Salted Matcha Latte

During the season of all things hot except the weather, the salty-sweet combo has invaded in the form of chocolate covered pretzels, salted caramel, and salted hot chocolate. My favorite bubble tea shop in Atlanta even has a tasty sea salt latte that I unfortunately never order simply because their milk teas are even better.

If salted hot chocolate is good, wouldn’t a salted matcha latte be amazing? Steamy milk mixed with delicious rich matcha, raw honey and a pinch of matcha salt. Definitely amazing.

Salted Matcha Latte

serves 1

• 3/4C milk – use whatever you find palatable to drink. I recommend cow’s milk, soy, coconut, or flax. 
• 1/4C hot water plus more for warming cup
• 1/2 to 1tsp matcha
• 2 pinches (about 1/8tsp) matcha salt – can easily be made with a ratio of 2:1 sea salt to matcha powder.
• Honey or sweetener to taste

 Keeping your 1/4 cup of hot water separate, pour the rest of your hot water into the serving cup and set aside. Heat milk until hot but not boiling, either 1-1:30 minutes in the microwave or 4-6 minutes on the stove. If you have a milk frother, use it to create a thin layer of foam on top of your milk.

Dump the hot water out of your cup, and add matcha to the empty cup. Pour 1/4C hot water over the matcha and whisk until completely dissolved and foamy. If you do not have a bamboo whisk, a handheld milk frother works as well. If you have neither, use a fork or a blender to get a smooth texture with no clumping. 

Pour milk over matcha and stir to combine. Add 1 pinch of matcha salt and honey to taste, then sprinkle 1 pinch of matcha salt on top. Enjoy!

 

I can already tell that this recipe is going to be a staple throughout the winter, and may also lead to something like matcha-chocolate covered pretzels. 

What is your favorite salted treat during the winter months? If you don’t like the salty-sweet combo, what is your favorite hot winter drink?

 

Summer Avocado Bibimbap/여름 비빔밥

Why yes, I am vegetarian!

The heat of summer brings back memories of hot humid days and delicious spicy Korean food. Whether it be spicy cold noodles or a refreshing sashimi rice bowl, cold and spicy is the way to go for summer!

I cooked some quinoa this week, so I decided to make an easy summer bibimbap, with quinoa, avocado, fresh veggies and bulgogi marinated “beef”. Aforementioned bulgogi is completely optional, but I had some morningstar soy crumbles to use up and a bottle of Bibigo bulgogi sauce in the fridge.

Easy Summer Avocado Bibimbap/여름비빔밥

serves 1

• 1/2C quinoa, cooked
• 1/2C lettuce/greens mix
• 1/8 avocado, sliced lengthwise
• 1/4 cucumber, cut lengthwise into eighths
• Bulgogi beef optional, see below for recipe
• 1Tbsp Korean chili paste (gochujang, 고추장)
• 1/8tsp sesame oil optional
• 1/2tsp sesame seeds optional
• 1 egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute

1. If you plan to use the bulgogi beef, prepare this first and set aside to cool (see below for recipe).

2. Pierce the yolk of the egg and pan fry until fully cooked. Set egg aside to cool. Typically bibimbap is made with a raw egg and the heat of the rice cooks the egg as it is mixed in, but as this is a cold dish it is necessary to cook the egg first. 

3.Put cooked quinoa in the bottom of your bowl. If you are using sesame oil, toss the quinoa with the sesame oil until evenly coated. 

4. Add lettuce/greens on top of the rice.

5. Imagine that you are dividing your bowl into four sections. In one section, put the cucumber slices, facing inwards towards the center of the bowl. In the second section, put the avocado slices, also facing inwards towards the center of the bowl. If using the bulgogi beef, add it to the third section of the bowl. The fourth section is left empty to allow the greens to show through.

My bowl was clearly too tiny to do this, so don’t worry too much about making it look perfect! If your bowl is too small just make sure to give each topping its own little space.

5. Top bowl with fried egg.

6. Add chili paste to taste in the center of the bowl, on top of the fried egg. 

7. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired.

8. Mix it all up and enjoy!

 

How to Prepare Bulgogi Beef

This is not really a recipe at all! There is a whole process behind creating your own bulgogi marinade, but I went the easy way and used Bibigo’s Korean BBQ Sauce. It is (probably) available at your local HMart! 

The bottle makes about 5 lbs of beef, so use it sparingly! The company recommends to marinate for at least 30 minutes, preferably overnight. It works best this way, but if you are in a fix, just throw a few teaspoons into your meat while it cooks! 

I used Morningstar’s soy crumbles but this should work just as well with ground beef. I pan fried about two cups worth of the “meat” with just enough marinade to coat but not overpower. I used about 3Tbsp of the bulgogi in my bibimbap and refrigerated the rest for later.

