Stuff Your Own Pita!

If your kids are anything like mine, they love any meal they get to "prepare" themselves--like tacos or sandwiches.

Stuff Your Own Pitas works because you mix it all up, put it on the table and kids get to fill their own pita pockets.  For even more fun, don't mix it up, but it out on the table and let them pick and choose what to stuff their pita with!  This may be a way to get picky eaters to try new things.

Ingredients:

(feel free to tweak this to your family's taste)

artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
capers
kalamata olives (or any olives you like)
feta
chopped tomatoes
chopped roasted red peppers
chick peas (I use dried and soak them overnight, but you can use canned)
fresh parsley
lemon juice
olive oil

Roasted Tomato & Goat Cheese Tart

Ingredients:

8-9 cherry or cocktail tomatoes (on the vine is great, but not necessary)
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
4 tbsp butter softened and cut in chunks
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. ice water
7 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
3 oz. goat cheese
salt
pepper

Prep:

1.  Heat oven to 400.  Place tomatoes in small roasting pan or crock, drizzle with olive oil, balsamic, 1 tsp. sugar and 1/2 tsp. salt.  Place in oven and roast for 25 minutes.

2.  Meanwhile, in food processor, mix 1 1/2 cups of flour, 4 tbsp. butter, 1/2 tsp. salt on pulse until well blended.  Add ice water to form a nice dough.  DO NOT FORM A BALL.

3.  Take a piece of plastic wrap.  Place dough in center and flatten into a 4 inch disc.  Wrap in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for 15 minutes.

4.  Take dough out, unwrap.  Place two piece of cling wrap on top one going left to right and the other up and down.  Roll dough out to fit in your tart pan.  You can flip the whole thing over and roll it on either side to get it nice and even.

5.  Remove wrap from one side.  Place dough side down in your tart pan.  Carefully peel off the wrap from the other side.  If you have trouble, stick the pan with the dough in the freezer for 15 minutes and it should remove easily.

6.  Once the tomatoes are out of oven, cook the crust for 15 minutes.  Use pie weights or beans to keep it from puffing.

7.  Mix 7 eggs with the half cup of sour cream and half cup of milk.  Add a pinch of salt and ground pepper to taste.

8.  When crust has cooked for fifteen minutes, arrange roasted tomatoes on top of crust in tart pan.  Pour the egg mixture over and dot with goat cheese.

9.  Bake at 325 for a half hour or until egg is set.

10.  Enjoy!

I usually serve this with a big tossed salad.

Coconut Red Lentil Dahl over Rice (30 Minute Meal)

My kids love this because of the sweetness of the coconut milk.  It's a hearty vegan comfort dish that is easy to eat, feels good and warm going down and tastes amazing.

Ingredients:

1lb. red lentils
4 cups vegetable stock
2 tbsp. butter
2 onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small green chili, seeded and finely chopped 
4 teaspoons ground cumin
4 teaspoons ground coriander seed
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 can coconut milk
4 cups cooked basmati rice

Preparation:

Rinse lentils, check for stones.  Place lentils in large stock pot or Dutch oven, pour stock over lentils.  Bring to a boil, then simmer until lentils are tender--

Heat butter in a skillet, add chopped onion and sautee until transparent.  Add garlic, chili, cumin and coriander and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Stir this mixture into the cooked lentils and add the chopped tomato and coconut milk and heat through.  

Serve over basmati rice.

Menu for Two Weeks

I try to only grocery shop every two weeks.  Between working part-time, homeschooling and all of our activities, I just don't have the time to go grocery shopping every week.  I go to Costco once a week for organic milk and eggs, although we recently found a local organic farm that delivers their own eggs and milk from an organic dairy and we are considering signing up for that--it's a bit pricier, but the time it will save may make it all work out.

