What I'm Eating: Beef Bavette with Red Onions and Chimichurri Sauce, Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Get thee to BiRite

Happy Halloween! And Go Giants! With all of this celebration, chaos and candy, you might find it difficult to stay on track with healthy eating this week. But as you all know, the best way to avoid eating bad foods is to have good foods (really good foods) readily available. So here are two vitamin-packed, fat-burning recipes that I love as dinner AND as leftovers for lunch (and even breakfast!) the next day. You'll find that both of these recipes are incredibly quick and easy, giving you more time to workout, spend time with your kids and take your dogs to the beach. The soup takes a little over an hour, but of course can be prepared ahead of time, and the bavette takes only about 20 minutes to prepare. 

Roasted Cauliflower Soup:

Soup is the perfect food for boosting your immune system, and fighting off the common cold and flu. I love to add a bit of coconut oil to any soup for added immune support, and a good dose of healthy fat.

What You'll Need:

1 medium-head cauliflower (roughly 1 3/4 lbs), separated into 1-inch florets
1 medium onion
32 oz organic chicken stock (fresh is best, such as from Bi-Rite or Prather Ranch...or homemade!)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Ground pepper
Parsley

Drizzle the cauliflower florets with olive oil, sea salt and pepper and spread them evenly on a large-rimmed backing sheet. Roast in the oven at 400 degrees until the florets are tender and golden. Meanwhile, sauté your chopped onion in a pan with olive oil and a pinch of salt. Cook the onions, stirring occasionally, until they are translucent and aromatic. Add the roasted cauliflower and the onion to the chicken stock, and let simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the simmering is complete, use an immersion blender (or food processor) to blend the soup into a rich and creamy texture. Add salt and pepper to taste. I like to garnish my soup with fresh herbs for an extra kick of flavor, and find that parsley blends wonderfully into the nutty flavor of the cauliflower in this soup. And if you're looking to add even more flavor, add a dollop of Green Valley Organics' Lactose Free Sour Cream on top just before you add your parsley. Similar to whipping cream, this sour cream simply contains the healthy fat and none of the lactose that causes the inflammatory reaction most people experience from milk products. 

Health Tip: Cauliflower is loaded with antioxidants (namely vitamin C and manganese) and has been proven to aid in the detoxification process within the body, significantly lowering the risk of cancer.

Pan-Fried Bavette Steak with Red Onions and Chimichurri Sauce (from BiRite's cookbook, Eat Good Food)

Chimichurri sauce hails from Argentina, and tastes a bit like a vinegary pesto. Its bright, herby notes bring an unexpected freshness to the richness of the steak. You can buy the sauce freshly-made from BiRite, or simply make your own. 

What You'll Need:

1 1/2 lbs of grass-fed bavette steak (flank or skirt steak will also do)
Sea salt
Ground pepper
1 large red onion, cut into 1/4 inch rings
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 large bunch of parsley, stems removed
1/2 large bunch of cilantro, stems removed
2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed

Sprinkle the salt and pepper over your steak and set aside until it comes to room temperature.
To make the chimichurri sauce, put the garlic in a blender or food processor and pulse to chop coarsely. Tear the parsley and cilantro into 2 or 3 inch lengths, and add to the processor, along with 2 tablespoons of the vinegar, 1/4 cup of olive oil, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Puree until smooth. Add more salt or vinegar if needed. 

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet (you might wish to use coconut oil, which is safer at higher heats) over medium-high heat. When the pan is smoking, add the steaks and cook undisturbed for at least two minutes. Lower the heat if they are browning too quickly, and cook for about 4 minutes on each side, depending on your preferred doneness. Remove the steaks from the skillet, cover with foil, and let rest while you cook the red onions. To cook the onions, add a little more oil to the pan along with the onions and a pinch of salt. Stir occasionally, until they become soft and golden brown. Add 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar to the onions and cook, stirring until the vinegar has evaporated and the onions are soft. 

