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30 Minutes or Less

Pasta Primavera (V/GF)

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Pasta Primavera

There’s no better way to welcome spring than with this fresh, bright, and flavorful pasta primavera recipe! This 20-minute meal is made with gluten-free pasta and vegan ingredients. It also includes plenty of options to customize it to your dietary needs. Make this pasta primavera when you’re craving something light and healthy, but also super satisfying.

Pasta Primavera

Nothing gets me excited for warmer weather quite like a big ole’ bowl of pasta primavera. What I love most about this dish, is it’s easy to customize with whatever fresh veggies you have on-hand! This recipe is perfectly seasoned with tons of bright lemon juice and a delicious combination of dried and fresh herbs. I really can’t get enough of this stuff in the spring and summer. My favorite thing to do is make a HUGE batch of pasta primavera and enjoy it allllll week long. It’s the perfect quick, easy and healthy lunch or dinner!

What You Need To Make Pasta Primavera

Gluten-Free Pasta – You can of course use whatever pasta you’d like in this recipe. I prefer either a penne or farfalle (bow-ties) in my pasta primavera, but really any shape will work. And for my gluten-free people, Jovial Brown Rice Pasta is, and always will be my number one – but go ahead use your favorite gluten-free pasta!

Dried Italian Herbs – Using dried Italian herbs in your pasta primavera will make your life so much easier. It’s the difference between having to purchase four or five separate bottles of dried herbs at the store, versus just buying one bottle with all four or five herbs mixed in it. Also, if you don’t have dried Italian herbs in your kitchen, do yourself a favor and get some – I cook with these herbs often.

Peas – Both fresh and frozen peas will work in this recipe. I used frozen because it’s easier, but if you can get your hands on fresh peas, go ahead and use those! Regardless of which type you’re using, just throw them straight into the recipe – no need to defrost frozen peas ahead of time.

Lemon Juice – I loooooove the taste of lemon in my pasta primavera. Though if lemon’s not your thing, you can cut the amount in this recipe in half. But if you’re like me, feel free to add an extra tablespoon or two of lemon juice to this recipe.

Fresh Parsley or Basil – I’ve made this recipe using both types of fresh herbs and they were equally as incredible. This comes down to personal preference. Pick whichever herb you like best, and add it to your recipe.

Adjust This Recipe To Your Dietary Needs

  • Make it Low-Carb: Use your favorite high-protein lentil or chickpea pasta in this recipe to make it higher in protein and lower in carbs.
  • Add Dairy: If you’re not dairy-free, sprinkle a little parmesan cheese on top of your finished dish.
  • Make it Paleo: Toss your cooked vegetables with some zucchini noodles for a paleo pasta primavera!
Pasta Primavera (V/GF)
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Pasta Primavera (V/GF)

0 from 0 votes
Recipe by Samantha Russo Course: MainCuisine: Italian/AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

6

servings
Prep time

5

minutes
Cooking time

15

minutes
Total time

20

minutes

There’s no better way to welcome spring than with this fresh, bright, and flavorful pasta primavera recipe! This 20-minute meal is made with gluten-free pasta and vegan ingredients. It also includes plenty of options to customize it to your dietary needs. Make this pasta primavera when you’re craving something light and healthy, but also super satisfying.

Ingredients

  • 12 Ounces Gluten-Free Pasta, see NOTES

  • 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

  • 1 Yellow Onion, chopped

  • 8 Ounces Asparagus, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

  • 1 Yellow Bell Pepper, cut into strips

  • 1 Red Bell Pepper, cut into strips

  • 1 Zucchini, chopped

  • 1 Yellow Squash, chopped

  • 1 Cup Peas

  • 3 Garlic Cloves, minced

  • 1 Tablespoon Dried Italian Herbs

  • 1 Teaspoon Salt

  • 1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper

  • 1 Cup Grape Tomatoes, halved

  • 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

  • 1/4 Cup Fresh Parsley or Basil, chopped

Directions

  • Cook pasta according to the package directions (don’t forget to salt your pasta water!).Pasta Primavera Process Photo 1
  • While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil in a large pot or skillet. Add in the onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.Pasta Primavera Process Photo 2
  • Add in the asparagus, yellow bell pepper, and red bell pepper – cook for 2-3 more minutes.Pasta Primavera Process Photo 3
  • Add in the zucchini, squash, peas, garlic, Italian herb, salt, and pepper. Mix to combine and cook for 2-3 minutes.Pasta Primavera Process Photo 4
  • Turn off the heat, add in your cooked pasta, grape tomatoes, lemon juice, and parsley.Pasta Primavera Process Photo 5

Notes

  • Gluten-Free Pasta: I use and love Jovial Brown Rice Farfalle Pasta in this recipe, but any gluten-free pasta will work.
  • Feel free to add in or remove any vegetables you’d like. The point of this pasta is to be loaded with your favorite fresh vegetables. Have fun with this recipe and don’t be scared to make it your own!

