Spring Color Recipes

Spring is finally here, and it's the perfect time to shake your eating pattern out of its winter rut. Today I've gathered 4 fresh recipes for spring and I want to share them with you. Which will make it into your kitchen first?Lemon Spritzed SaladIngredients:

• 1 cup arugula
• 1 cup Bibb lettuce
• 1/2 tsp olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tomato, sliced
• 1 tsp shaved fresh mozzarella
• Fresh cracked black pepper
• Balsamic glaze
• Optional: 2 breadsticks for garnish

Directions:

1. Place the lettuces in a large bowl. Top with lemon juice and olive oil and toss well.
2. Arrange the dressed lettuce on a large dinner plate. Put the tomato slices and shaved mozzarella on top.
3. Drizzle tomatoes with balsamic glaze and arrange breadsticks on the side.

Squash SpaghettiPasta Ingredients:

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 8 ounces angel hair pasta
• 3 cups pasta sauce
• 12 lean turkey meatballs (recipe below)
• 2 tablespoons freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
• Fresh basil

Meatball Ingredients:

• 1 pound lean ground turkey, very cold
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/4 cup Panko or plain bread crumbs
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• Dash paprika

Meatball Directions:

1. Combine the turkey, eggs, tomato paste, bread crumbs, and seasonings in a large bowl and mix well.
2. Form into 12 balls and bake them on a nonstick pan in a 385 degree oven until they are done, about 20 minutes.
3. Remove from pan and place in heated pasta sauce.

Pasta Directions:

1. Pierce a spaghetti squash in several places with a fork or knife and remove any paper labels on the squash. Place the spaghetti squash in the microwave for 3 minute intervals and cook for 6-9 minutes or until soft.
2. Allow the squash to cool.
3. Cut in half, remove and discard seeds. Scrape out the squash into a bowl.
4. Meanwhile cook the angel hair pasta according to package directions. Drain in colander.
5. Heat the pasta sauce with the meatballs.
6. Assemble the dish as pictured above. Place the spaghetti squash in the center of the bowl then surround it with the cooked angel hair pasta, meatballs, and sauce.

Berkeley Burrito BowlIngredients:

• 2 cups cooked brown rice, hot
• 2 cups pico de gallo (you can buy this premade, or you can make it at home by combining two small diced tomatoes with chopped red onion, chopped cilantro, and diced mild peppers to taste)
• 1 fresh avocado, sliced
• 1 cup cooked or canned black beans, hot (if canned, make sure they're drained and rinsed first)
• 2 baked sweet potatoes, cubed
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Divide each ingredient between 4 large and shallow individual serving bowls.
2. Arrange the ingredients in a circular fashion like you see in the photo above.
3. Serve immediately.

Strawberry ShortcakeIngredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• Sprinkle of sugar, divided
• Dash of salt
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 3/4 to 1 cup milk
• 2 pounds of strawberries
• 1 pint of cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Mix the flour, baking powder, a pinch of sugar, a dash of salt, and butter together by hand in a large bowl, rubbing everything together until you have pea-sized pieces of butter. Add the milk and mix until you have a wet, sticky dough. Do not overmix.
2. Place the shortcake batter into a greased glass 9-inch pie pan. Sprinkle the top with more sugar.
3. Bake at 350 until the shortbread springs back to the touch, about 25 minutes.
4. Allow to cool. (You can store this at room temperature for up to 12 hours).
5. Meanwhile, rinse the strawberries in a colander. Remove the green tops and quarter them. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
6. Place the heavy whipping cream with a little sugar and vanilla in a whipping siphon and charge with nitrous oxide. You can also whip it with a little sugar and vanilla by hand. Whip it to soft peaks right before you serve your dish.
7. Cut the shortbread into 12 slices. Serve family style with whipped cream and fresh berries.

Cooking with plants is so much more fun in the spring, and the great news is that it's fantastic for your health too! For more ways to incorporate plant foods into your eating pattern (and an in-depth look at their health benefits), don't miss the amazing class Building a Plant-Based Eating Pattern: Vegetables!And speaking of spring color, have you seen this amazing collection?[shopify embed_type="collection" shop="nutrition-education-store.myshopify.com" product_handle="20-ways-to-decorate-your-nutrition-education-or-health-wall"]