Category: Recipe

Lately, I’ve been needing something more warm and comforting. The weather in the bay area has continued to fluctuate between hot and cold, which has me going back and forth between finding happiness in my green smoothies and wanting more comfort food.

This recipe is the latter.

I had some extra kimchi that I needed to finish and wanted to try to incorporate it into a meal rather than have it on its own. What started out as an experiment turned into a delicious meal that surpassed my expectations. And it was super easy.

For an easy meal for one, take one sweet potato and bake it at 400F for 45 minutes.

While that’s baking, assemble your filling – for me, I used 1/3 cup chopped raw white kimchi (which I get at my neighborhood Sprouts Market) with 1/4 cup cilantro sprouts. For my sauce, I mixed a bit of vegan mayonnaise with sweet red chili sauce.

Once the sweet potato is done and cooled, I split and filled it with the filling and sauce. I didn’t think about it until afterward but I know I could have also added a topping of edamame and sesame seeds as well.

And voila! Easy, delicious meal with minimal prep needed. Enjoy!

In 2017, I started working with a personal coach to deal with a variety of things in my life. One of the first things she suggested was to go gluten free and increase my veggie and fruit intake. I had some health things going on at the time and I decided it couldn’t hurt to try.

Here we are almost 6 years later, and I’ve pretty much stuck with that switch. My head is less foggy, my skin is more clear, and overall, I feel like I have more energy.

Now, I will be the first to say I am not a dietician in any shape or form, but I do say that everyone can benefit from more fruits and veggies in their diet so why not give it a try for yourself? It helps that I start with this smoothie recipe pretty much every work day:

– 1 cup water
– 2 cups lacinato kale
– 3 ribs celery
– 1 tsp spirulina
– 2 Tb seeds/nuts
– 1 Tb almond butter
– 1 banana
– 1/2 cup frozen wild blueberries
– 1/2 cup frozen fruit

Blend this all together in your blender of choice and voila, a tasty green smoothie to start your day!

Do I stick with this every day? No. Sometimes, I have spinach or other mixed greens instead of kale. For seeds and nuts, I switch from sesame and sunflower seeds to pumpkin and flaxseeds. Sometimes I opt out of the banana, or switch the almond butter with fresh avocado. For the second frozen fruit, sometimes I add more berries or mango or whatever else I have in the freezer. Sometimes I add cocoa powder to sweeten things up, and sometimes I add powdered ginger to warm it up. Sometimes, I even add leftover parsley or cilantro that’s hanging around (can’t share that with my husband though, he doesn’t like that taste). Basically, I use up whatever greens and fruits I have in my fridge and freezer that’s handy.

There’s no right or wrong way to do this, you can add or subtract and adjust however your taste buds want. This has definitely helped me keep up with my intake of greens and fruits and generally keeps me full and fueled through the rest of the morning until lunch.

Try it out and let me know what you think. Cheers to your health!