White bean burgers (Secret Recipe Club)

These simple, healthy white bean burgers with a yogurt feta sauce are super flavorful and won't fall apart like many veggie burgers.

Note: Recipe and photos updated April 2016.

I made this recipe in 2013 as part of the Secret Recipe Club (SRC).

Here's how the SRC works: each month I am assigned another member's blog (a different one each month). I then pick any recipe from that blogger's site, make it and write about it here. There's also a link hop at the end of the post so that I (and you) can check out all the other participating blogs and their great recipes.

I was a little nervous about this month's assignment, as I knew it would fall right during Detox January. I had my fingers crossed that I would be assigned a blog with at least a couple of healthy recipes from which I could choose.

I hit the jackpot!

My assigned blog was Cooking Whims, written by Megan, another New Englandah (yay!). Megan is clearly a big fan of Cooking Light recipes, as am I, so I was thrilled to find so many things to try. In fact, I wound up making two of her recipes and had a hard time choosing which one to feature (really, it came down to which one yielded a better photo).

The winner? White bean burgers, a perfect, meatless dinner option for Detox January.

Skinny slow cooker peanut butter cup blondies

Use your slow cooker to make easy, skinny peanut butter cup blondies, a healthier choice for dessert, snacktime or school lunchboxes.

This is getting sort of crazy, isn't it? Another slow cooker recipe: Maybe I should have made 2016 the Year of the Crockpot.

But come on: I'm giving you a dessert recipe. A skinny dessert recipe. A skinny dessert recipe made in the slow cooker.

You can't blame me for being pretty excited about this one.

Regular readers are by now aware of my penchant for using my slow cooker as a water bath for making yummy things like overnight oatmeal and bread pudding. This skinny peanut butter cup blondie recipe is similar in that it uses the slow cooker in a non-traditional way -- like an oven; all you need is a springform pan that fits inside your cooker.

Green power smoothie (to share with your dog!)

Love your dogs? Then share this kale, spinach, peanut butter and banana green power smoothie with them for breakfast.

Yesssssss! I'm so excited to share this smoothie post with you because I assume that you, like me, are a crazy dog person. In a good way. Meaning you love dogs. So much so that you may have been known to cook for them.

Chicken jerky, sweet potato chips, doggie meatloaf -- all part of my cook-for-dogs-repertoire. But now I've got a doggie breakfast specialty as well, to round out Smoothie Week: a kale and spinach peanut butter smoothie that is not only for them, it's also for you!

This easy-to-make smoothie is loaded with healthy ingredients that are good for you but also good (and perfectly safe) for your favorite poochie. And the slightly larger portion size accommodates you both: pour a little bit (start with 1/4 cup for a medium-sized dog) into a bowl for your pal and save the rest for yourself.

Oatmeal breakfast smoothie

Swap your favorite morning oatmeal for a delicious, filling oatmeal breakfast smoothie, loaded with fruit and naturally sweetened.

Smoothie Week continues with this super-filling and delicious oatmeal breakfast smoothie.

Earlier this week, I got you prepped with all my best tips and tricks. Did you make some nut milk? And then turn it into ice? Freeze some bananas? Great: You're all set to whip up one of the yummiest, healthiest smoothies around.

If you're like me, breakfast can get to be a little boring after a while. It's tough to keep it creative every single morning, isn't it? And as much as I love love LOVE my morning oatmeal (especially when it cooks overnight in the slow cooker), I need to change things up so I don't get into a rut and grow weary of my faves.

Which is why I love that this oatmeal breakfast smoothie. It's basically my favorite morning oatmeal -- complete with a whole heap of good-for-you fruits, some natural protein and no refined sugar -- in a delicious, drinkable form.

Perhaps the best thing about this oatmeal breakfast smoothie is that it is incredibly filling. When I have one for breakfast, I never get the eleven o'clock munchies; it keeps me full and energized until it's time for lunch.

Nut milk ice (plus 5 more smoothie tips and tricks)

Learn how to turn nut milk into ice and get other time- and money-saving tips and tricks for making the best smoothies ever.

Welcome to Smoothie Week!

During this year's Detox January, I've been making a lot of smoothies -- and not all of them are green! I know I'm late to the smoothie party (I seem to be late to every party lately), but I'm loving having them for breakfast.

One of the reasons I never entirely jumped on the smoothie-a-day bandwagon was because I don't like to clean the blender. SERIOUSLY! I mean, how lazy can you get, right? Last year I discovered (again, apparently this was only news to ME) the mason jar blender trick, which helped a lot; using mason jars means I only have to wash the blender blade -- the jars can go right in the dishwasher.

