Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

This salad is yummy.  I know because I ate it for lunch (and dinner) yesterday!  A friend at school made this for a potluck at the end of the school year, and I have made it several times this summer.  It's a great cold summer salad that fits in perfectly at any barbecue or potluck!  I think what I love most about it are the contrasting textures and flavors- the crunchy red onions and cucumber contrast nicely with the creamy chickpeas and feta cheese.  The refreshing and sweet cucumber and tomato pair well with the salty feta and olives.  The Greek dressing brings it all together nicely and gives just enough lemon and oregano flavor without being overpowering. Visit Closet Cooking for the recipe!  

Mujadara

Mujadara is a traditional Middle Eastern rice, lentil, and onion dish.  We've enjoyed it at many local Middle Eastern restaurants and have loved every version we've tried.  It was only a matter of time before we tried making it at home, and I am sure glad we did!  The complex flavors of this dish make it downright addictive, from the sweet caramelized onions to the toasted pinenuts and hints of cinnamon, it is the perfect combination of textures and flavors that makes you want to keep eating more!  

Mujadara

3 large sweet onions, thinly sliced
4-5 T grassfed butter
sprinkling of sea salt
1 1/2 c cooked basmati or long grain white rice
1 1/2 c cooked green or brown lentils
1/4 c pinenuts, toasted in a dry pan on high heat for 5 minutes
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin
pepper and salt to taste

1. Caramelize the onions by cooking them in the butter over medium-high heat for about 30 minutes.  Stir occasionally to make sure they don't burn.  You want them to cook down but not get too brown.  Part way through the cooking time, sprinkle them with a bit of salt.  
2. While the onions caramelize, toast your pine nuts by placing them in a small pan, turning the heat to high and toasting for 5 minutes, stirring the pine nuts often to make sure they don't burn.  They should start to brown a little and give off a nutty aroma.  At this point, remove them from the heat.  
3.  Once the onions are caramelized, stir the rice, lentils, pine nuts, cinnamon, cumin, salt and pepper into the onion mixture.  Then enjoy!

Honestly, you can use whatever quantities you want in this dish!  Have 3 cups of leftover white rice?  Throw it all in.  Love the taste of pinenuts?  Use 1/2 c instead of 1/4 c.  The quantities I used happened to work for us- we love the flavor of onions and wanted equal parts lentils and rice.  Don't like onions as much?  Only use 1 or 2.  Just don't leave anything out!  You'll lose some of the great complexity of the dish.  

Grandma's Potato Salad

Rem grew up eating his grandma's famous potato salad, which is a traditional take on potato salad and absolutely the best version I have ever had!  His grandma passed the recipe down to his mom, who passed it to Rem when he moved out and wanted to make it himself.  We make it frequently in the summer when cold salads just hit the spot!  

The original version calls for all-purpose flour and granulated sugar, both of which we typically exclude from our diet, but I was able to make some simple substitutions that do not change the taste or texture from the original at all (gluten-free all purpose flour for regular flour, and raw honey for granulated sugar)!

So without further ado... our take on Rem's grandma's potato salad

Grandma's Potato Salad

Potato Salad Base:
3-4 lb. Russet potatoes
4 hardboiled eggs
1 bunch green onions, diced
4 ribs celery, diced small
1 jar dill pickles (*You will need 1 cup of the pickle juice for the sauce.  Take the pickles and puree them in the food processor to create a homemade relish.  You will need 1/2 cup of the relish for the potato salad)
celery seed
black pepper
salt

Potato Salad Dressing:
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 c bob's red mill gluten free all-purpose flour
1 huge squirt of yellow mustard (about 3 T)
1/4 c raw honey

1. POTATOES: Cut potatoes into bite sized pieces.  The actual size doesn't matter a whole lot, as long as the pieces are roughly the same size.  Dump the potatoes into a large pot, fill the pot with enough water to cover the potatoes, and boil them on medium high until the potatoes are soft.  You can test them by smashing a potato against the side of the pot with a fork.  If the potato easily "gives" and falls apart, it's done.  Or you can remove a potato and just eat it to test for doneness!  Just wait a minute or so to eat it after removing it from the pot do you don't burn your mouth!  Once the potatoes are done, drain them (don't rinse!) and let them cool off a bit.  I usually just leave them in the colander I drained them in!

