Category Archives: Vegetables

Flank Steak Tacos with Avocado Dressing

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I haven’t eaten red meat in almost two months! I haven’t been craving it at all, but this recipe sounds good to me. Besides that, we haven’t had a taco night in months, so I know my son will be happy. I’ll serve this with baked brown rice and black beans doctored up with some onion, cilantro and jalapeno.

Verdict: Yum! This was really good. Next time, I’ll make sure to start marinating the steak sooner than I did today (only about 3 hours). The avocado dressing was really good, and will get even better as it sits. Today I tried some of it on this red lentil soup and it complimented the flavors so well. I plan on using the leftovers for sandwiches, salads or as a dip for veggies. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Flank Steak Tacos – adapted from Love at First Bite
For the Marinade:

  • 1 pound flank steak (or skirt steak)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 jalapeno (seeds and all), chopped
  • 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, or olive oil

For Avocado Dressing:

  • 2 avocados, seeds and skin removed
  • zest and juice of 1 lime
  • 1 small clove garlic
  • pinch of salt and pepper
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1/2 jalapeno, seeds removed
  • 1/4 cup cilantro
  • 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Serve with:
Corn tortillas, feta cheese, shredded cabbage, cilantro, and lime wedges

In a ziplock bag or glass container, add all ingredients for the marinade, plus the steak. Marinate the meat at least 30 minutes, and up to 6 hours. In the meantime make the dressing.

In a food processor or blender, add all ingredients for the dressing and pulse until smooth and creamy. Put in a sealed container or jar, and place in fridge to let the flavors mix.

Heat a grill, or grill pan to high heat. Grill the steak for a couple of minutes on each side, until steak is seared on the outside and pink in the middle. It will take anywhere from 5-10 minutes depending on the thickness of your steak. Take off the heat and let rest for 5-10 minutes before you slice it (make sure to slice against the grain).

Serve the meat in a corn tortilla (for gluten-free, or whole wheat if you prefer), and top with crumbled feta cheese, lettuce or cabbage, lime juice, cilantro, and avocado dressing.

Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

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Yup – I’m using this again 😉 As we were eating this dinner, I started thinking of ways to use the rest of the pesto. It’s not a stretch as far as recipes go, but I already know the flavors will work together.

Verdict: Yum! This sandwich was so good! It’s so full of flavor and it’s a new favorite in this house. The sun dried tomato pesto is so worth making. I still have an 8 ounce jar of this left, so I’m sure I will be posting a new recipe with it soon. I don’t want it to go to waste after all. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto –

For Marinating the Chicken:

  • 1 pound chicken breast cutlets
  • zest of one lemon
  • juice of half a lemon
  • Italian seasoning
  • Kosher salt and pepper
For Assembling the Sandwiches:
  • Ciabatta rolls, split and brushed with olive oil
  • sun dried tomato pesto
  • goat cheese
  • garlic and herb cream cheese spread
  • organic spring mix
  • sliced tomatoes
Directions:
1. Place the chicken cutlets in a sealable container or a zip top bag. Mix all the ingredients and pour over top of chicken. Marinade for at least 30 minutes, but no more than a few hours (*depending on how thick your pieces are – or the acid will start to “cook” the meat).
2. Preheat your grill to medium-high and grill the chicken for about 4 minutes a side or until done. Place the bun halves oil side down to toast.
3. To assemble:  On one half of the roll, slather on a good amount of the garlic and herb cheese spread and pile salad greens on top and then the grilled chicken on top of that and then tomato slices. Spread the sun dried tomato pesto on the top bun and place it on top of the sandwich – enjoy!

Homemade Hot Pockets

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Yum! These are worlds better than store bought Hot Pockets:) I made several different combinations for these and they all turned out to be really flavorful, cheesy and satisfying. I made a chicken, broccoli and cheese pocket, a pepperoni, sausage and cheese, and ham and cheddar cheese. Next time I think I’ll use a garlic and herb flavored dough to take the flavor up a few notches. We enjoyed the pizza pockets with what else – pizza sauce, drops of Frank’s Red Hot or green Tobasco. I had to stop myself from eating more of these – cheese and bread in combination are my weakness! The recipe below is really just a rough guideline for making these. They’re pretty fool-proof and don’t require any real measurements. I just made sure that I didn’t over-fill the dough. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Homemade Hot Pockets –

  • 4 ounce balls of pizza dough (*I made 9)
  • cheddar, Swiss, mozzarella, Parmesan cheeses – odds and ends are great for these
  • pepperoni, ham, chicken sausage, and shredded chicken breast – cut into small pieces
  • steamed broccoli, mushrooms, tomatoes – or whatever leftover cooked veggies you have

Directions –

Take one ball of dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface so that the long side is perpendicular to your body. It should have a rectangular shape and be only slightly thicker than paper thin. Add about about 1/4 cup of your filling over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border along the edges of the dough.

