Red Lentil Stew spiced with turmeric, garlic, and lots of harissa. This recipe is vegan, gluten-free, and made in a slow cooker!
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Red Lentil Soup with Harissa
Tag: gluten free
Thai Marinated Cucumbers and The World is a Beautiful Place (and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die)
Does anybody (besides me) like the smell and idea of pickles but not actually like pickles themselves?
Because I’m finding that I have that kind of relationship with pickles. I want to like pickles, I just have a hard time with them for some reason.
Probably cause I’m a weirdo.
Which is coincidentally what my roommate thinks I am after I took him to see The World is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die (or to shorten it: The World is a Beautiful Place/TWIABP)
Oh, you don’t know who that is either?
I’m not surprised actually, but you should check them out. I’m a little bit in love with them <3
(ily TWIABP)
Uhhhhhh…back to the pickle thing now?
I’m not huge on pickles, although I am trying, but I looooove Thai marinated cucumbers. I don’t know how you couldn’t. They’re kind of sweet and vinegar-y and go great with chicken satay with peanut sauce or homemade ramen just sayin’. Also, they’re way healthier than pickles, so there’s that.
And you should try them about rightthisverysecond.
Okay?
Ingredients:
1 cucumber
1/4 c. rice vinegar
2 Tbs. sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
Red chili flakes, to taste
Slice your cucumber. I really like pickling cucumbers for these because they’re super crunchy, but I couldn’t find any at the store this time, so a regular one works just fine! (Also, this is like, half a cucumber because that’s just what happens sometimes).
Whisk together the vinegar, garlic, sugar, salt, pepper, and chili flakes.
Pour vinegar mixture over cucumbers.
Mix together. Let marinate for about 20 minutes (or longer if you like it really strong) and then pour out extra vinegar.
“Hey Sara, you need to go get your nails done now”–you guys.
“I know, I’ll try to do better in the future”–me.
(Thank for loving me anyways) (Even when I enter weird made up commentary mid directions).
Put these on everything.
XO Sara
Song of the Day: Space Exploration to Solve Earthly Crises–TWIABP (fitting, yes?)
Also ft. Chris Zizzamia who does an awesome spoken word/poetry collab with the band which you will hear in this song! Cool, right?
Balsamic Marinated Steak with Roasted Vegetables
Midterms are over. I actually think I can hear angels singing right now…
It’s nice having a life after major tests are over.
To celebrate Halloween (and Nevada Day!) and the end of midterms, some of my family and I went to Disneyland. Which was super fun and amazing and Disneylandish.
Me and my mom’s Halloween costumes in Disneyland! Can you guess who I am?
…
Lately, my roommates and I have gotten into the bad habit where about once every week or two, we stay up too late drinking craft beer (or cranberry vodkas in my case) and doing ridiculous things. Last night we ended up getting nerf guns at Wal Mart at midnight so we can ignore our priorities and hide behind corners to shoot each other with little styrofoam darts.
College, right?
Luckily, I still do things that most college kids don’t do. Like voting, caring about important issues, making nice meals…
I haven’t given up yet guys.
However, let me tell you now: It gets dark around Reno at about 5 starting in October, so the prep pictures are pretty dark, and this meal is not the prettiest.
However, it does look very comfy and winter-y and I promise you, it’s so good. And it only takes about 30 minutes of actual work. The rest is marinating/cooking time. It’s worth it. I swear.
Serves 2
Marinade:
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 tsp. Dijon, to taste
2 tsp. dried rosemary
1/2 Tbs. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. lemon pepper
Salt, to taste
Ingredients:
2 thinly cut sirloin steaks (or whatever steak you prefer)
1 zucchini, cut in larger chunks
1 red bell pepper, sliced
2 red potatoes, thinly sliced
Olive oil
Garlic powder and Onion powder, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
In a bowl, whisk together marinade ingredients.
Add 4 Tablespoons to steaks. I put my thin steaks in ziplocs with 2 Tbs. of marinade each, and let them marinate for 2 hours. You can do overnight if you like, but definitely do at least a couple hours!
