Quinoa Salad with Avocado and Kalamata Olives

Quinoa Salad with Avocado and Kalamata Olives

 

This recipe comes from the New York Times online.

I thought it sounded like a good way to eat quinoa (keen-wah), which is high in protein and a nice alternative to rice.

 

Before you cook quinoa, you need to rinse and drain it a few times to get the soapy residue off.  It cooks quickly.

When the little white string in the seed is present, you know it's done.  It's as easy as making rice according to the packaged directions.

After making the quinoa you toss it in a bowl with a seeded & diced cucumber, Kalamata olives (I halved mine), and chopped fresh mint and parsley.  I seasoned it with sea salt and black pepper.

 

Then I whisked the dressing ingredients together - lemon juice, vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic, olive oil, and either buttermilk or plain yogurt.  I used plain Greek yogurt with a Tbsp of water to give it a dressing consistency.

 

 

You toss half of the dressing with salad greens of your choice (I used romaine), and the other half of the dressing with the quinoa salad.  I served the greens and quinoa separately, but you could combine them.

Top with diced avocado and Feta crumbles (optional).

 

I really loved this salad - I would do it again even without the dressing.  The boys were neutral, but David liked it too.  The quinoa salad portion was great the next day with new greens.

 

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Enjoy!

Easy Mushroom Rice Pilaf

Easy Mushroom Rice Pilaf

 

On the back of the Lundgren's short grain brown rice package, Brennan found a recipe for easy mushroom rice pilaf.  He cut it off the package and I tucked in away in my thick file of recipes-to-try.

 

When Thomas was gone last week to camp, it was a great time.  Thomas does not like mushrooms, so he wouldn't miss out.

 

Brennan and I picked out a box of fresh shiitakes to try with this recipe.  I've read that button mushrooms don't have the same nutritional properties that other mushrooms have, plus shiitakes are "meatier", and I like them the best.  You could use any mushrooms here.

 

So, my first attempt at this dish didn't work great.  The directions stated to put all the ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil, then simmer covered for 50 minutes.  I think the mushrooms soaked up too much of the broth.  I kept adding more, and adding more, but it took much longer than 50 minutes.  The dish was still good, but let me share with you what I did to make it much faster the second time I made it.

 

I soaked the rice in a bowl, covered with a dishcloth, for 6 hours.  You could also do this overnight.  Then I drained the rice and followed the directions - much, much better.  The rice cooked well and I didn't have to add any extra broth.  It was delicious.

And with only a few ingredients that I usually have on hand - mushrooms, brown rice, fresh parsley, broth, garlic, olive oil, pepper - it is definitely an Easy recipe.

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Enjoy!

 

 

Texas Caviar Rice and Beans

Texas Caviar Rice and Beans

 

This recipe comes straight from the July 2013 Southern Living, and is a really good recipe for a Meatless Monday, or if you want leftovers for a couple of lunches.  David really liked this dish, which always helps :)

 

My very quick iPhone photos don't do the beauty of this dish justice, but here they are.

 

 

Start by mixing up a Texas Vinaigrette of olive oil, fresh lime juice, chopped fresh cilantro, hot sauce of your choice, minced garlic, chili powder, cumin, Kosher salt, and black pepper. 

 

Then drain and rinse a can each of black-eyed peas and black beans.  Place in a bowl (or a saucepan like I did) and add 1/3 c finely chopped roasted red bell peppers, and 1/4 c finely chopped poblano pepper (I skipped this).  Add half of the vinaigrette and let sit for awhile (20 minutes or so).

 

 

 

Make up Basmati rice.  I had brown Basmati so I followed the direction, but any rice would work well in this dish.

 

Heat the beans on the stovetop (the recipe suggests doing it in the bowl in the microwave - either way), then serve.

 

 

 

Options for serving with this rice and bean caviar:

Chopped Romaine

Warmed Tortillas

Shredded Cheese

Tortilla Chips

Remaining Vinaigrette

Halved Grape Tomatoes

Chopped Cilantro

Thinly Sliced Celery

Thinly Sliced Green Onions

Salsa

Pickled  Jalapeño  Peppers

Guacamole

Sour Cream

Lime Wedges

 

 

 

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Enjoy!

 

 

Avocado Alfredo Sauce

Avocado Alfredo Sauce

Alicia Silverstone shared this recipe on her blog last week so I tried it out.  It originally comes from EcoSalon, and it looked absolutely delicious.

