Grilled Pineapple BBQ Shrimp Kabobs

I'm just gonna say it, grilling season is officially here! Okay, maybe not to everyone. But when it's warm enough to stand outside long enough to grill and the sun is shining, to me, it's grilling season. 

I recently tried Rootz Sauce's amazing sauces, one of which is a pineapple BBQ sauce (yes, you read that right - YUM). I decided to go with this pineapple BBQ idea and make some kabobs, and what better ingredients than shrimp, fresh pineapple, and some yummy veggies.

Here's What You'll Need:

-1 lb uncooked, de-veined, unshelled shrimp
-1 small container of fresh pineapple cubes (or feel free to cut up your own pineapple)
-1 small container of baby Bella mushrooms
-1 small container of cherry tomatoes
-1 red onion, cut into about 1 in chunks
-1 bell pepper, cut into about 1 in chunks
-1/2 cup of Rootz Pineapple BBQ Sauce

(Serves 4-5 people)

Instructions:

1) Marinate the shrimp in the BBQ sauce for at least an hour.
2) Soak your skewers in water for about 30 minutes or more before assembling your kabobs.
3) Preheat your grill and begin to assemble your skewers. Add at least one of each ingredient to a skewer, and double up where desired. I had at least 2 shrimp on each kabob.
4) Toss the kabobs on the grill, cooking for about 3-5 minutes per side. You can slather any additional BBQ sauce (from marinating) right onto the shrimp on the grill.
5) Remove from heat, serve, and enjoy!

Honesty, these are so simple. The hardest part is assembling the kabobs, and that's more time consuming than difficult. And trust me, it's worth it!

Let me know what you think in the comments below!
 

Gluten Free Almond Crusted Chicken Tenders with a Spicy Honey Mustard Sauce or Dressing

When I was a little kid my favorite food was chicken tenders and french fries. Great, I know (that was sarcasm). But that's literally the food I remember loving most for the majority of my childhood. To this day, I'm still a sucker for both, but I've found a way to health it up quite a bit without sacrificing the taste at all. I honestly think this tastes better than standard chicken tenders, and it won't leave your tummy hurting. Plus this spicy honey mustard dipping sauce is literally heaven in sauce form.

Here's What You'll Need:

-1 chicken breast, cut into strips about 1 cm wide
-1/2 cup almonds
-2 tbsp quinoa flour
-1/4 tsp black pepper
-1/4 tsp Himalayan sea salt
-1/4 tsp chili powder (you can skip it if you don't like spicy, but it really doesn't add a lot of heat)
-2 tbsp olive oil
-1 egg
-1 egg white

For the Sauce:

-1 tbsp Bushwick Kitchen's Bees Knees Spicy Honey
-1 tbsp German Mustard
-1/2 tsp Just Mayo

Instructions:

1) Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
2) Spray a baking sheet with coconut oil cooking spray.
3) Toss the almonds into a food processor and pulse until they're finely chopped. It took mine about a minute.
4) Toss the almonds with the quinoa flour in a bowl, and add in the salt, pepper, and chili powder.
5) Add in the olive oil to the mixture, mixing regularly as you do so. It will become a bit clumpy, but try to mix thoroughly.
6) Mix the egg and egg white together in a separate bowl. 
7) Dip each chicken strip into the egg mixture and then the almond mixture. Use your hands to spread the almond mixture over the strips, and add each to the baking sheet.
8) Toss the chicken into the oven and cook for about 12 minutes until the tenders are thoroughly cooked through. In the meantime, you can mix together the sauce ingredients.
9) Serve and enjoy with the spicy honey mustard dipping sauce.

It's SO GOOD, right?! It surpassed my childhood memories, so obviously I had to have it again. I decided to throw my second serving in a salad (spinach, arugula, heirloom cherry tomatoes, avocado, red onion) and top it with a spicy honey mustard vinaigrette this time. Just switch out the 1/2 tsp of Just Mayo for 1 tsp of Bragg Live Foods' apple cider vinegar. You can thank me later. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Sweet and Spicy Baked Tofu Collard Wrap

So I recently tried this Sweet and Spicy Table Sauce by Rootz Sauce, and it is absolutely divine. It's a delicious sweet sauce that packs a punch, hence the name. I was wondering what I wanted to put it on first, and tofu came to mind. Tofu essentially tastes like whatever you put on it, so this would really showcase the sauce. Toss it with some veggies, and we have ourselves a delicious, vegan meal.

