Real Food Day 15

A busy day today!

Peanut went to the sitter's for the afternoon, so I took the opportunity to get some errands done and get busy in the kitchen!

First I made a double batch of whole wheat tortillas (I will keep them in the freezer until I need them).

As the tortilla dough was resting, I whipped up a batch of whole wheat strawberry muffins (see recipe below).

As they were baking, I cooked the tortillas.

After that was finished, I put in some red peppers to roast, because later this week I am making spaghetti squash with roasted red pepper sauce, so I thought it would be best to be prepared.  I should've had the peppers going in the toaster oven while I was doing the muffins in the oven and the tortillas on the stove top...this would've saved a bit of time, but I didn't think of that.

Finally, while the peppers were roasting, I whipped up a batch of this DELICIOUS detox salad.  We are having salad with most of our meals this week, and this salad keeps so well in the fridge, that I figured I'd make it while I have the time so that I can spend less time in the kitchen later, and more time with Peanut.

And now...dishes.

Here's the muffin recipe:

Aren't these muffin cups cute?  I think they are from homesense - we used them for our wedding :)

Strawberry Muffins
Ingredients:
1C whole wheat flour
3/4 C all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1/4 C maple syrup (or slightly less)
3/4 C milk (I used unsweetened soy milk)
1/4 C oil (such as butter or coconut oil)
1 C sliced strawberries (use fresh when they are in season, or use frozen during the rest of the year)

Directions:
Mix dry ingredients together.  Mix wet ingredients together.  Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients (stir until moist...batter will be lumpy).  Pour into muffin cups.  Bake at 350°F for 18-20 minutes (they are done when you can insert a toothpick and nothing sticks to the toothpick).

Real Food & Salad Challenge - Today's Salad

Romaine lettuce, baked salmon fillet, tomato, bean sprouts with homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lime juice, touch of honey) 

Meatless Monday - Zucchini Patties, Yogurt Sauce, and Chick Pea Salad

My husband and I went to the farmer’s market last week for an outing with Peanut and to sample some of the local fare.  There is nothing like fresh Ontario produce in August!  We picked up some zucchinis (as well as tomato, onion, berries, peaches...etc. etc. etc.), so I needed to find something to feature these delicious treats!  Enter Zucchini Patties and Chick Pea Salad!

Zucchini Patties (makes about 12 patties)

Some of the Zucchini Patties with the Yogurt Sauce

I served these to my in-laws for dinner on Friday – they were a BIG HIT!  So yummy!  I also reinvented the leftovers for breakfast the next morning!

For breakfast the next morning I at the leftover patties.  Instead of yogurt sauce, I melted white cheddar on top, then placed them on top of a delicious slice of Ontario tomato, and some greens - mmmmmmmm!

Ingredients:

½ C grated carrot

½ C chopped onion

½ C green pepper (or do ¼ C each red and green pepper)

2 C fine soda cracker crumbs (I made mine in the food processor)

¼ C all purpose flour (...I wonder how it would work out with WW flour...)

1 tsp baking power

¾ tsp salt

Pinch of pepper

3 C grated zucchini, with peel

2 large eggs, fork-beaten

Vegetable oil cooking spray (or 2 tbsp cooking oil)

Directions:

1)      Measure the first 9 ingredients into a large bowl.  Stir.

2)      Mix in zucchini and eggs.  With damp hands, shape into patties using about ¼ C of mixture for each patty.

3)      Spray and heat pan.  Brown patties on both sides – I did mine on medium heat for 4-5 min per side.  I used a grill, but if you don’t have one, a frying pan will do nicely.  Just heat up the oil in the pan first, then brown the patties.

Cook the patties until they are nice and golden like this!

Yogurt Sauce (to put on the patties):

I’m not sure how much of each I used, but this is what I put in it...

Plain greek yogurt (regular yogurt will do as well)

Lemon juice (just a small squeeze)

Herb and Garlic seasoning (I used Epicure)

Chick Pea (Garbanzo Bean) Salad (serves 6-8):

Even though I don’t generally care for onion, I LOVED this salad.  It wasn’t a huge hit with the in-laws, but then again I didn’t know that Jim doesn’t care for tomatoes OR olives...he was so polite, however, that he ate it anyway and I didn’t find out until Matt told me later...how someone goes through life without liking tomatoes is beyond me – I used to eat them like candy, but have since decided that the canker sores are not worth the over indulgence.  Annnnnyway....here’s the recipe.

Delicious chick pea salad with local zucchini, tomato, red onion, and basil!

Ingredients:

1 ½ C dried chickpeas

1 medium zucchini

1 large tomato

1 small red onion

3 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

½ C sliced kalamata olives

Dressing:

1 tbsp lemon juice

¼ C olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp honey

Directions:

1)      Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover with cold water.  Leave to soak overnight.

