Category Archives: In the Kitchen

February 19th: Dinner for One

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trout dinner 2

 

Small victory today!  I must share that I am proud of myself for deciding not to just open up a can of garbanzo beans or tuna for dinner.  Although I cook well and have posted several healthy recipes, I must admit that I get tired and lazy sometimes after work and have been known to fix myself quick and healthy, but completely unceremonious things for dinner when I’m feeding only myself.

Today after my run, I stretched, grabbed my keys and purse then headed over to the grocery store all stinky and sweaty before I had any time to get lazy about it.  I bought myself a bunch of veggies and a piece of steelhead trout!  This delicious dinner is the result.

I simply broiled the trout the same way I prepared the salmon from my previous article (see Yumminess page) then made some sugar snap peas and farro as my sides!  Sugar snap peas recipe to follow.

I must say that preparing dinners like these for myself makes me feel like a rockstar…  Its tastier and healthier than eating out! 🙂

ch-ch-ch-chocolate chia!

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chia 4

So, a friend of mine shared this pretty awesome recipe with me for a healthy chocolate pudding substitute!  I’d never eaten chia seeds until today and I have to say I like it!

Its extremely easy to make and pretty tasty but I’m giving you a fair warning…. its PACKED full of fiber so, a little goes a long way if you know what I mean… 😉

chia 1

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of chia seeds
  • 1/2 cup of either almond or coconut milk (I used coconut water instead because I didn’t have coconut milk but I feel that it took away from the creaminess.  Follow the recipe.)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbs of cocoa powder
  • sweetener to taste such as honey or agave nectar

chia 2

Directions:

Stick it all in your magic bullet or ninja and blend the hell out of it… enjoy!

February 4th: Dinner and a Movie

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salmon dinner

Today I am grateful for someone to cook dinner for.  I’m pretty good about preparing myself a big pot of something over the weekend and eating it several nights in a row or fixing myself something quick and healthy on the fly after work.  What I DON’T do, however, is make myself any animal proteins when I eat alone.  (unless it comes out of a can, lol)

I acknowledge that this is silly and stupid.  Buying myself a small steak or my own fillet of fish at the grocery store is completely normal and would be a very beneficial to me but… I just don’t do it.  There is something ceremonial about making and eating a more formal meal like that.  I usually reserve that for times when I cook for someone which I LOVE to do.

In my house growing up, dinner was sacred.  No answering phones, no watching TV and no reading at the table.   We took some time to enjoy the meal my mother had lovingly prepared and talk about our day, laugh and enjoy each other’s company.  Thats what dinner is all about… eating something special and enjoying someone’s company while eating it.  On the menu tonight was salmon, broiled broccoli and white rice.  Here’s how I did it…

Salmon:

Ingredients: 

  • Salmon fillet (not steaks)  I find that salmon steaks are more bone and skin than you bargained for.  Figure 6-10 oz of salmon filet per person you are serving.  Trust me, you’ll eat it.
  • Lime or lemon juice (use fresh!! don’t destroy the awesomeness of the fish by dousing it with that GARBAGE they sell in the little lemon-shaped plastic containers)
  • sea salt
  • fresh ground pepper
  • cayenne
  • Optional additions: Onion powder and garlic powder

Instructions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
  2. line sheet tray with foil
  3. rinse your filet of fish and pat the skin dry as much as possible and lay it skin side down directly on the foil.  This will assure that the skin will stick to the foil and easily slide off the fish.  (don’t have your fish monger take the skin off before hand.  It makes it juicy while cooking.  You just don’t want to eat it because its extra fishy tasting.)
  4. squeeze lime or lemon juice on flesh of fish
  5. season to taste
  6. Place fish in center rack of oven and check after 10 minutes.  Cook to desired temperature.  I like mine cooked through but some enjoy it a little rare in the center.

Broccoli:

Ingredients:

  • broccoli florets
  • olive oil
  • sea salt
  • fresh cracked pepper
  • cayenne (do you see a pattern here?)

Instructions:

  1. Line sheet tray with foil
  2. wash and trim florets to desired size
  3. drizzle with oil
  4. season
  5. roast at 400 degrees (below the fish i the same oven) and shake the tray frequently to make sure that all sides get crunchy.

Enjoy!!!…  Follow it up with a nice bottle of wine and a movie and you’ve got yourself a nice little evening if you ask me 🙂

Lentil Soup with (or without) Ham

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lentil soup

I love making a big pot of soup at the beginning of the week and having it for dinner a few nights in a row.  This saves me the hassle of having to prepare myself dinner mid-week and deters me from eating pre-packaged or processed foods if I’m too tired to cook something from scratch when I get home from a long day.  Lentil soup is very nutritious and low in fat so it makes a great choice for weeknight meal.

Ingredients:

lentil soup ingredients

  • 16 oz package of lentils (your color of choice)
  • 8 oz package of cubed ham (optional)
  • 1 vegetable or chicken bouillon cube
  • 1 envelop of Sazon Goya seasoning (found in the ethnic aisle of the grocery store.  I use the version that has saffron for both coloring and flavor.)
  • 6-7 cloves of garlic (trust me, once it boils for a while, it mellows out and is not strong at all)
  • 1 small onion or 1/2 a large onion
  • 1 package of baby carrots diced or 2 large carrots
  • 2-3 stalks of celery
  • 1-2 bay leaves
  • 5 small sweet peppers or 1 regular sized sweet pepper (yellow, orange or red)

Directions:

  1. Rinse lentils and pick out any pebbles, etc.  Fill pot with water about 2 inches above lentils.
  2. add bouillon cube, seasoning packet, bay leaves and all diced vegetables
  3. Let come to rolling boil
  4. Add ham cubes if desired.
  5. lower to simmer and cover.  Boil for 40 minutes stirring frequently and adding water if it thickens more than you would like.
  6. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired.

For more info on the health benefits of lentils, check out these links!

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/benefits-eating-lentils-4547.html

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=52

http://www.oprah.com/health/Dr-Oz-The-Best-Anti-Aging-Superfoods-Red-Lentils-Amaranth

Insalata Caprese with Arugula

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caprese salad finished

This salad is one of my favorites.  I make it frequently for parties or get togethers because its usually a hit and always has that “wow-factor” because its so attractive.  The traditional Italian version does not call for arugula (roquette lettuce) but, I LOVE arugula for its unique kick and sneak it into recipes whenever I can. Plus, it extends the salad a little bit so you get more bang for your buck 🙂  Here’s how I make it.

Ingredients:

Ingredients

  • 2 ripe tomatoes (I use Big Boy or heirloom varieties)
  • log of fresh mozzarella
  • pack of fresh basil
  • arugula
  • olive oil
  • balsamic vinaigre
  • salt
  • pepper

Directions:

Here is another one I made for a recent girl’s night at my place

caprese salad 2

Ok, so now lets talk about the health benefits:

  • Tomatoes are insanely high in Vitamins A and C as well as lycopene and anti-oxidants.
  • Basil is rich in beta-carotenes and anti-oxidants.
  • Mozzarella is high in calcium and fat-soluble vitamins A, C and E.
  • Arugula is very rich in vitamin K, C and A
  • Olive oil is a non-saturated fat that has all kinds of health benefits.

So, eat up and enjoy!  Its not only good, its good for you.

Kale Soup for “chilly” Florida winter nights

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soup no spoon

Its cold out again tonight… and when I say “cold”, I mean its below 50 degrees.  I realize that this is by no means cold for the rest of the country but it is for us (me)!

A friend of mine has been bringing in a really yummy-looking cabbage soup to work this week for lunch.  It looked hardy and chock full of veggies and since I’ve never met a vegetable I didn’t like, I thought I’d give her recipe it a try.  I didn’t have any cabbage in the house but did have half a bag of kale in the freezer so decided to change it up.  I also went kinda nuts emptying out whatever veggies I had in the fridge and bought a few more at the grocery store before getting home from work.  Here’s what I did:

Ingredients:

  • 2, 14 oz cans of diced tomatoes (I used the “zesty jalapeño” flavor but plain is good too)
  • 1, 28 oz can of tomato puree
  • 1 beef bouillon cube
  • 1 envelope of powdered onion soup
  • 1 onion
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • 4 stalks of celery
  • 3 carrots
  • 3 zucchini
  • 1 pint of mushrooms
  • quarter of a “calabaza” or yellow squash of choice
  • 1/2 large bag of kale

pot of vegie soup

Directions:

  1. pour contents of all canned tomatoes (both diced and puree) into a large stock pot and fill with about 8 – 10 cups of water.
  2. Add bouillon cube and onion soup envelope
  3. add chopped veggies
  4. Simmer until tender

Done!!  Soooo good and even better for you!!! Kale is a super food full of iron and tomatoes are rich in vitamin C and anti-oxidants.  Enjoy!

