Heriloom Tomato Salad

For me, a juicy tomato salad is the perfect summer meal. It’s refreshing, light and totally hits the spot. I actually made this dish during the move with little heirloom tomatoes which were great. Unfortunately I couldn’t find them this time around so I had to use regular sized tomatoes. No difference in flavor, just some more work cutting them into bite size pieces.

Normally I would make this with fresh mozzarella but it was a bit more than I was willing to pay so I used regular mozzarella. It definitely tastes different and I will probably spring for the real deal in the future.

Ingredients:
1 lb mixed heirloom tomatoes
1 cup fresh mozzarella
1 bunch of asparagus, blanched
¹/₂ cup basil
¹/₄ cup olive oil
¹/₂ cup balsamic vinegar
¹/₄ cup honey
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella cheese into bite size pieces and trim the asparagus.
2. Boil water and add the asparagus. Cook for about a minute and transfer to an ice bath.
3. Combine the tomatoes, cheese and asparagus in a large bowl. Julienne the basil and add to the bowl.
4. In a small bowl combine the balsamic vinegar and honey and whisk together.
5. Pour the olive oil over the tomato mixture and combine well. Then, add the balsamic mixture and toss until well coated.
6. Can be served cold or at room temperature.

As always, enjoy!

Sweet Soba Noodles with Baby Bok Choy

For some reason I’m really into asian food lately. I recently learned that Michael LOVES asian cuisine so it’s been a win-win over here. This bowl of deliciousness was born from a side dish that I have been trying to make for about 6 months. Every time I would buy the baby bok choy, it would wind up going bad and my plan was foiled. Very sad.

This time I scheduled the meal for early in the week so the baby bok choy would be fresh and perfect. Mission accomplished!

Ingredients
1 package of Soba Noodles
1 lb baby bok choy, bottoms trimmed
1 cup chopped green onions, white and green parts
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
¹/₄ – ¹/₂ cup cashews
4 tbsp olive oil
¹/₄ tsp. dark sesame oil
¹/₄ cup of A Taste of Thai Sweet Red Chili Sauce

Directions:

1. Cook noodles according to package.
2. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for about a minute, then add the bok choy and garlic. Cover, lower heat and cook until the bok choy is wilted.
3. Add the noodles, 2 tbsp of olive oil, sesame oil sweet red chili sauce and cashews to the pan and toss well.
4. Split equally into bowls and top with chopped green onion.

As always, enjoy!

Vegan Succotash

I’m back in action! The past two months have been so busy with the move and traveling, so we’re just now getting back into a routine. Desperate for healthy food (we’ve been pretty much eating out for the past two months) I found my perusing one of my favorite blogs Choosing Raw. Pretty much everything Gena makes is amazing so I didn’t give it a second thought when I saw this recipe. Good thing I didn’t because it was amazing!

You can find the recipe at Food52

Sorry about the lack of pictures, we haven’t quite located the camera yet 🙂

Creamy Red Pepper Pasta

We rented our place last week so I’m finally able to cook again! These short weeks really throw me off. I work best when I have a regular schedule. Normally I go to the grocery store on Monday morning, but we were gone for the holiday so I had to go today. Really strange for me. On top of everything, Michael is going to San Francisco on Friday which threw me off even further. So now I’m off my schedule, Michael’s leaving and I have to start packing up our house. Yay for me!

This recipe was born from a state of complete disarray. As I said, I’m kind of a mess and needed something delicious and easy. Honestly, this couldn’t be any easier.

Ingredients:
Serves 2
2 red peppers, roasted, seeded and peeled
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp mascarpone cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
¹/₂ lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces
¹/₂ lb whole wheat pasta
3 tbsp fresh basil, julienned
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the peppers on a baking sheet and roast until well charred. Remove from the peppers from the oven and cover with a large pot. Allow the peppers to steam for 10 minutes. Seed and peel the peppers.
2. Cook the pasta according to package.
3. Add the peppers, mascarpone cheese, both garlic cloves and 1 tbsp olive oil to a blender. Mix until well combined.
4. Heat remaining tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add the asparagus and saute until tender. Remove from heat.
5. When the pasta is just about cooked, add the sauce to the pan with the asparagus and warm over medium heat. Add the drained pasta and toss until well combined. Add the basil and toss.
6. Top with parmesan cheese and some fresh basil.

As always, enjoy!

Veggie Quesadillas

This week has totally gotten away from me. We’re showing our condo and it’s really hard to cook when you have people visiting your house all evening! These veggie quesadillas are a quick and delicious meal when you don’t have a lot of time to cook, wash and put away the dishes before someone comes over. I used the same spice mixture from my fajita recipe, sprinkled some chihuahua cheese on top, threw them on the Griddler and had a great meal before I knew it!

Ingredients:
1 large red pepper, cut into strips
1 large yellow pepper, cut into strips
1 large orange pepper, cut into strips
1 onion, cut into half moons
8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp coriander
1 tsp cayenne pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Ezekiel 4:9 tortillas
¹/₂ cup shredded chihuahua cheese
Sour cream and guacamole (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine 3 tbsp of oil with the turmeric, cumin, coriander and cayenne pepper and stir to form a paste.
2. Add the peppers and onions to the spice mixture and toss until peppers and onion are well coated.
3. Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the spiced peppers and onions to the pan and saute until soft. Once they are soft, add the mushrooms and saute for another 3 minutes.
4. Turn the Griddler to high or heat a pan over medium heat.
5. Fill half a tortilla with the vegetable mixture, sprinkle with cheese and fold in half.
6. If using the Griddler: Place the folded tortilla on the Griddler, close the top and cook until cheese has melted.
7. If using a pan: Place the folded tortilla on the pan (you may need to hold the top down) and cook until the tortilla is golden brown on the bottom. Flip the tortilla over and cook until the cheese has melted.
8. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

As always, enjoy!

Creamy Corn and Poblano Lasagna

We were at my parent’s house on Sunday for Mother’s Day when my sister’s mother-in-law handed me a recipe. She said that she saw it on the Food Network and thought it looked mouth-watering. So I read it over and thought I would give it a try. I modified the original recipe to make it healthy and I definitely succeeded! Eliminating the cream and reducing the amount of cheese made this a much lighter meal. Usually lasagna makes me feel like I ate a brick but this left me feeling completely satisfied.

My one criticism is that it lacked texture. In hindsight, I would have liked it with some roasted corn kernels. I felt it lacked that smokey flavor that I was expecting to get from the poblanos. Dont’ get me wrong, it was really tasty and Michael loved it. It’s always a good sign when he goes back for seconds!

And I apologize in advance if the directions seem out-of-order or unclear. There are a lot of steps that happen concurrently with this meal but it’s honestly not hard to manage!

Ingredients:
Adapted from this recipe and my version serves two
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
¹/_{4 container of silken tofu
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp fresh thyme
¹/2 onion, sliced thin
1 zucchini, cut into matchsticks
2 poblano chiles, roasted, skins removed, seeded and chopped
6 whole wheat lasagna sheets
³/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese}

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss 1 cup of the corn with the olive oil and spread out on a baking sheet lined with foil. Place the poblano peppers on a second baking sheet. Roast the corn until it is slightly charred and the peppers until very charred. Remove the corn and set aside. When the peppers are done, remove and cover with a pot and allow them to steam for about 10 minutes (this will help you remove the skins). Peel the skin off the peppers, seed and chop.
2. In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Add the lasagna noodles and cook until tender, about 8-10 minutes. Drain the noodles and drape over the oiled side of the pot to prevent sticking.
3. Combine the milk and tofu in a blender. Blend until combined (about 30 seconds).
4. Melt 1 tbsp of coconut oil over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add ²/₃ of the garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add the remaining corn to the pan and saute for 5 minutes. Stir in the milk-tofu mixture and thyme. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and allow it to cool slightly before transferring to the blender. Puree until smooth.
5. In the same saute pan, melt the remaining tablespoon of coconut oil over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent. Add the remaining garlic and cook until fragrant. Mix in the zucchini, poblano peppers and corn, and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
6. Reduce the heat of the oven to 350 degrees. Spread ¹/₄ cup of the corn-milk mixture over the bottom of a baking dish. Cover with two lasagna sheets, followed by the zucchini-poblano mixture, mozzarella cheese and corn-milk mixture. Repeat until you have a final layer of noodles topped the corn-milk mixture and cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and turn the oven to broil. Broil until the top is golden brown and bubbling.