2. EGGS: While the potatoes are boiling, hard boil your eggs.  Place them in a small pot and fill the pot with water until it just covers the eggs.  Place the pot over high heat until the water starts to boil.  Let the water boil for 1 minute, then turn off the heat, remove the pot from the stove, cover the pot, and let it sit (off the heat) for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, rinse the eggs with cold water.  Then peel them, dice them up, and put them in a LARGE bowl. (We usually skip this step because I make a mass amount of hardboiled eggs at the beginning of each week to have on hand for breakfasts, snacks, and dishes like this!)

3. CELERY AND GREEN ONIONS: While the eggs and potatoes are cooking (this dish requires lots of multi-tasking!), dice up the celery and green onions.  Add them to the large bowl that you are putting the eggs in.  

4. SAUCE: Now it's time to make the sauce!  In a small saucepan, combine: 1 cup of dill pickle juice, 1 whole egg, 1 egg yolk, 1/2 c gluten-free all purpose flour, 1 huge squirt yellow mustard, and 1/4 c raw honey.  Cook this mixture over medium heat, whisking the whole time.  After a few minutes, the mixture will start to "come together" and really thicken up.  Keep whisking and cooking until the mixture is very thick and difficult to continue whisking.  Remove from heat.  Set this aside.

5. RELISH: After you've cooked the sauce, put the rest of the contents of your dill pickle jar in the food processor (or a magic bullet!) to make your own relish.  Process until mostly smooth.  Whisk about 1/2 cup of this into your sauce.  If you want a thinner sauce, add even more.  Store the rest of your relish in a jar in the fridge for up to 1 month.

6. MIX IT ALL TOGETHER: At this point the potatoes should be somewhat cool.  Add them to the large bowl (that already has the egg, celery, and green onions in it).  Pour the sauce on top of the potatoes, then sprinkle celery seed, salt, and pepper over the whole mixture (Sprinkle a generous amount of celery seed and pepper, and just a bit of salt.  You can always add more later!)  Mix everything together and refrigerate!  This stays good in the fridge for up to 5 days.  The recipe makes a lot!  So if you live alone, I would invite some friends over to help you eat it.  Or make half of the recipe.  Or plan on eating potato salad for every meal for the next 5 days.  It's entirely up to you! :) 

Tips and substitutions:  Instead of using the pickle juice and making your own relish, you can substitute 1 cup of water or vinegar for the pickle juice, and use store-bought relish instead of pureeing your own.  

Roasted Kabocha Squash

On this lovely Ohio snow day (Our 7th this year- what?!  At first I enjoyed these snow days but they're beginning to stress me out.  There is too much to teach and learn, and so little time!  Anyway, I digress...), as I was browsing through photos I've taken of recipes for this blog, I discovered some photos I had taken of kabocha squash and realized I never posted them!

A few years ago we were buying squash at Meijer when we discovered a type we had never seen before- kabocha.  It looks like a small, green pumpkin.  We took it home, looked up some ideas for preparing it online, and proceeded to make the BEST squash we had ever eaten.  When roasted in the way I will describe below, it is salty, rich, creamy, and downright addicting.  Be careful not to eat too much though... although the skin is perfectly edible, I have found out the hard way that eating too much of it is rather rough on the digestive system.  Just sayin'. 

I've noticed that every kabocha squash I make has a slightly different flavor, and some turn out a bit drier than others, some creamier than others, and so on.  However, every time it has turned out DELICIOUS!

Roasted Kabocha Squash

1 kabocha squash (I can reliably find it at Meijer)
2 T coconut oil (or olive oil)
coarse salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with foil.  
Wash the squash.  Cut the stem end off.  Cut the squash in half down the middle.  Scoop out and discard the seeds and pulp.  Cut the squash into moon shaped pieces (approx. 1 in thick on the skin side, as pictured above).  
Melt the coconut oil on a heatproof plate (or just pour olive oil onto a plate). Rub one slice of squash in the oil, then rub another piece of squash onto the first to distribute the oil onto both pieces.  I know this sounds strange, but this is the method I've used since I starting make this squash and it works really well!  Really, just get some oil on the squash however you want!  
Place the squash slices onto the foil lined baking sheets and sprinkle with salt.  
Roast at 400 degrees for 20 min., then remove from oven, flip the squash, and bake for about 15 min. longer. When it's done, the squash should be soft enough to easily cut or pierce with a fork.  Enjoy!  Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.  In my opinion, it's just as good cold as it is freshly roasted!  

Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice

Although cauliflower rice is often considered a great paleo substitute for rice, it is also just a delicious side dish in it's own right!  We love eating this version with taco meat or grilled chicken, guacamole, and salad.  

Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice

1-2 T coconut oil
1 large head (or 2 small heads) cauliflower
1 small red onion or 1/2 large red onion, minced
1/2 c fresh cilantro, chopped
juice of 1 lime

In a large skillet or dutch oven, heat the coconut oil on medium heat, then add the onion and saute until the onion begins to brown a bit.  Meanwhile, get out your food processor and use the grating attachment to "rice" the cauliflower.  It fills up the food processor pretty fast, so you'll need to do this in batches.  Once the onions are browned, add the riced cauliflower and cook 10-15 minutes or until soft.  Add lime juice, salt, pepper and cook 2 minutes more.  Then remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro.  Serve hot!

Sauteed Radishes and Onions

This recipe may sound odd, but it's my new obsession.  In our CSA box the past few weeks we've been getting watermelon radishes.  They look like this:

I'm not a huge fan of raw radishes, but I did some exploring online and found out that radishes can be sauteed and are very delicious this way.  I came up with this recipe to use those interesting new vegetables and I think I could eat it every day....

Sauteed Radishes and Onion

1 sweet onion
2-3 large watermelon radishes
2 T grass fed butter

Dice onion.  Cut radish into bite-sized pieces.  Add butter to a large skillet and heat on medium high.  Once the butter is melted, add the onion and saute until it starts to brown a bit.  Then add the radishes, as well as some salt and pepper, and continue to cook until the radishes being to soften.  Taste the radishes to see if you like them this way or continue cooking until they are even softer.  Enjoy!

Mayonnaise!

I've been making homemade mayonnaise pretty regularly for quite a while now.  It is the perfect condiment to use as a salad dressing, on top of eggs, as a sauce for meat, as a dip for raw veggies, or as a dressing for chicken salad.

It wasn't HARD to make, but required a bit of patience to let the oil drip slowly into the egg as you mixed with the immersion blender.  I recently discovered a new recipe for homemade mayonnaise on The Healthy Foodie that has revolutionized my mayonnaise making!  You don't have to wait for an egg to come to room temperature.  You don't have to slowly drip the oil in.  Update your recipe file now to include this SUPER easy mayonnaise recipe!  The recipe calls for lemon/lime juice and light tasting olive oil, but I have subbed in equal amounts of apple cider vinegar (for the lemon/lime juice) and avocado oil (for the light olive oil) with equally delicious results.  If you haven't tried making your own mayonnaise, I encourage you to go for it!  You won't be disappointed!
Below are some mayonnaise flavors we regularly make and enjoy:

Roasted Red Pepper mayonnaise: after making the mayonnaise, add 4 jarred roasted red peppers, 2 cloves garlic and 1/2 tsp garlic powder.  Blend until peppers are completely blended into the mayonnaise.

Chipotle mayonnaise: after making the mayonnaise, add 4-5 adobo peppers (I use canned ones and rinse them before adding them to the mayonnaise).  Blend until peppers are completely blended into mayonnaise

Garlic and rosemary mayonnaise: after making the mayonnaise, add 1 T chopped fresh rosemary, 3 cloves fresh garlic, and 1/4 tsp coarse salt.  Blend until garlic is completely blended into mayonnaise.

Cilantro mayonnaise: Cilantro Mayonnaise

Curry mayonnaise: after making mayonnaise add (I use the curry mayonnaise in my Curry Chicken Salad) 3 T curry powder, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp garlic poweder, and 1/4 tsp each salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Blend until all spices are mixed in.

Tomato Basil Spaghetti Squash

I spent a long time trying to come up with a creative name for this recipe, but in the end I decided to just call it what it is.  Sometimes simple is better, right?  I combined some of the amazing produce from our CSA share this week to make this yummy dish that is refreshing yet filling.  

Tomato Basil Spaghetti Squash

1 large spaghetti squash, cooked and cooled (I recommend just making it a day ahead of time)
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1/2 c fresh basil, chopped 
2 cloves garlic, minced
freshly ground pepper (about 8 grinds)

In a large bowl, combine cooked and cooled spaghetti squash, tomatoes, basil, garlic, and pepper.  Before serving, add a sprinkle of sea salt.  Keeps in the refrigerator 1-2 days.  Serves 8 (large servings!)