Farro Kale Broccoli Bowls

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farro salad

While at the grocery store the other day, I went through the grain aisle and was going to pick up some more quinoa when I saw a bag of farro.  Its actually extremely healthy and packs tons of fiber and protein! I’d never tried it so I thought it might be fun to try to incorporate into dinner some how. Here’s what I came up with:

Ingredients:

  • farro: cook using package directions
  • raw kale (serious super food packed with tons of vitamins and minerals, delicious raw or cooked.)
  • broccoli and cauliflower florets (“steam in a bag” is ideal for this)
  • balsamic vinaigrette (see Nicoise Salad article for instructions on how to make this)

Directions:

  1. cook farro using package directions
  2. steam broccoli and cauliflower florets
  3. in a bowl layer farro, raw kale, florets and drizzle with vinaigrette

Delicious and insanely healthy.  So many vitamins, so much fiber and protein.  Couldn’t get simpler or more delicious 🙂

Nicoise Salad: Dinner in 10 minutes flat

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nicoise salad

After I came home today, I was starving and wanted to put something yummy together quick.  Good thing I recently bought groceries and had fresh produce in the fridge so I was able to whip up this awesome little go-to salad for dinner. Its my version of nicoise salad. This traditional French salad has only a few simple ingredients:

Ingredients:

  • lettuce- I use romaine and sometimes mix it with arugula (roquette lettuce)
  • tomatoes- I prefer grape tomatoes or mini plum tomatos
  • steamed green beans- “steam in the bag” packages are ideal for this
  • black olives
  • boiled eggs
  • tuna- you can use canned or fresh but this can be eliminated all together because you have enough protein with the boiled eggs.
  • boiled potatoes- I always omit this. The salad if filing enough without it.

Directions:

  1. Put 2 eggs in a pot of water and bring to a boil.  The minute the water begins to boil, set your timer for 8 minutes.  In the mean time….
  2. On a plate, put a layer of your lettuce of choice as the base of your salad.  Simply place the remainder of the ingredients in sections on top (think, cobb salad)
  3. Make your dressing.  Here’s how I make my favorite Balsamic Vinaigrette

4.  When the timer goes off, peel the eggs and place on top of the salad.  See how the yolks are super yellow and don’t have that yucky green/ gray ring around them?!  That’s ’cause you didn’t over boil them!  No more than 8 minutes for the perfect boiled egg.

5.  Drizzle dressing and sprinkle some cayenne pepper if you’d like (and I always like.)

Basically, you just made dinner in the time it took to boil those eggs… Enjoy!!

nicoise salad with tuna

This is another nicoise salad I made myself a while back.  With this one, I included fresh tuna.  It tasted amazing but it was kind of protein over-load with the eggs.  Plus, it was very expensive….  food for though 🙂

Peaches and Creame

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20131124_171726

Peaches and Cream:

This is yet another extremely easy holiday dessert in my repertoire.  It is so easy, in fact, that I don’t like to tell people how to make it so that they still believe me to be more amazing than I really am in the kitchen!  It boasts only 4 simple ingredients and is so delicious, I have NEVER had any left-overs when I bring it to gatherings.

Ingredients:

20131124_171929

1 block of cream cheese brought to room temperature

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

1 package of lady fingers

1 large can of quartered or halved peaches in heavy syrup

Directions:

Let it sit over night in the fridge so that lady fingers soften and flavors meld… absolutely divine!

Spinach Balls with Pine nuts

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Spinach Balls:
These are a delicious (but due to the high butter and bread content, not so nutritious) appetizer for any party.  We usually serve these along-side bacon-wrapped water chestnuts, a big ol’ plate of stinky cheeses with French bread, olives, charcuterie and other similarly amazing things that fill you up before you even sit down for the main show.
We’ve been making these for years.  The recipe was originally given to us by my Aunt Lynne who swears she doesn’t remember where she got it from.  Possibly a newspaper clipping or an index card from a relative… regardless the source, they’re great. 
The original recipe didn’t include pine nuts.  This is a little Mediterranean spin my mom added but has become an integral part of the recipe ever since.  Trust me, you NEED the nutty crunch it adds.
Ingredients:
2 boxes of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed of all its moisture
3 cups of herbed stuffing
6 eggs
1 tsp garlic powder
1 small chopped onion (half a regular sized onion)
1 1/2 sticks of melted butter (3/4 cup)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup pinenuts
If butter is unsalted, add about 1 tsp of salt.  Omit if using salted butter.
Directions:
Mix all ingredients together and roll into walnut sized balls and place on a foil lined sheet.
bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.
At this point you can either serve or freeze for later use.
Simply thaw out the day of your party and heat through.  Delish!!