I've been in a bit of a rut lately. Spring veggies haven't quite spouted, I am sick of soups and in all honesty, I haven't been really feeling like eating or preparing food. when this happens, I wind up not eating as nutritiously as I would like to; surviving mostly on corn tortillas stuffed with avocados and cans of vegetable soup. It seems that a trip to the grocery store has the same old staring back at me and inspiration is missing.

Sometimes, all it takes to get your creative culinary juices flowing again is to prepare dinner for someone else. It had been a while since I had seen one of my closest friends, an absolutely amazing woman, mom, wife, and person who I am eternally grateful to have in my life. She is a wise and beautiful person and I would be lost without her and it just so happens that she is also going through a healthy food revival and has recently gone gluten free, making her the perfect candidate to try out a new recipe that I had been mulling over.

Gnocchi is sometimes so very satisfying, little pockets of potato covered in sauce as opposed to noodles which can become downright boring. Gnocchi is not very difficult to make although it does take some finesse in order to obtain that light and airy consistency. As these are made with chickpea flour they are a bit denser than I would have liked but still held the sauce well and tasted pretty darn good and the best part is that they are great for you, even if you eat the entire pan (oops)!

The secret to these little pillows of delight is to roast the sweet potatoes first before mashing, I cubed it and then roasted for time consideration but you could definitely roast them whole as well. I tossed them with the flavors of the Mediterranean but feel free to use any sauce that you would like. Enjoy!

Gluten Free Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Olives, Tomatoes, Garlic and Spinach

Gnocchi

2 large Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 1 cup when mashed)

1 tbs Olive Oil

1 cup Chickpea Flour plus more for dusting (I ground up 3/4 cup of dried chickpeas as opposed to purchasing chickpea flour)

1 Egg

1 tbs Oregano

Pink Himalayan Sea Salt to Taste

Preheat the oven to 375. Toss the cubed sweet potatoes with 1 tbs of olive oil and salt, turning onto a baking sheet. Roast for 30 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are cooked through. Cool. Mash the sweet potatoes with a potato masher or the back of a fork. Stir in the egg, oregano and salt. Slowly stir in the flour until a dough forms that is firm and just slightly sticky. Put some chickpea flour onto your cutting board or counter as well as your hands and divide the dough, rolling into 1in. thick ropes. Cut the gnocchi into 1in. pieces, pressing your thumb into one side while using a fork the add striations to the other.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place half of the gnocchi into the boiling water, swirling so it doesn't stick to the bottom. The gnocchi is cooked through when it rises to the top. Remove from water and set aside, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid for the sauce.

Sauce

2 tbs Olive Oil

1 Onion, Sliced

3 Garlic Cloves, chopped

1 cup Cherry or Grape Tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup Kalamata Olives, chopped

2 cups Spinach

1 tbs Oregano

1 tbs Sage

1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper

Reserved Gnocchi Cooking Water

In a large skillet, heat the 2 tbs of olive oil. Add the onions, cooking until softened. Add the garlic, oregano, sage, and crushed red pepper, cooking until fragrant. Add in the tomatoes, spinach and gnocchi as well as 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking liquid. Cook down until the spinach has wilted and the tomatoes burst adding more cooking liquid if necessary.

Divide into bowls and serve topped with parmigiano if desired. Enjoy and healthy eating!

Today arrived with early morning fog, clouds galore, and rain pouring down. It would have been a perfect day to stay in bed with a cup of tea and watch Netflix but alas, off to work I went. As the rain continued to pound on the window outside of my classroom I had a craving for comfort food, mostly for sauce or as Italians call it, gravy. No, I am not Italian and in all actuality I hardly ever eat pasta but I really wanted that warm feeling that a good tomato sauce causes in your stomach. Now I know I just caused a bit of an uproar by stating that I hardly ever eat pasta but the truth is that it causes me to have insomnia. If i eat carbs for dinner I won't sleep the whole night. As an alkaline practitioner I like to focus on whole foods, especially vegetables. They make me feel good and they never make me lose precious hours of sleep! So instead of pasta I choose the amazing substitute, spaghetti squash!

