OPR: White Bean and Mango Burritos

What is "OPR" you wonder? Well, it stands for "other people's recipes." I'm not much of a chef, if you haven't noticed, but what I am a master at is scouring the world for Plant Strong, Nutritarian recipes and then making and eating them. After I take some photographs that is!

Here's a new favorite that I discovered: White Bean and Mango Burritos from The Real Meal Today blog. They could not have been any easier or any more delicious! If you are craving Mexican food, give these a try. Go here to check out the original recipe, which would have been so spicy I'm not sure that I could have eaten them. I made a few modifications to the heat, to the proportions and also by adding lettuce. Spinach or any other green would work well too!

Here's my version:

White Bean and Mango Burritos

serves 4

2 15 ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained 

1 large ripe mango, peeled and diced (about 1 1/2 cups of diced mango)
1cup chopped cilantro
1/4 tsp Cayenne powder (less or more to personal preference!)
1 1/2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
6 medium whole wheat tortillas( as healthy as you can get them)
2 cups chopped lettuce

Combine all ingredients except the tortillas in a large bowl, mix by hand until incorporated. Using a handheld immersion blender, puree about 1/4 of the mixture right in the bowl with all of the ingredients. Remix everything. This will give the mixture a more solid feel and pieces of beans will not be falling out when you bite or cut it.

Soften the tortillas by putting over an open flame on you're stove, over a grill or in the microwave for a few seconds. This will make them easier to roll and move without cracking. Place 1/2 cup chopped lettuce and 1/2 cup of the bean mixture at the bottom of the tortilla, roll over forward 1 turn, fold sides in and then continue to roll to the end.

Optional: place on sheet tray and bake for 10-15 min at 325 degrees.

How do you get your Mexican Food fix?

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Chef A.j.'s Sweet Potato Nachos

Sorry about this photograph! My camera's battery died and my husband took this photo with his phone (thanks R!). What a buzz kill!

This is the third of three recipes that Chef A.j. mentioned I should give a try. For the toppings, I used whatever I happened to have in the kitchen (heavy on the romaine lettuce) and I was extremely pleased with the results. I could easily see this dish becoming a staple in my everyday kitchen because of it's ease and the response I got from my daughter and husband. I highly recommend giving Chef A.j.'s Sweet Potato Nachos recipe a try.

Now I can't wait for Chef A.j. to give me another assignment and tell me the next 3 recipes to make from her cookbook Unprocessed. Everything I have made from this book so far has been superb. What a way to go!

Chef A.j.'s Sweet Potato Nachos

Printable Recipe
1 sweet potato per person (If you use organic sweet potatoes there is no need to peel.)
plus any or all of the following:
Non-fat refried beans
shredded lettuce
corn
chopped tomato
cilantro
chopped onion
olives
jalapeno peppers
or anything you would normally enjoy on your nachos

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut sweet potato in uniform slices, approximately 1/4" thick. Place slices on Silpat or nonstick baking sheet (I lined cookie sheets with aluminum foil and lightly sprayed it with PAM). Sprinkle with smoked paprika. Bake for 20 minutes, flip over and bake for another 10-15 minutes until done. These are the "chip" part of your nachos.

Place several sweet potato chips on a plate and fully load them with the remainder of the ingredients. Chef A.j. recommends creating a nacho bar and letting your family or your guests build their own nachos.

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With Dr. Fuhrman, the Salad Really is the Main Course

Greens and Strawberry Salad with Cashew Currant Dressing

recipe adapted from a recipe courtesy of  http://www.drfuhrman.com/
Serves: 2-4

Printable Recipe

CASHEW DRESSING

1/4 cup raw cashews or 2 tablespoons raw cashew butter
1/3 cup unsweetened soy, hemp or almond milk
1 peeled apple, sliced
2 tablespoons dried currants or raisins

SALAD

1 head (about 6 cups) romaine lettuce
5 ounces (about 5 cups) organic baby spinach
8 med-large strawberries, washed, destemmed and sliced 

To make dressing, blend cashews or cashew butter with soy milk and sliced apples in a high powered blender until smooth. Add the currants and blend well.

Place the lettuce, spinach and strawberries in a large salad bowl. Drizzle dressing over the greens and berries and toss to coat.

How often is salad the main course of your lunch or dinner?

Do you consciously try to eat salad with every meal? As the meal?

Has salad as the meal helped you to lose weight or maintain your weight? 

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Chinese No Chicken Salad

First I want to thank everyone who commented on my green smoothie post in the last two days. As any blogger will tell ya, it's the comments that make it all worthwhile! That, and getting shout outs on other people's blogs, which is why I was so excited when I woke up today to find out that Roni over at http://www.ronisweigh.com/ and http://www.greenlitebites.com/ had given Healthy Girl's Kitchen a major shout out! CHECK IT OUT HERE. Thanks Roni!

Roni's been blogging about weight loss and Weight Watchers for a long, long time, but she had never tried a green smoothie, not once. It's my major concern about Weight Watchers, that they are not impressing upon their members the importance of nutritional excellence when striving to attain a healthy weight. So I was really jazzed up that Roni, a very popular and public Weight Watcher, decided to try her first green smoothie, and blog about it to a very large audience, as a result of my encouragement. Go Roni!

I leave you with something near and dear to my heart. The Asian No Chicken Salad. As a longtime fan of Chinese Chicken Salads (having lived in Los Angeles for 9 years), I long for the yumminess (for lack of a better word) of them. So I frequently make a no chicken version and I don't miss the chicken at all!

Healthy Girl's Asian No Chicken Salad
serves a crowd

1 package of 3 hearts of romaine, sliced thin and washed and dried
3 cups shredded cabbage
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 5 oz. can water chestnuts, chopped
1 15 ounce can mandarin oranges, drained
1 15 ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup raw sliced almonds
1/8 cup raw sesame seeds
2-3 peeled and shredded carrots
2 scallions, thinly sliced

Place all ingredients in large bowl and toss with dressing.
Healthy Girl's Asian Low Oil Dressing
adapted from a recipe from http://www.drfuhrman.com/

1 teaspoon Bragg Liquid Aminos
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon sesame oil, toasted
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard



Lastly, here's a fun article about how veganism is becoming mainstream. How awesome is that?

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