using Siete foods cassava tortillas & new chorizo spice!

These fajitas are gluten-free, dairy-free, and oh so delicious!

I make these in a few simple steps with only one pan.

The main ingredient, or should I say “mane” ingredient, to this recipe is lion’s mane. Lion’s mane is a powerful mushroom that benefits your mood, memory, and focus + has tons of science-backed benefits. It has been shown to reduce inflammation & oxidative stress as well as protect against dementia just to name a few.

You may have heard about people adding tinctures and powders to their coffee or smoothie but I actually love cooking with the whole mushroom too! The same anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immune-supporting properties are found in the whole mushrooms too.

4 Siete Cassava tortillas or tortillas of choice

Avocado oil spray

1 red bell pepper sliced

1/4 red onion sliced

1 handful chopped lions mane

1 tbsp Siete foods chorizo spice

1 lime

1/4 cup tightly packed cilantro

1 sliced medium avocado

Slice avocado & cilantro.

Spray tortillas lightly with avocado oil & heat Siete cassava tortillas until warm and slightly crispy. Set aside.

Over medium heat saute red onion & red pepper, with salt + pepper to taste & set aside.

In the same saute pan, add a spray or more avocado oil & saute chopped lions mane mushroom with chorizo seasoning until soft (about 3-4 minutes).

Layer

Tortillas

Peppers & Onions

 Lions Mane Mushrooms

 Cilantro

Sour Cream (I use dairy-free kite hill brand)

Avocado

Enjoy! 

Slice Slice Baby. Sharing two of my favorite DIY Pizza recipes using Banza’s new naked pizza crust [made from chickpeas] + a GIVEAWAY on my IG to win some of your own!

If you have not tried this crust yet, I highly recommend it! I get mine in the freezer section of my local whole foods. The naked crust is my favorite because I like to get creative with my own DIY recipes but they have a bunch of flavored pies as well.

Make sure to check out my PERKS page to save on some of the brands I use to bring these pizza pies to life.

Here are two of my new favorite DIY’s…

Buffalo Chickpea Pizza + Pesto Pizza with a balsamic glaze

Pesto Pizza with a Balsamic Glaze 

1 Naked Banza crust

1/4 cup pesto sauce [I like Gotham greens vegan pesto]

1 small roma tomato sliced longways into thin pieces

3 tbsp pine nuts

1 cup of arugula

salt and pepper to taste

balsamic glaze [I like Nona Pia’s Balsamic Glaze from wholefoods]

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Watch as it cooks, oven temperatures and times vary.

Remove from oven with tongs or a spatula.

Add arugula, pine nuts, and a generous amount of balsamic glaze.

Slice & enjoy!

Buffalo Chickpea Pizza 

Cauliflower:

1/2 – 1 cup cauliflower broken up into small pieces

2 tbsp buffalo sauce + 1 tbsp melted grass-fed butter combined

Pizza:

1 Naked Banza crust

1-2 tbsp of buffalo sauce [I like primal kitchen]

1/4 sliced red onion

1 handful of thin-sliced cherry tomatoes

1 chopped scallion

Cilantro microgreens, or cilantro chopped to your liking

1 sliced small avocado

Dollops of dairy-free sour cream [I like Kite Hill]

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Before making the pizza, break apart the cauliflower into small pieces. Toss cauliflower in buffalo sauce & butter mixture, lay on the baking sheet, and bake for 10-15 minutes at 350 F.

Remove cauliflower, increase the temperature to 400F and prepare pizza.

Watch as it cooks, oven temperatures and times vary.

Remove from oven with tongs or a spatula.

Add other toppings: sliced avocado, cilantro microgreens, green onion, and dairy-free sour cream.

Slice & enjoy!

With so many delicious recipes on the internet, I have always found it hard to find a single-serve go-to recipe to make on nights where it’s just me.

If you are looking for a comforting & quick throw it together meal at the end of the day I got you! This single-serving Pumpkin Vodka Pasta can be made in 15 minutes and with minimal ingredients. Double the portion to serve to two or triple the portion to serve to three.

You will need: 

1 tbsp EVOO or avocado oil

1/4 small red onion diced

2 garlic cloves minced

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp pumpkin puree

1/2 cup unsweetened cashew milk

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp oregano

salt and pepper to taste

cooked pasta of choice

1 tbsp reserved pasta water

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley  (optional)

To make:

Cook pasta accordingly (I used Banza’s Bowties) & reserve 1 tbsp of pasta water before straining.

In a sauce skillet, heat oil. Add onions and saute until translucent.

Add spices ( red pepper, garlic, oregano) and use a rubber spatula to move spices around for a few seconds.

Add tomato paste, pumpkin pure, cashew milk, and pasta water and mix again.

Pour strained pasta over the sauce & add fresh parsley.

Add salt and pepper to taste, enjoy!

These muffins are inspired by my carrot cake muffin recipe! The carrot cake muffins came out so good I wanted to play around with swapping the carrots for apples and see how they’d come out. Super happy with the final product!

