Mini Stuffed Peppers with Pineapple Salsa

Jun21

This summer, more than any other, we’ve really taken advantage of cooking outside on the grill. It’s warm, it’s breezy, and charred food is always delicious. With pretty much every vegetable I’ve come across in the past few months, I’ve thought “how can I grill that?”

So when I saw these multicolored Organic Mini Peppers at ALDI, I immediately knew that I’d skewer and grill them! I always love making stuffed red bell peppers in the summertime, but how cute are these mini stuffed peppers?? I have an affinity for miniature things so these little guys were so fun to cook and, of course, even more fun to eat.

Before tossing these little guys into the fire, I recommend making the tasty fresh pineapple salsa. In summer, I love to use fresh fruits to balance out my meals with a little sweetness. I was blown away by the options ALDI offered, but this pineapple was the perfect choice for a sweet & spicy salsa. It also makes extra, because having fresh salsa in the fridge is what summer is all about (right?).

The peppers are grilled, stuffed with cilantro-lime rice, and served with chipotle pinto beans on the side. The beans, by the way, couldn’t be simpler – just mix pinto beans with smoky chopped chipotle peppers.

I highly recommend that you serve these components together as a complete meal because they really complement each other perfectly. The spicy/smoky pinto beans play so well with the cool cilantro-rice stuffed peppers and the sweet pineapple salsa. Just add margaritas!

So often, putting together a menu for entertaining can get pricey, but everything here – including the beautiful, fresh organic produce – came from ALDI and was insanely affordable. Plus, I was able to pick up everything super quick and get back to grilling. Everything here is pretty diet-restriction-friendly, so you won’t have to worry if one friend is gluten-free and the other is vegan.

I’ve been continually impressed by the produce and affordable groceries at ALDI, let me know if you give it a try and what you think!

Lightly-Lemony Puffy Cookies with Cashew Icing

Jun18

dessert / vegan

Yes, you are at the right blog. Today, I’m veering outside of my vegetable comfort zone with some super fun, delectable, iced puffy cookies! These are the perfect fun summer treat to make with your kids. Or, if you’re like me (without kids), they’re a fun crafty baking project to make while pretending to be a kid on summer break.

This marks my first ever “sprinkled” recipe post. I know funfetti has been quite the internet craze for awhile now but I could never get behind the ingredients that are in artificially colored baking products. If you’re also not a fan of Yellow Number 5 in your food, you have to check out these super cute Supernatural Starfetti sprinkles and their natural food colorings. They’re plant based, vegan, gluten free, soy free, etc, etc… and SO CUTE.

These cookies are made a little bit differently than normal cookies. As you’ll see in the recipe instructions, the dough is more like pastry dough, and it’s rolled into balls versus scooped into mounds. Why? Because this recipe was initially a scone attempt. About a year ago, I tried to make lemon scones with almond flour. The result was SO delicious and I loved them, however they did not quite resemble scones and the lemon flavor was too subtle. Not subtle was Jack, who just said “they’re really good, but they’re not scones.” They were more like puffy sugar cookies (although with WAY less sugar than actual sugar cookies). So I kept this recipe in my back pocket until I got these cute sprinkles and thought – it’s time for the puffy cookies!

The frosting here is similar to the macadamia frosting I make for my carrot cake. It has a delicious, nutty, maple flavor and I love it as a gooey topping on these cookies. These are best frosted and eaten right away, but see below for my notes about freezing and transporting them.

Vegetarian & Vegan Grilling Recipes

Jun14

summer / vegetarian

When I first became vegetarian, grilling holidays were the hardest. Back then, packaged veggie burgers tasted like cardboard and the only solution I had was: please, please pass the ketchup… and the pickles, and the mustard, and anything and everything else that could make my “meal” taste edible.

What I know now that I wished I’d known then is that it’s fun to grill vegetables! This group of recipes is all about celebrating the almighty charred vegetable. I hope these ideas bring a little veggie happiness to your weekend BBQ:

Portobello Sliders with Pepita Pesto (pictured above)

This recipe is listed at the bottom of this post and it’s also in our Cookbook. I love it because it’s quick to make and the mushroom marinade – a combination of balsamic vinegar and tamari – brings such a wonderful salty/tangy flavor to the grilled mushrooms. Plus, it makes me so happy to slather these little guys with creamy pepita pesto instead of ketchup 🙂

Grilled Potato Salad with Grilled Scallion Vinaigrette

Every good BBQ needs a potato salad, but that doesn’t mean that our potatoes have to be full of mayonnaise. Try this grilled potato salad with grilled scallion vinaigrette and grilled blueberries. You’ll want to make it for your friends all summer long.

Grilled Avocados Stuffed with Veggie Ceviche

I posted this one a few weeks ago and so many of you have loved it! This was my first time grilling avocados. At first, I wasn’t sure if I’d love cooked avocado, but the char really brings out the creaminess of the avocado and the cool, tangy filling balances it perfectly.

Portobello Tacos w/ Vegan Jalapeño Sauce

I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that Jack and I love mushrooms. I think mushrooms sometimes get a bad rep because they’re often not prepared well. These mushrooms also get coated in the go-to marinade that I mentioned above. The strips then get stuffed into tortillas with creamy (vegan) cashew jalapeño sauce. This is by far one of my favorite ways to eat mushrooms.

Grilled Asparagus Lemon-Thyme Farro Salad

Asparagus is at peak season right now, so head to your farmers market and grab some! Make this salad as a side dish for your gathering and save the leftovers for lunch!

Chile Lime Grilled Corn on the Cob

I love corn so many ways and this is one of the simplest. 1. Make a quick sauce with avocado oil mayo, cilantro, lime, serrano pepper, and other seasonings. 2. Slather on grilled corn. (Use vegan mayo if you’re vegan).

