Sesame roasted green beans

Ingredients
- about 20-25 trimmed green beans
- 1 tbsp sesame oil or sunflower oil
- soy sauce
- sesame seeds
- minced garlic or garlic powder

Preparation
- heat a shallow pan with some oil
- once hot, throw in some sesame seeds and roast until color slightly changes
- add garlic now if using fresh.
- add green beans and soy sauce and turn pan to higher than medium
- cover and let cook for 1 minute at a time and keep turning until soy sauce is completely absorbed.
- if using garlic powder, add now and toss quickly.
- remove from heat and enjoy

Chipotle chicken salad

Ingredients

Chicken breast pieces - 2

Romaine lettuce shredded - 2 cups

Avocado - 1/2

Cherry tomatoes - 6/7

Red onion - few slices

optional

Canned Corn kernels (if using frozen, steam them for couple of minutes)

Canned pinto beans

Tortilla chips

Shredded mexican cheeses - 2 Tbsp

For dressing

Cilantro - 1/2 cup

Olive oil- 1/3 cup

lime juice - 1/3 cup

green chilli- small piece

salt, peper to taste

Method

Cut chicken into strips and marinate with store bought chipotle seasoning for an hour. Meanwhile cut the romainne lettuce leaves into shreds. Peel avacado and cut half into slices. Cut cherry tomatoes and few onion slices. In a blender add all the dressing ingredients and blend. Grill the chicken pieces browning them on both sides and cook them till they get grill marks. Slice them into bite size pieces if needed. Arrange the veggies over the lettuce and then the chicken. Top with tortilla chips and cheese. Pour the dressing and enjoy.

Kale and Roasted Chickpea salad

Some version of a recipe given to me by my colleague Emily

Ingredients

• Bunch of Kale (as much as you want)
• 1 Red Pepper
• 1 can of chickpeas
• Sriracha or any hot sauce you would like
• juice of one lemon
• olive oil (as needed)
• salt 
• pepper
• crushed chillis (optional)

Preparation

Roasted Chickpea prep: This can be a healthy snack on its own. So make more if you want to store

Preheat Oven to 425F

Drain the can and wash thoroughly and lay out on a towel or napkin to dry. 

Once dry, take a ziploc bag and coat on the inside with PAM spray or Olive Oil 

Pour in some hot sauce (not too much as we do not want the chickpeas to get soggy)

Drop in the chickpeas and toss it around once you have sealed the bag

Lay out the chickpea in one layer on a cookie sheet or pizza sheet and put it in the lower rack of oven for about 10-12 minutes. Turn over or toss around in the middle

Salad Prep

Chop or tear Kale into small pieces and remove the stem as thoroughly as possible

Cut Red Peppers into strips

Dressing prep

Pour in 2 Tbsp of Olive oil, juice of one lemon, salt, pepper and chilli flakes as desired. Give it a good whisk with a fork or a small beater

Toss together kale, peppers and chickpeas with the dressing and enjoy

Quinoa Salad

A hearty meal filled with loads of proteins and veggies...:)

Ingredients

1. Quinoa - 1 cup
2. Garlic  -  2 cloves
3. Cumin  seeds -  1/2 tsp
4. Capsicum - 1
5. Carrot - 1
6. Onion - 1/2
7. Red Chili flakes - acc to taste
8. Mint leaves - few springs
9. Salt - to taste
10. Almond slices - few ( optional)
11. Olive oil - 2 tsp


Method

Cook the Quinoa in stove top or in pressure cooker. The ratio for water is 1:2 (1 cup Quinoa and 2 cups water). After it is cooked fluff it with a fork and keep it aside. In another pan , pour 2 tsp of olive oil. Add the cumin seeds after it crackles add the garlic and onion in order and saute for a min or so. Then add the capsicum, carrots and salt and saute it , till it is half done. Then add the cooked Quinoa and red chili flakes and mix nicely. Do a taste test and adjust the seasoning according to taste. Finally add the mint leaves, give a final mix and remove from firm. Before serving add the sliced almond slices and serve.

Chipotle Style salad bowl

This one can be customized to include any ingredients you would like!

Ingredients
Makes 4 portions

• 1 Green Pepper
• 1 Red Pepper
• Half a Red Onion
• 1 Jalapeno
• Half a can of Corn thoroughly washed
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Pam or olive oil spray
• Greens (I bought a large box of mixed greens from Whole Foods)
• Salsa 

Preparation

Cut the peppers (including Jalapeno) and onions into even pieces. You can either dice them into squares or slice them into strips, but they should all be the same type for even cooking/coating

Mince the garlic as small as possible

Heat a pan on the stove and spray some Oil spray just to coat the bottom of the pan

Throw in the garlic and let it take on some color. 

Then throw in the peppers and onions in the pan together and coat it well with garlic oil. Toss for a few minutes. The peppers and onions should not get too soft. The color should should still be on them

Then throw in the corn and coat with the oil

Once completely mixed, remove from heat and store. 

Eat over a bed of Greens and topped with Salsa