Pull the shorter ends toward each other and then pull the longer ends toward the middle. Seal the roll by pinching this last portion of dough against the roll. Smooth out with your fingers by gently pressing the seam. Place the pocket into onto the prepared baking sheet seam side down. If you’d like a crisper crust you can brush the tops with olive oil or egg wash. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 – 25 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stuffed Chicken Breast with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto and Goat Cheese (aka looks gross, but tastes good)

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Quick Post: I assure you this tastes much better than it looks! I could not get a decent picture of this because it was raining the night I made it, so no natural light! I’m also not fond of my flash mode – blah! I’m a little embarrassed to show the picture because pictures “sell” recipes – but this one has  great flavor and I would make it again. Thanks for reading, enjoy!
Stuffed Chicken Breast with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto and Goat Cheese –
  1. Preheat oven to 400. Spray an oven-safe saute pan with olive oil or cooking spray and heat over medium-high.
  2. Using a pairing knife, cut a pocket in each chicken breast, cutting as close as possible to the edges but taking care not to puncture all the way through.
  3. Mix the sun dried tomato pesto and goat cheese together in a small bowl then stuff each chicken breast generously with the mixture. I used toothpicks to secure the opening as much as possible.
  4. Season the tops with salt and pepper. Place top down in the skillet and cook for 3 minutes, until nicely seared.
  5. Flip chicken, remove from heat, and pop into the oven for 15 – 18 minutes to finish cooking through. Chicken is done when it reaches 160 degrees (*155 is good because of the carry over cooking*)

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

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Quick Post: This pesto has rich flavor and was perfect mixed in to goat cheese for stuffed chicken breasts. I plan on using this again in some pasta and probably tossed with some kind of mild white fish. I bet it would taste amazing spread onto a grilled chicken sandwich – I’ll have to try that too 🙂 I had just enough sun dried tomatoes left for this and the food processor makes this a breeze to whip up. Also, the recipe makes about two cups and keeps well in the fridge for up to six weeks according to the author. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto – adapted from Imafoodblog

  • 1/2 cup packed basil leaves
  • 1/2 cup toasted whole almonds
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • the zest of one lemon
  • 1/4 tsp coarse salt
  • 1 generous packed cup sun-dried tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
An hour before you make this, soak your sun dried tomatoes in hot water for at least an hour. Drain and slice, set aside.

Toast your almonds in a dry shallow pan. They will take about 10 minutes, and you will smell when they are done.

In a large food processor, combine the basil, toasted almonds, garlic, lemon zest, and salt. Process until coarsely chopped.

Add the sun dried tomatoes and parmesan cheese and process until the tomatoes are coarsely chopped.

Now stream in the olive oil slowly and process until the pesto comes together.

Serve immediately or store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 6 weeks.

