Quinoa & Red Lentil 'Porridge' with Veggies

Thoughts and Inspiration

This is another one pot meal.  As always, I wanted to make something that my husband and I could take to lunch that wouldn't require too much effort.  It is a meal in itself and you can definitely have this for dinner as well!

I use canned tomatoes in the recipe, along with some frozen veggies to save time.  This dish has got a punch of protein from the lentils, edamame and quinoa.

Red lentils cook differently (in my opinion) than green lentils.  They are definitely softer in texture and sort of melt away into the dish.  So don't expect to be biting into the lentils here, rather the quinoa and lentils combine into a porridge-like consistency.

Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 red onion, diced 
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced and diced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
*1/2 cup Trader Joes frozen Soycutash
3/4 cup Trader Joes frozen mixed bell peppers (or you can use fresh)
14.5 oz can fire roasted tomatoes (I used Hunt's)
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
**3/4 cup red lentils
**1/2 cup quinoa
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp McCormick Grill Mates Roasted Garlic & Herb Seasoning
1 tsp crushed red pepper
2 tsp dry parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

In a soup pot saute onions, mushrooms and garlic in olive oil on medium heat for about 5-6 minutes.  Next, add in all frozen vegetables and saute for an additional 3-4 minutes.  Stir in tomatoes, broth, water, lentils and quinoa.  Bring this all to a simmer - once it has reached a simmer place a lid on pot and continue to simmer (not boil) for about 15 minutes.  Add in all spices mixing gently and simmer (uncovered) for 5 more minutes (try a spoonful to make sure lentils and quinoa have cooked through - if not, simmer an additional few minutes).  When serving garnish with parsley and a little crushed red pepper... and maybe even a few shavings of Parmesan!
 

*Note: You can easily substitute with 1/4 cup frozen corn + 1/4 cup frozen shelled edamame

**Red lentils and quinoa generally have similar cooking times anywhere between 12-16 minutes.

Hello Panzanella, Meet Spinach Salad

Thoughts and Inspiration

So where did this salad idea stem from?...

Let's see... my husband despises, and I mean really despises cucumbers.  Can you believe that?!  I mean who doesn't love cucumbers?!  They are so crisp and sweet and delicious!  He's really funny about it too, because he actually loves pickles!

Anyway, so this salad is sort of a play on a traditional panzanella... it's a panzanella meets a spinach salad.  I throw in corn to add a little sweetness that is missing by eliminating the cucumbers.  Enjoy!

Salad Ingredients

1 loaf crusty Italian bread, cut into cubes
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Salt and pepper
8oz. package white mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbsp olive oil
6 slices vegan bacon (cooked according to package and chopped)
7-8oz bag baby spinach
¼ red onion, sliced thin
¼ cup corn
½ cup grape tomatoes, slice lengthwise
**2 hard boiled eggs, sliced

Dressing Ingredients
3 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp champagne vinegar
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp dijon mustard
1 dash salt

*Pre-heat oven to 275^oF.  Take bread cubes and lightly drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.   Crisp in oven for about 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. 

Whisk all dressing ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

Cook mushrooms in 1 Tbsp olive oil on medium heat for 5-6 minutes until cooked through.  Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.  At this time, cook bacon according to package, allow to cool, and cut into pieces.

In a large salad bowl combine all ingredients together with spinach; slowly drizzle in dressing, tossing everything together in coat.

Serve in a bowl and top with a couple slices of hard boiled egg.**
 

*Note:  This can be done ahead of time.
**Note:   I didn't do this, but a traditional spinach salad would call for hard boiled eggs.  For those of you that are strict vegan/vegetarians, leave this out.

Quick Hearty Black Bean & Corn Stew

Thoughts & Inspiration

This winter is starting to get really bad!  I guess we shouldn't complain too much though since November/December weren't too horrible.  My hubby and I are big into soups/stews in the colder months.  I threw this together on a cold Tuesday evening.  I made quite a bit, which was great because we were able to enjoy the leftovers for lunches.  One of the ingredients in this recipe is a jalapeno... I kept most of the seeds in mine because we like things spicy, but it actually turned out a bit too spicy!  So be careful if your taste buds can't handle too much... I would recommend de-seeding it.

Active Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 35-40 minutes


Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1 jalapeno, cut into thin slices (de-seed according to spice level desired)

4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 yellow squash, chopped
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 cup fresh (or frozen) kale, chopped
1 can fire roasted tomatoes (14-15 ounces)
1 can black beans, rinsed (15 ounces)
2 cup water
1/2 cup broken wheat vermicelli  (you can also use farro, orzo or ditalini)
1/2 lime, juiced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Spices
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp chipotle roasted garlic seasoning (McCormicks Grill Mates)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp lemon pepper
Salt to taste

Optional Garnishes
Sprinkle of cheese
Slice of lime
Sprinkle of cilantro
Sprinkle of green onions
Dollop of sour cream
A couple crushed tortilla chips


In a deep soup pot saute onions and jalapenos in olive oil on medium heat for 3 minutes.  Add garlic and continue to saute for 2-3 more minutes.  Next, add yellow squash and continue to saute for 3-4 minutes.  Add corn, kale, tomatoes, black beans, 1 cup water and all the spices.  Bring this to a low boil and then simmer for 15 minutes.  Add vermicelli (or other grain) and the additional cup of water and simmer until grain is cooked through (approximately 10 minutes).

Serving: Serve soup in a bowl nice and hot and garnish with your choice of ingredients.

 

Fiesta Chipotle Wrap

Thoughts & Inspiration

A quick but yummy dinner after an intense workout!  This wrap is veggie loaded and deliciously seasoned!  I used Morningstar Buffalo Chik Patties, but feel free to use your favorite filler and it in your own!

Cook Time: 25 minutes     Makes 2

Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil

3/4 white onion, sliced

1/3 cup frozen corn

5 oz package of shitake mushrooms, slices
3 large kale leaves, chopped

4 grape tomatoes, chopped
2 radishes, sliced (just for some crunch)
Sprinkling of cheddar cheese (however cheesy your heart desires)
2 Morningstar Buffalo Chik Patties (cooked in oven according to package)

Sauce Ingredients
3 Tbsp of sauce from the canned chipotles in adobo sauce
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp honey

1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder 

Salt to taste

2 burrito style tortillas

For the sauce:

Combine all the ingredients together in a medium sided bowl and whisk together.

Saute onion in oil olive on medium high heat until onions are cooked and browned, approximately 3-4 minutes.  Add frozen corn and saute for an additional 2 minutes.  Next, add mushrooms and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.  Toss in kale and 3 Tbsp of the sauce.  Mix and saute for 1-2 minutes until kale wilts.  Remove from heat.  (I used a cast iron skillet to cook the vegetables.)

Once the Chik Patty is cooked, chop into a few squares and add to bowl with remainder of sauce.  Mix patty pieces until slightly coated with sauce.

Assemble wraps by placing 1/2 the chik patties, cheese, veggies along with tomatoes and radishes along one side of the tortilla.  Roll and tuck the ingredients to get a tight wrap so that it looks like a burrito.

Helpful Tip:  I take a piece of fold and wrap it around the bottom of one end of the wrap.  This makes it clean and simple to eat!

Arugula Salad with a Twist of Spice

Thoughts & Inspiration

My family was coming over for my husband's birthday and all he wanted were tacos!  I needed a little something else to go along with the tacos so I threw this salad together real quick!

Time: 10 minutes     

Salad Ingredients 

1 bag of baby or wild arugula (6-7 oz)

2-3 radishes, sliced thin into rounds or matchsticks

1/3 cup of thawed frozen corn
1/2 cup red cabbage, shredded
5-6 cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered 

Note:  You can make this salad with Iceberg or Romaine as well for extra crisp lettuce!