Booyah!

Another reason I wasn't fully embracing smoothies? Smoothie prep. I never seemed to have the right ingredients on hand when I really wanted a smoothie -- namely because they always seem to call for milk or yogurt or some other dairy product I didn't have in the fridge.

So one of my new favorite tips for making smoothies easier is nutmilk ice. (Again, if this is not news to anyone but me, keep it to yourself and let me have my little moment of glee, mmmmkay?) By freezing my favorite nutmilks into ice, I kill two birds with one stone -- nutmilk ice makes the perfect substitute for ice and/or milk in my favorite smoothies.

Slow cooker chicken and white bean soup

This easy, slow cooker chicken and white bean soup is loaded with two types of protein, fresh herbs and healthy veggies: a perfect warming weeknight dinner.

How has the weather been in your area lately? Cold? Snowy? If so, I bet you've been thinking a lot about soup, chili and other warming winter dinners.

I know I have.

But no wussy soups for me this time of year. Nosirreebob. The Ninj craves a hearty, filling soup, with protein and veggies, that makes a whole meal in and of itself.

(Largely this is because I'm lazy and don't want to have to make a salad to go with my soup, but let's just keep that between us, mmmmkay?)

Speaking of lazy, I'm a huge fan of soups made in the slow cooker because ... well, I just said it ... I'm lazy and the crockpot is the lazy cook's best friend. Hey, using the slow cooker is pretty much the only way I get out of cooking every once in a while. (Back when we first got married, I tried assigning Mr. Ninj a cooking night once a week to give me a break -- he missed the point about "cooking" and just ordered Chinese every week, so I gave up.)

Baked ranch tofu 'chicken' nuggets

Healthy baked ranch tofu nuggets have all the meatiness and flavor of a traditional chicken nugget. A meatless entree or appetizer that even the pickiest eater will love!

So, if you knew me 20 years ago, you're probably laughing hysterically at the fact that I'm posting about tofu. Suffice it to say, I have not always been a healthy eater (I lived on Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies and Cool Ranch Doritos in college). In fact, I was pretty reliant on processed and packaged foods until I started reading more about where my food came from and making the effort to read and decode food package ingredient labels.

Even as a healthy eater, espousing The Way of Better Eating, I'm pretty new to tofu, not being vegetarian or vegan (remember -- I have been known to call myself The Meatasaurus). But I've been giving tofu more of a chance lately as a way to enjoy meatless meals during the week.

If you've seen but never tried a tofu nugget recipe before, you're not alone. I was super skeptical, especially of the ones that claimed to have a meaty texture. How the freak could jiggly tofu ever seem meaty? But Cheryl of 40 Aprons did a pretty good job of convincing me, once she revealed the secret: Freeze the tofu.

Yes! It's totally freakish but it works! Something all science-y about the freezing and thawing process changes the tofu's texture so that it's meaty. Seriously: meaty. I kid you not. Even Mr. Ninj, who gave me his you-haven't-hidden-some-nasty-pureed-vegetables-in-this-have-you sideways-stink-eye, gobbled them up and praised the meaty, genuinely nugget-ish texture.

Light mac and cheese with greens: gluten-free or not

Enjoy this lightened yet rich and creamy mac and cheese, loaded with good-for-you collard greens, two ways: gluten-free or not.

Eating lighter and adding veggies to your diet doesn't have to mean giving up the foods you love. Case in point: mac and cheese.

Regular readers know I'm pretty much addicted to pasta. Even though I know the carb-loading is doing nothing for my waistline, I'm powerless against the pull of cheesy, filling comfort food (seriously: I may need a support group). To make my addiction slightly less bad for me, I've been embracing healthier styles of pasta, like whole wheat pasta and brown rice pastas.

The good thing about brown rice pasta is that it's also gluten-free, which I know is an important recipe element to many of you. So, whenever I can, I like to share recipes that can be made gluten-free if needed but don't exclude those who don't eat gluten-free.

You've got a love a pasta recipe where everybody wins. So you're definitely going to love this win-win lightened mac and cheese with collard greens.

Collard greens, I hate to say, are terribly misunderstood. If you're one of those people who has only ever tried them braised (I think praising them for their "liquor" is rubbish), with the life cooked out of them so that they're a nasty, sickly green color, I won't blame you if you say you hate them. I hate them cooked that way, too.