Twice Baked Potatoes

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I was inspired to make these while watching The Pioneer Woman’s show on Food Network yesterday. Now, I wouldn’t mind trying her recipe, but I’d rather stay away from all those extra goodies and try to make these a little more healthy for my family. I’m adding broccoli and cooked chicken to mine, while my husband will have lots of cheese, butter and sour cream on his to go along with his rib eye steak tonight. I’m serving mine with a green salad. The kids aren’t fans of mashed or baked potatoes (cause they’re a little weird – I still love them, though) so hopefully the leftovers will heat up nicely for a quick dinner later on this week.
Verdict: These were so tasty and well worth the wait. I have all kinds of add in ideas now that I will have to try soon. My favorite thing about this is the skin on the bottom of the potato. It became crisp almost like a chip because of the olive oil – it was perfect!  Thanks for reading, enjoy!
Twice Baked Potatoes – adapted from Natalie’s Killer Cuisine
  • 4 large Russet Potatoes
  • Olive Oil to coat (*and kosher salt if you’d like)
  • 4 TBSP Butter
  • a splash of half and half
  • Heaping spoon of Sour Cream
  • Paprika to taste
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • Black pepper, to taste
  • 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded – plus more for top
  • 2 cups cooked Broccoli Florets
  • 1 cup cooked chicken
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, scrub the potatoes well and poke a several holes in the potato with a fork. Coat in olive oil and bake uncovered for 1 1/2 hours. Let cool at least 30 minutes before handling.
2. Slice off top quarter of potato. Scoop out as much of the potato as you can without breaking the skin and place in a bowl.
3. Add the butter, sour cream, half and half, broccoli, chicken, and cheese to the mashed potato, and mash until everything is melted, and smooth. Add the paprika, salt and pepper to taste. Spoon your mashed potato mixture into the potato skin – be really generous here. Sprinkle the tops with extra cheese if desired.
4. Bake for 3o minutes at 350 degrees until cheese is melted.  I turned on my broiler for a few minutes after they were finished baking, just to brown the tops a little – keep a close eye on them. Enjoy!

Chicken Noodle Soup

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It’s officially Fall which means I get to make pot roast, chicken pot pie and other belly warming dinners again. It hasn’t exactly started cooling down here yet, but I was craving a rich chicken noodle soup. This wasn’t quick by any means, but the flavor that the three hour simmering  created was well worth it. I also have three quarts of flavorful chicken stock stashed in the freezer! Thanks for reading, enjoy!
Cooking the Chicken – 
  • 1  4 – 5 pound whole chicken (rinsed and dried)
  • 1 box of chicken stock
  • 2 – 4 carrots cut in half
  • 2 – 4 stalk celery, roughly chopped *make sure you put lots of leafy tops in too*
  • 1 large onion, quartered
  • 5 – 6 garlic cloves, smashed
  • 1 TBSP peppercorns
  • 3 -4 bay leaves
  • 1/2 tsp dried sage
  • 1 TBSP dried parsley
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 3 sprigs lemon thyme
  • kosher salt and pepper
  • enough cold water to cover the chicken
Directions:
1. Place all the ingredients in a large stock pot, bring to a boil then lower to a simmer for 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Carefully pull the chicken out of the pot and set it aside to cool – about 40 minutes. Once it’s cooled, shred – place pulled chicken in a container and place the carcass back into the stock pot.
Chicken Stock –
  • two chicken carcasses (* I had one in the freezer from this)
  • reserved cooking water
Directions:
1. Simmer the contents of the stock pot for at least three hours. Carefully strain the finished stock over a fine mesh strainer into a large container. Discard the bones and vegetables. Set the stock aside to cool. Skim as much fat off the top or place in the refrigerator for the fat to solidify. Store in air tight containers and place in the freezer.
Chicken Noodle Soup –
  • 2 quarts chicken stock (*more or less depending on how “soupy” you like it)
  • 2 cups shredded chicken
  • 4 cups total of chopped carrots, celery and onion
  • 2 TBSP olive oil
  • 2 cups egg noodles (*I used No Yolks)
  • lemon thyme
  • lemon zest
  • kosher salt and pepper
Directions –
1. Heat a large soup pot to medium and add olive oil. Once the oil is warmed, add all your diced veggies to the pan. Saute for 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Meanwhile, place a soup pot with the chicken stock to simmer and add the cooked vegetables and shredded chicken to the soup pot. Bring to boil, season to taste and add the egg noodles and peas. Cook until the egg noodles are tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Taste again, season if needed – enjoy the soup with a crusty loaf of bread…yum!

