The Sunny Side Up Recipes

Fresh. Clean. Radiant. Living life on the sunny side.

Salmon Tacos with Mango Avocado Salsa

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I am so excited to share today’s recipe with you! This week, a few friends and I got together for an amazing girls night in and had the best night laughing and sharing stories out on their patio, enjoying these last few bits of summer!

We knew we wanted to have a taco night, but these salmon tacos with black rice and mango guacamole (adapted from Ambitious Kitchen) were extra special and are definitely one of my all time FAVORITE recipes on the blog so far! I know you’ll love them!

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 FISH TACOS

Salmon Tacos with Mango Avocado Salsa
 
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • For the rice:
  • 1 cup black (forbidden) rice
  • For the salmon:
  • 1 pound salmon (can use fresh or frozen)
  • ¾ tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ¼ chilli powder
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • For the mango guacamole:
  • 1 avocado, diced in large chunks
  • ½ cup red onion, diced
  • ½ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
  • ¼ cup fresh mint, finely chopped
  • 1 ripe mango, diced
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 8 corn tortillas
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Cook rice on the stovetop according to the directions on the package, and set aside (note: the rice will take 40-45 minutes to cook, so I recommend cooking it in advance and storing in an airtight container).
  2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place salmon in lined baking dish, rub with olive oil, and season with cumin, paprika, garlic powder, and chili powder mixture. Bake for 35 - 45 minutes or until cooked medium.
  3. While salmon is cooking, lightly toss avocado, red onion, cilantro, mango, and lime juice. Let sit for 10-15 minutes.
  4. Once salmon is done cooking, flake it with a fork assemble tacos on warm corn tortillas as desired.

 

Quinoa Salad with Pomegranate, Feta & Mint

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I hope that everyone is enjoying summer as much as we have these past few months! There’s nothing better than long days at the beach–not to mention the amazing summer produce out there right now!

I don’t know about you, but when it’s so gorgeous outside the last thing I want to be doing is staying inside in the kitchen cooking hot meals (as much as I love cooking!). This recipe is just the ticket, and it’s the perfect unexpected, colorful, and a quick side for the last of your picnics and barbecues this season. Enjoy! 

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Quinoa Salad with Pomegranate, Feta & Mint
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup pomegranate seeds
  • 1 large English cucumber, diced thinly
  • 5 tbs mint, finely chopped
  • ½ cup feta cheese, crumbled
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 3 tbs olive oil
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
  • Edible flowers (as desired)
Instructions
  1. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and add quinoa. Turn off heat and let sit for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. When fully cooked, fluff with a fork and set aside to cool.
  2. Add all ingredients in a large bowl and lightly toss.

 

Peach, Avocado, and Heirloom Tomato Salad

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Let’s be honest, salads can get boring sometimes. But, this one is a far throw from your typical salad (teaser: it doesn’t even have lettuce) and I love that it combines my three favorite summer ingredients all in one beautiful, colorful dish! Who would think that peaches, avocados, and tomatoes go well together? I’m so glad they do. 

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Peach, Avocado, and Heirloom Tomato Salad
 
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Recipe type: Salad
Ingredients
  • 2 peaches
  • 1 avocado
  • 2 heirloom tomatoes (try a variation of colors)
  • ⅛ cup red onion, finely chopped
  • ⅛ cup cilantro
  • 1 tbs lime juice
  • 2 tbs olive oil
Instructions
  1. Combine sliced peaches, tomato, and finely chopped red onion in a bowl. Add in diced avocado and lightly toss in lemon and olive oil. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

Red Onion

Matcha Green Tea Peach Smoothie

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If you’ve been following the blog for a while, you might remember the homemade green matcha latte I made back in the winter–now it’s time for the summer version!

Matcha is a natural source of caffeine that will energize you and help to focus the mind for the rest of the day. Add in some fresh fruit and you get a creamy, refreshing, healthy treat made under 5 minutes. So good!

Matcha Green Tea Peach Smoothie
 
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Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • ½ peach
  • ½ banana
  • 1 heaping cup baby spinach
  • 3 tablespoons matcha green tea powder
  • 1 cup ice
Instructions
  1. Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.

 

Detox Salad

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Winter always seems to mean eating heavier foods–stews, pastas, you name it–and every now and then I find myself looking for something fresh to balance things out. This salad is super light and always makes me feel rejuvenated and energized during those cold winter months. I love how the citrusy vinaigrette dresses up the greens and how the avocado and pine nuts add such great texture. This is definitely one that you’ll want to keep through spring–I make a big batch at the start of every week and can’t get enough of it. Enjoy!

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P.S. For added flavor and a more spring-friendly recipe, consider toasting the pine nuts and adding citrus, such as fresh grapefruit, or adding extra basil to the vinaigrette.

Detox Salad
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 bunch asparagus
  • 4 cups arugula
  • ⅓ cup pine nuts
  • ¼ cup basil, chopped
  • 1 avocado, cubed
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • Juice of one orange
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 1 tsp raw honey
  • 3 tbs. good olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Rinse asparagus into 1-inch pieces and sautee in olive oil for 5 minutes or until bright green. Remove from heat and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, lightly toss arugula, asparagus, avocado, pine nuts, and basil.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together orange juice, lemon juice, olive oil, honey, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour over salad in small increments (I often end up with more dressing than I need), toss, and serve.

 

Israeli Salad

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As far as salads go, this is about as quick and easy as it gets! I love the bold, fresh, flavors. But even more, I love that this takes less than 5 minutes to make and I instantly have a healthy, delicious lunch on the go. Sometimes, it’s the simple classics that are the best recipes.

