Raise your hand if you love Chipotle.
Got it up? Everyone loves Chipotle.
I mean everyone. Of all the fast food places, I analyze more chipotle meals for diet records than anything else. From my student athletes to pregnant vegan women, rarely do I meet someone who doesn’t love the have-it-your-way Mexican chain. Burritos, bowls, tacos, even picky eaters are satisfied.
I love Chipotle because it’s one of the few fast food places that I know I can find something good and healthy.
Rice, beans, fajita vegetables, lettuce, salsa X 2 & guacamole. My standard order and a treat when we are traveling and need to find something quick and easy on the road. 
Ingredients: Makes 4 bowls.
Cilantro Lime Rice, recipe below
Spicy black beans, recipe below
Fajita Zucchini, recipe below
Salsa
Shredded lettuce
Diced avocado
Cilantro Lime Rice:
Prepare brown rice- enough to yield 2 cups. Mix with 1/2 cup chopped cilantro and zest and juice of 1 lime and a pinch of salt.
Spicy black beans:
Saute 1/4 diced onion in a tsp. of olive oil. Add a 14-ounce can of black beans, a pinch of cayenne pepper and cumin, and simmer until beans are heated through.
Fajita Zucchini: Preheat the oven to 425°F Chop 4 medium zucchini and toss with 1 medium finely diced onion, 1 tbsp. olive oil , 2 tsp. cumin, pinch of salt and pepper, and 1 tsp. dried oregano. Place on baking sheet or stone and cook for 30-40 minutes until golden brown, stirring often.
Layer all ingredients in bowl and eat until your hearts content! 
Let’s chat about deceivingly healthy foods:
frozen yogurt
bran muffins
fruit juice/smoothies
…& granola
Granola, often portrayed as a health food, can be a meal in itself… even before you add fruit, milk, and/or yogurt.
Thankfully, this granola is closer in stats to oatmeal than traditional granola.
While I’ve made granola before, the addition of lemon zest and poppy seeds makes this granola special. Fancy enough for brunch or weekday breakfast.
To really enjoy this treat, try stirring a bit of lemon flavoring or zest into your favorite yogurt and top away. It’s also delicious with cold unsweetened almond milk.
Looking to make this even healthier? To cut down on added sugars, use unsweetened coconut instead of sweetened.
Lemon Poppyseed Granola
Ingredients:
1.5 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup sweetened coconut flakes
3 tbsp. poppy seeds
1/3cup + 1 tbsp. silvered almonds
1/8 tsp. salt
1 large lemon, zested and juiced
1/3 cup agave nectar
2 tbsp. Earth Balance butter, melted
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl, combine the rolled oats, sweetened coconut, poppy seeds, almonds, & salt.
Combine the melted butter, agave nectar, and vanilla extract. Stir together and add to oat mixture. Stir to combine and spread onto a lightly-greased pan.
Place in the oven and baked for 8 minutes. Stir, and bake for another 10 minutes until golden brown.
Enjoy with cold almond milk or lemon yogurt.
Per Serving (8): 47g, 167 calories, 8.4g fat, 21g CHO, 3g fiber, 3.7g protein
It’s almost Memorial Day! One of my favorite weekends of the year as it means summer is OFFICIALLY here. While summer has been here for a while for me, it’s the time of year when everyone gets outside & fires up the grill.
I’ve never been abroad for an American holiday before, not sure if it will feel any different or if I will miss celebrating. I do know that I will miss a good cookout. Besides a pool or beach day, there are few things in life that are more summery to me than a BBQ.
Whatever your plans are this weekend, make sure there is good food involved, k?
Recipe & Photo: 86 lemons
Recipe & Photo: The Dirty Vegan
Grilled Peaches with Balsamic and Rosemary
Recipe & Photo: The framed table
Wishing you an enjoyable and delicious Memorial day!
I love coleslaw. Love it.
Come May 1st, our weekly dinners contain lots of vegetable burgers, grilled vegetables, and coleslaw.
It’s one of the foods that BL won’t let me compromise on. There are certain things that I have to make correct, and can’t experiment much with. He let’s me add curry to our ketchup, cumin to our hummus, but I have very little leeway with traditional coleslaw. 
While I might not change up his favorite side dish, it doesn’t mean I won’t take a few shortcuts now and then.
A few weeks ago I made these awesome BBQ tempeh sandwiches and right before we sat down, decided that we needed some coleslaw and baked beans to go with it.
Trust me when I say this is the easiest coleslaw you will ever make. If you’ve got 5 minutes, you’ve got coleslaw. I let this sit for 20 minutes and it was great, go longer and it will taste even better.
Ingredients:
1/3 cup vegan egg-free mayonnaise thinned with 1 tbsp. milk
3 tbsp white vinegar
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 head green cabbage, sliced
3 carrots, grated
Whisk together the mayo, vinegar, sugar, and pinch salt/pepper. Toss with carrots and cabbage and gently toss to combine. Let sit for at least 20 minutes.
Ta-da! Easy-peasy coleslaw!