Every two weeks I consider what we are getting from our CSA, what we have on hand that we have not cooked, what I pinned and family favorite recipes and come up with a two week menu.  Normally, I post the titles of the recipes on a blackboard in my kitchen, but then I have to search Pinterest or Google or cookbooks for recipes, so it may just be easier (however boring for readers possibly) to post them here.  As I make up the menu, I make up my grocery list and a separate list for the Farmer's market.

Saturday- Steak (for jason and girls-I don't eat meat), Twice-Baked potatoes, bleu-cheese tomato salad

Sunday - grilled flatbread pizzas with arugula, prosciutto & lemon

and arugula, prosciutto, goat cheese (no prosciutto on mine) and fig/ artichoke green bean potato salad

Monday - White bean and spinach ravioli, salad, bread
Tuesday - Vegetarian Taco Salad

Wednesday - Eggs Florentine with sundried tomato pesto
Thursday - Barley Black Bean Burgers/ Quinoa Pilaf
Friday - Hoppin' John
Saturday - Bonfire Potluck - Lentil Salad or Watermelon Prosciutto & Fig salad
Sunday - Wild Mushroom & Spinach Lasagna
Monday - Main Course Spinach & Chick Pea Salad, nice bread from bakery
Tuesday - Fish tacos with pineapple salsa
Wednesday - Dragon Noodles, stir fry veggies with crispy tofu
Thursday - Roasted Portobello and Artichoke Panini
Friday - Greek mac and cheese

Lentil Hash

Over the summer, Piper and I decided that we wanted to eat less meat.  Over the last couple of months, Jason has been commenting about how much better he feels when we eat less meat.

This is one of our new favorite recipes!

Lentil Hash

Ingredients

1 lb. dry lentils

6 potatoes, peeled and cut in cubes

1 red pepper, chopped

1 onion chopped

4 cloves garlic, pressed

4 tbsp olive oil

salt

pepper

baby spinach (optional)

Instructions

Soak lentils in a pot with about 8 cups of water with a few pinches of salt.  If they are still not ready when you want to start cooking, bring the pot to a boil.  Lentils are tiny and they soften fairly quickly.

Put potatoes in a pot with water to cover them and bring to a boil.  You don't want them to be mush, a little firmness is ok, but get them a little softened.  How is that for directions?  

Heat oil in pan, add onions and potatoes and sautee over medium heat for about 5 minutes, add garlic and cook until potatoes are tender.  Add lentils, salt and pepper to taste.  Allow to cook together for a few minutes.

If you want, while the pan is still over the heat, add some baby spinach leaves and allow to wilt.

Enjoy!!

Broccoli Salad

I made this for a potluck bonfire the other night and it was quite a hit.  I thought I would share the recipe where people can "pin it" because that seems to be the way many of us are organizing our recipes these days ;-)

Broccoli Salad

10 slices bacon

1 head fresh broccoli, cut in bite-size pieces

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1/4 cup raisins

3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp agave (or sugar, whatever you prefer)

1 cup mayo

1 cup sunflower seed kernels

Fry & crumble bacon.

Combine broccoli, onion & raisins in large bowl.

In small bowl, whisk together vinegar, mayo & agave (or sugar).  Pour over broccoli & toss well.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Toss bacon & sunflower seeds in when ready to serve!

Raising a Vegetarian

Jason and I were both raised in homes where we were expected to eat everything our moms made for dinner and be thankful for having food to eat.  We have raised our girls the same way.  We have always been proud of the fact that our girls were not fussy eaters and would eat almost anything--they do draw the line at spicy things, which we understand.

So, why did we allow our ten year old to decide to be a vegetarian?

Since Piper was very small she would chew meat and chew it and chew it and chew it, until it turned into dry pulp and then she would be unable to swallow it.  She never liked meat.  We knew that.  Also, I was a vegetarian for many years before we had kids, concern about protein during pregnancy and while I was breastfeeding convinced me to eat some meat.  Then, our decision to have our family all eat the same dinner together every night had me eating meat--how hypocritical would it have been for me to not eat meat but expect my growing girls to eat it?  This summer, when my family realized that I never order meat in restaurants and I decided it was time to eat a more meat-free diet, Piper stated that she no longer wanted to eat meat.

