Recipe to Reality: Andean Quinoa Salad

Quinoa is one of my new favorite grains.

This fresh, light, healthy salad could double as a main dish or a side!

This recipe is adapted from Food & Wine Fast Magazine and is a great choice for a light dinner on a warm day.





Here's What You'll Need!

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tbs. lime juice
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
• 1 handful cilantro, chopped
• 1 minced chile pepper
• 1 scallion, minced

Put It All Together!

1) Rinse quinoa in running water and drain. Transfer to a medium saucepan and add 1 and a 1/2 cups of water and 1/2 tsp. of salt. Bring quinoa to a boil, lower heat to a simmer and cover until all the water has been absorbed and quinoa is tender but not mushy (about 17 minutes).

2) In a medium-large bowl, mix the oil with the lime juice. Add the bell peppers, cucumber, cilantro, chile, scallion, and quinoa. Toss and season with salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature or chilled. 

My husband was pleasantly surprised by the amount of flavor this salad packs. He was expecting it to taste like health food, but instead he really enjoyed the fresh flavors of the veggies with the nutty quinoa.

It was also much easier to go to the gym after eating this...as opposed to chili...lol!

Stay Savory,

Recipe to Reality: Chicken with Apricots, Ginger, and Sliced Almonds

My favorite types of foods are mostly one-pot comfort foods like pastas or rice dishes, but they aren't always the most healthy!

This recipe adapted from Food and Wine Fast was a delicious medley of savory and sweet!

My husband really gobbled this one down!

Here's What You'll Need!

• 1/4 cup of sliced almonds
• 2 tsp. unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup dried apricots
• 1 tbs. olive oil
• 3 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
• 1 scallion, chopped
• Zest of one lime
• 1 green chile, minced
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 tbs. maple syrup

Put it All Together!

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the almonds out evenly in a cake pan and bake for about 5 minutes or until browned. Set aside and let cool.

2) Melt the butter in a skillet and add the apricots. Cook over medium heat until browned, about 3 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.  

3) Add olive oil to skillet and heat up while seasoning chicken with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken over medium heat for about 3 minutes, then lower heat and flip breasts and cook for another 7 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate with the apricots. 

4) Add the ginger, scallions, lime zest, and chile to the skillet and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the wine to deglaze and simmer over medium heat, scraping all those yummy bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the maple syrup, apricots, chicken, and simmer until all heated through.

5) Top with cracked almonds and a side of green beans and you have a savory, sweet, and healthy treat!

I think my husband was a little skeptical when he heard I was mixing fruit with our protein, but he absolutely loved  this dish. We can't wait to have it again :)

Stay Savory,

Recipe to Reality: Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

This will satisfy your Tex-Mex craving!

   We've been living together for about 2 years now, I have cooked dinner for at least three nights a week since that time, and I still make it a point to glance at my husband's face after his first bite of a meal I've made. Am I fishing for compliments? ABSOLUTELY! I completely thrive on positive reinforcement (must be the teacher in me...)

   After my husband took a bite of this meal, he didn't say anything. I asked him what he thought and he said, "I think there's too much pepper. The ratio of pepper to filling is off." Dumbfounded, I responded with, "They are stuffed peppers!"

   Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed this meal, but veggies are my favorite food group. The roasted bell pepper that served as a tasty vessel for my delicious meaty filling was one of the best parts of my meal!

   The recipe I used as a guide came from Simply Love Food. The only detail that I changed was I opted to substitute bulgur wheat for the white rice suggested in the recipe. My mother-in-law actually introduced me to bulgur wheat, and for those of you not familiar with it, it's a quick cooking form of whole wheat. For some more information on bulgur wheat, check out this article from Sunnyland Mills. Ultimately, it's healthier than white rice, and while my husband would never voluntarily eat bulgur wheat, within this recipe it really acts as more of a binder and you can hardly taste it. Normally, it has a nutty taste, and has a bite similar to brown rice. It pairs great with dried cranberries and fresh herbs (which is how my mother-in-law makes it). 

   I would probably rate this meal at a medium difficulty due to the number of steps required. By the end, I had three things going on at once.

Halved & Seeded

   First I had to cut the peppers in half and seed them. I tried to clean out the ribs as much as possible since I needed all that room to stuff my filling into.

Halfway Roasted

   I rubbed a bit of olive oil over the peppers and roasted them at 400 degrees in a 9 x 13 Pyrex baking dish for about 20 minutes. While they were roasting, I made the bulgur wheat following directions I found here at Livestrong.

Bulgur after all water is absorbed

   So now picture peppers in a 400 degree oven, bulgur wheat working on the stovetop, and a third burner working on medium for my filling...and no A/C in the kitchen. Good thing I just got a cute, short, haircut!

   In a skillet I cooked down a large yellow onion for about 2 minutes until translucent, then added the ground turkey. Once the turkey was browned, I threw in a packet of taco seasoning with 3/4 cup of water and let the mixture cook down. Then I added about 3/4 of a cup of frozen corn, and the can of drained and rinsed black beans and let all the flavors mingle.

Filling Minus Salsa & Bulgur

Finally, I added the jar of mango-peach salsa (YUM!) and all the cooked bulgur wheat for my finished stuffing! 

   By this time, the peppers were ready to come out. I was a bit pressed for time, so I didn't wait for the peppers to cool so that I could handle them. Instead, I just stuffed them using a wooden spoon inside the pan I roasted them in. I put them back into the oven for 15 minutes, pulled them out to add a little Mexican seasoned shredded cheese on top and stuck them back in for 5 minutes to let the cheese melt.

