Pickled Veggie Salad with Dill Pickle Ranch Dressing

If you are as obsessed with pickles as I am, then this recipe is 100% for you. Keep scrolling, sister because your taste buds are about to be blown away. Pickling has become one of my new favorite hobbies during the pandemic. I finally found a community where I can openly share my love of pickles without any judgment. I’ve seen many recipes in this group including one for pickles in a sushi roll I saw moments ago. A lot of the recipes though are fried and it’s rare to see any healthy takes on pickling besides the pickles themselves.

During the warmer months, I crave smoothies and salads. That never used to be me until I started making vegetables a regular part of my diet. A lot of dressings nowadays have more preservatives than real ingredients. If you want to buy a healthier dressing, it costs upwards of $5. Instead, I decided to go searching for my own. I found a recipe for a vegan ranch dressing (one of my favorite sauces) and took my own spin on it. It’s rather simple. I added some of my own pickle juice instead of water to thin it out. To make this recipe next level, I put in some of my pickled veggies such as onions, jalapenos, and even a pickled hard-boiled egg. This is optional, but it gives the salad a new depth of flavor you can’t find from plain o’l veggies. With a protein kick from the roasted chickpeas and eggs, this salad is any vegetarian’s delight. Find the recipe below:

Ingredients:

• mixed greens (or spinach)

• dill pickled onions

• dill pickled jalapenos/sweet peppers

• carrots

• celery

• a pickled egg (or use regular hard-boiled egg)

• avocado

• roasted chickpeas ** see below

For the Dill Pickle Ranch Dressing:

• 1½ cup vegan mayo (I used veganaise)

• ¼ to ½ cup dill pickle juice (find my recipe here)

• 3-4 cloves garlic (I used pickled garlic straight from the brine using the recipe above)

• 1½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar

• ½ tablespoon dried parsley

• 1 teaspoon dried dill

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 teaspoon mustard powder

• ¼ teaspoon paprika

• ¼ teaspoon pepper

• salt - to taste

Directions for roasted chickpeas:

1) Preheat oven to 400 Degrees F. Drain and rinse 1 15 oz can of chickpeas.

2) Pat dry with a paper towel and season with olive oil, salt, and pepper. I like to get a bit adventurous with the flavors and use Everything bagel seasoning. This one was Flavor God Honey BBQ.

3) Cook for 20 minutes. Stir and cook for another 5 minutes. Repeat until the chickpeas are super crunchy, but not burnt. Serve on top of the salad or as a snack.

Directions:

1) Roast your chickpeas.

2) While they are roasting, chop all your vegetables and set them aside. Hard boil an egg if you haven't already.

3) Make your dressing by mixing all the ingredients in a small bowl. I'll put it in a 16 oz mason jar to store for later. I enjoy using it in my buffalo chicken air-fried zucchini bites.

4) Assemble your salad and top with dressing. Enjoy!

If you want to jump in the screen and eat this salad, I can help you manage your time effectively and create a meal plan with you that aligns with your goals. Contact Rachel for more information.

The Best Pasta Salad

I don’t know about you, but the holidays always inspire me to think of my best culinary creations to share with friends and family.

It brings me joy to be able to share recipes not only that taste good but also has plenty of nutritional benefits.

When you think of the 4th of July, what do you associate that with? BBQs, fireworks, and summertime are the first 3 topics that come to mind.

A typical BBQ meal consists of burgers, hot dogs, chips, baked beans, some sort of dip, and of course, potato and pasta salad. I’m not even going to get into the beverages.

In my opinion, you gotta have something refreshing to cool down the heaviness from the meat. I can’t just eat a burger with chips and call it a meal. Protein and carbs are not a complete meal without vegetables. Sure, you’re getting all 3 sources of macronutrients, but you are missing out on vital nutrients your body needs to perform its activities for daily life.

