Pesto Zucchini Noodles

I adapted this recipe from the Whole 30 recipe book. I am obsessed with my new Spiralizer! We are making noodles out of all kinds of vegetables!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup raw pine nuts
1/4 cup walnuts
7-10 organic basil leaves
2 handfuls of organic spinach
3 cloves of garlic
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1-2 zucchini spiralized
grape tomatoes sliced (as many as you like)

Directions:

For the Pesto: Heat a dry skillet to med-high heat. Add walnuts and pine nuts and toast for 3-5 mins. Add to a food processor, pulse until ground. Add the garlic and pulse to combine. Add the basil and spinach and pulse until chopped. Add the lemon juice and pulse to combine. Keep the processor on as you drizzle in the olive oil. Finally add salt and pepper to taste, pulse a few more times. (This makes about a 1.5 cups)

Spiralize a large zucchini and put in a bowl. Add a few spoonfuls of the pesto to the "zoodles" and stir to combine, add more pesto to suit your tastes. Toss in grape tomatoes and serve.
Options would be to top this with Parmesan cheese, grilled chicken, steak or fish. Enjoy!

Mexican Spring Salad

I'm sure anyone who used to follow this blog is certain that I had fallen off the face of the recipe earth! I have been so busy with yoga and my kids that getting dinner on the table has been quite the challenge. I have created several new recipes however getting the pictures and writing down the details have been another story.

This salad tonight was too good not to share and since I took the picture with my iphone....well here goes...

Ingredients:
1/2 English Cucumber, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 jicama, peeled and diced
2 ears of corn, kernels removed
1 T fresh cilantro
2 T red onion, minced onion
3 T feta cheese
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and gently stir. Enjoy!

Tangy Italian Beef

I saw this recipe in the new Cooking Light magazine. I tried it today and it was so good! Of course I didn't follow the directions exactly but what I did worked great, so below is my version.

Ingredients:
Chuck Roast 3-4lbs (I buy the Publix Greenwise beef)
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 T onion powder
1 T garlic powder
1/2 paprika
salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
1/2 jar of whole pepperoncini peppers and the juice (good quality)
2 T olive oil

Directions:
Into the crock pot add the vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, peppers with juice, salt and pepper and turn to low. Heat a skillet and add the olive oil. Season the meat with salt and pepper and light sprinkle with onion power. When the oil is hot add the meat, sear both sides about 4-5 min per side, until a nice crust forms. Add the meat to the crock pot and cover. Cook on low for 7-8 hours. When the meat is fork tender the meat is done.

This the vinegar, pepper and spices waiting for the yummy seared beef.

Seared beef ready to be slow cooked.

After 8 hours in the slow cooker this yummy piece of beef is ready to be shredded and eaten! (just ignore the little whole in the center, I had to taste it :)

I served this two ways. For my husband and kids I bought small dinner rolls (the one from the Publix Bakery) we put mayo on them then the meat, a slice of provolone cheese, topped with banana peppers and they were delicious! The tangy sauce left over from the meat was delicious to dip in, it reminded me of a french dip sauce but with so much flavor! We had it with fresh veggies and sweet potato fries.
I ate the shredded meat over a large green salad, topped with tomatoes, cucumbers, banana peppers and drizzled the tangy sauce on top. It was so good I had to post it tonight!

Hope you all enjoy this as much as we did!

Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

I wasn't planning to blog this, (which is why I only have 1 picture, but this was too good and simple not to share) I am always nervous about making a stir fry because I think the meat is usually tough. Today I went to Publix and ask the butcher for a piece of grass-fed "greenwise" organic beef sirloin. I brought the meat home and sliced it in half-lengthwise then cut the meat against the grain into very thin slices. This was key to very tender beef in the stir fry tonight! It has taken many times but I am sure this helps, when the meat slices are too large they are just tough and chewy which don't make for good eats.

Ingredients:
1 lb sirloin steak (preferably grass fed, hormone free), sliced thin
1 t cornstarch
3 T soy sauce (I use Tamari, gluten free)
1 T canola oil
1-2 cups fresh broccoli florets
1 cup carrots, sliced thin
1 small onion, sliced thin
4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
1-2 t honey (local if possible)

Sauce:
3 T Soy sauce (GF)
2 t cornstarch
2 t brown sugar
2 T water

Directions:
Whisk 3 T of soy sauce and 1 t of cornstarch in a large bowl, add sliced beef and gently toss to combine.  Whisk the ingredients for the sauce together and set aside. Heat a wok to high, add the canola oil once hot, add beef, discard marinade. Cook beef for 3-4 minutes then remove from heat and set aside. To the hot wok add the broccoli, carrots, onions, and garlic and stir fry for 3-4 minutes, adding the sauce in the last minute. Finally add the beef back to the wok stir to combine. Lightly drizzle honey over the top. Serve over brown rice.

