How are your new year resolutions going so far? New eating habits are one of the most popular new year resolutions, so I decided to share this roasted vegetable salad with orange vinaigrette. The dressing is what makes this salad superb. It’s a perfect pairing in this recipe, but you can get creative and use it on others!

In short, the dressing is simple yet flavorful. I think it has become one of my favorite dressings to use across salads because of its citrus flavor profile. I’ve all together quit buying dressing at the grocery store because of the long ingredients list. Store bought salad dressings often have a long ingredients list, with some being artificial. Making your own and keeping it in the fridge for future consumption is perfect.  And, salad dressings keep well. I have had homemade salad dressings for over two weeks in the fridge and they are still good. Making your own is a win-win. Since making your own dressing is super easy, I would rather do that because it also allows me to get creative.

For this roasted vegetable salad with orange vinaigrette, I used vegetables that are in season, but you can use any vegetables you prefer. I thought the butternut squash, red onions and beets made for a great combination. I am usually not a fan of butternut squash or beets, but I am striving to introduce new and different vegetable combinations into our family meals this year.  We really enjoyed how the salad came together.

When you use orange juice in this recipe, opt for Florida’s Natural® Brand Orange Juice which is made from one simple ingredient — Florida oranges. And only Florida oranges. No water, sugar or preservatives are added.

Florida’s Natural orange juice comes from pure Florida oranges. There are no artificial flavors or ingredients. Florida’s Natural doesn’t fuss with their farmers’ oranges — they’re simply squeezed, gently pasteurized and poured into cartons that ensure a straight-from-the-grove taste that my family loves. I feel good about using Florida’s Natural as a key ingredient in many of my recipes and dressings.

If your new year resolution is centered around your diet, try for small changes at first. For example, try to incorporate one new veggie each week, have one less drink, or even try a new kitchen hack to keep you inspired and enjoying meal prep. Starting right now, you can make your own salad dressing!

Try this roasted vegetable salad with orange vinaigrette. Swap any veggies of your choice, the dressing is truly what makes the recipe, so I hope you like it.

Enjoy!

Roasted vegetable salad with orange vinaigrette

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 red beets, cubed
• 2 large red onions, cubed
• 1 lb butternut squash, cubed
• 6 oz fresh spinach
• 4 tablespoons olive oil divided
• 8 oz goat cheese
• 1 tsp Celtic salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

For the dressing

• 1/2 cup Florida's Natural orange juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 tbs raw honey
• 2 tbs rice vinegar

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F

Place the sliced beets on a baking sheet and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper.

In another baking sheet, place the sliced butternut squash and red onions. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Roast the veggies for 20 minutes or until tender. Set aside to cool for at least 10-15 minutes.

While the beets are roasting, prepare the dressing. Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, add the roasted veggies. Add the fresh spinach and salad dressing, then toss to combine. Divide salad among four plates and sprinkle the goat cheese over the salad. Serve immediately.

I like to store my salad dressings in salad dressing jars. So convenient!!

The post Roasted vegetable salad with orange vinaigrette. appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

The only thing about making Asian food, whether it is Thai, Japanese, Chinese, etc…the important thing is to obtain the main ingredients which are the sauces and spices. Once your kitchen is equipped with them the sky’s the limit.

I always keep my pantry well stocked with Asian ingredients. Since I cook a lot of Asian inspired recipes it is a must for me. Lucky enough, I have an Asian market nearby so I have access to most of the ingredients there.

I called this recipe 15 minutes soba noodle salad because it literally takes about 15 minutes to make if not less. While the soba noodles are boiling in water I pretty much prep the red pepper, green onions and cilantro. Enough time for all that chopping since the soba noodles only need about 5-8 minutes max.

On another note, I am almost done with Physician Assistant school…I can not see the day I am done studying to the intensity I am currently studying. I can’t wait to be able to relax a bit and spend some more time with my kids at home.

Anyways, my daughter has requested this salad two times on a row. This 15 minutes soba noodle salad it is truly refreshing, easy and incredibly tasty. The sesame oil really gives this salad a great flavor so make sure you don’t omit it.

Enjoy!

15 minutes soba noodle salad

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 6 servings

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 16 oz soba noodles
• 2 red bell peppers, julienne
• 6 oz Green onions, chopped
• 2 oz fresh Cilantro, chopped
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds

Sauce

• 3 tbsp sesame oil
• 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce, or coconut aminos for GF version
• 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp harissa paste, or sriracha sauce

Directions:

Cook soba noodles according to package instructions. Make sure you run some cold water through them once they are cooked. You want the soba noodles sort of chilled.