But you've got to give them another try. Hey, I used to claim to hate pork chops, too, because the only way I ever ate them was the way my mother cooked them: dried out to the point of being inedible unless immersed in a side of applesauce because 1970s cooks worried that pinkish, juicy pork would give us worms ... or worse.

Chai spiced slow cooker steel cut oats

While I have been compensated for this chai spiced slow cooker steel cut oats recipe by #CollectiveBias and Quaker, all thoughts and opinions are my own. #MyOatsCreation

Easy overnight chai spiced slow cooker steel cut oats: an individually sized, ready-when-you-are breakfast, hearty enough to keep you satisfied until lunch and away from mid-morning snacks.

I love steel cut oats. While regular rolled oats are a staple in my pantry for recipes like baked oatmeal and peanut butter banana oatmeal muffins, I prefer the heartier and chewier steel cut oats, with their slightly nutty flavor, for my hot cereal breakfasts. But steel cut oats can take extra time to cook than quick oats -- and, if you're like me, you don't have a lot of extra time when you're trying to get up and out the door in the morning.

So when Quaker asked me to develop a recipe using steel cut oats to inspire you to consider oatmeal in a whole new way for 2015, I jumped at the chance and created this chai spiced slow cooker steel cut oat hot cereal. By using your slow cooker while you sleep, you can start enjoying a better-for-you breakfast of steel cut oats easily and without any extra effort -- in fact, with almost no effort at all.

The beauty of this whole grain oat breakfast recipe is that it is so easy. Firstly, there are only four ingredients and all of them are readily available at your local Target (as if you need an excuse to shop at Target, right?). Secondly, the recipe is super easy to prep and to cook, as it cooks itself in the slow cooker while you sleep! And thirdly, having a better-for-you whole-grain breakfast waiting for you when you get up is a real morning time-saver. No more excuses for not eating healthier breakfasts in 2015!

Pear and pecan spice muffins

You'll love the cardamom in these pear and pecan spice muffins, studded with bits of candied ginger. Enjoy the muffins for breakfast or an afternoon snack.

HOLLA: It's Detox January again! 

Regular readers know that Mr. Ninj and I engage in what we call Detox January every year. It's not as bad as it sounds; it's just a way to get back on track with the Way of Better Eating after the excesses of the holidays (yeah, I have no one to blame but myself for those Moonpie cookies). And I encourage you to play along at home.

Detox January is not some overly ambitious resolution that you know you won't be able to keep (new gym membership, anyone?); it's more like a short-term, mini resolution that you know you can achieve.

The rules are simple. For the entire month of January,

• Abstain from all alcohol (but if a recipe calls for a little bit, that's OK) -- we'll be drinking things like virgin marys rather than gimlets for cocktail hour to avoid all the extra calories
• Eat a bit healthier every day (I don't expect you to get all cray cray here -- just try to eat more veggies than cookies and keep your recipes more Cooking Light than Julia Child) 
• Exercise more than you did in December.

 
That's it. Simple, right?

And to show you that Detox January isn't some kind of scary juice cleanse or anything, I annually serve up a yummy baked good as the first recipe of the year. This year, it's lightened pear and pecan spice muffins, scented with cardamom and studded with bits of candied ginger.

Yes, a "detox" that involves muffins ... 'cause that's how The Ninj rolls.

Two-ingredient sweet potato applesauce muffins

Enjoy these quick-and-easy sweet potato applesauce muffins as a healthy breakfast or snack. No lie: They're made with only two ingredients!

Last week, I shared with you the delicious results of one of the best aha moments I've had lately: slow cooker sweet potato applesauce, made with naturally sweet apples and sweet potatoes and no added sweeteners. Squeeeeeeee! Pretty awesome, right? And healthy to boot.

But wait -- there's more!

A few of you mentioned in the comments that you loved the idea of adding sweet potatoes to applesauce but you weren't quite sure how to best use it (although the suggestions of pairing it with roast chicken or pork were fabulous!).

Come on: Did you think The Ninj would leave you hanging? And hanging with a boatload of applesauce on your hands?

Behold: Use your healthy sweet potato applesauce to make these super simple muffins -- and they only require one other ingredient.

Double squeeeeeee!

Seriously, how cool is this? Turn one healthy snack into another, with very little effort and without sacrificing any of the healthy factor.

Chocolate berry black bean Mason jar smoothie

Attach a Mason jar to your blender to whip up this healthy chocolate-strawberry-black-bean smoothie -- dairy-free and naturally sweetened, it's the perfect good-for-you afternoon snack.