I love spaghetti squash! It is so versatile, its flavor subtle, earthy with a hint of sweetness. I can bake it, nuke it, cube it, fry it, roast it, and more! I can use it as a base for any flavor combination from Asian to Latin and tonight I was headed into the Italian realm.

This recipe is quite simple but I did cheat - I bought a jar of tomato sauce! I was feeling so lazy and really just wanted to eat not cook sauce, although an arrabbiata sauce is not difficult to make (I have included a recipe at the end of the post). Now, I am not a person who goes for processed foods, I do not like jars and especially cans but if I am purchasing something processed, such as tomato sauce, I make sure to read the label. I have a rule, if I don't know what an ingredient is on a label then I don't buy it. The fewer the ingredients the better. So when buying sauce, I avoid anything with sugar, vinegar, or artificial flavorings or dyes. The arrabbiata I found was made with tomatoes, tomato puree, onions, salt, extra virgin olive oil, dried garlic, and crushed red pepper - perfect for the spaghetti squash. I also think that it is important for all of you who are trying to go alkaline to realize that you don't have to make every thing from scratch but you do have to be conscious of what you are buying and eating. Of course, I could have just thrown the sauce onto the squash and called it a night but I wanted to increase the alkalinity and the flavor by tossing in some roasted garlic, artichoke hearts and olives. Topped with some parmigianno or the equally delightful vegan version of ground almonds, garlic, and salt.

This is a great weeknight meal that is comforting and delicious!

Spaghetti Squash Arrabbiata with Artichokes, Olives, and Roasted Broccoli

1 Spaghetti Sqaush

1 Jar of good quality Tomato Sauce

1 head of Broccoli

1/2cup Artichoke Hearts in Olive Oil

1/2 cup Olives in Olive Oil

2 tbs Olive Oil

1 tbs Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

Vegan Parmigiano

1/2 cup raw Almonds

1 clove of Garlic

1 tsp Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the ends off of the Spaghetti Squash and then halve long ways. Scoop out the seeds. I personally save the seeds and roast them for a snack for later. Oil the insides of the squash with 1 tbs of olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place onto a cookie sheet or into a shallow pan cut side down and roast in the oven for about 40 minutes or until flesh is easily pierced with a fork.

Meanwhile, cut the broccoli into bite sized pieces. Toss the broccoli with the remainder of the olive oil and salt. Place into a separate pan and roast along with the squash (i divided my pan and placed the seeds in half and the broccoli in the other half in order to get two jobs done at once).

Remove the squash from the oven and let cool enough to handle. Scrape out the squash insides into a large saute pan. Place over medium low heat adding the sauce, broccoli, artichokes, and olives tossing to coat. Continue to heat until warmed through.

Divide the squash between 2 plates and toss with parmigiano or vegan parmigiano. To make the vegan parmigiano add the almonds, garlic, and salt to a small food processor or blender. Process until the mixture is broken down and looks like parmigiano. It can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.

Enjoy and healthy eating!

If you, unlike me this evening, are feeling like making a fresh arrabbiata sauce do not fret, it is rather simple and I have a great recipe for one. Of course it is best when fresh tomatoes are used but the ones in the store right now are a little less than lovely so canned whole tomatoes can also be used. Arrabbaita actually mean angry in Italian, it is a spicy sauce and thus derives its fiery name.

Arrabbaita Sauce

1 28oz can Plum Tomatoes or 4 fresh tomatoes

2 tbs Olive Oil

1 chili pepper or jalapeno, diced very small (you can used 1 -2 tsp crushed red pepper instead)

1 Onion, chopped

2 cloves Garlic, chopped

1 tbs dried Basil

1 tbs Dried Oregano

1 tsp Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

Heat oil in a saute pan over medium high heat, once it is glistening add the hot pepper and turn down the heat to low, cooking for about 5 minutes. You want the pepper to infuse the olive oil so that the sauce has a nice even heat throughout. Turn the heat up to medium and add the chopped onion. Cook until softened, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute more before adding the tomatoes to the pan, crushing them slightly to release their juices. Add the basil, oregano, and salt. Once the liquid has begun to boil, reduce the temperature to medium low and simmer for 10-15 minutes. add more salt to taste and enjoy!