Avocado & Sausage Bagel Sandwich

August 4, 2017 Kathleen Henry

If you’re looking for a scrummy spin on a regular ol’ sandwich, bagel sandwiches can’t be beat. This one is packed full of flavor from onion bagels, herbed cream cheese, a dash of seasoning salt, and carries a hint of sweetness from apple and sage sausage. Piled high with fresh spinach, zucchini, and avocado, this is a truly delicious way to get some greens in.

Avocado & Sausage Bagel Sandwich - Produce On Parade - If you’re looking for a scrummy spin on a regular ol’ sandwich, bagel sandwiches can’t be beat. This one is packed full of flavor from onion bagels, herbed cream cheese, a dash of seasoning salt…

I'm not a big sandwich person, but I love a good bagel sandwich and this one is the best.

We needed lunch, and fast. Something quick and delicious and it was too hot to turn on the oven. I had a cucumber and bag a spinach from our CSA in the fridge, with a very ripe gifted avocado and a tub of gifted herbed cream cheese (they meant to buy the plain kind); this bagel sandwich just came together!

It's best served al fresco, with an alcholic cream soda on the side... but don't take my word for it.

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Avocado & Sausage Bagel

Recipe by Kathleen Henry @ Produce On Parade

Yield: 2

Ingredients

2 onion bagels, toasted
4 tbsp Tofutti Herbs & Chive Cream Cheese
sprinkle of seasoning salt, to taste
1 Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage Sausage, halved and sliced lengthwise
½ cup fresh spinach
½ ripe avocado, sliced thin
½ medium cucumber, coined

Cooking Directions

Toast the bagels, then spread each half with 1 tbsp of cream cheese. Sprinkle with a dash of seasoning salt or regular salt.
Divide and layer the remaining ingredients between the two bagels and enjoy!

Healthier Avocado Vodka 'Cream' Pasta + Classico Riserva Giveaway

June 2, 2016 Kathleen Henry

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Classico Riserva for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

A healthy and modern twist on traditional vodka cream pasta. Avocado stands in for heavy cream, smokey TVP packs a vegan protein punch, and swiss chard gives itself for a nutritional boost. This pasta is everything; creamy, meaty, cheesy, and so darn delicious. Whips up in the time it takes to boil the noodles!

I just love it when a recipe comes together so, so perfectly. Todd adores vodka cream pasta. Me? Not so much. It's always been way too heavy for me and let's be real, it's obviously not that nutritious; heavy cream, cheese, vodka, and ground meat... it makes my arteries wanna clog up just thinking about it!

It was time something had to be done about this. So, I created my own version! In this healthier take on vodka cream pasta, I use avocado instead of heavy cream, TVP instead of oily ground meat, and added an entire bunch of swiss chard for a boost of nutrition. I couldn't believe what a couple wonderful, creamy avocados could do to kick heavy dairy to the curb. This will definitely be a staple in our house. I'm telling you, wonderful things happen when you have two aging avocados mingling about in your fridge.

A couple jars of Classico Riserva pasta sauce were eyeing me from the pantry and I knew I wanted to do something fun with them. They Riserva sauce line is free from artificial ingredients and added sugars! I wanted to create a dish that was as sophisticated and delicious as this thick and savory pasta sauce itself and a vodka 'cream' sauce was just the ticket.

Riserva comes in five, slow-simmered flavors: Arrabiata, Roasted Garlic, Marinara, Eggplant Artichoke, and Puttanesca. Perhaps the greatest thing about the new Riserva line (besides everything else I've already listed) is that all the flavors are totally vegan. Yay!! Usually I have to scour the ingredient lists (which is always lengthy for some reason) on the back of pasta sauce jars, but not with Riserva! In addition, these sauces only contains a few ingredients, as they should.