Zucchini Hummus and Baba Ganouj

A few weekends ago it was SO beautiful outside that we tried out the rotisserie on the grill and made our own rotisserie chickens!  And by "we," I mean Rem.  I was just the assistant who did things like run to the store to get butcher twine.  (On a side note: The Kroger on East Broad St. in Columbus has wonderful employees.  I went there looking for twine and asked a manager if they sold it.  He said he was sorry, but no they did not.  He asked me to wait for just a minute, went into the back of the store, and came back with about 4 feet of butcher's twine from the meat department.  He just gave it to me for free!  I was so grateful that I did not have to run around to other stores looking for it, and that this kind man just gave me what I needed!)  Anyway... the chicken was more tender than a store bought rotisserie chicken and more flavorful too. Plus it didn't have any extra sugar or artificial flavorings.  It was quite the process figuring out how to use the rotisserie for the first time, but boy was it worth it.  

To go along with the chicken we made a big salad and some Mediterranean style dips.  Both were equally delicious and paired perfectly with the chicken and salad for a light meal on a day that felt like summer!  Is it summer yet?  I can't wait!

Zucchini Hummus

Originally from Amazing Paleo

4 large zucchini

3/4 c tahini

2 T olive oil

8 T lemon juice (or about 4 fresh lemons, juiced)

4 garlic cloves

1 T cumin

1 tsp coarse salt

1/4 tsp paprika

Place all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth.  I added the zucchini in about 3 batches because it wouldn't all fit in the food processor at first.  Refrigerate.  

Baba Ganouj

2 eggplants

1 T extra virgin olive oil

2 T tahini

2 more T extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove

1/2 tsp cumin

2 T lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

a few shakes of cayenne pepper

Cut eggplants in half and brush cut side with 1 T olive oil.  Place cut side down on foil lined baking sheets and roast at 375 degrees for 35 minutes or until eggplants are very tender.  Let eggplants cool for about 10 minutes, then scoop out the flesh into food processor.  Add 2 T olive oil, tahini, garlic, cumin, lemon juice, salt, and cayenne pepper.  Process until smooth, then refrigerate.  

  

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Motivated by Rem's request for sweet potato biscuits, I turned to the blog world and found several different recipes out there that looked worth a try.  PaleOMG always has great paleo recipes, so I adapted her sweet potato biscuit recipe a bit to fit what sounded good to us!  The resulting biscuits were soft and doughy on the inside but firm on the outside.  They have a good balance of sweet (from the coconut flour and sweet potato) and savory (from the rosemary and garlic).  You could make these with endless combinations of spices to suit whatever flavors sound good to you!  Next time I may have to try the original recipe with bacon and chives... yum.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Adapted from PaleOMG

2 cups cooked sweet potato, cooled (I used 4 small/medium sweet potatoes)
3 eggs, whisked
1/4 c coconut oil, melted
3 T coconut flour
1 T dried rosemary, chopped (or use 2 T fresh rosemary, chopped)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp coarse salt or 1/4 tsp fine salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line large baking sheet with parchment paper.  Microwave or bake the sweet potatoes until they are cooked through.  Once they are cool, scoop out the flesh into a large bowl (and eat the skins!)  In a small microwave safe bowl, heat the coconut oil until melted.  Add oil to sweet potatoes and mix with a fork.  In the small bowl, whisk the eggs, then add those to the sweet potato and oil mixture, mixing again.  Next add coconut flour, rosemary, garlic powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper.  Mix all ingredients with a fork until well combined.  Scoop onto baking sheet with large cookie scoop (1/4 cup size).  This should make about 10-12 biscuits.  Bake for 25-27 minutes or until they are beginning to turn golden brown and become a little crisp on the outside.  Enjoy!  These store well in the refrigerator and are good cold or reheated in the microwave or toaster oven.  

Guacamole

There are tons of guacamole recipes out there but this is the version we've found to be our favorite.  It is adapted from many other recipes to suit our taste.  The spices really give this guacamole some zip!  Salt is an essential ingredient because it brings out the flavor of the avocados, tomatoes, and onion.  