Cut zucchini into larger chunks. I cut them into four spheres and then cut those into fourths. If that makes sense?
Slice red bell pepper. Remove seeds!
Mix veggies in a bowl with remaining marinade. Let marinate for a couple hours also.
When you’re ready to prepare dinner, dice potatoes into thin chunks.
Preheat oven to 400* F. Place potatoes on a foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. *The reason I did not marinate the potatoes with the rest of the vegetables is because they did not get crispy when I marinated them. You could try to mix them with marinade to make it easier. Totally up to you!*
Remove veggies from marinade and place on baking sheet. Discard remaining marinade. Bake veggies for 30-40 minutes, or until tender.
About 8 minutes before veggies are done, pan fry your steaks to desired doneness. This is for thinly cut sirloin steaks. If you use regular steaks, allow yourself more time to make steaks. Alternatively, you can grill them. Which I would have done if it wasn’t 45* outside.
Serve steaks over roasted vegetables. You can cut the steak into strips if you want pretty steak, or you can just leave it whole to make it easy.
Balsamic + Steak + Roasted Vegetables = So good and so healthy. I was a happy Sara.
Until next time, my friends.
XO Sara
*Song of the Day*: Low Light Assembly–The World is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die
Beef, Vegetable, and Wild Rice Soup
With fall making its slow appearance, all I can think about is soup at all times. Even when it’s too warm for soup (a.k.a. right now, or even in the summer), soup is a (not so) guilty pleasure that I look forward to year round. Right in the midst of midterms and projects, I’m always looking for easy, one-pot meals that can be simmered away while I study. Enter beef, vegetable, and wild rice soup: a wholesome meal made in my dutch oven served with crusty, whole-grain bread and a simple, garlic-y side salad. After a long day, nothing is better than cuddling up on the couch with this soup. I promise.
This soup can be changed based on whatever veggies/meat you have in your fridge. Add onions, turnips, potatoes, replace chicken for the beef, use brown rice instead of wild rice, add some thyme, etc. Just throw your veggies, meat, and rice into a pot. Walk away for an hour or so. Come back. Bask in the glory of fresh veggies + earthy rice + seasoned beef. Dinner plans finalized.
Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 lb. stew meat, cubed
1 carrot, sliced
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 qt. low-sodium beef broth
1/2 c. red wine
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1/2 tsp. parsley
Few drops Tabasco
1 beef bouillon cube
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 c. wild rice
1/2 c. frozen peas
1 zucchini, sliced
Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot. Brown the beef for a few minutes. Add carrots, celery, and onion and cook until it starts to sweat. Add garlic and wild rice. Slowly stir in beef broth, red wine, marjoram, parsley, Tabasco, bouillon cube, salt, and pepper. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until the vegetables and wild rice are tender. Lastly, add frozen peas, and zucchini. Simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
*Notes*
You can use full sodium beef broth and exclude the bouillon cube if you prefer. I just like being able to control how much salt goes into the soup, and I found this yields the best results.
Zucchini and peas are added last so that they do not get too soggy,
*To make in a crockpot*: I have actually never done this, but I do not think it would be too hard. Just ad all of the ingredients excluding the rice, peas, and zucchini. Cook on high 4-6 hours or low 8-10 hours. Add rice, peas, and zucchini 30 minutes-1 hour before serving.
XO Sara
*Song of the Day: Trailer Trash–Modest Mouse*
(Crockpot) Light Zuppa Toscana
I have been surprisingly social all weekend. I went to a football game on Friday (we won!) (Go Wolfpack!) and then my roommates and I spent the rest of the night with Schofferhofer Grapefruit Hefeweizen and Cards Against Humanity. If you have never played Cards Against Humanity, let’s just introduce you to their slogan : A party game for horrible people.
And that it is.
Just take a look at their website. Or check out this and this.
I also spent my Saturday night bar hopping with one of my best friends/pseudo cousin. Except that I had to drive home so my bar hopping experience was mostly just me getting leaned on by a bunch of drunk people.
Good times right?