OMG, y'all: The Mason jar blender smoothie is not an urban myth! I still cannot quite believe that something crafty I saw on Pinterest actually worked.

This is a smoothie game-changer for me.

I love smoothies as much as the next person. I really do. Heck, I've got a bunch of smoothie recipes on this site. But I hate hate HATE to clean the blender. Did I say hate? I mean REALLY hate. Hand-washing is not my thing, so I don't make smoothies nearly as much as I'd like.

I know, it's sadly, pathetically lazy but hey, we've all got our issues, right?

Enter the Mason jar blender smoothie. (Again, I'm still reeling that this is not a lie.)

If you separate the blade attachment thingy from the pitcher portion of your blender, you can screw the blade attachment thingy right onto a Mason jar! And then, after you whirl it up, you can drink it directly from the jar! Not even an extra glass to wash! ERMERGAHD: Lazy person's dream!

I kid you not: I have photos.

Healthy and easy snack recipes

Six healthy and easy, real-food snack recipes to satisfy all your cravings -- sweet, savory, salty, crunchy, chewy and smooth.

If you're looking for some homemade snacks that will satisfy your cravings without that vending-machine guilt, The Ninj has got you covered. Sweet, savory, salty, crunchy, chewy, smooth? The choice is yours.

6 Healthy and Easy Snack Recipes

1. Fruit leather
2. Dried fruit and cereal bars
3. No-bake healthy oat bars
4. Individual yogurt cups (be sure to check the comments on this one for helpful tips!)
   
5. Artichoke hummus
6. Peanut butter banana snack cake

What are your favorite real-food snacks? Leave a comment: The Ninj wants to know.

Blackened blue steak salad with coffee marinade

Blackened blue steak salad, with a coffee-based marinade, tangy balsamic dressing and bold blue cheese, will quickly become a weeknight favorite.

If you think it seems silly of me to post a recipe for a salad, you're not eating the right salad.

I love a good meal salad. Probably for the same reason that I love one-pot dinners: it seems so efficient to have a fully balanced meal -- protein and veg -- all in one simple dish.

And there's the speed factor, too.  Meal salads are generally simple and speedy, perfect for weeknight dinners.

My blackened blue steak salad has evolved over the years. It started with the dressing, and then evolved into the whole salad, becoming my go-to recipe for those inevitable summertime post-grilling steak leftovers (plus it got its cutesy name).  Now, I'm marinating and pan-searing a steak in the dead of winter solely to be able to eat this salad.

Sometimes, when I have them coming in in my summer garden, I add sliced radishes to the salad for an extra peppery crunch, but it's just as good without them.

The one thing that cannot be messed with, however, is the blue cheese. In combination with the balsamic-based dressing, the blue cheese is what makes this salad so addictive (and yes, a salad can be addictive).

Anytime wholesome spice cookies

Enjoy this easy recipe for wholesome spice cookies (no butter, no sugar) anytime you want, guilt-free.

So there's a funny story behind these spice cookies. Well, maybe more of an exasperating story but a story nonetheless.

Late one afternoon a few weeks ago, I had a craving for some soft cookies. Now, being able to whip up a batch of cookies whenever you feel like it is one of the great perks of working from home. Well, that and being able to wear yoga pants to "work," but I digress.

As regular readers know, I generally like my sweets a little less on the sweet side, so I decided to make a batch of molasses cookies. I pulled out an old recipe for a healthier, vegan molasses cookie, given that it was still Detox January.

Now, you know how in fifth grade your teachers tried to drill into your tiny head that it was always important to read all the directions first and assemble all the necessary supplies before you begin any task? Yeah, that. I'm here to tell you that it is still very, very important.

Too bad I didn't remember that when I started making my cookies.

You see, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess that a molasses cookie will more than likely CALL FOR MOLASSES. When I got to the "add molasses" step, I realized my jar of molasses was nearly empty.

Ah, for the love of pete...

Given that I was slumming in my yoga pants working, I didn't feel like schlepping to the store simply to buy molasses. So I improvised.

Rice noodle bowl with sausage and greens

Easy rice noodle bowl with sausage and greens -- a quick and hearty weeknight meal plus leftovers for your lunch bag.

WE MADE IT!

Tomorrow is the last day of Detox January: how did you do?  I lost my annual five pounds and am feeling much fitter. And I'm happy to be back to eating better, too (my butter consumption is a fraction of what it was over the holidays).

