Deliciously Healthy

I know, I know, more hummus!!! I hope I'm not boring you guys too much, but there are just so many fun flavors to try! This one is one of my all time favorites though! It has such a subtle roasted flavor and goes amazingly in sandwiches and wraps. The amount you see in the picture below lasted the BF and I all of two days. That's how good it is.

Roasted Garlic Hummus
1 1/2 Cups Cooked Garbanzo Beans
1/2 Red Pepper, Roasted in Oven
2 1/2 Tbsp Tahini
2 small Cloves Garlic, smashed
1 1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Oil Blend (Hemp + Flax Oils, if you don't want to use this or don't have these, just use Olive Oil instead)
Juice of 1 Lemon
Sea Salt to Taste
Water

1. Put all ingredients except water into the food processor and process. As mixture processes, add water in small amounts until you reach the desired creamy-ness. I like mine super creamy, so end up adding a decent amount of water to thin it out a bit.

Another week, another weekday lunch for the BF and I! Sorry to bore you with location, but typically, I'm not willing to go too far from the Mira Mesa area for lunch since I don't feel like spending my whole hour for lunch driving all over the world. Luckily, there are tons of fresh, healthy places right nearby! This time we tried Marketplace Grille for the first time, and let me say, it won't be the last time! It was fantastic!

We started off with their amazing sounding appetizer plate of hummus, babaganoush, tabouleh and shirazi salad. It came with pita bread, which we exchanged for lavash since it was whole wheat and the pita was not. I found out I love lavash bread! It is so delicious and thin that it doesn't overly fill you up! Hummus is always amazing, as is babaganoush. I really liked the shirazi salad and the tabouleh was pretty much the same as it is everywhere else. We killed this plate of deliciousness.

Here is another shot, so you can actually see the babaganoush hiding behind everything.
The BF ordered one of the combo plates which came with chicken, beef, rice, shirazi salad, roasted tomatoes and lavash bread. He was very happy with his carne, and I was very happy to steal some of his roasted tomato. This left me with a happy and full BF!
I ordered the veggie wrap and what I got was MASSIVE. I didn't realize there would be feta in there (I probably would have ordered without, since most places always give me more cheese than I would like), so I ended up having to open it up and remove most of it, but everything else was magical! I put some of the leftover hummus and babaganoush from our appetizer on it and it became the most perfect wrap of all time! Needless to say, I could not finish this in one sitting...
I highly recommend this place!! It is very healthy, fresh and incredibly tasty! I'm so going back as soon as possible!

Marketplace Grille
6755 Mira Mesa Blvd, Suite 101
858.452.1990

As everyone who has followed the blog for long enough knows, I'm in love with Eclipse Chocolat. They have the most fun and delicious events at unbeatable prices. And who doesn't love chocolate?? I wen't to another Eclipse three-way, which is a pairing of a drink with cheese and truffle. It is the most amazing thing ever! Let me launch right into telling you about this one!

First Pairing:
Truffle: Lavender Sea-Salt Caramel
Cheese: Seahive
Wine: Evolution
This pairing was magical all the way around. My favorite was tasting the truffle after the cheese which created the most sweetly creamy truffle taste ever! The lavendar was really pronounced after all the saltiness of the cheese.

Second Pairing:
Truffle: Balsamic Pink Peppercorn
Cheese: Gorganzola Dolce
Wine: Bogle
We'd had this wine before in a tasting, and it was just as good this time around! I am absolutely in love with the Balsamic Pink Peppercorn Truffle which as a magnificent kick of peppercorn taste. It is especially peppercorn-y after a sip of the wine.

Third Pairing:
Truffle: Salted Coconut Caramel
Cheese: Cahill Porter Cheese
Beer: Maui Coconut Porter
This was my favorite pairing! I know, crazy right, the beer was my fav instead of the wine! This pairing gets props for the cheese having beer in it and the Beer having coconut in it. Any order you tasted these beauties in turned out fantastic. Every order also produced so many different and specific tastes it was like having three different cheeses/beers/truffles!

Ok, so are you ready for this, we made 3 types of pizza this week in the Deliciously Healthy Household. You are all lucky enough to find out how to make each and every one right here! While I used to think my decision to go almost vegetarian with most of my food being almost completely vegan and raw would be annoying when trying to make dinner for the BF and I at the same time, I've now realized how creative it makes me! It is so much more fun to try food three different ways and slightly tweak a recipe I make for the BF to work for me and vice versa. It has actually made the BF's food sneakily healthier (and he doesn't even mind!) and it is required me to experiment with foods and flavors I never have before. Isn't that every food-lover's dream?? Anyway, enough of the blabbing and on to what you really want, the pizza!

