A couple of Green Smoothies I love

Strawberry Cilantro

3 cups spinach (or other mild dark leafy green)
3/4 cup almond milk
10 strawberries
1/2 bunch cilantro.
1 stalk celery

Blend until Smooth, add some ice to cool it down if it gets hot in the blender

Greena-Colada

1 head Romaine
1 cup pineapple
1 cup coconut milk (I used coconut dream)
1 medium banana
1 stalk celery

blend until creamy and delicious. I used fresh frozen pineapple this time.

Again With the Quinoa... I just can't help it!

I found this recipe on the web here. I of course, took a few small liberties with it, though it's pretty close to the original.

Sweet and Savory Summer Quinoa Salad

Yeilds: 6 servings
302 calories each

• 2 teaspoons chicken base
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/4 cups quinoa
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 8 oz boneless, raw, without skin chicken breast
• Real Salt Seasoning salt to flavor the chicken
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1 diced red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup peas
• 2 roma tomatoes cut into 16 chunks 
• 1/4 cup raisins
• Real Salt (to taste)
• garlic powder ( to taste)

Start by soaking the quinoa for 5 minutes then rinsing well.* Next, disolve the chicken base in the water (or just use 2 cups of broth if you have it, could also use vegetable broth/base). Add the quinoa, and the olive oil and cook until all liquid is dissolved. In the meantime grill the chicken breast seasoned with the seasoning salt. (I used my George Forman Grill) Place the mushrooms, bell pepper, and peas in a non stick pan with a light spraying of olive oil (you really need a Misto!)  and saute until the mushrooms begin to wilt. add the tomato and raisins with a little bit of water, and cook until warmed through. Dice up the chicken breast and add all ingredients together, Mix well. Garnish as you'd like. I used parsley and cucumbers to complete the dish.

*I typically don't rinse or soak my quinoa, but this recipe called for it, so I dutifully did. :)

Raw? Yes, RAW.

Tomato Soup seemed like a nice leap. I've been doing green smoothies in the mornings, or whenever, really. I started thinking it would be nice to branch out into some other arenas, and since we're getting closer to gardening time, I am celebrating with this raw tomato soup... getting ready for when I'm able to harvest my very own. Of course I'm eating this soup at room temperature, to preserve the "raw" nature. But you could easily heat/cook it if you chose. I think it would alter the flavor.

Raw Tomato Soup
1 serving
83 calories, 8 calories from fat


1 lb tomatoes quartered
1 oz green bell pepper
4 basil leaves
1 sprig oregano
1 clove garlic
onion salt to taste

blend until smooth. it takes on a creamy look.  I also think it would be lovely with maybe a teaspoon of olive oil added... I may try that next time. totally delicious!

If you're lucky enough to have a Vitamix or Blentec blender I'm jealous, you'll be able to get this to a nice smooth consistency.
black pepper to taste

Now I've done it, I started eating tofu... and I liked it!

This is a quick and easy breakfast scramble, you can use any veggies you want, this is just what I had on hand. The texture of the firm tofu is very very similar to scrambled eggs.

Tofu Scramble
2 servings
138 calories 24 from fat
8.5 grams protein

• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1/2 small onion chopped
• 1 stalk celery chopped
• 1 small zucchini, cut in small cubes
• 1 oz yellow pepper, cut in small cubes
• 1 small (about 4 oz) sweet potato, small cubes
• 6 oz firm silken tofu crumbled
• 1 medium whole tomato wedged

In a cast iron skillet sprayed with your favorite non stick spray ( I use olive oil in a Misto spray can, no nasty propellants, just oil and air) saute the garlic onions celery and pepper. add the sweet potato and zucchini, cook until potatoes are tender. add the crumbled tofu and cook until heated through and just starting to brown. garnish with 1/2 tomato cut into wedges.

a note on protein. tofu is an excellent source of protein, so are eggs. one whole egg contains 6.25 grams of protein. so if I'd used 2 eggs and 2 egg whites in this recipe there would have been 10 grams of protein per serving, and the calories would have increased to 178 per serving. So either way you go, it's still a healthy nutritious breakfast, it just depends on if you are eating animal protein or not.