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Israeli Salad
 
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Ingredients
  • 2 large cucumbers
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
  • ¼ cup fresh feta cheese, crumbled
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons mint
  • 2 tablespoons parsley
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, gently toss, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

 

My Cold Cure-All: Ginger Lemon Tea

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Recently I’ve been battling a stubborn cold and there has been one consistent lifesaver: ginger lemon tea. While any kind of tea is helpful for a sore throat, this tea benefits from the ginger–a natural antioxidant–and lemon, which adds a vitamin C boost to power up your immune system. The combination makes for a powerful antioxidant drink that helps to naturally eliminate nausea, inflammation, and other ailements, making it a natural antibiotic. Make it for yourself as you recover from a flu or cold, or as a morning pick me up in place of coffee.

*Tip: To make it less spicy, add less ginger and more honey and lemon. Where possible, use unprocessed (raw) local honey.

Ginger Lemon Tea
 
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Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • 1 cup water
  • 1-inch piece ginger root (or more, to taste), peeled and roughly chopped
  • ½ lemon
  • 1 tablespoon honey, or to taste
Instructions
  1. In a small pot over medium heat, bring the water to a boil. Add finely chopped ginger and lemon juice. Let simmer on low heat for 5 minutes. Add honey to bottom of your mug/glass and slowly pour water mixture in. Stir and serve hot.
  2. **Tip: To make it less spicy, add less ginger and more honey and lemon.

Image provided by: Grafvision Photography 

 

 

Kahlua Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Pretty much anyone who went to school can confirm that whenever finals week struck, these cookies would appear. Not only are they some of the best chocolate chip cookies you’ll ever have (think warm, gooey, melt-in-your-mouth chocolatey goodness), but the espresso and kahlua are my secret ingredients to make it extra special. I decided to bring them out again when the East Coast was struck with a blizzard a few weeks back, and was happy to see that they’re still a crowd favorite.

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While preparing your cookie dough, stir together one tablespoon of espresso powder and three tablesppons kahlua into a thick, aromatic syrup. Gently fold into your batter and voila! These aren’t your everyday cookies.

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Dijon French Lentils

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One of my favorite winter comfort dishes is French lentils. The recipe only takes about 10-15 minutes to make, and it uses ingredients that you most likely have in your pantry already. I’m also slightly anemic, so it’s a great alternative to red meat if I feel like I’m low on iron and it’s just as hearty.

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Ingredients
  • ½ package Trader Joe’s steamed lentils (or 1 cup French puy lentils, cooked and drained)
  • 3 handfuls of kale, roughly chopped
  • 2 large carrots, finely chopped
  • 1 small onion, roughly chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced and finely chopped
  • 2 tbs Oregano
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 3 tbs Red Wine Vinegar
  • ¼ cup Olive oil
  • 4 tsp Dijon Mustard
Instructions
  1. Sautee chopped onion, carrots, garlic, and oregano in olive oil for 2 minutes or until translucent.
  2. Add kale and 3 tablespoons of water. Cook for an additional 3 minutes, covered.
  3. Add lentils and ¼ cup water. Cook for approximately 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until water has evaporated and lentils are al dente. If needed, add additional water and repeat until lentils and kale have softened.
  4. While lentils are cooking, make dressing by combining vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in olive oil and set aside.
  5. Remove lentils from heat. Pour over dressing and serve. Note: Add dressing slowly—you’ll want to use enough to add flavor to the lentils but not too much so that they become soggy.

 

 

Healthy Blogs to Fuel Your 2016

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  1. Jessica Sepel: 

    Oh, how I love this site! Jessica is one of my favorite nutritionists–I love that her recipes are so simple but have incredible flavor, with lots of fresh herbs and spices (check out her cookbook here). She also has superb posts on redefining our relationships with food/emotional eating, mindfulness, and a series of short 2 week restart-plans that I’ve enjoyed. Did I mention that she also has a beautiful Instagram account with killer travel photos?

  2. Ambitious Kitchen: 

    If you have a killer sweet tooth like me, Monique is your girl. I love her healthy remakes of some of my favorite recipes, like her guilt-free Flourless Chocolate Chip Chickpea Blondies (trust me, they’re even better than the original).

  3. Madeline Shaw: 

    Madeline is adorable. I love her video tutorials that make recipes I wouldn’t usually try, like zoodles (“zuchinni noodles”) look so easy. Who knew using a spiralizer was so simple? Throw in some pesto and I’m in.

  4. Nutrition Stripped: 

    Her green smoothie will change your life. A delicious, easy way to get in all my greens

  5. Oh She Glows: 

    Angela Liddon is one of the top vegan chefs out there. Her cookbook is really phenomenal if you want to experiment with adding more greens to your diet, even if you consider yourself a total carnivore.

  6. My New Roots: 

    Also plant-based, this blog has one of my favorite recipes that I make when I want to mix things up (or confession: impress someone), Moroccan carrot ribbons and black lentils.  The beautiful vegan tacos that I made a while back also came from this site.

  7. The Everygirl: 

    This is actually a lifestyle blog, but they have beautiful healthy recipes as well as great tips on entertaining and the professional realm. I love their salads and breakfast ideas!

  8. Half Baked Harvest: 

    Some of the most beautiful food photography I’ve ever come across, hands down.

  9. Love and Lemons: 

    Their airy, colorful photos and designs make me want to try everything! Check out their most recent post, Sunshine Citrus Chia Bowls.

  10. Green Kitchen Stories:

    Beautiful vegetarian recipes and baked goods.

 

*Image: Creative Market