Here's what I have been cooking.
I woke up late one day, almost 10am and I wasn't in the mood for juice. I decided to make a little quesadilla. I used Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Tortilla, spread some goat cheese on the bottom, small handful of spinach and a little marinara, topped with a tortilla and put a pan to cook. I didn't actually get to take a photo of the finished product because I gobbled it up in about negative 1 second. Really yummy!
In one of my many visits to Trader Joe's, I discovered this fantastic salad dressing. Cranberry, Walnut and Gorgonzola, OMG, amazing. Highly recommend.
A couple of weekends ago was a weekend of comedy with my friend, two shows Friday and Saturday. What a blast. First was Amy Schumer, this is my new favorite female comic. If you haven't heard of her, check her out on youtube. She is WRONG and raunchy and I love it.
One of the best parts about this night was the opening act, Bridget Everett. I don't even know what to say about this woman, she was astounding. Check her stuff out!
Second was Josh Wolf. He's on Chelsea Lately and is extremely funny.
Check this out: Josh Wolf Reel
Did I mention he was super cute and super nice? he signed his book for me, which I read last weekend and if you like to laugh AND read, this book is for you to check out. It Takes Balls.
Pesto Eggplant Rollatine
Total Time: about 1 hour
Ingredients:
3 T olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium-sized eggplants (about 3 pounds), peeled, and sliced lengthwise into 3/8-inch thick strips
salt and black pepper
2 cups marinara sauce
2/3 cup prepared basil pesto
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated (about 1 cup)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach
2/3 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (optional)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium-sized eggplants (about 3 pounds), peeled, and sliced lengthwise into 3/8-inch thick strips
salt and black pepper
2 cups marinara sauce
2/3 cup prepared basil pesto
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated (about 1 cup)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach
2/3 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease two rimmed baking sheets.
Combine the oil and garlic in a small bowl. Brush the oil on both sides of the eggplant slices and arrange them in a single layer on the baking sheets. Season with a pinch or two of salt and pepper.
Place the baking sheets side by side in the oven (if possible). Roast for 20-25 minutes, until well browned and very tender, turning once halfway through cooking. Remove from the oven and reduce temperature to 350 degrees F.
(If your baking sheets don't fit side by side, place one on the middle rack and one on the bottom rack and rotate them a couple of times during roasting.)
Spread about 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Spread each eggplant slice with a spoonful of pesto and top with a pinch of each kind of cheese, a few spinach leaves and a couple of sun-dried tomatoes. Roll up and place seam side down in the baking dish. Spoon remaining sauce over the rolls and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted and the rolls are heated through. Serve hot.
Makes about 4-5 servings.
I pretty much followed the original recipe (pesto eggplant rollatine) above except for the measurements... I feel this recipe calls for much more than I actually needed. I think it depends on the size of your eggplant slices.
Regardless, this was an amazing dish! I have never cooked eggplant before and I am sad I have been missing out all of these years!
Combine the oil and garlic in a small bowl. Brush the oil on both sides of the eggplant slices and arrange them in a single layer on the baking sheets. Season with a pinch or two of salt and pepper.
Place the baking sheets side by side in the oven (if possible). Roast for 20-25 minutes, until well browned and very tender, turning once halfway through cooking. Remove from the oven and reduce temperature to 350 degrees F.
(If your baking sheets don't fit side by side, place one on the middle rack and one on the bottom rack and rotate them a couple of times during roasting.)
Spread about 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Spread each eggplant slice with a spoonful of pesto and top with a pinch of each kind of cheese, a few spinach leaves and a couple of sun-dried tomatoes. Roll up and place seam side down in the baking dish. Spoon remaining sauce over the rolls and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted and the rolls are heated through. Serve hot.
Makes about 4-5 servings.
I pretty much followed the original recipe (pesto eggplant rollatine) above except for the measurements... I feel this recipe calls for much more than I actually needed. I think it depends on the size of your eggplant slices.
Regardless, this was an amazing dish! I have never cooked eggplant before and I am sad I have been missing out all of these years!
Overflowing Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Serves: 4 as a side/starter; 2 as an entrée
Makes: Makes 4 stuffed portobellos.
Makes: Makes 4 stuffed portobellos.
