August 2015 - dani california cooks

Mom’s Roasted Fish with Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes (paleo)

August 30, 2015 by Dani 22 Comments

This is the recipe I ask for my mom to make every.single.time I come home. A beautiful piece of fish - usually salmon - is roasted in herbs and topped with blistered cherry tomatoes. It’s simple and absolutely delicious.

I had some awesome San Francisco moments this weekend so far - Friday night beautiful sunset yoga in the Mission, helping a friend prepare for Burning Man, getting my nails done next to DIANE FEINSTEIN, BBQing in the fog at Crissy Field. And now I’m relaxing on a friend’s couch while I dogsit their wonderful golden retriever pup who just got his big boy surgery.

On another note…I’ve wanted to share this recipe with you for some time. I have a full repertoire of OK photos that I put together of times that my mother has made this dish and they really didn’t do it justice! I wish I could claim this as a DCC original recipe, but it’s all Mama DCC. Roasted Fish with Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes | danicaliforniacooks.com My mom is an excellent cook, and she was one of my first examples of someone who really LOVED food. Talking about food, making food, bringing people together around food, and of course - eating the food. She made me and my brother breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 18 years before we shipped off to college and whenever we return home there are a couple of dishes that we request. Isaac always asks for her chicken pesto pasta with sundried tomatoes and asparagus. This salmon, in recent years, has been my #1 request. I’m going home for Labor Day, and THIS IS NOT A HINT AT ALL that I hope this is waiting for me when I get back from the airport. Nope. No hinting here. And this certainly isn’t a test to see if Mom really reads my blog… fish5 Just kidding. I know she reads it.

She usually does this dish with salmon, and serves it with an arugula salad and some roasted yukon gold potatoes or brown rice. I’ve made this a couple of times on my own, and served it with this warm Honey Mustard Potato Salad and this Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad with Pinenuts. It’s a crowd-pleasing dish that looks beautiful to serve, everyone can kind of choose their own portion size, and I have never seen anyone who did not enjoy it. It’s also gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, paleo-friendly - perfect for serving a group who may have a variety of allergies. This version that I have for you here is made with halibut, and was equally delicious as Mom’s usual salmon.

fish2 Anyways, I hope you can find a way to fit this into your repertoire and family traditions as well. It’s truly become my go-to, so thanks, Mom!

Mom's Roasted Fish with Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes

Author: Dani California Cooks

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

1½ lbs of fish, a little under ½ lb per person
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp olive oil
Juice of one lemon, plus more for serving
Salt and pepper
2 cups of heirloom cherry tomatoes (or regular cherry tomatoes)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F
In a baking dish, place the cherry tomatoes and coat with a little olive oil and salt and pepper
Roast until the tomatoes are blistered and almost blackened - this usually takes about 30-45 minutes
Remove from oven and set aside
Place fish on parchment paper on a baking dish, and rub in the olive oil into its flesh. Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the fish
Sprinkle on the basil and parsley, and top with a little salt and pepper
Let "marinate" for about 20 minutes, while turning the oven to 425 degrees F
Put into the oven, and roast for about 15 minutes, until medium rare
Remove from the oven and place the fish on a platter, and top with the tomatoes
Serve with more basil and lemon wedges

If you like this, you’ll love: Pistachio Parmesan Cod

Marinated Chickpea and Kale Salad (vegan + gluten free)

August 27, 2015 by Dani 31 Comments

Chickpeas are marinated in a simple dressing prior to being tossed with tahini-rubbed kale. It’s gluten-free, meatless lunch perfection!

Chickpeas or garbanzos? Being from California, we always went with “garbanzos” but I think the chickpea is actually English, while garbanzo is Spanish. Does anyone else find the intricacies of language and regional spam to be super interesting as well? I loved when I moved to the Bay Area and everyone started saying “hella” this and that, and when I visited a friend in Boston everything was “wicked”. So anyways, when I moved to the East Coast for college - I had to get used to the chickpea!

I actually had to get used to a bunch of super random things when I moved to the East Coast. For example - temperatures below 50. My freshman year college roommate watched me put on like two layers of leggings, several sweaters, and a puffer jacket in October. She was like “whew, we’re in for a long winter”. The East Coast also introduced me to things like breakfast sandwiches! For some reason I had never had them in California before. They were like a Saturday morning staple in and after college for me. And calling people’s parents not by their first names but by Mr. and Mrs. That was one I could never get used to!

Even after spending six years in college in Baltimore and then two years in DC, I still thought that I retained all of my supposed California charm. I always got feedback at work that I was too “casual” or “friendly”, which I couldn’t decide if it was a good thing or a bad thing, I just chalked it up to being from LA. But when I moved back to California last year, everyone at work thought I was a total East Coaster! They thought I was very “intense” and “professional” and certainly overdressed. But work aside, I like to think of the food that I create and share with you all on DCC to be very California inspired, with some of my new East Coast roots in it as well.