Enjoy!

xoxoxo

Alisha

Dessert Please

I got the original recipe for this out of this months Rachael Ray Magazine. You can find it here I only made a couple of modifications. Also When I made it my intention was to use honey instead of the brown sugar in the batter, but I completely left it out. The result was a NOT sweet batter, but it still worked. I'll list the recipe as though I'd added the honey, and you can decide from there. :)

Pineapple Upside Down Corn Cake
16 servings
105 calories 21 from fat

• 2 tbsps butter
• 1/2 pineapple, quartered, cored, and cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 3 Tbs. packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsps baking powder
• 3/4 cup stone ground whole grain cornmeal
• 3/4 cup flour

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a 9-inch cast-iron skillet, heat 1 tablespoon butter and 3 tablespoons brown sugar over medium heat, stirring, until melted. Add the pineapple and cook until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Arrange the pineapple decoratively in the pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, combine the applesauce, remaining tablespoon of butter, and the honey. Beat in the eggs. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, add the applesauce mixture and stir just until incorporated. Spread the batter gently and evenly on top of the pineapple in the skillet. Bake until springy to the touch, about 20 minutes. Let cool slightly, loosen the cake from the pan and invert onto a platter.

Strange Bedfellows

I would never in a million years have thought to combine lentils with simmered fruit, onions and garlic. Even typing it here it doesn't sound good. Trust me, it's delicious. I have a whole room full of co-workers who will say the same thing.
I got the recipe idea from my great big book of everything vegetarian (again) and then switched out some ingredients to make it my own. (again)

Fruity Lentils

4 servings 256 calories 38 from fat.

these are about 1.5 cup servings, so if you wanted to downsize the portions to 1 cup, and get 6 servings, you'd have 171 calorie servings.

• 2/3 cup lentils
• 4 cups water
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium apple, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 pineapple, coarsely chopped
• 3 plum tomatoes, diced
• 1 medium (almost ripe) banana, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt

Place the lentils (you can use green lentils, or pinto beans too) and water in a pan, bring to a boil reduce heat and simmer about 40 minutes, don't let the lentils get mushy. Drain lentils, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, heat the coconut oil (recipe called for double the amount of vegetable oil, but I didn't see the need, and coconut oil tastes so much better) add the onion and garlic and cook until just starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the apple and cook until golden.  add the pineapple and cook until warmed through, Stir in the lentils, add some of the cooking liquid if it seems too thick. Add the tomatoes and banana, stirring to combine the flavors. Season to taste with the cayenne and salt. The measurements I used were approximate. Garnish it with some fresh cilantro, and serve warm.

Go ahead, try it...

Alisha xoxoxo

PASTA!

I found myself CRAVING bread and cheese today. I almost broke down and bought a pizza. I made this instead. I found it in my great big book of everything vegetarian, and then tweaked it my way of course. The basil makes it really fragrant, and utterly irresistible!

Green Pesto with Whole Wheat Penne
4 servings
174 calories 16 calories from fat

• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 3 1/2 cups pieces or slices mushrooms
• 1 bunch asparagus cut in 2 inch strips
• 10 oz green beans cut in 2 inch pieces
• 1 cup whole wheat penne
• 1/4 cup nonfat greek yogurt
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbs shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup fresh basil
• 2 Tbs. water
• salt and pepper

Place the chicken stock and mushrooms in a small saucepan, bring to a boil and cook for about 3 minutes, drain off the liquid and set aside. You can keep the liquid for a soup or something later if you wanted.

In a separate pot, bring the green beans and asparagus to a boil and cook for 3-4 minutes, until crisp tender, drain and set aside.

To make the pesto combine the basil, garlic, yogurt and parmesan in a blender or food processor and pulse to desired consistency. Add the water a little at a time to get the consistency you want. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook the penne to desired consistency, drain and combine all ingredients tossing with the pesto. Garnish with more basil and parmesan.

I also cooked a chicken breast to go with this, because I have to have my protein. Some other good additions would be fresh chopped tomatoes, or some shrimp would be nice too!

Enjoy

Alisha xoxoxo