   As always, enjoy!

Pesto Paninis Two Ways

These paninis were a play on the most unbelievable tomato mozzarella sandwich that I picked up from Whole Foods in Boulder. It had the most incredible pesto mayo. You could eat with a spoon, honestly. Being the healthy person that I am I decided to make my own without the mayo. I whipped up some of my pesto, pulled out the Griddler and voila, paninis! The paninis two ways is a result of Michael’s strong dislike of tomatoes. He had the panini with the portobello mushroom, spinach and onions, while I had the tomato, spinach and onion version. I kind of wish that I had added a mushroom to mine because it would have been out of this world.

Ingredients:
Makes 2 sandwiches
2 slices tomato
1 grilled portobello mushroom
1 cup fresh baby spinach
¹/₄ red onion, sliced thin
Fresh mozzarella, sliced
Choice of bread
pesto

Directions:

1. Heat a grill pan, Griddler or panini press to medium heat.
2. Spread the pesto on one half of the bread. Top with two slices of tomatoes (if using), mozzarella, ¹/₂ cup of spinach, mushroom (if using), and onion. Spread pesto on the other half of the bread.
3. Place the sandwich on the Griddler or panini press and close. Cook until the cheese is melted. If using a grill pan, grill until there are grill marks on the bottom piece of bread and then flip the sandwich over. Grill the second side until the cheese melts



As always, enjoy!

Green Kitchen App Review

I still have one more recipe that I plan to post from the Green Kitchen app but I figured that I could give you the low down on the app anyways. To be honest, I have had this app for a few months before I decided to post a review of it. I wasn’t thrilled with the app at first, but I kept finding myself looking through it because the recipes sounded so good. I was drawn to it because everything was so healthy and they used a lot of lentils, which was something that I have been trying to eat more of. So I took the plunge and decided to make a week’s worth of recipes.

Overall, I thought the recipes were great. Everything was light and delicious, even the heartier meals. I loved that I got to try new foods like beluga lentils. Like any cookbook, there were recipes that were not as appealing, but overall I think it was worth the money.

The top reason why I liked the app:

• The food is delicious and healthy. None of the recipes called for a lot of oil or cheese, instead using great spices to flavor dishes.
• The meals are reasonably fast to prepare. If you’re looking for healthy and quick meals that won’t break the bank, this app will not disappoint. Unlike most vegetarian recipes, these do not require ingredients that are hard to find or at least hard to substitute.
• They update the app with new recipes. I don’t know exactly how often they update, but I’ve had at least two updates since purchasing the app. Unfortunately I can’t tell which recipes are new because of how the app is designed.
• Aesthetically it’s a beautifully designed app. I know that’s a silly reason to like it but just so pretty that I loved using it.

A few things that I didn’t like about the app:

• Despite being beautiful, the recipe index page is difficult to use. Since the index page only has pictures of the recipes and no names, it can be hard to find a recipe if you don’t remember what it looks like.
• The directions can be a little hard to follow. I feel confident that I’m able to follow a recipe pretty easily, but there were times where I had to reread the directions. I think the directions could be written a little more clearly.

You can purchase the Green Kitchen app at the iTunes Store.

Beluga Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew

I would buy the Green Kitchen app just for this recipe. It was mind-blowing. I didn’t have cardamom which made me a little nervous that the meal would be lacking flavor. To make up for the missing cardamom, I decided to add cinnamon and nutmeg. The result was so good that I may never try it with the cardamom.

This was a really hearty meal. I could definitely see this recipe becoming a fall/winter favorite. Despite being so hearty, it was still really light and didn’t leave me feeling really full.

Keep your eyes out for my review of the app on Monday!

Spaghetti Squash with Pesto and Beluga Lentils

via Green Kitchen app

This meal was the first time that I’ve had spaghetti squash and it definitely won’t be the last. It is a great alternative to pasta which can be so heavy. Michael didn’t love the squash but he said that it wasn’t horrible because of the pesto. I decided that I would use my pesto instead of the parsley pesto that the original recipe called for.

The one part of the meal that was surprisingly good were the lentils. I had never had beluga lentils before but they are really good. They are a bit firmer and a little stronger in flavor than other lentils. However, I felt they added a nice flavor and texture to what could have been an otherwise boring meal.