Guacamole

3-4 avocados (save 1 or two of the pits!)
2 small tomatoes or 1 very large tomato, diced 
1 small red onion or 1/2 large red onion, diced
1/2 c cilantro, chopped fine (just eyeball it)
1/2 tsp coarse salt (sea salt or kosher salt)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
3 T lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mash together.  I like my guacamole chunky, so I just give it a rough mash with a fork.  And that's it, you're done!  If you want it smoother, you could mash up or blend the avocado before mixing it with the rest of the ingredients.  Throw 1 or 2 of the avocado pits into the bowl of guacamole.  This will help keep it green and fresh or up to 2 days after making it.  

Sweet Potato Almond Butter Fries

The other day we were thinking about what to make for a snack and Rem commented that something with sweet potatoes and almond butter (some of our favorite foods) would be good.  He quickly found a recipe for sweet potato almond butter fries and we made them immediately.  They were addicting and crazy good, the perfect combination of sweet and salty.  We have already made them 3 times in the past 2 weeks... yeh, they're that yummy.  We found the recipe at The Paleo Project, which has a lot of other great paleo recipes as well.  

We took these to a party where they were enjoyed by everyone!  They're a little messy to make but don't take too much time at all.  I see many more batches of these sweet potato fries in our future...

Before baking.

Baked and ready to serve!

Sweet Potato Almond Butter Fries

Originally from The Paleo Project

2 large sweet potatoes, washed and cut into 1/4 in thick "fries"
2-3 T coconut oil
1/4 c almond butter (we used Trader Joe's raw, unsalted crunchy almond butter)
coarse salt (sea salt or kosher salt)

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut potatoes and then toss with melted coconut oil.  Next, coat the potatoes in almond butter.  You will need to use your hands and it will get messy... just go with it.  Place potatoes onto parchment lined baking sheets and sprinkle liberally with coarse salt.  Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until potatoes begin to brown and get a bit crispy.  Enjoy!  Try not to eat them all in one sitting!

Greek Salad

If you know me you probably wouldn't believe that I used to hate all vegetables except for cooked broccoli.  Well, the way I eat now couldn't be further from that!  Part of my turn around actually happened in college when I studied abroad in Greece.  I started trying new vegetables and discovered that I loved them!  I really enjoyed the food I ate in Greece, especially the fresh fruit and vegetables I was able to get from the street market.   This is my favorite version of Greek salad, which was a dish I ate almost every day there.  If you eat cheese, it's also delicious with some feta!  Today I ate it mixed with diced chicken, avocado, and spinach- a great lunch!

Greek Salad

1 whole seedless cucumber, cut into coins then quartered

2 green peppers, diced

4 tomatoes, diced

1/2 red onion, diced

juice of 1 lemon

a few swirls of extra virgin olive oil

lots of oregano

a few shakes of salt

a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl, stir to get all of the veggies covered in the juice, oil, and spices, and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.  Makes 6-8 large servings.

Oven Roasted: Brussels Sprouts, Spaghetti Squash

Believe it or not, I actually hated most vegetables up until part way through college.  It’s crazy for me to think back to what I ate at that time since now vegetables are a main focus of every meal and snack I eat.  I have come to love every vegetable I try and can’t get enough!  However, it wasn’t until recently that I started adding Brussels sprouts and spaghetti squash to our weekly dinner rotation.  I am so happy to have discovered these two tasty vegetables.  I’ve you’ve never tried them, you are missing out!  Go to the store and grab some today!  At this time of year you can find both at nearly every grocery store.  They are easy to prepare and are versatile enough to accompany almost any main meat dish.  

Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts served with Cod.  We sauteed frozen (then thawed) cod pieces from Trader Joe's with an onion, garlic, some olive oil, and white wine.  Yum!

Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts

2 lb. Brussels sprouts

Olive oil (1-2 T)

Salt

Pepper

2 cloves crushed garlic

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  Thoroughly rinse Brussels sprouts under cold water and dry.  Chop the end off of each Brussels sprout (not too much, just the hard “stump” looking part), then chop each sprout in half.  Put Brussels sprouts on baking sheet then drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper, and also throw on two crushed cloves of garlic (for extra flavor).  Toss it all with your hands to coat the Brussels sprouts with oil and seasoning.  Bake for 20 min. or until they start to turn a nice brown color on the edges.  Enjoy!  

