A Very Vegan Dinner {w/ restaurants}

We have two sets of vegan friends. 

Well neither are completely vegan -- one couple will eat dairy if they're eating out, but is vegan at home. 

The other is vegan 80% of the time, but with a gourmet-style chef for a dad, their cheat items tend to be duck confit and lobster. Quite the way to "cheat" if you ask me. 

Baby Beet and Blood Orange Salad {w/ recipes}

I love my husband. 

I love him more than I love any other person on this planet. 

I love and care for him more than I love or care about myself. 

I love how he understands me so well and how he can seriously read my mind sometimes. 

And I love how we can spend hours upon hours with each other, without doing anything "fun", 

and still have the best time of our life, just sitting, talking, laughing, and dreaming. 

But, there are times, when I enjoy being alone, i.e., without him. 

The times when he gets together with "the guys" and I stay home, alone.

I can blast Taylor Swift on the stereo, 

watch tv and read (at the same time), 

catch up on my favorite blogs, 

and spend hours editing HTML 

so that those little social media icons will actually work. 

Those times alone, by myself, I can also eat whatever I want. 

Simple Kale Salad {w/ recipes}

Have you noticed that kale has been all the rage lately? It seems like everywhere you turn, someone is raving about the benefits of kale: everything from lowering your cholesterol to preventing cancer.

And what's not to love? Kale is nutrient rich and delicious. It is packed with calcium, vitamin A, C, and K, and fiber.

I love to add it to my morning juice, hearty soups, sautee it with a little olive oil, bake it to make dried kale chips, and use it in a salad, like my recipe today.

Raw Carrot Ginger Soup (w/ health}

This past weekend the husband and I visited our friends in LA. They took us out to their favorite places, which, when you're visiting two foodies, pretty much revolved around eating. We ate, and ate, and ate some more. I'm still stuffed. The food was delicious - but today all I want to do is eat fresh fruits and vegetables, to try to make up for the exorbitant amount of meat consumed at Korean BBQ and a Dim Sum brunch.

And while I can't pretend like I am always a healthy eater, because you can find evidence of the contrary here, here, and here, I do try to have balance. I love fruits and vegetables, and try to make them the centerpiece of a meal when possible, like here.

Tonight for dinner is a recipe I found a few weeks ago, when my hubby and I decided to follow a 5 day meal plan for a Reboot. Have you seen the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead? It's all about the benefits of juicing and a journey to regain health. Despite the film's name, it's not one of those stomach churning, hard to watch films. It is thought provoking, informative, but also encouraging.

The meal plan we followed had tons of great "clean" recipes for juices and meals, including a delicious roasted acorn squash and this raw carrot ginger soup.

Grilled Vegetables and Quinoa {w/ food}

When the temperature rises, the last thing I want to do is turn on my oven and transform my house into a sauna.

Luckily, summer is the perfect time to grill outdoors. I picked up a small eggplant and sweet potato at my local market the other day. You could also easily use a variety of other vegetables including zucchini, portobello mushrooms, or summer squash.

I buy my quinoa at Costco so there is always plenty on hand.

Maybe you've seen or heard about quinoa but don't know what it is. Quinoa  (pronounced keen-wah) is a seed originally from South America. It is packed with nutrients like amino acids, calcium, and iron. It can be substituted for rice or cous cous and because of its high protein content is great for vegetarians, or anyone enjoying a vegetarian meal.

I started by slicing the eggplant and sweet potato into about 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices. The eggplant will cook pretty fast on the grill so if it is sliced any thinner it will get too soft. The sweet potato will take longer so I put it on first, but if you'd like them to cook at the same time just cut the potato thinner.

This was my first time using the BBQ by myself. For some reason I've always bought into the social norms and let my husband use the grill. It was a little daunting. But I've learned that using an outdoor grill (BBQ) is nothing to be afraid of (especially if its a gas grill).

I first brushed each piece with a bit of olive oil and sprinkled with Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

I put the sweet potatoes on first since I knew they would take longer. I let them cook about 5-7 minutes on each side over a medium high flame. Then I added the eggplant, about 3-5 minutes per side. While it was grilling I minced some fresh garlic and prepared the quinoa.

I used chicken stock to cook my quinoa, but you could easily substitute vegetable stock, or water, to make this a true vegetarian dish.

I tossed the grilled vegetables with the minced garlic. The flavor of garlic changes as it is cooked. Anyone who has ever tried to eat a whole raw garlic clove can tell you that uncooked it is unbearably strong, with a unique spiciness to it. Compared to the sweet flavors of roasted garlic they seem like entirely different food items. I tossed the minced, raw garlic with the freshly grilled vegetables and let the heat slightly cook the garlic to release some of its sweetness to complement the sweet potato.

I placed it atop the quinoa and sprinkled with a bit of parmesan cheese.

What you end up with is a delightful dinner. Packed with natural protein this is a perfect alternative for anyone looking to have a Meatless Monday or just enjoy grilled vegetables and quinoa.