Corn & Green Bean Tomatillo Tacos

If you love corn, but don’t love eating it straight off the cob, this taco recipe is for you. Grilled corn, grilled green beans, and grilled tomatillo salsa are stuffed into (you guessed it!) grilled tortillas. We might never cook on the actual indoor stove again.

Grilled Ratatouille Tartines

This is a quick cheater’s version of ratatouille but the flavors are all still here thanks to a pop of vinegar and a shake of herbes de Provence. A fun spin on tomato toast.

Mix & Match Veggie Quesadillas

If you have picky eaters or you don’t know what to make for guests, make mix and match quesadillas! Everyone can assemble their own, grill, and eat.

Lemony Grilled Eggplant & Zucchini Orzo

Cookouts aside, if you need a delicious, simple, summer dinner tonight – make this! This meal is a regular for me – grilled zucchini and eggplant are tossed with soft feta cheese and a lemony, herby orzo with a few breadcrumbs for crunch. I’m drooling just thinking about this one!

Four Simple Summer Snacks

Jun12

vegetarian / gluten free / snack

This post is in partnership with Wasa.

On social media, everyone always talks about the concept of “not a sad desk lunch”… but what about “not-a-sad desk snack?” For me, snacks can get SO boring. Often, at 3pm when my stomach is growling, I reach for a handful of plain raw almonds because that’s all I’ve got (when I’ve already eaten through the roasted ones). And then I’m kind of bummed that I didn’t have something a little more flavorful and that I just wasted a perfectly good snack opportunity.

So today – better snacks! Whether you work at a desk or you’re constantly on the go, these are all very simple and yummy. Plus, they’re gluten free, thanks to the delicious new gluten free Wasa crispbread crackers These crispbread crackers are especially great as a blank canvas. They’re sturdy enough to hold a healthy amount of toppings, and they’re just large enough that each one of these is a substantially-sized snack.

Pictured above are the ingredients for all 4 variations. Obviously, if I’m snacking by myself, I’d make just one type at a time, but how fun would it be to make them all and have a snack party? Snack hour = the new happy hour??

Wasabi Pea
If I’m picking favorites here – this is the one. Inspired by wasabi peas (but not actually using them), I made an avocado-pea mash with a dab of wasabi, sesame, ginger, and garlic. Spread it on a cracker and top with more peas and sesame seeds. The avocado-pea mash will last about 2 days in the fridge.

Crunchy Caprese
A classic combo for summer. Instead of mozzarella, I mixed ricotta with lemon zest and sea salt. This will keep in the fridge all week, just top with cherry tomatoes and basil for a very fancy weekday snack.

Taco Cracker
I love all of these ingredients in a taco – this time I skipped the tortilla and loaded everything onto the gluten free Wasa crispbread cracker.

AB&B
A recipe isn’t required for this simple combo, but pairing almond butter and berries never gets old to me. Even though I’m more of a savory snacker, I crave berries all summer long. Note: the berries are also good in place of the tomatoes on the ricotta cracker above!

Meal Plan Recap + Grocery List (June)

Jun10

meal plan / summer

Happy Sunday! As promised, here’s a recap of this week’s 3-day meal plan! If you’re tuning in for the first time this week, here’s what’s happening: A few months ago I did a 5-day plan where I started with one set of ingredients that worked into 5 consecutive meals. A lot of you wrote me to say that it was helpful, so using that same inspiration – meals that share similar ingredients but do not all taste the same – I came up with this week’s plan:

Here are the main ingredients:

Mangoes: because they’re so juicy and refreshing for summer.

Cucumber: again – refreshing.

Green Cabbage: because I always need multiple uses for a head of cabbage

Black Beans: because I don’t often finish a whole can at once.

Avocados: because everyone loves avocado!

Rice: Since we got back from our trip to Japan, I’ve been on a rice kick. And when I make a big batch, I have extra.

Other: Limes, tamari, pickled ginger, sriracha, avocado mayo – for overall flavor boosting. I generally have these things on hand at all times.

And here are the recipes! (click here for the Grocery List).

1. Mango & Black Bean Ginger Rice Bowls

I’ve been on this sweet-savory-crispy bowl kick lately – it’s packed with SO many refreshing veggies, making this a perfect meal for summer. The sauce – a tamari-lime vinaigrette is light but full of punchy flavor. Also – these bowls are quite large and some readers have commented that it made enough for lunch the next day.

2. Mango Cucumber Nori Wraps

This is veggie sushi for people like me who don’t want to spend time rolling maki. I’ve been a fan of this avocado-cucumber-mango combination ever since I made it for this sushi recipe. I love the juicy texture of the mango next to the crisp cucumber. It’s delicious wrapped with seasoned rice and yummy spicy mayo. For this recipe, I used up the rest of my rice and the 1/2 leftover cucumber from recipe #1. If you’ve never used nori at home – now’s your chance! Sea vegetables are so good for you and it’s an easy pantry staple to keep on hand. (Tip: if you can’t find nori, make lettuce wraps).

3. Spicy Mango, Black Bean & Avocado Tacos

If you’re like me, your meal cravings rotate in this circular pattern: 1. salad/bowl-type-meal 2. sushi 3. tacos… and repeat. So naturally, recipe #3 here is to take everything leftover – that chunk of leftover green cabbage from recipe #1, leftover black beans, the last mango, the remaining 1/2 avocado, and the yummy spicy mayo that was leftover from recipe #2. This recipe was the quickest to put together but – yum yum yum.

So that’s it! CLICK HERE for the Printable PDF Grocery List.

Let me know if you find this kind of post useful and if you’d like to see more of these!

Love and Lemons

Healthy, Seasonal, Whole Food Recipes Blog

Author Archives: Jeanine Donofrio