Of course we were concerned about her getting adequate protein.  I sat down with her and explained the importance of protein and we came up with a plan: Piper would give up cereal for breakfast and eat scrambled eggs or toast with peanut butter or french toast for breakfast every morning with a glass of milk.  She understood that she needed about 40-50 grams of protein every day.  She is a huge fan of yogurt and cheese and while she won't put beans as her top five favorite foods, she will eat them.

Jason and Allie are not vegetarians, so how do we manage that?

We still eat dinner as a family together every night and we still all eat the same thing for dinner.  How do we do this?

• If Jason and Allie are having a regular old fashioned dinner of meat, potatoes and vegetable, the potatoes I choose to make are baked potatoes and Piper and I stuff ours with protein-rich vegetarian chili (I freeze containers of it), cheese, jalapenos, olives, and tomatoes and we eat the side of vegetables.
• Tacos and burritos are a favorite around here, and it's very easy for Piper and I to stuff ours with black beans while Jason and Allie stuff theirs with beef or chicken.
• If I am making soups, I substitute vegetable broth for chicken or beef and often find vegetable and bean soups that we can all agree on.  
• Allie loves Chicken Posole and although I thought the vegetarian posole I made was just as good--I have made posole and not added chicken, just put grilled chicken on a dish on the side so Jason and Allie could add it as a topping.    
• Stir fry is another favorite around here, I have started cooking the meat in a separate pan while I cook the vegetables in the wok and then scrambling eggs or browning tofu in the wok.  Piper and I put the vegetables and eggs or tofu over our rice, while Jason and Allie eat the meat with their stir fried veggies and rice.  
• I buy a rotisserie chicken every week.  If I make lentil salad or Greek salad for dinner, Jason and Allie can gave a few slices of chicken with their salad.
• Pasta is another easy dish to make vegetarian.  
• There are, of course, many nights where I just cook vegetarian dishes that we can all agree on.

Some of our family's favorite vegetarian recipes:

Vegetarian Chili--you will not miss the meat!

Irish Nachos--a HUGE hit!  A combo between potato skins & nachos, sometimes I put bacon on half for Allie & Jason.  A fun dinner, we top them with beans, tomatoes, jalapenos, cheddar.  

Vegetable Curry - I serve this with jasmine rice; I usually cut tofu and sear it on each side, remove from pan, follow the recipe and throw the tofu back in at the end

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burritos

White Bean & Kale Soup with Potatoes

California omelet--eggs, chopped avocado and chopped tomatoes

I have found that it just takes some creativity to have a family that sits down to {almost} the same meal every night, but it is not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be for half our family to not eat meat.

Vegetarian Chili

Over the summer, Piper and I decided to eat a mostly meatless diet.  Jason and Allie still want to eat meat.  It's been a fun challenge to find things we can all eat.

Chili is a winter staple around here.  I used to make it with ground beef and beans, lots of chili powder, beef broth and tomatoes.  Until I found this vegetarian recipe that my family has actually said they like better than the meat variety!  

One single batch of this feeds our family of four for more than 3 meals each.  I usually freeze some in small batches for Piper and I to eat on nights when Jason and Allie eat meat.  It's a lot of prep, but it goes a long way.

Ingredients

• 1pound (2 1/2 cups) dried beans (I have used black beans, red kidney and pinto all with good results)
• 2dried ancho chiles or 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1/2ounce dried shiitake mushrooms, chopped coarse
• 4teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/2cup walnuts, toasted
• 1(28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained with juice reserved
• 3tablespoons tomato paste
• 6garlic cloves, minced
• 3tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4cup vegetable oil
• 2pounds onions, chopped fine
• 1tablespoon ground cumin
• 7cups water
• 2/3cup medium-grind bulgur
• 1/4cup chopped fresh cilantro
• Toppings: cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, avocado, chopped tomatoes, fresh or pickled jalapenos, black olives

