{Tasty Tuesday: Two Super Fast Dinners Ideas}

I love to try new recipes and take my time in the kitchen. Still, sometimes what wins

over is a lack of motivation or time to plan, shop, chop, and prepare. The goal then

becomes making something:

* In about 15 minutes

* With a decent nutritional value

* Made mostly from items I can keep stocked in my pantry and freezer

Of course, there are also nights when I set the bar much lower and settle on cereal,

cucumbers & hummus, toast & peanut butter, steamed broccoli, cottage cheese &

fruit, or a frozen Amy's pizza. Just yesterday I tweeted that "my darling dogs & I

stood in the kitchen & shared a head of steamed cauliflower for dinner, with carrot

sticks for dessert," much to the dismay of a couple friends who said that was sad

even for a veggie or that carrot sticks are not, in fact, dessert. :)

But fast and easy doesn't have to be boring, unsatisfying or unhealthy. I've created a

couple quick concoctions lately that would triumph over a basic bowl of pasta and

sauce any day. They're super simple, fairly healthy, pretty economical, and tasty

(I think). Hopefully they'll help you next time you're in a pinch.

Tortellini with Artichokes, Roasted Red Peppers,

Sun Dried Tomatoes, & Zucchini

I sauteed up a few fresh ingredients -- yellow onion, shallot, garlic, and zucchini. I also

used fresh thyme, but you could go with dried instead. Then, I added my pantry items --

artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, and sun dried tomatoes -- all of which I sliced or

bought pre-sliced. I poured the combination of vegetables over a large package of store

bought tortellini (which only takes 7-9 minutes to cook), and dinner was ready.

Rustic Spinach, Tomato and Beans

This one also has Italian flavors but through a different vibe -- less carby and more rustic.

I sauteed chopped red onions and garlic. Then, I popped in two handfuls of frozen corn

(mostly for color) and let the pan heat it through. I added a package of frozen spinach

(thawed and very well drained), one can diced tomatoes (juice included), a can of beans

(drained and rinsed), a couple shakes of red pepper flakes, Italian seasonings, a Table-

spoon or two of tomato paste, and salt & pepper to taste. Once it simmered for a bit, I

add a handful or two of shredded cheese to connect it all. You can pop it in a bowl by

itself (like I did), or elevate it by serving it over polenta or under sliced grilled chicken.

Check out Alissa's gorgeous blog. She hosts Tasty Tuesdays every week, and bloggers

from all over pop in to share their latest kitchen creations. It's a good place to get

dinner ideas or tempt yourself with ideas for baking -- totally worth a visit.

I hope you're well!

{Tasty Tuesday: Quinoa and Roasted Beet Salad with Feta, Parsley and Pine Nuts}

Beets give this salad so much gorgeous, vibrant color. It's amazing, and there's
nothing artificial about it -- just surprisingly bright and natural goodness.

The flavor from the combination of ingredients is equally impressive. It's kind of hard to

see it all the way it's piled into a bowl in the photo above, but there are so many things

happening in every bite. A little tang from the feta. Crunch from the pine nuts. Freshness

from the parsley. Nuttiness from the chickpeas. Sweet, moist, softness from the beets.

INGREDIENTS:
Each time I've made this salad, I've used the exact ingredients listed below but changed

up the quantities, depending on how much quinoa I used. With the amounts noted here,

I used all the cooked quinoa. The other time I made it, I only used a cup of cooked quinoa.

So, I decreased the rest of the stuff a little -- one can of chickpeas instead of two, three

beets instead of five, half the pine nuts, etc. Obviously, you can use the list of ingredients

in the amounts that suit you.

Salad:
5 medium red beets
1-2 cans chick peas, rinsed and drained
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup feta, crumbled
1/2 cup pine nuts
1 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

Dressing:
4 tbsp EVOO
juice of 2/3 a large lemon
2-3 tsp honey
1/2 tsp cumin powder
Sea salt & pepper to taste

Roast beets. (Click here for directions in how to roast them.) Allow to cool. Peel and cube.

Place chick peas in a bowl with a tsp of olive oil and some paprika (Hungarian, if you have

it). Make sure they are coated. Put 'em in a dish where they can lay in a single layer. Bake

at 350 for 15 minutes or until lightly roasted. Remove and allow to cool.

Cook quinoa. Put one cup quinoa and two cups water into a small pot with the salt. Bring

to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer for about 15 minutes or just until all the water

is absorbed. Allow it to cool.

Toast pine nuts in a dry pan for a few minutes to release the flavor. Keep them moving

so they don't burn.

