A Day In The Kitchen With Tara Stiles

Strala Yoga founder and global fitness icon Tara Stiles has become a symbol of healthy living.

Her straightforward approach to yoga translates into a no-nonsense approach to healthy cooking – as she explains in her latest book, Make Your Own Rules Diet.

For Tara, eating well is not only about eating nutritious, wholesome foods, but about eating delicious dishes. She shared four of her favorite recipes from her book with us. Check them out, and join us for a day in the kitchen with Tara!

Granola

I think it’s common when first moving out on your own to go on a boxed and canned diet of cereal and soup. It’s quick and easy to make, and, while it’s not great for you, it cures hunger and gives you just enough energy to do what you need to do. Personally, I ran on Frosted Mini-Wheats for a few years. I suppose it gave me some essential calories and a few vitamins, but I know I could have felt better, and I probably could have been a lot more efficient in my life if I’d cooked and prepared food at home. This homemade granola, like store-bought cereal, is easy to keep on hand for those days when you’re short on time. Plus, it’s a crowd pleaser. I love to make a big batch, eat some, store some for later, and pack a few jars as gifts for friends. Feeding friends and family is a great reward, especially when they keep asking for more!

Serves 10

Ingredients:

4 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup sour cherries
1 cup mixture of almonds, dark chocolate chips, cashews, and sunflower seeds
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix all the ingredients well, making sure the oil and syrup are evenly distributed throughout the mixture. Spread the mixture out on cookie sheet. Bake for 25 minutes.

Let the granola cool completely. Store the leftovers in covered glass containers.

Portobello Burger Heaven

This portobello burger is hearty, sweet, and savory. I have made these for a lot of people and have shared some of the information about how I get all the spice and flavor, but until now I haven’t revealed everything because I like the burgers to be special and surprising.

I’m psyched to share my secrets here with you, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
Pinch of sea salt
1 portobello mushroom
1 1/2 teaspoons maple syrup
1/4 tomato, sliced
1/2 orange or red bell pepper, sliced
Bun
Pickles, kale, organic ketchup, and Dijon mustard, to garnish

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Drizzle the olive oil and salt on the portobello. Dip the portobello in the maple syrup. Place portobello on a cookie sheet and bake it for 10 minutes.

Put the tomato slice and pepper on top of the portobello and bake for another 15 minutes. Toast the bun in the oven for 5 minutes, if desired.

Remove everything from the oven and assemble the burger, garnishing with pickles, kale, ketchup, and Dijon mustard as desired.

Roasted Acorn Squash Soup

Roasted Acorn Squash Soup can warm you deep down inside on a cold day. Squash are super easy to find in the fall and fun to pick up at your local farmers’ market or grocery, and put you right in harvest mode.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 acorn squash, cut in half vertically
½ red onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red pepper, chopped
2 cups water
½ cup almond milk
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Scoop the seeds out of the squash and roast it, cut sides down in a pan for 40 minutes.

Scoop out the cooked squash. In a large soup pot, sauté the onion until soft in the olive oil. Add the squash, red pepper, and water to the pot. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the almond milk, and simmer, covered, for 10 more minutes. Transfer it to bowls, and top with pumpkin seeds.

Almond Butter Fudge

I make this treat weekly to have around as a snack and a dessert.

Anytime guests come over it’s a simple thing to whip up and always a huge hit. Like my Shells & Cheese, I adapted this recipe from detoxinista.com. I actually play around with the ingredients a lot, making it with peanut butter, chocolate peanut butter, or cashew butter, and topping it with all sorts of different chocolate treats. And it’s always amazing! The combinations never get old, and it only takes three minutes to make . . . the freezer does the rest!

Serves 8

Ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut oil
1 cup of almond butter*
1 tablespoon raw honey (optional)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 handful dark chocolate chips
1 handful crushed dark chocolate bar

Instructions:

Soften the coconut oil by setting the container in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes.

Mix together the coconut oil, almond butter, honey, salt, and dark chocolate chips in a large bowl. Pour the mixture into a glass dish lined with plastic wrap. Top with the crushed chocolate bar.

Freeze the fudge for at least an hour. Cut up in squares and serve. Make sure to store the remaining fudge in the freezer.

*You can use any kind of nut butter to make this. I’ve used all sorts.
Photo credit: Tara Stiles