What’s pretty cool is you can now make apple muffins + carrot cake muffins at the same time for your family and let them choose which ones to enjoy each day. Make the same batter wet and dry and instead of adding carrots or apples you can split the batter in half and add 3/4 cup carrots to one bowl + 3/4 apples to the other. The nuts are an option should you choose to use walnuts or pecans if combinding the two.

These muffins are gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and can be made vegan friendly too!

If were making apple spiced only muffins follow the guidelines below!

You’ll need: 

1 1/2 cup chopped apples

1/2 cup Grass-fed butter, ghee, or vegan butter (room temp for easy mixing)

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg (or one flax egg if vegan)

1 cup almond or cassava flour

2 tsp pumpkin spice

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Optional: Simple Mills Vanilla Icing + more pecans for topping

To make: (makes 10-12)

Preheat the oven to 350 and line the muffin tray with muffin cups

Chop apples and set aside

In a mixer mix butter, coconut sugar, vanilla extract, egg or flaxseed egg.

Remove the bowl, add the dry ingredients, and mix with a rubber spatula until form.

Toss in pecans and apples

Spoon into 12 muffin cups and bake for 30 minutes

Cool for 15 minutes to set

Enjoy as-is or spoon some simple mills icing for a delicious twist on a healthy dessert.

Light, Refreshing, and the perfect dinner to enjoy with family & friends. 

This recipe involves a handful of easy steps and can be made in under 30 minutes.

Clean up is minimal. 

Serves 3-4

Ingredients: 

1 Bag of @butcherbox scallops (or enough for 3-4 people)

1 large bundle of broccolini chopped

2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes

2 tbsp capers

1 lemon juiced & zested

1 tbsp Olive or Avocado Oil + spray for searing scallops

Spices (crushed red pepper to taste, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp parsley, 1 tsp garlic)

Pasta of choice, I used homemade linguine from Tuscany  (3-4 servings)

Set up: 

1 pan to sear scallops

1 pot to make pasta

1 pan lined with parchment paper to roast ingredients

1 bowl to mix herbs, oil, and lemon

To make: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a pan with parchment paper. Add broccolini and tomatoes to the pan, spray with oil, and roast for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, add water to a pot with some sea salt & bring to a roaring boil.  Add pasta & cook accordingly (stir often) reserving 1 tbsp of pasta water.

While vegetables are roasting & pasta is cooking to the desired time prepare other ingredients. Make the scallops. Spray a pan with olive oil spray, add a dusting of salt and pepper to the scallops and sear 3 minutes on each side until cooked through.

Juice + zest the lemon and add to a small dish with spices, olive oil, pasta water, and capers.

Strain the pasta & add to a bowl with your small dish of lemon, oil, and spices.

Pull the broccolini and tomatoes out of the oven and use the back of a large spoon to gently smash the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes and broccolini to the pasta dish.

Serve with optional fresh herbs such as fresh parsley, basic, etc.

As much as I love spending time in the kitchen, I also love my 15-minute meals. These Wild Shrimp Fajitas take 15 minutes to make and will hit all the right taste buds. They are the perfect solo meal or you can share them with the whole family.

For equipment, you’ll need to gather a large cutting board with a sharp knife for prep and two saute pans for the cooking process. For ingredients, you’ll need bell peppers, red onion, cilantro (or dried cilantro), Wild Shrimp, Taco Seasoning, Siete Cassava Tortillas, Celtic sea salt, lime, and your favorite fajita toppings which I’ll share mine below.

Ingredients: (Serves 3-4)

Avocado oil (I like to use avocado oil spray)

1 package of @sietefoods cassava tortillas

4 servings of Frozen Wild Shrimp (defrosted)

1/4 Red onion sliced

1-2 Bell Peppers sliced

1 tbsp Taco Seasoning (I like @sietefoods)

1 lime

Fresh Cilantro to taste (dried works too)

Sea salt to taste

Optional Extras: @sietefoods cashew queso, @kitehillfoods sour cream, Avocado

To make:

Start by heating 2 skillets over the stove with a little avocado oil. I like to use spray.

In one skillet, heat some avocado oil and add the wild shrimp with the 1/2 the taco seasoning and saute until the shrimp are cooked through. At the same time in the other skillet Saute the onion and peppers with the other half of the taco seasoning until the peppers are soft and onions are translucent. Add sea salt to taste to each skillet & a little fresh lime juice.

Remove both the onions & peppers + shrimp from the heat, and whip off the pans clean. Use those pans to heat the cassava tortillas 1 minute each side over medium heat. Do this for as many tortillas as you need.

Assemble the fajitas. Lay the onion and pepper mix over the tortillas followed by the shrimp and toppings of choice. Here I added some dairy-free sour cream, cashew queso, fresh cilantro, and lime.

Tag me on @nutritionbysam if you make them so I can see how they came out!

Wild Salmon, 30 Minute Sheet Pan Meal

For busy moms, students, or those who just have a lot going on, sheet pan meals are the best for those throw it together ideas for dinner or a fast meal prep! The best part about sheet pan meals is once you pop it all in the oven, you can go do things around the house like fold the laundry, read a chapter of your book, or take care of the kiddos for you moms out there.

