Sweet Potato and Arugula Salad

Fall is upon us, even here in San Diego. 

Fall leaves me wanting new flavors, richer flavors, and yet I am trying to make healthier choices. Are you tired of me saying that yet? I repeat it in an effort to keep myself focused on the task at hand. I need to put it out there to keep myself on track. In fact, there is only one thing I need more than accountability, and that is new and exciting things to eat. And this salad is both of those things. Plus it is incredibly delicious!

Sweet Potato and Arugula Salad

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato peeled, and cut into cubes

3 cups of arugula

2 tbsp crumbled feta

2 tbsp pine nuts

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp olive oil + 2 tsp olive oil for roasting the potatoes

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375. Toss sweet potatoes in 2 tsp olive oil, salt, and black pepper. Roast for 20-30 minutes, or until fork tender. Remove from the oven and cool.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add pine nuts (no oil, no cooking spray). Cook in the pan, stirring often, until toasted. Remove from pan and allow to cool.

In a large bowl combine arugula, sweet potato, pine nuts, and feta cheese. Drizzle with 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar and 2 tsp olive oil. Toss to combine.

Plate and top with additional cracked black pepper.

This makes 2 entree size salads, or 4 side salads to accompany your dinner. 

Friday night I served it with Cider Glazed Chicken with Pecan Rice from Cooking Light. I have had the salad for lunch twice since then. That's right, both Saturday and Sunday!

If there was only one tip that I could give you on this recipe it would be: cook extra sweet potato. 

That way when you are looking for a quick easy lunch this week, you have an incredible salad you can throw together in mere minutes. 

Oh and I have no doubts this will become a huge hit in your house. It already is in mine!

Not Just Tomato Soup

You know you are incredibly blessed, when the love of your life is also your partner in crime.

Last night was Halloween, and in Tim's childhood they had a tradition of having tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches before heading out Trick or Treating. It is a tradition we have carried on with our own children. The only problem is, that I have yet to find a tomato soup that is both healthy and delicious enough that I want to make it every year!

Yesterday morning, after trolling the internet for recipes yet again, I decided to create my own. Which is where Tim came in. While I am confident in the kitchen, having someone to bounce ideas off is crucial to success.

So, with Tim's help, I give you...

Not Just Tomato Soup

Ingredients:
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Medium Sweet Onion, diced
1 Medium Eggplant, peeled and chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups carrots, chopped (I use baby carrots)
4 (28oz) cans of low sodium diced tomatoes in juice
3 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup fresh basil
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp salt
1-2 tsp crushed red pepper

Heat dutch oven over medium high heat. Add onion and saute until translucent. Add Eggplant and garlic and continue cooking until eggplant softens. While the eggplant mixture is cooking,  place carrots and broth in a microwave safe dish and microwave for 4 minutes. Add tomatoes, carrots, broth and 1 tsp crushed red pepper to the pot with the eggplant.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.

Remove from heat, toss in the basil, and puree until smooth. I use a stick blender, but pureeing in a regular blender would work just as well. Add salt, white pepper, and additional crushed red pepper according to taste.

We spent last night with friends. The kids trick or treated, we gave out candy gathered around a fire pit, and shared a meal. This soup was my contribution. Based on the reviews... It's a keeper!

Notes:

1. It's important the carrots are well cooked or they won't puree well. That is why I microwave them in the broth before I put them in the pot. By microwaving them in broth, you don't waste any of the nutrients by dumping out water that you use to boil the carrots.

2.  In the recipe I said to simmer the soup for 20 minutes. You can leave it on longer than that and it will be fine. I put mine on in the afternoon and left it simmering for at least an hour. The longer it simmers, the more rich the soup will taste. If it ends up a little to thick for your taste, just add some broth when you puree!

