Posts tagged ‘Zucchini’

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May 18, 2011

Refueling, Refrigerator-Purge

I recently purchased wheat berries and amaranth grain on a whim after seeing them used in a variety of ways on some of my favorite foodie blogs. Since finding them in the health section of my local Stop & Shop, the grains have been sitting, untouched in my cupboard begging me to incorporate them in a dish. After returning home from a taxing upper body workout at the gym this evening (which had followed a 7 1/2 hour shift), I was in dire need of some fuel, so threw together this “garbage” meal…aka use up the produce in the fridge and try out some new ingredients in the process. Success on all levels: quite filling, energizing, nourishing and tasty! Jane and Steve (my parents) approved. So did my belly.

Ingredients
1/2 cup amaranth grain
1/2 cup hard red wheat berries
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cups water
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can chickpeas
1 can navy beans
1/2 cup onions (I used half red, half white)
Veggies of your choice (I used broccoli, spinach, zucchini and carrots)
Olive oil, fresh lemon juice and apple cider vinegar
Red pepper flakes, freshly ground pepper and sea salt to taste 

Start by preparing the grains. (FYI: the wheat berries can take around an hour to cook so make sure you get these on the stove before anything else).

In a medium-sized sauce pan, bring chicken broth to a boil. Add in the wheat berries, cover and let simmer until the wheat berries are tender. In a smaller sauce pan, bring water to a boil before adding in the amaranth grain, which takes 18-20 minutes to cook. 

While the grains get going on the stove, open the cans of beans. Thoroughly rinse and drain them both.

Next, choose vegetables of your liking, or whatever ingredients you want to get out of your fridge, and dice up. My dad mentioned shrimp would have been great in this dish. Duly noted, father. Thanks, although I hate shrimpies. Something about the texture freaks me out…

Anywho, like I have said, I was trying to use up a lot of produce in the refrigerator so took advantage of the onions leftover from last night’s dinner. My dad pitched in by chopping these up (as well as the other veggies pictured above) while I tended to the grains. Look how pretty he made it for me! Can you tell he worked in the restaurant business for 25 years? Perfection.


Onto the stir-frying portion. Lightly drizzle olive oil into the bottom of a large pan over medium heat and sauté veggies of your choice. Season with red pepper flakes.

Add in the beans…

And once the grains are tender and drained, add them to the mix. I squeezed half a lemon and added a splash of apple cider vinegar for some more flava. Before serving, season with freshly ground pepper and a pinch of sea salt.

Yum, yum, yum. How fabulous is that close-up? Talk about refueling the tank…this dish does the trick! Plus kept me satisfied for the rest of the night. Don’t-cha just love when that happens? I’m pumped for leftovers tomorrow.

What refuels you?

Sprinkled with Love,
Lauren 

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February 24, 2011

Protein-Powered Acorn Squash

It’s funny how your body just knows when you haven’t been eating right. Ever since I got back from a leadership conference I attended last weekend in Hartford, I haven’t been able to get my mind off vegetables. I have been craving them! At the grocery store the other day, I spent the majority of my time in the produce area, grabbing any green item I could get my hands on. I didn’t have a list of any kind, nor a remote plan of what I was going to make this week (like I normally do), so I was a bit aloof with my shopping. What did I end up with? Some staples like eggs, soy milk, cereal, tofu, etc., random items like acorn squash (which I have never tried before this recipe) and quinoa, then came my vegetable craze which included zucchini, spinach, asparagus, broccoli and a green pepper. Just what every typical college kid gets at the grocery store…Anyway, I needed to get my mind off midterms so decided to create something with the wide assortment of my arbitrary purchases and came up with my very own Quinoa, Veggie and Tofu Stuffed Acorn Squash. Filling, healthy, covered all the food groups and quite tasty if I do say so myself!

Ingredients
1 acorn squash
1/2 cup zucchini
1/2 block tofu, cubed
1/2 cup great northern beans, rinsed
1 cup dry quinoa
3 cloves garlic
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped almonds
Handful of spinach
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt, ground pepper and parmesan cheese

Cut the acorn squash in half, stem to bottom. Scoop out the seeds. Place cut side up in baking pan, with about 1/4 inch of water in the bottom so the squash doesn’t dry out. Add a small amount of butter to each half (I used Smart Butter’s Omega-3 Light Buttery Spread, seen here). Cook for 45 minutes to an hour, or until lightly browned, at 400°F.