Make dressing to taste. (I'm not a big dressing person, but this combo of lemon, honey

and oil is fabulous. It really helps bind all the ingredients in the salad while giving the

quinoa some needed moisture.)



Combine all your ingredients and watch the beets turn everything a beautiful fuchsia color.

Enjoy by itself of with warm pita. (I was too lazy to do the pita.)

And that's it. A super delicious meal that takes a little more prep time than your average

salad but leaves you with so much complete, delicious, healthful nutrition. Let me know

if you try it. I'd love to hear what you think.

I'm off to realign myself, after being pretty far out of whack for the last few days. A long

walk with the dogs was a clarifying start to my morning, and I intend to have a focused,

positive, healthy day today!

{Wordless Wednesday: It Does a Body Good}

Chandler, Arizona

{Tasty Tuesdays: Summer Salad Ideas}

It's June, a month synonymous with summer.

And what food goes better with summer, I ask, than salad?

Following are a few ideas to take your summer salads from basic to bad ass.

They do it without the calories and fat of most dressings -- 'tis bathing suit

season, afterall -- and with a variety of grains and greens.

Salad with Pan-Roasted Tomatoes, Bright Green

Beans & Other Wonderful Things

This salad gives you a double dose of protein. I tossed the tuna (or chickpeas) in a

mixture of Dijon Mustard, red wine vinegar, EVOO, and diced shallot. The eggs are

hard boiled and the tomatoes are pan-roasted. I let the beans simmer for three

minutes to bring out their color and soften them a little. Your other vegetable can be

cucumbers, as pictured here, or anything else you have in the crisper. And yes, there's

some lettuce under there somewhere. I got this idea from Everyday Food. I like how

the toppings are compartmentalized like this because it made it feel less ordinary.

This salad has a lot of good textures and flavors.

Arizona Summer Salad

This no lettuce salad is my personal creation that came about almost by accident. It's

delightful on it's own, but it would make a totally respectable taco filling or side dish.

Here's what's in it: White beans, tomatoes, jalapeno (ribbed and seeded), avocado,

yellow bell pepper, a bit of yellow onion, a package of frozen spinach that's been thawed

and thoroughly squeezed of all it's excess water, and a handful of shredded cheese. Hit it

with some salt (especially on the spinach) and a drizzle of fresh lime juice at the end. It

takes all of 12 minutes to make. It provides iron, good fats, protein, calcium, and vitamins.

Plus, it's light, tasty and colorful -- summer splendor in a dish.

Brown Rice Salad with Spinach, Tomatoes, Cucumber

& Homemade Dill Vinaigrette

This salad is out of sight! It's visually simplistic, but it'll make our tongue dance. The

flavors in it are magically wonderful. This recipe calls for an easy vinaigrette made

with 2 tablespoons EVOO, 2 teaspoons red-wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons (plus) chopped

fresh dill, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/4 teaspoon sugar, salt, and pepper. That gets mixed

with 2 cups cooked brown rice, 2 cucumbers (peeled and seeded), 2 cups fresh spinach,

and 2 tomatoes (diced). A must try.

So, there you have it -- three healthy summer salads that bring a little variety and a lot

of flavor to your table. Thanks for stopping by today. What have you been cooking?

{Yesterday's Prior Planning = Today's Power Breakfast}

It's official -- I'm in love with juicing.

Kale is easily my favorite ingredient. It doesn't produce a lot of juice, but it's so densely

packed with goodness. So, I feel like it's a five star juicing item. :)

With or without the kale, there's so much pure, unadulterated healthfulness in every sip!

It's like giving my body and brain a special gift in a glass.

For this one, I used kale, celery and cantaloupe.

I made another one recently with spinach, apple, peach, and cucumber. Not too shabby.

I'm telling you, it's hard to mess up this juicing (or smoothie) thing.

It's a superb way to make sure produce from my weekly food co-op basket doesn't go

to waste, and it gives me several servings of fruits and vegetables in one meal. I love that.

No juicer? You can essentially accomplish the same thing with a blender. My friend, Sara,

has gone that route. You can read about her experience with them here.

That's it for today. I hope you all have a great weekend. Cheers!

{Tasty Tuesday: Granola Three Ways}

I'm on a mission to make the perfect homemade granola.

Before I attempt my very own version, I thought I'd follow a few recipes from other, more

experienced bakers and cooks to get a hold of the process, what works and what doesn't.

First up ... Toasted Almond Granola found on Joy the Baker, adapted from Martha Stewart.

Her recipe includes, among other things, two kinds of almonds (sliced and whole), honey

and vanilla. It was so yummy and made a totally respectable granola. I cooked it for the

recommended time, but I think it was a little too much for my oven. I'll shave ten minutes

off the cooking time when I make it again. There were too many whole almonds in it for

David's taste, but I thought it was solid.

Second ... Granola Breakfast Bars by Barefoot Contessa. This version is very similar to

the first one up until the point that Ina added three dried fruits and turned them into

bars. I thought they were great! I personally prefer the loose granola for day-to-day

eating, but the bars are fun for when you have company, are traveling or you need to

take something to someone else's house. I mean, how fun would it be to pull these out

on a road trip? They were a little hard when I first cut them (largely, I think, because I

forgot to take them out of the oven right when the timer went off), but they softened

up perfectly after a day of being wrapped in parchment.

Third ... I tried Maple-Nut Granola from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine. It

was definitely the easiest granola of the three in my trial -- made with a more simplified

process and very basic ingredients. So, it took almost no time at all to put together, and

cleanup was a snap. That being said, it also had the least depth of flavor and texture. It

accomplished what granola is supposed to accomplish, but it didn't wow me. Eating it

didn't feel like a special experience, I guess. It would be a really good one to make with

kids though, and it could be easily elevated with more nuts, spices and dried fruit.

This was such a fun way to learn about making granola. Now that I've experimented with

the idea a few times, I think I'm ready to take a crack at creating my own original recipe.

I envision using all kinds of wonderful things like wheat germ, toasted pepitos, cashews,

dates, and more. Stay tuned!

{Tasty Tuesday: Meatball Surprise}

Tasting your food is just what you do when you're cooking. You have to to make sure

it's seasoned well and that the flavors you're putting together actually work.

But I don't eat meat.

So, when I make something like meatballs that are almost all meat, there's an inherent

challenge built into the process. I'm at the mercy of another person's taste buds to know

if I'm on the right track.

According to David, these meatballs were awesome, and he didn't have one suggestion

for me in the event that I give this recipe another go. So, if you make them and don't

like how they taste, take it up with him. :)

I made a few adjustments to a recipe from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine.

- Added extra onion to the meat mixture.

- Switched the meat from pork sausage to a combo of ground turkey and ground lamb.

It seemed like a leaner choice, and I like that multiple proteins give meatballs dimension.

- Increased the amount of seasonings a touch.

- Added red pepper flakes to the sauce.

- Stuffed half the meat balls with a cube of Fontina Cheese to create a creaminess and an

unexpected element of surprise. (I'll stuff all of them next time.)

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground lamb

1 lb. ground turkey

1 1/2 medium yellow onions, finely chopped (divided)

1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin

3 tsp. hot smoked paprika

5 Tbl. plain dried breadcrumbs

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

4 Tbl. chopped fresh parsley

salt/pepper

3 Tbl. EVOO

1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes (juice included)

1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes

rustic bread for serving

What to do with them:

In a large bowl, combine turkey and lamb with about 1/2 c. onion, cumin, 2 tsp. paprika,

bread crumbs, eggs, parsley, and s/p. Gently mix to combine.

Cube the cheese. (I like Fontina because it's soooo creamy). Using your hands, roll 25

meatballs that are each 1 1/2 inches wide. When balling the meat mixture together,

create a pocket to put the cheese and wrap the meat around it. Place each rolled

meatball onto a piece of parchment paper.

In a large nonstick skillet pan, put 1 1/2 Tbl. of EVOO and heat over medium-high. In

two batches, brown the meatballs on all sides, 8 minutes per batch. Pull meatballs out

with tongs -- leaving the drippings in the pan -- and place the browned meatballs in a slow cooker.

Add remaining onions to the saute pan and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Transfer

onion (and the drippings) to slow cooker, along with 1 tsp. paprika, tomatoes, and about

1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook on low for about 5 hours so meatballs get nice and tender.

Serve with crusty bread, on a sandwich, over pasta, or over polenta. (Cooked meatballs

can be frozen for up to two weeks; let cool completely, then transfer to airtight containers.

Just gently reheat on the stove, covered, over medium heat.)

David didn't waste an ounce of this. He ate all 25 meatballs throughout the week on

sandwiches or on their own. I think he was happy to have some protein in the house

that wasn't from quinoa, beans or eggs. :)

{Tasty Tuesday: Orzo with Zucchini and Tomatoes}

Good morning! I hope you all had a great weekend. I watched a few war movies --

("Apocolypse Now", Pearl Harbor" and part of "Patton" -- in honor of the Memorial Day.

Today I'm going to put 112 cards in the mail that Barb and I made to donate to

Cards for Soldiers -- an awesome cause that sends homemade cards to our troops

stationed overseas so they can write to their loved ones at home.

