Turkey Zucchini Burgers

Borrowed and adapted from Skinnytaste.com, these are my go-to burger in the summer, because of the plentiful zucchini at the farmer's markets. I typically double the recipe to have leftovers. Also,  I don't cook about 3 to 4 burgers, and instead  individually wrap and freeze them for the future.

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound lean ground turkey
1 zucchini, grated (roughly 1 cup)
¼ cup ground flax seeds
1 clove garlic, grated
1 Tbls red onion, grated
1/4 cup Dijon Mustard
1 egg
Salt & pepper (to taste)
Oil spray (I use olive oil or coconut)
Burger fixings: tomato sliced, arugula or baby spinach

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Grate zucchini and squeeze the excess moisture from the zucchini out in a paper towel.
2. In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, shredded zucchini, flax seed, garlic, onion, mustard, egg, salt & pepper. Mix.
3. Form ground turkey mixture into roughly 4 or 5 patties. Try to get them as flat as possible.
4. Heat grill on medium-high heat. Lightly spray patties with oil. Place the burgers on the grill and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook until browned, about 4 minutes, then flip and cook another 4 minutes, be careful not to burn!
5. Transfer burger to a plate and serve with tomato and arugula or baby spinach. Serve with a side salad (spinach and tomato salad or bruschetta salad are both great options.)

**Make these into cheesy, smoky bacon cheeseburgers by adding 2 strips of cooked turkey bacon, and one thin slice of mozzarella cheese.

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Cauliflower Pizza Crust

INGREDIENTS
1 head of cauliflower coarsely chopped
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, or Italian cheese blend
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
1 egg
1 tsp chopped garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Place cauliflower pieces in food processor and pulse until shredded. You may have to do this in several batches, a few pieces of cauliflower at a time.
3. Place riced/grated cauliflower in a microwave safe bowl, and cook in microwave for 8 minutes.
4. Take out of microwave and let it cool.
5. Take one cup of the riced cauliflower and place it into a mixing bowl.
6. Add 1 ½ cups of shredded mozzarella, the egg, and the herbs, in with the cauliflower and stir together.
7. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray, use a sil-pat, or parchment paper.
8. Pour mixture on to the cookie sheet.
9. Press and shape into a thin pizza crust.
10. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.
11. Take the crust out of the oven.
12. Place any toppings you want on the crust (I used spinach, cherry tomatoes, olives, and red, yellow, and orange peppers on one side. On the other side, I just spread a thin layer of tomato sauce and sprinkled a bit of parmesan cheese).
13. Top with remaining mozzarella.
14. Put back in the oven and broil 3-4 minutes until cheese is melted.

** In my pictures I doubled the recipe. I also served it with my turkey muffins recipe, so there would be some protein in the dish! Let me know if you make it and how you like it!!

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Herbed Poached Salmon and Vegetables

My mom introduced me to this recipe and it is so easy, because the salmon and vegetables are cooked in one pot and there is no need to marinate the salmon. The whole recipe takes about 20 minutes to cook, and is a great dish to serve when pressed for time to make dinner (usually every night for me – haha)! Full of healthy omega fats and plenty of veggies, eat and enjoy over quinoa or brown rice.

Herbed Poached Salmon and Vegetables - 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

1 pound wild salmon

¼ cup EVOO
2 lemons – squeezed for juice
½ cup Dijon mustard
1 TBSP thyme

1 TBSP dill weed

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 cup or more water

1 large package fresh baby spinach

1 bunch broccoli (florets only)

1 can chopped tomatoes

Chopped parsley for garnish

DIRECTIONS

 1.       In large skilled place salmon, skin side down.

 2.       In medium sized mixing bowl combine lemon juice, Dijon mustard, thyme, dill weed, salt, pepper, and water. Whisk together.

 3.       Pour lemon juice-mustard sauce over salmon.  If it does not cover the salmon, add more water, to just cover the salmon.

 4.       Place skillet on stove over medium heat. Cook for about 10 minutes or until salmon is just cooked on the outside.

 5.       Pour tomatoes over the salmon, place   broccoli florets in the pan, and spinach.  Cover the skillet so vegetables will steam and cook for about 10 more minutes or until spinach is wilted.

6.       Serve salmon on plate with vegetables on top or on the side and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Serve alone or over brown rice or quinoa.
Makes 4 servings.

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Simple Roasted Vegetables

Roasting takes vegetables to a new level.  I think it makes even the veggies I don't like, delicious.  Don't like brussel sprouts? Roast them. Roasting gives vegetables a nutty, sweet goodness. Add some herbs and olive oil, and let the flavor party begin! They are also EASY to make! Anytime someone comes over my house for dinner, I roast vegetables as the side.  This is a simple recipe. Get crazy and add dijon mustard to the olive oil for drizzling or balsamic vinegar! Alter it to tempt your taste buds! Use the seasons to your advantage and roast root veggies in the winter and use fresh herbs when roasting summer veggies.  Enjoy!!

Ingredients:
Any mix of vegetables you like - the more colorful the better!