1. Instructions

1. 1. Bring 4 quarts water, 3 tablespoons salt, and beans to boil in large Dutch oven over high heat. Remove pot from heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour. Drain beans and rinse well. Wipe out pot.
2. 2. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Arrange anchos on rimmed baking sheet and toast until fragrant and puffed, about 8 minutes. Transfer to plate and let cool, about 5 minutes. Stem and seed chiles. Grind toasted chiles, mushrooms, and oregano in spice grinder or food processor until finely ground.  Remove from food processor to a bowl.
3. 3. Process walnuts in food processor until finely ground, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a different bowl. Process drained tomatoes, tomato paste, jalapeño(s), garlic, and soy sauce in food processor until tomatoes are finely chopped, about 45 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed.
4. 4. Heat oil in now-empty Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onions and 1 1/4 teaspoons salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until onions begin to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Lower heat to medium and add ground chile mixture and cumin; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add rinsed beans and water and bring to boil. Cover pot, transfer to oven, and cook for 45 minutes.
5. 5. Remove pot from oven. Stir in bulgur, ground walnuts, tomato mixture, and reserved tomato juice. Cover pot and return to oven. Cook until beans are fully tender, about 2 hours.
6. 6. Remove pot from oven, stir chili well, and let stand, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Stir in cilantro and serve. (Chili can be made up to 3 days in advance.)

Make Breakfast Like an Italian Grandmother

When Jason was home for six weeks, he baked a lot of bread.

We got to indulge in a very simple, old-world, peasant breakfast that my Naunie used to make.

(Nonna is traditional Italian for Grandma, but somehow we deviated and I called my grandmother Naunie).

First, take a heel of Italian or french bread and leave it out overnight so it gets hard.

Now, slice it up.

 Cut it into chunks.

Add a teaspoon of sugar.

I know, I know...we don't eat sugar anymore.

But Italian grandmothers do, they will tell you, "Bah, there is nothing wrong with sugar, you young people!"  So, add the damn sugar.

Then pour in some milk.

Now, me, I like the milk warmed up.

But Jason and the girls prefer it cold.

Take your pick.

And feel free to use good old-fashioned WHOLE milk...that is what my Naunie would do...

Now let the bread soak up the milk a little.

Check some e-mail or do the dishes or something.

When the bread has soaked up the milk...Enjoy this old-world "peasant" breakfast.

Nothing like it.

!Avere una buona giornata!

White Bean and Kale Soup with Potatoes

Piper and I have made a commitment to going meatless.  One of our new favorite recipes is this soup, which we created by combining and omitting things from several recipes.

Ingredients:

1 lb bag dried cannellini beans, rinsed and soaked
1 bunch of kale, stemmed and chopped
5-6 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
3 tbsp olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 large onion diced
3 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
12 cups vegetable broth
shaved parmesan cheese (and a parmesan rind if you have one)

1.  Boil potatoes until somewhat tender.  Not mushy, but cooked.  Drain, rinse with cold water.

2.  Heat olive oil in Dutch oven or soup pot.  Add drained potatoes and saute until they start to brown.  Add diced onion.  Once onion is opaque, add crushed garlic.  Once garlic becomes fragrant (about 30 seconds) add 12 cups vegetable broth, rosemary and parmesan rind if you have one (if not, don't worry; it's just something to make use of one if you have one).  Bring to a simmer.

3.  Once simmering, add kale.  Simmer for about 5 minutes, til kale is tender.

4.  Serve with crusty bread and grated parmesan cheese.

5.  Enjoy.

Mystery Bars

This afternoon we made our first batch of Mystery Bars and I posted some photos on Instagram.  For all of you who asked....here is the recipe...

This is my biggest weakness, I can easily eat a batch in an afternoon family's favorite cookie!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
40 saltines
2 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, almonds, pistachios or peanuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.  Boil butter and brown sugar for 3 minutes.  Arrange 40 crackers (not overlapping) on a cookie sheet.  Spread butter and sugar over crackers.  don't worry if it doesn't cover all crackers. Bake at 350 for 5 minutes.  Take out of oven and immediately top with chips.  Wait for chips to melt, spread them out.  Refrigerate.

NOW THIS IS THE HARD PART.  Wait for it to get hard.  About 2 hours.  Then break them up or cut them.  We break them.  We like the imperfect jagged edges.  We usually end up eating the first batch within a day!

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burritos

I was a vegetarian for many years before I had kids.  I was concerned with getting adequate protein when I was pregnant and nursing, then it was just easier to make meat for the whole family than make something special just for me.  We always compromised and ate meatless several nights a week.  Lately, however, I have been more drawn to meatless meals and my family has been giving them the thumbs up--so I am thankful for that and going with it!

This recipe is tweaked from Moosewood's Low-Fat Cookbook.  I am sure it is not low-fat since I add the cheese!  

photo credit: The Daily Dish

Ingredients:

5 cups peeled cubed sweet potatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons canola or other vegetable oil
3-1/2 cups diced onions
4 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries
4 teaspoons ground cumin
4 teaspoons ground coriander
1 lb. cooked black beans (or soaked,
2/3 cup lightly packed cilantro leaves
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shredded monterey jack or cheddar cheese (or a combo)
8 eight-inch flour tortillas
Fresh tomato salsa or jarred
sour cream (optional)
jalapenos (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan with the salt and water to cover. Cover and bring to a boil, then simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

While the sweet potatoes are cooking, warm the oil in a medium skillet or saucepan and add the onions and garlic. Cover and cook on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are tender, about 7 minutes. Add the cumin and coriander and cook for 2 to 3 minutes longer, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a food processor, combine the black beans, cilantro, lemon juice, salt, and cooked sweet potatoes and puree until smooth. (You can also mash the ingredients in a large bowl by hand using a potato masher. The result will be a less smooth but nicely textured filling.) Transfer the sweet potato mixture to a large mixing bowl and mix in the cooked onions, raisins, spices and cheese.  If you like spicy food, feel free to throw in a can of diced green chiles or some jalapenos.

Lightly oil a large baking dish. Spoon about 2/3 to 3/4 cup of the filling in the center of each tortilla, roll it up, and place it, seam side down, in the baking dish. Cover tightly with foil and bake for about 30 minutes, until piping hot. Serve topped with salsa.

Yield:6 to 8 servings 

Husk

One of the things our entire family enjoys is good food.  We are not the kind of family that goes to McDonald's.  When we go out to eat, we want something healthy and delicious that we can't make at home because it requires a lot of little exotic ingredients that we don't use often enough to make it worth our while to buy them.  

We all - Allie and Piper included - spend a lot of time researching restaurants near where we live.  When we are traveling, we all spend time researching restaurants that we want to try.  Before this trip, the girls each researched an area we would be visiting and part of the assignment was to find several restaurants that they wanted to try and we made a point of trying at least one of the girls recommendations and every time we were very happy we did!

Husk in Charleston, SC was one of our favorite restaurants

One of our favorite restaurants on this vacation was Husk in Charleston.

Husk is a farm-to-table restaurant.  They use all locally grown ingredients and do Amazing things with them!

I even loved the simple decor.  It made me want to come home and re-decorate!

The pimiento cheese with benne wafers was off the hook!

the pimiento cheese with benne wafers was off the hook delicious!

Piper set up and took this photo and I thought it was so cool that I had to share it!

After reading on lifeingrace about how Edie and her family play a game to see who has the best meal on the table, our family has started playing that game everywhere we go to eat.  We have decided that in our family anything with goat cheese pretty much wins!  I guess we all LOVE goat cheese!  On this occasion, there was no goat cheese on the table and Jason's pork dish won.  Sorry, I forgot the name, but the menu changes daily anyway so the chances of going back and having it again are slim.

Piper also set up and took this photo ;-)

My Little Southern Belle

I always say: It's not dessert without chocolate!