And what in the world do I mean by that? I mean the food is fresh, healthy, and certainly a bit trendy - California for sure. But it’s also easy and fast to make for working folks like us on the go - there’s the DC gal in me. This recipe embodies that for sure. It’s packed with health and all-the-rage ingredients, but it’s also quick and simple and is perfect for lunches at work.

I plan to make this salad for myself on repeat the next time I am not traveling for work. I even recreated it using store-bought ingredients this past week while I was traveling!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Marinated Chickpea and Kale Salad (vegan)

Chickpeas are marinated in a simple dressing prior to being tossed with tahini-rubbed kale. It's meatless lunch perfection!

Author: Dani California Cooks

Serves: 2-3 servings

Ingredients

1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice of one lemon
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
4-6 cups of curly kale leaves
1 tbsp tahini
Dash of red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
Optional: ¼ cup roasted pepitas

Instructions

In a small bowl, whisk the red wine vinegar, olive oil, and lemon juice
In a medium sized tupperware, pour in the chickpeas
Pour the dressing over the chickpeas. Add in the parsley, and stir until everything is evenly distributed
Top with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to liking
Place in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour, but will keep for about 5-6 days. The longer the marinating, the better!
When ready to serve, in a large bowl, place the curly kale
Using your hands, "massage" the tahini into the kale. This will help the kale wilt and get a better texture
Pour the chickpeas and it's marinade over the kale
Top with pepitas and serve!

Notes

I ate the chickpeas at intervals over several days. I would just do a new round of massaged kale, pour over some of the chickpeas and spoon out some of the marinade!

If you like this, you’ll love: Vegan Meze Platter

WIAW - Busy Business Eats

August 26, 2015 by Dani 18 Comments

Comin’ atcha from Olympia this week! Also known as SALMON HEAVEN, in my book. The week has been busy but good. The weather is gorgeous here - much better than smokey Spokane last week. Linking up with Jenn to show you my meals and snacks on Tuesday!

BREAKFAST

We attended a conference on Tuesday morning, and I followed my own advice from my How to Stay Healthy at a Work Event post by bringing along my own breakfast. I assumed they would only offer baked goods. So I was pleasantly surprised when they had a hot food bar, including scrambled eggs! I still did eat my own organic berries - I didn’t want them to go to waste! But I was glad to keep the protein bar stashed in my bag.

eggs LUNCH

I grabbed a kale salad with avocado dressing and freshly cut onion from Peace, Love, Raw for lunch, and topped it off with a couple of spoonfuls of Trader Joe’s balela. Have you tried their “balela” yet? It’s essentially a mix of chickpeas and some black beans, with lots of onion and herbs and tomatoes. You can find it in their prepared foods section. Yum!

SNACK

In and out of meetings all afternoon, I sipped on a half black/half passion iced tea from Starbucks. Around 4pm I ate a pink lady apple with a blob of Trader Joe’s chia and flax seed peanut butter on the side. I recently tried that PB and I love it! I used to think I was a creamy PB gal but I’m loving the textures in this one. Also love that the only ingredients are PB, chia, and flax. I started to cut up my apple with a plastic knife, and then I realized how silly that was and just ate it with my hand. I think my colleagues find my eating habits amusing.

DINNER

It was beautiful out, so I took my circuit workout outside for the day by the “lake”, and then I made an absolutely epic hotel room dinner. I’ve gotten wayyy too crafty when it comes to meals on the road. My hotel in Olympia has a fridge/microwave, so I swung by Budd Bay for some salmon. They make the BEST salmon - truly! I ordered just a plain cedar plank salmon, which is so cute that the to go order comes with the actual plank. I picked up some raw broccoli and peas from a local grocery store, and then steamed them in my hotel room. Put it on a real plate from housekeeping, and you have an almost homemade dinner!

I ate it from my hotel room, which sounds a lot more sad than it was. We often will have team dinners on Tuesday or Wednesday when we travel, but because of the event early in the morning today and a full day of work, I think we all were looking forward to a little alone time. And by alone time I mean I really just need to catch up on TV!

DESSERT

A couple of squares of dark chocolate, and more bad TV. And lots and lots of water.

Off to bed for early meetings tomorrow!

A-Z Survey

August 25, 2015 by Dani 18 Comments

Hi everyone! I had been wanting to share a little more about me on the blog, so here’s a survey! I saw this over at Christine’s not too long ago and knew I wanted to jump on the train.

A- Age: 25. I love being 25! It’s been a good year! And “25” has a good ring to it.

About to indulge on my 25th birthday at Mozza!