Quick Naan Pizza
I decided to try this one out since the BF had some tasty looking whole wheat naan in the fridge to see if it would work for nights when the BF was in a pizza mood but with little time to wait for dough making. Now we have a quick fix pizza recipe that he loves!
1 Slice Whole Wheat Naan (pita bread would work just fine as well, but Naan is sooo tasty)
1/2 Cup Marinara Sauce (recipe below)
1/4 Diced Bell Pepper (any color or combo of colors)
1/4 Diced Onion
Handful Diced Mushrooms
1 Tbsp "Cheese" Sauce (recipe below)
1. Assemble all ingredients on pizza, bake for 12-15 mins at 450 degrees and enjoy! Feel free to change the veggies to whatever you prefer on pizza and be creative!


Whole Wheat Flax Crust Pizza (sorry, I don't have any pics of this pizza, I will try to add some later!)
This is my awesome standby pizza crust. It is super healthy, relatively quick to whip up (except for the rise time), and tastes amazing. The BF always raves about this crust.

1 Full Recipe Whole Wheat Flax Pizza Dough (recipe found here, I use sucanat instead of sugar)
1 Diced Bell Pepper (any color or combo of colors)
1/2 Diced Onion
1 Cup Mushrooms
As much Marinara sauce as you'd like to add (recipe below)

1. Assemble all ingredients in pizza, bake for 12-15 mins at 450 degrees. I usually add the "cheese" sauce (recipe below) to each slice as I cut it for the BF so it tastes fresher (this pizza usually serves the BF for a couple days). Again, be as creative as you like with the veggies you love!


Wheat-Free Pizza
This is inspired by the pizza recipes in the Thrive Diet book. I took some of his ideas and then melded them to form my own pizza which is amazing and delish! I honestly thought it wouldn't taste good since it wasn't a "bread" crust, but boy was I wrong. This is my new favorite way to make pizza!
Sunflower Crust:
2 Cups Ground Sunflower Seeds
1 Cup Cooked Chickpeas
1/2 Cup Raw Sweet Potato
1 tsp Oregano
Sea Salt to Taste

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor and process til mixed well, and mixture starts to ball up. I had to add some water to lubricate the process.
Pizza:
1 Full Recipe Sunflower Crust
1/2 Chopped Bell Pepper (any color or combo of colors)
1/4 Chopped Onion
1/4 Cup Mushrooms
1/4 Cup Chopped Sweet Potato
As much Marinara Sauce as you want! (recipe below)

1. Form crust into desired shape on greased pan. Cover with marinara sauce and veggies. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 mins.


Marinara Sauce
1 Cup Sun Dried Tomatoes
1 Cup Water
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Cup Chopped Tomatoes (I prefer Roma for my marinara)
1/2 Diced Cucumber
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Hemp Oil (you can just sub Olive Oil if you wish)
1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Rosemary
1/4 tsp Thyme
Sea Salt to Taste

1. Throw everything into a food processor and go!


"Cheese" Sauce
This stuff is awesome for a cheesey taste, with tons of health benefits and little fat! Even the BF liked it, no way! I totally love the Thrive Diet for giving me this amazing cheese sub!

1 Part Sesame Seeds
1 Part Nutritional Yeast

1. Grind both together in coffee ginder. Sprinkle over whatever you want to have a cheesy flavor before warming it up. You could add water to it if you want to make more like a creamy cheese instead of a grated cheese consistency.

The answer to that question is yes, in case you couldn't figure it out based on the numerous hummus posts on the blog! I love hummus so much I could eat it on anything. Chocolate Cake? Can I get a tub of hummus on the side, please? Ok, maybe not everything, but most things! Pretty much every veggie is improved by the addition of a hummus dip. Even some fruit is amazing slathered with hummus (apple slices coated with hummus is heaven). It is pretty much a given that all bread and cracker-like foods are made only as a vehicle for me to shovel more hummus in my face. The sheer amount that I go through is enough to bankrupt a small family, and don't even get me started on the BF... That, ladies and gentlemen, is why I make my own hummus. Nothing is cheaper than buying dried beans, garlic, lemons, and possibly a few other ingredients. The only price tag that is significant is for the tahini, but the rest of the hummus builders are dirt cheap.
For my beans, I buy them dried in bulk, soak them for a day, then steam them for about an hour and a half. None of this time is hands-on, so it is really easy to just throw them in water or the steamer and not worry about them, but if that is too much planning time for ya, canned works just fine. I will tell you though, steamed garbanzos taste a bit different than boiled (which is usually how they are cooked before canning). Now, without further ado, I give you the recipes!

