CREAMY WILD MUSHROOM + CHICKEN SOUP

We ate this beast for 2 days.

It's one of those "feel good" soups that you can eat on a cold night with a glass of wine, or hot day with a cold beer. Yes, I said beer--I love beer, I'd gladly fight about it. For all of the wild reasons, it's a pretty rustic dish, so I felt like flocking on my "Frodo Baggins" waistcoat and strapping up my elvish leather boots while making and eating this.

Packed with all kinds of vegetables and thickened up with unsweetened coconut milk. I found this recipe from a bunch of other sources, but lightened it up and made it my own version. You can eat it as a normal soup, or top it on some wild rice--whatever tickles your little fancy. 

The Components
1 1/2 cups of cooked, shredded chicken breast
1 cup water
1 1/2 tbps cornstarch
1 cup chicken broth
4 cups of unsweetened coconut milk (or dairy milk)
1 celery stalk, chopped
1/2 large onion, diced
8-12oz of wild mushrooms, sliced
10oz of frozen veggie mix

Optional:
2 small potatoes, diced

Seasonings:
Salt, pepper, pinch of thyme, fresh parsley (chopped)

How to Make it Happen:

Prep your chicken however you wish. Boil and shred it, or get lazy and go buy one of those rotisserie guys from the store. I think Whole Foods carries the organic versions. But for my weird meat requirements, I buy organic, grass fed chicken breasts and do it myself. Put it aside and wait to dump it in.

In a teeny, tiny bowl mix the cornstarch and about 1/2 cup of water and put it aside also and wait to dump it in. 

Next, in a huge pot, dump the coconut milk the rest of the water and the chicken broth and bring to a slight boil. >> If you're using potatoes, add those in now. Add the rest of the components including the chicken, seasonings and cornstarch mix, return to a rapid boil and let it simmer on low for 1 hour (or more). The longer it sits, the better it is. You may add more cornstarch mix and/or milk for a creamier consistency, especially if you're eating over rice. 

At the end, season with more salt/pepper for taste and if you want to impress the socks off of whoever you're feeding this too, add more chopped parsley once it's served. 

Oh Yeah:

I made my entire meal "organic everything" and we ate this for a couple of days. If you're concerned with pesticides and such as much as I am, the extra $5 is worth it. All in all, it's still a great, hearty meal.

CHOPPED DETOX TACO SALAD EXPLOSION!

(Say that 5x really quickly!)

Toss out your Thousand Island dressing and Doritos, Baby, it's time for some REAL ingredients in this salad! There's a little sweet, there's a little tang and even though there's no meat--you won't miss a THANG!

This salad is full of color, flavors, and pure health. Yes--it's a crowd pleaser and yes--it takes a little elbow grease in the kitchen. But again what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. So get over it and go get on it because this is de-frickin'-licious.

The Components

3 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
1 cup purple cabbage, chopped
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup raw broccoli florets, chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup carrots, finely chopped
1/2 cup red beets (canned is fine!), chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 ripe avocado
Handful of Late July Organic Sweet Potato Chips, crushed up

Dressing:
3 tbps extra virgin olive oil      1 tbps red wine vinegar 
3 tbps raw, liquid honey           1 tbps chia seeds
2 tbps whole grain mustard

How to Make it Happen:

In a large bowl, toss all of your veggies together but save the sweet potato chips for last so they stay crunchy.

For the dressing, just mix up all of the ingredients really well. For this, I use one of those hand-held latte frothers from Ikea. It just makes it mix up that much more. Also, you may want to add more or take away honey and mustard depending on your liking.

Toss the dressing on the veggies and mix, Baby, mix. C'mon, now Mix, Baby, Mix!

*Serves about 2-3

SUPER SERIOUS VEGGIE (+ chicken if you want?) PASTA

This pasta is out of control. I love it because I fool myself into thinking I'm eating a crap-ton of carbs when I'm really only eating a little. Or, "The more fresh veg you put in your whole grain pasta, the better! Trick your brain (and totally EMO heart) into eating more of the good stuff with that pasta!" The creaminess of the coconut milk mixed with the flair of the seasonings melt together perfectly. There's quite a few ingredients in this beast, but a little work in the kitchen won't kill ya. This will make enough for 4-5 people, or make it as a side dish and serve more!