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30 Minutes or Less

Healthy Blueberry Donuts (V/GF)

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Healthy Blueberry Donuts Recipe

These healthy blueberry donuts are my favorite vegan spring treat! They’re soft, sweet, and bursting with juicy fresh blueberries. These donuts are light and nutritious, but taste just as goods as the ones you’d pick up at your local bakery. Serve these healthy blueberry donuts warm with a drizzle of blueberry glaze – YUM!

Healthy Blueberry Donuts

How Healthy Blueberry Donuts Came To Be

I love all food, but there is a special place in my heart for donuts. It doesn’t matter what time of day it is or how full I already am, I will NEVER turn down a donut. My personal favorite are cake donuts, I love that crispy outside and crumbly inside. Now I can’t ever give up regular deep-fried gluten and dairy-filled donuts, but I will try to supplement a few of my donut cravings (they come often) with a healthier donut version when I can. These healthy baked blueberry donuts are a riff off my apple cider donuts from last fall. I really wanted those apple cider donuts, but I also wanted something that felt and tasted more like spring. That’s how fresh blueberries entered my donuts and a gorgeously bright purple-y/pink blueberry glaze found its way on top.

I should also note that these healthy blueberry donuts are in fact SO healthy, you could eat them for breakfast. This recipe includes healthy grains, healthy fats, and just a touch of sugar. If I plan on enjoying these for breakfast, I’ll leave a couple without icing and top them with almond butter instead. This extra healthy variation also makes for a great afternoon snack!

What You Need To Make Healthy Blueberry Donuts

Oat Flour – You can make oat flour by taking dry rolled oats and blending them until you achieve a flour-like consistency. There is also always the option to buy already ground oat flour at the store, but I find making it myself to be much cheaper and super easy. If you make the oat flour yourself, be sure to blend it until no large oat pieces remain. We don’t want chunks of rolled oats in our donuts, just a nice smooth flour.

Flax Eggs – If you’re not vegan, you can use 1 real egg in place of the flax eggs. Though if you’re looking to make these donuts vegan, combine 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal with 6 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Whisk the flaxseed meal and water together, then let it sit for at least 5 minutes or until it thickens. Once the flax “eggs” are thick, you’re free to use them in this recipe.

Non-Dairy Milk – Really any non-dairy milk will work here! I used almond milk which made delicious healthy blueberry donuts. Though you’re free to use any nut, seed, soy, or even cow’s milk you’d like.

Almond Butter – Feel free to use any nut or seed butter you’d like in this recipe. I prefer almond butter because it lends little-to-no almond flavor to these healthy blueberry donuts. Another flavorless nut butter option is cashew butter. Though feel free to use peanut butter, pecan butter, walnut butter, or even sunflower seed butter if you’d like.

Blueberries – I haven’t personally tried this recipe with frozen blueberries. The fresh blueberries bake up perfectly in my opinion, and I just can’t picture the frozen blueberries doing the same. Luckily, blueberry season begins this month so you shouldn’t have any trouble picking up a fresh pint of blueberries next time you’re at the store!

Adjust This Recipe To Your Dietary Needs

  • Add Dairy: Use 1 cup of cow’s milk instead of non-dairy milk in this recipe.
  • Use All-Purpose Flour: Swap out the oat flour for 1 and 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour instead.
  • Not Vegan: Use 1 egg instead of the flax eggs in this recipe.
  • Make it Nut-Free: Use sunflower seed butter instead of almond butter.
Healthy Blueberry Donuts (V/GF)
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Healthy Blueberry Donuts (V/GF)

0 from 0 votes
Recipe by Samantha Russo Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

12

donuts
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

20

minutes
Total time

30

minutes

These healthy baked blueberry donuts are my favorite vegan spring treat! They’re soft, sweet, and bursting with juicy fresh blueberries. These donuts are light and nutritious, but taste just as goods as the ones you’d pick up at your local bakery. Serve these healthy blueberry donuts warm with a drizzle of blueberry glaze – YUM!

