25 January 2015

Baked Falafel with Creamy Tzatziki Sauce


I'm back at it! I love Greek food and falafel is one of my favorites, but it's usually fried and very greasy. I decided to make my own baked falafel at home using 100% ingredients bought at Trader Joe's.

You'll need:

1 can of organic chickpeas
2 tbsp of fresh dill
1/4 diced red onion
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 gloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of dried parsley
1 teaspoon of smoke paprika
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon of ground pepper
1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs
1 container of Tzatziki creamy garlic cucumber dip
...and a little Italian olive oil spray

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. 
Blend all ingredients (except for panko and Tzatziki) in a food processor until smooth. Empty blended mixture into medium sized bowl. Add panko to the mixture and fold it in until the texture feels  thick enough to ball up. Add a little bit more panko if necessary. 
Spray olive oil onto a baking sheet. Form the falafel mixture into 1 inch balls and place on baking sheet. After you're done placing all of the falafel balls on the baking sheet, spray the tops of the balls with olive oil.
Place the balls in the oven and bake for 12 minutes. After 12 minutes, take the baking sheet out of the oven and flip each ball. Bake for another 12 minutes.
Serve immeadiately with Tzatziki sauce drizzled on top and a little fresh dill for garnish.

16 December 2014

Tiramisu


This recipe comes from the always amazing Giada De Laurentiis. I love Tiramisu and Giada knows how to make it right. 

Here are the ingredients you need to buy from Trader Joe's:

1/2 Dozen of Cage Free Large Brown Eggs (use just the yolks)
2 containers of Mascarpone cheese
1 1/2 cups of cold strong espresso (made from TJ's Ground Espresso Blend)
3 tablespoons of Organic Coconut Sugar 
2 packages of Soft Lady Fingers
1/2 cup of 70% Dark Cacao Chocolate (shaved finely)

You'll also need to buy Dark Rum from a liquor store. Trader Joe's doesn't make rum yet.

Directions:

14 December 2014

My Little Tree


I bought another mini Christmas tree at Trader Joe's this year. Check him out! 

08 December 2014

Green Morning Smoothie



There's nothing more refreshing than starting your day with something green!

Ingredients (all from Trader Joe's):

1/2 very ripe banana, sliced
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup organic frozen spinach
1/3 cup organic frozen strawberries
2 scoops of vanilla flavored soy protein powder

BLEND & SERVE!

If it's not sweet enough for you, add some organic agave extract and blend again!

07 December 2014

Wholegrain Bagel with Ham, Egg & Cheese


This is my Sunday morning breakfast.

Ingredients (all from Trader Joe's):

1 High Fiber Multigrain Bagel
1 Fresh Grade A Large Brown
Cage Free Egg
1 Organic American Slice
1 piece of Uncured Black Forest Ham
Coconut Oil Spray

06 December 2014

Things I Eat With a Spoon: Cocoa Almond Spread

Trader Joe's Cocoa Almond Spread is to die for! I could compare it to Nutella, but I can't because it's not anything like it. It's not as sweet as Nutella which I enjoy because I'm not a fan of super sweet stuff. Also, Almonds > Hazelnuts in my opinion. You'll find me eating this out of the jar with a spoon at my desk. Sometimes I dip pretzels in it and it's also good spread on rice cakes. I highly recommend picking up a jar on your next trip to TJ's.

05 December 2014

Green Earth Salad


Ingredients (all sold at Trader Joe's):

Organic Power to the Greens salad mix
Organic Pea Shoots
Raw Sliced Almonds
Steamed Lentils
Sesame Seeds
Hummus salad dressing

No cooking, heating or prep work required. Just mix it all together and enjoy!

This is one of my favorite salads to make. It reminds me of a prepped salad bar item at Whole Foods. Sometimes I add a little salt and/or lemon juice for extra flavor.

PS: I decided to change up the format of this blog. Since I pretty much food shop exclusively at Trader Joe's these days, I'm going to blog exclusively about my Trader Joe's creations. We'll call this Trader Kristen. :) Thanks for reading!