B- Biggest Fear: This is kind of gross, but I have the worst fear of other people throwing up. I think it makes me come across as super insensitive when someone isn’t feeling well, but I honestly go into “fight or flight” mode and I just need to leave the premises if someone says they may get sick. College dorms were a challenging time..

C- Current Time: 8:24pm on Monday. I’m switching between the Bachelor and So You Think You Can Dance in my hotel

D- Date Night: I love, love, love going out to long dinner at a new restaurant with Nate that has sexy lighting and fun cocktails. Like the time we went to Haywood’s!

E- Easiest Person to Talk To: Definitely my mom! We ramble on the phone for hours.

G- Grossest Memory: Probably when I studied abroad in Panama in high school and I just got annihilated by mosquitoes while I wa there. I counted 41 just on my butt alone one morning. It was truly a massacre.

Me and my host family in Panama! They were immune to the mosquitoes somehow….

H- Hometown: Santa Monica, CA. Both my parents grew up in Southern California, so I’ve got strong sunny roots!

I- In love with: Living with my boyfriend, Nate, in San Francisco! It’s SO fun, and I’m so happy we dove into it when he got back from his year abroad.

The 1983 pick up truck we drove to SF, stuffed with everything we owned!

J- Jealous Of: People with dogs. I reallllly want a pup. I wish I didn’t travel every week for work or else we’d totally get one.

K- Kindest Person You Know: Nate, for sure. He has the biggest heart, and the most loyal person I’ve ever met.

L- Longest Relationship: I’ve been best friends with Adam since we were like 3 years old. He’s like a brother to me!

M- Middle Name: Paulina! I feel like it doesn’t suit me all that well but it has some family history behind it.

N- Number of Siblings: My little brother, Isaac, is 20. He’s awesome and I’ve just grown so impressed with how SMART he is!! We’ve got some distinct opposite traits - he’s quantitative/I’m qualitative, he sings/I cook, he’s a late nighter/I’m an early riser, I’m more of a planner/he’s happy to go with the flow. We’re definitely similar though too - both ambitious, confident, and have about a 30 minute time limit when it comes to museums.

Isaac makes for a great sous chef!

P- Person You Spoke on the Phone Last: My dad. We were both clocking steps on our Fitbits in our respective locations today!

Q- Question You’re Always Asked: People are very curious how I ended up going to college in Baltimore after growing up in Southern California. I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t even apply to UCLA because it was “too close to home”!

Graduated in 2012 from Johns Hopkins University!

R- Reason to Smile: Gosh, so many! Yesterday’s post I rambled on about how much I am enjoying our new life in SF these days. Other things that made me smile today are when I got upgraded on my early morning flight this morning…the fact that the sun stays out so late here in the Pacific Northwest…looking forward to shopping for dresses for Nate’s cousin’s wedding in October!

S- Song You Last Sang: I am loving “Back + Forth” by B.O.B and find myself humming it all the time. I can’t wait to play it in my spin classes.

T- Time You Woke Up: 6:50am. I snooze for 5 mins, and then give myself 15 minutes to get ready and call an Uber to take me to the airport! I can get ready in an amazingly short amount of time, but then you’ll see me doing my makeup in the cab.

U- Underwear Color: .Well I’m wearing pajamas so no undies…is that weird?

V- Vacation Destination: Got some good upcoming vacations! Nate and I are going to LA for Labor Day, and then later in October I’m going to NYC for one of my best girlfriend’s going away parties (she’s moving to London!!), and in October we’ll be in Atlanta for that wedding I mentioned above! Good stuff.

W- Worst Habit: Taking my shoes off at work. Everyone is always like “PUT YOUR SHOES ON DANI”.

X-Rays You’ve Had: I think just for the dentist! That’s always my “never have I ever” - I’ve never broken a bone. *knock on wood*.

Y- You’re Favorite Food: Well. I need a whole A-Z survey for that. I would say the top of my list includes: eggs, salmon, wine, chocolate, dried fruit, tuna salad, cheese, sweet potatoes…I know I forgot a bunch but those are the first that came to mind!

Can you pick out the epic photobomb in my wine tasting picture?

Z-Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius. I used to read to Nate our horoscopes from the free newspaper they give you in the DC metro as we commuted to work every morning. I thought I was being all charming but I think Nate wished he had had coffee first!

Raw Apricot Crumble Cookies (gluten free)

August 23, 2015 by Dani 40 Comments

This four-ingredient recipe reincarnates an apricot crumble into a healthy, no-bake cookie! They are chewy, sweet, and require zero use of the oven.