For Rem and I, a 2 lb. bag ends up being about 3 servings... but we eat them like candy, seriously.  So a 2 lb. bag should really make about 6 servings.  (A tip: I tried prepping the Brussels sprouts early by cutting them and putting them in a bag in the fridge with the olive oil and seasonings.  They were definitely not as good.  The flavor was just off.  So I recommend preparing these just before you are going to roast them!)

Oven Roasted Spaghetti Squash

1 spaghetti squash

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line baking sheet with foil.  Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise.  Be careful not to cut off your finger or hand.  The squash is very, very hard, so use a heavy, sharp knife but be cautious as you cut!  Then scoop out the pulp and seeds with a spoon.  Place both squash halves, cut side down, on foil lined baking sheet.  Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until you can easily insert a butter knife through the skin.  Let the squash halves cool for a few minutes, then scoop out the flesh!  I like to use a fork first to really separate the strands, but you will also need a spoon to get all of the flesh away from the skin (you don’t want to eat the skin).  Eat plain, or season with grass fed butter, salt, and pepper!  I like to eat it cold with cottage cheese, or as a side with any type of meat.  It’s also a great substitute for regular spaghetti.  Clearly it does not taste like regular spaghetti, but it tastes good with any type of normal pasta "topping" or sauce.  Makes about 4 servings.  

Noodles with Tahini Sauce

The other day, I noticed that the big jar of tahini in our fridge expires soon.  I’m sort of a stickler for expiration dates.  In high school, I made pasta for my sister and I but didn’t realize the sauce was expired.  Well, we both got pretty sick.  And she never let me forget about it!  Ever since then I have been hyper aware of expiration dates on jars or cans of food. 

We use tahini to make hummus, but that’s about it!  I wanted to find a recipe to use more of the tahini before it expired, and I stumbled upon a delicious recipe for noodles with tahini sauce.  It would be a great cold side to take to a potluck.  It’s very good eaten with hardboiled eggs too.  You could use regular spaghetti or soba noodles in place of the brown rice noodles, and could certainly use traditional soy sauce as well.  The noodles soak up a lot of the sauce, so the dish isn't as creamy as you might expect, but has a ton of flavor.  If you want it to be creamier, double the sauce recipe! 

Noodles with Tahini Sauce

adapted from Vegan Yum Yum

8 oz. Tinkyada spaghetti style brown rice noodles

8 oz. coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots)

6 green onions, diced

¼ c tahini

2 T tamari gluten free low sodium soy sauce

3 T water

1 T honey

1 tsp sriracha

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 pinch salt

Lots of pepper

Cook noodles according to package directions.  While cooking, chop up green onions.  Mix up sauce.  Drain noodles, and while they’re still hot, mix together vegetables, noodles, and sauce.  Refrigerate.  Serve cold.  

Roasted Veggies

Today I have a super simple recipe for you that you can adapt to almost any type of vegetable!  There are many delicious ways to cook veggies, so we like to mix up the cooking methods and veggies so we never get tired of eating the same exact thing!  You can eat veggies raw, steamed, grilled, sauteed (in oil), sauteed wet (kind of like boiling), broiled, or my FAVORITE way: roasted.  I think you can roast just about any type of vegetable, but here are some combinations we have been enjoying lately:

1. zucchini, squash, eggplant, onion

2. broccoli and cauliflower

3. zucchini, squash, onion, and cherry tomatoes (pictured)

Roasted Veggies

2 lb of your favorite veggies

1-2 T extra-virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

other spices to taste (cumin is really good with broccoli and cauliflower!)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut up veggies into uniform pieces.  Toss in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (this is optional, but makes for easier clean up) and pour veggies onto sheet.  Bake for 30 min. 

Green Deviled Eggs

Another recipe I shared with friends at the Fit Club games on Sunday was these deviled eggs!  They were well received by all, and I even had strangers asking to try them!  I’m not usually a big fan of deviled eggs (mayo and mustard aren’t my favorite) even though they are a staple appetizer at many family gatherings.  These eggs, however, are something I will make again and again!  Instead of the traditional mayo and mustard base for the filling, these eggs have avocado.  Yum!  I won’t say this recipe is quick, because cooking, cracking and peeling the eggs does take some effort and patience, but making the filling is very simple if you have a food processor.  These eggs are also inexpensive and require only a few ingredients.

