Roasted Beet Spinach Salad

For the first time in my life I craved beets! I saw a recipe for a roasted beet and goat cheese salad and I could not get it out of my head. So, I made this salad the other day and have had it twice in three days. Roast or boil 2-3 beets, peel and slice once cool. Place on top of a bed of spinach with goat cheese (I used feta). Top with vinaigrette (I used a maple balsamic one). So yum.

 

Greek Quinoa and Tilapia Bowl

 

1 Cup Quinoa
Tabouli
Baby Roma or Cherry Tomatoes, chopped
Tilapia (I use Panko breaded Tilapia from Costco)
Lime and Trader Joes's Greek Style Dressing to garnish

Cook Quinoa according to package directions. While Quinoa is cooking, bake Tilapia filets, could use non-breaded too. Place one cup of cooked Quinoa in a bowl or on a plate and add Tilapia filet, chopped tomatoes, a heaping spoonful of Tabouli (I just buy Trader Joe's but you can always make your own)and garnish with a squeeze of lime and a drizzle of Greek Style Dressing (not necessary but if you have some available it tastes very yum).

We added some crumbled feta the next time around and it was a great addition. Very easy meal and really, really yum!

Amaranth Coconut Custard

 

1 cup of cooked Amaranth
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup milk
5 T. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 beaten eggs
1 t. vanilla

To cook Amaranth: 1 cup to 1 3/4 cup water. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Can prepare ahead of time and refrigerate.

For custard:
In a 1-quart saucepan combine coconut milk and 1 cup milk. Scald mixture. In another saucepan combine flour, salt and sugar; slowly stir in milk mixture. Cook on medium heat until thick, never boiling. Add a little hot mixture to eggs and then stir in hot mixture. Continue cooking for 2-3 minutes. Add vanilla and 1 cup of cooked Amaranth. Pour custard into ramekins or glasses and store in fridge. Serve cold. It is great plain or garnished with fresh fruit.

Salmon Cakes

I've tried several variations of salmon cakes, and I really love this one, especially with the simple sauce and served over salad. I did have to add another egg, but I drained the salmon really, really good..maybe too much? I used a different seasoning than Old Bay, but I stuck to the recipe everywhere else. These were delicious and very kid friendly.

Salmon Cakes


•Vegetable oil, for frying (or butter)
•3 (6-ounce) portions cooked salmon or 3 (6-ounce) cans salmon, drained well
•1 1/2 cups cracker meal
•2 large eggs, beaten
•2 rounded teaspoons Old Bay seasoning blend
•1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
•20 blades fresh chives, snipped or chopped
•2 to 3 tablespoons fresh dill, a handful, finely chopped
•1 teaspoon cayenne pepper sauce
•1 lemon, zested and juiced
•Salad greens
•Coarse salt
•Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
•1/2 cup mayonnaise or reduced fat mayonnaise
•1/2 cup chili sauce
•2 tablespoons dill pickle relish

Directions

Heat a large, heavy skillet with 1 inch of frying oil over moderate heat. ( I did not do this, instead just a simple pan fry with a drizzle of olive oil and a pat of butter. It was fine and plenty "fried")

Flake the cooked cooled salmon with a fork. Add cracker meal to the bowl and work through the fish with your hands. Add the eggs, seasoning, pepper, chives, dill, pepper sauce, and the zest of one lemon to the bowl. Combine the ingredients well with your hands. If the mixture is a little wet, add a bit more cracker meal. Form 3-inch patties of salmon cakes 1-inch thick. You should yield 8 to 10 cakes. Fry cakes until golden in a single layer 3 or 4 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towel lined plate.

Toss salad greens with coarse salt and the juice of the lemon you zested. Drizzle the greens with a little extra-virgin olive oil and re-toss the salad to coat.

Combine mayonnaise, chili sauce and relish in a small dish. To serve, place salmon cakes on a bed of baby greens, 2 cakes per person and top with chili mayonnaise sauce.

cookies, cookies, cookies

I love cookies! And I am a total sucker for healthy cookie recipes. I collect them. I especially love the ones you can make in 5 minutes or less, have plenty of protein to balance the sweet making them an acceptable snack for kids, and of course, taste delicious and turn out moist. That's all I ask, really. It's not so much.

A month or so ago, my friend Trisha posted an Almond Butter Cookie recipe on her blog and I almost made it like three times. Can't remember what got in the way, but this weekend when Geoff and Darcie were here, Geoff made an almost identical cookie and they were awesome! They can be made with chocolate chips, but they were super delish without. I made my own almond meal by pulverizing almonds in the food processor, and substituted it for some of the flour, as Geoff indicates in his recipe. I included Trisha's recipe below. The only real difference is the egg, and I will try that one as eggs can only enhance, right?

p.s. we did try the cookies with a couple tablespoons of mini chocolate chips today and yeah, they were really tasty.