Sauna Time!

When I finally pulled them out, I added a pinch of chopped cilantro on top and we're ready to eat!

Yum!

 I found the filling to be extremely tasty! The grounded turkey was hearty while still being lean, the corn gave some sweet notes, the cilantro a bit of freshness, and the pepper itself was extremely tender. I was happy with the bulgur because although I love it on its own, I cleverly placed some whole grain into my hubby's diet tonight!

I should warn you that we had 2 peppers left over, and a TON of filling... which is why I'm planning on making Southwestern Bulgur Quesadillas next week! ^_~

Hope you enjoy this!!

Stay Savory,

Jasmine

Recipe To Reality: Broccoli Shrimp Pasta Toss

Hola Sweethearts! Have you ever found yourself rushing home from a long, stressful day at work and wanting to prepare a quick and flavorful meal? This recipe is perfect for moms on the go or career women not wanting to sacrifice sacred time with family or friends for a time consuming meal. Since savory foods are more of Jasmines' forte, tonight I teamed up with my mother, Pattycake, to recreate this tasty dish she discovered about 3 months ago. To view the complete recipe by Natalie Van Viegen,   search for it on Allrecipes.com!

Ingredients ready to go!

As I mentioned previously, this is a simple dinner recipe-it only takes about 30 minutes total. Also, it is important in cooking to multitask-thus, boiling the water while you are preparing the actual broccoli mixture is crucial to carrying out the process in a timely manner. While making the recipe, I felt like the actual preparation of the various vegetables was most likely the part of the dish that was highly time consuming, as well as the actual cooking of the broccoli, onions, and garlic (about eight minutes).

Chopping veggies is easy with a food chopper!

Broccoli time!

To make the recipe our own, we added more of the ingredients than the recipe called for. That means a whole stick of butter compared to one tablespoon, as well as the use of fettuccine instead of bowtie pasta. I found that it was definitely important to stir the dish frequently to build up the flavor throughout the dish. The tasty medium of sweet and savory flavors in the dinner are really what makes it a new spin on traditional pasta recipes. 

The stirring definitely payed off-the broccoli was packed with a delicious blend of flavors. This is what makes this dish a great vegetable in disguise recipe, perfect for children and even picky adults who need a little bit of encouragement (Myself included). Although I did not taste the shrimp because of a traumatic experience a few years back, I have no doubt they were equally flavorful as well. As a rule of thumb, when the shrimp are pink they are safe to eat. 

Every chef needs a pre-meal snack!

There are two concerns I must voice about this dish. One- the broccoli seemed to disappear once the pasta was plated. The only explanation in my eyes was that the already small trees had become a little too tender and broken apart, coating the pasta. We had cut the vegetable smaller in order to cook it in a shorter amount of time. Two- Because we were waiting for my father to come home from work after we prepared the dish, it was left sitting out off the heat for a good 15 minutes or so. When it came time to eat, the pasta had definitely lost some of its flavor. That seems like the opposite of what should have happened-usually, when something is left to sit, the flavors intensify, but this was not the case for this recipe. All in all, though the dish brought up some complications, it is not doubt an easy answer that because of its simplicity and tasty flavors I will be making this colorful summer dinner again! Stay sweet, Candee

Sweet and Savory Originals: Strawberry Lemonade Pops

Good morning sweethearts! Today I'm introducing our new series Sweet and Savory Originals! Unlike Recipe to Reality, in this series we will be sharing delectable treats as well as meals that have came straight out of our heads and onto your plate! Today's sweet and tangy creations are strawberry lemonade pops! Inspired by McCafe's citrusy Frozen Strawberry Lemonade, these shivery delights are sure become a staple at family BBQ's. Plus, they take only TWO ingredients to make and some simple materials you can find just about anywhere for pennies!

You will need:

Strawberries (the amount depends on the size of the ice pop mold you have on hand)

Lemonade (as much as will fill the mold)

Ice pop mold

Knife

Cutting Board

Ready to go!

I purchased my mold at Christmas Tree Shops

1: After the strawberries have been washed, start cutting into circles. The amount that you will cut depends on the size of your molds, but for my rectangular one it took about a strawberry per pop, or about four medium slices.
2: Place half of desired amount of strawberries into the molds.
3: Pour lemonade into the molds. This tangy citrus drink can be freshly squeezed or from a 'just add water' packet, depending on your personal preference.
4: Place the remaining strawberries into the ice pops. Note: when you poured in the lemonade you may have notices your first strawberries floated
to the top. Now is the time to place all strawberries how you would like them as they probably will not float all over the place- this is because of the volume of strawberries in the mold.

 5: Place molds in freezer overnight or for about 12 hours.For an explanation on taking them out of their molds to be enjoyed please watch the video below.

And wa-la! These delectable frozen treats were super simple and easy to make- and they're versatile too! Enjoy them for breakfast, an after workout snack, or as a healthy dessert! The flavor of the lemonade is definitely there as well as a hint of strawberry. These ice pops are no doubt visually appealing as well-because the lemonade is translucent, it is easy to see the strawberry slices throughout. This tasty snack looks like it could have came out of Food Network Magazine! It is also perfect for any girly girl as well. The fruits emitted a red juice, turning the lemonade pink!

Stay sweet, Candee