Good Old Fashioned Southern BBQ {and a SPECIAL request!}

If you are reading this, you may very likely be a blogger and you may very likely understand how bloggers' relationships work and how we can inspire and encourage each other.  Friends are awesome in many ways, but blogging gives you a real insider look into something sometimes that you just don't necessarily get with friends.  Are you feeling me?

These two kook-a-poodles are seriously sleeping like this...they have always slept like puppies together ;-)

I had never, ever had any desire to do a road trip.  Ten plus hours stuck in a car with other people, no thank you.  I had an opportunity to drive to New Orleans for Mardi Gras in college and passed on it.  Even going to the lake - 4 hours away - is something I dread.  Washington, D.C. is three hours from us and the ride just turns me off (although we did do it two years ago).  But...lately flying has made me a little anxious... and so many of my bloggie buddies take road trips to Chicago, Tennessee, Louisiana, etc. that I decided we should give it a try.  

a BIG plus of going on a road trip was getting to bring Oliver

Jason's original idea for our vacation was to drive to Louisiana and stop in little local hole-in-the-wall restaurants that got good ratings along the way.  But I just could not fathom 20 hours on the road.  When some homeschool friends of ours went to Tybee Island, Georgia and posted some photos--we decided it was the perfect destination for us...beach + culture!  

One of Jason's requests was to try some real, authentic, good old-fashioned Southern BBQ.  Not side of the road, not tourist-trap Southern BBQ...but the real deal.  He did his homework and found Doug Sauls' BBQ and let me just say, if you are ever in or around Nashville, North Carolina...be sure to stop in and say hello to Doris and order yourself some of their fried chicken!  (oh, and I don't even eat fried food or chicken on the bone...and I will dream about this fried chicken for the rest of my life...so tender, so juicy and so much taste...I don't know what they do to it!)

This Yankee was in for quite the surprise when we got there.  Piper had to use the restroom after 7 hours in the car.  She and I headed to the picnic table area, thinking that was where you go in.  We walk in and there is no air conditioning, just a fan, flies flying around and watermelons all over the floor.  No menus or board telling you what they offer.  I was a little panic stricken--I had NO IDEA what to do with this!  There were people sitting on a bench, waiting for their food and they all smiled at me and one gentleman tipped his hat at us...and I thought, "Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore."  Smiling and hat tipping does not occur where we live, most people try not to make eye contact for some stupid reason.

When we got out of the bathroom, Jason told me we were going to go to the dining room to eat, this was just the take-out area.  I'll be honest with y'all (hope you don't take offense to this Northerner saying y'all) I was ready to high-tail it out of there.  This was just a little too much culture shock for a person who is not used to their food coming out of huge metal tubs.

But my husband, whose idea of a vacation is trying "the local flavor" was grinning like a pig in you-know-what.  Scratched linoleum floor, men in t-shirts with suspenders, flies buzzing around...this was PERFECT!

The woman at the counter, Doris, could not have been nicer.  I walked up and nervously spit out, "I'm from New Jersey and I have no idea what to do here, but we want to try some good, old-fashioned Southern BBQ."

"Well, sugah," Doris reassured me.  "You came to the right place."

Doris helped us order and made sure we got a little of everything: pulled pork! fried chicken! collards! black eyed peas! cole slaw!

Heavenly Hush Puppies

Oh and hush puppies...Allie and Piper quickly became enamored of hush puppies and went on a mission to try them everywhere we went!  I think you could visibly see the girls and I relax when we saw and tasted the hush puppies.

good old-fashioned Southern BBQ

 To you that plate above may look like picnic food...but that is not the kind of picnic food us wine-and-cheese eating Northerners can get often.  And believe me, I may be a food snob, but wine and cheese ain't got nothin' on Southern Barbecue!