3.  I served mine with a tbsp of goat cheese on top. I can't recommend that highly enough. It was so rich and delicious!

Chocolate Dipped Fruit with a Surprise

Ingredients:

1 lb strawberries

1 package raspberries

2 dozen cherries

2 dozen mini oreos

Chocolate mousse

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup white chocolate melts 

Start by preparing your chocolate mousse. If you have a recipe that you love, make that! If not, I really like this one from All Recipes.

While the mousse is setting up, wash and dry your fruit. Cut the stem and the core out of the strawberries. Pit the cherries. Now I'm going to be picky about this and tell you that your cherries will be the highlight with your guests and they will be twice as cute if you pit them from the bottom and leave the stems attached. It is more work, but totally worth the end result. I normally make two slits across the bottom of the cherry (it makes an x) and then I stick my fingers in and pull out the pit. This will effectively divide your cherry in 4 sections, but that is okay. The mousse will pull it back together, and when it is chocolate dipped no one will be the wiser!

When your mousse has set up you are ready to start filling the fruit. Start by lining a cookie sheet with wax paper. Fill a piping bag with chocolate mouse. Fill each piece of fruit and then place it on the cookie sheet. For the raspberries, I fill them slightly over the top of the raspberry. Finally, move on to the Oreos. Pipe mousse onto the top of each Oreo and place on the tray with the fruit. Place cookie sheet in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.

While your delicacies are in the freezer you can start melting your chocolate in a double boiler on the stove. I like to work with a half a batch at the time. Sometimes when moisture gets into chocolate it can seize. By only melting half of the chocolate at a time you can avoid losing all of your chocolate if it does seize. When your chocolate is melted turn your burner all the way down to it's lowest setting. This will maintain some heat in the chocolate while you are working. Place your tray next to the double boiler.

Start with the strawberries. This is going to feel a little backwards to you because you are dipping the opposite end of the strawberry than you normally would. Dip the top of the strawberry 1/2-1 inch into the melted chocolate. This seals the chocolate mousse inside the strawberry. Place the dipped strawberry back on the wax paper.

Repeat the process with the raspberries, Oreos and finally the cherries. It is important to do the cherries last as they are extremely juicy and can cause your chocolate to become grainy and seize. Melt more chocolate as neccessary.

When you are finished, place your chocolate covered delicacies in the refrigerator. While they are setting up you can melt the white chocolate. You can do it in a double boiler on the stove, or if you purchase the white chocolate melts they will melt just as easily in the microwave. White chocolate can be a bit finicky. Which, in my opinion, makes it worth the trip to Michael's to pick up the White Chocolate Melts!

Finally the fun part. When the white chocolate is melted, take the tray out of the fridge. Now you can drizzle with white chocolate in one of two ways. You can fill a piping bag with the melted white chocolate and pipe it onto the chocolate covered fruit and Oreos, or you can go with a more haphazard approach. I usually dip a fork or knife into the melted chocolate, and shake it back and forth over the tray. It adds a bit of whimsy and lends a less formal feel to your dessert. But again, suit your own fancy!

Keep the chocolate covered fruit and Oreos refrigerated until you are going to serve them. Arrange on a platter and await the oohs and ahhs as your guests discover the secret hidden beneath the chocolate!

Summer Caprese Pasta

Nothing is better than tomatoes fresh from the garden, unless it is this years basil. The basil from my garden this year is heavenly. 

So Saturday night I went for a simple dinner. I was in the mood for fresh ingredients but I wanted a hearty meal. The solution? Turn my fresh Caprese salad into a pasta dish! Oh and it was 15 minutes from chopping to plating. How's that for quick and easy?!

Summer Caprese Pasta

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cups of grape or cherry tomatoes

2 cloves of garlic

2 hand fulls of basil

12 of the small size mozzerella, halved

12 oz pasta (whatever is in your cabinet. I had rigatoni)

Cook the pasta according to package directions. While it is cooking...

Halve the tomatoes and the mozzerella, mince the garlic, chiffonade the basil.

Heat oil over medium high heat add garlic and saute 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and saute two or three minutes.

Add your basil and saute just a minute more.