Geoff's Nut Butter Chocolate chip cookies
1/2 C Almond butter (or half-n-half peanut butter) <---yes, do this!
1/2 C Maple syrup
3 T olive oil
1 T vanilla
1 C flour (can substitute ~25% almond meal)
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
chocolate chips or shavings - optional

Mix it up. 350. 8-10 min., you know the drill.
* just go ahead and double this thing, you'll be glad you did.

Trisha's Almond Butter Cookies
1/2 cup natural almond butter
1/2 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped almonds (or more)

Preheat the oven to 350*F. In a large bowl, combine natural almond butter, maple syrup, oil, egg and vanilla extract until well blended. In a separate bowl, mix together whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, along with chopped almonds, and stir until just combined. Let sit for five minutes. Roll heaping tablespoons of dough into balls, flatten to about 1/3 of an inch and place onto cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Makes 18 cookies.


350 for 8-10 min

raspberry + dark chocolate muffins

I love this recipe because the muffins are only slightly sweet. These taste like muffins should taste, which in my opinion, is not like cupcakes. I use strawberries, raspberries or a mixture. And I use more berries than the recipe calls for. We often sprinkle little bits of dark chocolate and berries on the tops and if we're really getting fancy (pretty much all the time), a little bit of turbinado (raw cane sugar) to make them have a bit of a crunch. Sugar sprinkling is a coveted job around here. Rollin did the honors this morning.

raspberry & chocolate

strawberry & chocolate

Muffins à la Framboise, Eclats de Fève de Cacao

- 4 Tbsp (75 g) butter
- 2 C (230 g) all-purpose flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
- 1/2 C (100 g) sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 1/2 C (125 ml) plain yogurt
- 1/2 C (125 ml) buttermilk / fermented milk / kefir
- 1 C raspberries (or more!)
- 1/3 cup dark chocolate pieces

Yield : 12 muffins

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) and grease (or line with paper cups or leave alone if they are silicon) a set of muffin tins.

Melt the butter in the microwave or in a small saucepan, and set aside to cool. In a small bowl, combine the cacao nibs and brown sugar. Set aside.

In a medium mixing-bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt) and stir to mix. In another medium bowl, whisk together wet ingredients (butter, egg, yogurt and buttermilk). Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour in the wet ingredients, and stir with a spatula until just combined. Do not overmix. The mixture will be lumpy, that's okay. Fold in the berries and dark chocolate bits.

Spoon the batter into the prepared tins and into the oven to bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until risen and golden. Turn out on a rack to cool, and wait for 10-15 minutes before removing from the tins. Serve warm or completely cooled.

Warm Red Cabbage Pasta

I am absolutely in love with this salad from 101cookbooks but after I had it the first time I realized that it could easily become a main course. The second time I made the salad I served it over a large bed of spinach leaves and added Brianna's Blush Wine Vinaigrette to the salad. It was amazing!! I also made a simple pasta (angel hair with garlic olive oil and Parmesan) to go with it. This was so good that I thought why not serve it over the pasta. So, the next time I made it I served the warm red cabbage over angel hair, adding finely chopped kale to the sauteing onions, and garnished the pasta with Brianna's dressing and grated Parmesan cheese. Perfection!

We absolutely love it as a salad served over spinach leaves or as a pasta dish served over angel hair or Fusilli. I like the lightness of the angel hair but I think in the end I prefer a tubular pasta because it grabs the cabbage, nuts and dried fruit better.




The Ever Evolving Warm Red Cabbage Pasta or Salad

1/2 cups of nuts (I use walnuts)
1 teaspoon natural cane sugar (or brown sugar)
fine grain sea salt

3/4- 1Lb. Pasta (Fusilli or Angel Hair) or Fresh Spinach Leaves

2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1 red onion, diced
4 medium cloves of garlic, minced

1 pound head of red cabbage, quartered and cut into thin ribbons

1 t. fresh rosemary, minced
2 ounces craisins, raisins, or other plump, chopped dried fruit
1 1/2 T. balsamic vinegar
2 ounces of feta cheese, crumbled

Grated Parmesan cheese and Brianna's Blush Wine Vinaigrette, to garnish

Roast the nuts in a dry skillet over medium-high heat until golden brown. Sprinkle on the sugar and couple of pinches of salt. Stir until the sugar melts and coats the nuts. Transfer to a plate and let cool.

Cook pasta according to package directions or if making the Spinach salad version, wash and dry spinach leaves.

Heat olive oil in large skillet and saute the onion for a minute or two with a couple of pinches of salt. Stir in the garlic, and the cabbage, and a few more pinches of salt. Stir and cook for just a minute or so, or until the cabbage softens up JUST A TOUCH. Then stir in rosemary, raisins, and the vinegar. Fold in the feta cheese and nuts. Pour cabbage mixture over pasta or spinach leaves and drizzle with Brianna's Blush Wine Vinaigrette. Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese.