First of all, happy new year! I spent December in Norway and India, but I’m now back in Seattle, happily resuming everyday activities (like blogging!).

This time of year has a way of making everyone think of what they need to improve about themselves. Exercising more, dieting, being more efficient at work, saving money, etc. I always feel like New Year’s Resolutions take away all the fun, they’re usually all about discipline and restrictions. So instead of vowing never to eat candy again I started thinking about what foods to add that is both fun and good for you. I assembled a list of 10 nutritional super foods that will boost both health and energy, and included links to a couple of vegetarian recipes for each (see list below).

Eating more vegetarian food doesn’t have to be boring, although it may seem like the only suitable foods for yogis are home-grown sprouts and kichedi (I think Yoga Journal prints a kichedi recipe at least four times a year).

The recipes below are all vegetarian, and vegan where marked. A couple of the recipes tell you to use chicken stock, which you can just replace with vegetable stock. I haven’t tried all of them yet, so if you make any of these recipes let me know how it went!

10 Nutritional Super Foods
(Choose organic and local or fair-trade when possible.)

• Almonds (nutritional info)
  –> Green Bean and Almond Soup (vegan)
  –> Italian Almond Cookies
• Blueberries (nutritional info)
  –> Blueberry Yoghurt Cake
  –> Blueberry and Banana Smoothie
• Chocolate (nutritional info)
  –> Banana Chocolate Breakfast Bars
  –> Roasted Squash with Nib Vinaigrette (vegan)
• Garbanzo beans/chickpeas (nutritional info)
  –> Lemony Chickpea Stir-fry (vegan)
  –> Hummus en Fuego (vegan)
• Kale (nutritional info)
  –>Boiled Kale with a Fried Egg and Toast
  –> Matchstick Pasta (vegan)
• Oats (nutritional info)
  –>Oatmeal Breakfast Clafoutis
  –> Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
• Quinoa (nutritional info)
  –> Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa
  –> Golden Sunshine Quinoa Salad
• Red wine* (nutritional info)
  –> Red Wine Spaghetti with Broccoli
  –> Red Wine Risotto with Peas
• Tomatoes (nutritional info)
  –> Roasted Tomato Soup (vegan)
  –> Five Minute Tomato Sauce (vegan)
• Yams (nutritional info)
  –> South Indian Vegetable Curry (vegan)
  –> Gingered Yam Soup (vegan)

* Disclaimer: No, I’m not suggesting it’s healthy for yogis (or anyone) to over-imbibe. But red wine in moderation has well proven health benefits. Usually when you cook with wine the alcohol evaporates.