Sunday, July 13, 2014

Blueberry & Kale Grain Salad



Yield: Makes 8 servings (or 4/5 meals)
Hands-on: 20 Minutes
Total: 2 Hours, 5 Minutes

Salad Ingredients:
1 cup wheat berries (which takes an hour to make. A quicker substitute is Farro)
1 teaspoon table salt
1 (8-oz.) package sugar snap peas
4 cups coarsely chopped kale
1/2 cup Red Wine Vinaigrette
2 cups fresh blueberries (awesome addition are purple grapes)
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Preparation: 
1. Bring wheat berries, salt, and 4 cups water to a boil in a saucepan. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 1 hour.

2. Meanwhile, cook peas in boiling salted water to cover 2 minutes or until crisp-tender; drain. Plunge into ice water; drain and pat dry. Slice in half. Drain wheat berries; rinse under cold water until cool.

3. Toss together kale, wheat berries, and 1/4 cup vinaigrette in a large bowl. Let stand 30 minutes. Stir in blueberries, pecans, and sugar snap peas. Add salt and pepper. Sprinkle with cheese. Serve with remaining vinaigrette.



Red Wine Vinaigrette Ingredients:
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 large shallot, minced
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons coarse-grained Dijon mustard

Preparation:
Stir together red wine vinegar and minced shallot; let stand 10 minutes. Whisk in olive oil and remaining ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 1 week.

Notes: 
Recipe from Southern Living's july-2014-recipe-list.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Grandma's 5-Minute Passover Chocolate Cake

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve:

1 Cup Red Wine
1 Cup Sugar
4 Tablespoons Cocoa
1 Cup Butter
2 Egg Yellows
Splash of Cognac

Monday, March 17, 2014

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with White Beans & Greens

Serves 4  * Prep Time 20 minutes * Total Time 1 hr 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS
4 sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 1/2 cups (or 1 can) cooked and drained white beans
6 cups kale, trimmed and sliced into ribbons (can add other greens too like spinach)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400°F.

Scrub the sweet potatoes and prick them in a few places with a fork. Place them on a baking sheet and bake until soft all the way through, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Start the beans and greens about 15 to 20 minutes before the sweet potatoes are done.

In a wide, deep saucepan with a cover, heat the olive oil over low-moderate heat. Add the shallots and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, rosemary, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, for about a minute. Add the beans and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the kale, cover the pan, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until the kale is soft. Stir in the lemon juice, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, slice each sweet potato lengthwise and push on the ends to open up the middle. Spoon the beans and greens into the center.

Recipe from the kitchn

Monday, March 10, 2014

Green Chili Chicken & Quinoa Stew

Yields 5 servings. Total time 30 minutes.
Ingredients
2 14 oz jars of diced tomatoes & chilis
1 rotisserie chicken, skinned, boned, shredded
2/3 cup uncooked quinoa
3 cups chicken broth
1 can navy beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup sweet corn

Optional Add-Ons For Serving
3 plum tomatoes, diced
1 small jalapeno, seeded (or not) and diced
1/3 cup chopped red onion
Juice from 1/2 lime
Handful of cilantro

Directions
In a saucepan, bring quinoa and 2 cups chicken broth to a boil. Cook approximately 15 minutes, until quinoa gets a little translucent. Once done, transfer to soup pot on stove.

While making quinoa, skin, bone and shred the chicken. Put the chicken in soup pot, along with diced tomatoes, remaining cup chicken broth, navy beans and sweet corn. Simmer until heated through.

Serve with any of the optional add-ons.

Notes: recipe is an adapted version from confections of a foodie.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash + Quinoa

Serves 6  *  Picture & Recipe courtesy of Fearless Homemaker

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 1/2 lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded + chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • the meat of 1 rotisserie chicken (about 3-4 cups), shredded (i used both white + dark meat)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 can (14 oz) petite diced tomatoes
  • 2/3 cup uncooked quinoa
  • 3/4 cup pitted + quartered kalamata olives (i omitted these because of an olive-hatin’ husband, but i’d recommend adding them in for additional flavor + color!)
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley


DIRECTIONS

  • Steam the butternut squash until barely tender, about 10 minutes. remove half of the squash pieces + set aside.
  • Steam the remaining squash until very tender, an additional 4 to 6 minutes. mash this squash with the back of a fork. set aside.
  • In a large saucepan set over medium heat, add the olive oil. add the onion + cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is starting to turn golden, 8 to 10 minutes. add the minced garlic + oregano – cook, stirring, for 1 additional minute.
  • Add the diced tomatoes, butternut squash pieces, mashed butternut squash, chicken broth, + quinoa. stir to combine. bring to a simmer, cover + cook until the quinoa turns translucent, about 15 minutes.
  • add the shredded chicken, kalamata olives, + salt + pepper. simmer, uncovered, until chicken is heated through + sauce has thickened to your liking. for me, this took about 10-15 more minutes. add more Salt/pepper if needed, to taste.
  • Garnish with the fresh parsley + serve.