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 Cups Oat Flour, see Notes

  • 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

  • 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder

  • 1/4 Teaspoon Salt

  • 2 Flax Eggs, see Notes

  • 1 Cup Non-Dairy Milk, see Notes

  • 1/2 Cup Creamy Almond Butter

  • 1/2 Cup Coconut Sugar, see Notes

  • 1 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar

  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

  • 1/2 Cup Fresh Blueberries

  • Flor the blueberry glaze:

  • 1/4 Cup Fresh Blueberries

  • 1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar

Directions

  • Preheat your oven to 350° Fahrenheit and lightly grease a donut pan.
  • Mix the oat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.
  • In a separate small bowl, mix together the flax eggs, non-dairy milk, almond butter, coconut sugar, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract.
  • Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then fold in the fresh blueberries
  • Fill your donut pan with batter and bake for 20-25 minutes, then remove from molds and let cool on a wire rack.
  • Add the glaze ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Then top cooled donuts with blueberry glaze.

Notes

  • Oat Flour: Make oat flour by grinding rolled oats in a blender until a flour forms.
  • Non-Dairy Milk: I used almond milk, but you can use any non-dairy milk you’d like.
  • Coconut Sugar: You can use white sugar or cane sugar instead.

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30 Minutes or Less

Paleo Chicken Nuggets + Healthy Honey Mustard (GF/DF)

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Paleo Chicken Nuggets Recipe

These paleo chicken nuggets are incredibly crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Impressively simple to make, this recipe is the healthier answer to your fast food craving. And don’t forget the healthy honey mustard – it’s just four ingredients and the PERFECT companion to these paleo chicken nuggets!

Paleo chicken nuggets are finally here! I’ve actually been making this recipe for months, fine-tuning it every time. I’m a firm believer in chicken nuggets always having a place in our lives. They’re not just to enjoy throughout childhood, but adulthood too …and eventually senior-hood.

I also have a secret for how to eat these paleo chicken nuggets that makes them just a little more grown-up. I make a double batch at the beginning of the week, and throw them in all my salads as a crispy, delicious protein! Now I will say, if you plan on doing the same, to reheat these chicken nuggets I highlyyyy recommend warming them up in the oven as apposed to the microwave. The microwave makes these a little soggy, whereas the oven keeps the outside layer nice and crunchy. To do this, set your oven to 400° Fahrenheit and heat your paleo chicken nuggets on a baking sheet for 5-10 minutes or until they’re warm throughout.

And of course, you can enjoy these nuggets anyway you’d like! Another favorite method of mine is serving them with my air fryer sweet potato fries. I also included a BONUS healthy honey mustard recipe for you guys below. Paleo chicken nuggets, air fryer sweet potato fries, and healthy honey mustard is a killer combo. It honestly tastes like you ordered fast food for dinner, but is WAY HEALTHIER.

What You Need To Make Paleo Chicken Nuggets and Healthy Honey Mustard

Almond Flour – If you don’t already have a bag of almond flour in your cabinet, I highly recommend you go out and buy one. I use almond flour in a TON of my recipes, and not just the paleo ones. It’s a great gluten-free and paleo flour substitute, and that’s exactly how we use it in these paleo chicken nuggets.

Tapioca Starch – Another item I highly recommend you pick up next time you’re at the grocery store. Tapioca starch is a great item to have if you intend to cook more paleo recipes. It can act as a substitute to corn starch and since almond flour alone can be kind of dense, tapioca starch really helps to lighten up the crispy coating.

Dijon Mustard – Well, obviously! Dijon is my personal favorites of all the mustards. In my eyes, it’s a more mature yellow mustard. I wouldn’t recommend subbing a different kind of mustard for the dijon in this recipe. Dijon adds a little spice, helping this healthy honey mustard tasting almost identical to your regular ole’ honey mustard.

Paleo Chicken Nuggets + Healthy Honey Mustard (GF/DF)
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Paleo Chicken Nuggets + Healthy Honey Mustard (GF/DF)

0 from 0 votes
Recipe by Samantha Russo Course: MainCuisine: American
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

10

minutes
Total time

20

minutes

These paleo chicken nuggets are incredibly crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Impressively simple to make, this recipe is the healthier answer to your fast food craving. And don’t forget the healthy honey mustard – it’s just four ingredients and the PERFECT companion to these paleo chicken nuggets!