 

I made up a large pot of pasta - rotini was what I had in the pantry.

Then I made the "alfredo" sauce by combining avocados, fresh basil, garlic cloves, lemon juice, sea salt and pepper in the food processor.

 

 

I drained the pasta and tossed it with the sauce, then topped it off with Kalamata olives and a little lemon zest.

 

It was really good.  David and I loved it.  Brennan liked it even better the next day, warmed up for an after school snack. 

 

David was pretty certain I had made this dish before, so I looked here on the blog and lo and behold - a different version of this same meal - although this other version was more of a pesto and included pine nuts.  You can find it here.

 

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Enjoy!

 

Brown Rice and Beans with Ginger Chile Sauce

Brown Rice and Beans with Ginger Chile Sauce

My friend Mary sent me this great Bon Appetit recipe that she had recently tried and loved.  Any rice and beans combo goes over great in my house, so we tried it out last week!

 

You start by cooking brown rice, and then tossing it with fresh cilantro.  I had rice on hand so I re-heated 2 cups worth and added in the fresh cilantro and a little sea salt.  It smelled great!

 

Then I cooked a little chopped onion in olive oil, added in cumin and coriander and let it cook through.  Then added in rinsed & drained black beans, vegetable broth, and a little salt and pepper.  I brought it to a boil, then let it simmer about 8 minutes until the beans were thickened.

 

I somehow didn't get a photo of the ginger chile sauce.

It's very simple - in a blender pulse 2 chiles that have been seeded, a garlic clove, 1 Tbsp of chopped ginger, lime zest, lime juice, and a little bit of onion together to make a flavorful salsa. 

 

 

In addition, I had some sweet peppers so I roasted them in the oven to serve with the beans and rice.

 

The original recipe doesn't call for serving on corn tortillas, but I had some so we made little burritos with ours.  Top the cilantro rice, black beans, salsa, and roasted peppers with halved cherry tomatoes, Cotija or feta cheese crumbles, fresh cilantro, and lime wedges for squeezing.

 

Really, really great - the beans disappeared completely.  They were so good!

 

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Enjoy!

Orecchiette in No-Cook Spinach Sauce

Orecchiette in No-Cook Spinach Sauce

 

This sounded like a great way to serve pasta - and I was looking for something other than marina sauce or broccoli to try. 

 

Kroger unfortunately doesn't carry orecchiette.

 

 

So we went with shells.

 

In a large pot, cook the pasta according to the package in salted water. 

With 5 minutes to go, add green beans (I used frozen) and frozen lima beans.

Drain and set aside.

 

In a food processor, process spinach, garlic, oil, water, lemon juice, sea salt, and black pepper to taste.

Combine pasta, beans, and sauce together.

Serve warm or cold!

 

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Buon Appetito!

 

Avocado Pesto Pasta

Avocado Pesto Pasta

 

This is another yummy recipe from Chloe Coscarelli's cookbook that we tried out this week.

I think this may be my favorite pesto recipe - and I've made tons of different pestos.

We loved the creaminess of this one - and the great flavors.

 

 

I made a pound of linguine in salted water while I made the pesto in my food processor.

For the pesto I used basil, pine nuts, 2 avocados, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil.

I drizzled in the olive oil as the other ingredients were chopping and combining.

 

The recipe calls for 1/2 c olive oil, but I think next time I'll start with 1/4 c and see if I want to add more.

 

I placed the hot pasta in a large bowl and topped it with the pesto.

Combined it and served immediately.

We ate the leftovers later as well - the lemon juice protects the avocado from turning brown and kept the flavor great.

 

This makes a large bowl of pasta, so you could easily cut the recipe in half.

 

It was creamy and delicious!

 

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Enjoy!

 

 

Rice and Lentils

Rice and Lentils

 

When I took cooking classes with Sandy earlier this year, she made this dish for us to eat with our yummy herb-inspired dishes.  It is one of those dishes that she just tossed together and it was so good.  I hadn't "just tossed it together" yet for my family, but had been meaning to.

 

I always have cooked grains in the fridge, to make school night dinners that much easier to pull together.  We really like lentils, so this was a no-brainer.

 

When I asked Sandy for her "recipe", she had to think about what she did that so inspired me.

