We Tapped 3 Foodies for Work-From-Home Meals to Whip Up With Pantry Staples
No sad desk salads here.
Photo: Courtesy of RASA
Working from home makes you miss things like chatting about “White Lotus” over lunch with your coworkers. But just because you’re WFH with no one to discuss the finale with doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take that lunch break. Whip up something delicious with these easy recipes made with ingredients you probably already have at home.
We tapped Mia Rigden of RASA, Wendy Lopez and Jessica Jones of Food Heaven, and Gaby Dalkin of What’s Gaby Cooking and asked them to share their go-to work-from-home recipes—and it’s safe to say they did not disappoint. From everything-but-the-kitchen-sink soup to not-so-boring pasta, you’ll be eating well this week.
Kitchen Sink Soup
An excellent way to make the most of unused produced that’s sitting in your crisper drawer, this soup, courtesy of Mia Rigden, a nutritionist and the founder of RASA, is nutritious, flavorful, and a perfect way to reset. Make a big batch and freeze leftovers so you’ll always have a healthy meal on hand.
Instructions:
Heat coconut oil or ghee in a Dutch oven.
Add onions and garlic, stirring until fragrant, then add vegetables and stir for a minute or two longer.
Add broth then enough water to cover the vegetables (about two cups). Let simmer for 20-30 minutes and puree in a high-speed blender (or with a hand blender) until smooth.
Season as desired and serve with a squeeze of lemon, a splash of olive oil, and some sea salt
For a step-by-step tutorial, watch the Ask an Expert Live segment via Create & Cultivate’s Instagram here.
Nutritionist and founder of RASA
Turmeric Vegetable Fried Rice
This recipe puts a colorful spin on traditional fried rice with extra anti-inflammatory power! Wendy Lopez and Jessica Jones, registered dietitians, certified diabetes educators, and the founders of Food Heaven, bring us this easy and delicious way to make the most of super-spice turmeric!
When cooking your brown rice, add 1/2 tablespoon of turmeric to the boiling water, and cook as per package instructions. Set aside once done.
In a large pan, heat the sesame oil, and add the onions. Sauté for 1-2 minutes over medium heat.
Add in the eggs, and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Then add in the mixed vegetables, 2 cups of cooked turmeric rice, and the soy/tamari/aminos.
Cook over low heat for 4-5 minutes.
Turn off the heat, and mix in the cabbage and sprouts. Add salt, to taste, and top with scallions. Enjoy!
Recipe Note: The vegetables in this recipe are totally flexible and you can use whatever frozen/raw veggies you have stocked in the fridge.
Registered dietitians, certified diabetes educators, and founders of Food Heaven
Calabrian Chili Pasta
Pasta, our fave go-to for easy dining, doesn’t have to be boring! Gaby Dalkin is a trained chef, recipe developer, entrepreneur, and the founder of What’s Gaby Cooking, shows us how to spice up the pasta you are probably eating for the millionth day in a row.
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Cook the Cassarecce according to the package directions. Once al dente, drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of pasta water for future use and set aside.
In a large sauté pan, add the olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the lemon zest (saving the lemon juice for later) and sauté for 15 seconds. Add the Calabrian hot pepper paste and stir until everything is evenly incorporated.
Add the cooked pasta and stir to combine. If you need to add a few tablespoons of the reserved pasta water to thin it out, go ahead. Add the lemon juice and toss to combine. Season with salt to taste.
Sprinkle the pecorino over the pasta if desired and toss to coat and serve immediately.
Founder of What’s Gaby Cooking
This story was originally published on April 13, 2020, and has since been updated.
MORE ON THE BLOG
Why You Need to Stop Putting Yourself Down ASAP
beWell's Kelly LeVeque is talking practices that are bad for our carreers.
For certified holistic nutritionist, wellness expert and health coach Kelly LeVeque, the hustle began four years ago.
During that time she worked two jobs, "weekends and nights," she says, "and today, I have a book deal with Harper Collins (pub date: April 2017), celebrity clientele (pinch me) and solely run my private practice Be Well by Kelly."
We caught up with the LA-based lady to chat health (of course), happiness (yes!) and why we should all stop putting ourselves down (forever!!).
Tell us a little about your background? Why did you get into the health space? I have always loved health! After graduating from USC, I took the corporate path though health and wellness working for Fortune 500 companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Stryker and Hologic, and Agendia specializing in cancer and personalized medicine, offering tumor gene mapping and molecular sub-typing to oncologists. My career in medical science meant I had to keep up with cutting-edge research on how diseases develop and how they can be treated. I loved the deep thinking required, especially the statistical analysis—deciphering data for statistical significance, distinguishing between causation vs. correlation, and understanding why study design mattered so much. My career enabled me to go deeper in my passion; I would mine nutrition based pubmed research and build my own opinions around current research. I became the one my friends leaned on (for weight loss, autoimmune diseases, allergies, bad blood tests etc.) so when I let them know I would be going back to school to follow my passion not my paycheck they weren’t surprised.
