I don't know what has been going on lately but I have been having serious cravings for spicy Mexican food, loaded with cilantro, soupy beans, and spicy goodness. Literally, I have been dreaming of eating tacos in bed while watching sappy movies and drinking margaritas. Maybe I am missing the sunshine and this is my way of coping or perhaps I just need a little fire in my belly.

Due to this serious craving, I jumped at the chance to make these luscious burrito bowls for a girls night in with one of my best friends. I owed her a delicious meal and since she has recently adopted a gluten and dairy free diet I knew that she would love the flavor combos and that I had to share the recipe so that she could recreate it at home.

Often people don't realize that changing your diet can have a huge impact on your creativity in the kitchen. Excitement about new food choices actually gets you into the kitchen and wanting to experiment. I was more than happy to feed her and to inspire her to try a new dish as well. As an added bonus, I got to spend time with one of my favorite people doing one of my favorite things - feeding people healthy food!

These burrito bowls are absolutely delicious, filled with the flavors of lime and fresh cilantro with just the right amount of heat and they are super easy to throw together! Don't be put off by the long recipe; essentially each part just gets thrown into the bowl or onto the plate in my case since my bowls just weren't big enough for all this goodness. Enjoy!

Vegan Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burrito Bowls over Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice with Chipotle Lime Tahini Sauce

Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice

1 head Cauliflower, leaves removed and cut into pieces

1 tbs Olive Oil

2 Garlic Cloves, chopped

1 Lime, Juiced

1 handful of Cilantro

Place the florets of the cauliflower into a food processor and pulse until broken down into a rice like consistency (do not over pulse for it will become mushy).

In a medium saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the garlic, saute until softened. Add the cauliflower rice, cooking until it starts to crisp on the outside, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the cilantro and lime juice, stirring to combine. Keep warm over low heat while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Spicy Sweet Potatoes

3 Sweet Potatoes, Peeled and Shredded

2 tbs Olive Oil

1 Onion, chopped

1 Garlic Clove, chopped

1 Jalapeno, minced

1 tbs Chili Powder

1 tbs Cumin

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1 tsp Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

1/2 cup Water

1 handful of Cilantro

1 tbs Apple Cider Vinegar

In a food processor, shred the peeled sweet potatoes and put aside. In a large saute pan, heat 2 tbs of olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and jalapeno, cooking until softened then add the shredded sweet potato, spices, and water. Cooking for 5 minutes until the water is evaporated and the sweet potatoes are cooked through. Add the cilantro and vinegar, reducing to low heat in order to keep warm.

Additional Bowl Items

1 Can Black Beans, warmed

1 cup Corn

1 Tomato, chopped

1 Avocado, sliced

1 Lime, cut into Wedges

Cilantro

Chipotle Lime Tahini Sauce

1 Lime Juiced

1 tbs Olive Oil

1 Chili in Adobe

1 Garlic Clove

2 Tbs Tahini

1/4 cup Water

Pink Himalayan Sea Salt to taste

Place all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth adding more water if needed.

Assembly

Place the rice into a bowl or onto a plate, top with the spicy sweet potatoes, black beans, corn, tomato, avocado and cilantro. Squeeze lime over and drizzle with the Chipotle Lime Tahini Sauce. Enjoy and Healthy Eating!

The end of fall is always a hard time for me and this year has been no exception. Life sometimes has a way of letting you down, bringing you down, or creeping up on you. As you can tell, that is a lot of different directions to be pulled in! Often in these times when I am not feeling well emotionally I start to indulge in food and drink that does not do my body good so instantly I also do not feel well physically.

This happened in the past few weeks. I was indulging in too much whiskey, sweets, and other unsavory items. My body was feeling sluggish and I needed a reset. No one is perfect nor will they always eat perfectly but as someone who is conscious of what I am eating, I can easily recognize that it was effecting my mood and my self-esteem. Winter hadn't even started and I felt like I had packed on my winter weight.

So what do you do? You do a juice cleanse combined with raw foods, well at least that is what I do! On Sunday after gorging on pizza and cake, I came home and took our my juicer and got to work. I have a slow juicer so the juice lasts for a number of days, I made a big batch of apple and turnip green juice as well as a beet, carrot and ginger juice so that I had some variety.

Let me tell you, after the first day you feel so much lighter and remarkably better physically. This in turn provides a mental boost as well. Now, I don't want you to picture me drinking juice all day long. In the morning I have a smoothie so that I can blend in my Green Vibrance and for lunch I drink juice. Throughout the day I snack on fruit if I am still hungry and for dinner I eat a raw meal. This means that I eat vegetables uncooked and no this does not have to be boring!

The recipe here is for my Raw Collard Green Burritos that are stuffed with zucchini, peppers, onions, garlic, and spices - essentially its like eating a chunky veggie filled salsa inside of your collard wrap and it is insanely delicious. The best part is that if I wanted to eat 3, I totally could! After 4 days of juicing and eating this way, I feel more like myself. I hope that you enjoy!

Raw Sprouted Lentil and Vegetable Collard Green Burritos

1 Zucchini, chopped

1/2 Onion, Chopped

1 Garlic clove, Chopped

1 Green Pepper, Chopped

1 Poblano Pepper, minced

1 Jalapeno Pepper, minced

2 Tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup Corn

1/2 cup Sprouted Lentils

1 tbs Cumin

1 tbs Chili Powder

2 tbs Olive Oil

1 tsp Honey

1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Pink Himalayan Sea Salt to taste

Large Collard Green leaves

In a large bowl, add the chopped vegetables, lentils and spices, stirring to combine. Taking 2 collard green leaves, remove the tough inner stem. Place them dark green side down with the stem sides overlapping in the center.

Add a heaping portion of the veggies and lentils to the center of the leaves. Tuck the short ends in and roll up burrito style. Cut in half and enjoy!