Lemon Kick Hummus
1 1/2 Cups Cooked Garbanzo Beans
2 1/2 Tbsp Tahini
2 Cloves of Garlic, smashed
1 1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Oil Blend (Hemp + Flax Oils, if you don't want to use this or don't have these, just use Olive Oil instead)
Juice of 2 1/2 Lemons
Sea Salt to Taste
Water

1. Put all ingredients except water into the food processor and process. As mixture processes, add water in small amounts until you reach the desired creamy-ness. I like mine super creamy, so end up adding a decent amount of water to thin it out a bit.

Vampire Repellent (or simply Garlic Hummus if you prefer)
1 1/2 Cups Cooked Garbanzo Beans
2 1/2 Tbsp Tahini
5 Cloves Garlic, smashed
1 1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Oil Blend (Hemp + Flax Oils, if you don't want to use this or don't have these, just use Olive Oil instead)
Juice 1 1/2 Lemons
Sea Salt to Taste
Water

1. Same instructions as above!

This is my favorite use of hummus (direct your eyes to the container on the right):
Grab a bunch of veggies, chop them into matchsticks or thin strips, slice some avocado, throw in a boatload of hummus, add a touch of olive oil, and then smash it all together til the avocado blends in with the hummus. You will not be disappointed!

This weekend I made over my Chickpea Curry Salad from a few weeks ago into two new recipes! I made some Chicken Curry Salad with shredded chicken for the BF and I made myself a Hempseed Curry Salad to change it up from the Chickpeas. Both turned out just as fantastic as the original!

Chicken Curry Salad

Use the Chickpea Curry Salad Recipe but exchange the Chickpea Meal for cooked and shredded chicken. I just got a roasted chicken from the market and shredded it by hand. I used about half the roasted chicken to replace the chickpeas.


Hempseed Curry Salad
Use the Chickpea Curry Salad Recipe but exchange the Chickpea Meal for 1/2 cup Hempseeds mixed with 1 1/2 Tbsp Tahini and add in extra juice of 1/2 Lemon.

A good addition to both of these recipes is a handful or two of raisins to add a hit of sweeness, if that's your kinda thing!

The BF and I got to have a lovely dinner with my Dad, who was in town on business, at the Living Room Cafe & Bistro in Old Town. After trying to decide where to eat for what seemed like half an hour, we settled on the Living Room Cafe so we could show the Pops Old Town San Diego. What is great about the Living Room Cafe is the ridiculous variety they have. There are so many different food types on their menu it is insane. So, it was a perfect choice for three people with a very wide variety of tastes. When we got there, we found it really looks like you are having dinner in someone's living room. It was so homey, casual and comfortable. I really loved the ambiance!

My Dad got the Old Fasioned Chicken Pie which is Sliced Chicken Breast with Cream Sauce, Dijon Mustard, Onions, Carrots, & Zucchini Baked in a Pie Dough Crust. He seemed very pleased with his pie, not that it is hard to please my Dad with food, especially when he is starving...
The BF ordered the California Burrito served with Carne Asada, Pico de Gallo, Fries, Sour Cream & Fresh Assorted Fruit. In the BF's world, it is impossible to go wrong when you have a giant juicy burrito, and then you stuff french fries in it. Needless to say, he was very happy with his California Burrito... It was a bit on the small side for his massive appetite though.
I erdered the Grilled Eggplant with Pesto Spread Sandwich on Multi-Grain Bread with Fresh Fruit on the side. I ordered my sandwich without cheese and tried to go the healthy route with multi-grain bread. When it came out, it looked incredible. It also tasted that way! There was a bit too much pesto for my liking, so it made the sandwich a little oily for my taste, but it tasted heavenly. I love grilled eggplant and I wish every sandwich place had a sandwich like this on the menu!!
Then we ordered the Cheese Board with assorted Fruit, Cheese and Bread with Olive Oil for dipping. Of course, I stole all the fruit, while everyone else split the cheese and bread. The fruit was perfect and fresh! According to everyone else, the bread and cheese tasted quite good! Can't do much to change bread and cheese :)

The prices were very reasonable here! It came out to around $50 bucks for 3 entrees and an appetizer with a few assorted drinks thrown in. I was incredibly impressed! I highly recommend this place for groups of people who have a hard time agreeing on what type of food to eat. It has a little bit of everything, it tastes good and is pretty cheap. The only drawback I can think of was the slightly slow service.

Living Room Cafe & Bistro (Old Town Location)
2541 San Diego Avenue
San Diego, CA 92115
619.325.4445