Slice the steaks across the grain into 1/2 inch thick strips, and top with the sautéed onions and chimichurri sauce. Enjoy! 

Remember: The healthiest snack doesn't come in a package....it's a mini version of a meal! These two dishes make the perfect leftovers, and are sure to keep your blood sugar regulated and your hand out of the candy jar.

What I'm Eating: Grass-Fed Beef Taco Bowls

Let's face it: a big hunk of meat and a side of vegetables gets old quick. I find ground meat to be the perfect cure for hunk-o-meat boredom, so I headed over to BiRite, took a look around and decided to make some grass-fed beef taco bowls for dinner. Tacos are an incredibly easy meal to cook that's family friendly, delicious and perfect for those of you who are on a grain-free, dairy-free diet. Use the right ingredients and I promise you, you won't miss the tortilla.

What You'll Need:

1 lb Grass-Fed Ground Beef (Incredibly fresh from Bi-Rite or my other go-to, Prather Ranch)1/2 Yellow Onion1 Green Pepper1 Bunch of CilantroGuacamole or Avocado SlicesTaco Seasoning (Sea salt, Pepper, Ground Cumin, Oregano, Garlic Powder and Chili Powder)


Slice the onion and green pepper and sauté them on medium heat in either olive or coconut oil (you won't taste the coconut later, and it's a great source of healthy fat). Once the vegetables have cooked for a few minutes, add the grass-fed beef, stir and let cook for about 7 minutes, or until the meat is no longer pink. Before you remove it from the heat, season the taco filling with sea salt, pepper, oregano, ground cumin and chili powder (alternatively, Whole Foods sells taco seasoning packets that are salt-free, non-GMO and gluten-free). Serve the taco filling in a bowl and garnish with guacamole or salsa and freshly cut cilantro. Full of healthy fats from the beef and avocado, and loaded with vitamin C from the green peppers, this meal is sure to please your appetite and fix your "same old meat and veg" boredom. 

What I'm Eating: Root Vegetables

While there's an enormity of information out there about eating your greens, many of you will find that it's much easier to digest root vegetables, such as carrots and beets, than it is to digest a raw green salad. Feeling like you need a little detoxification and cleanse? Looking to lose weight? Root vegetables can help. Beets, carrots and other root vegetables, with their high levels of soluble fiber, are incredibly helpful in both the digestive process and the detoxification process within the body. How? Quite simply, the better you digest your food, the fuller you feel (and the less you'll eat). And the better you eliminate your food, the less toxic you'll be, which significantly reduces your stress levels and aids in the fat loss process (after all, toxins are stored in fat). 

Many people who switch too quickly from an unhealthy diet to one loaded with vegetables and high-quality proteins and fats often experience diarrhea or constipation, both of which can be the result of too much insoluble fiber (found in broccoli, brussels sprouts and many other raw vegetables). Root vegetables, on the other hand, are incredibly easy to digest and absorb, often leaving you feeling more satiated post-meal. While they are often misunderstood as "too sweet for fat loss," root vegetables, having grown underground, absorb all of the vital nutrients and minerals from the soil, making them highly nutrient-dense foods that are loaded with free-radical-fighting antioxidants.

I bought some gorgeous (as gorgeous as underground vegetables can be) beets from my local farmers' market this weekend and roasted them, a super quick and easy way to transform beets into a warm or cold salad. With just a handful of ingredients, this recipe couldn't be easier:

Roasted Beets Drizzled with Walnut Oil and Sea Salt

-Pre-heat your oven to 375 (you can even go higher if desired)

-Clean the beets and cut off their greens, allowing an inch or two of the beet stems to remain

-Cover a baking sheet with foil and a layer of parchment paper and place the beets on top

-Coat the beets in a thin layer of olive oil

-Roast beets in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until a butter knife easily goes through them

-Let the beets cool, cut off their stems and peel off their top layer

-Drizzle the beets with La Tourangelle roasted walnut oil, add a pinch of sea salt and serve!