Vibrant Health Hub

27/11/2025

Zesty Green Pea and Jalapeño Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves
- 3/4 cup fresh mint leaves
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
- juice and zest from 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/4 cups fresh garden peas or defrosted frozen green peas
- 3 cups dried fusilli or rotini pasta
- pinch of sea salt
- 1 shallot or small red onion, chopped
- 4 sun-dried tomatoes
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black, green or white pepper

Preparation
Soak the sun-dried tomatoes in hot water for 20 to 30 minutes. Drain and chop.

Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water according to package directions. Two minutes before the pasta is finished cooking, toss in the remaining peas.

In a small food processor, process the sun-dried tomatoes, 1/4 cup of the peas, basil, mint, shallot or onion, garlic, jalapeno, lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper with 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a small food processor. Process until smooth.

Add another tablespoon of olive oil if the pesto is too thick to process.

Drain the pasta and peas and toss with the pesto.

Serve hot or warm, or cold as a salad.

Source: foodandspice

26/11/2025

Autumn In A Bowl Soup
Ingredients
- 1 large butternut squash
- 6 carrots diced
- 2 ears of corn
- 1 bunch of fresh sage chopped
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 1 bunch Large of kale roughly chopped
- 2tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 6 cups of water

Preparation
First peel the squash. Then cut up squash in cubes.

Heat pot up, and add olive oil, then add diced squash. Saute squash for 5-10 minutes or until softened. Next add in onion and garlic, saute for another 2-3 minutes, until onion is translucent.

Add water, bell pepper, corn, and carrots.

Let cook for 40 minutes.

Add kale and sage last 15 minutes of cooking.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Source: Foodista

25/11/2025

Green Tomato Salad
Ingredients
- 1 large green tomato
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of sumac powder
- A handful of sage and mint leaves, finely chopped

Preparation
Slice the tomato into thin round discs.

Roll the mint and sage leaves into a tight ball and then chop it up finely.

Add to the olive oil and sumac to make a dressing.

Drizzle over the tomato slices

Source: Foodista

24/11/2025

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Sage
Ingredients
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- olive oil, for drizzling
- 1/3 cup sage, minced
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 3 pounds sweet potatoes

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400In a large bowl, toss thinly sliced sweet potatoes in olive oil, sage and garlic.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Transfer sweet potatoes to a large roasting pan.

Bake in preheated oven on middle rack for 30-35 minutes until sweet potatoes are tender.

Serve warm.

Source: Foodista

23/11/2025

Red Kidney Bean Jambalaya
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup dried brown rice (2 cups cooked)
- 2 medium carrots, sliced
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- 2/3 cup dried kidney beans (2 cups cooked)
- 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 medium eggplant, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
- 3 handfuls of green beans, chopped
- fresh ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons ground sage
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon liquid smoke, to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1 small white or red onion, diced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon sriracha or other hot sauce
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced
- 3 cups vegetable stock

Preparation
Rinse the kidney beans and brown rice separately. Cover the kidney beans with water and soak for 8 hours or overnight. In a separate bowl, cover the brown rice with water and soak for 8 hours or overnight.

Drain and rinse the kidney beans, then transfer to a medium saucepan and cover with fresh water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour or until just tender but not falling apart.

Drain and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add the onion and saute for 5 minutes. Now add the garlic, carrots, celery and green beans, and stir for another 5 minutes. Next add the tomatoes, red pepper, eggplant, sage, thyme, marjoram and celery seed, and continue to stir for another few minutes.

Pour in the vegetable stock, liquid smoke, rice and the cooked kidney beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes or until the rice is tender.

Add water as necessary if the stew becomes too dry. Season with sriracha, salt and pepper, and taste for seasoning add more liquid smoke, sriracha, salt, pepper or herbs as desired.

Source: foodandspice

20/11/2025

Rice-less Spicy Tuna Hand Rolls
Ingredients
- 1/2 Persian Cucumber sliced into thin strips.
- pickled ginger for garnish
- 1-2 tablespoon reduced fat Mayonnaise
- reduced sodium soy sauce for dipping
- 1 scallion chopped into small pieces
- 1-2 teaspoon Sriracha chili sauce (depending upon how spicy you like)
- 3 sheets sushi nori (seaweed) cut in half
- 1/2 lb fresh sashimi grade Tuna diced finely (It's raw; get the freshest fish you could possible find.)

