This January, as part of leveling up my healthy habits, I started subscribing to Prep Dish. Since I’ve been in grad school I have found that getting well-rounded meals to the table reliably has become much harder, especially during finals! Prep Dish offers paleo and gluten-free, dairy-optional menu plans that are heavy in veg and family-friendly. Since starting, I’ve been able to become a food prep pro and have taken a huge mental load off of choosing new recipes and figuring out my grocery list. Allison has masterfully assembled the menu for the week, organized the shopping list for me, and given clear, concise instructions to batch prep 4 dinners, a salad, snack, breakfast, and dessert for the week in just one afternoon. With practice I’ve been able to reduce my weekend prep time and have either heat and eat meals or meals which take about 30 min to cook all prepped and ready to go. Each menu serves a family of 4, so our family of 2.5 has leftovers for lunch that keep us through the entire week as well, so this really takes a lot of meal planning logistics off the table for me.

When you eat vegetables in the morning, I feel like celebrating!

Some of my favorite recipes I’ve tried this year are the Lamb Kofka w/ Tahini Sauce, Paleo Snickerdoodles, Cider Cream Scallops over Mashed Cauliflower (which I’ve made multiple times), Chicken w/ Peanut Dipping Sauce, Sesame Broccoli & Brown Rice, Paprika Roasted Chicken w/ Trio of Roasted Vegetables, Apricot-Glazed Chicken Thighs w/ Broccoli & Sweet Potatoes and lots more. Nearly every week has at least one “home run” recipe that I can add to my repertoire of tried and true favorites. Each Friday I get my instructions emailed to me, so I can do my shopping that night after work or on Saturday for Sunday prep.

This week’s breakfast is a Mediterranean Frittata that is so loaded with veg that each slice has 1.5 servings of vegetables. This makes me SO HAPPY, because getting veggies in the morning is quite a challenge for lots of people. This frittata has a lot of flavor and is a filling way to get started in the morning. Make it on a Sunday and enjoy it for the next few days! Serve it for Brunch on the weekends! Special thanks to Allison Schaaf, creator of this recipe, for permission to repost it here. If you are ready to take hours of time back in your week spent planning your meals, be sure to check out Prep Dish. 

Mediterranean Frittata

by Allison Schaaf, MS, RD, LD of Prep Dish

Makes 8 servings

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red onion, diced
• 14 oz. canned or frozen artichoke hearts, thawed or drained
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 1 tsp olive or coconut oil
• 1 tbsp. Herbes de Provence
• 1/2 cup diced Kalamata olives
• 5 oz baby spinach
• 8 eggs
• 4 oz feta (optional; omit for paleo/dairy-free)

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
Dice artichoke hearts and add to diced onion and garlic in a glass bowl. Half cherry tomatoes and add to the bowl.
Add 1 tsp olive oil or coconut oil in a deep skillet on medium high heat. Add onion, garlic, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, herbes de provence and salt and pepper to taste to the skillet. Sauté for 6-8 minutes, allowing the moisture to evaporate. Add spinach and olives and cook 2-3 minutes more until spinach wilts significantly. Return to the bowl to cool.
Crack 8 eggs into a large bowl and whisk until well mixed. Stir in cooled vegetables, adding 4 oz feta if desired. Place into an oiled 9″ by 9″ dish or pie pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until center is firm.

Sooo tasty!

This is a great breakfast on the weekends, and leftovers are still tasty the next day!

Texan Mexiscramble

Makes breakfast for two.
Approximate cooking time: 20 minutes (cook and dice chicken breasts ahead of time)

Ingredients

• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 4 eggs, or 1 cup egg whites
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder (or ground chipotle for a smoky flair)
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 Tbs water
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 jalapeno, diced (optional – remove seeds for less heat)
• 12 oz leftover chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Instructions

1. Heat coconut oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Meanwhile, break eggs into a small bowl. Add cumin, chili powder, sea salt, and water. Scramble with a fork until fully combined.
3. Add onions, bell peppers, and jalapeno to the hot skillet. Saute 3-5 minutes, or until slightly softened.
4. Add eggs and chicken, and cook while continuously stirring until eggs are light and fluffy.
5. Remove from heat. Stir in tomatoes, and top with fresh cilantro to serve.

