Healthy Summer Salad

By: Genevieve Melzer

It’s officially summer and I’m all about fresh, light salads right now, maybe because its 117 degrees outside and eating hot, heavy foods is about the last thing I want to do.

These days I’m all about creating new salads with season vegetables and interesting spices. This salad was inspired by a recipe I found in an old newspaper for a chickpea ginger salad. I thought ooh chickpeas sound good and I was off to the local market. I wish Liz and I lived closer to each other instead of 8 hours away because

I would just go to her amazing garden and pick out organic vegetables.
At the market I saw some beautiful bell peppers, and chose orange and green colored ones. I then picked up some fresh cilantro, a red onion, green olives, an heirloom tomato and some raw spinach. When I arrived home with my bounty I was super excited at what I was about to create.

You will need:

1 15 oz can garbanzo beans

2 bell peppers chopped (which ever colors you prefer)

¼ large red onion, choped
¼ cup chopped cilantro
½ teaspoon cumin powder
1 heirloom tomato, chopped
½ cup green olives (small)
2 cups raw spinach
1 tbsp avocado oil
1 tbsp lemon infused olive oil (don’t have this one use regular oil olive)
1 tbsp hatch chile vinegar (I used this special vinegar, feel free to use whatever vinegar you have and prefer)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Start by placing your garbanzo beans into a large bowl, add the cumin and a sprinkle of salt and mix together. Set aside.
2. Slice up your bell peppers and onion; then chop up slices for smaller cube pieces. Place in large bowl on top of garbanzo beans
3. Chop cilantro as fine as you can get it. Place in same large bowl when finished.
4. Chop of heirloom tomato and place in the bowl.
5. Pour olives in bowl with the rest of your ingredients.
6. Add the spinach and lightly toss.
7. Now it’s time to dress the salad, pour in the olive oil, avocado oil, vinegar and salt and pepper.
8. Toss all ingredients together making sure the dressing gets all over every piece.
9. Serve and enjoy!

When I took the first bite of this salad my taste buds were electrified. The cumin added such an interesting flavor profile to the beans. Each bite was fresh, crisp, refreshing, sweet and salty; when my bowl was empty I wanted to go back for seconds it was that good.

This recipe makes about 4 servings, so it is the perfect salad to take to a small dinner party and impress your friends. This salad is perfect for summer because it is refreshing and light but still fills you up because of the heartiness of the beans. Let me know what you think of this salad in the comments below; until next time stay cool, fit and eat healthy.

Chocolate, Almond Butter Energy Nuggets

By: Genevieve Melzer

When eating healthy it is so important to snack. We are supposed to eat six small meals a day so you feel like you are grazing throughout the day. I wanted to make a snack that I could eat before I worked out that would give me energy and help fuel me for my workout.

I found a recipe online for “no-bake oatmeal cookies” and I took a look at the recipe and figured out how I could make it vegan and even healthier. I wanted to make these energy nuggets so I could grab something healthy in a pinch and not eat anything processed.

What you will need:
1 cups oats
2 tablespoons dark chocolate chips
2 tablespoons crushed pecans
2 tablespoons coconut flakes
1 tablespoon hemp hearts
1 tablespoon flax powder
1 tablespoon chia seeds
2 tablespoons Vega One chocolate protein powder
1 tablespoon chocolate PB2 protein powder
4 tablespoons almond butter
½ cup almond milk

Preparation:
Put all dry ingredients together in a medium to large sized bowl. Add almond butter and mix completely together using your hands. Pour in almond milk and mix again. Roll and form 10 balls out of the batter. Place on a plate and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

These energy nuggets are hard to stop eating, I ate three right away. I feel as though cooking doesn’t need to be so strict, feel free to add anything else you would like to like goji berries or other nuts. Also you can substitute any other nut-butter for the almond butter for you would like and that goes for the almond milk as well.

Let us know what you think of these energy nuggets and what you add to yours to improve this recipe. We look forward to hearing from you, until next time… eat healthy, appreciate life and believe in yourself. Peace!