I certainly don’t do this enough, but every once and a while I take a step back and think about where I was a year ago today. Given that you change so much in your teens and twenties, it shouldn’t be any surprise to me that I feel so different and my life situation is so different year after year! Today, for example. A year ago today I was living on friends’ couches in DC, as I transitioned from the DC office to the SF office for work. My lease was up, and I had already taken a bunch of my stuff home to California, but I was kind of in a waiting zone. I had just gotten back from visiting Nate in Turkey, and he was in Israel by this time. I don’t think we had determined when we were going to see each other next (last June Nate embarked on an 8-month global adventure) and I wasn’t sure if my transfer to SF was going to be approved and I was certainly all over the place emotionally and physically with no home! Well a year later…

A year later we just hosted our housewarming party in our new apartment in San Francisco, and it was amazing to see that in the short time we’ve been here, how many friends we can round up. A year later, Nate isn’t traveling anymore, and is enjoying his snazzy new start up job. A year later, I am loving the SF office that I transferred to and adore my project team. A year later, I have my own home again - no friends couches or living with my parents! (Although both were awesome). I wish I had been able to tell myself a year ago that everything would kind of settle out. And probably even if it didn’t work out as well as it did, there would still be a great change from where I was before, and probably for the better! I don’t consider myself a person that gets stressed out easily, but I definitely look back on last August as a time that I did not recognize that I was actually really stressed out. It took a toll on my eating habits too - when I didn’t have control over my house/transfer/relationship - I became very controlled with my food.

Anyways, the only reason why I started down this path this morning is because there are a few things that remind me of my first visit to Nate, a year ago, during the beginning of his travels. One of the biggest memory triggers is dried fruit. We SUBSISTED off dried fruit in Turkey. Or at least I did. Dried figs and dates and apricots galore! Turkish food is pretty incredible, and they are great at drying just about anything and they take great pride in the fact that they can “stuff” just about anything too - eggplants and grapeleaves, to name a few. I truly have to limit my dried fruit or else I would happily eat it all the time. Something about the texture reminds me of gummy candy! My dad and I used to polish off a bag of twizzlers like it was our jobs growing up. It’s still a father/daughter indulgence to this day.

I know I haven’t talked much about these cookies, but their easy ingredient breakdown and flavors make these a win/win in my book. I love that they hold up really well so you can saran wrap one and bring to work as a snack. They also freeze wonderfully, so just take them out and let thaw a bit before digging in. We had a couple of recipe fails the day I put these together so I was so happy when this turned out well - but it is a foolproof recipe. Hey just thought about this - a year ago, I didn’t have this food blog in this amazing community of food bloggers!

Apologies if you weren’t expecting this ramble today - sometimes I’m inspired by the food I’m writing about and sometimes I go down a completely different path! I write it to you, slightly hungover from our housewarming party, with Nate snoozing away next to me looking like a princess with a sleeping mask on and ear plugs in. I think it’s time to wake him up. If you had told me a year ago that we’d be happily hosting parties in our new apartment in San Francisco, I’m not sure I would have believed you. But I’m so grateful and thankful and at peace now, it seems worth the wait.

5.0 from 2 reviews

Raw Apricot Crumble Cookies

This four-ingredient recipe reincarnates an apricot crumble into a healthy, no-bake cookie! They are chewy, sweet, and require zero turning on of the oven.

Author: Dani California Cooks

Serves: 6 large cookies, 12 small cookies

Ingredients

1 cup dried apricots
½ cup raw almonds
¼ cup oats
2 tbsp softened coconut oil
3 tbsp raw honey
3 tbsp cinnamon
Optional: shredded coconut for dusting

Instructions

Place all ingredients into the food processor
Pulse until combined
Mold into a large ball and cover in saran wrap; place in freezer for 10 minutes
Remove and for 1½ inch balls and press into a "cookie" shape
At this point, you can sprinkle a little coconut flakes on top of each
Store in the fridge!

Notes

You can store these in the freezer for several months, just remove before eating and let "thaw" at room temperature.

Note: these are not vegan due to the honey used. I have not tried these using maple syrup instead of honey, but I believe they still would hold up together well.

If you like these, you’ll love: No-Bake Vegan Brownies

Honey Mustard Potato Salad (paleo)

August 20, 2015 by Dani 33 Comments

This paleo-friendly potato salad has a delightfully sweet, tangy, and spicy dressing. Sprinkled with parsley, it tastes great hot or at room temperature!

One of my favorite Sunday morning activities is going to the farmer’s market. I’ve been lucky that there have been great Sunday farmer’s markets wherever I’ve lived over the last couple of years! There waaaas one in Baltimore where I went to college, but I usually slugged my way through the market, hungover, only passing through because on the other side was the old time Pete’s Grille and I was on a mission to stuff my face with greasy eggs and toast and potatoes. I was unimpressed by all the fresh goodness that surrounded in the market.