Dressing

2 Tbsp good extra virgin olive oil
1/2 large lemon, juiced
1 Tbsp Ranch (I use yogurt salsa ranch)
1 tsp Buffalo Wing Sauce

Pepper to taste

Optional: 4-5 Cool Ranch Doritos, crushed 

This is the one I used

Place arugula, radishes, corn, cabbage and tomatoes into a large salad bowl.
Combine all of the dressing ingredients into a bowl and whisk together.
Add dressing into salad bowl and toss to coat all the leaves.

Optional Garnish: When serving in a bowl, add crushed Doritos for a crunchy bite!

Zucchini Spaghetti with Corn and Roasted Tomatoes

Thoughts & Inspiration

Everyone wants to be healthier and eat more greens.  This is a fun way to eat "pasta" that has no carbs!  It's all zucchini!  So yummy and healthy, you won't even know the difference!

My girlfriends bought the Premium Slicer for me for my birthday!  It's great and easy to use!  It's also small and gets the job done!  You can get it on Amazon.

Serves 2 

25 minutes

Ingredients

3 medium thickness zucchinis, spiralized (or julienned into long strips on a mandolin)
1 cup of grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/3 cup of frozen corn

2 Tbsp sundried tomatoes (I use the ones from Trader Joes in oil, but you can use any brand) 

Salt and pepper to taste
Crushed red pepper to taste


Optional Ingredients 
A few fresh basil leaves, torn
A couple shaving of either Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese

Heat oven to 350F.  Place tomatoes mixed with 1/2 the chopped garlic, olive oil, a pinch of salt and fresh cracked pepper into an oven safe dish.  Roast tomatoes for 12-13 minutes. 

Heat a pan and add sundried tomatoes with oil.  Add garlic to this and saute for 1-2 minutes.  Next, add frozen corn and saute for an additional 4-5 minutes on medium flame (or until corn is cooked through).  Add zucchini to pan, with salt and crushed red pepper, and mix with tongs lifting zucchini strands to make sure the corn mixture gets incorporated; cook together for 2-3 minutes for a more al dente texture, or 4-5 minutes for a softer spaghetti texture.  

Plating:  Place zucchini spaghetti into a plate or bowl and place half of the roasted tomatoes on top of each zucchini portion.  Garnish with a few torn basil leaves if desired and a few shaves of Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese.

Corn and Zucchini Quesadillas

Thoughts & Inspiration

My sister-in-law was coming over on a Sunday for a little while before we took our nephew to a museum... So I wanted to make a fun, quick little bite.  This is an easy and delicious recipe.  You can add in other veggies and make it yours.

Cook Time: 15 minutes     Makes 4 Quesadillas

Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil

4 cloves of garlic minced

1 cup frozen corn

1 large zucchini shredded (short, thin thread-like strips)

2 Tbsp of sauce from the canned chipotles in adobo sauce

1 tsp paprika

Salt to taste

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

4 burrito style tortillas

Butter

Corn/Zucchini Stuffing:

In a pan, sauté garlic on a low-medium flame in 1 tsp of olive oil for 30 seconds to a minute (making sure garlic doesn’t brown).  Add frozen corn and sauté for about 3-4 minutes.  Next add shredded zucchini (can use a grater to shred), chipotle adobo sauce, paprika and a little salt.  Cook for an additional 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.

Quesadilla Assembly:

Heat up tortillas on a medium flame for 30 seconds on each side.  Add ¼ cup of cheddar to half of the tortilla and top with 2-3 Tbsp of the corn/zucchini mixture.  Add ¼ cup of pepper jack cheese on top of the vegetable mixture and fold tortilla in half creating a half moon.  Place a few shavings of butter on top of the tortilla.  Place quesadilla butter side down and cook on medium flame for 2 minutes moving the tortilla in the pan a couple times (to make sure it doesn’t burn).  Flip quesadilla onto its other side for an additional 2 minutes.  Once cheese has melted, cut into 4 triangles!

Optional: Serve with a dollop of sour cream and salsa on the side!  And maybe a couple of slices of avocado!

Variations: Instead of cheddar and pepper jack cheese, this recipe also tastes great with crumbled goat cheese and mozzarella!