Quinoa and Cheese

When I posted about my first experiences with quinoa last month, I asked all of you to share with me your favorite quinoa recipes. A number of you suggested trying quinoa and cheese.

Nora loves macaroni and cheese, so on her birthday last week, I decided to make quinoa and cheese for her birthday dinner. I googled around and found a recipe that seemed easy, still relatively healthy, and incorporated veggies, too.

This one also incorporates bread crumbs on top, which always add some nice flavor and texture to mac and cheese recipes, so it was a nice touch here. The thing with this recipe? The flavor is very mild. It was good, I'd eat it again, but still, I wasn't overly impressed. And although Nora ate it on her birthday, she wanted nothing to do with the leftovers--so it's hard to say what she really thought. :)

I want to try some other quinoa and cheese recipes, but if you are looking for a recipe to start with, you could give this one a try. I'll continue the search for a really good one and keep you posted when I find it!

Quinoa and Cheese
(Source: Around the Table)

Ingredients:
- 1 & 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed and drained
- Veggies of your choice (optional)
- good pinch of salt
- a few grinds of seasoning salt
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup soy milk or non-fat milk
- 1 1/2 cups grated Cheddar cheese, more for sprinkling
- Optional - Crushed Red Pepper, Panko Bread crumbs for topping
- Toppings (optional) - salsa, hot sauce, sour cream, scallions

Directions:
1. Lightly saute any veggies you would like in this dish.

2. Cook quinoa to package directions. (About 15 minutes.)

3. Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat 13x9 inch dish( or 8 individual ramekins) with cooking spray.Whisk together eggs and milk in large bowl. Fold in quinoa mixture and cheese. Stir very well and let some of the cheese melt. Transfer to prepared baking dish and if using Panko Crumbs or Bread crumbs add now and bake 30-35 mins, until bread crumbs are browned.

Read more...

Vegetable Quinoa

Up until a few weeks ago, I had never even had quinoa. I heard plenty about it and its superfood properties, but no one had ever made it for me, and I'd never seen it anywhere. But over the past few months I have pinned and/or bookmarked a few quinoa recipes, so I decided one day that enough was enough. It was time to see what all the fuss was about.

I freaking love quinoa, you guys. This is the only way I've prepared it so far, but I've made it three times in the last month--with leftovers, to boot. And guess what? Nora has been known to devour it, too.

This recipe is easily adaptable, as you can take out or substitute in any vegetables that you like. We've been using combinations of black beans, carrots, celery, zucchini, onions, corn, and diced tomatoes. You could also use red or green peppers, mushrooms, etc. The possibilities are endless.

So good. So wholesome. So healthy. I'm on the lookout for other good quinoa recipes, so please send them my way (leave them in the comments?) if you have any. I'm obsessed!

Vegetable Quinoa
(Source: Adapted from Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
- 2 cups quinoa
- 4 cups water (or vegetable broth or chicken broth)
- olive oil
- 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (16 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (16 oz.) can corn, drained
- 1 (16 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 1 small to medium zucchini, sliced
- 2-3 celery stalks, chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped carrots
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- salt and pepper, to taste
- juice from 1 lime

Directions:
1. Rinse your quinoa using a fine mesh sieve. Some people will tell you it's not necessary--and you don't HAVE to rinse--but our quinoa had a slightly bitter taste the one time I tried not rinsing it. When rinsed, the quinoa will initially foam up as if it is soapy, and the water will eventually run clear.

2. Combine quinoa with water in a large sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender. Follow the directions on your package, but mine says to let it simmer for 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, heat up a sautee pan over medium heat. Drizzle olive oil on the bottom of the pan. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic to the pan and cook until the garlic softens and the aroma mellows, about 2 minutes. Add the fresh vegetables and cook until they soften, about 5 minutes. Add the beans, tomatoes, and corn. Season with cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper, and cook for 1 minute more. Reduce heat. Once quinoa has finished cooking, stir it in. Squeeze the juice of a lime over the top of everything. Stir again.

4. Serve hot or cold.

Read more...

Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls

We had our nephew Brendan's third birthday party this weekend. Unfortunately, I just wasn't feeling up to making his cake this year. Being nine months pregnant really limits my ability to be on my feet for long periods of time, and being hunched over a cake to decorate it just didn't seem to be a good idea. So, reluctantly, I had Melissa order a cake this year. I sure felt guilty, though! :(

Even if I couldn't come bearing a fun character cake for Brendan (I made Pooh and Tigger for his 1st birthday, and Lightning McQueen for his second), we couldn't show up empty-handed. And so we once again turned to my recipe stash to see what we could come up with for an appetizer.

These Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls seemed to be easy enough, and they're different--I knew I didn't have to worry about anyone else showing up with homemade egg rolls! :)

We whipped up a batch of homemade salsa to go with them, but truthfully, I think it's completely unnecessary. These egg rolls are kick-ass on their own! They have enough spice and flavor to them without needing to dip them in anything at all. Also, rolling them up wasn't difficult at all--there were directions with pictures on the back of the egg roll wrapper package, plus it turned out to be the same method I use to roll up sandwich wraps. Easy-peasy.

Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls
(Source: Annie's Eats)

Ingredients:
- 2 cups frozen corn, thawed (or canned corn)
- 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
- 1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles, drained
- 4 green onions, chopped
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 package egg roll wrappers (about 24 total) - I only got 19

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine everything but the egg roll wrappers. Mix well to blend.

2. Lay an egg roll wrapper out on a work surface so that one of the corners is pointing toward you and place 1/4 cup of the filling in the center. Fold the tip closest to you up over the filling, roll a bit, then take the points pointing outward and fold them in toward the center. Continue rolling into an egg roll shape until a small part of the remaining point is still free. Dip a finger in water or beaten egg and lightly brush on the edges of the free corner. Finish rolling and press to seal closed. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.

3. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly oil a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place the sealed egg rolls on the baking sheet seam side down and spray the tops of the egg rolls with cooking spray. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly brown, turning halfway through baking. Serve warm with salsa.

Read more...

Loaded Baked Potato

Have I told you all about my love of potatoes? I'll eat a potato in pretty much any form. I don't think you can do anything to a potato that I wouldn't like.

Still, one of the best ways to eat a potato is in its truest form--baked whole. We usually bake up a couple of potatoes as an easy dinner on a fairly regular basis, but just recently realized we hadn't done it in a while. In preparation for a busy weekend and on a night when we didn't have much time for cooking, we decided to bring the good ol' loaded baked potato back into the rotation. And I'm so glad, because I think I had forgotten just how much I love them!

You can vary the toppings based on what you like, but our favorite way to "dress" them is with a little butter/margarine, broccoli, some shredded cheddar, and Bacon Bits.

Whoa, baby.

This is not a complicated "recipe," but I'll include it just the same.

Loaded Baked Potato

Ingredients:
- Russet potatoes
- Broccoli crowns (or frozen broccoli)
- shredded cheddar cheese
- Bacon Bits (or bacon, cooked and crumbled)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Wash potatoes. Pierce potatoes with a fork or knife. Microwave on high for 5-7 minutes, rotating halfway through cook time.

3. Wrap hot potatoes in foil. Place them on the center rack of your oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.

4. Remove potatoes from oven. Remove from foil and place on plate. Cut them down the center, then top with a little butter. Spoon broccoli, cheddar cheese and Bacon Bits on top.

Read more...

Chile-Beef Stuffed Zucchini

We actually made this meal last weekend, but I just haven't had time to post! This was our dinner on Saturday night. Since we had planned ahead, we had made extra beef when we made this recipe earlier in the week, so that we had less work to do on Saturday.

This is a really simple recipe. It's different than anything we've ever made before, and the flavors were good together. Plus, it's filling and (relatively) healthy! Not to mention a great way to use up any extra zucchini you have lying around.

Other than using the beef from the Mexican Pizza recipe, we didn't make many changes to this recipe. We did use a fresh jalapeno rather than pickled ones, however. I'll include the recipe exactly the way we made it, but if you want the original, you can click through to Melissa's blog.

Melissa said that she thought hers came out dry, but we didn't have that problem. It may have been due to the different recipe for the beef? Not sure. If yours is dry, you can top with salsa and sour cream.
Chile-Beef Stuffed Zucchini
(Source: Adapted from Delicious Meliscious)

Ingredients:
- 1/2 lb. ground beef
- 1/2 small onion, diced
- homemade taco seasoning
- 2 zucchini, halved lengthwise and seeded
- 1 tomato, seeded & chopped
- 1 jalapeno pepper, diced
- Mexican style shredded cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Arrange the zucchini cut side up in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Add 1/2 cup water to the dish, cover with foil and bake until the zucchini begins to soften, about 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat and cook the ground beef until brown; drain. Return to the heat and add the onion, taco seasoning and water. Continue to cook for several minutes, until cooked through, stirring often. Stir in the tomatoes and jalapenos.

4. Uncover the baking dish, and pour off the water. Season the zucchini with salt. Fill with the beef mixture and sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake, uncovered, until the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes.

Read more...

Mexican Salad

As I've mentioned before, sometimes, especially in the summer, it's nice to have a light and healthy meal. We have a couple of heavy eating weekends coming up, so when it came time to plan dinner for tonight, we decided to keep it simple. This salad is something I first put together last summer, and it's so good! Lots of flavor, and versatile--you can easily adapt the ingredients to your tastes.

And just look how COLORFUL! Love it.