The whole drinking and Cards Against Humanity thing ties together because:
1. Most of the time, if you’re playing Cards Against Humanity, you are simultaneously drinking.
And 2. When I told my roommate, “The only two games I know how to play are beer pong and Cards Against Humanity. What does that say about me?”, his response was, “You’re an evil alcoholic.”
So there’s that.
And now about Zuppa Toscana. It is that delicious soup at Olive Garden with sausage, potatoes, and kale. The broth is lightly creamy and a little spicy.
It is also 220 calories for a bowl of it at Olive Garden. That doesn’t seem tooooo bad, until you consider that it has 15 g of fat and 990 mg of sodium in it. And when you consider that you’re going to have another bowl of it. And a glass (or two) of wine. And probably some type of pasta. And that salad, which also doesn’t seem too bad until you see that there are 150 calories, 10 g of fat, and 760 mg of sodium in it. Also, don’t forget that you’re going to eat like, 4 of those bread sticks (140 calories, 2.5 g fat, 460 mg sodium)
Holy shit, what is in this stuff?
Anyways, I definitely recreated the recipe and lightened it up quite a bit. I calculated it all up and it was about 350 calories per serving. The recipe serves 4, so you get quite a big serving of soup for less than 400 calories. Also, you just throw it in a crockpot. So easy guys.
Ahem.
*thunderous applause*
*The recipe was originally from Fix it and Forget it, but has been changed dramatically*
Ingredients:
6 c. low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 c. whole milk or half and half
2 carrots, grated
3 russet potatoes, sliced
4 cups kale, chopped slightly
1 lb. turkey Italian sausage
Dash salt and pepper
Sprinkle of garlic powder
Sprinkle onion powder
1/4-1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
Parmesan cheese, for sprinkling
Grate 2 carrots into your crockpot.
Pour in chicken broth.
And the whole milk/half and half.
Slice up your potatoes.
Add them to your broth.
Brown the sausage.
Add it to your broth.
Sprinkle your spices!
Cook for 3-4 hours on high, stirring every once in a while.
1 hour, I REPEAT, 1 HOUR before serving, stir in kale. If you do it any earlier, it will be grossly soggy. Do you want soggy kale? Do you?!
No. You really don’t.
Serve with a light homemade salad and some whole wheat rolls. Sprinkle it with a little parm.
Yum yum yum. This is definitely going to be my fall favorite.
Bonus: It’s gluten free naturally!
It doesn’t taste exactly like the Olive Garden version, but it’s pretty damn close for a light version. Sometime (when you feel really naughty) go ahead and use regular chicken broth, cream, and pork Italian sausage. Or just go to Olive Garden and really go all out. I’m normally not a fan of chains, but I still love Olive Garden every once in a while.
But just make this, okay?
XO Sara
Chicken Satay with Coconut Peanut Sauce
What do you do when you don’t have any bamboo skewers in your BBQ drawer in your kitchen?
You just make chicken satay without the skewers is what you do.
The moral of this story is that nobody is perfect but you should do what you do anyways.
Like yesterday. I went to the grocery store and got my groceries for the week. I then proceeded to pay at the checkout line, smile at the bag boy, get in my car and drive home. I walked through the door with my bags of groceries, put them away nicely in the fridge and pantry, and went to my bathroom to get a hair tie. It was at that moment that I looked in the mirror and noticed that my (very cute) button down flannel was unbuttoned all the way to the bottom of my bra. My boobs were hanging out. You could see my whole bra.
How long did I walk around like this? Good question. I have NO idea. None. At all.
I like to think that maybe some nice lady at the grocery store would have told me about my fashion faux pas had the whole dilemma happened in the store (as opposed to the car or at home).
I also like to think that if somebody was not that nice, at least I made a few peoples’ days hopefully.
The mystery remains unsolved, but at least I always have chicken satay to make me feel better from embarrassing moments.
Because if coconut peanut sauce doesn’t make you feel better after a rough day, something might be wrong with you.
Or maybe not, but I do question your morality.