My experiences with going to a BBQ is feeling sick to my stomach afterward. Bloating, lethargic, and foggy are a few symptoms to describe what happens after I consume that type of food.

This year, I made the decision to take my power back into my own hands and prepare food for guests at a party I attended.

Not only did I cook black bean and salmon burgers, but I made a pasta salad with roasted veggies to have a more balanced meal.

The pasta salad stole the show at the party. And of course, my homemade guacamole didn’t even make it to dinnertime. Meat can take a back seat.

I dropped the mayo-based calorie monstrosity and use an oil-based dressing instead for a healthy dose of omega 3’s. An example would be extra virgin olive oil. Make sure to check the label to see if it’s pure and not mixing other oils like canola.

Also, if you look at the ingredients for a lot of oil-based pasta salads you would normally buy at the store, the list goes at least 30 deep. A lot of them use soybean or cottonseed oil, which are high in omega-6 fatty acids.

Knowing what’s going in my food allows me to make better choices and feel better about what I’m putting into my body.

Once you try my pasta salad, you will never want to go back to buying the store-bought version ever again.

Find my recipe below:

Ingredients:

For the Roasted Vegetables:

• 1 cup shredded green cabbage

• ½ white onion, sliced into strips

• 1 red pepper, sliced into strips

• 1 zucchini, sliced into strips

• 2 serrano peppers, sliced into strips

• 3 cloves garlic, chopped

• 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided

• Salt and pepper, to taste

  ** Note: You can add whatever vegetables you want. I added whatever I had on hand.

For the Pasta Salad:

• 1 box of gluten-free pasta of choice (I prefer Banza chickpea pasta)

• 1 15 oz can quartered artichoke hearts, cut in half

• 1 cup mixed greens (I used spinach and arugula)

• 1 serving Italian Dressing (Find my recipe here)

• Garnish with fresh herbs (I used parsley and cilantro) and parmesan cheese

Directions:

1)      Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Cut all your vegetables and lay them on a foiled (or two) baking sheets.

2)      Add olive oil, salt, and pepper to the vegetables. Peel the garlic and put it on the baking sheet. Cook the vegetables for 25-30 minutes stirring after 15 minutes.

3)      While the vegetables are cooking, combine the ingredients to make for the Italian dressing.

4)      Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box.

5)      When the veggies and pasta are done, chop the garlic and let everything cool.

6)      To serve, combine the pasta, veggies, greens, artichokes, and Italian dressing. Stir well to make sure the dressing gets coated evenly throughout the dish. Serve with chopped herbs and parmesan cheese. Enjoy! :) You can also make this a full meal by adding a piece of cooked chicken or fish to the dish.

If you’re someone who has the desire to start cooking, but has no idea how to navigate their way through the kitchen, I offer support to do the heavy lifting for you. With meal prep calls, live virtual cooking classes, and accountability messaging, you will be on your way to living a healthy lifestyle for the long term. Find out more information below.

Tuna Lettuce Wraps

What a beautiful day to try some delicious veggies from my local CSA. I'm so excited that every share is packed with fresh grown veggies from a local farm that taste way better than conventional. I think I'm hooked on these veggies! You can go to localharvest.org to find a local farm near you to get started on these! Today's delicious recipe is tuna lettuce wraps using veggies from the farm. This quick, easy meal is great for those days when you feel like you have a million things to do, but want to have a quick and healthy meal. The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of albacore tuna (in water)

• 1/4 cup veganaise (you can use regular may of if you choose)

• 2 scallions

• 2 stalks of celery

• 1/2 cucumber

• 1 head of lettuce

• 1/2 avocado (for topping)

• Fresh parsley (for topping, optional)

Spices:

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp pepper

• 1/2 tsp celery salt

• 1/2 tsp celery seed

• 1/2 tsp garlic salt

• 3 tbsp relish

• 3 tbsp dijon mustard

Directions:
1) Wash and chop your veggies
2) Mix all of the wet ingredients and spices in a bowl
3) Add your veggies and dry ingredients to the bowl
4) Stir up everything. Add more spices to taste
5) On a separate plate, put some leaves of lettuce
6) Scoop 2 spoonfuls of tuna mixture onto the lettuce
7) Top with 2-3 slices of avocado and fresh parsley
8) Put another piece of lettuce on top for a sandwich (not pictured)
9) Enjoy!

Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments below! I'm looking forward to your responses!

Are you sick of eating the same take-out meals every single week, feeling like shit after eating them?

Your body simply can’t handle food the way it used to, and your body is starting to respond with symptoms.

You don’t know what to do because you feel like you’ve tried every diet plan in the book.

Nothing seems to be working, but you don’t want to give up hope.

I know how it feels to go for decades trying to find the perfect diet to work for me.

Once I dropped the idea that I had to go on a diet or restrict calories to lose weight and feel good, the weight flew off naturally.

I have been able to lose over 30 lbs and keep it off for over 6 years!

By cooking my favorite take-out recipes from scratch, I found a fun way to still eat my favorite foods without feeling like I need to go out to the restaurant to eat them.

Cooking has been a way for me to find peace in my life because I know what I’m putting in my body.

That’s why I created 55 all-new recipes to give you fun and creative ideas for what you can manifest in the kitchen.

As a bonus, I've modified all of them to be gluten-free and dairy-free.

Each recipe can be modified to fit your dietary needs.

This book contains recipes for appetizers, breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and crockpot.

As another bonus, I have included tips for some food swap ideas.

Ditch the takeout and bring the food back to your kitchen with my easy, healthy, affordable meals.

Deconstructed Sushi Bowl

Are you someone that craves sushi a lot? To be honest, I have no idea how to make sushi from scratch. One night, I really wanted sushi, but didn't want to go out to eat. I tend to eat way more and my body feels better when I eat at home. I love cooking, so I thought why not make it into a bowl? That way I was able to swap out the rice for quinoa and make my own homemade dairy-free "spicy mayo dipping sauce". Veggies are the star of the dish here because I was able to up my veggie game by making it at home. Ditch the takeout because you will definitely want to try my all new deconstructed sushi bowl.

Ingredients:

• 2 5 or 6 oz. cans of chunk lite tuna, drained

• 1 cup brown rice

• 1/3 cup mayo or veganaise

• 1 scallion, chopped

• 1 ripe avocado, cubed

• 1-2 small carrots, julienned

• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced

• 3 cups of greens of choice (spinach, kale, arugula, watercress)

• 1 cup of seaweed (optional)

• 2 Tbsp. rice vinegar

• 1 Tbsp. Sriracha (optional)

• Top with sesame seeds

 For the Spicy Mayo Dipping Sauce:

• 1 Tbsp. miso paste

• 1 Tbsp. low sodium soy sauce

• 1/4-1/3 cup water or vegetable broth

• 1 tsp rice wine vinegar

• 1 tsp sesame oil

• 1 tsp powdered ginger

• 1 tsp sriracha (optional)

Directions:
1) Prepare the rice by pouring 2 cups of water with 1 cup of rice into a pot. Turn the heat on medium-high to bring to a boil (3-5 minutes)
Turn the heat down to medium-low and let it simmer covered for 40 minutes or until all the water is evaporated. Let cool for 5 minutes
and stir in 2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar. 
2) Prep all of your vegetables, set aside.
3) Mix tuna, mayo, garlic, and sriracha in a bowl.
4) Prepare the sauce by combining all the ingredients in a food processor or high powered blender.
5) To serve in a bowl, put the rice at the bottom, followed by the vegetables, tuna mixture, and top with sesame seeds. Enjoy!

Want to learn how to prepare this plus tons of other delicious recipes? Check out a week's worth of meals planned that I made plus a shopping list. Make your day simple with all of the work already done for you. Check it out!