Pumpkin, Chard and White Bean Soup
November 8, 2012 - Written by DianaThis soup is easy, semi fast and very seasonal. I made this on vacation with a microwave, a bowl, and one pot on an electric burner. The kitchen was a small not even efficiency size kitchen. One microwave, a dorm fridge, a two burner cooktop and a small sink with a tiny counter made up the kitchen. I have trouble with how small my small kitchen is and I could live with this little efficiency for the one week we were staying in Duck, North Carolina – but I think one week is the limit.
While the recipe made four bowls of soup, my husband and I both ate two bowls each for dinner. It was a vegetarian dish for us, you can add sausage to it, or chicken and it would go well. Also, you could serve it as a soup course along with a sandwich. While spelt berries were cooking in broth, the microwave was used to partially cook the pumpkin – after slicing in into pieces and cleaning out the seeds and pulp. Only one soup/stew pot was used along …
Fast and Delicious – Grilled Veggies & Bulgur
September 25, 2011 - Written by Diana
Grilled Summer Vegetables & Bulgur
Tonight’s dinner – had a side of grilled veggies and bulgur. This side dish is a really fast and easy side that packs in a good deal of nutrients. This side can also be served as a vegetarian main and can be eaten cold or hot. So double up and bring it to lunch the next day or a repeat dinner. It’s a little scorched on the edges, but still very tasty. A quick grill with olive oil and then after you combine the veggies and bulgur, give it a quick toss with some chopped fresh basil and a little bit of olive oil.
I have a grill grate that I place over the grill top because I worry that the vegetables will fall through. I sprayed the grate with a little oil first to make sure the veggies wouldn’t stick and I used a sweet onion along with some summer squash, and red peppers.
Ingredients:
- 1 red pepper
- 1 sweet onion
- 1 small to med zucchini
- 1 similar sized yellow squash
- 1 cup dried bulgur cooked according to directions
- 2 tbs olive oil
- olive oil …
Beet, Feta & Spelt Berry Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette
July 7, 2011 - Written by Diana
Beet, Feta, Spelt Salad with a Strawberry Vinaigrette
My Beet, Feta and Spelt Salad was my favorite of the two salads (the other was a pasta salad with peas, lamb mint sausage and a dill mint pesto) that we brought to the 3rd of July family gathering. It’s a potluck and I try to bring something new to the table, to make it interesting. Of course the young boys wouldn’t touch it, because it was healthy looking, and an aunt said she didn’t eat beets because they taste like dirt. I say earthy – she says dirt. Her husband liked it, and so did my family. I made a pretty big batch, so we had leftovers for breakfast and then some for dinner again. I also left a small bowl behind for my daughter because she had to work and wasn’t able to go with us. Feel free to cut down on amounts, I was cooking for a potluck, and had plenty of leftovers for us, which I wanted by the way – so …
Salad Season Has Arrived!
May 12, 2011 - Written by DianaI arrived home from work to a hot and sweaty daughter studying at the computer. When I mentioned dinner, she replied – anything but not hot. Salad season is on folks, especially now. This is the best time for fresh salads because salad greens love early spring best. They don’t do so well in the super heat of the hazy summer end, but planting seeds outside in the end of winter will bring you perfect greens in the beginning of spring when the bugs are still on vacation. I hope to have a few more cool evenings with warm tomato soup, stew or a roast, but I’m looking ahead to more salad days.
Tonight’s dinner was both quick and easy to prepare and all the ingredients in my fridge, so I didn’t have to run out for anything. The quinoa was made up in a big batch but frozen in dinner size portions. You can set it to defrost in the fridge, or if you are like me and deciding at the last minute, you can microwave for one minute, stir it around a little and it’s ready to go. The rest of the ingredients came together into a nice salad …
Goat Meat Over Quinoa With a Side of Broccoli Raab and Prosciutto
April 29, 2011 - Written by Diana
Spring is crazy right now with this really strong winds and storms blowing through. In the middle of it all, my garden started growing. We have raised beds so our veggies don’t get over sogged and root rotted. Too early for tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash, but I have broccoli rabe. I’ve never tried eating broccoli rabe before never mind growing it, but that’s the way I roll; grow it and see what we think. I was surprised at how fast it sprouted up and grew tall with little floret heads. For our roasted veggies on Easter, I threw in some rabe, tasting it with my mother in law first to try it out. It had a little bit of a sharp taste – maybe bitter, but pretty good. It was even better cooked. So tonight’s meal I decided to cook up some goat to go over quinoa, and for the side I went and picked a bunch of broccoli rabe from the garden. It’s amazing how much more there is today, just a …
Quick Quinoa Burgers
January 28, 2011 - Written by Diana
Quick Quinoa Burgers is from The 150 Healthiest 15-Minute Recipes on Earth by Jonny Bowden and Jeannette Bessinger. When Deb, Desiree and I were younger, my dad tried the meatless burger thing. He used birdseed – or rather millet, but they were dry and not very tasty. I tried this meatless burger thinking it would end on the same note, but I really was surprised at how good they were. No, they don’t taste like burgers, not at all, but they are packed with flavor. Where the recipe said to use a quality salsa – I used my canned salsa. Where it said to use canned kidney beans, I substituted pinto beans that I made up earlier in the week, and it had a little garlic flavoring in it. I also topped the burger and sauce with chopped avocado. Deb are you listening – this meal had quinoa, avocado and salsa in it, you will like it.
Ingredients:
(Burger)
- 1 can (15 oz) kidney beans
- 1/4 cup quick cooking rolled oats
- 2 oz grated or crumbled cheese (or 1/4 cup nutritional yeast for a vegan option)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup cooked heirloom …
Chicken & Summer Vegetables Over Rice
September 20, 2010 - Written by Diana
We love roast chicken, and if I didn’t stop my husband, he would eat the whole chicken in one sitting. He’s not a large man, but now that the kids are away, we need to watch our portion sizes. So, the last time I made a roast chicken, I use the meat from half on our plates and told him not to touch the other half. I also have some rice I’m trying out and I’ll go into the details in another post. I am a person who likes fragrant rice. I’m not a fan of that flavorless stuff that comes in a box and is ready in 60 seconds. I want fragrant nutty tasting delicious real rice.
Today we were making salsa and though we filled about 20 pints, we’ll probably make another batch and spend another day chopping. Salsa is …
Grill Once, Dine Twice
July 16, 2010 - Written by Diana
We like grilled food, and grilling, but cooking a full meal every night can be time consuming and we are an easy prep/cook family. Most days I assign a person, and then that person tries to figure out a meal that won’t take up a lot of their time. Of course with my son it means Mac n cheese and hot dogs, plus something that’s not baked beans – because he doesn’t like them. If I can during the week I try to figure out something quick too. Grilling is great because not only does it taste good, but if you do it right, you get two meals out of one grilling.We had a meal or I should say meals lately that were fantastically good, simple and yet clean tasting all at once. We grilled some salmon, and veggies, just brushed with olive oil, salt and pepper. Really simple. Then for dinner the next night, I chopped up the salmon and the veggies, added a cucumber, some dressing and then spooned it on top of a bed of bulgur. My son both nights, waved his hand over the food, and …
Quinoa Berry Salad
May 31, 2010 - Written by DianaWe went to a family/friend gathering at my brother in law’s today. Though the day was a little warm, sitting under the shade trees, it was a pleasant cookout with lots of great food. My contribution was Quinoa Berry Salad. I went out and picked some parsley and mint to add a little hint of something. When I asked my husband if I should add some walnuts, the answer was a resounding yes. I’m not a big fan of syrup for the berries, I want it less sweet, so that I can taste the sweetness of the berries, so instead I added Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette. This salad went over so well, the two year old little boy from next door kept coming back for more.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup blueberries
- 1/2 cup strawberries sliced
- 1/2 cup blackberries
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1/2 tbs minced parsley
- 1/2 tbs minced mint
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette to taste
Put all the ingredients into the bowl (except the vinaigrette) and toss. Pour the vinaigrette over top, and toss a little more.
Black Quinoa – Red Quinoa too.
January 29, 2010 - Written by DianaYesterday I posted a picture of Black Quinoa. We’ve mentioned quinoa before, it’s one of the best grains to get on your plate. Black Quinoa was one of the main ingredients I used in my dinner the other night. I liked the contrast that the Black Quinoa added to the bowl, they’re the little speckles in with the bigger grains.
The black quinoa has a little more earthy flavor than the white quinoa, and also a little bit crunchier texture. Therefore it takes longer to get to a mushy texture than the white quinoa. You have to be a bit more careful with the white than the black, I think. I got my package of black quinoa from Alter Eco to try out, so this quinoa is fair trade as well as organic.
Quinoa is also gluten free. My daughter often uses leftover quinoa for a salad the same as she does with leftover couscous. If you desire gluten free ingredients, …