2)      Drain the chickpeas, place in a saucepan, cover with fresh water and cook for 25 minutes, or until just tender.  Drain and leave to cool.
***you can skips steps 1 and 2 by using canned chickpeas, but keep in mind that the sodium content is much lower when using dried.  If you opt for the canned version, I suggest looking for “no salt added”***

3)      Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and cut into 1 cm slices.  Cut the tomato into cubes roughly the same size as the chickpeas.  Finely chop the onion.

4)      Combine the chickpeas, zucchini, tomato, onion, parsley and olives in a serving bowl.

5)      To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients.  Pour over salad and toss lightly to combine.  Serve at room temperature.

Meatless Monday - Tortellini Salsa Rosa and Detox Salad

It's Meatless Monday!  Today's recipe is Tortellini Salsa Rosa.

This recipe was inspired by a menu item at "The Cajun Pepper" restaurant in Chatham, ON.  It's a twist on a standard Rosé sauce, using salsa instead of tomato sauce - a great addition to a mexican themed family night!

So, here's the recipe:

TORTELLINI SALSA ROSA

Ingredients:

Tortellini (or cappelletti...same thing)

Alfredo Sauce (I used a dry mix - need to add milk and margarine.  Or you could buy a can of sauce, or make your own)

Salsa (I made my own using tomato, pepper, onion, lime juice, and epicure mix...but you could just buy a can)

Directions:

1) Make tortellini according to package.

2) While tortellini is cooking, make alfredo sauce according to package.

3) When sauce is cooked, add salsa and stir it in.

4) Pour the Salsa Rosa sauce over the tortellini!  Yup, it's that easy!!!

DETOX SALAD

Now, I won't claim to have come up with this on my own.  I was inspired by this recipe: Oh She Glows Detox Salad

Ingredients:

Broccoli (1/2 bunch)

Cauliflower (1/2 head)

Carrot (1 large)

Yellow Pepper (1/2)

Parsley (a small handful)

Raisins (handful)

Sunflower Seeds (handful)

Honey (drizzle)

Lemon Juice (1 to 2 tbsp)

Directions:

Chop up all of the veggies and parsley (I used my handy tupperware chopper)

Throw in the sunflower seeds and raisins.

Pour in honey and lemon juice.

Stir and serve.  Best if cold.

Chopped Salad with Avocado Dressing

I realized today that the avocado that I bought the other day was almost too ripe.  I needed to use it right away, so I whipped up this salad to accompany the pizza we were having for lunch today.

Salad:
About 6 or 7 grape tomatoes.
1/2 an english cucumber
1/2 an orange pepper
1/3 C broccoli
about 1/3 C peas (frozen, thawed)
a handful of sunflower seeds
about 5 leaves of fresh basil, chopped

Dressing:
1/2 avocado
1 clove garlic (grated)
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp water
chopped fresh basil (about 2 leaves)
Salt (to taste)

Instructions:
1 - Put all of the dressing ingredients into a food processor or blender (or use a stick blender like me), and puree them.  Set aside.
2 - Chop the veggies (except the peas)
3 - Mix in peas, sunflower seeds and basil
4 - Pour the dressing over the salad.
5 - EAT!

Here I am

Well, here I am, embarking on an adventure as a blogger.

Why did I start a blog?  It started with a Salad-a-Day challenge for the month of June.  I decided to eat a salad every day and post a picture of it (as often as I could) on facebook.  To my surprise, many people then started asking me for recipes, or trying ideas that I had posted, and someone suggested that I start a blog...so here I am.

I figured I'd start the blog by paying homage to the salad challenge that got me here, so here's a recipe and picture of my favourite salad from the month:  The Beet-Quinoa Orange Salad! (recipe is below pictures).  You will notice that I do not include very specific measurements - that's because I don't really measure anything.  I just mix things together then taste them to see if they are yummy, then I adjust the amounts from there.  My favourite part about this salad is that the beets turn the quinoa PINK.

It's simple really - Ingredients: two beets, about 1/2 C dry quinoa, 1/2 a head of romaine lettuce, 1 orange, olive oil, balsamic vinegar.

Cook quinoa according to package directions.  Roast beets (in skin) for about 45 min, and when ready to handle, remove skins.  Put quinoa and beets in fridge to chill for a few hours.

Mix together olive oil, vinegar and a splash of juice from the orange (you may want to use salt and pepper, mustard, etc according to your tastes).  That is your dressing!

Then chop up the orange (peel removed), tear up the romaine, and mix with the quinoa and beets.  Pour over the dressing, and enjoy!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the first post!  Check ya later ;)