I'm also hosting a giveaway for three full-price coupons for this new sauce. Tell me in the comments what dish you'd like to make with Classico Riserva to be entered to win. Winners will be drawn at random and will close on 6.6.16 at noon EST. Open to U.S. only. Thank you, Classico Riserva for sponsoring this post! Open up a bottle of the good stuff! *** This giveaway is no CLOSED, thank you!***

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Healthier Avocado Vodka 'Cream' Pasta

By Kathleen Henry @ Produce On Parade

Published 05/20/2016

Ingredients

1 lb pasta of choice (I like penne ), dry
⅓ cup vodka
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 28 oz jar of Classico Riserva pasta sauce
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp liquid smoke
2 ripe avocados, pitted
½ cup TVP (textured vegetable protein)
½ cup vegan shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)
1 bunch of chard, destemmed and chopped

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat for the pasta. Cook according to package until al dente, about 9 minutes; drain and return to pot.
While the pasta boils, simmer the vodka in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes until it’s reduced by half.
Add the pasta sauce, nutritional yeast, liquid smoke, and avocados to a blender; blend on high until completely smooth. Transfer to the reduced vodka and stir in the tvp. Cover and simmer an additional 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the chard to wilt; cover and continue to simmer for 2 minutes.
Over low heat, stir the sauce into the pasta to combine. Stir in the cheese ; serve hot.

Yield: 6

Yum

Oil-Free Protein Blueberry Muffins

May 2, 2016 Kathleen Henry

These scrumptious, colorful muffins are studded with wild blueberries and spiced with cinnamon and cardamom. Thanks to avocado and tofu, they are oil-free, egg-free, and vegan! With less than 170 calories and a whopping 5g of protein per muffin, you can feel good about eating these cruelty-free beauties. Adapted from Gimme Some Oven.

Produce On Parade - Oil-Free Protein Blueberry Muffins - These scrumptious, colorful muffins are studded with wild blueberries and spiced with cinnamon and cardamom. Thanks to avocado and tofu, they are oil-free, egg-free, and vegan! With less than …

“You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside. ”

— Wayne Dyer

Oh, friends. These muffins are soooo delicious. I honestly didn't even think I'd be able to post them in fear that they would be rather dense and need tweaking. Yet, alas they were as soft and creamy as could be and just basically freakin' amazing. They're super easy and pretty healthy too. Let me know if you make them and what you think!

I made them this weekend as part of my procrastination plan. Now that our house building has ceased and it's spring, Todd and I should be delving into the maze of confusion and terror that is landscaping. Mission: LAWN! As currently, we just have... dirt #newhouseproblems I can't wait to plant some flowering crabapple and lilac trees, a ton of yummy veggies, and berry bushes. Alas, I'm trying not to be overwhelmed by it all. I like to say, I inherited the great love of all things plant related from my family... but not the green thumb or necessary know-how to actually do anything besides keep my house plants alive and a few potted herbs, kale, and tomatoes.

So, to pacify the rather harsh critic that is myself, I've decided just to do not much of anything except drown myself in books. It's an avoidance thing. Why do anything when I don't even know where to start!? This whole story brings me to my actual point: I'm almost finished with a new all-time ever favorite book. It's called Every Heart a Doorway and no, it's not a romance in the least. Check it out and let me know if you do read it or have read it and what you thought! Keep up with what I am reading by taking a peek at my Goodreads account on the right sidebar. Okay, now onto muffins! Which, coincidentally go great with a cup of coffee and a great book :)

Their tie-dye coloring is the most fun thing ever and for some reason made me uncommonly happy. It's the little things I guess!

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FYI, when using silken tofu I really like this brand (I'm not affiliated). It doesn't have a strong tofu taste at all!

Oil-Free Protein Blueberry Muffins

By Kathleen Henry @ Produce On Parade

Published 05/02/2016

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cardamom
1 medium ripe avocado, pitted and skin discarded
1 12oz package of silken firm tofu (must be silken!)
¾ cup vegan granulated sugar + extra for sprinkling
1 ½ tbsp ground flaxseed
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups frozen blueberries

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a muffin tin with 12 muffin liners. Whisk together the flour through the cardamom in a medium bowl and set aside.
With the whisk attachment beat the avocado, tofu, and, sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until very well combined; about 2 minutes. Beat in the flaxseed and vanilla extract to combine. Remove the bowl from the machine and set aside.
Stir the frozen blueberries into the dry mixture to coat them. Stir the dry mixture slowly into the wet mixture with a wooden spoon until just combined. The batter will be very thick.
Evenly distribute the batter into the 12 muffin liners (they will be filled above the top a little bit) and sprinkle the top of each with a dusting of granulated sugar if you like. Bake for 30 minutes until slightly golden brown around the edges.
Remove and allow to cool for about 5 minutes in the pan before placing the muffins on a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Yield: 12