In a small mixing bowl combine the sauce ingredients. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl place the chopped veggies and sesame seeds. Add the cooked soba noodles and pour in the sauce. Mix through and serve immediately.

This makes a great salad to take to work for lunch. I do all the time!

The post 15 minutes soba noodle salad appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

I have never ever been fond of diets. As a clinical dietitian and now almost to be physician assistant it perplexes me how many medical professionals have no idea about healthy eating and still advice patients wrong when it comes to healthy eating. Very sad to say the least.

Diet are something that have never work and will never work, that is, if you want lose some pounds temporarily and then gaining all back!

There is no diet, pill, trick in the world that you will find that will aid you to lose the weight for ever. Diets are not sustainable, that is why they are called diets. A change in lifestyle is a different story so I hope you come to that realization and know that diets don’t work. A change in lifestyle is 100% the only healthy and sustainable way.

I will tell you the secret and the things that I have seem to work for those that are ready to take the step. I will list a few pointers here but if you are interested in more detail visit my page here and here.

My food philosophy in a NutShell:

• Eat without depriving yourself of anything. (Processed and junk food does not count though). When eating things such as rice, pasta and bread try to eat the whole grain counterparts.
• Eat food of highest quality. EAT REAL FOOD. If you want ice cream, eat real ice cream. If you want a cookie, eat a real cookie, and if you want cake, eat real cake. A cake made with 30 ingredients and fake frosting from the supermarket does not count.
• Eat from scratch. Cooking meals yourself helps you control what it is in your food allowing you to increase its quality to include less sodium, bad fats and tons of sugar.
• Don’t skip any meals, especially breakfast. You need to get your metabolism going and start burning calories!! (If you have any questions about this go to the FAQ section for more info)
• Moderate your servings. This doesn’t mean you have to eat bird portion sizes or gigantic ones either. Use your common sense :-)
• Exercise when ever possible, walk, run, swim, bike etc If you can get a routine even better, what ever works for you.
• Try to avoid fake foods and try to buy organic and natural foods when ever possible. Do what you can.
• Try to avoid soda, even diet versions, and when drinking juices make sure they are 100% juice. Just don’t over drink juice though, 1/2 cup to 1 cup per day is plenty. You don’t want to drink your calories now do you?
• Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate with H2O and nothing else!!
• This is not food related but it is very important. You need to make sure you get enough sleep. This is crucial to have your body in balance and allow your immune system and hormones to do their job well.
• AVOID trans fat, high fructose corn syrup and olestra at all costs. If you want more detail as to why visit my link.

Well, I hope this information was of some value to some of you. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask.

I hope you like this power quinoa kale salad. It is fulfilling, easy, healthy and delicious. Note that you can use any type of dressing of your choice, anything goes.

Enjoy!

Power quinoa kale salad

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 8 servings

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 10 oz fresh kale
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cups cooked quinoa
• 14 oz cooked white beans
• 1 lb butternut squash, cubed, roasted
• 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 1/3 cup golden raisins

Dressing

• 1 cup tahini
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbs sesame oil
• 1 inch fresh ginger, cubed

 

Directions:

For the dressing, place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 F. Add the butternut squash to a baking tray with 2 tablespoon of oil. Toss to combine with the oil and bake for about 15-20 minutes. I like my butternut squash on the crunchy side but you can bake it more if you like. (You can also microwave the squash for an easier quicker way).

While the butternut squash roast, in a large pan, add the remaining 2 tbsp of oil and kale. Saute for 3-5 minutes just to wilt.

In a large mixing bowl add all the salad ingredients including 1/3 cup of the dressing. Toss to combine and serve.

NOTE: You can use any type of dressing you like.

The post Power quinoa kale salad appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

For those that know me, Thai food is one of my ultimate favorite cuisines. I could eat Thai food all day everyday of the week.

I don’t get to cook with brussels sprouts often but since they are in season I figured I come up with a recipe and give them a go. I am so glad I did. This Thai Brussels sprouts salad was nothing but refreshing, tasty and delicious.

The dressing really made the salad stand out. I love super fresh flavors and the lime in the dressing together with the sweet and sour sauce was a great mixture. I know I am going to be using this salad dressing for time to come. Next time I make this recipe I will for sure double the batch of the dressing.

On another note, I know the holidays are upon us. I wanted to start experimenting with desserts. I know I have not made pies in a while and I really would like to make some of the recipes I have in the blog for apple pie.

Apple pie, such a classic, I mean who doesn’t like apple pie right? I think if I make it I will do it in a large cookie baking sheet. I want apple pie for days to come so I think that would be large enough to have it for 2-3 days at least.