Chicken (Serves 2):
1 chicken breast
1/2 c. low fat coconut milk
1/2 tsp. yellow curry powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tsp. soy sauce
1/4 tsp. siracha
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp. ginger, grated
2 tsp. brown sugar
Sauce:
1/3 c. low fat coconut milk
3 Tbs. natural peanut butter*
1/2 tsp. soy sauce
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 Tbs. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. yellow curry powder
*Use natural peanut butter, like the stir kind with the natural oils. The kind made without any sugar. If you look in the ingredients, it will only list peanuts. I promise, it tastes so much better (and it’s better for you!)
Cut chicken into long strips. You want them to be fairly thin.
Place them in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
Pour coconut milk over chicken.
Add curry powder, soy sauce, siracha, garlic, ginger, and brown sugar.
Stir together. Wrap with plastic and marinate for 1 hour to overnight.
Once they’re nice and marinated, grill until juices run clear, about 2 minutes per side over medium heat.
While the chicken cooks, combine sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and cook on medium heat until warmed through.
Serve with brown rice, broccoli, green beans, or Thai marinated cucumbers.
I personally serve mine with tons of peanut sauce, because I’m practically obsessed! I may or may not have eaten the leftover sauce with a spoon. But that’s another unsolved mystery.
Also, this would be great to serve to a crowd. Super easy and super quick! One of my favorite last minute meals.
XO Sara
Black Bean and Corn Guacamole
“Hey, Sara. Why are you taking pictures of that guacamole?”
“Errrrrrr, uhhhhhm, weeeeelllllllll…..”
I feel like that just summed up my life in two sentences.
That was a quote from one of my roommates. Sometimes it takes a while to openly admit that you’re a food blogger. Not that I’m ashamed. Just that it’s not something that just comes up all the time.
Until your roommate walks in, practically smacking you in the head with the front door while you “rap squat” with a camera pointing directly at a bowl of guac. Don’t know what the “rap squat” is? Check this out here. That should sum it up for you/give you a good laugh.
Anyways, yeah, guac. I’m pretty sure that I’m allergic to avocados considering I never feel all that great after eating them, but I don’t care. Because they’re worth it. Why are they so good?!
This guac has corn and black beans in it, like that really great salsa, except that it’s in guacamole! Yes, please and thank you.
But Sara, doesn’t regular guacamole have tomatoes and onions in it?
Uhm, don’t you have something better to do? Shouldn’t you be watching Netflix or something? I recommend It’s Always Sunny. (No, Netflix is not compensating me for that comment. But I am interested Netflix. Need a cute little redheaded spokesgirl? Sorry, was that conceited?).
But for real, the answer is yes. But I hate raw onions and I forgot tomatoes at the store. You may add them if you want. I just did not have the necessary ingredients with me. Sorry ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Let’s get started!
Ingredients:
1 avocado
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 lime, juiced
1/4 tsp. onion powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 drops Tobasco, or to taste
1/4 c. corn (fresh, frozen, canned, your choice)
1/4 c. black beans (I used canned. Make sure to drain and rinse!)
Cut your avocado in half, around the pit. Jam your knife into the pit and yank it out. Just twist a little, it’ll come out. Don’t cut your hand! You can do this guys.
Put the avocado in a good mashing bowl with your garlic, lime juice, onion powder, salt and pepper, and Tobasco.
Smash it with a fork!
Screw the fork, this is taking to long. Use a potato masher.
Oh yeah, I don’t have a potato masher.
The fork works.
Stir in black beans and corn!
Serve with these! They’re way healthier than regular corn chips and they’re way more delicious!
Again, not being compensated. Again, interested.
This should serve 4 regular, healthy sized portions. But we all know you’re going to eat half of it like me. Don’t be like me, kids. Do yourself a favor. Learn portion control.
You know what, avocados are really good for you, eat however much you want.
And let me know how that goes.
Tips:
1. To find a good avocado, take the little stem off. If it’s green, it’s ripe! If it’s creamy white/tan, it’s not ripe. If it’s dark brown or black, it’s bad!