All you need for this recipe is (4 servings)

3-4 filet Wild salmon

2-3 cups chopped fingerling potatoes (chopped small)

1 large bundle of asparagus spears

Primal kitchen sesame ginger dressing

Salt and pepper to taste

To make:

Preheat the oven to 350F, assemble the fish, veggie, and potatoes over parchment paper and drizzle with 1/8- 1/4 cup “ish” sesame ginger dressing.

Bake for 30 minutes. Depending on your oven you may want to start the potatoes for 10-15 minutes before adding the salmon and veggies. I like mine super crisp so I tend to give the potatoes a few minutes extra before adding the veggies and fish. 

(Use code nutritionbysam10 for 10% off primal kitchen https://www.primalkitchen.com)

Video & photo credit: @Abelguerrero & @Frankie.bags from @boardwalkproductions

A pinch of spice, super savory, & refreshing 

A Buddha bowl is a vegetarian meal, served in a single bowl that consists of small portions of several foods and colors. Buddha bowls are one of my favorite meals to make because they are fast and have a very minimal clean up. Although buddha bowls are typically served cold, I love roasting up one or more types of vegetables and adding them into the rotation.

Buddha bowls are a great way to boost nutrients in your diet because you can challenge yourself to try to add 3-4 colors or more and increase micronutrients. Every color carries its own unique micronutrients which help our bodies thrive down to the cellular level.

Ingredients: Serves 2-3 people 

1 tbsp avocado oil

1 jar of jovial chickpeas

a few stalks broccolini

salt & black pepper to taste

1 tbsp simply organic foods curry powder

1 tomato chopped

2-3 handfuls baby spinach

1 avocado chopped

1/4 red onion chopped

1-2 tbsp hemp seeds

Dressing of choice: I used Primal kitchen BBQ ranch but you can also use fresh squeezed lemon juice and avocado oil for a more basic dressing.

To make: 

Heat your oven to 350 degrees F & line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Add chickpeas and broccolini to cookie sheet & toss in avocado oil, salt, pepper, and curry powder. Bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare other ingredients. Add baby spinach to a bowl along with chopped tomato, avocado, red onion, and hemp seeds.

When chickpeas and broccolini are done, transfer to bowl with all the other ingredients. Add dressing of choice and enjoy.

NOTE: I sometimes have this over brown rice or quinoa as well, but today I chose to have it over a bed of spinach. 

I am a big fan of quick meals I can toss together in about 15 minutes or less. This recipe was one of them. I took my traditional greek salad recipe and added some pasta to make a more comforting meal. Fresh cut red onion, olives, fresh parsley, fresh arugula or any other greens, hemp seeds, chopped tomatoes, and primal kitchen greek dressing. The recipe is as simple as making some banza pasta meanwhile chopping up the greek salad ingredients and tossing them together. Here’s how its done:

You will need: (makes 4)

1 box of banza pasta

1 tomato chopped

1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley

1-2 handfuls fresh arugula

7 chopped olives

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1/4 cup primal kitchen greek dressing

3-4 tbsp hemp seeds

To make:

Chop and prepare all ingredients while cooking the banza pasta. Reserve 1 tbsp pasta water before straining and add to a bowl with pasta and other ingredients.

Immune boosting, detoxifying, and warming. 

Soups are one of my favorite things to make this time of year for all the reasons above and more. This soup requires very little prep time and can be made in one pot + blender. I use my Vitamix to pure the soup but you could also easily use an immersion blender to keep clean up even more minimal. Soups can often look or feel intimidating but 30 minutes tops, and you have a simple and delicious curried cauliflower soup.

Why Cauliflower? With its rich supply of phytonutrients and high level of anti-inflammatory compounds, it seems there isn’t much this vegetable is unable to do. In the last few years there have been more and more studies showing that cruciferous vegetables (cauliflower being one of them) are an excellent source of natural antioxidants as well as a powerful source of essential vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phenolic compounds.

Cilantro is my favorite soup garnish. Some love it, some hate it, but regardless cilantro has an overwhelming amount of antioxidants and other medicinal compounds that have a huge impact on overall health and wellness.

Garlic contains flavonoids oligosaccharides, amino acids, allicin and high levels of sulfur to support detoxification and over all wellness.

The health benefits of ginger are largely due to its antioxidants and anti inflammatory affects. The compounds found in ginger that lessen inflammation are  gingerol, shogaol, paradol and zingerone.

What you need:

2 tbsp EVOO

2 shallots chopped

1 inch ginger minced or graded

2-3 garlic cloves minced

1 tbsp simply organic curry powder

1 pinch of black pepper

2 medium carrots peeled

1 head cauliflower chopped into florets

2 cups mineral broth, vegetable broth, or bone broth

15 ounces of full fat coconut milk (unsweetened)

GARNISH: Lime, cilantro.

To make:

Heat EVOO in a stock pot or dutch oven.

Add shallots, ginger, garlic and sauté on low until shallots are soft and somewhat crisp. Next add spices and sauté a few seconds more.

Add carrots and cauliflower florets.

Add broth and coconut milk & cover with lid.

Turn to medium heat and let it cook for 15 minutes with the lid closed.

One cooked, add the soup to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth.

Garnish with lime & cilantro.