I buy a huge bag of clementines every week when I go to the grocery store and proceed to eat about six a day until they're gone. The other day I picked up a couple bars of dark chocolate that ended up being way too bitter, so I melted some into a kind of a Paleo ganache and made chocolate-covered clementine pieces. And they were delicious.

Ingredients:

• About half of a 3.5 ounce bar of dark chocolate
• One tablespoon of grass-fed butter
• Two to three ripe clementines
• A pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, melt the chocolate (I microwaved it for thirty seconds at a time, stirring in between). Add the butter and combine well.
2. Peel your clementines and separate. Dip each piece halfway in the chocolate and rest on a piece of parchment paper.
3. Pop them in the fridge for about twenty minutes, or until the chocolate has hardened. Sprinkle a bit of salt and serve.

I share a lot of Paleo recipes on Freckled Italian, and while a lot of my snacks and side dishes are naturally vegetarian, I realize that I might sometimes alienate some of my vegan and vegetarian readers. So when Kate and Adam from The Florkens offered to contribute a vegetarian dinner recipe, I jumped at the chance to showcase something delicious from a different dietary lifestyle.

Spaghetti Squash with Falafel & Lentil Patties

Ingredients:

• One spaghetti squash
• Several tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 cup of cooked lentils
• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• One 15-oz can of drained chickpeas
• 1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
• 2 tablespoons applesauce
• 1 clove of minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon each of onion powder, cumin, and chili powder
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Carefully cut the spaghetti squash in half, scoop out the insides, and season well with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake for about an hour at 400.
2. In a food processor, combine the lentils, oatmeal, chickpeas, tahini, applesauce, garlic, onion powder, cumin, chili powder, and about a teaspoon each of salt and pepper. If you have picky vegetable eaters in your family, this is a great stage to add any "secret ingredients," like broccoli. Blend until ingredients form a paste. (If it's too runny, you can add some more oats; if it's too dry, add a splash of water.)
3. Form the paste into patties and cook for three minutes on each side over medium heat in a bit of olive oil. Set patties aside.
4. Once your spaghetti squash has cooked and cooled enough to handle, use a fork to scrape the squash out into noodles. Heat another tablespoon or so of olive oil, add some garlic, and combine with the spaghetti squash over medium heat. Add the nutritional yeast and mix well.
5. Remove spaghetti squash from heat and plate with a couple of the patties. Enjoy!

Adam and Kate plan to share more vegetarian recipes on their blog in the future, but in the meantime, you can get to know them a bit more right here. Thanks so much for the recipe, you guys!

I love sitting down to a big, hot breakfast of eggs and bacon, but on hectic mornings during the week, I much prefer a quick smoothie. I use a variety of frozen fruit and always include some spinach, a banana, and a spoonful of coconut oil.

The other day I read a brochure sent to me by Canada Maple Syrup that included a smoothie recipe similar to the one I use every day, but with a bit of pure maple syrup. Intriguing! As you may know, Canadian maple syrup is 100% natural and a great (Paleo-friendly!) alternative to sugar. I had never thought about it before, but since Canadian maple syrup is a pure and all natural source of carbohydrates, it would make a great addition to your next post-workout snack. I gave their recipe a try, subbing a few ingredients to make my recipe Paleo. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 large banana
• 1/4 cup Canadian maple syrup
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• several handfuls of fresh spinach

Instructions:

1. Place all ingredients in a blender (I usually do the banana and spinach before anything frozen goes in).
2. Blend (I use the puree setting on my blender) until all ingredients are well-incorporated. Pour into glasses and enjoy!

This post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC.