Simple, Healthy and Delicious

If you haven't tried quinoa yet, I highly recommend it. It is a really great grain...high in protein and fiber and really delicious. It can be a bit hard to find but any health food store or Whole Foods/Wild Oats should carry it. Quinoa is great hot or cold.....check back soon as the next quinoa post will be a cold quinoa salad!

Quinoa with Sauteed Broccoli and Carrots

1 cup quinoa
1 cup water
1 cup vegetable broth
1-2 cups broccoli florets
2 carrots, sliced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
olive oil
soy sauce
salt and pepper

Combine quinoa, water and vegetable broth in saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes until all liquid has been absorbed. Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, saute broccoli and carrots in olive oil and garlic. Cook vegetables until al dente. Season vegetables and quinoa with soy sauce, salt and pepper.

Serves 2-3.

Pseudo-Mexican Night

Menu:
Black Bean Burgers
Homemade guacamole
Sweet Potato Fries



Spicy Black Bean Burgers
original recipe: Bon Apetit 1995
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/654

1 15-ounce can black bean, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup finely chopped red onion or shallot
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp salsa
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp Tabsaco sauce
a dash of cayenne
salt and pepper

Using a fork, mash beans in medium bowl. Mix in onion, breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons salsa, cumin, cayenne and hot pepper sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Using moistened hands, shape bean mixture into four small patties.
In a frying pan, put a small amount of olive oil and brown patties on each side. Serve with salsa and guacamole. We always eat these as is, put you could also serve the burgers in toasted hamburger buns or enlgish muffins.

2 Servings; can be doubled.

Broccoli Puree

This is a Giada De Laurentiis recipe but I changed mine up a bit due to the fact that I didn't have cream cheese, the right kind of potato or enough broccoli and I didn't want to steam the veggies separately as I figured that was a waste of time. I thought this was absolutely delicious and I felt much better about eating mashed potatoes as they were full of green veggies.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_30883,00.html?rsrc=search

Nell's Broccoli Puree

3 Yukon gold potatoes
2 handfuls of broccoli florets
approx 1/3 cup grated parmesan
splash of chicken stock
2-3 Tbsp lowfat sour cream
salt and pepper

Cut potatoes into quaters and steam with broccoli so they finish at about the same time. Put potaoes into a bowl and mash very well. Puree broccoli, splash of chicken stock, parmesan, sour cream, salt and pepper in a food processor (I used my mini-prep). Add to mashed potatoes and mix well. You may need to warm it up a bit in the microwave to bring back up to temperature.

Serves 2.

Southern Pecan Fried Chicken

This recipe is from one of Lee Bailey's cookbooks. My mom used to make this a lot in the summer when we brought dinner to the beach. My sister and I loved this chicken so much we actually fought over it...I've even been known to eat the leftovers for breakfast ;)
This chicken goes really well with a potato dish...vinaigrette-based potato salad in the summer and mashed potatoes in the winter!

2 lbs chicken breasts (cut into 2-4 strips per breast)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 cups pecans
1 1/3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper
light olive oil

1. Marinate chicken strips in buttermilk for 30 minutes.
2. In a food processor, combine all dry ingredients and pulse (leave some chunky pieces of pecans!)
3. Pour dry flour mixture onto a plate and dip chicken, pressing nuts into tho chicken with your hands.
4. Let chicken rest in the fridg for 30 minutes.
5. In a large frying pan, pour in 1/2 inch of light olive oil. Heat until hot over med-high heat.
6. Carefully put chicken in, 2-4 minutes per side until golden brown
7. Drain chicken on paper towel. Enjoy warm or cold!

serves 4-6

Dinner Party Menu

sorry, But I don't have any pics...I thought it might be a bit off-putting to my guests if I starting photographing their food :)

Hors D'Oeuvres: Hummus doctored up with toasted pine nuts, cumin and olive oil (thanks Felic!), baby carrots and crackers

Appetizer: Arugula and baby spinach salad with apple, toasted walnuts, and shaved manchego with champage vinegar dressing, and balsamic glaze drizzled on the plate.

Entree: Roasted Wild Coho Salmon with a balsamic reduction (see recipe below), roasted broccoli with garlic and parmesan and mashed Yukon Gold potatoes with sour cream.

Dessert: Lemon Cake ( see recipe in previous post), fresh raspberries and blueberries

I thought everything turned out really well excpet for two things...
1. I don't think I reduced the balsamic sauce enough for the salmon as it was a litle thin when poured over the salmon. It had a great flavor though so it didn't matter too much.

2. I need to work on my mashed potatoes... I don't often make them and while they seem like a simple enough thing, mine never quite turn out the way I want... suggestions?


Roasted Salmon with a Balsamic Reduction
(an adaption of a recipe from Bon Apetit, July 2007)
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/105288

Sauce:
1/2 cup good balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
2 Tspsp lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce to about 1/3 cup, about 17 minutes. Watch the sauce carefully as it can burn! Can be a made a few hours ahead and slowly rewarmed before using.

Salmon:
4, 6-ounce filets of wild salmon
olive oil
salt
pepper

Preheat the oveen to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil. Place salmon on sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for abotu 20 minutes. Drizzle balsamic sauce over the salmon and serve!

Salem's Gourmet Taste

too cute not to post....Salem loves his spoonful of Fage greek yogurt in the morning!

Exceptions to Every Rule...

I have to admit, I am a bit of a purist when it comes to food. I usually don't go for anything that's been made from a boxed mix. As a rule, I like things made from scratch from all natural ingredients...however, rules are meant to be broken and I certainly break my rule for this cake. You might as well throw out all your recipes for lemon cake as you will never need or want another one!

Lemon Bundt Cake

4 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup apricot nectar
3/4 vegetable oil
1 pkg. Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme cake mix
2 lemons
1 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Beat eggs well with a hand mixer, add sugar-beat, add apricot nectar-beat, add oil-beat, add cake-mix and beat at a medium speed for 2 minutes until all lumps are gone.
3. Put in greased bundt pan. Bake for 50 minutes.
4. Grate lemons and squeeze juice. Mix with the powdered sugar and let stand.
5. Remove cake from oven and let cool on a rack for 10 minutes.
6. Transfer to serving plate and slowly drizzle lemon glaze over the surface.

British Comfort Food!

Comfort food for me is really any combination of starch and cheese...depending on the day it could be macaroni and cheese, cheddar cheese and marmite on an english muffin or risotto...obviously not the healthiest food choices around but they really hit the spot when you need it! Another variation on this theme is the classic Welsh Rarebit...basically melted cheese sauce on toast which you put under the broiler until is gets brown. Yum! I have memories from my childhood of eating this dish with my mom. Maybe that's why I like this dish so much :)

Welsh Rarebit

1 tbsp butter

4 oz cheddar cheese, grated

dash of prepared Colman's mustard (or just use dijon)

1 Tbsp guiness or whatever beer you have on hand

Freshly ground pepper

1 egg, separated

2 pieces of hearty toast

In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the cheese, mustard, beer and pepper. Stir. Take off the heat once the mixture is smooth. Stir in the egg yolk. Stiffly beat the egg white and fold into the cheese mixture with a metal spoon. Pour over the toast and put under the broiler until brown. Serve with a green salad.

Serves 1 hungry person or 2 not so hungry people :)

The Best Broccoli Ever!

ok, so the idea for this recipe came from dsjohn76..thank you! I don't have exact quantities as I eye-balled everything.

Roasted Broccoli

Broccoli florets
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Garlic cloves, sliced
salt and pepper
Parmeggiano Reggiano

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Put broccoli on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, and season liberally with S&P. Lay slices of garlic around and on broccoli. Roast for 15-20 mintes until edges are just starting to brown and broccoli is tender but still firm (does that make sense?!).
Once out of the oven, generously shave parmesan (I used my microplane) over the top and enjoy!

A Delicious Way to Eat Your Greens

As a holistic health counselor, it is my job to help people live healthier, happier lives! Most people don't eat enough green vegetables and they really are superfoods. So....I am going to be adding really delicious recipes to help encourage people to eat more vegetables. Of course, life is about balance so there will be some chocolate dessert recipes to help even things out!

This chickpea stew is from the July/August 2007 edition of the Nutrition Action Health Letter.

Spicy Chickpea and Greens Stew

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided

1 large carrot, small dice

1 large onion, small dice

1 tsp. red pepper flakes (adjust if you don't like it too spicy!)

1 15-oz can diced tomatoes

6-8 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb spinach (washed in a lettuce spinner and rough chopped)

1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Small bunch basil

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Heat a large, heavy pot over medium heat (I used my large Le Creuset dutch oven and it was perfect). Add 2 Tbs. of the olive oil and saute the carrots until soft, about 2-3 minutes.

2. Stir in the red pepper flakes, tomatoes, and garlic. Simmer until most of the liquid from the tomatoes has evaporated.

3. Stir in the spinach. Simmer over medium heat until tender, about 5-10 minutes if using regular spinach (2-5 minutes if using baby spinach).

4. Add the chickpeas. Roughly chop the basil and stir into the stew, along with the remaining oil.

5. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Serves 4...or 3 hungry people :)

Welcome to my food blog! I will be posting recipes, reviews of cookbooks, reviews of cookware and basically anything relating to food, and cooking. I hope you enjoy my culinary adventures!