Simple Fresh Vegetable Soup

This soup has lots of garlic and scallions to keep your immune system strong!

This soup is dedicated to all of my over-40-women-friends… those of you who want all that you deserve: inner health, outer beauty, youthful insides and outsides, a healthy immune system, balanced hormones, weight loss, radiant skin… I know, it sounds like a tall order, but this soup really does have ingredients to heal you inside and out and make you feel and look younger. It’s not magic. Well, actually, it kind of is a little like magic… This simple fresh vegetable soup is the complete package for every woman over 40.

And, it’s really easy to make, so it won’t mess with your work schedule or your busy life.

And, it can be made with whatever fresh veggies you have in your fridge.

And, the base is made with packaged broth.

And, you can just put …

Paleo Eggplant Meatballs

Here’s a meatball that can reduce inflammation… really!

Food in “ball” form is just fun. But, then again, I think finger food and appetizers just taste better than big portions of food. It just tastes does. It’s like food on a stick — when my kids were young, I’d cut up whatever I was serving for dinner and stack ( the bites on toothpicks; it worked like a charm. Meatballs are awesome (and don’t require any sticks). These paleo eggplant meatballs have no meat in them. They taste like little bites of eggplant parmesan. But, this recipe contains no grains and no cheese. And no, they don’t taste like air or like cardboard (as I have been asked by some doubter-friends).

I served these meatless balls for dinner the other night on top of my favorite grain-free fettuccine and my favorite marinara sauce.

The next day, I ate some for …

Slow Cooker Vegan Split Pea Soup

Green peas are good to keep you digestive system working properly… so, if hormones or menopause has been making you feel a little “sluggish”, this is a great dish for you!

I remember many years ago when all of these awesome soup spots opened up in Manhattan, and I thought it was the greatest idea ever! I used to go and get a different soup every day. Steve used to go and get the same 2 soups: split pea or black bean. There I was, ordering mulligatawny soup or borscht or spicy gumbo and I loved it, but no one was happier than Steve with his steaming bowl of split pea soup. My recipe for Slow Cooker Vegan Split Pea Soup is an homage to those quieter, gentler, less complicated days.

I admit, I am not a slow cooker aficionado. So, rather than experiment, this time I went the simpler …

Pineapple Protein Smoothie Bowl

The first time I made this pineapple protein smoothie bowl it was a bright summer day.  Ah, I remember it well — shining sun, warm breeze, still daylight when it was time for dinner…  Today, it’s much different.  It’s cold and dreary. And raining. And it’s dark at 4:30. And everyone around me has a cold and a sore throat. I mean, there are tissues everywhere… yuk.

So, I did what I love to do — try to make everything and everyone better with food. That means making dishes with turmeric and ginger and some of my awesome Chinese and Ayurvedic supplements.  But honestly, I was starting to have a hard time making the sickies eat so much soup.  I figured if I went in the opposite direction, maybe it would work.  I took my original recipe for this smoothie bowl and I added some magic.

And, by magic I …

Creamy Lentil And Kale Stew

This creamy lentil and kale stew will warm you up and keep you healthy…

I follow lots of vegan food bloggers, and let me just say that so many of these blogs are drool-worthy. As soon as I saw a recipe for lentil stew from Veggies Don’t Bite I knew I’d be making it soon. This recipe is awesome. I learned from Sophia’s awesome blog that the original recipe is from one of my all-time favorite vegan blogs, Oh She Glows… wow, these women are talented.

Anyway, I made the recipe with a few minor changes (because I’m just always have to take a little creative license…). It’s so good. I use cashews in so many recipes, but I would never have thought to use them here! This stew is so creamy (thanks to the cashews) that it tastes like heavy cream was added… but it’s vegan and so healthy!…

Paleo Cheese-Stuffed Meatballs

Eating a little bit of beef can help ease that holiday bloated feeling you may be suffering with…

I love meatballs. When Meatball Mondays became an actual thing that people were doing, I thought here is something I can get on board with — no questions asked.

Meatballs are so adjective-worthy: Delish. Fun. Simple. Comforting. Changeable. Delectable. Delightful. Enticing. Multi-generational. Multi-tasking. Yummy.

So, awhile ago I started making balls of all kinds. There were vegan balls, Italian balls, Asian balls, mini balls, gigantic balls… well, you get the picture.

It turns out that paleo meatballs were my biggest challenge. Oh, they were easy to make, but they required more thought than a regular ball. No grains meant I had a lot of crumbling balls. Then I overcompensated and ended up with some overly moist balls.

Then, once I figured out the perfect recipe (which this recipe for paleo cheese-stuffed meatballs …

Paleo Brussels Sprouts Gratin

Brussels Sprouts have been shown to protect against Alzheimers and they are great for weight loss… what an awesome veg!

For years, everyone in my house would sit at the table making horrible, distorted faces whenever I tried to serve a dish with vegan cheese. But, wow have the times changed! The vegan cheese options are now so amazing that even the haters have become lovers. This paleo brussels sprouts gratin is so cheesy and gooey and rich and decadent and lots of other adjectives that I can’t think of right now…

Originally, I had planned to make this dish to serve as a Thanksgiving side. So, I started experimenting several weeks before the holiday.

We ate so much of this in the weeks before the actual day, that there was no way I could get myself to serve it at the holiday table — I was literally afraid of …

Raw Corn And Vegetable Salad

This raw corn and vegetable salad is a great way to incorporate more raw foods into your diet…

Here it is the day before Thanksgiving. Eating  light and healthy just seems like the right thing to do. Even more so than usual. It’s like going into survival mode. If I want to eat all that I want to eat tomorrow (and that’s a lot), then I better stick to a smart plan today. This raw corn and vegetable salad is a big part of my perfect plan.

This year, I am not hosting the holiday in my home, so I don’t have as much control over the food as I usually do. If I had my druthers, I’d have a couple of raw dishes on the table, but the likelihood of this happening is next to none… so I did the next best thing and I made a big …

Paleo Turkey Meatballs

Did you know that turkey can boost your energy…

I’m of the belief that any meatball is a good meatball. It’s kind of like any pizza is a good pizza. There’s just something about food in the form of a bite-size round ball that makes it taste awesome. But, not every ball is a healthy ball. And if you are a paleo eater, it’s sometimes hard to find a meatball with great taste and great texture. Enter… these paleo turkey meatballs.

Im my house, meatballs are not reserved just for a plate of pasta. Although, I do love my grain-free pasta… But, my absolute fav way to eat them is atop a huge bowl of steaming veggies. My current obsession is a bowl of garlicky broccoli rabe topped with meatballs. I think I just drooled a little bit onto my computer as I’m typing.

Usually I like my balls with …

Lemon And Herb Cauliflower Rice

It’s time you jumped on the cauliflower rice bandwagon, so try this lemon and herb cauliflower rice recipe…

Cauliflower rice is awesome. It’s easy, it’s grain-free, it’s so healthy, it’s delicious, and best of all, you can customize it to go with any dish you are serving.

This particular recipe goes with almost anything. I serve it with spicy chicken, steamed veggies, all kinds of fish, and, my personal fav: Lemon And Herb Cauliflower Rice topped with cold seafood salad. Here’s my recipe for Seafood Salad With Garlic And Oil

Truth be told, I also really love it as a breakfast backdrop for eggs, kale, and avocado…

I don’t remember the last time I ate traditional rice. I never feel like I need it or miss it, especially when easy substitutes like this Lemon And Herb Cauliflower Rice are so easy to make. Is everyone jumping on the cauliflower …