 6 months ago- who's been on a fast track to getting out of a rut and into a new regimen of wellness. I've had the pleasure of working with her for the past 2 months, and we've been cooking up some delicious dishes together. This past weekend was no exception.
This dish was brought on by a hankering for an old habit of mine that formulated during my crazy years living in New York and all the late-night eating that ensued. Falafels...

Here's a really healthy yet delicious version that Summer and I whipped up- served alongside a roasted beet and sweet potato side dish. It reads like a hummus recipe bc they're quite similar to one another. But be vigilant- and pulse, not puree:

Baked Falafels
1 can sodium free Chick peas, drained
1 slice of gluten-free bread (or whole wheat)
1/2 lemon juice
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Paprika
1 teaspoon Turmeric
1 teaspon Sea Salt
Fresh cilantro or parsley

In a food processor, pulse all ingredients together, until well mixed- not creamy. Take small amounts of mixture into hands and shape them into flat round patties, and place on oiled baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, until golden- then flip and cook for another 10 minutes. Let cool and stuff into Whole Wheat pita along with lettuce and tomatoes.
Enjoy with yogurt-cucumber sauce or miso-tahini dressing... Serve with side salad. Make Falafel night a new thing!
xoS

Subtly sweet, textured, moist, and crunchy, these cozy and yummy banana nut muffins will make you happy this winter. Take some to a party or the office. Everyone will swoon. Bonus: make them gluten-free and vegan as I did here for full baked-goods-satisfaction minus the bloat and guilt!

Beat the Winter Blues Banana Nut Muffins
6 small ripe Bananas
2 cups Flour of choice (I used a combo of Buckwheat and Brown Rice to make them gluten-free)
1/4 cup Milk of choice (I used a combo of Nut and Rice milk)
6 tablespoons Coconut Oil
6 tablespoons Pure Maple Syrup
1 teaspoon Baking Soda or Powder
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Sprinkles of salt
1 cup mixed Nuts (I used pumpkin seeds, walnuts and pecans)
1/2 cup mixed dried Fruit (optional- but I used raisins and cranberries)
1/4 cup Cacao powder (optional; I used it here to make these a little chocolatey--- highly recommended. Remember my post about the power of the antioxidant Cacao???)

In a food processor, blend bananas, milk, oil, vanilla and syrup till liquid. Separately, mix all the dried goods together, adding in nuts. Pour the wet mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients, mixing until thick as batter. Pour mixture into greased cupcake pan or 9 inch cake pan. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 till the smell of baking bananas perks you up. Serve with hot tea or coffee...

Happy cozy days...
xoS

Why order in when you can make it so simply yourself? When Ben and I order in (which is once a week), we always default to local, yummy Thai and usually get the same thing over and over. Tonight, I ditched the take out plan and did it myself- and loved it more than what we normally end up with (which I'm sure is loaded with stuff I don't want to know).
Here's a simple, super flavorful yellow curry soup/curry recipe that'll permeate yummy smells throughout your house. Experiment, and use a variety of veggies!

Coconut Curry (or Soup) with Veggies:
1 can Light Coconut Milk
1 cup Rice Milk
3 tablespoons Sesame Oil
1 tablespoon Pure Grade A Maple Syrup
3 cloves Garlic
2 teaspoons chopped Ginger
2 small shallots or 1/2 white onion, chopped
3 teaspoons Curry powder
Veggies of choice! I used:
1/4 cup chopped mushrooms
2 small potatoes, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 small orange pepper, chopped
Basil leaves
Cilantro
1 heaping tablespoon Coconut manna (optional; I use this in everything and can't get enough of it).

In a pot, bring together oil, garlic, ginger and onions and stir for 3 minutes. Add in curry powder, mix. Pour in coconut and rice milk, and maple syrup; stir and let simmer for 10 minutes. Add in potatoes and other veggies for 15-20 minutes. To thin out into a soup, add water. When potatoes are no longer firm, turn off heat. Throw in basil and cilantro. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve over Brown Rice or have as soup... Who needs take out?!
xoS