Add the pasta. Stir to combine and until heated through (less than a minute really). Season to taste with salt and cracked black pepper. Remove from the heat and add the fresh mozzerella.

Divide equally among 4 plates.

Adding the mozzerella while the pasta is still hot gives it this terrific meltiness and an almost buttery mouth feel. This recipe was a keeper. I have a feeling I will be making it a lot this summer!

Cooking with Kids- Calzones

Last Thursday Tim taught a cooking class at our local library. 40 kids, 2 kinds of calzones, an apple-blueberry crumble, and a good time was had by all!

The highlight for me was all of the moms coming up at the end asking for the recipes... because their "kids actually ate them!" We of course had the recipes for all of the children to take home.

Cooking with your kids is so incredibly fun, and often, if they have a hand in making it, they are more apt to eat it! Here are a few pictures of the action. The recipes are at the bottom.

 Learning to work the dough.

 Everyone had a turn.

 A better shot of the mayhem. Trust me, if Tim could teach 40 five-nine year olds how to make calzones... you can definitely do it with your kids in your kitchen!

 We had some great teen volunteers too!

 And look at how beautiful they turned out!

Chicken, Black Bean and Corn Calzone with Salsa Sour Cream

Ingredients:
1 store bought pizza dough
1 pound chicken breast, roasted

1 can of corn, drained and rinsed

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/2-2 tsp chili powder

3/4 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1/4  tsp black pepper

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 cup Monterey jack cheese, shredded

1 egg

Preheat oven to 375. Spray a cookie sheet with Pam.

Allow dough to come to room temperature, and then roll or stretch dough into a large oval or rectangle. Make sure your dough is not bigger than the pan you will use to bake the calzone.

                                           

Chop the roasted chicken into bite size pieces.  Heat a large pan over medium heat. Spray with Pam. Add chicken, black beans, corn, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper and stir until combined and heated through. 

Remove from heat and stir in half of the cheese. Spoon the mixture onto one side of the dough you rolled out. Top with remaining cheese. Pull the other half of the dough over the top and pinch the edges to seal it shut.

In a small bowl whisk the egg. Using a pastry brush, brush the egg over the top of your calzone. Poke a few holes in the top of the calzone so that it won't fill with air while you are cooking it.

Bake for 20-30 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Cut into pieces and serve with salsa sour cream.

Salsa Sour Cream

1cup sour cream

1/3 cup mild salsa (like pace)

In a bowl mix together sour cream and salsa.

Chicken and Broccoli Calzone

1 large pizza dough ball

1 lb of chicken breast, roasted

1 1/2 heads of broccoli, cut into florets

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 onion chopped

2 tbsp butter

2 cups mozzarella, shredded

1 egg

Preheat oven to 375. Spray a cookie sheet with Pam.

Allow dough to come to room temperature, and then roll or stretch dough into a large oval or rectangle. Make sure your dough is not bigger than the pan you will bake it on.

                                           

Chop the roasted chicken into bite size pieces.  Steam the broccoli until crisp tender. In a large pan melt 2 tbsp of butter. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 2 or 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add the chicken and broccoli and half of the cheese stir until combined.

Spoon the mixture onto one side of the dough you rolled out.  Sprinkle with the 2 cups of cheese. Pull the opposite side of the dough over the top and pinch the edges together.

In a small bowl whisk the egg. Using a pastry brush, brush the egg over the top of your calzone. Poke a few holes in the top of the calzone to keep it from filling with air while cooking.

Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until top is golden brown.

Cut into pieces and serve with your favorite marinara sauce.

 Have fun and enjoy!

Avocado Orange Salsa

Recipe by my friend Mary. Enjoyed at her Orange Harvest Party.

Ingredients:
1 large orange, supremed.
1 ripe avocado, diced medium
2 tbsp minced red onion
4 tsp juice from 1 lime
1 small jalapeno, stemmed, seeded and minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh cliantro leaves
Salt

Combine all ingredients. Salt to taste.
Makes 1 cup. (I recommend tripling it. You won't be sorry!)

We ate this as a dip, but can you imagine it as a topping for fish tacos? Or over a lovely grilled chicken breast. Or on a burger.
The possibilities are endless!

Vegetable Yakisoba

We have been making an effort to eat vegetarian a couple of times a week lately. This change was prompted by Tim looking for more natural ways to control his acid reflux. Tim has been on medication for his reflux his entire adult life, and to be honest, he is done with pills. One of the things Tim discovered in his research was that eating a more alkaline diet would help control both his reflux and in turn his heartburn. As we started researching which foods were acidic and which were alkaline, we were shocked by what was on each list. For example, the alkaline food list includes lemons, limes, tomatoes, most vegetables, and soy products. Acidic foods include milk, meat, cheese, most sweetners, coffee, beer, and wine... We were flabbergasted. Milk is acidic? Lemons are alkaline? We considered ourselves knowledgeable food people, and this shook us. It was time to make some changes.

This does not mean Tim is becoming a vegetarian, He would never give up meat or wine entirely! We are making some small adjustments to our weekly menu, and measuring the results. An added perk is that it makes cooking for myself easier. Twice a week the whole family is eating the same thing!

Which brings me to last Thursday night. I created this dish on a whim, and I am incredibly proud of how it turned out. When asked, Tim said there was nothing he would change. Plus while it is packed with vegetables, it still has massive kid appeal. They could even help make it. It is that easy!

Ingredients:
1/2 package Baby Carrots
1 package Shitake Mushroom
2 handfulls Snow Peas
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 bunch Green Onion
Bok Choy (I used 1 Baby Bok Choy)
1 package Udon Noodles
2-3 tbsp Sesame Oil
1/3 low sodium Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Honey
1/2 - 1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (to taste)

 Chop your vegetables. If you do a variety of shapes it will add texture to your dish.

Cook Udon Noodles according to package instructions. Drain, rinse and set aside.

While the noodles are cooking start on the sauce.  In a small bowl or measuring cup whisk together Soy Sauce, Honey, and Crused Red Pepper Flakes. Have a glass of wine while you are doing it. I am still me after all.

 In a large skillet or wok over high heat, add 2-3 tablespoons of Sesame Oil. I will usually start with 2, and then after I add the vegetables, add a little more if it looks like it needs it.

 Add your carrots and sautee for a minute or two, then add the remaining vegetables and sautee for an additional 3-5 minutes (until crisp tender).

 Add your noodles and the sauce, and toss until well coated, everything is combined, and heated through.

This makes 4-6 servings.

Enjoy!

Note: If you would like to look at a complete Food Alkalinity Chart you can find a very good one here. It is a fascinating read!

7 Ingredient Beet and Orange Salad

I serve this just about every year at Easter brunch. The salad is beautiful, delicious, and a snap to prepare.

Ingredients:
3 large Beets (boiled or roasted, your choice)
3 large Naval Oranges
1 Fennel Bulb (shaved)
2 bags Mixed Spring Greens (rinsed and dried)
1/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
Cracked Black Pepper

Slice beets and set aside. Peel your Naval oranges, slice into circles, and set aside.

Place your spring greens on a large platter. Arrange beets and oranges in alternating slices around the perimeter.  Mound your shaved fennel in the center. Just before serving, whisk together mustard and balsamic vinegar and drizzle over the top of the salad. Garnish with fresh cracked black pepper.

Serve and Enjoy!

Notes:
1. It is very important that you shave the fennel. Fennel's flavor is very strong, and unless you really, really want your salad to taste like black liquorice, you need the fennel to be in very thin strips. I am not a liquorice fan, and yet I love the fennel on this salad. Shaving it is the key.

2. This is a great make ahead salad. Cook and slice your beets up to 2 days before. Peel and slice your oranges 2 days before. Arrange the entire platter first thing in the morning. Then at brunch, all you need to do is drizzle the dressing and serve!