Anywho, in DC there was a great market on Sundays in Dupont Circle - lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, sometimes live music, and great people watching. One of my best friend’s actually worked at one of the stands, which was fun to go and visit. There are a ton of weekend farmer’s markets in Santa Monica that I’ve tagged along with my Mom on the weekends. And now in SF, I have discovered the Clement Street Farmer’s Market which is only blocks from our apartment! It’s beyond a good farmer’s market - it’s a great one. There is produce galore, but also grass-fed meats, freshly caught fishes, gluten-free breads galore, green juice stands, amazing pasture-raised eggs, live music, prepared foods, and just an overall great scene. I’m so lucky I stumbled upon it!

I think it’s worth it to spend extra money to buy your food at the farmer’s market. Granted, the one time I spent $11 on 4 pears I felt a little…cheated. But overall, the quality of the food is just one million fricken times better. My mom bought all of our produce growing up from farmer’s markets, but I certainly didn’t appreciate it. I think I really started appreciating it after spending time on Nate’s family farm, where his dad actually runs their local farmer’s market. I just started to acutely realize how the food tasted BETTER, and buying from a farmer’s market was better for the local community, for your health, for the environment’s health, etc. The food just tastes how its supposed to. Strawberries taste more like strawberries, and potatoes taste more like - you guessed it - potatoes.

Another great thing about the farmer’s market is the variety in species (do vegetables come in species? I’ll have to check in with my farm-raised BF!). Like check out these potatoes! I told Mr. Potato Man that I was making a potato salad, and he recommended these beautiful purple and pink and yellow potatoes. Did you know that purple potatoes have some of the same antioxidant compounds as blueberries? Eat the rainbow, I tell ya! It’s great to talk to the farmer’s and learn more about what they grow, and how they recommend to prepare things. So even if the price tag is a little higher, you don’t get that one-on-one attention in a grocery store.

Just to touch upon this recipe after rambling on about my love for farmer’s markets - it’s so versatile, fresh, and flavorful. It tastes wonderful warm or room temperature. I paired it with a kale salad and some fish, but I could see this working as a side dish to a holiday meal down the line as well, or at a casual BBQ. I love creating dishes like this that I know I will re-create again and again!

5.0 from 2 reviews

Honey Mustard Potato Salad (paleo)

This paleo-friendly potato salad has a delightfully sweet, tangy, and spicy dressing. Sprinkled with parsley, it tastes great hot or at room temperature!

Author: Dani California Cooks

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

6 small-medium sized potatoes (I used varieties of purple, pink, and yellow potatoes)
½ cup parsley, torn and minced
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey
Dash of salt and pepper
Sprinkle of red pepper flakes

Instructions

In a small pot, cover the potatoes in about an inch of water. Bring to a boil, and then let simmer until fork-tender. Depending on the size of your potatoes, this usually takes under 10 minutes
In the meantime, whisk the mustard, vinegar, oilve oil, honey, salt and pepper
Remove and drain the potatoes
Allow the potatoes to cool so you can cut into cubes
Toss with the dressing and the parsley
Sprinkle on the red pepper flakes
Serve immediately or at room temperature

If you like this, you’ll love: Roasted Carrot and Beet Salad with Pistachios (paleo)

WIAW - Typical Spokane Tuesday

August 19, 2015 by Dani 22 Comments

I’m back on the road to Spokane this week after an awesome weekend in San Francisco! Having Alice visit was a lot of fun, and the weather was divine. We did everything from explore vegan Mexican restaurants to take a super playful yoga class to birthday picnics in the Presidio to (accidentally) going to an raging club on Saturday night. Whoops.

I’m linking up with Jenn to show you Tuesday’s eats!

BREAKFAST

Upon waking, I ate a couple of almonds/cashews to get my metabolism revving. Then I walked to breakfast, where I ordered a 3-egg omelet filled with veggies, with berries on the side! (Pro tip: when eating out for brunch or breakfast, always ask for the cooks to use less oil/butter when cooking your eggs. Restaurants tend to use a TON if you don’t request otherwise). I also had a little hot green tea with lemon.

I rabbed a cold brew iced coffee from Atticus coffee shop - a super cute coffee shop that is To Kill a Mockingbird themed. This coffee was DELICIOUS. It was so smooth and velvety and almost like chocolate. I think I’ve found my new go-to in Spokane!

LUNCH

I stopped by Trader Joe’s once I landed on Monday and picked up essentials for the week. I’ve started to get really bored of all of the food options around our client site, so I’m enjoying making my own salads in the little office kitchen. Today was kind of an extravagant affair. Everyone in the office kitchen (where they were having an ice cream party) watched me massage kale with lemon juice, and then sprinkle on some pumpkin seeds, avocado salsa, a little tempeh, slice up some red bell pepper and zap some tempeh in the microwave. This one lady jokingly went “want some ice cream with your kale?”

