#karmafree | KarmaFree Cooking

Tag Archives: #karmafree

Mediterranean Open-Faced Sandwich

Lately I have been kinda lazy… With lots of work and travel, I have not been the most creative in the kitchen, cooking from scratch for myself. For lunch or dinner, lots of sandwiches and snack foods. I know… not so good.

But I was training for a half marathon so I needed to get some good vegetarian protein in my diet especially for after my workouts. They help rebuild muscle when taken right after training. I sometimes turn to my trusted pretzels with hummus combination… or my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But I had gone to La Hacienda, a popular gourmet market and deli here in Puerto Rico and I had bought a garbanzo bean salad and this is what I came up with it… you can call it a pizza or an open-faced sandwich, but there’s no denying that you will certainly be adding “mouth-watering” and “addictive” to whichever name you choose.

OPEN-FACED MEDITERRANEAN SANDWICH

1 flat bread of your choice… I like FlatOut brand

½ cup of cooked garbanzo beans or garbanzo bean salad from La Hacienda

3 wedges of avocado

1 roma tomato, sliced

2 large handfuls of mesclun salad greens

Kosher Salt

Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

This is just assembling…

Drizzle and spread some olive oil to the flat bread and toast it in the oven… I like my flat breads crispy. I use the toaster feature in Light.
Take the toasted flat bread from the oven and place the garbanzo bean salad and the avocado wedges and mash it all together with a fork trying to cover as much flatbread surface as possible. You can sprinkle a little salt, pepper and olive oil to the mixture while you’re mashing.
Place tomato slices over the mashed garbanzo/avocado mixture.
Place mesclun greens or even baby spinach over the tomato slices. Season salad greens with a sprinkle of salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.
Cut into pieces using a pizza cutter… I found it was easier than using a knife.

Tip: I found the mashing worked best than leaving the garbanzos and avocados in pieces… they would roll off the flat bread and I ended up eating more out of the plate with a fork than over the bread itself. So that’s why I recommend mashing…

Tags: #karmafree, avocado, flatbread, food, lettuce, mesclun greens, tomato, vegetarian, whole grain

Comments 2 Comments
Categories main courses, sandwiches

KarmaFree Cooking is now part of the Qué Rica Vida Family

3 Nov

The last few months have been a whirlwind – Lots of work, lots of traveling and those who follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram have been privy to that, as I have found some time to post updates here and there, but unfortunately not a lot of time to develop new recipes and content the way you’re used and accustomed to from me.

As part of one of these trips I got to meet representatives of Qué Rica Vida, a great Spanish-language website and community that provides recipes, articles and great cooking inspiration to the Hispanic and Latin American public. Now, I am proud to announce KarmaFree Cooking is an official contributor for Qué Rica Vida, particularly helping them add variety and spice to their selection of vegetarian/meat-free recipes.

In the next few weeks, you’ll start seeing some KarmaFree Cooking recipes which will be featured in Spanish in the Qué Rica Vida site… but don’t fret, we’ll make those recipes also available to you in English as well. You’ll see the whole collection of KarmaFree Cooking recipes for Qué Rica Vida in a new category in our right-side bar.

If you’re bilingual… or just plain curious, I invite you to check out Qué Rica Vida’s site and their expansive collection of recipes. It’s a great space to gather some inspiration for the kitchen and to check out a few friends of KarmaFree Cooking – Sazón Boricua, ChecaLaMovie and Hungry Food Love.

Tags: #karmafree, food, vegetarian, vegetarianism

Comments 2 Comments
Categories KarmaFree Cooking in Qué Rica Vida, MY EDITORIAL

Fruit Smoothie with Fresh Baby Spinach

14 May

This was the smoothie recipe we shared at the 3^rd KarmaFree Cooking Class recently. I just wanted to share with the class how easy it is to add nutrition to a fruit smoothie by adding fresh spinach. The green flecks might be a bit strange, but the vegetable flavor is masked with the sweetness of the banana and berries.

If you prefer not to see any green flecks at all, you can try my Stealth Shake which has darker berries and the spinach is completely masked.

Also, you can boost the power of your smoothie by adding chia seeds, flaxseeds, maca all together or any of them individually.

FRUIT SMOOTHIE WITH FRESH BABY SPINACH

1 banana

4 strawberries

A handful of fresh baby spinach leaves

½ cup plain yogurt or kefir

1 cup passion fruit juice

A squirt of honey or agave nectar

1 tbs ground flaxseeds

1 tbs chia seeds

1 tbs maca powder

3 ice cubes

Blend all the ingredients in a blender.
Serve ice cold.

Tags: #karmaclass, #karmafree, baby spinach, banana, chia, flaxseeds, food, Maca, passion fruit juice, probiotics, strawberry, vegetarian, yogurt

Comments 1 Comment
Categories beverages, breakfast, KarmaFree Cooking Classes

Double Mustard Roasted Potatoes

12 May

These are an updated version of my Mustard Roasted Potatoes… double the magic, double the fun with two times the mustard. Dijon and Grain Mustard are my absolute favorite mustards and they make a zesty potato, worthy of celebrating the Moms in your life.

Great with a Tofu Scramble filled with tomatoes, peppers, onions and grape tomatoes. Super colorful, super tasty and great vegetable-based protein too.

DOUBLE MUSTARD ROASTED POTATOES

2lbs red-skinned potatoes, cut in fourths

3 tbs Dijon mustard

3 tbs whole grain mustard

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tbs Italian Seasonings

Salt and Freshly Cracked Black Pepper to taste

2 tbs Olive Oil and a little more to grease the baking sheet