Vegetarian food - quick and easy recipes - page 37

Greek yogurt gives this healthy smoothie a gently tangy edge, a great boost to your morning. To make it vegan, use almond milk in place of regular milk and replace the yogurt with coconut milk. We suggest making with our Granola recipe as a more filling option with an added crunch.

Super-healthy antioxidant açaí berries are the beautifully purple center of this delicious breakfast bowl or afternoon after-yoga pick-me-up. It’s actually a two-part recipe. First, you blend up a straight-up smoothie, with unsweetened açaí purée (we like the one from Sambazon), frozen banana and peach slices, apple, honey, coconut milk, and—for extra body and protein—a bit of natural almond butter. The second part is what goes on top, a freestyle mix of whatever texture.

For a creamy, naturally sweet, healthy, easy frozen dessert that can satisfy your ice cream cravings, we recommend this two-ingredient ice “cream.” There isn’t any cream in this recipe, or much of anything else besides bananas. But the fruit is full of natural sugars and has a creamy texture that works well when frozen and blended. After you master this basic recipe, you can play around with adding other ingredients to it, such as nut butter, cinnamon, or cocoa powder.

This carrot salad has a little bit of a Moroccan influence and a tad of Middle Eastern. This shaved medley spiced with harissa, cumin, and caraway is brightened by mint, parsley, and lemon with all sorts of textures and colors. This salad could steal the wow factor from your meal’s protein. It’s that good.

Matcha is all the rage, and we’re finding new ways to incorporate it into our cooking and baking, besides just matcha tea. Why are we so mad about matcha? Well, it’s green tea, but times 10. Matcha is the ground-up whole leaves, so you get more of all the antioxidants, caffeine, and other good-for-you stuff. And, it doesn’t hit you hard with a burst of energy and then a crash, like coffee can do. It’s more of a long, slow influx of energy. A little goes a long way.

For a kinda fancy, totally different sweet treat, these chocolate-covered ice cream bites will grab you at the first nibble. The recipe only requires three to four ingredients, and no cooking is required, besides a little microwave action. The hardest part is the time it takes to freeze and refreeze these little delectables. Well, and making sure it doesn’t melt as you work could prove a little tricky. You know what would make these bites even better? Homemade ice cream instead of the store.

Time can be short in the morning, and you know breakfast is important. With overnight oats, you slap it together the night before and have it ready in the fridge to grab quickly and eat on the go. It’s a balanced, nutritious, homemade breakfast that’s delicious too: There’s fiber, protein, probiotics, calcium, and fresh fruit in this recipe. So much better than store-bought cereal.

Yay, cake with rainbow-colored sprinkles! It’s like birthday in a cup anytime you want to celebrate that it’s, well, a Tuesday. You know what would go great before this totally rad milkshake? Another simple delight: Pizza Dough Dogs. Or if we’re going all carnival-style, Corn Dogs.

Move over Mike’s Hot Honey and Bees Knees Spicy Honey, you can make your own chile-infused honey. It’s only the hottest new condiment, that’s all. Drizzle it over pizza, ribs, chicken, fruit, and even vanilla ice cream. Your chile-infused honey would be great on this Roasted Pepper and Spicy Sausage Grilled Pizza recipe.

This is not your standard prepared pimento cheese at the grocery store. This is so much better. It’s fresh and has more complexity than those less ready-made versions. Also called pimiento, pimentos are red cherry peppers, about 3 to 4 inches long and are more succulent, sweet, and aromatic than red bell peppers. Serve this pimento cheese dip with crackers, peppers, carrots, and celery sticks — or even make a grilled cheese sandwich with it.

Let’s not overcomplicate things, shall we? Sometimes you want a classic, no-fuss grilled cheese. Forget the fancy bread, caramelized onions, pears, or whatever else you can do to multiply the steps in creating this simple tradition. Here’s something to cook when you don’t feel like cooking.

When you hear the words “strawberry shortcake,” you used to think of either a pretty summertime dessert of fresh strawberries, fluffy cake, and whipped cream … or that children’s character with the red hair that smells like strawberries (or Jolly Ranchers). But after you slurp up this milkshake, that’s all going to change. The classic combination makes an irresistible and memorable milkshake. Here, we use crisp vanilla wafer cookies.

Strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate: These three colors are nostalgic for many of us, reminding us of the hot summers and ice cream parties of childhood. This cake is easy to make and shows off your creativity in the kitchen with the three different layers — cereal, ice cream, and whipped cream. You don’t even have to turn on the oven. The combination of soft ice cream and crunchy puffed rice will offer a great textual contrast. Plus, it’s just fun.

Apple dumplings are an early American food stemming from the Northeast, especially in Pennsylvania Dutch towns. Of course, you could trace it even further to Britain and other parts of western Europe too. It’s a great dish during the apple harvest in the fall. And, you can serve apple dumplings for breakfast or dessert. Game Plan: First, you’ll need to make a pie crust. Use our Basic Pie Crust recipe.

I could go on and on about how much I love olive trees. I even have olive trees growing in my yard — and that’s just the beginning of my obsession. So, it didn’t take much convincing for me to try making a dessert with olive oil, and citrus is a natural pairing. I like to serve this cake with plain whipped cream and basil leaves for garnish. Or simply dust the top with confectioners’ sugar and call it a day.

I can eat an entire bowl of these Brussels sprouts and still go back for seconds. It is a great side dish at dinner, especially in the fall and winter. The sweetness of the pear, the tartness of the dried cranberries, and the caramelized edges of the Brussels sprouts make for smiling faces around my family table. For the best-tasting Brussels sprouts, bake them on a large rimmed baking sheet to ensure they have plenty of room to spread out.