Pasta with Lentils and Kale

Kale is not something that I would normally buy.  I have never really been interested in the whole sauteed greens thing... maybe because this was not really part of my diet growing up or my dislike of anything that might in the slightest have a similar texture to spinach?  Regardless, if it were not for it showing up in our CSA box every other week it is likely that I would not be eating it.

Turns out it is pretty tasty.  And of course you already knew that is so very good for you.  So chalk it up for a bonus point to the CSA for getting me to add this superstar veggie to our diet.

I like kale prepared simply by sauteeing with garlic and seasoning with a splash of red wine vinegar along side a grilled steak.  But given how often we have it showing up in our refrigerator we set out to find another way to enjoy this veggie.  I saw this pasta with lentils and kale recipe on Heart of Light and it sounds like it would be something both Dan and I would enjoy... and we did.  It is quite satisfying and the caramelized onions just add so much flavor. 

The dish does take longer to prepare than first impressions might lend... but it is pretty simplistic and makes for an excellent mid-week dinner.  If you prepare it together then it goes a little faster- or maybe that is just perception as cooking with your partner and sipping a glass of wine after work is infinitely enjoyable.

Pasta with Lentils and Kale

Source Epicurious via Heart of Light

1/2 cup French green lentils
2 cups water
3/4 teaspoon salt
3-6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large onions, finely sliced
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 pound kale
3/4 pound dried short pasta (we like penne with this)

Simmer lentils in water with 1/4 teaspoon salt in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart saucepan, uncovered, adding more water if necessary to keep lentils barely covered, until tender but not falling apart, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt.

While lentils simmer, heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté onion with pepper and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, stirring, 1 minute. Reduce heat to low and cook until soft and golden.

While onion cooks, cut out and discard stems and center ribs from kale. Cook kale in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water uncovered, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer kale with tongs to a colander to drain, pressing lightly. Keep pot of water at a boil, covered.

Coarsely chop kale and add to onion along with lentils, then simmer, stirring, 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.

Add pasta to kale-cooking liquid and boil, uncovered, until al dente. Drain pasta. Toss everything together. Serve with a bit of Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

~ Tara

Broiled Tilapia with Frisee-Apple Salad & Mustard-Parsley Sauce

Winter in the midwest leads to lots of warm, rich comfort foods to our table.  Nothing beats the chill and nourishes like a serving of baked mac-n-cheese or guinness beef stew.  But all that rich goodness can leave us feeling a little heavy.  Meaning it is time to bring salads back to the dinner menu rotation.

This broiled tilapia and apple salad was just what we needed.  It is sooo good, not to mention healthy and fast making it a perfect dinner option after a long busy day.  It is seriously good eats.  The dressing works nicely with the tilapia and the salad.  The recipe said to put the fish on top of the salad so we did... but I think that next I will put it on the side as that would be my personal preference.  It also called for arugula, frisee and mint to make the salad; we just used a spring greens salad mix (frisee seems to never be available at our local shops).

Broiled Tilapia with Frisee-Apple Salad
& Mustard-Parsley Sauce

Adapted from Cooking Light, Serves 2

Fish

• 1 cup cold water
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tilapia fillets
• olive oil
• fresh ground black pepper & salt

Salad

• 1/2 bag spring greens salad (or arugula & frisee)
• 1  Gala apple, thinly sliced
• 1/2  tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1  tablespoons sour cream
• 1 1/2 tsp whole-grain Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tsp olive oil

Combine 1 cup water, 1 tablespoon salt, and sugar in a shallow dish. Add fillets, and let stand 15 minutes. Remove fillets from brine; pat dry. Discard brine. Brush fillets with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Preheat broiler.

Place fillets on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray; broil 7 minutes or until done.

Combine apple and 1/2 tablespoon oil; toss well. Add apple and a pinch of salt to salad in a large bowl, toss gently.

Combine remaining 1 1/2 tsp olive oil, pinch of salt, parsley, mustard, lemon juice and sour cream, stirring with a whisk until blended.

Divide salad mixture onto plates; top each serving with 1 fillet (or set along side). Drizzle salad dressing over each serving.

Enjoy!

~ Tara

Homemade Granola Bars

Slowly but surely, we have been minimizing our processed food consumption.  In general, I would consider us to be fairly contentious with what we eat but lately we have been on a kick to make a few incremental changes on account of living our best life.  Neither of us grew up in homes where packaged food and snacks reigned so we tend to easily avoid the obvious processed foods.  But there is always room for improvement.