Delicious Detox Water

Have you ever realized how mint tends to grow over anything in its path? With three gallon-size bags of fresh mint in the fridge, I am mourning the sad loss of my other herbs. Mint is nice in tea, water, and hot chocolate (too hot out!) but it still grows faster than I can use it.

The solution?

Detox water.

This lemon-cucumber-mint detox water has become my favorite drink right after I wake up!

Delicious Detox Water:

• 1/2 large cucumber
• 1/2 lemon
• 2-3 sprigs fresh mint
• filtered water

Wash cucumber, lemon, and mint thoroughly. Do not peel. Slice cucumber and lemon into thin rounds. Put the sliced cucumber and lemon in a 2-liter pitcher along with the fresh mint. Fill pitcher with filtered water and refrigerate overnight before drinking. 

This water should last for at least a week, but remember that the ingredients are fresh, and will eventually go bad! If you want it to keep for longer than a week or two, I highly recommend straining the water into a separate pitcher and disposing of the fresh ingredients. That being said, the water does get more flavorful as time passes.

What are your favorite ways to detox?

 

Fresh tomatoes!!

Look forward to recipes…

Dinner at Seasons 52

Matcha Breakfast Bowl!

Matcha Breakfast Bowl

Are you as obsessed with matcha green tea as I am? If not, you should be.

Matcha has a rich, deep flavor. It tastes amazing when combined with the right flavors, but the taste can easily be overpowered. In addition, the quality of the matcha matters. It should have a vibrant grass-green color, not a muddy dark green color. It also begins to lose flavor after 6 months, and should be kept in the refrigerator to keep it fresh. But this isn’t just a post about matcha – I’ll do one talking about matcha in all of its awesomeness in the future!

I wake up early and usually want a nice boost of energy to start my day. This breakfast bowl can be made in spoonable or smoothie form, and can be made light as a snack or thick as a meal. Made with chia, ground flaxseed, protein powder, bananas, milk, and matcha, this smoothie is designed to wake you up and keep you full for hours. I drink this for breakfast at least three times a week because it makes me feel great!

Matcha Breakfast Bowl

makes 1 serving

• 1 cup milk of choice (I like using almond or flax) or water
• 1 ripe banana, frozen and cut up into chunks
• 3/4 cup crushed ice (use 1/4-1/2 cup for smoothie version)
• 1 TBSP protein powder, plain or vanilla (I use NutriBiotic vegan rice protein powder)
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1/2 tsp flaxseed
• 1/2-1 tsp matcha powder
• 1 scoop superfood powder or 1 cup greens optional
• choice of sweetener optional

Blend everything together (yes, it’s that easy!). If your banana isn’t ripe enough and/or your protein powder is unsweetened like mine, you may want to add some sweetener to taste. The finished product should be about as thick as regular yogurt, and easy to spoon.

Post-blending

 After blending, just pour your smoothie into a bowl and add your favorite toppings. I added a few sprinkles of homemade quinoa granola to add extra protein and add a crunch factor. Unsalted nuts, seeds, and fruit work great as toppings! 

If you want to make a lighter version as a snack, you can make it with just the banana, liquid, ice, and matcha. You can use as little as 1/2 banana with similar (but thinner) results. 

What’s your favorite way to energize in the mornings?

 

Heaven on Organic Avenue

 

 

Matcha… and Chia?? Heaven in a bottle!

Have you ever tried anything from Organic Avenue?

I have.

Last winter, I stopped by Organic Avenue on a whim while wandering the streets of New York City. At the time, I purchased my first-ever chia pudding and a tasty green juice. That experience had me hooked on chia pudding for weeks.

This time, I came prepared.

After months of itching to make tasty energy bites (and a long-time hatred of peanut butter), I stopped in at Organic Avenue to find some quality almond butter. 

Heaven in a jar

I found this amazing product – Cinnamon Maca almond butter by JEM. It worked great in my matcha energy bites (recipe pending), and I have found myself sneaking tastes in the morning – it definitely helps to boost energy levels.

As obsessed with matcha as I am, I couldn’t ignore the lovely “matcha chia glow” drink calling to me from the refrigerated section. This beverage is both creamy and non-dairy, and the matcha flavor stands out with a richness that prevents it from seeming bitter.

 

Organic Avenue always has samples and the staff is very knowledgable and helpful. I strongly recommend stopping by if you are in the New York City area. I’m hoping that I will be able to write about their 3-day cleanse in the near future!

 

A Transformation

This is not my first food blog. This blog is about living a healthy, happy life. It is about the beauty in life, about appreciating every moment, every scene, every taste. 

On this blog you will see recipes and reviews of delicious, healthy foods that not only taste good but leave you feeling good. 

A bit about me: I am a 20 (almost 21!) year old university student located on the East Coast of the United States. I am an equestrian and I love to cook. 

So here’s a question, What’s your favorite healthy recipe?