Anyways, I hope you try this Thai Brussels sprouts salad. If you don’t know what to make with brussels sprouts you would love this salad. I am telling you, it is the absolute bomb.

Enjoy!

Thai Brussels sprouts salad

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 lb brussels sprouts, cut in half
• 10 oz shredded green and purple cabbage
• 5 oz shredded carrots
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
• 3 tbs honey
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 1/4 tsp celtic salt
• pepper flakes
• Sesame seeds, optional

Dressing

• 1/3 cup lime juice
• 2 tbsp fish sauce, or soy sauce
• 1/3 cup sweet and sour sauce

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Place the brussels sprouts in a baking tray. Add the olive oil, honey, pepper flakes and salt. Toss to make sure brussels sprouts are coated.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.

On the mean time, add the dressing ingredients to a small bowl and combine. Set aside.

In a large bowl add the rest of the salad ingredients. Add the brussels sprouts and salad dressing and combine. Serve.

The post Thai Brussels sprouts salad appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

That day I was remind it how good and simple it would be to make this salad at home so ever since I have been making this super simple Greek salad almost every single week.

Every single time I make this salad I make a really large quantity of it. My kids enjoying it a lot so I make sure we can have it for a least a couple of days. It really only takes about 10 minutes to make this Super simple Greek salad.  Just chopping a few vegetables and you are pretty much done.

It goes great with any type of protein but I normally serve it with fish. Either way is a great salad so you can even have it on its own. I actually this is all I took to work for lunch one day and all the nurses and staff where pretty jealous of my lunch…. I really wasn’t expecting that but it looks so good and refreshing and the best part is that it is super simple to put together.

I know some of you may not be into salads this time of the year but for us salads are pretty important through out. It is a way for me to make sure that I have a chance to incorporate plenty of vegetables into our diet even though I believe we really don’t lack this food group.

On another note, I am working on something new for my blog starting next summer. By then, I will be done with my studies and I will be able to spend much more time on projects that I have been trying to focus on. I am really excited to share some of these new components with you so I can’t wait for the summer to come.

Anyways, I know you might have seen this super simple Greek salad recipe before but if you have not made it I really suggest you do, at least just once. After that, I am pretty certain that you will be making it for time to come.

Enjoy!

Super simple Greek salad

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 lbs tomatoes, quartered
• 1 cucumber, dized
• 1 large purple onion, Julianne
• 2 green peppers, Julianne
• 8 oz Feta cheese, cut into chunks
• 12 oz Kalamata olives, pitted

Dressing

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1 tbs dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp celtic salt

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl add all the chopped ingredients including the feta cheese.

Add the dressing ingredients and toss to coat the vegetables. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat. It is that simple!

The post Super simple Greek salad appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

For quite sometimes we have been relaying on just vegetables, grains and fish somewhat. Meat and poultry have been rarely consumed in my house. I mean, I probably used chicken and meat before once or twice per month but now I haven’t even used it in over 3 months.

I really don’t know how people manage to eat meat and chicken almost every day and sometimes even for both lunch an dinner. I guess I am not a big meat eater and that is why is sounds kind of weird to me.

Anyways, my family really doesn’t care for meat and poultry much so I guess I am lucky. Even my kids are wanting to stay away from it. It is fine by me because I could really rely on vegetables for ever and ever…

For this carrot quinoa arugula salad you can really use any type of veggies you like. I used what I had on hand plus the multicolor carrots I got at the market. I pretty much just roasted them and added other vegetables to it.

Then I relied on a simple dressing made with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar and that was it. The salad was made in a matter of minutes after the carrots roasted.

I am planning on getting in the kitchen more often but with my schedule right now is a bit crazy. I have 2 weeks brake coming soon so I really can’t wait for that. My kitchen is going to be popping with cooking and baking. It is my place to decompress and get the stress out really!

This carrot quinoa arugula salad is something I can eat everyday. I am glad I was able to make extra to take to work next week. I love been able to eat healthy while I am not able to work out as much as I did before so I feel a bit better when my meals are healthy.

Until my next recipe,

Enjoy!

Carrot quinoa arugula salad

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 6 servings

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 16 oz carrots, roasted
• 8 oz arugula
• 4 eggs, boiled
• 4 large tomatoes, quartered
• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

Dressing

• 3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp celtic salt

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425F. Place carrots in a baking tray. Add the olive oil and make sure the carrots are coated lightly with the olive oil. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

In a small bowl mix the dressing ingredients and set aside.

When the carrots are roasted add the rest of the ingredients to the baking tray and toss in the dressing. Serve.

Note: Sprinkle more pepper if you like or add some nuts for some more crunch and protein content

The post Carrot quinoa arugula salad appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.