SNACK

Small green apple with a packet of PB from Justin’s. Like I said before, I’m trying to eat smaller lunches so I can have room for a hefty snack in the afternoon. Overall, it has had an amazing impact on my digestion in the afternoon, which is when I tend to feel the most bloated and uncomfortable. I’ve then been able to have smaller dinners, which has allowed me to go to bed not feeling full and weighed down. I also grabbed an iced green tea from Starbucks.

I went on a super nice long walk in the evening, and even stumbled upon this beautiful area near my client site.

But it’s been super hazy and smokey around downtown Spokane, with forest fires raging galore. They’ve been issuing lots of warnings to not spend that much time outside. It’s made for some epic sunsets. Check out all of the haze below!

DINNER

I grabbed salmon and veggies from my favorite spot - Mizuna. Sorry if this to-go box pic is kind of unappetizing. (Another pro-tip - ask for the restaurant to use light oil/butter when the chefs cook your vegetables and proteins. They will likely still use more than you would for your own cooking, but at least they will be aware of their portion!)

DESSERT

Three squares of dark chocolate, plus lots of E! News. (Combination that’s good for the mind, body, and soul!) Gosh I love that show. Sometimes the hotels I stay in don’t carry the E! channel, and I am always absurdly disappointed when I realize that. Thankfully, I’m getting my fix in this week!

So there you have it! I’m looking forward to next week’s biz trip to Olympia!

Last Week I Did a Sneaky Juice Cleanse!

August 18, 2015 by Dani 12 Comments

Last week I kind of secretly did a two-day juice cleanse! If you noticed from my Instagram, there weren’t any food photos last Monday/Tuesday, since, well, six juices and two specialty waters is just not all that interesting. I’m a bit late to jump in on the juice cleansing trend, though.

Why did I do a juice cleanse?

Well, first of all, I had really been feeling “off”, and I opened up on the blog about that last week. My arthritis was popping up in places that it hadn’t before, I felt kind of unmotivated throughout my workouts. I wanted “re-set” (even if it was all mental), after a month of vacations and visitors and lots of drinking and eating. Also, my roommate was feeling the same way, so we decided to do it together! Oh, and on top of that, I had never done a successful juice cleanse! The last time I had started a juice cleanse, I came down with some food poisoning after our trip to Turkey and it was just bad timing. Last week was also the perfect situation for me to do a cleanse - I was traveling up to Spokane and didn’t have any outside commitments besides work.

Which juice cleanse did I choose?

Suitcase + juice cooler

I chose the Pressed Juicery’s Cleanse 2 - their “mid-level” cleanse. It contains 5 juices, one nut milk, chlorophyll water and aloe vera water. I had my taxi driver stop by Pressed on my way to the airport, and packed my juices into a cooler and then into my suitcase. I then checked my bag and they stayed cold until I reached my client site! Since I didn’t prepare for the juice cleanse and cut out caffeine, I did have one cup of coffee in the morning.

What did I like about the juice cleanse?

All of the juices were super tasty
It was nice to have all of your meals prepared for you, no thinking required
I like the uber-healthy mindset it put me in, and how committed I felt to only putting good things in my body after the cleanse was over
I liked how light and lean I felt throughout it all. I hate feeling over-full and weighed down

What didn’t I like about the juice cleanse?

I found myself counting down the (hours, minutes, seconds) until it was time for my next juice
I didn’t like that I couldn’t work out and couldn’t go out to eat dinner, so there wasn’t much for me to do once I left my client site in Spokane
I feel like I drank less water, since I spent so much time drinking juice! That was certainly my own fault though

Slurp slurp

DAY 1

Day 1 started out super strong. Juice after juice tasted GOOD. They were delicious! The chlorophyll water was a bit funky, but I liked the look of it. Like a clear emerald water. Around 3pm I got a little shaky and the “Roots 3” came right in time, and totally filled me up. I really didn’t feel all that hungry, but it was nice to have the nut milk as the “dinner” with 12g of protein. I also didn’t work out, but I went for a light walk and a little shopping in the evening. Before sleeping, I chugged the aloe vera water. I had a great night’s sleep.

DAY 2

I woke up feeling super energized and awesome on day 2! I wasn’t hungry at all throughout the day! It was kind of amazing. My energy felt good, although I found myself a little irritable at times. But that could have just been me being irritable on a Tuesday. I took it easy and just did some light walking again. I looked forward to each juice. The day was easy, and I took myself to see a movie in the evening! I went to bed excited to eat real food in the morning and keep it super clean.