I'll shut up now.

The Components:

1lb whole grain spaghetti (see my "Oh Yeah" below on this, and gluten-free pasta works on this too!) 
1 chicken breast (optional), sliced into thin pieces 
1-2 tbps organic, unrefined coconut oil
1 small/medium red bell pepper, diced
1 small/medium yellow bell pepper, diced
1 medium red onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic
8oz of fresh baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 cup of unsweetened, original coconut milk
1 cup frozen broccoli florets
2-3 roma tomatoes, diced
Mix in small bowl:
2 tsp salt, pepper, garlic powder, red pepper seed
2 tbsp cumin, chili powder
Save some of that pasta water, about a cup will do before straining!

How to Make it Happen:

If you're using the chicken breast, place it in a small bowl and add the seasonings and mix it all up. Saute chicken for a few minutes, until cooked and set aside.

Prep your veggies and fill a huge pot (enough for a pound of spaghetti) with water and salt until boiling. Throw in the pasta and in the meantime, saute all veggies (except for tomatoes) in large pan/pot (preferably with a lid so the broccoli steams well, it's ok to add it in while it's frozen). Let it all cook until the veggies are soft but soggy. You'll know when they are done. It takes a bit. Add tomatoes last.

Add in the coconut milk and mix around. Let it simmer for a few minutes. If you used chicken, you can add it in at this time.

Make sure spaghetti is cooked and toss all together in a large bowl. You may want to add some of that saved pasta water (or if you forgot like I do ALL of the time, add chicken or veggie broth) to moisten more.

Oh Yeah:

Three ways to determine if a pasta is 100 percent whole-grain (from TODAY HEALTH):

• Check the ingredients list. All grains/flours should be preceded by the word “whole.” Brown rice and oat flours are automatically whole-grain. 
• Check the front of package. It should clearly state “100 percent whole-grain” or “100 percent whole-wheat.” Make sure you specifically see “100 percent” on the label!
• Look for products that contain the orange WHOLE-GRAIN stamp.

CILANTRO + CARAMELIZED GARLIC CHICKEN

Ok. This chicken? Total crowd pleaser. Unless, of course, someone in your crowd doesn't like cilantro. WHAAAAT? The sweet and saltiness of the garlic meshes so perfectly with the cilantro and cumin. I swear, the first time I came up with this, I ate it 3x in one week. Pair it with some cilantro-lime brown rice and/or red quinoa for a colorful, powerful healthy, tasty explosion!

The Components:

1-2 tbsp organic, unrefined coconut oil

2 chicken breasts (cubed)
1/2 cup chopped, fresh cilantro (more for sprinkling)
3 cloves (or more?) minced, fresh garlic

Squirt of fresh lemon half
1/2 tsp of each mixed in small bowl: sea salt, black pepper, (more or less of salt + pepper), ground cumin
THAT IS IT, PEOPLE!

How to Make it Happen:

Melt half of the coconut oil in medium bowl and toss cubed chicken breast, cilantro, seasonings in one bowl.

Toss in the remaining coconut oil to the skillet. I like to use a cast iron skillet for this recipe because it gives it the delicious charred flavor but any heavy skillet will work great.

Cook chicken for a few minutes per side (6- 8 minutes depending on how big you cubed the chicken) or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. It's ok to toss the chicken around, too and sauté it instead. 

Once cooked, lay it out in it's beautiful glory and sprinkle with remaining cilantro and a squirt of fresh lemon. You're welcome. 

Oh Yeah:

You'll notice that I also use A LOT of organic, unrefined virgin coconut oil when I cook. I have 50 million reasons why I use it (heart healthy, makes food taste amazing, immediate source of energy, aids digestion, brain-boosting, butter replacement, and the beat goes ON!).