2. To keep guacamole from going brown and goopy, cover it with water. Then just dump it out and stir whenever you want to eat it. Kind of sounds gross, but it’s not (it’s just water) and it’s better than brown clumpy guac. The reason it works is because food can’t oxidize in water! Yeah, science bitch! (Breaking Bad, anyone?)
XO Sara
Song of the Day: Honestly?–American Football
Crockpot Baked Potato Soup
I know that it’s June. I know that it’s in the 90s and even reaches the 100s. But I can’t get over soup.
However, it was 75 degrees in Reno all day today, which is totally acceptable soup weather if you ask me.
Especially if you’re making baked potato soup. Baked potato soup is special. Believe me. I made it for a group of friends. One claimed it was “the best she’s ever had”. Now that’s a compliment if I’ve ever heard one.
Ahem.
On another note, do you fellow food bloggers ever notice random things in your photos? Like a reflection of you taking a picture in the spoon? Ha.
Before I give you this recipe, please note that I do not normally use “cream of anything” soups. I really prefer to make most of my food from scratch, but sometimes it’s nice to have a semi-homemade meal. If you also do not like using cream soups, just give it a chance, you’ll thank me 😉 (Also, this soup definitely should only be eaten on occasion, for the sake of your waistline!)
Ingredients:
1-30 oz. package frozen hashbrowns (the cubed kind)
28 oz. chicken broth (may want more for thinner soup)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
Toppings: bacon, cheddar cheese, sour cream, green onions
In a crockpot, combine hashbrowns, chicken broth, cream of chicken soup, cheddar cheese soup, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Cook on low for about 8 hours. 30 minutes before serving, add cream cheese and stir until melted.
Top bowls of soup with bacon bits, cheese, sour cream, and green onions, or whatever you feel like 🙂
Serves about 6-8.
I personally like to add lots of bacon and cheese. Weird right? Also, I served these with pretzel rolls from my local bakery. Ah-may-zing.
As I mentioned earlier, this is not a soup for those on a diet. But it’s so easy, and so good for a crowd that you should make it for family dinner or movie night sometime. And then let me know how you like it (or love it?).
*Bonus: If made with gluten free cream soups, this recipe is perfectly gluten free! Remove the bacon and it’s vegetarian!*
XO Sara
Mascarpone Pudding Filled Strawberries
This weekend I have a Moulin Rouge party I’m going to for my friend Molly’s 30th birthday so I’ve been spending the majority of my day baking a gluten free cake and a hundred cupcakes and making a bunch of sugar diamonds.
*deep breath*
But now I’m lounging in bed watching Friends and blogging. Also, my left contact is super blurry but I’m going to ignore that for the time being. And by that, I mean it’s staying in there until I take off my makeup and go to bed.
I’ve been up since 6 a.m. I’m losing the power to care about little annoying things anymore.
Completely shifting topics here, strawberries are in season right now which means I’m going through an obsession with them. They’re just so sweet and red and beautiful in the late spring. And they’re the perfect start to summer.
I’m sure you’ve seen those cream cheese filled strawberries before. They’re pretty popular, and they’re super delicious. This past weekend I considered making them, but right now I’m kind of over cream cheese frosting (since that’s pretty much what the filling is). Cream cheese frosting to me is just completely overused, and I was looking for something a little lighter.
Enter mascarpone pudding filling. Yeah, like in tiramisu (without all the coffee and chocolate and stuff, of course). Also like in canolis. Honestly, how amazing can this cheese be?
The store I shop at actually only has mascarpone creme which has the consistency of cream cheese and is super smooth. If you can find this stuff, use it. Trust me…just use it.
Ingredients:
1 lb. strawberries
3 egg yolks
1/3 c. sugar
Dash of salt
1/3 c. cream or whole milk
8 oz. mascarpone cheese
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Pistachios and chocolate chips for garnish!