DAY 3 and beyond

Cleanse is over! Unfortunately, my arthritis was RAGING like crazy when I woke up that morning, which surprised me because I figured the juice cleanse may help tame it a bit. I woke up with no hunger, but was refreshed after another great night’s sleep. I ate clean, real food the rest of the day. I enjoyed eating warm food again and also felt super committed to only putting clean, healthy things in my body. After Day 3, my arthritis was almost completely gone!

To summarize, I feel pretty neutral to my whole juice cleansing experience! I enjoyed the juices, but I definitely prefer eating more. I felt really good, but no better than I do when I eat a clean diet. I also did feel “re-set” after the juice cleanse, so I’m glad I tried it out. So there you have it! Wish I could have had an climactic epiphany that my mind and body experienced but hey - its just juice, and it’s just two days.

Ultimate Breakfast Bars

August 16, 2015 by Dani 42 Comments

These healthy breakfast bars are packed full of the stuff that is going to power you through your day - quinoa, oats, almond butter, chia seeds - just to name a few. Keep these around for grab-and-go all week!

My poor boyfriend laments about his uphill battle of him versus the DCC fridge every week. I leave on Monday morning to travel for work, and he must work his way through all of the leftovers before they go bad, or before I restock the fridge with more creations! I don’t think he has had to buy groceries since we moved to San Francisco. Fortunate for him that the fridge is stocked full of healthy goodies. Unfortunate for him is that sometimes the recipe experimentation lead to some serious misses, and sometimes they are just not man-friendly. Thankfully Nate has the appetite of a bear who is about to go into hibernation and he seems to do a pretty good job with whatever I whip up! And thankfully, the recipes lately have been more hits than misses - like these breakfast bars.

I saw Nate eating dog food AKA fiber one cereal a couple of mornings before he went to work last week and I went all “BUT HOWEVER SHALL YOU GET YOUR PROTEIN” and then I realized that I’m not his mom. So I decided to just sneakily make him some breakfast foods that were packed with proteins and healthy fats and whole grains that he could bring to work. And I guess these got a thumbs up too by some of his colleagues (score!!)

I had seen Lindsay from the Lean Green Bean make these for her husband a bunch of times, and I loved the way they looked. I just am not a fan of baking with applesauce! I know it’s a great lower-calorie swap for oils, but for some reason, it just has never been a texture or flavor in baked goods that I’ve been a fan of. Although one of my earliest posts of Whole Wheat Apple Cinnamon Harvest Quickbread did have applesauce. My mom usually has tubs of applesauce in her fridge leftover throughout the year from our Hannukkah latke parties. So these breakfast bars do have coconut oil, but feel free to go more towards Lindsay’s recipe and use applesauce if you so choose.

I call these the ultimate breakfast bars because they are just packed full of everything you would need to get your day started. Everything from cooked quinoa to rolled oats to almond butter to chia seeds to a bit of sweetness from dates, it all somehow comes together in harmony! I also had all of these things in my pantry already, which made pulling these bars together a breeze. No trip to the grocery store required! And I used a very heaping teaspoon of cinnamon and my whole kitchen smelled amazing. I think cinnamon is my favorite of all spices!

I can see myself making these throughout the rest of the year, and if I was still a student, I know these would be awesome to have around on my way to class. I didn’t have a toaster in college, so for breakfast I would “toast” a slice of whole wheat bread in the oven and smear some PB on it on my way out the door. Sometimes I would have iced tea in a red solo cup. If only I had known about these bars back then (and the beauty that is black coffee)!

5.0 from 2 reviews

Ultimate Breakfast Bars

Author: Dani California Cooks

Serves: 1 dozen

Ingredients

½ cup cooked quinoa
½ cup rolled oats
½ cup whole wheat flour OR oat flour OR 1-1 gluten free flour
2 tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 tsp cinnamon (I used a heaping tsp)
2 tbsp almond butter
3 tbsp melted coconut oil
½ cup chopped dates
3 tbsp maple syrup
¼ cup almond milk
Optional: ¼ cup sliced almonds, to press into top of bars

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F
Mix all ingredients together in a mixing bowl
On a piece of parchment paper, spread dough until forming a large square, about ¾ inch thick.
Optional - sprinkle and gently press the sliced almonds on top of the dough
Baked for 15-20 minutes, until the edges begin to brown
Remove and let cool completely before cutting
Store in fridge and enjoy!

If you like these, you’ll love: Coconut Almond Energy Bars

Shrimp Taco Bowls with Cauliflower Rice (gluten free)

August 13, 2015 by Dani 45 Comments

First of all - I really, really enjoyed reading everyone’s comments on yesterday’s post. The support and advice that I get from our virtual blogging community is something I never expected, and that I truly appreciate.

These healthy burrito bowls are layered with spicy shrimp, hearty black beans, avocado, on top of a bed of cauliflower rice. It’s a highly flavorful and filling dinner that’s still low in carbs!