Afternoon snacks have been presenting a challenge for us.  We are in the midst of training for our first marathon so our usual light lunch left us starving by the time we would get home and have time to make dinner.   Fruit is ideal but is not always the easiest to tote around.  I personally strongly dislike the slew of "vitamin enriched energy bars" that are out there.  Packaged granola bars are just that - prepackaged, processed snack food... and Dan tends to still be hungry after these snacks. 

So we decided to give homemade granola bars a try.  Oh my goodness.  They are awesome.  No crummy "fortified" or fake flavor here.  They taste fantastic, are perfectly filling, and are easily portable.

They are also extremely easy to make.  The tricks come down to avoiding the temptation to add extra dried fruit or nuts midway through (as you will throw off the balance/ratios) and using the right sized pan so that they meet your desired chewy or hard preference.  I like mine to be a little thinner (easier for nibbling) and more chewy than Alton's original recipe so use a bigger pan and cut the cooking time by 5 minutes. I also add a bit of unsweetened coconut flakes and a handful of bittersweet chocolate chips; the trick for incorporating these is to add them after you have put the mixture in the pan and as you are pressing it all down. 

It has become part of our routine to make these almost weekly.  I make them as I multi-task with cleaning the house.

Granola Bars

Adapted from Alton Brown

• 8 ounces old-fashioned rolled oats, approximately 2 cups
• 1 1/2 ounces raw sunflower seeds, approximately 1/2 cup
• 3 ounces sliced almonds, approximately 1 cup(I like to do a combo of almonds and chopped walnuts)
• 3/4 ounces wheat germ
• 3/4 ounces flax seed
• 1/2 ounce unsweetened coconut flakes
• 6 ounces honey, approximately 1/2 cup
• 1 3/4 ounces dark brown sugar, approximately 1/4 cup packed
• 1-ounce unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 1/2 ounces chopped dried fruit, any combination of apricots, cherries or blueberries (I like raisins and dried cherries; blueberries don't add a whole lotta flavor)

Butter a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, unsweetened coconut flakes, wheat germ, and flax seed onto a half-sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved.

Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine. Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish, sprinkle with a handful of bittersweet chocolate chips and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Quick & Easy: Chicken Picatta

Chicken Picatta is one of my favorites for midweek meals.  There is just something about the combination of lemon, capers, and chicken that I find to be so satisfying.  Add a simple orzo side dish, perhaps a bit of asparagus and it will be happiness on a plate.

This is a dish with many variations out there.  We like that this version has a fairly classic take yet is geared toward the quick and easy style of cooking... making it ideal for week night dinners.  To make it go even faster, we sometimes use the chicken tenders instead of regular sized chicken breasts.

Chicken Piccata

Serves 4
Adapted from MinuteMeals

2-3 large lemons
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 chicken breast, pounded to make thin
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup dry sherry
2 tablespoons drained capers
3 tablespoons butter

Slice 1 of the lemons into thin slices.  Squeeze 1/4 cup lemon juice from the remaining lemons.

Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Dredge in the flour. 

Heat the oil in non-stick pan.  Add the chicken and sautee until golden brown.  Transfer to a platter and cover loosely with foil to keep warm.

Add the minced garlic to the skillet and stir, cooking for 30 seconds until fragrant but not brown.  Add the sherry, lemon juice, and capers to the pan, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen the brown bits.  Reduce the sauce by half over medium-high heat, stirring occassionally. 

Turn the heat to low and add the lemon slices, butter, and the chicken. Slowly stirring, just until the butter is melted.

Enjoy!

~ Tara

Quick & Healthy: Chicken Sate with Ponzu Sauce

The holidays can be a fantastic time for dining, filled with rich flavors and loaded plates.  So during this 'between holidays' week I have found myself both ready to kick start my new year resolutions and ready to relax.  So quick, easy, and healthy dinners are finding their way back onto our menu plan.

Chicken Sate is great option for a midweek dinner.  It is pretty fast to prepare, tasty, and easy on the waist at only 267 calers per serving.  We pulled this recipe from an issue of Cooking Light a couple of years ago and it was a great find.  While the recipe is for grilling, we turn this into a midwest winter friendly recipe by simply cooking the meat in a hot oven.  You could also broil it or sautee it while patiently waiting for the spring thaw and return of grilling weather.

