Cucumber Basil Salad

This is a simple recipe that I love to eat during the summer. I like to chill it in the fridge and eat it on my patio. For this recipe I used organic tomatoes from my parents garden and purple basil from my herb garden, any basil variety will work though.

The ingredients are simple:
2-3 basil leaves, cut fine with kitchen scissors
1 tomato, diced
1 cucumber peeled and sliced
2-3 tablespoons balsamic or apple cider vinegar

Just mix these wonderful garden ingredients ingredients together and enjoy under the sun.

Spicy Butternut Squash Skillet (Vegetarian)

My parents had a bunch of butternut squash from their garden and I took one home. I’ve never cooked butternut squash before and the only thing I could think of making was a heavy creamy, fatty soup, which sounds fantastic but is a big clean eating no-no. I opted for ADVENTURE and came up with this fun protien packed, vegetarian skillet. I think I enjoyed it more than creamy soup. Next time I have a spare butternut squash,however I’m going to make a clean version of the covetted soup.

Here’s what you need:
*1/2 butternut squash
*1 cup of quinoa, cooked (=about 1 1/2-2 cups after cooking)
*1/4 cup cilantro chopped
*1/4 cup onion diced
*2 cloves of garlic
*2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
*sriracha to taste (I used about 1/4 cup)
*1 cup of organic corn
*1 cup of black beans
* 1 tablespoon cumin
* 1 tablespoon chile powder

Squash Prep:
1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Cut butternut squash in half lengthwise. Remove seeds.
3. Pour 1/2 cup of water into a large baking dish. Place squash halves, flesh side down, in the dish.
4. bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until squash is tender and can be pierced with a knife easily
5. set aside and let cool for at least 20 minutes
6. Take 1/2 of the squash. peel skin from squash. I did this using a paring knife.
7. Dice the squash to desired size

Skillet Instructions:
1. Set skillet on medium-high. Add two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
2. saute onions and garlic
3. Add diced butternut squash and brown it. sprinkle chile powder and cumin on top of squash.
4. Add quinoa and turn the heat up to high to brown.
5. Add the corn and beans. Continue stirring to warm corn and beans.
6. Add desired amount of sriracha. The sriracha gives the dish flavor that compliments the sweet flavor of the butternut squash, so don’t be shy with it. If you can’t handle the spicy flavor of sriracha I recommend adding some tapatio or diced green chiles instead(but I havent tried it).
5. top with chopped cilantro.
6. Enjoy!

This is a really great dish if you want to eat a hearty vegetarian meal. The quinoa is a fabulous source of protein especially when paired with black beans.

Oh yes, and this recipe leaves you with half a butternut squash, as it only uses half. What should you do with it? I’m not sure what I’m going to do with mine yet, that’s why the blog is called clean eating ADVENTURES 🙂 I hope you use your other half for an adventure of your own!