Tag: vegetarian

Cauliflower Alfredo 

by Niki Chopra Richardson, posted in Health, Nutrition, Recipes

  • 2-3 cups cauliflower florets
  • 1 cup vegetable broth or 2% milk
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil or unsalted butter 
  • 2-4 cloves smashed garlic 
  • 1 tsp cumin powder (optional)

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the cauliflower florets till tender. (More than fork tender) use a slotted spoon to scoop them into a colander and then drop them into the blender along with the vegetable broth and blend till smooth. Don’t throw away the cauliflower water. 
Bring the water back to a boil and then cook your pasta in that water using directions on packet. Featured here is brown rice quinoa fusilli. 

Meanwhile in a large nonstick pan warm the oil and garlic cloves for a couple minutes and then add the cauliflower purée, cumin powder and sautée for 2-3 minutes till flavors blended. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. 

I choose not to toss all the sauce with all the pasta. Instead I use only how much I want on my plate so that when I reheat, I can get the same freshness each meal. 

Bon Appetit! If you make this, please let me know how  it turns out. 

Quick Sweet Potato and Any Veg Hash

by Niki Chopra Richardson, posted in Inspiration, Nutrition, Recipes


I have come to really enjoy sweet potatoes. I can’t however do that whole maple syrup brown sugar thing outside of Thanksgiving weekend, so to incorporate this amazing vegetable into my regular diet, I got creative and made this one pot dish! This was for Sunday morning breakfast, my family had it with eggs, I’m vegetarian (for now) so had a heaping portion of just this with sliced avocado. 

  • 1-2 medium sized sweet potatoes peeled, diced and par-cooked. (I have an instant hot water spigot at my sink so I fill a microwave safe bowl with the diced sweet potatoes, cover with boiling hot water, add the lid, pop into microwave and voila in less than 5 minutes depending on size of dice you can have fork tender potatoes. This works with room temperature water too, just requires a few more minutes – start with fewer minutes and work your way up. You don’t want them to get too mushy!) 
  • Chopped broccoli (fork tender cooked the same way as above, but only 1-3min depending on portion)
  • Diced green or colored bell pepper
  • Diced red onion 
  • Diced mushrooms
  • Basically diced any veg you want in here!
  • 1-2 T olive oil
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tsp garlic powder 
  • 1/4 tsp smoked paprika or 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 
  • Salt to taste 
  • Heat oil in a cast iron skillet with medium heat. 
  • Add sweet potatoes and sauté for 8-10min stirring occasionally. 
  • Add rest of vegetables and stir till well mixed with sweet potatoes. Sprinkle your seasonings over the veg mix and stir well. 
  • Sauté for a 3-5 more minutes to blend flavors.
  • Garnish with chopped cilantro (not pictured here) 
  • Optional: Add cooked brown rice or quinoa and sauté to blend to make a one pot meal! 

Indian Inspired One Pot Quinoa ‘Bhaji’ Veg. 

by Niki Chopra Richardson, posted in Inspiration, Nutrition, Recipes

  • 1 cup cooked Quinoa cooked according to package directions
  • 1T cooking olive oil
  • 5-7 curry leaves
  • 1/8 tsp mustard seeds 
  • 1/2 diced onion
  • 1 tsp each of cumin powder and coriander powder
  • 1/2 tsp each turmeric and salt
  • 1 small diced sweet potato par-boiled (I add it to a bowl of water and microwave for 3-5min till fork tender)
  • 1/2 cup diced bell pepper
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • Coriander leaves for garnish

Warm oil on medium high heat, add mustard seeds and after 30 seconds add curry leaves (warning: they will sputter). Add sweet potato and sautée till they start to turn brown 4-5min. Add peppers and continue to sauté 2-3min more. Add cooled cooked quinoa and stir to combine. Add cumin, coriander, turmeric and salt and stir to combine well. Continue to sauté until quinoa is warm again and everything is well combined. Sprinkle with the juice of one lime, adjust salt and serve with a garnish of chopped coriander leaves. 

I served it in a hollowed out avocado shell with fresh diced avocado on top! Yum! 

Brown Rice Quinoa Pasta with an Indian Spice inspired Pasta Sauce

by Niki Chopra Richardson, posted in Inspiration, Nutrition

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  • 1 medium diced onion
  • 1T evoo
  • 5-7 curry leaves
  • 2-5 cloves diced garlic
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp corriander powder
  • Jar of organic marinara sauce
  • diced fresh cilantro for garnish

Sautee the onion till golden brown, be patient. You don’t want glassy onion.
Add the curry leaves and watch out they will sputter
Add garlic and sautee mix for a minute or two
Add seasoning and stir it till well mixed and starting to smell fragrant; 1-2 min
Add in marinara sauce and mix well, let it simmer for 3-5 minutes
Toss in pasta cooked per package directions, I usually add 1-2T of light olive oil to the water to boil before adding pasta (I like to drain, then rinse and drain the pasta to get rid of the gooey-ness)
Sprinkle with fresh cilantro
Enjoy!
IF you make it, please let me know what you think!