First make the pudding: This is where I goofed and forgot to take pictures. Yep, sounds like my brain right? Luckily, it’s super easy. Just whisk the eggs, sugar, salt, and milk in a medium sauce pan. Heat over medium high heat until it starts to boil. Boil for a few minutes, or until it is thick like pudding. Remove from heat, and bring to room temp. Using a hand mixer, beat in the mascarpone and vanilla extract. Refrigerate it until ready for use.
Now for strawberries!
Begin by washing the strawberries. Here’s a tip so their juices don’t start running: wash them by rubbing them with a wet paper towel. It takes a little longer but it’s way better than runny strawberries!
Now remove the stems and cut a little off the top!
Cut each strawberry into quarters, BUT DO NOT CUT ALL THE WAY THROUGH. Otherwise they won’t make very good mascarpone pudding holders (;
Arrange them nicely on a pretty plate.
*Blurry picture alert*
*Blurry picture alert again oh my* Fill the strawberries with the pudding. I just cut a little tip off of a ziploc and filled it with pudding, but it would be pretty with a little tip too. However, I kind of like my rustic looking filled strawberries. (Rustic meaning slightly messy).
Top them with pistachios or chocolate chips or both! I personally loved the pistachios myself, but the chocolate chip ones were also popular at the BBQ I brought them to (:
Overall, I would say these took anywhere from 40 minutes-1 hour. Not too bad if you ask me! (Plus, they were a HUGE hit).
Try them out and let me know how you like them!
XOXO Sara
Healthy Dirty Rice
I know, it’s been like, a month.
But on the bright side, I got great grades from all of the finals I was studying for. When I say that, I mean that somehow I got a full 100 on my calculus exam. If you’re sitting here stunned, just know that I have been feeling that way since I found out two weeks ago.
I seriously don’t know how that happened.
Another plus is that I’m doing great in my three week mini class.
Three weeks, three credits. No biggie.
(Kind of a biggie).
On the bright side, I have definitely not forgotten all about the blog. I actually have a bunch of great stuff coming up for you guys. And in approximately a week and a half, I will be completely off of school and lots of great stuff will be coming your way!
But first, let’s start off with dirty rice. I can recall a few times when I was little where my mom made the boxed Zattaran’s stuff on super busy nights, but we realized pretty soon after that we were not huge fans of the boxed dinners.
Luckily, dirty rice is super easy to make at home and tastes 10x better than Zattaran’s. This is easily a 30 minute meal (excluding the rice prep but still…). And, if you didn’t already expect this, the recipe is healthy. Shocker right?
*Disclaimer: This is NOT traditional dirty rice. Traditional stuff uses chicken gizzards and livers and other leftover chicken parts. Now, I know that they’re just some chicken parts, but they are just chicken parts I can not wrap my head around eating. So therefore, I went the Zattaran’s route and used ground beef. Also, this recipe was created completely according to taste/whatever I had in my kitchen so the spices may or may not be traditional. End of disclaimer.*
Ingredients:
2 c. cooked long grain brown rice
1/2 lb. ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 tsp. ceyenne pepper, or to taste
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. dried mustard
1/4 tsp. dried marjoram
1/2 tsp. parsley
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 beef bouillon cube, dissolved in 1/4 c. hot water
Cook rice according to package directions. Set aside when finished.
Chop up veggies! Yes, those are dried onions. Yes, I forgot to buy a real onion.
Saute the veggies until soft.
Brown the beef. Add garlic and saute until fragrant. (Blurry picture alert. Whoops!)
Oh yeah, and dissolve that little guy.
Add rice and spices to the mixture.
Mix it all together and add beef bouillon mixture. Let simmer until the liquid is absorbed!
Serve to a group of very happy peeps.
Also, please note that you should adjust spices as needed for your tastes. I decided to not use much salt since I used a beef bouillon cube. Just taste and adjust accordingly.
Serve this with a nice little side salad and you have a delicious dinner that will make the whole family happy!
*Vegetarian/Vegan: Replace ground beef with zucchini, tofu, eggplant, and other veggies. Replace beef broth with veggie broth.
*Gluten Free: This recipe is gluten free
*Paleo: Replace rice with cauliflower “rice”.
XOXO Sara