I have heard of about a thousand “best” ways to hardboil eggs and get them to turn out “perfectly.”  I am definitely not claiming this is the best way, but I do like how they turn out when I make them the following way: Place eggs in medium saucepan and cover with cold water to just above the eggs.  Place on stove over high heat and bring to a boil.  Once the water is boiling hard, cook for 3 minutes.  Then remove pot from heat, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes to continue cooking.  After 10 minutes, drain the hot water from the pot and replace with cold water, and let the eggs sit in the cold water for about 5 minutes.  Then refrigerate the eggs to peel later, or peel immediately.  I can’t say I’ve figured out a great way to peel the eggs perfectly, but this method of cooking does provide good results in terms of the “doneness” of the yolk.  The yolks will be a nice bold shade of yellow and not chalky at all.  And they never have that grey/green tint to them. 

The original recipes called for 6 eggs, 1 avocado, and ¼ cup of cilantro, but I adjusted the ratios for this recipe.  I wanted to use 9 eggs because 18 halves fit in my deviled egg carrier!

Green Deviled Eggs

Originally from Mastering the Art of Paleo Cooking 

9 hard-boiled eggs

1 ½ avocados

½ c cilantro (I estimated here- just use a “good amount”)

Salt, pepper, cayenne to taste

Hard boil eggs, cut in half and remove yolks.  In food processor, pulse cilantro until finely chopped.  Add egg yolks, avocado, salt, pepper, and cayenne.  Process until uniformly smooth and creamy.  Scoop filling into eggs as desired.  (I used a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off and a star decorating tip inserted in the corner to make a pretty “swirl.”  You could use an actual pastry bag to pipe in the filling, or to make it even easier, just scoop the filling in with a spoon!)  Refrigerate.  These are best if served the day you make them. 

Savory Zucchini Muffins

When we got married two years ago, Rem and I got Topsy Turvy planters as gifts.  We were pretty excited to start growing some fruits and vegetables, and last summer we had the best intentions, but they never went up.  This May, we finally planted some strawberry, Serrano pepper, and tomato plants!  My dad also gave us some zucchini and squash plants that we planted in our front beds.  So far the plants look pretty good and have lots of flowers on them, but we've only gotten about 5 strawberries and 3 Serrano peppers so far.  Hopefully we’ll have some more produce soon!  I’m just excited that we finally started growing some of our own food.

Tomato plant

Strawberry plant

Serrano pepper plant

Zucchini and squash plants

My dad, who is a very experienced and successful gardener, has a fantastic garden right now!  He grows kohlrabi, peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, squash, and cucumbers, just to name a few.  This weekend he gave us some HUGE zucchini and squash from his garden, which I promptly put to good use!

I used the shredder blade on our food processor to shred the zucchini, which made the whole process quick and easy!  I froze part of the shredded zucchini and used the other half to make these savory zucchini muffins.  I don’t think I’ve ever made savory muffins before, as I have a tendency to prefer sweet baked goods.  These muffins were awesome though, and had a very complex flavor.  The roasted peppers, sautéed onion, rosemary and oregano all come through in layers as you chew each bite.  These were delicious straight from the oven, but they can be refrigerated for up to a week.  I also froze some and plan to reheat them in the toaster oven.  Today I ate a refrigerated muffin reheated in the toaster oven for about 8 minutes at 400 degrees.  It was just as delicious as the one straight from the oven!  Of course they’re also good cold if you don’t want to wait that long!

I love cooking and baking with zucchini this time of year!  Other than these muffins, we like to sauté zucchini, squash, onion, green beans, and cherry tomatoes with some olive oil, salt and pepper.  Yum!  What do you like to make with zucchini? 

Savory Zucchini Muffins

Adapted from Thyroid Diet Coach

½ jar (6 oz.) roasted red and yellow peppers (I used TraderJoe’s brand), diced 

1 large onion, diced

1 very large zucchini, shredded (about 3 cups)

½ c extra virgin olive oil

½ c plain, fat free Greek yogurt

1 egg

2 c oat flour (I processed Bob’s Red Mill gluten free oats in the food processor until finely ground; 2 ½ c whole oats gave me 2 c oat flour)

½ c cornmeal

1 tsp salt

3 T fresh rosemary, chopped

1 T dry oregano

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line muffin tins (you will need 2 tins) with liners or coat with olive oil.  (I used muffin liners.)  Sauté onion on medium high in a little olive oil until brown and soft (caramelized).  Combine all dry ingredients (oat flour, cornmeal, salt, rosemary, oregano, pepper and baking powder).  Combine all wet ingredients (chopped peppers, shredded zucchini, sautéed onion. olive oil, yogurt, and egg).  Mix wet and dry ingredients together until fully incorporated.  Spoon into muffins cups.  For me, this recipe yielded 21 muffins.  The muffin cups can be pretty full because they don’t rise very much.  Bake 25-30 minutes or until the tops are firm.  Eat right away, or cool in pan 20-30 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool the rest of the way.  Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator, or take remove muffin liners and freeze. 