She shared that she used brown Basmati rice, green lentils, fresh rosemary, garlic powder, onion powder, and celery salt.  Seemed easy enough for me!

I pulled out brown Basmati from the fridge and warmed it up just a little in the microwave.
Then I cooked lentils on the stove according to the package directions. 
Instead of plain water, I used vegetable broth and a bay leaf to flavor the lentils as they cooked.
Lentils cook much more quickly than rice.

 

 

Once tender, I combined the rice, lentils (minus the bay leaf), chopped fresh rosemary, onion powder, garlic powder, and celery salt.

 

This dish has a great mild flavor, and is perfect as a main dish, or as a side dish with meat and vegetables.

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Enjoy!

 

 

Five Ingredient Pasta Toss

Five Ingredient Pasta Toss

 

At the end of a very busy weekend, I decided to throw this dish together so we could all watch a family movie together.  So easy, and great with a side vegetable, or by itself as we chose to eat it tonight!

 

I cooked bowtie pasta al dente.  While it was cooking I added olive oil and crushed garlic to my serving bowl.

 

Then I tossed in rinsed & drained pinto beans, and chopped fresh basil.

The original recipe calls for white beans, but I chose pinto and they worked well.

 

I drained the pasta and tossed it together right away with the remaining ingredients, and served.

 

The original recipe also calls for a can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes, with the juice.

Because my kids don't like tomatoes, I skipped this ingredient.

 

David recommends doubling up on the beans.

I am reminding myself to season the pasta water because the pasta needed a little extra salt.

The boys think there was too much garlic, so I cut it back to 2 cloves in the recipe below.

 

Perfect accompaniment to Elf tonight!

 

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Buon Appetito!

Mediterranean Grain Salad

Mediterranean Grain Salad

I really love the versatility of a grain salad.  This version comes from Sandy who taught me the yumminess of this kind of dish.  It's great as a side dish, a main dish, to take to a pot luck, and keeps for a couple of days easily in the fridge.  This version was especially yummy!

 

You start with 6 cups of cooked grains - whatever you might have on hand.

I had made couscous (not actually a grain) and brown Basmati rice before and froze them to use later.  So I pulled out some of each and defrosted them.

 

But you could use any grain, or combination of grains including rice, quinoa, barley, couscous, etc.

 

Once I was ready to make this dish, I heated the rice and couscous in the microwave for a couple of minutes to take the chill off and combined them in my large mixing bowl. 

 

To my mixed grains I added a can of chickpeas (rinsed & drained), a jar of Kalamata olives (drained), chopped scallions, a chopped cucumber and fresh basil.  I mixed it all up together and seasoned with garlic powder, Kosher salt, and black pepper.

 

Because I wanted the boys to eat this dish as well, I didn't add tomatoes to the dish, but halved some cherry tomatoes for David and me to top ours with.  If you have tomato lovers at your house, you can incorporate the fresh or sun-dried tomatoes in your grains with the other ingredients.

 

Then I added bottled Balsamic vinaigrette, tossed the salad together, and served it alongside my other dishes for dinner.

 

The grain/vegetable/herbs/vinaigrette combinations are endless, but I liked this Mediterranean flair.

 

If you wanted to, you could also add any additional protein like other beans, meat, cheese, tofu, fish, or shrimp.

 

 

 

 

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Enjoy!

Corn and Chickpea Patties

Corn and Chickpea Patties

I had my first chickpea patty when I took healthy cooking classes with Sandy, Healthy Coach and Natural Foods Chef.  They were delicious.

 

I found several other recipes that were similar and I tried one of them recently - and they were super dry.  There wasn't enough dip to make them palatable.

 

Chickpea Patties are also known as "croquettes" and "burgers".

 

Tonight I made Sandy's version, and they were so much better!

 

I cooked frozen corn and chopped onion in olive oil, then combined the vegetables with corn meal, bread crumbs, herbs, and spices with just a few pulses of the food processor.

 



 

I knew immediately that these were going to be moist.

 

Here is my last iteration.  Waaaay too dry.

 

Once the ingredients were pulsed just to combine, I formed them into patties, dusted them with cornmeal, and heated them for a few minutes on both sides in the same oiled pan I used to cook the onions and corn, spraying on just a little more oil.

 

 

I served them with a Greek yogurt and herb dipping sauce, and delicious!

 

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Enjoy!