INGREDIENTS:
4 large Portobello
mushrooms
1 tsp olive oil
1 zucchini, chopped
1/2 Spanish onion, chopped
1 tbsp fresh minced garlic
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 roasted red peppers,
chopped
Handful fresh basil leaves,
chopped
1/2 cup whole-wheat bread
crumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan or Romano
cheese
Sea salt and ground black
pepper, to taste
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Remove stems from mushrooms
and set aside. Clean mushroom tops (TIP: Erin uses a mushroom brush) and set
upside down on a work surface.
Heat oil in a medium
skillet. Chop mushroom stems and add to skillet with zucchini, onion, garlic
and vinegar. Sauté for about 5 to 7 minutes, until onion and zucchini start to
soften. Add tomato and roasted peppers and heat through, about 2 minutes.
Remove mixture from heat and transfer to a bowl. Stir in basil, bread crumbs
and cheese. (If you prefer a drier mixture, simply add more bread crumbs.)
Season with salt and black pepper.
Fill mushroom tops with
vegetable mixture and bake for 15 minutes or until mushrooms look tender and
cheese is slightly melted.
Nutrients per stuffed
Portobello: Calories: 181, Total Fat: 8 g, Sat. Fat: 1 g, Carbs: 28 g, Fiber: 6
g, Sugars: 7 g, Protein: 9 g, Sodium: 285 mg, Cholesterol: 8 mg
While I love the concept of the stuffed portobello's, I didn't LOVE these. They were good, but not great. I wouldn't duplicate this recipe again. I would modify. I would omit the breadcrumbs, Parmesan and zucchini and add in mozzarella and yellow squash.
Here are a few food purchase fails:
Amy's Organic Low Fat Cream of Tomato. While it tasted good, it was loaded with sodium and it tasted like someone dumped a shaker of salt into it.
Trade Joe's Artichoke Parmesan Spread - No bueno peeps. I used tortilla chips as a dipping tool and this was just not good.
Food Purchase Success?
Trader Joe's Chickenless Crispy Tenders - WOW WOW WOW. If I fed these to a carnivore they wouldn't know the difference. These are a huge trader joe success! See the next recipe for how I used them :-)
Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Salad with Broccoli
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups water
- 6 TJ's chickenless crispy tenders (cooked as directed and chopped)
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 cup shredded cabbage (I used bag of cole slaw mix)
- 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles, plus more for garnish
- 4 green onions chopped, save half for garnish
Salad
Dressing
- 1/4 cup hot sauce (I recommend Franks)
- 1-2 TbSP Olive Oil
Instructions
1. In a fine-mesh strainer, rinse quinoa well and drain. In a medium pot, combine quinoa and water. Bring to a boil, then cover and turn heat to low. Cook until all the water is absorbed, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from the heat, fluff the quinoa with a fork.
2. Heat a medium size skillet over medium high heat Add a tablespoon of olive oil and saute the broccoli for about 5 minutes. You want it to just start to soften, but still be crisp. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add the chicken, olive oil and a little bit of the hot sauce to the same pan coat chicken and heat up a little.
3. When the quinoa is ready add the chicken, broccoli, carrots, shredded cabbage and as much of the dressing as desired and toss well. Add the blue cheese and half of the green onions. Toss again and serve warm with extra blue cheese crumbles and green onions.
This was incredible and I cannot begin to tell you how awesome those chickenless tenders are. It was just what I needed. I actually prefer eating this cold than warm.
Here is the original recipe that I adapted this from: Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Salad
BBQ Chickpea Wrap
This is a quick and easy meal to prepare for lunch or dinner. You can use any BBQ sauce you like. Try it with a sweet, or a spicy sauce. It is packed with protein, and fiber and is very low in fat.
Ingredients
Serves 2
- 1 Can of Garbanzo Beans, rinsed and drained
- 3/4 - 1 Cup of BBQ Sauce
- 1 Medium Tomato, diced
- 2 Stalks of Celery, diced
- 2 Romaine Lettuce Leaves
- 2 Whole Wheat Tortillas or Pita
In a pot, heat BBQ sauce, when BBQ sauce is warm, add beans. Let beans simmer in BBQ sauce for 10 minutes. Serve beans on a tortilla/Pita and top with tomato, romaine, and celery.
I used Annie's Organic BBQ Sauce and I didn't love it. Next time I will use Kraft Lite. I wound up putting these in a Josephs oat and flaxseed pita (Giant carries this brand). A little messy but super yum.
That's all I have for now. Thanks for reading!
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