White Bean and Kale Soup with Chicken Sausage

Pat made White Bean and Kale Soup with Chicken Sausage

for dinner the other night. The recipe is from Whole Foods -

click above for recipe.

It was tasty!

Orzo and Roasted Veggies

One of my favorite recipes right now. It really packs in the veggies.
It is better than what it looks like in my picture - I promise!

Ingredients
1 small eggplant, peeled and 3/4-inch diced
1 red bell pepper, 1-inch diced
1 yellow bell pepper, 1-inch diced
1-2 zucchini
(I'm sure any other in-season veggie would be good to add)
1 red onion, peeled and 1-inch diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
light coat of olive oil
sprinkle with salt & pepper
1/2 pound orzo or rice-shaped pasta (I use whole wheat)
For the dressing
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/3 cup good olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Toppings:
4 scallions, minced (white and green parts)
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
3/4 pound good feta, 1/2-inch diced or crumbled
fresh basil leaves, cut into julienne
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Toss veggies, onion, and garlic with the olive oil, salt, and pepper, and spread on a large sheet pan. Roast for aprox 30 minutes, until browned, turning once with a spatula.
Meanwhile, cook the orzo for 9 minutes, until tender. Drain and let cool. Add the roasted vegetables to the pasta, scraping all the liquid and seasonings from the roasting pan into the pasta bowl. Combine all dressing ingredients and pour on. Serve topped with scallions, pine nuts, feta, and basil.

I changed it, but here is the original. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/orzo-with-roasted-vegetables-recipe/index.html

Greek Salad

I saw this on the food network over the weekend on Ina Garten's show Barefoot Contessa. I made it and both Pat and I love it! He likes anything with calamata olives. : )

Ingredients
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 yellow bell pepper, large-diced
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 red onion, sliced in half-rounds
1/2 pound feta cheese, 1/2-inch diced (not crumbled)
1/2 cup calamata olives, pitted
For the vinaigrette
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup good red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good olive oil

Directions
Place the cucumber, peppers, tomatoes and red onion in a large bowl.
For the vinaigrette, whisk together the garlic, oregano, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Still whisking, slowly add the olive oil to make an emulsion. Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables. Add the feta and olives and toss lightly. Set aside for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Serve at room temperature.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/greek-salad-recipe/index.html

Tasty Treat - Pumpkin Bread

Recently I have tried a few pumpkin bread recipes and I decided this one was my favorite. It is by no means one of my healthy recipes, but come on, it is a baked good! It makes two loaves, one for you and one to share (in my case to share with my unborn child). : )



INGREDIENTS
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 7x3 inch loaf pans. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans. Bake for about 50 - 60 minutes in the preheated oven. Check with a toothpick.

Tasty Treat - Sprinkles' Strawberry Cupcakes

Wow! I made these over the weekend with fresh strawberries and all organic ingredients. They were so good! Next time I am going to try to make the same recipe with a different berry and see if they turn out. I'll keep you posted. The frosting makes enough for a double batch of cupcakes. Try them! Mmmmmm!
Sprinkles' Strawberry Cupcakes

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/candace-nelson-strawberry-cupcakes

Tuesday Tasty Treats

A friend of mine is doing "Tuesday Tasty Treats" where she is going to share a recipe on her blog every Tuesday. What the heck, this will be fun. So here is my Tuesday Tasty Treat (although it is Thursday) Ha!

My Favorite Cookies - aka Blended Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies
These take some work, but are oh so good!

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 ½ cups blended oatmeal*
2 cups flour
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 cups chocolate chips (I use Nestle semi-sweet)
1 - 4 oz Hershey Bar (grated)**
optional 1 ½ cups chopped nuts (your choice)

* Measure oatmeal and blend in a blender until it looks like flour
** Buy the big 5oz Hershey Bar and put it in the fridge - a lot easier to grate when cold : )

Directions
Cream the butter and both sugars.
Add eggs and vanilla.
Mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda.
Stir in chocolate chips, grated Hershey bar and nuts.
Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.
(they tend to over cook so take them out, let cool and try one even if they don’t look done)

Asian Salmon

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic

Whisk together and drizzle over salmon. Bake in baking dish at 350F for approx. 20 minutes.

*This recipe comes from Ina Garten aka Barefoot Contessa on the food network, but I have made some changes - less oil and more garlic which I think is better. : )

Green Lentil Soup with Cumin & Lemon

1 yellow onion, diced
3 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 cups green lentils or red lentils (pre-soaked and rinsed*)
approx. 6 cups of water or vegetable stock
lemon juice (approx 1/2 - 1 lemon), salt and pepper to taste

Cook onions and garlic in a small amount of olive oil until lightly caramelized. Add ground cumin and cook a few minutes. Add uncooked lentils and cover with water or vegetable stock - it should cover the lentils by 3". Simmer until lentils are tender or starting to fall apart - about 20 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes then blend in a blender until smooth.** Add lemon juice, salt and peeper to taste.

This soup is so good and so simple! Enjoy!

*Lentils should be soaked overnight in water. Then discard the water and cook as in the recipe above.
**Be really careful blending hot liquids in a blender. Make sure the top of the blender is on tight and put a dish towel over it. Hold the top of the blender while you blend.

Roasted Vegetable Barley Risotto

1 teaspoon olive oil
4 teaspoons minced garlic
2 cups thinly sliced leeks
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon sage
2 teaspoon ground porchini mushrooms
2 cups pearl barley
approx. 4 cups vegetable or mushroom stock
1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
4 cups diced carrots and parsnips
1/4 cup cashews
salt & pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in large pot. Add leeks and 2 teaspoons of the minced garlic. Saute until lightly caramelized. Add thyme, sage and porchini powder and saute for 2 minutes. Add uncooked barley and stir constantly for 2 minutes to toast. Add stock - enough to cover the barley by an inch. Add salt and cook until all liquid is absorbed and barley is cooked (30-40 minutes).

While the barley is cooking, cook the carrots and parsnips. Bake or saute until tender.

Also make the cashew cream. Bring 1 cup of water and 1/4 cup cashews to a boil. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes. Blend in blender or food processor until smooth and the consistency of cream. You may need to add some water.

When the barely is done add the vegetables and cashew cream. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

This recipe came from a cooking class we are taking through a program called The Cancer Project. It is healthy cooking for cancer survivors. Note that this recipe is vegan with no dairy and is very low fat (and pretty tasty).

Salsa & Guacamole

I try to make most everything from scratch, but there are a few things that I just can't duplicate. One of them is Casa Chicas Roasted Green Salsa. It is so tasty! We put it on fajitas, tacos and turkey burgers. It is local, so if you are in the Bay, give it a try.

http://www.casa-chicas.com/index.htm

Every time I make something Mexican, I make guacamole. I simply cut up avocado, red onion, cilantro and mix in lime juice and salt. Quick and tasty guac! You can also make mango or pineapple salsa by adding the fruit. So simple!

Meal Planning

Ever since I went back to work after Pat's surgery, I have had to be a planner in the kitchen. We try to eat as healthy as possible - which means a lot of cooking at home. So on Sunday I usually do a meal plan for the week. I go grocery shopping and do most of the prep cooking in order for dinners to be quick during the week.

The following is my meal plan for this week. I will share some of the recipes later this week as they are some of my favorites. They are easy and pack in some healthy ingredients.

MONDAY - Chicken Fajitas with salsa & guacamole
TUESDAY - Barley Risotto with cashew cream
WEDNESDAY - Green Lentil Soup with pita & hummas
THURSDAY - Turkey Chili with kale and cashews
FRIDAY - Asian Salmon with veggies