My diet has definitely been changing with the season. As far as vegetables go, I want very little to do with them. That’s strange for me since over the Summer I can never get enough produce. But now it’s carbs, carbs, carbs and the only vegetables I do want are potatoes and squash—not much of a variety.

This dish is an exception. And it has about every green vegetable in my refrigerator in it, so it must be healthy, right? The kale is a good source of vitamins, the peas high in plant-based protein, and the avocado a source of healthy fat. More importantly it’s the only green thing that appeals to me anymore(although a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream wouldn’t be bad either).

Green Vegetable Quinoa

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(For 2 servings):

• 1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled
• 1 medium ripe avocado
• 1/2 cup cooked peas, fresh or frozen
• 1 cup chopped kale, steamed
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Remove the skin and the pit from the avocado and mash it into a smooth puree.
2. Combine all of the ingredients together in a bowl and fold until completely mixed. The avocado should act as a binder and as it mixes it will hold together more.
3. Serve at room temperature. Store in a refrigerator for no more than a day as the avocado will brown over time.

I make this with frozen and thawed kale and frozen peas. Not only is it cheaper than buying the fresh ingredients, their nutrients are locked in and they’re available all through Winter, so you can bet I’ll be having this again.

Happy Halloween! I love Halloween; it’s hard not to love a holiday that encourages dressing up and accepting candy from strangers. But since you can’t really make a meal out of candy corn and Reese’s(well, you can, and that would be my idea of heaven, but I won’t) I was cooking a lot through the relaxing weekend including these potatoes I had to use up.

I picked up red potatoes from my farmers’ market. After having them baked plain one night, I remembered I really wasn’t a fan of red potatoes. They don’t seem as starchy as other varieties, and if I’m having a potato I’m looking for that warm, starchy comfort food.

Since I had almost a pound to use up, I knew I’d need to find a way to make them taste irresistible. This method of soaking + roasting with garlic makes the potatoes soft, crispy, and full of flavor. Red potatoes still aren’t my favorite, but this recipe makes me like them a whole lot more.

The Best Red Potatoes

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1lb red potatoes
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• Diced chives(optional)

Method:

1. Wash the red potatoes thoroughly but keep the skin on.
2. Cut the potatoes into halves or quarters depending how big they are into bite-sized wedges.
3. Soak the wedges in hot water for 20-30 minutes
4. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
5. Drain the potatoes from the water but don’t dry them. Toss with the olive oil, garlic, and salt until evenly covered.
6. Lay the potatoes out on a roasting tray and roast for 45 minutes or until the potatoes have started to brown and wrinkle.
7. Remove from the oven and serve hot. Garnish with chives if desired.

Most of the garlic burns by the time the potatoes are ready. You can pick them out and discard them; by now the garlic flavor has totally soaked in. I’ll admit: It’s a lot of garlic. If you have plans to be in public later or dress up like a vampire, you may want to save this for another time.

Luckily I wasn’t a vampire. Who was I? Ron Swanson.

This may be hard to believe, but that’s not my actual facial hair(I know—absorb the shock). And now I have 10 extra fake mustaches to wear whenever I feel like it. Cool beans. I also like to think Ron Swanson would enjoy these potatoes, even if he wouldn’t care at all how they’re made and insist on eating them with all the bacon and eggs he has.

What were you/will you be for Halloween?

Last week I watched Forks Over Knives one night during dinner(it’s streaming on Netflix). Have you seen it? It’s a documentary that follows the careers of two scientists studying the effects of a plant-based diet on humans and sharing the comparative data from around the world. It’s a lot of information to take in at once, but a very compelling and thought provoking film.

The movie left me with a lot to think about. I already eat vegetarian and mostly dairy-free, both of which the film promotes. But it had me thinking more about the other parts of my diet that I don’t tend to question, specifically protein. I like most people grew up with an emphasis on protein with every meal; even now I almost always make sure my meals revolve around eggs or tempeh. But the film makes the point that, if eating a whole foods diet, a person doesn’t have to worry about a protein deficiency since all whole foods have some amount of protein in them. It’s only since we’ve started eating processed and refined food that protein has become a problem.

