Happy Wellness Wednesday! It has been quite some time since we have shared one of these with you all. If you missed our last post, you can check that out here. This week, we are sharing five plant-based side dishes we are trying this month that we are super pumped about!

Many of you all know that we eat mostly plant-based, and frequently share a lot of our boring salad dishes and steamed vegetables in our instagram stories, but we wanted to try some new, and not-so-boring dishes you all can try out with us! If you do eat meat and seafood, you can totally add these as a side dish to your proteins!

Before we get into the amazing recipes we found, we want to talk about this all white look! With summer here, you can’t beat an all-white outfit. When we think of all white, we think of classic, clean, and chic. There aren’t many ways to mess up an all-white look, in our opinions 😉

For this one, we paired one of our favorite white skinny jeans (which are AMAZING!) with an off shoulder white eyelet top–both from Express. These jeans fit so perfectly, and we love that they come in a “short” length, so they fit our petite legs! They also come in a regular and “tall” length if you’ve been gifted with longer legs.

We love that Express offers denim for all shapes and sizes. We are so petite, and have shorter legs, so we love that we can find jeans that fit us right, without having to get any tailoring done.

We are wearing size 00 short in the jeans, and size xs in the eyelet top. The eyelet top is a great summer piece that you can wear with shorts and darker jeans as well. We love the bell sleeves on it!

**PS– they are giving all of you $25 off orders of $100 or more with code 8144.

{ White Off Shoulder Eyelet Top | White Jeans | Gold Hoop Earring Similar | Clear Sandals }

And, now for the recipes– aka the good stuff! These all look so delicious and easy to make, which is a win-win in our books!

Chickpea Salad

**Recipe and photo via www.knowyourproduce.com

Ingredients

• 1 can chickpeas
• 1 Persian cucumber
• 1 Roma tomato
• 1/2 red pepper
• 1/8 cup red onion
• 1 lemon juiced
• 1 tablespoon parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

• Chop up the vegetables into bite size pieces and mix into a bowl with the chickpeas.
• Chop the parsley and mix with the lemon juice and salt.
• Pour the lemon juice and parsley mixture over the salad and toss to combine.
• Refrigerate until ready to serve.

ROASTED FINGERLING POTATOES WITH GARLIC AND HERBS

**Recipe and photos via www.thissavoryvegan.com

Ingredients

• 1 lb fingerling potatoes
• 2 tbsp olive oil separated
• salt & pepper
• 2 tbsp vegan butter
• 3 cloves garlic diced
• 1 shallot diced
• 3 sprigs thyme diced
• 1 sprig rosemary diced
• 1/4 cup parsley diced
• 1 lemon zested

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add potatoes and boil for 5 minutes. Drain and allow to cool for 2 minutes. Cut larger potatoes in half and leave smaller potatoes intact.
3. Spread potatoes out on the baking sheet and drizzle with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in the oven for 25 minutes, flipping halfway.
4. While potatoes are cooking, heat remaining olive oil and butter in a pan over medium heat. Once butter is melted add garlic and shallot to the pan. Once shallot has softened (approx. 2 minutes), add thyme, rosemary and thyme to the pan. Cook for an additional 30 seconds, then transfer the mixture to a bowl. Set aside.
5. Remove the potatoes from the oven and toss with garlic and herb mixture. Place back in the oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes. 
6. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with lemon zest and serve.

Pesto Cauliflower

**Photo and recipe via www.daisybeet.com

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 tbsp avocado oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Vegan Pesto

• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 3 handfuls fresh basil
• 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 2 tbsp cold water

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 415 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Toss cauliflower florets in avocado oil, salt, and pepper.
3. Roast for 35-30 minutes, until fork tender and slightly browned.
4. While cauliflower roasts, prepare pesto. Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor. Blend until ingredients are combined, but still a bit chunky.
5. Toss pesto with cooked cauliflower until well coated.

Mexican Cauliflower Rice

**Photo and recipe via www.oursaltykitchen.com

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower riced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium white onion finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 jalapeno seeded and minced
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 3 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
• 1 tbsp lime juice

Instructions

1. Rice the cauliflower. Slice the florets from the head of the cauliflower. Fit a food processor with the s-blade. Place half the florets into the bowl of the food processor and pulse until riced, scraping down the sides once halfway through to catch any larger pieces. Scrape out the riced cauliflower and repeat with the remaining florets.
2. Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Add the oil and heat until it shimmers. Add the onion and sautee until soft and translucent, stirring occasionally, 5-6 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and jalapeno and sautee until fragrant, 1-2 minutes.
4. Add the tomato paste, salt, cumin, and paprika and stir into the vegetables. 
5. Add the cauliflower rice and stir continuously until all ingredients are incorporated. Continue sautéing, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower releases its liquid and is dry and fluffy.
6. Remove the Mexican cauliflower rice from heat. Stir in the cilantro and lime juice. Serve immediately. 

Roasted Garlic And Kale Spaghetti Squash

**Photo and recipe via www.republikasatu.blogspot.com/

INGREDIENTS

• 1 medium-sized spaghetti squash roasted
• 1 small head kale chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes drained
• 1/3 cup raw walnuts
• 1 bulb garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Roast the spaghetti squash according to these instructions, along with the garlic. To roast garlic, cut the top off, of the bulb, drizzle with olive oil, and wrap in foil. Place in the oven with the spaghetti squash for the whole duration of roasting. Roast the walnuts for 5 minutes if desired.
2. When the spaghetti squash and garlic (and walnuts) have finished roasting, allow them to cool enough to handle. Once cool, use a fork to release the strands of spaghetti squash and place in a large bowl. Peel the garlic cloves, give them a rough chop, and transfer them to the bowl with the spaghetti squash.

In partnership with Express.