Italian Greens and Grains Bombs + Empty the Fridge Salad

June 17, 2011 By Leanne Vogel July 16, 2015

Congratulations, Alex + Claire – you’ve won 4 boxes of gluten-free granola bars! I’ll send you an email in a few!

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I know that’s not a bowl of chia pudding above, and chia has absolutely nothing to do with the recipe I’m planning to share with you, but enlighten me… Has anyone had chia pudding?

I’m sure many of you have been doing the chia pudding thing for years. I’ve just accepted that I stay relatively behind the times when it comes to foodie trends. Anyone else want to celebrate pi day with me in July? Missed that boat entirely! I’ve been putting soaked chia in my cereal for as long as I can remember, but the thought of slimy chia gooeyness going down my throat, just scares the heck out of me. That was until I read Lisa’s post on chia pudding. It was then, on the evening of June 14th, that I decided I would fear chia pudding no more.

To make the pudding, I combined:

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 tablespoon raisins
1 tablespoon chia
1 tablespoon sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch stevia

and let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes while I had a shower. I queued up a movie, grabbed my pudding, and sat in fear at the mass in front of me. Thankfully, the first bite was delicious. Oh, and so was the second, and the third, and, well you get the idea. I’ve had chia pudding on the 14th, 15th, and 16th and I’m darn well happy about it! The trick: add things you can chew, like raisins, seeds, and nuts! Something else that makes me happy? These grains muffins, aka BOMBS! [Kevin made up the name, I think it fits, don’t you?]

Italian Greens and Grains Bombs

Author: Leanne Vogel

Recipe type: Gluten free, Dairy free, Sugar free, Yeast free, Corn free

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 70 mins

Total time: 1 hour 25 mins

Serves: 8 bombs

These dinner “muffins” couldn’t be simpler to whip up, or more convenient. They’re pretty fun to eat too!

Ingredients

1 cup brown basmati rice
2.5 cup water
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4 eggs
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4 medium yellow onion, diced [yield ½ cup]
1 zucchini, sliced
1 cup spinach, chopped
6 basil leaves, chopped
2 tablespoon fresh oregano
¼ teaspoon herbamare or himalayan rock salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste

Instructions

Place water, rice and oil in a medium saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for 30-40 minutes until fully cooked. Remove from heat and set aside with the lid off.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375F and line a muffin pan with liners or a dab of oil. Heat olive oil in a medium frying pan on medium-high heat. Add onions, zucchini, herbamare, and pepper. Allow to cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring halfway through. Add all remaining ingredients but eggs and cook for an additional 1 minute. Remove from heat.
Once rice is complete, drop it into a large bowl with cooked zucchini mixture, and eggs. Drop mixture into prepared muffin pan and pile it as high as possible before [carefully] placing the muffin tin in the middle rack of the oven.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until egg is fully cooked.

View Nutritional Information (once on page scroll down) After taking pictures of these delicious morsels, I poured pasta sauce on a couple of my bombs and it was delicious! I bet it’d be really fun if you made miniature bombs too. They make for such a quick and healthy dinner on the run.

Empty the Fridge Salad

Author: Leanne Vogel

Recipe type: Vegan, Gluten free, Dairy free, Sugar free, Yeast free, Corn free

Prep time: 10 mins

Total time: 10 mins

Serves: 1

Our Thursday nights have a theme: empty the produce bins in the fridge so Leanne can go shopping on Friday. I’ve started looking forward to Thursdays and the ginormous salad preparation that ensues! Our empty the fridge salad included:

Ingredients

Salad

2 tablespoon sun-dried tomatoes in oil
½ cucumber, chopped
3 carrots
1 red pepper
sunflower seeds

Dressing

1 teaspoon sunflower oil
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon dried basil
⅛ teaspoon herbamare
Pinch of white powdered stevia

Instructions

Shave carrots with a peeler [they’re funner to eat that way] and drop them in a medium sized bowl with the rest of the veggies. Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl and pour over top of the veggie mix. Enjoy!

Since we’re running with the theme of things that make me happy… We got cable TV last night. Yes, you read that right. I now have 50 channels on my television! I know you’re probably thinking – Leanne, it’s the 21st century, everyone has cable! Not I my friends, not I… until the local provider offered us cable for 6 months for $1/month! Best summer present ever. Excuse me while I go watch Breakfast Television [my favorite morning show growing up] before I head to the gym.