While that bakes, get started on the quinoa filling. Cook the quinoa (as instructed here). For more flavor, I cooked it in low-sodium chicken broth instead of water!

Cut up the zucchini.

Chop the almonds and garlic. Pour the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.

Add in the garlic and sauté the spinach until wilted.

Add in the quinoa, zucchini, almonds, beans…

…and tofu, which I had already pre-cooked the day before, to the frying pan. Add a little left over chicken broth for flavor over low heat while you wait for the squash to be done.

Spoon the quinoa mixture into the squash. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper before returning to the oven. Bake for 5-10 minutes more, until cheese melts and quinoa gets crispy.

And there you have it! My creative, healthy Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash! You have your legumes, nuts, carbohydrates, vegetables and dairy all in there…plus it was delicious! Next time I will definitely sauté onions in with the spinach for some extra flavor, although I do have to note that the sweetness of the acorn squash is delightful with the light and fluffy quinoa/veggie mixture. The occasional crunch from the almonds also made this a dish I will be recreating in the near future. I gave myself a pat on the back for this one! Try this recipe out with your favorite mix-ins and veggies!

Sprinkled with Love,
Lauren

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January 6, 2011

Whole-Wheat Margherita Pizza

Whether you prefer thick crust or thin brick oven style, pizza is an universal comfort food everyone loves and craves. It is simply good for the soul! Instead of caving in to a greasy take-out slice last night, I decided to create my own healthy pie by combining a few different recipes and piling on the veggies. No need to feel guilty nor break your New Year resolutions just yet. This low-fat recipe allows you to go for seconds without remorse. Win, win!

Eating Well’s Whole-Wheat Dough
Ingredients
(Yields 1 lb.)
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar OR I substituted 1 teaspoon honey
3/4 cup hot water
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Flaxseeds (My healthy addition, optional)


Sprinkled with Love’s Margherita Pizza
Ingredients
3 large tomatoes
1/2 yellow summer squash
1/2 zucchini
7 oz. bag of Kraft Mozzarella Fat Free Shredded Cheese
2 garlic cloves
Extra-virgin olive oil (1/2 teaspoon to brush on crust, 1 tablespoon to top pizza)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Begin by preheating the oven to 400°F. Let’s start with the dough: Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, yeast, salt and honey. Mix together with food processor or mixer (I am a poor college kid so used a hand mixer…) Combine hot water and oil in a measuring cup and gradually pour into the mixture, with the motor running. If it is too dry, add one to two tablespoons of water.

Transfer the dough onto a floured surface and knead into a ball. Coat a sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray and place spray-side down over the dough. Let rest for 20 minutes before rolling.

Roll the dough out to desired thickness. I personally like mine thin! Place dough on pizza stone or baking sheet and sprinkle with flaxseeds. Pop it in the oven for 8 minutes before topping it!

To save time, while your pie crust is baking, prepare the balsamic vinegar/olive oil (whisk together) and salt/pepper. Chop garlic and basil, as well.

Slice up your desired toppings and basil. I added the zucchini and summer squash for color! Once the crust is done, drizzle olive oil and sprinkle the garlic over the flaxseeds. Arrange tomato, zucchini and squash slices leaving 1/2 inch border.

To finish it off, add the cheese! Bake for 12 minutes or until the cheese has fully melted. Once done, sprinkle pizza evenly with salt, pepper and sliced basil. Drizzle the vinegar mixture evenly over the pizza.

It doesn’t get much better than that! Absolutely scrumptious.

Sprinkled with Love,
Lauren

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October 5, 2010

Stir-Fricken Awesome

The other night I went to the grocery store hungry. Terrible idea. What did I buy, you ask? A random assortment of veggies (I’m trying to get back into my healthy diet and work-out regimen now that Homecoming is over,) soba noodles, extra-firm tofu, among other things. By the time I got home, not as hungry after snacking on sweet, red seedless grapes during my car ride home, I decided I was in the mood for something salty. After putting two-and-two together, I came to the conclusion that an Asian-inspired stir fry would do the trick. DUH! Of course I should have planned more effectively and looked up recipes PRIOR to my Big Y spree, but that wasn’t the case so I had to make due with what I had just purchased. Consequently, I kind of wung-it for this post and created my own dish comparing different recipes and reviews. Let me just say, it was quite the success and I’m super proud of myself. Not to toot my own horn but Taylor, wide-eyed and jaw dropped, said, “this is the hands down the best thing you’ve ever made.” Thanks, Tay-Tay. Let me explain my little concoction:

Ingredients:

1 box of buckwheat soba noodles (about 12 oz.)
Extra firm tofu, cut into bite-sized cubes: I used the entire Nasoya Organic container because I anticipated left-overs
Veggies of your choice (I used peppers, zucchini, shredded carrots and snow peas)
1 cup sprouts (any kind, I used mung)
1 big clove garlic, finely chopped or minced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
 3 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon ginger (optional)

Future reference: I would add sesame seeds for crunch and 1 teaspoon of garlic chili sauce or some kind of chili powder. I just didn’t have any!

Before I forget I want to give a shout out to inspirational sites
(I kind of combined these recipes and excluded/substituted things I didn’t have)

FitSugar.com
Yasmeen Health-Nut blog
Epicurious

Instructions:

To start out, cook soba noodles for about 10 minutes.

Heat sesame oil in large skillet over medium high heat and cook tofu cubes.

Cut up vegetables and chop garlic.

Sauté veggies (minus the sprouts,) garlic and ginger until they are cooked to your preference (I still like them a bit al dente.)

Create the sauce! Whisk together the peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce and chili powder or sauce (which I didn’t have, but wish I did because it would have benefitted with a kick!)

Add everything together to pan (noodles, tofu and sauce.)

Toss and cook evenly. Prior to serving, add in the bean sprouts!

Finally, drum roll please…EATTTTT!

This was an awesome, filling (and healthy, per usual) meal and I highly recommend you experiment a bit, too! Try different veggies, substitute chicken if you’re not a tofu fan, etc. Let me know how it goes.


Sprinkled with Love,

Lauren

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September 16, 2010

Shuck it!

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood! 116 came over to our place (143) for a first official family dinner to kick off the school year and celebrate Ian’s birthday. My roommates and I cooked…actually to clarify: Al, Taylor and I cooked, while Gianna cleaned our condo (a task equally as taxing and necessary when having guests over obv.)

On the Menu: Grilled Corn, veggie shish kabobs and BBQ chicken

As you can see, we wanted to fully take advantage of the last few weeks of summer cuisine. How cute is Gianna’s grill!?! At home, my dad is usually the grill-master, but I gave myself the challenging job of gettin’ my grill on and honestly have to give myself a pat on the back. (I texted my dad a picture of the meal after it was complete, even he was impressed.)


Tip: If you want to cook corn on the cob in the husks, soak them for about 15 minutes prior to throwing them on the grill and snip off the excess husk and silk pieces. This provides extra moisture for cooking! (I once learned this hard way, dry corn = not tasty.) Place the corn on the grill’s grate and cover for about 15 minutes, turning them every once in a while for equal cooking.


Taylor was kind enough to cut up our veggies. I’ve been on a bit of a zucchini kick lately so we speared green zucchini, as well as red bell peppers, mushrooms and onions onto metal sticks. Taylor had a nice pattern going on the kabobs (you can tell she’s an art major.)

After brushing on some olive oil, I lightly seasoning it with some awesome Olde Thompson California Garlic & Sea Salt (I’m obsessed with this stuff. A must buy!)

Voilà! So now onto the BBQ chicken. I’m a big fan of Perdue’s Fit & Easy Breast Tenderloins because most of the nasty schtuff is already cut out! In other words, there’s a lot less hassle when it comes to trimming off fat…well, you know what I mean. I’m not getting into it. Gross.

+

= heavenly

Usually I would make a homemade sauce, but we were in a bit of a time crunch so I quickly marinaded the chicken with the Jack Daniel’s Original BBQ sauce we had in the fridge (we love BBQ in 143,) then threw the little chickies on the grill.


Although it wasn’t a difficult meal to create, it was a solid, first family dinner and safe blog post to start off my semester with. I will get more creative, I promise! Just to make a note of this, though, grilling veggies like the corn and kabobs mixes things up a bit. I know that, personally, I get sick of the same old, steamed vegetable side dishes! So next time, throw them on the grill and let me know what ya think.

Happy, hungry kids

Sprinkled with Love,
Lauren

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