Healthy Fall Recipes

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HEALTHY FALL RECIPES

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FALL FEST FUN FOOD FOR FOODIES

My Aunt’s Special Salsa!

While perhaps not being very secretive, this salsa is a recipe that my aunt has had forever! It’s an instant hit at any family gathering that she brings it to!

Fun facts about salsa! Salsa is America’s most popular condiment! Even more popular than ketchup! Very little has changed about how salsa is made since its first documentation by a Spanish missionary to Mexico in the 16th century.

Ingredients:

8 large tomatoes
1 medium white onion
3-4 Serrano Chili Peppers, (seeded)
1 bunch of Cilantro
Juice of 1 lime or to taste
Salt to taste

Directions:

Chop Onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and chilis into small pieces (bigger than minced but not too much). Add in lime juice and salt. Mix together. If you want it to be spicier then leave some seeds in the chili peppers. If you want it really hot leave all the seeds in! Salsa goes best with chips but can be added to tacos, breakfast foods, or whatever you like!

Homemade Cornbread and Honey Butter

My wife and I took a few cooking classes after we got married for fun date nights and now we still do our cooking, but at home! This has become one of our very favorite recipes to show off what we learned and now we bring our knowledge to you! It’s a very easy, forgiving recipe, which is great because my wife and I knew absolutely nothing going into these cooking classes.

Ingredients for Corn Bread:

8 oz butter at room temp
6 oz sugar
10 oz sour cream
3 eggs
4 oz cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
4 oz flour

Ingredients for Honey Butter:

4 oz butter (softened)
¼ cup honey
¼ tsp salt

Directions:

1. Oven at 325 F. Lightly grease either a muffin tin or a baking pan.
2. In one bowl mix up butter and sugar until well mixed and fluffy.
3. In another bowl mix up sour cream and eggs.
4. In a third small bowl mix up dry ingredients.
5. Combine the two wet ingredient bowls and beat them. It won’t join altogether at this stage and will look more like the photo below. That’s great! Add ½ the dry ingredients, mix in well, and then add in the rest of the dry ingredients.
6. Put batter into pan and bake until edges have browned 25 minutes if in a muffin tin. If in a bigger pan will take about 45 minutes. Just keep checking by inserting a fork into it—If it comes out dry its done!
7. Honey Butter: combine everything with a fork in a small bowl. I like to throw it back into the fridge to stiffen it back up for serving.
8. Serve and enjoy!

Fun Facts about Honey: Did you know that honey is the only food that insects make that humans can eat? It also is the only food to contain the antioxidant pinocembrin. Besides many of its other amazing health benefits, honey was found to help burn victims improve dramatically by reducing inflammation in a 2005 research paper published in the British Journal of Surgery.

Butter Lettuce Vegetable Salad

Dressing:
1 Cup loosely packed fresh parsley
10 big leaves fresh basal
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
2 cloves garlic, peeled
¼ Cup red wine vinegar
¾ Cup olive oil
¾ salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 ½ teaspoon honey

Salad:

(add depending on number of people)
Butter lettuce
Avocado
Carrots
Red peppers
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Feta cheese

Vegan, Gluten Free Apple Crisp

Apple Base:

2 - Apples, small. One sweet, one tart
¼ cup - oat flour made from gluten free rolled oats
1/3 cup – Rolled oats, gluten free
2 tbsp – maple syrup
1 tsp – apple pie spice or cinnamon
Pinch – salt
1 tbsp – lemon juice (optional)

Topping:

¼ cup – gluten free, rolled oats flour
1/3 cup – gluten free rolled oats
3 tbs – light brown sugar
1 tbsp – coconut oil
½ tsp – cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Baking Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Prep apples (peeled, cored, and chopped) by tossing with maple syrup, cinnamon, salt, and lemon juice.
3. Topping – In different bowl, add gluten free flour, oats, brown sugar, coconut oil, cinnamon, and salt. Mix until moist texture
4. Bake – sprinkle crisp topping over apples and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown on top.
5. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes, and then serve with non-dairy vanilla ice cream, non-dairy yogurt, coconut whip cream, caramel, or butter scotch sauce.

Fun fact: Oats are very high in vitamins and minerals, while also providing more protein and healthy fat than most other grains.

Vegan Sweet Potato Bowls with Tahini Dressing

I’m a carnivore. I love pretty much all meat stuffed, wrapped, filled things. I was skeptical when my wife suggested this recipe but when I tried it, it was so good that it became a go-to for us. This recipe is a must on a date night or anytime you feel like using a healthy and easy recipe. I know you’re going to love it!

Roasted veggies and quinoa:
2-3 large sweet potatoes in cut into small cubes.
1-2 heads of broccoli cut into smaller pieces
1 can (15oz) chickpeas (rinsed and strained)
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
½ teaspoon garlic
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Toppings:
1 diced roma tomato

Lemon tahini dressing:
1/3 cup tahini
¼ cup lemon juice
2 large garlic cloves (minced)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup cold water
½ teaspoon sugar

Quinoa:
(1 cup quinoa to 2 cups water)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine and roast the potatoes and chickpeas together (take care not to burn your chickpeas). Add turmeric, garlic, salt and pepper to preferred taste. Drizzle with olive oil before placing into oven to roast.
3. When potatoes are slightly tender add broccoli to the pan until potatoes and broccoli are roasted to your liking. (Feel free to roast these ingredients separately)
4. While the veggies are roasting start your quinoa in your cooker.
5. Combine tahini dressing ingredients and blend together (bullet blenders work great for this)
6. When veggies are tender and crispy pull them out and serve over quinoa with dressing.
7. Add diced roma tomatoes to your liking.

Fun Facts:

Sweet potatoes are actually a great way to eat healthy as they are fat and cholesterol free!
Including cruciferous vegetables like broccoli in your diet can help reduce risk of developing heart disease? Broccoli for the win!
1 cup of chickpeas is equivalent to about 1/3 of the daily protein needs of an average adult? Get that protein!
Quinoa is high in fiber and “according to the academy of nutrition and dietetics, consuming enough fiber can help reduce the risk of several health conditions, including constipation, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diverticulosis”. They forgot to mention how delicious quinoa is but I’ll let that slide.
I actually recently found out that tahini is a type of sesame seed paste that maintains healthy blood cells and acts as an antioxidant to help lower inflammation in the body! Caution: do not eat like peanut butter, you WILL be disappointed.