Ingredients

  • For the chicken nuggets:

  • 1 1/2 Pounds Chicken Breast, see Notes

  • 1 Egg

  • 1 Cup Almond Flour

  • 1/4 Cup Tapioca Starch

  • 1 Teaspoon Paprika

  • 1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

  • 1/2 Teaspoon Onion Powder

  • 1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper

  • 2 Teaspoons Salt, divided

  • For the healthy honey mustard:

  • 1/4 Cup Dijon Mustard, see Notes

  • 1/4 Cup Honey

  • 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

  • 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice, see Notes

Directions

  • Cut chicken into bite-sized chunks and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and set aside.
  • In a separate bowl, mix together the almond flour, tapioca starch, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, and remaining 1 teaspoon of salt.Paleo Chicken Nuggets Process Photo 3
  • Using one hand, place each piece of chicken into the egg, then with the other hand, dredge chicken in the flour mixture.Paleo Chicken Nuggets Process Photo 4
  • To fry: Heat 1/4 cup of oil in a pan over medium/high heat. Working in batches, as to not overcrowd the pan, fry each chicken nugget for 2-3 minutes per side or until cooked through.
    OR
    To bake: Preheat your oven to 425° Fahrenheit, place nuggets on a greased baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, flipping halfway through.Paleo Chicken Nuggets Process Photo 5
  • For the healthy honey mustard:
  • Add all honey mustard ingredients to a bowl and whisk until combined.Healthy Honey Mustard Process Photo

Notes

  • Chicken Breast: You’ll be cutting the chicken into bite-sized chunks in the first step of this recipe. I usually cut mine between 2-3 inches big. However, you can definitely cut your chicken into whatever shape/sized you’d like, just take that into consideration when you’re frying or baking your nuggets.
  • Dijon Mustard: I would not recommend subbing any other type of mustard, dijon works BEST in this recipe.
  • Lemon Juice: You can use apple cider vinegar or white vinegar instead of lemon juice, if you’d like.

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Desserts

Healthy Hot Chocolate

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Healthy Hot Chocolate Two Cups

This healthy hot chocolate is the REAL deal! Comparable in taste to those powder packets you buy at the store, except way healthier. Cocoa powder and maple syrup give this recipe a big dose of good-for-you antioxidants and minerals.

Healthy Hot Chocolate

I started making this homemade healthy hot chocolate to warm me up after a long day of skiing. And once I started, I couldn’t stop. This hot chocolate quickly went from aprés ski to everyday. I couldn’t get enough of it. I still can’t get enough of it!! You know, I’m not a huge fan of the winter. But I’m honestly hoping this cold weather hangs on a little longer so I can continue to enjoy this cozy beverage. Even when the weather gets warm, I’ll probably still be drinking this hot chocolate.

What You Need To Make Healthy Hot Chocolate

Almond Milk – You can use any non-dairy milk you’d like! And if you’re not dairy-free, you can use regular milk instead.

Cocoa Powder – Make sure you use unsweetened cocoa powder. Cacao powder works too, and also serves as a great boost of healthy antioxidants!

Maple Syrup – Maple syrup is one of my favorite refined sugar-free sweeteners. It also contains a ton of antioxidant and a good dose of minerals. If you don’t have any maple syrup, you can use coconut sugar or honey instead.

Healthy Hot Chocolate
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Healthy Hot Chocolate

0 from 0 votes
Recipe by Samantha Course: DrinksDifficulty: Easy
Servings

2

servings
Prep time

0

minutes
Cooking time

3

minutes
Total time

3

minutes

This healthy hot chocolate is the REAL deal! Comparable in taste to those powder packets you buy at the store, except way healthier. Cocoa powder and maple syrup give this recipe a big dose of good-for-you antioxidants and minerals.

Ingredients

  • 3 Cups Almond Milk

  • 2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder

  • 1/4 Cup Maple Syrup

  • Pinch of Salt

  • 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon, optional

  • 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract, optional

Directions

  • Add the almond milk to a small saucepan over low heat.
  • Once almond milk is hot, add in remaining ingredients. Whisk constantly until everything has dissolved.
  • Pour into two mugs, top with mini marshmallows or coconut whipped cream and enjoy!

Notes

  • Almond Milk: Any non-dairy milk or regular milk will do!
  • Cocoa Powder: Use cacao powder instead, if you’d like.
  • Maple Syrup: Use coconut sugar or honey instead, if you’d like.

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