Here's What You'll Need:

-One 14 oz package of firm tofu, pressed and chopped into cubes about 1 cm x 1 cm
-1/4 cup Rootz Sweet and Spicy Table Sauce
-1 tbsp arrowroot powder (optional)
-3 collard green leaves
-1 bell pepper, sliced
-1 cup alfalfa sprouts

Pre-instructions: If you don't know what it means to press the tofu, you want to remove most of the moisture from the block before chopping it. You can use a tofu press which I highly recommend investing in if you cook with tofu relatively regularly. You can also just place a heavy object, like a large can or a book on a cutting board on top of the tofu. You should press the tofu for about 15-20 minutes.

Instructions:

1) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2) Toss the tofu cubes in the arrowroot powder and then the Sweet and Spicy Table Sauce. You can skip the arrow root powder if you'd like or if you won't be serving immeditately. It just helps to crisp the tofu a bit.
3) Cook the tofu in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
4) Place 1/3 of the tofu in the center of each collard green.
5) Add 1/3 of the bell pepper and sprouts to each collard green.
6) Wrap the greens by folding in the bottom and top and rolling.
7) Cut each wrap in half, serve, and enjoy!

You can also add some additional sauce to the wrap or serve it on the side as a dipping sauce. I actually highly recommend it because that sauce is pretty darn good. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Healthy Cobb Salad with a Spicy Honey Apple Cider Vinaigrette

Cobb salads are a combination of some of the most delicious things. Their only downfall is they generally aren't particularly healthy. I was craving a Cobb but wanted it to fit into my normal eating habits without sacrificing flavor. So I decided to give it a little remix of my own.

I wanted to include most of the normal, delicious components. So this salad is all about moderation and healthier alternatives. I kept most of the whole, healthy ingredients, switched out bacon for turkey bacon, and still managed to get some blue cheese in there. I also decided to skip on the blue cheese dressing and replace it with a seriously delicious spicy honey apple cider vinaigrette. Trust me, the dressing makes the salad.

Here's What You'll Need:

-4 cups spring mix
-1 medium tomato, chopped
-2 eggs, hard boiled and chopped
-4 pieces turkey bacon, cooked and chopped
-1/2 avocado, sliced
-4 tbsp blue cheese crumbles
-2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (with mother)
-1 tbsp Bushwick Kitchen's Bees Knees Spicy Honey
-1 tbsp water
-1 tbsp olive oil
-salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1) Mix together the apple cider vinegar, honey, water, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
2) Split the spring mix between two bowls.
3) Top each bowl with 1/2 of the tomato, egg, bacon, avocado, and blue cheese.
4) Drizzle 1/2 of the dressing over each bowl.
5) Enjoy!

If you aren't a fan of spicy, you can switch out the spicy honey for traditional honey. But if you are a fan, you really need to try this. Spicy honey is SO good! Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Thai Peanut Turkey Burgers

I had the pleasure of trying Sky Valley's organic Thai peanut sauce recently, and I really mean pleasure. Honestly, it's just so freakin' good. So obviously I've been wanting to put it on everything. I used it on salmon and tofu, and then the brilliant idea came to me - turkey burgers. I decided to take the Thai peanut theme and run with it, and it was definitely a good choice. Top the burgers with some extra peanut sauce, and you will not regret it.

Here's what you'll need:

-1 lb ground turkey
-3/4 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
-1/2 yellow onion, chopped
-3 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
-1/4 cup Sky Valley Thai peanut sauce

Instructions:

1) In a big bowl, mix together all the ingredients thoroughly with your hands. 
2) Form the mix into 5 patties.
3) Grill each patty for 5-7 minutes per side depending on grill.
4) Serve, top with desired extra peanut sauce, and enjoy!

I enjoyed mine with some baked sweet potato fries and broccoli one night and on a bed of greens with veggies the next day. Let me know how you enjoy your burgers and what you think in the comments below!