Note: There are approximately 2590 calories in the entire recipe.

Cowboy Caviar

This “cowboy caviar” is a dish we originally found on delish.com and have adapted to suit our taste and dietary preferences.  We have made it dozens of times (usually a double batch), and every time it disappears too quickly!  This is a perfect summer dish because it requires NO cooking and is extremely versatile.  We typically eat it with burgers, grilled chicken, or on salads.  We used to eat it with tortilla chips, which was delicious as well.  If you can tolerate corn, add 1 cup of corn to the recipe for a nice contrast in color and texture.  If you eat Paleo, omit the beans and add cooked chicken to the mix.  What really makes this dish delicious is the avocado, so definitely don’t skimp on that!  Try this one or make your own version and let me know what you think!

Cowboy Caviar

Adapted from delish.com 

15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 roma tomatoes, diced

3 green onions, minced

1 large avocado, diced

1 c chopped fresh cilantro

½ c salsa (we like to use hot salsa, but any type will work)

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients in large bowl and gently stir to combine.  Refrigerate.  This only keeps for 2-3 days (past that, the avocado starts to turn brown), but it probably won’t even last that long!

Sweet Potato Salad

Happy Fourth of July!  I hope everyone has a great day and takes some time to honor the men and women who have fought for our country to give us the freedoms we enjoy every day. 

The recipe for today features a favorite food in our household: sweet potatoes.  They didn’t used to be a staple in our pantry (we used to eat mainly white potatoes) but over the past few months we have started to cook with them often!  We eat them baked, steamed, grilled, in chili, and in a variety of cold sweet potato dishes, including this sweet potato salad.  We also love the fact that they are full of nutrients, supplying high amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C, manganese, vitamin B6, potassium, and fiber. 

This is definitely not a “traditional” potato salad recipe in any way, but it does fit the bill for a great summer side dish that is perfect for a cookout or picnic.  Although you’ve probably already planned what you’re making for any Fourth of July parties today, this would be a great option if you haven’t decided!  This salad has quickly become one of our favorite dishes with its great blend of texture and flavors.  The combination of sweet and spicy with smooth and crunchy makes it delicious!  If you’re not a huge fan of spicy, just leave the cayenne pepper out, but do try the combination of cumin and cinnamon.  It is the perfect spice set for sweet potatoes. 

 Fair warning, this recipe requires a LOT of chopping, so enlist some help when you go to make it.  It will save you tons of time if you have two people prepping instead of one!  Also, when we made this the first time, we added about 6 chopped hardboiled eggs to the mix to add more protein.  It was good, but I prefer it without the eggs. 

Sweet Potato Salad

8 large sweet potatoes

8 slices bacon (I use applewood smoked turkey bacon from Trader Joe’s)

2 granny smith apples

1 green pepper

6 green onions

5 celery ribs

1 tsp coarse salt

A few shakes cayenne pepper

Liberal amounts of: ground cumin, cinnamon, freshly ground pepper

Lemon juice

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into 1 inch cubes.  Place in large pot of water and bring to a boil.  Once the water starts to boil, cover the pot and cook until potatoes can be easily mashed with a fork.  Drain and leave in colander to cool.  As the potatoes are boiling, cook bacon however you like it best (baked, broiled, cooked in a skillet, etc.)  When the bacon is done cooking and cool enough to handle, chop it into small pieces.  Meanwhile, dice apples, green pepper, green onions, and celery.  Combine cooked sweet potatoes, bacon, apples, green pepper, green onions, and celery.  Add spices and stir everything together.  Drizzle with some lemon juice to keep the apples from turning brown.  Refrigerate.  The salad stays good in the fridge for up to 5 days. 

*Note: I’ve never actually measured the spices for this recipe, so go light at first, and add spice until the salad suits your taste.