I love experimenting with new ways to eat vegetables and have to say that I was ecstatic when it was decided that veggies would make a delightful substitute for carbs such as pasta and rice. If you are curious about the many ways in which you can use a variety of vegetables and fruits in a spaghetti, linguine, rice style fashion I would strongly suggest that you check out inspiralized.com, they have so many amazing inspirations for using vegetables as a base instead of a side and I absolutely love their website! Like LOVE!!

Today I was thinking about their rice recipe and how I could use it as a base to some delicious recipes. Now I was never a huge fan of plain old rice even though I have eaten my fair share of rice and beans! I have been a vegetarian since I was 14 years old, so that equates to about 9,000 people telling me all about my protein needs, if you ever went veg than you know exactly what I am talking about. Alkaline diets debunk the myth that you need exorbitant amounts of protein to be healthy, in fact most western diets consist of way too much protein. On an Alkaline diet you eat a wide variety of vegetables and therefore consume as much protein as you need, if I was a tri-athlete or a marathoner than I would definitely want to consume more protein but there is no need for me to eat 15 eggs a day and copious amounts of rice and beans. Which leads me back to the 'rice' in this dish it is actually shredded sweet potato and wow, was it perfect for my faux pineapple fried rice dish.

I personally love pineapple, it is one of my favorite foods by far. It is so sweet and tangy and burns my tongue in the perfect way and cooking it makes it even sweeter and more delightful. In this dish, I combines my sweet potato rice with fresh pineapple, onion, garlic, jalapeno, ginger, soy sauce, and sesame oil to make a light, satisfying, nutrient dense, vitamin c rich dish. I hope you enjoy!

Pineapple Fried Sweet Potato 'Rice'

Serves 2

2 medium Sweet Potatoes, shredded to a rice consistency

1 small Onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

1/2 Jalapeno Pepper, minced (optional)

1 cup Pineapple, diced

1 cup Kale

2 tbs Olive Oil

1 tbs Sesame Oil

1 tbs Soy Sauce

2in piece of Ginger, grated

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat until glistening, add the onion, stirring to coat. Cook for 3-4 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and jalapeno to the pan, stirring to combine, cook for another 2 minutes until well blended. In a small bowl combine the soy sauce sesame oil, and ginger, add to the pan along with the pineapple and kale. Cook for another 2 minutes or until the kale has slightly wilted and the pineapple is warm. Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds. Enjoy and healthy eating!

I keep pinching myself, its another 50 degree day in December and as this in the Northeast I know that it is too good to last and any day now the snow is going to come and my dreams of mild winters will be crushed! But for now I am going to enjoy the sunshine and my light coat and take long meandering walks through the woods while I pretend that it is in fact spring and the summer heat is around the corner.

The trouble with meandering walks though is that once finished, you are famished! I came home terribly hungry and no idea how to fulfill that hunger. I wanted something warm and tasty that made my taste buds zing with flavor but I also needed some energy to keep me motivated to complete all of my Sunday chores. So a search ensued and that is when I discovered the monster sized sweet potato in my pantry. I love sweet potatoes, they are so orange, starchy, and tasty while having beta-carotene, vitamin c, b6 and a host of other great benefits.

Now this sweet potato was frankly, huge and my stomach was definitely saying that I could polish it off (I was wrong) but I still wanted that zing and was feeling a little Mexican style flavoring. Enter the peppers, onions, and fresh corn that I had frozen from the summer as well as tomato, garlic, and chipotle peppers in adobe and I was starting to see something come together but I also wanted a little something snappy so out came the tri-colored quinoa and I was in heaven.

These meal was satisfying, hearty, and warming.

Chipotle Quinoa stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Serves 2

2 medium Sweet Potatoes

1/2 cup Quinoa

1 cup water

2 tbs Olive Oil

1 small Onion, chopped

1 Green Pepper, chopped

2 cloves Garlic, chopped

1 Tomato, chopped

1 cup Corn

1/2 Chipotle Pepper in Adobe (more depending on your desired heat level)

1 tbs Chili Powder

1 tbs Cumin

1 tsp Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

Avocado and Sunflower seeds for garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, poke holed in your sweet potatoes with a sharp knife. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a knife easily slides into the flesh.

Meanwhile, add the water and quinoa to a pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to simmer, covering and cook for 15 minutes. Set aside.

In a saute pan heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onion, peppers, and garlic sauteing until softened. Lower the heat to medium low and add the cumin, chili powder, salt, and chipotle chili in adobe. Stir to combine until fragrant. Add the tomato, corn, and quinoa.

Cut the sweet potato in half and top with your quinoa and vegetable mixture. Add sliced avocado and sprinkle of sunflower seeds. Enjoy and healthy eating!