Vegetable Chicken Salad

I have been very absent for a while now and I apologize. Between the yoga studio and kids and sports I am hardly cooking! Oh and the fact that we got the Big Green Egg and now my hubby is making all kinds of yummies for us! I will get back on it this winter for sure!

Anyhow this is totally a stolen recipe, from Trader Joes, I was in there a couple weeks ago and they were sampling this and it was way too good and easy not share!

Ingredients:
1/2 package or 2 cups of Trader Joe's Healthy 8 Veggie Mix
2 cups chicken breast, diced very small
1/3 cup mayo (I use the real thing...it's just so much better)
Siracha Hot Sauce, to taste

Directions:
Mix all together and serve! Wow that was hard right???
It is so good!!!

*If you don't have a Trader Joe's near you, you can cut up the veggies your self it includes, red cabbage, green cabbage, jicama, broccoli,green bell pepper, radish, carrots and celery.

 

WW Friends: This dish serves 6 and each serving has 4 points! It is so crunchy and delicious!

Greek Chickpea Salad

This is a simple summer salad that is super delicious and super easy. I love making it on a Monday and snacking on it all week!

Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup natural black olives
1 cup tomatoes, diced
1/2 English cucumber, chopped
3-4 T fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 red onion, diced
1/4 cup feta cheese
1 t olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
Salt and Pepper to taste


Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a serving dish and refrigerate for 1 hour. So easy and so delicious!

Shrimp with Fresh Corn and Tomatoes

I have been a bad bad blogger lately. I have been so busy with kids, yoga, summer, swim team, house renovations... honestly the list goes on and on! The other big thing that has had me cooking less is I gave my husband a Big Green Egg for Father's Day this year and he has been making some great stuff which has really reduced my time in the kitchen. I must admit it has been quite nice. Don't get me wrong, I love to cook but it is really nice to share the job sometimes!

My summer veggies from my garden are great this year! I have so many grape tomatoes that I am going to be eating them for a while and I need lots of recipes to use them up. Today, as I was thinking about a recipe to use these tomatoes, I remembered that we used to eat at this restaurant at North Point Mall years ago and I think it was called Mick's but I'm not completely sure about that. It was on the bottom level near the parking deck as you enter the mall. They had a dish called Corn and Tomato Linguine that was out of this world! My mom and I used to make it all the time. Even though I don't eat pasta anymore I still think about this dish. It is garlicky and flavorful and oh so good! So I decided to put my own twist on the corn and tomato linguine without the pasta today and this is what I came up with...it was pretty good!

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 ears of corn, grilled then removed from cob
2 cups grape tomatoes, sliced
1/2 cup Vidalia onion, diced
2 T shallots, diced
4-6 cloves garlic, sliced
2 T fresh chopped parsley
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 T olive oil
2 T butter
1-2 t kosher salt, to taste
Paprika to taste
fresh cracked pepper
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese to taste

Directions:
Heat a nonstick skillet over high heat. Add 1 T olive oil and 1 T butter. Once they begin to bubble add your shrimp season with salt and pepper and a few shakes of paprika. Saute until the shrimp is cooked through. Remove shrimp and set on plate.

Add remaining butter and olive oil then add onion, shallots and garlic. Saute for 3-5 minutes or until the onion is translucent. Next turn the heat to high and add the chicken stock and bring to boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 4 minutes.

Next, add the corn, combine well then add the tomatoes, cook for 1-2 minutes then add the shrimp back to the dish. Finally, add the parsley stir to combine then remove from pan and serve. Taste for flavor, you may need to add more salt here. Then top with fresh grated Parmesan and serve hot.

First we grilled our corn on the Big Green Egg

Then I prepped all my veggies

And prepped our local shrimp.

Ready for the shrimp, parsley and parmesan.

My hubby is stealing a bite as I am taking pics!

Asian Sesame Chicken Salad

This a a great dinner or lunch salad. I made it a few weeks ago and it was too good not to share. Nothing crazy out of the ordinary just really good! I use the dressing from Trader Joe's and usually mix it with a little soy sauce because it's a little too sweet for me. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
4 cups romaine, chopped
4 cups cole slaw mix
1 cup edamame
1 cup sliced red bell pepper
1 cup sliced cucumbers
1/4 of red onion, sliced
1 lb grilled chicken breast
Asian Style Vinaigrette (amount to taste)
1/4 cup crunchy Chinese noodles

Directions:

Marinate the chicken in a bag with the Asian Vinaigrette for at least 30 minutes but could be as long as 8 hours. I use one from Trader Joe's that I like. Arrange the lettuce and vegetables in a large salad bowl, lettuce, cabbage, bell pepper, edamame, cucumbers  and top with onion slices. Grill or saute the chicken then slice and add to the top of the salad. Toss with 4 tablespoons of dressing then top with crunchy Chinese noodles.

Weight Watcher Friends: This salad serves 4 and has 5 Points Plus before you add the dressing.