Lest you think that on Saturday we will start celebrating Retox February, I'm sharing this easy, hearty rice noodle bowl so you can keep your Detox January healthy habits going.

(Well, except the no drinking part. Cocktail hour will be reinstated on February 1. I'm no saint, people.)

Part soup, part pasta dish, this rice noodle bowl is just the ticket for winter dinners. And, given how easy it is to prepare, it's a perfect weeknight dish that will leave you with leftovers for your lunch bag, too.

Two meals in one? Score.

Spanish tomato soup with smoked paprika potatoes

A unique Spanish tomato soup with olives, topped with smoked paprika roasted potatoes.

Are you familiar with smoked paprika? If you aren't, you need to be.

I'll admit, I'm not that sensitive to the nuances of different styles of spices. If a recipe calls for some weird-ass version of a basic spice, I usually just use the basic spice, rather than going to four different stores or having to mail-order it.

Remember my number one favorite-recipe criterion: must be easy to prepare. Mail-order spices don't make the cut.

Smoked paprika, however, is the exception.

I'm not sure what recipe originally turned me on to smoked paprika but, once I tried it, I was hooked. Yes, it's paprika, but it also has a not-so-subtle smoky flavor that you can really taste. And it's readily available in most grocery stores. Booyah.

This tomato soup recipe caught my eye because of the smoked paprika. And because it has olives in it (I know, right?). And because it is topped with roasted potatoes. Too crazy!

Verdict? It's fantastic! This is no ordinary tomato soup.  The flavors are smoky and spicy and the briny tang of the olives is the perfect complement. Plus, the roasted potatoes turn it into a meal rather than simply a soup.

DIY almond milk and a bonus fruit smoothie recipe

Learn to make your own almond milk (it's easy!) -- plus how to use it in a delicious fruit smoothie.

I've always been a little freaked out by nut milk when I see it in the store. Is it nuts or is it milk? And since there's no milk in nuts, what the hell is it?

Plus nut mlk always seemed a little too non-mainstream for me. You know, like it's something only vegans or latte-ordering hipsters would drink. Right up there with soy milk.

But I'm happy to report I stand corrected. Nut milk rocks. Specifically, almond milk rocks. And is wicked easy to make, which you know is criterion number one for The Ninj's favorite recipes.

Other than planning ahead the night before, making a homemade quart of nut milk takes about three minutes. Not kidding. It's simple: soak the nuts, pulverize the crap out of them, mixed with water and a little natural sweetener, strain the whole thing and -- VOILA! -- nut milk.

Pineapple muffins

Easy-to-make light pineapple muffins are a great breakfast or snack.

Just because it's Detox January doesn't mean you can't have delicious baked goods -- like pineapple muffins.

This is the thing I love about Detox January. It's not about some god-awful juice cleanse (I even hate the sound of the word "cleanse"), just putting your head back on straight after the over-indulgence of the holidays. As I always say, simply try to eat more Cooking Light than Julia Child.

Or, in this case, more Eating Well. I'm enamored of the magazine for it's great healthy recipes but also because it is produced right here in Vermont. So I feel that I'm truly eating local when I make their recipes.

While citrus is in season, I was not about to hack up an entire pineapple just to make this pineapple muffins. You know my philosophy by now: the recipe has to be easy to prepare to win The Ninj's approval. So I opted for no-sugar-added canned pineapple.

Peanut butter and banana snack cake

Super-easy peanut butter and banana snack cake is perfect for snacking or a quick breakfast.

We're into Week 2 of Detox January 2014 and I'm giving you a recipe for peanut butter and banana snack cake.

Only with The Ninj do the words "cake" and "detox" manage to go well together.

(See? I told you this would be easy!)

Since I'm still on my post-oral-surgery soft food kick, I've been trying to come up with ever-more inventive ways with bananas, as they are filling and a good source of protein. I've been making a version of this snack cake (peanut butter only) for a few years now and realized that, if I took small bites and mixed in some mashed banana, it would definitely be post-surgery worthy -- especially since I have graduated from drinking my meals to chewing them again.

The banana was the perfect addition, lending a bit more moistness and really highlighting the creamy peanut butter flavor. It's a new breakfast favorite around Casa de Ninj.

This cake is also very kid-friendly and would be a nice lunchbox or after-school treat.  And, as with all my favorite recipes, feel free to personalize it; for example, throw in a handful of chopped nuts, if you want to add a little crunchiness, or add a sprinkling of crushed peanuts to the top before baking.