Too orgasmic to keep to myself, this recipe is taken directly from “A Celebration of Wellness” By James Cederquist and Natalie Levin. A BIG ‘thank you’ to them both!

• 1 cup organic brown basmati rice
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups vanilla coconut milk, rice milk, or almond milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• maple syrup or honey to drizzle on top

Toast the dry rice in a medium hot skillet until evenly browned, stirring constantly, about 2-3 minutes. Grind in a Vitamix or coffee grinder until fine and powdery (I left mine with a few chunks).
Bring water and dairy-free milk to a boil in a pot, whisk in rice cream, cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes (I think it took about 20 with the chunky bits) or until desired consistency is reached.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and blueberries. Drizzle with sweetener of choice.

Serves 3 to 4 (It took me three tries to finish the pot)

I just finished the Eugene Marathon about a week ago and set an amazing personal record. Part of preparing for an offsite marathon requires experimenting with foods that are travel friendly to minimize the chances of digestive distress on race day. I have recently discovered that my old standby – instant oatmeal – no longer works well for my body. I switched to raw granola (made from buckwheat) on race day and had no digestive issues, plenty of energy, and amazing speed.  Granted, I cannot attribute this all to raw granola, but not having an acidic stomach clearly played a part in my success.

Here is a similar recipe for home – a buckwheat muesli. Once I find a raw granola I can make and enjoy, I will post that recipe here as well.

Buckwheat Apple Muesli

Serves 1 (generously)

• 1/3 cup raw buckwheat groats
• 5 dates
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 1 medium apple, sliced into quarters
• 1/8tsp. cinnamon
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 1-2 tbsp. shredded coconut
• 2 tbsp. walnuts or nuts/seeds of choice

Soak buckwheat and dates overnight in 1 1/4 cup water. In the morning, drain and RESERVE the soaking liquid.  Place dates and groats in a food processor or Vitamix. Add 2 apple quarters, 1/4 cup reserved liquid, juice, and spices. Process on low until fairly smooth.

Pour  into a bowl and dice remaining apple, stirring into cereal. Top with coconut and walnuts.

A special thank you to reader Melina V. for sending in this amaranth recipe she found!

Apple Cinnamon Amaranth Grits

Ingredients:

1/2 cup amaranth grains
3 cups water (at least)
pinch of salt
1/2 cup apple sauce
2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar
2 teaspoons agave syrup

Directions:

Heat a dry pot on medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add amaranth. Shake the pot to keep the amaranth moving, otherwise it will burn. Put the lid on because the seeds will start popping. (This will smell incredible).

When a good amount of the seeds are popped (half?), add hot water to cover by about an inch. Stir well and add a pinch of salt. I keep hot water handy in a kettle while I do this so that I can keep adding hot water as needed without brining down the temperature.

Set your timer to 30 minutes and turn the heat down to medium-low. Stir frequently, adding hot water when the mush gets too thick.

When the 30 minutes are over, turn off the heat, stir in the apple sauce (sweetened, unsweetened, flavored,… your choice), and serve with 1 tablespoon of cinnamon sugar and 1 teaspoon of agave syrup drizzled over each of the two servings.

I never knew what to do with the amaranth that was sitting in my kitchen, except add it to bread. I also never liked it in salty dishes. It is pretty healthy since amaranth has a great nutritional profile.

This would probably also be good with some soymilk or soy yogurt stirred in or some dried apple bits or other dried fruit cooked with the amaranth. You could possibly add some seeds or nuts to this, too.

Serves: about 2

Preparation time: less than 1 hour