This recipe takes between 20 to 30 minutes for us.  Typically we work in parallel to keep everything moving (and spend time preparing our dinner together- of course!), I will stir up the Ponzu Sauce while Dan prepares the chicken and then we will prepare a side dish of asian noodles while the chicken cooks.

Chicken Sate with Ponzu Sauce

Source: Cooking Light
Servings: 4 (can be cut in half for 2 very easily!)

• 4  (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/4  cup  packed light brown sugar
• 1/4  cup  sake (rice wine)
• 1/4  cup  rice vinegar
• 1/4  cup  fresh lime juice
• 2  teaspoons  low-sodium soy sauce
• 1  teaspoon  dark sesame oil
• 1/4  teaspoon  crushed red pepper
• 1  garlic clove, minced
• Cooking spray

Cut each chicken breast half lengthwise into 4 strips. Combine sugar and remaining ingredients except cooking spray in a small bowl; stir until sugar dissolves. Combine half of sake mixture and all of chicken in a large bowl. Let stand 10 minutes. Reserve remaining sake mixture.

Drain chicken, discarding marinade. Thread 1 chicken strip onto each of 16 (8-inch) skewers. Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 2 minutes on each side or until done.  If grilling isn't an option cook for between 8-10 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

Serve with remaining sake mixture (or peanut sauce if preferred).

Enjoy!

~ Tara

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

I really love sweet potatoes.  They have such a great flavor naturally and packed full of nutrition goodness. For the first severals years of being together, Dan wouldn't touch sweet potatoes.  I think what convinced him to give them another try was reading how nutritious they are when cooked simply.  Whatever it was that pushed him to give sweet potatoes a second chance, I am glad he did as it makes it easier to cook the same side for both of us and I love being able to include them in our menu options.

The other night we had friends over for dinner and Dan wanted to make blue cheese stuffed tenderloin for them so sweet potato fries seemed like a natural companion for the beef.  I hadn't made them before but was sure there would a simple recipe for a baked version out there on the wonderful web... And the very first result from my search was exactly what I was looking for.  The recipe from Our Best Bites was easy to make and they turned out great. They really do cool quickly, we had a small delay in serving as Dan was slicing the meat and thus they cooled down... so if you are trying to time them with something else keep these so they finish right as you are planning to serve.

I definitely recommend trying Sweet Potato Fries, they might just change someone's mind about whether they like sweet potatoes or not!

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Recipe from Our Best Bites

2 medium-sized sweet potatoes, 1 lb after peeling
2 T extra virgin olive oil, approximate
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t coriander
1 t kosher salt
1 t parsley
fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet lightly with cooking spray.

Slice your sweet potatoes into french fry shape and sizes; try to keep the size consistent for even cooking.

Put the sweet potatoes in a bowl and drizzle the olive oil over them, toss to coat and adjust olive oil amount as necessary (will vary if you have less or more sweet potatoes) so all are coated.  Sprinkle on the herbs and toss to coat.

Place the fries on the baking sheet so that they are not touching. Place in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, remove from oven and flip.  After flipping space them out so they aren't touching. 

Put the pan in the oven and cook for another 15-20 minutes. They should be nice and golden brown.

Enjoy!

~ Tara

Mexican Inspired Quinoa

Ever since reading a twitter post on Quinoa by the always lovely Maggie and then reading about how good it is for you in Women's Health, I have been meaning to try this "new" grain.  And after trying it a couple of times now I am so glad that I stumbled upon it. 

And wow is this stuff good for you!  It is a really good source of protein, dietary fiber, high in magnesium and iron, and is gluten-free.  We don't necessarily watch gluten but it seems as though more and more people are  intolerant/allergic to gluten.  It is interesting to me that I am just now hearing of quinoa when it is such an ancient, staple type of food with such great nutritional value. 

At any rate, it is likely to become a pantry staple for our household.  Dan was a not convinced when I made it for a side (I just salt and peppered it) but after seeing the break down on the nutrition and tasting the Mexican Quinoa dish he is now on board.  In my hunt for a recipe using quinoa I came across this Mexican inspired one and immediately added it to the menu plan for the week.  It is simple and has an inexpensive ingredient list, most of them are those we keep on hand. 

It turned out to be really very tasty and satisfying.  I believe it took me all of 20 minutes to prepare this dish so it is an excellent option for those mid-week meals.  Did I mention that it was simple?  This would be a great beginning-to-cook dish.