While I’m not quite sure what to do with all the information from the film, I think it has a good point about protein and what “needs” to be on our plates at meal time. Since watching I’ve tried eating alternative meals that fit the Engine 2 Diet, like this quinoa bowl. It would make a great side dish to chicken or tofu, but it also makes a hearty and satisfying meal by itself.

I made this using leftover quinoa and pre-cooked butternut squash. Expect for the time to be longer if you’re starting with raw ingredients.

Quinoa With Butternut Squash, Craisins, and Almonds

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 4 side servings or 2 entrees):

• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 2 cups cooked and diced butternut squash
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup crushed or sliced almonds
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon honey or agave nectar
• 1/2 Tablespoon white vinegar

Method:

1. Combine all of the ingredients and mix thoroughly.
2. Serve hot or at room temperature.

I ate mine cold with some kale and avocado and it was a perfectly satisfying meal.

Even after almost 2 years of eating gluten-free, I’m still learning about places it can be that trip me up. Recently on Ashley’s blog I read that most restaurant fries aren’t gluten-free. Puzzled, I looked it up online and sure enough found a host of explanations why most restaurant french fries aren’t gluten-free, basically summed up by this:

• Some restaurants preserve the fries in between cutting and cooking by adding a coating including flour to soak up moisture and keep them from sticking together.
• If fries are fried in the same oil as battered foods like chicken nuggets, the oil can contaminate the fries with gluten.

Luckily in the few instances I can think of that I’ve eaten french fries I don’t remember feeling sick afterwards. But I don’t need to be told twice to avoid something potentially harmful, especially when they’re so easy to make at home.

This recipe is very simple, with just what I would call the bare-bone ingredients. You can make more flavorful fries by switching up the seasoning. The vinegar in the recipe helps to give the fries a more authentic flavor without overpowering the seasoning. Definitely don’t leave it out, and don’t worry about the fries having a strong salt and vinegar taste because they most certainly don’t.

Oven Fries

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 50 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 2 servings):

• 2 medium-sized russet potatoes
• 2 Tablespoons oil
• Splash(about 1/2 Tablespoon) vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt plus more for finishing
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. With a sharp knife, cut the potatoes horizontally and then lengthwise into long, thin fry shapes.
3. Toss the fries with the oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper until completely coated.
4. Line the fries out on a baking tray in a single layer. Bake for 50 minutes or until the ends are crisp, flipping occasionally to cook on all sides. Sprinkle with extra salt and serve immediately.

Serve with ketchup, obviously. I like Trader Joe’s ketchup because it’s more tart than most others but since I don’t live near one I use Whole Foods brand organic ketchup. Did you know organic ketchup has up to 8 times the lycopene of non-organic brands? Add that to the list of useless facts you’ll never need.

When you’re around Italian cooking a lot, you start to pick up the unspoken rules of Italian cooking. These are the rules that tell you how to pair sauce with a specific shape of pasta, not to pair cheese with a fish dish, and to never put a red sauce over green vegetables.

Lucky for me this isn’t Italian, it’s French. There’s also no red sauce, just whole tomatoes. But I’m not sure that exception would fly in Italy. But what no Italian can deny is that when tomatoes combine with garlic and olive oil magic happens and whatever comes out of the pot will undoubtedly be good.

Green Beans Provencal

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 4 servings):

• 1lb green beans, trimmed
• 3 medium tomatoes
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Heat 2 Tablespoons of oil in a large pan over medium heat.
2. Slice the garlic cloves thinly lengthwise. Add the slices into the hot oil and sauté just until the edges begin to brown.
3. Add the green beans into the pan and toss with the oil. Continue cooking until the green beans cook and darken their color.
4. Slice the tomato into halves and then quarters so that each tomato yields 8 slices. Add those to the pan and toss with the green beans.
5. Continue cooking until the tomatoes blister. Remove the pan from the heat and drain off any water that’s cooked out. Add in the remaining tablespoon of oil, salt and pepper and toss one last time. Move to a serving dish and serve hot.

My original plan was to serve this with spaghetti squash. By the time I finally cooked it, I had eaten all the spaghetti squash and had it with quinoa instead, which is a grain that always reminds me of quinoa. I guess what I’m getting at is that this makes a great dish with any pasta.