Balance. It’s the word of the year, but it’s also super hard to achieve. And it doesn’t happen all at once. What is a healthy way to work toward balance?
I try to instill balance in my clients by giving them light structure (Be Well Fab Four) around what they should eat and breaking down their rigid food rules and cleansing habits. Binging and cleansing cycles swing you back and forth like an out of control pendulum ball. Happiness and health are attained when you find that small swing. Balance isn’t when you stop moving and live a rigid, on-plan, perfect life; when you are focused on a perfect food day you aren’t present, and most likely you are anxious, irritable and thinking about food all day. Instead focus on turning off hunger hormones and thoughts about food and know it be okay to swing a little from time to time. Balance is found with intentional movement to eat clean, sweat and even enjoy a glass of wine with friends. Accept who you are, love who you are and build a lifestyle focused on health, not some abstract idea of “perfection.” So if you have a glass of wine with friends one evening, jump into an app on your phone and schedule a workout or plan to have a fruit free low glycemic smoothie the next morning to bring yourself back into alignment, or both.
"Happiness and health are attained when you find that small swing."
Tweet this.
How do you set realistic goals?
Stop trying to do it all at once and enjoy the journey! Transforming our mindset, our nutrition and our bodies is a journey. It takes practice to be present; to see that big leaps start with small steps and to not get discouraged if we have setbacks. Learn to enjoy it by breaking your “big goals” down into attainable action steps that can reinforce how strong, brilliant and beautiful you are. Just look at the week ahead of you: Plan a workout with a friend and create a healthy meal plan to nourish your body. Step by step, you’ll build a healthy lifestyle, and moments of clarity and opportunities for fun will follow. By focusing on eating real and nutrient-dense food, and striving to build a healthy, active lifestyle, you’ll take the important first steps to being well and it will naturally become a lifestyle. True progress happens when we enjoy making it happen and when we get out of our own way. When you try to change more than one thing at a time chances are you will be overwhelmed and give up. Maybe for just 2 weeks you commit to have a Be Well Smoothie for breakfast, you will be surprised how that positively affects the rest of your life.
People have a fear of fat. What else are we afraid of that we shouldn’t be? (existential life question…)
Stop fearing change; change your career, get out of a bad relationship, determine if your nutrition habits or “lifestyle” is no longer serving you and change, nothing needs to be forever. Don’t just cling to a mistake because you have invested time and energy making it, convinced your friends or family it was right or invested time. You only have one life to live; live it without regrets by having the guts to adjust your ships sail as needed. Stop waiting for your inner voice to scream, the change will be harder to make, instead trust your voice and make a calculated change sooner rather than later.
"Change your career, get out of a bad relationship; nothing needs to be forever."
Tweet this.
You’ve said that punishing yourself for failing is unhealthy. We all do it. What are some other habits we can kick to the curb that will benefit our well being both personally and professionally?
Stop putting yourself down! As women, we need to stop allowing one another to openly bash themselves; “I am,” I can’t,” or “ I am sorry” solidifies those opinions of ourselves and undermines our ability to rise above it. The next time your friend says, “I am fat” simply respond with “that’s great, you have one more” if they do it again, make them stand up in front of everyone and name three things they love about their body. We need to help one another break this horrible habit immediately.
How do you see health as related to our careers?
Your nutrition, activity and stress levels directly affect the health and wellness of your career; working actively to remove the stress from your life can also be a good way to get going on the things you want to achieve. Stress reduction is not a one size fits all formula, but there are a few techniques I recommend to help my clients start their day. Meditate via an app, or start your day with a walk or workout. These exercises can provide clarity, comfort and help you prioritize your day. Even doing 15 minutes of exercise or mediation in the morning can move the negative unaligned thoughts from your mind.
What’s a great recipe that will get us energized and feeling productive in the am?
I always start my day with one of the low sugar, meal replacement smoothie recipes I created for my clients! My Be Well Smoothie formula helps develop a blood-sugar balancing meal in any flavor with enough protein, fat and fiber to keep you full for four to six hours, feed your microbiome, turn off hunger hormones and nourish your body with amino acids, fatty acids and phytonutrients. It limits fruit to 1/4 -1/2 cup, depending on your body composition goals, and some are totally fruit free. A killer go-to is my Spa Smoothie, loaded with greens, cucumber, avocado and lemon. (find my recipe below!).
THE “BE WELL” SPA SMOOTHIE
1/4 avocado
2 Tbsp. chia seeds
1 small Persian cucumber
1 handful of spinach
1 lemon, freshly juiced
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (love Perfect Fit)
2 cups unsweetened nut milk
DIRECTIONS:
Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy!