whee!

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 …
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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 …

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Salad Season Has Arrived!

May 12, 2011 - Written by Diana

I 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 …

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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 …

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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)