And since it's Tuesday, I have a new recipe to share with you. I think you're going to

like this one. It's a fast fix for when you want to get dinner made in a hurry.

Today I bring you another recipe from the ever inspiring Novice Chef.

It might not look like much, but:

* It has fantastic flavor and is totally satisfying.

* It doesn't require an oven (a nice quality for summer cooking).

* It's a great way to use in season zucchini and tomatoes.

* It's easy to make with or without meat if your household is divided

(carnivore vs. vegetarian) like mine.

I adjusted her version a little to include more zucchini and seasonings.

That's all noted below.

Ingredients:
1 cup orzo
7 cups water
1 cup vegetable broth (Or you can do 8 c. water and 1 Tbl. bullion)
Cooking spray (I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil spray)
3 zucchini, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes or the equivalent in fresh, chopped ones
2 lg shallot, sliced
2 clove garlic, minced
2-3 tsp fresh thyme, minced
salt and pepper

What to do with them:

Bring water and broth to a boil in a large stockpot over high heat. Add orzo and cook

according to package directions, or until al dente. Drain, set aside.

Meanwhile, cook your side-o-meat, if desired. I made some andouille pork sausage

for David. (Note to self: That was a little too heavy for him. Try turkey sausage or

grilled chicken next time.)

Coat a large skillet with Olive Oil and place over medium heat. Add zucchini,

tomatoes, shallot, and garlic. Saute for about 5-7 minutes, or until the zucchini is tender.

Remove from heat and add thyme, salt and pepper, stirring well. Then toss with orzo

until combined. Serve immediately.

To see more Tasty Tuesday ideas, click here ...

{Tasty Tuesday: Spinach, Mushroom and Fontina Flat Bread Pizza}

I use so many recipes to do my cooking that I am actually proud of myself for

twisting this latest one around to make my own version of it. Baby steps. :)

I found an idea for quesadillas in Food Everyday that included salami, mushrooms,

and Fontina cheese with a side of lemony spinach. The idea (minus the salami for this

vegetarian) sunk it's hook into me, and I knew I had to make them.

But when I went to the grocery store closest to my house to shop for ingredients, they

didn't have any tortillas that were made without partially hydrogenated soybean oil. It

wasn't in my plan to run to a different store to find what I wanted that day.

So, I decided to use the same combination atop Greek mini flat breads that were made

with more natural ingredients. I served it with Spring Vegetable Soup, and together, it

was a really nice meal.

Ingredients:
olive oil, salt and pepper

thin slice of butter
mushrooms, sliced (I used baby bello and button)
red onion, sliced
fresh spinach
Montreal steak seasoning
5 slices of salami per pizza
Fontina cheese, grated

Flat bread

(I didn't use the lemon pictured below)

What to do with them:

Heat a little EVOO in a pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and mushrooms, season

with Montreal steak seasoning and then break up your thin slice of butter and mix it in.

(The butter adds nutty richness.) Cook until tender and amazing. (These mushrooms,

even without the onions, make an awesome side to steaks or just about anything else.

They are so delicious.)

Get out your flatbreads and place them on baking sheet. Spread out five pieces of salami

on any of the pizzas you'd like. (I made one vegetarian for me and one with meat for D.)

Then, top with mushrooms ...

a layer of fresh spinach ...

and shredded Fontina cheese, which is so creamy and sensational that you'll probably

want a little extra in a side dish to enjoy while your flat bread pizzas are in the oven.

You can see more Tasty Tuesday ideas here ...

{Spring Vegetable Soup}

This soup is as bright and nourishing as spring itself. Made with potatoes and green beans

that are in season -- it's a low work intensive, low ingredient, low cost cousin to Julia

Child's Soup au Pistou. Here's how to make it ...

INGREDIENTS:

extra virgin olive oil

2 med leeks (white and green parts), halved lengthwise, cut into 1/4 inch slices and cleaned

coarse salt and ground pepper

5 c. low sodium, organic vegetable broth

1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 pound green beans, trimmed and halved

1 bunch parsley, stems and all

ten or so basil leaves

a splash of fresh lemon juice

2-3 cloves garlic (not pictured)

In a pot, heat 2 teaspoons of oil over medium-high. Add leeks and season with salt and

pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until leeks are soft and lightly browned, about 6

minutes. Add broth and potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until

potatoes are barely tender, about 10 minutes. Add green beans and cook until crisp-

tender, about 6 more minutes.

Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine parsley, basil, garlic, salt, dash of lemon juice

and EVOO until in pesto form or finely chopped. Remove soup from heat and stir in pesto.

Modified slightly from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine.

For more Tasty Tuesday ideas, click here ...