This time of year, our local corn is SO. DAMN. GOOD. that we actually cooked up a couple of pieces of corn on the cob and then sliced the kernels off of it to throw into the salad. We used chicken (seasoned with some taco seasoning) as our protein, but you can also use a can of beans instead. Sometimes, we also throw a few baked tortilla chips in for more of a taco salad, but decided to skip them tonight. We pick up fresh salsa from the grocery store (though you could use a jar of salsa if you wish) to use as "dressing," and that's it--delicious salad!

Mexican Salad

Ingredients:
- leafy salad greens (I think romaine works best for this salad)
- 1/4 small onion, sliced
- 1/2 lb. chicken, cubed, cooked and seasoned with a few tbsp. taco seasoning (optional)
- corn (can use fresh, frozen, or canned)
- red or black beans (optional)
- fresh salsa (homemade or store-bought)
- shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. On a plate, arrange a bed of leafy salad greens. Top with onions, chicken, corn, and beans.

2. Spread salsa over the entire salad.

3. Sprinkle the top with a little shredded cheddar. Enjoy!

Read more...

Summer Salad

We haven't really had the chance to get back into "the groove" of eating normally since being back from vacation. We've had a lot going on, and I'm afraid to admit that for me, the scale is reflecting that by showing a couple additional pounds. Coming from someone who hates to see the scale budge in the upward direction, even just a little bit, I'm not a happy camper. :(

The other issue is just that it's summer. I find that it's more difficult to meal plan when you have to consider whether a meal is too heavy for the warm weather.

And so I find myself on a quest to get some light and healthy meals into our weekly rotation for summer.

This summer salad is something that I threw together for us on a whim the night after we got back from vacation. Then, yesterday, after our 4th of July indulgences, it was a perfect way to start the road to recovery from a weekend of eating.

The mixture of fruit, vegetables, and protein, all drizzled with a good balsamic dressing makes for a wonderfully light, but filling, meal. The other pro is that it is so easy--especially if you have some leftover grilled chicken already in the fridge.

Summer Salad

Ingredients:
- leafy salad greens (my favorite is romaine, but a "spring salad" mix or baby spinach would work well for this, too)
- 1 apple, cubed
- 6 to 8 strawberries, sliced
- 1/4 small onion, sliced
- grilled chicken pieces, sliced
- 1 tbsp. bacon bits
- shredded cheddar cheese
- balsamic vinaigrette dressing, for drizzling (we buy Ken's Light Balsamic Vinaigrette, which is fantastic!)

Directions:
1. On a plate, arrange a bed of leafy salad greens. Top with apple cubes, sliced strawberries, onions, and grilled chicken pieces.

2. Sprinkle bacon bits, and a little shredded cheddar cheese.

3. Drizzle entire salad with a good balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Enjoy!

Read more...

Spaghetti Squash

I was first introduced to spaghetti squash when I was on Weight Watchers a few years ago. When striving for low-point meals, variety can be hard to come by when you're a picky eater like I am. But spaghetti squash sounded like something I'd like, so we gave it a try.

After that, we made it pretty often. Since then, it has sort of fallen off our dinner radar a bit, and we went a long time without having it. Last week, when we were picking up the butternut squash to use for our butternut squash fries, we decided to pick up a couple spaghetti squash as well.

On New Year's Eve, we decided to make it so we could have a light meal before going to our party (and I'm just now getting around to posting it). It occurred to me that there are probably a lot of people who aren't familiar with spaghetti squash, so I figured I'd blog about it, even though it's not really a recipe.

Spaghetti squash is extremely simple to make. All you have to do is cut it in half, and scoop out the guts and seeds in the middle. Then, place each half into a baking pan, cut side down. Bake on 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. You'll know it's done if you run a fork over the flesh and it very easily starts shredding into "spaghetti."

The consistency, however, is a bit different than actual spaghetti. It's supposed to have a little bit of a "bite" to it, so if it's a little bit on the crunchy side, it doesn't mean it's undercooked.

It's obvious how this squash got it's name.

There are many different ways to serve spaghetti squash. Our favorite way is to treat it just like spaghetti noodles, and eat it with tomato sauce and parmesan cheese.

It's actually also quite good on its own. A little parmesan cheese, maybe a little olive oil or butter/margarine... yum. I'm sure there are many other ways to eat it as well; ways that I am not even aware of!

So if you've never had it, I encourage you to give it a try. Add spaghetti squash to your healthy food menus!

Completely unrelated, but an update... OK, so that light I mentioned I was excited about getting to help improve my photos? It came today, and I'm not that impressed by it. There's nothing really wrong with it, but it's bigger and bulkier than I thought and I can't imagine actually setting it up every time I want to take a picture of a meal or something. Not convenient. I'm about 99% sure I'm going to be sending it back. Boo, back to the drawing board. I'm looking for alternatives now. Hopefully I'll be debuting much better looking nighttime photos very soon!

Read more...