This is one of the best things I’ve made in a long time. I mean it. It was the most lovely meal to have on a Sunday evening after a weekend of drinking on a boat - full of vegetables and lean proteins and fiber and flavor. And I absolutely cannot believe this is the first time I am ever trying cauliflower rice!! I love cauliflower mash, but cauliflower rice really takes the cake. I plan to make a large batch of it raw and keep it in my freezer, and use it whenever rice is called for. There are some healthy swaps that don’t stand up to the “real thing”, but I found the texture of cauliflower rice to be a lot like fluffy couscous, and with such a mild flavor. And I love that you can just eat it in volume!

On a completely different note, my little from my sorority is visiting San Francisco this weekend! We actually call her Little Alice and the nickname has stuck. I am super close with my sorority family - four years up and four years down - and I truly think joining a sorority was one of the best decisions I made in college. I can’t wait to have you with me soon, Little Alice! Look at us, so many years ago…

We’re cute. But, back to the food.

I also used fresh black beans (not canned!) for this recipe, using a local brand that I’ve begun to love. Rancho Gordo has a space in the Ferry Building where they sell their beans and their corn. One day, I stumbled in there and bought some heirloom corn tortillas, not knowing what a GEM I had just come across. I was all upset one morning that I was out of something, and then made breakfast tacos using these tortillas and had like a euphoric experience. I’m never going back to plain tortillas again! Their midnight black beans have such a depth of flavor and texture, and they don’t require any soaking time since they are so fresh. I seriously can’t imagine going back to any other beans than their fresh ones. I’ve heard that people have the same experience when using soaked chickpeas instead of canned. I’ll have to give that a try and let you know!

This recipe is simple, fresh, and easy. And all of it can be made ahead of time and re-assembled throughout the week. I made it for me and Nate, but he had to work late (on a Sunday!!) so I ate alone and he was able to throw it together for himself. If serving cauliflower rice to a hungry man, I recommend serving in volume - lots of cauli-rice, lots of beans, lots of shrimp, lots of avo. Pile it on! And know that you can have a large serving too, because all of the ingredients are clean, clean, clean. And yummy, yummy, yummy.

This is the kind of dinner I would happily eat every night if I could. I don’t think I would get bored of it! But, obviously, swapping in salmon every once and a while. I could never give up on that love affair!

Shrimp Taco Bowls with Cauliflower Rice (gluten free) | danicaliforniacooks.com

5.0 from 4 reviews

Shrimp Taco Bowls with Cauliflower Rice (gluten free)

These healthy burrito bowls are layered with spicy shrimp, hearty black beans, avocado, on top of a bed of cauliflower rice. It's a highly flavorful and filling dinner that's still low in carbs!

Author: Dani California Cooks

Serves: 2 servings

Ingredients

½ lb shrimp, peeled and devined
1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
¾ cup black beans, cooked
¼ cup salsa
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp hot sauce (I used Tapatio)
Half an avocado
½ onion, chopped
Juice of half a lemon, plus additinoal lemon slices
Olive oil (or use a little butter for the shrimp)
Salt and pepper

Instructions

In a food processor, pulse the cauliflower florets until into couscous sized pieces
In large saucepan, heat the chopped onion in some olive oil until translucent
Pour the cauliflower rice into the saucepan with the onion, and cook through. This will only take 3-5 minutes
In another saucepan, pour a little olive oil and add the shrimp. Add in cumin, chili powder, and hot sauce. Flip once
Squeeze some lemon juice over the shrimp
In two shallow bowls, make a layer of cauliflower rice
Divide the shrimp over each
Spoon the black beans in each bowl
Place some sliced avocado and divide up the salsa
Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with lemon wedges

Notes

I used dried black beans which I cooked over the stove, but if you use canned, make sure to heat them through before serving!

If you like this, you’ll love: Salmon Bowls with Miso Dressing

Mom’s Roasted Fish with Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes (paleo)

Marinated Chickpea and Kale Salad (vegan + gluten free)

WIAW - Busy Business Eats

A-Z Survey

Raw Apricot Crumble Cookies (gluten free)

Honey Mustard Potato Salad (paleo)

WIAW - Typical Spokane Tuesday

Last Week I Did a Sneaky Juice Cleanse!

Ultimate Breakfast Bars

Shrimp Taco Bowls with Cauliflower Rice (gluten free)

Dani California Cooks

Kale Salmon Nicoise (paleo)

A Day In the Life - Business Trippin’!

4-Ingredient Sangria

We Ate Everything in San Francisco This Past Weekend

Crockpot Orange Sesame Chicken with Broccoli

We’re back on the farm and we’re eating REALLY well!

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