My standard:
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Red Peppers
Zucchini
Purple Onion
Tomatoes

Other great additions:
Carrots
Butternut Squash
Green Beans
Asparagus
Brussel Sprouts

Olive oil spray
EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) to drizzle
Cookie sheet
Garlic cloves (for a full cookie sheet, at least 3)
Lemon zest (optional)
2-3 TBSP Variety of herbs you like (I use thyme, sage, lavender)
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Roughly chop vegetables into large chunks (or buy pre-chopped fresh vegetables, but not frozen).
3. Chop garlic or put through garlic press
4. Spray cookie sheet with olive oil spray.
5. Place veggies on cookie sheet in single layer.
6. Spray veggies liberally with olive oil spray.
7. Sprinkle crushed/chopped garlic over veggies.
8. Sprinkle herbs over veggies.
9. Zest lemon right over the veggies.
10. Place in oven for 20-25 minutes.
11. Take out of the oven when veggies are light brown at the edges.
13. Cool for approximately 5 minutes.
14. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with EVOO.

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5-Ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookies - Clean Eating and Paleo

My family LOVES chocolate chip cookies.  They don't want any other kind, and even when I've made other types, they always say chocolate chip is their favorite.  So, I tried tons of recipes, and recreated them to come up with one that is low in sugar, with few ingredients, but still has a delicious chocolate chip cookie taste!  I hope you enjoy these as much as my family does!

One 16 oz jar almond butter
2 large eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup coconut sugar
1 cup dark chocolate chips, at least 60% cocoa (I use the Ghiardelli mini chips, so more chocolate chips are spread throughout the cookies - you can use Enjoy Life chocolate nibs to make these dairy free)
1 cup chopped pecans or other type of chopped nut (optional)
One  or two SILPAT cookie sheet liners (at least one)
One or two cookie sheets (at least one - with two it makes it possible to have consecutive baking)
A one Tablespoon cookie batter scooper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1.  Pour off the oil at the top of the almond butter jar.  If there is no oil, then don't worry about it.
2. Mix first four ingredients in a bowl. Blend well.
3. Add chocolate chips (and nuts if desired)
4. Lay the SILPAT cookie sheet liner on the cookie sheet

5. Take the cookie scooper, scoop batter and place on SILPAT, spacing out 10 cookies (they spread quite a bit).

6. Take a paper towel and press them flat.  This makes the cookies flatter, and also the paper towel absorbs some of the extra oil.  Press quickly with the paper towel, as if you press too hard and too long, the towel will stick to the batter, and some of the batter will come off the cookie.  This is an optional step.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes.  9 minutes for softer cookies, 11 minutes for crisper cookies.

8.  Cool and remove from cookie sheet. This is where it helps to have 2 cookie sheets and SILPAT liners.  While one batch is cooling on the cookie sheet, the next batch can be prepared and ready to go into the oven.

Makes 36-40 cookies (I can usually get 40 out of them).

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Best Chicken Recipe EVER!! (Mustard-Maple-Rosemary Chicken)

I promise you, this is the most delicious and easy to make chicken recipe. Even my picky eaters at home love this recipe.  And to top it off, it is gluten-free, dairy free, fat free and sugar free.  It does use some 100% pure maple syrup, but a small amount for a serving for 3-4 people.  I've made this almost every time we have guests for dinner, because it's quick and simple to make.  I pair it with brown rice, steamed green beans and a salad, for a well-rounded meal!  

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Salt & pepper
Fresh rosemary

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together mustard, syrup, and vinegar.

2. Place chicken breasts into 9×13 lined baking dish. Season with salt & lots of pepper. Pour mustard mixture over chicken. Make sure each breast is coated. Put some more pepper on, if you like pepper. No need to marinate. (I love that because I hate marinating/often forget to until it’s too late.)

3. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until meat thermometer reads 165 degrees. Exactly how long you should leave it in is based on personal preference and your oven. I like my chicken well-cooked, so I leave it in the full 40 minutes. (Lining the pan with foil will keep clean up easy!)  There will be extra sauce in the pan, which you can use for extra flavoring over each breast or over rice.

Season with fresh rosemary. 

Makes 3-4 servings

I serve this with brown or whole grain rice, and steamed green beans, seasoned with olive oil, garlic, and salt. 

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Paleo Pumpkin Bread (Gluten free too!)

Fall is here, and at my house that means pumpkin everything! I just make sure it's healthy! Just got done baking this yummy pumpkin bread. Filled plenty of pumpkin and fall flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg, a slice goes perfectly with a cup of coffee! And it's gluten free too!

This is a great add to your morning or afternoon snack!

Ingredients:

• 3 C. Coconut Sugar
• 1 C. Buckwheat Flour
• 1 C. Almond Flour
• 1 C. Coconut Flour
• ½ C. Ground Flax Seed
• 2 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1 tsp. Cinnamon
• ½ tsp. Nutmeg
• ½ tsp. Salt
• 4 large egg whites
• 2 large whole eggs
• 1½ 15oz can of pumpkin 
• 2/3 Cup of Water
• ½ C. Canola Oil
• 1 C. chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Spray 3 aluminum loaf tins with cooking spray.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flours, baking soda, sugar and spices) and mix well.
4. In a large mixing bowl, add the wet ingredients (eggs, whites, pumpkin, water and oil), and mix. 
5. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the large bowl. Mix well.
6. Pour in even amounts into the 3 loaf pans.
7. Bake for 1 hour.
8. Cool before slicing. Makes three loaves, eight slices per loaf.

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