Quinoa and Veggie Egg Bake

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This is so good and I’m glad I found another use for my cooked quinoa. It’s a simple dish and a great way to clean out your fridge of all the little bits and pieces that would otherwise go to waste. Baked egg dishes are so easy and versatile and this one is a great example of that. The quinoa adds a pleasing texture and flavor to this and ups the protein and fiber content of this tasty breakfast. I will make these again, and again. Thanks for reading, enjoy!
Quinoa and Veggie Egg Bake – adapted from Edible Perspective
    • 5 TBSP cup cooked quinoa
    • 1/8t salt
    • black pepper
    • 1 egg + 1 egg white
    • baby spinach, chopped
    • 2 pieces roasted portobello caps (*leftover from this)
    • 4 grape tomatoes, quartered
    • 1 or 2 mini bell peppers, chopped fine
    • crumbled feta (optional, but yummy)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400* and lightly butter an 8 ounce ramekin. In a small bowl, whisk your egg and egg white. Mix in quinoa. Stir in salt, pepper, spinach, peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes until just combined. Pour into your ramekin and bake, uncovered for 20 – 25 minutes or until set. Serve with fresh fruit, enjoy!

Roasted Garlic Pesto Pizza

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This pizza was garlicky, oily and so tasty. It wasn’t “swimming” in oil, but it seeped through to the bottom crust which made it even more crispy, reminiscent of my favorite garlic bread. I meant to add grilled chicken to this, but last night was crazy and this morning my mind was somewhere else; so I completely forgot. Thankfully my disappointment only lasted a for a minute. I made up for the lack of chicken and added another layer of flavor by using sun dried tomatoes to the top of this which ended up being a perfect addition to this pizza. I had to stop myself from eating too much! I’m looking forward to these leftovers 😉 Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Roasted Garlic Pesto Pizza – Sugar Cooking

  • 1 – 10 ball of pizza dough 
  • 1/2 cup prepared pesto
  • 1 bulb of garlic
  • 5 sun dried tomatoes, sliced
  • 5 ounces Mozzarella cheese
  • Pecorino Romano cheese (grated over top)
  • Parmesan cheese (grated over top)
  • Red chili flakes

Directions:

1. To roast the garlic: Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact. Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic. Place the garlic heads in a baking pan; muffin pans work well for this purpose. Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed. Remove garlic gloves and smash with a fork.

2. Spread roasted garlic over pizza dough, then top with your pesto, mozzarella and the grated cheeses. Add your sun dried tomatoes and chili flakes then bake for 8 to 10 minutes in a 475 degree oven. I love using my pizza stone which always sits on the lowest level of my oven.

Tuscan Chicken Sandwich

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This sandwich was amazing – and I’m not ashamed to admit that! 😉 I was inspired by a sandwich that I love to order – something I have never done before. I like the idea of recreating and improving on a favorite meal and this was a successful first attempt. Thankfully the menu listed all ingredients that this sandwich requires so there was no guessing involved. I changed up some of the ingredients to accommodate what I had in my fridge. I didn’t make the ciabatta rolls at home, but these are bakery fresh and full of ingredients I can pronounce. I also didn’t make the cream cheese spread, but I bought it at my favorite specialty food market where they make so much on site. It’s a garlic and herb cheese spread that has cream cheese, basil, parsley and garlic – so it’s easy enough to make if you chose to. It’s basically a Boursin cheese spread, but I checked the ingredients on that and it’s not made with fresh herbs or garlic – pass! It’s not worth 5 plus dollars in my opinion…The basil pesto mayonnaise was super easy to make especially because I had about a cup of this pesto in my freezer.

Tuscan Chicken Sandwich – inspired by Common Grounds Cafe

For the marinade:

  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, pounded to an even thickness
  • 1 lemon, zested and juiced
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, smashed and roughly chopped
  • Italian seasoning
  • kosher salt
For the Sandwich:
  • basil mayo
  • garlic and herb cheese spread
  • sun dried tomatoes
  • salad greens or baby spinach
  • baby swiss
  • 4 ciabatta rolls, brushed lightly with olive oil for toasting on the grill
Directions:
1. Place your pounded chicken in a zip top bag. Mix all the marinade ingredients together and pour over top the chicken. Mush the bag to disperse the marinade, place the bag in a container and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
2. Preheat your grill to 350 – 400 degrees. Grill the chicken for 7 to 8 minutes a side and at about 5 minutes before the chicken is cooked through, toast your ciabatta rolls if desired. Take the rolls and the chicken off the grill and place a piece of baby swiss on each chicken breast (my slices are super thin so they melt quickly).
3. On one half of the roll, slather on a good amount of the garlic and herb cheese spread and place a piece of chicken on top. On top of the chicken, top with salad greens and sun dried tomatoes. Spread the pesto mayo on the top bun and place it on top of the sandwich – enjoy!