On my list was trying Sweet Tea, which all you Southerners are always yammering on about.  I will say, I don't "do" sugar...but Sweet Tea was really good...not too sweet, not too bitter...it was something I could see myself sipping while sitting on one of your porches with the ceiling fan going while we listen to the cicadas...gosh!  I love the South!  Any of y'all got room for me??

The Special Request...

OK, my Southern friends, I need a real favor here...how do you make collards?  We don't have them here, but I did find a grocery about 30 miles away that sells them and I bought some...now I need to know how to cook them...chicken broth, ham hock...how do you do it????

Lentil Salad, Melon Salad & Veggie Rice Bowls

I was a vegetarian for years before I had the girls.  When I was pregnant, it was impossible for me to get enough protein because I don't eat eggs, couldn't eat fish or enough beans, so I ate small amounts of meat.  

Jason preferred a diet centered around meat.  When I was a vegetarian it was hard for me to touch or prepare raw meat, so once I started eating meat during my pregnancy, I kept eating it so that I wouldn't mind preparing it for Jason.  Jason felt it was important that we eat the same things as a family for dinner and so I continued to eat meat, although to be honest I never crave meat or really enjoy eating it (with the exception of seared tuna).  

This summer, Jason has made a commitment to running.  He is training for his first 15k and setting his sights on one day running the New York City Marathon (Tough Mudder is also on his Bucket List).  He is also seriously considering becoming certified to teach yoga.  With this commitment to health, has come an interest in eating better and an open-ness to more of a vegetable and grain centered diet--the diet that I favor!

Here are three of our favorite recipes that we have been eating and enjoying lately:

Lentil Salad with Grapes

I love lentils, although love may not be passionate enough for how I feel about these earthy, savory, slightly spicy legumes.  I crave them.  I have been making this awesome salad once a week for dinner and eating leftovers for lunch:

Ingredients:

Salad:

1 pound lentils 

1 cup halved, seeded green grapes

1 cup halved, seeded red grapes

1 cucumber, halved and sliced

1 red pepper, seeded diced

1/2 cup almonds toasted and coarsely chopped

2 teaspoons lemon zest

Dressing:

• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 
  
• Directions:
• 
  
• For the Salad:
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the lentils and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 18 to 20 minutes. Drain and let cool for 5 minutes. Place lentils and remaining salad ingredients in a large salad bowl.
• 
  
• For the Dressing:
• Place the lemon juice in a small bowl. Slowly add the oil, whisking constantly, until combined. Season with salt and pepper, to taste
  Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss well.

Vegetable Rice Bowls

I have also made these Summer Rice Bowls, which Jason has requested that I make again, saying they were "very balanced" and he felt good after eating it :)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups cooked brown rice, cooled to room temperature 
• 1 cup frozen shelled edamame, thawed
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved 
• 1/2 cup torn fresh basil 
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind 
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided 
• 2 cups chopped zucchini
• 1/2 ounce fresh Parmesan cheese, shaved

Directions:

1. 1. Combine the first 9 ingredients in a large bowl, and toss until well blended. Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add zucchini; sauté 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add zucchini and remaining 2 tablespoons oil to rice mixture; toss. Top with shaved Parmesan cheese.
2. 
   
3. Melon Salad
4. with Mint & Prosciutto

Perhaps, my favorite thing, which I have only made once but am planning to definitely make again is Melon Salad with Prosciutto (yes, meat, I know; I am not committing to be a total vegetarian because the salty prosciutto with the mint and sweet watermelon in this salad is to die for!)  I am planning to make this for my uncle soon!

Ingredients:

2 cups sliced seedless watermelon

2 cups sliced seeded honeydew

1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion

2 ripe nectarines, pitted and sliced

1/4 cup torn fresh mint leaves

4 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3 tbsp. lemon juice

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

4 cups arugula

1/2 oz. shaved Romano cheese

hot pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

Combine first 6 ingredients; sprinkle with salt.  Whisk together juice, olive oil and honey.  Drizzle over melon mixture.  Arrange arugula on plates, top with melon mixture, sprinkle with hot pepper flakes and Romano cheese.

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