Make it Crave-Worthy! Archives

I was shooting for a quick, healthy way to cook a bag of organic baby carrots … and, OH did I come up with one! Can’t wait to hear if your family loves this as much as I do!

Grab a bag of baby carrots … and cut each one in half lengthwise (so they stay long, but are just thinner). I hear you groaning, but this takes about 4 minutes and gives you way more surface area, which you’re going to want.

Meanwhile (while you’re chopping the carrots), heat a large cast iron skillet up on medium high to high heat – as high as it can take. When it’s hot, add 1 tbsp of coconut oil and let it melt.

When melted, add the sliced carrots (see, that was fast, right?) to the pan and push them around so they are as much in a single layer as possible. Now the important part – DO NOT MOVE them for at least 3-4 minutes, or until you see charred bits developing on some of the bottoms. Really important – it’s the charring that makes a difference. Once the bottoms develop a char, stir them around a bit, let them char some more, and repeat until you’re starting to worry if you’ve cooked these carrots too much (you haven’t). At that point, turn off the heat, sprinkle the carrots with sea salt to taste, and cover. Leave covered for about 3-5 minutes, or until the carrots are fork-tender.

From this point, your choices are:
– Eat them exactly as they are (yeah, I’ve eaten them straight out of the pan, too :-))
– Sprinkle with your favorite vinegar or squeeze of lemon for acidity (my favorite – I LOVE the vinegar – kind of like smoky Salt/Vinegar chips, only clean eating!)
– Toss them in a bit of curry powder, and lime if you like
– Toss in hot sauce and honey

Craveworthy, HEALTHY pizza!

Hint: all that greasy cheese actually doesn’t even have that much flavor – you won’t miss it!

Use thin-crust, light-on-the-cheese pizza as a base, and then PILE on the veggies! Pretty much anything goes – onions, peppers, arugula (my fave), garlic, broccoli, eggplant, sweet potato, kale, zucchini (sliced thinly using a peeler) etc. Pile it on and eat salad with your hands!

(My favorite tip) Saute a huge handful of pressed garlic cloves in a little olive oil, add a little parsley, and use as the sauce, as a topping, or as a dipping sauce for your pizza. Adds mad flavor, fun, and the healthy goodness of garlic!

When you make homemade pizza, experiment with using very light cheese, or no cheese at all! Or, switch in unexpected cheeses with more flavor than mozzarella – like gorgonzola. A little goes a LONG way on flavor!

Another way to amp up flavor and healthiness is with herbs: try oregano, rosemary, thyme … and of course, crushed red pepper!

Pizza re-heating tip: place it in an iron or stainless steel skillet with just a tiny bit of oil … heat over medium heat, cover at the beginning if needed to warm up toppings. The crust will be crispy and delicious!

Avoiding gluten? Some of the new cauliflower-crust recipes are AMAZING, and taste/feel just like regular thin crust!