Mexican Inspired Quinoa

Adapted from Culinary Disasters

1 cup quinoa
2 cups chicken stock, can use water
1 can of black beans, drained
1 can diced tomatoes, can use fresh if available or fire-roasted variation
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1 Tablespoon fresh or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 Tablespoon fresh cilantro
1 poblano pepper, roasted and diced (optional)
1 jalapeno pepper, roasted and diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 of an onion, diced
1 cup cooked chicken, diced
2-3 teaspoons lime juice
1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

Cook the quinoa in the stock until it has absorbed all the liquid, about 10-15 minutes.

While quinoa is simmering, saute the garlic, onion, red bell pepper, poblano pepper, and jalapeno pepper in the olive oil.  Then add the drained tomatoes, black beans, and chicken to heat through.  Finally add the spices, lime juice, salt, and black pepper.  In a large serving bowl stir together with the quinoa. 

Makes 4 servings

Enjoy!

~ Tara

Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette

Salads are a staple in our house for week day meals.  We have salad at least twice a week as they are healthy and quick to prepare after a day... plus when it is super-hot like it has been for the past week then you don't heat up the house!  All that salad adds up to lots of salad dressing purchases.  We have found that our favorite salad dressings are the Greek Vinaigrette and the Balsamic Vinaigrette.

The other night we set out to make our salad but realized that were out of dressing... time to improvise!  I have always heard that salad dressings and vinaigrette are quite simple but we just hadn't gotten around to experimenting with them yet.  But with dinner waiting there was no time like the present to whip up a homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

And wow is it worth it!  A few dashes of this and that and a little flick of the whisk and you suddenly have the perfect compliment to a light summer meal.  I am planning to reuse a jar (thinking green!) to keep this vinaigrette on hand during the week.  We used it the following night as a marinade for chicken and it added a wonderful flavor.  Definitely a keeper.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Adapted from Epicurious

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Mix the vinegar, mustard, honey, and garlic in a small bowl.  Whisk in the oil.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

- Tara

Easy, Fresh Dinner: Herbed Penne with Grilled Vegetables

One of our favorite quick and easy dinners right now is Herbed Penne with Grilled Vegetables.  It is not the most ground-breaking of recipes but after a long day at work or a long Sunday of being out and about it is quite wonderful.  Besides being quick and easy, it is pretty healthy, economical, and can be very seasonal... and I am loving anything loaded with fresh basil these days.

It is a great recipe to make together as there are quite a few tasks to be done where you won't step on each other toes, this is important when you have a small kitchen to work in!  We like to have one of us start chopping the veggies and herbs while the other is pulling out all the ingredients and such, then while one is grilling the other is cooking the pasta, and finally while one is tossing everything together the other is cutting up the chicken.  Cooking together can be really nice way to transition into couple time and doing something active and engaging together after a day at the office.




I also love how this recipe can be a nice foundation and you can play with different veggies or herbs depending on the season. The fresh basil smells incredible and for me is a key part of the recipe. We have tried others, such as thyme, and they just didn't quite have the same effect as basil.

Recipe for Herbed Penne with Simple Grilled Vegetables
Adapted from Cooking Light
Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil
Seasonal vegetables (summer squash, zucchini, bell pepper, mushrooms, onion, asparagus, etc), cut into 3/4” pieces
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Dry Italian spice mix, to taste
4 cups hot cooked penne
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil + an additional 3 Tablespoons
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup Romano cheese, grated
1/4 cup shaved Parmigiano cheese
1 grilled chicken breast, cut into small bite size pieces (optional)

Combine cut veggies in a grill basket or in aluminum foil; brush with 1 Tbsp of olive oil and sprinkle with about 3 Tbsp fresh basil and a little dry Italian Seasoning spice mix. Grill about 15 minutes on a medium heat. If using left over grilled veggies, reheat in a skillet over medium heat. After removing from grill (or burner), sprinkle with half of the black pepper, salt, and crushed red pepper.

Combined cooked, hot pasta, parsley, 1/4 cup basil, remaining 1 Tbsp of oil, remaining salt and black pepper, and the grated Romano cheese in a large bowl; toss well. Add in grilled veggies and chicken breast; toss to mix. After adding to plate sprinkle with shaved parmigiano cheese.

Enjoy!