Celebrate Veganuary by Trying (Mostly) Plant-based Meals!
A new year brings new opportunities for personal changes and improvement from taking steps forward in a career to bettering personal relationships and - perhaps most common - starting on a path toward better health. For many, the worthwhile challenge of enhancing physical health begins with the foods and beverages you eat and drink.
Step one is to leave behind the habit of turning to unhealthy meals and instead focus on dishes that call for fresh fruits and veggies like this Quinoa Salad with Orange Cilantro Salad Dressing. Simply start with cooked quinoa and mix together with your preferred produce like orange slices, grapefruit and diced avocado.
Making nutritious choices goes beyond just your meals, however. Take your commitment to the next level with beverages that don't cancel out your effort to eat healthy. This Spiced Citrus Ginger Mocktail combines a concentrate made of orange juice, orange peel, lime juice and lime peel with zero-sugar, zero-calorie ginger ale.
These health-conscious recipes are made possible with the flavor enhancement of Zevia beverages, which are naturally sweetened with stevia and include no artificial ingredients, colors or preservatives. Ranging from sodas to organic teas, energy drinks, sparkling water and mixers for cocktails and mocktails, the zero-sugar beverages fit nearly any lifestyle including eating patterns like paleo, keto, intermittent fasting and gluten-free.
Visit zevia.com/recipes to find more nutritious food and drink solutions.
Quinoa Salad with Orange Cilantro Salad Dressing
Yield: 2 cups
Dressing:
- 1/2 cup Zevia Orange Soda
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 cup fresh cilantro
- 1/2 avocado
- 1 teaspoon garlic
Quinoa Salad:
- 1 cup quinoa
- leafy greens (optional)
- 1 orange, cut into pieces (optional)
- 1 grapefruit, cut into pieces (optional)
- 1 lime, juice only
- 1/2 avocado, diced (optional)
- 1/4 cup feta cheese (optional)
- 1/4 cup diced red onion (optional)
- To make dressing: In food processor, pulse orange soda, lime juice, olive oil, cilantro, avocado and garlic until consistency is smooth.
- To make quinoa salad: Cook quinoa according to package directions and let cool.
- Once quinoa is cool, add to bowl with orange pieces, if desired; grapefruit pieces, if desired; lime juice; avocado, if desired; feta cheese, if desired; and diced onion, if desired. Top with orange cilantro salad dressing.
Turn to Tempeh for a Plant-Based Superfood
As a key part of a nutritious eating plan, protein intake can be a healthy step to take in the new year. One increasingly popular way to add protein to your at-home menu is with protein-packed, plant-based foods like tempeh.
Tempeh’s roots date back thousands of years and originate in Indonesia. It’s an all-natural protein source made with simple, whole-food ingredients – most often fermented soybeans, water and rice – and is high in protein, packed with fiber and low in fat, sodium and calories. Tempeh is also loaded with vitamins and minerals like calcium, manganese, phosphorus and iron, and has all nine essential amino acids. Because it’s fermented, the nutrients in tempeh are easy for the body to digest.