Preparation
In a small bowl mix together mayo and chili sauce until thoroughly combined. Reserve a tad to use as glue to secure the hand roll.

Add in diced tuna and scallions. Stir all together until the tuna is nice and coated.

Now take the Nori and lie it flatly on the counter. Take a couple tablespoons of the spicy tuna mixture and spread it on 1 side of the Nori Wrapper.

Place cucumber slices on top of the tuna in a diagonal form since you will be making a cone shape.

Carefully roll into a cone and place a dab of the reserved may on the edge of the nori to glue it all together.

Serve with wasabi, ginger & soy sauce. Enjoy!!!

Source: Foodista

19/11/2025

Beet Salad With Peppers and Lettuce
Ingredients
- 1 small beet, peeled and sliced
- 1 teaspoon fresh basil, finely chopped
- 2 cups red leave lettuce
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 orange pepper
- 1 red pepper
- Handful of sunflower seeds

Preparation
Chop the peppers and lettuce into thin slivers.

Chop the beets into circular discs, so that they remain the star of the salad and get their moment in the sun.

Mix all the salad ingredients.

Add the salad dressing just prior to serving.

Garnish with sunflower seeds.

Source: Foodista

19/11/2025

Fennel, Peppers, Lettuce Salad
Ingredients
- 3 cups of baby/lolo lettuce
- 3 cups of roquette lettuce (arugula)
- 1 cup of fennel bulb and leaves
- 1 green pepper
- 1/2 red pepper
- 5 pickled cucumber
- 10 blacks olives
- 3 sprigs of rosemary
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Preparation
Wash and chop up your veggies.

Make a salad dressing of chopped up rosemary and olive oil.

Pour over the salad.

Source: Foodista

18/11/2025

Quinoa Vegetable Salad
Ingredients
- 150 grams uncooked quinoa
- 1 medium size iceberg lettuce
- 1-2 medium size red tomatoes
- 1 medium size fresh cucumber
- 1-2 medium size green peppers
- 1 medium size carrot
- 50 grams olive tapenade
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons wine or apple cider vinegar

Preparation
First, chop the iceberg lettuce and place in a large bowl. Wash and dice the tomatoes, cucumber, green peppers, and carrot into pieces. Add them to the bowl with chopped lettuce.

Prepare quinoa according to package instructions.

Add the cooked quinoa to the salad bowl. Season with some salt and black pepper.

Next, add the olive tapenade, vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil to the bowl and to stir everything very well.

Serve.

Source: Foodista

16/11/2025

Turkish Chicken Salad with Home-made Cacik Yogurt Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 carrot, grated
- 1 cucumber
- 3 small pieces garlic
- 2 large pickled cucumbers / gherkins, sliced
- 2 – 2 large Jalapeno peppers
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 small lebanese cucumber (or 1/3 of a large one)
- Lemon juice
- I large head green gem lettuce
- 1 cup olive oil
- Handful chopped parsley
- 1/4 red cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1 small red onion
- 1 whole roast chicken
- Salt & pepper
- 2 tomatoes
- 250ml plain Turkish or Greek-style yoghurt

Preparation
First prepare the Cacik: For the Cacik: Chop the cucumber into tiny pieces, as small as you can, and place in a bowl. Cover the cucumber with salt and set aside for 30 minutes. The cucumbers will start to exude their juices which will flavour the yogurt nicely.

Put a griddle pan on medium high heat, cover the peppers with olive oil and start to char.

Cut the tomato and cucumber into medium pieces. Slice the red onion as thin as you can. Chop the parsley fine.

Place all ingredients in a bowl and cover with a the juice of 1 lemon. Season with salt and pepper.

Let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour, stirring a couple times, so it starts to exude juice.

Tear the lettuce into mouth-sized pieces.

Cut the red cabbage into thin slices. Grate the carrot.

Mix together in a bowl.

Tear the chicken into large pieces and add to the salad.

Remove the tomato salsa from the fridge.

Drain the juice and keep for later. Now add the tomato, cucumber, parsley onion mix to the chicken salad, as well as the sliced gherkin.

Lay out the salad on a large plate or chopping board.

Serve with the charred peppers, cacik, salsa vinaigrette and some chilli sauce.

Source: Foodista

13/11/2025