Orzo Topped with Greek Style Roasted Veggies and Feta

Another day, another roasted veggie recipe! It really does make things easier with a little one around. Once everything is in the pan, I can just toss it in the oven and forget about it for the next 25 minutes - no stirring, mixing, or flipping required! Plus I can roast more than I need and reheat throughout the week when I'm feeling tired and not at all like cooking.

Honestly, I'm always surprised by how good it turns out as well. I don't have to do a dang thing to it, and there it is all steamy and aromatic, caramelized bits hiding on the bottom, and veggies that just want to melt in your mouth. Plus there are just about a million different flavor combos you can throw together. This time I opted for a Greek twist with the feta, red onion, and oregano. I paired it with orzo, which I've never actually made before (I know that seems unbelievable considering how much I love pasta) and topped it with a little extra feta. As we say in my house, "it's always betta with feta." Or, in this case, "it's always betta with extra feta."

Cauliflower Poppers 3 Ways: Buffalo, Honey BBQ, & Cheesy Jalapeño

Ah, the super bowl. The best snack-eating, commercial-watching, couch-potato-ing day of the year! Oh yeah, and the football too. I'm not a huge sports fan, if you couldn't tell, but I mean no disrespect. There absolutely is something electric about game day that draws even the non sports-watchers in. For me, there is a certain level of excitement and camaraderie about it that I miss from watching games with my dad growing up. If nothing else, it's fun to hang out with good friends, eat yummy snacks, and pretend to be part of the sports community for a day. This year I'll be eating these delicious cauliflower poppers and rooting for whichever team my dad is rooting for - it's my little nod to him - love you, dad! I hope you'll give these a try and let me know what you think!

Winter Fruit and Nut Oatmeal

I don't know about where you are right now, but it's definitely oatmeal whether in my neck of the woods - cold and stormy, with seemingly no end in sight. And while the rain pours down and the wind whips through the trees, all I want to do is curl up on the couch with a blanket and a hot cup of tea, and watch movies all day. Of course, my almost-four-month-old has other ideas. No leisurely watching movies and lounging around for this tired mommy. But I am still in need of a little cozy, so that's where the oatmeal fits in.

I've always been a huge fan of oatmeal, especially during the cold winter months, and there are so many things you can do with it. I love to add fruit like apples, bananas, and berries; different kinds of nuts; and sometimes I'll toss in flax or chia seeds. It always makes me feel really healthy and fueled for the day. I call this particular concoction my "forage porridge" because it stemmed from literally throwing into the pot what I could find left over in the fruit drawer. I had never put pears in oatmeal before, but it was so good, and now I don't like to make it without them. Depending on how long you cook it, the pear kind of becomes one with the oatmeal and adds a great consistency, along with adding a lot of volume to really fill you up.

Roasted Yams & Orange Slices with Ginger, Garlic, and Honey

I've been mentally chewing on this recipe for a while now. I knew I wanted to do something with yams and oranges ever since my mom told me that she secretly adds a splash of orange juice to her candied yams at Thanksgiving - sorry for spilling the beans, mom! Her candied yams are usually the highlight of the Thanksgiving meal for me, so I knew it would be a winning combo from the start. What I didn't know was what the heck else to add. I bought the yams and oranges and watched as they sat in sadness day after day until finally I knew I needed to use them or lose them. In the end I decided to add ginger and garlic to spice things up a bit, and drizzled the whole thing with honey to kick up the natural sweetness of the yams and oranges. It turned out looking gorgeous and tasting even better. The sweet caramelization of the yams and honey mixed with pungent orange, ginger, and garlic flavors were spot on. Next time I might try adding some red pepper flakes for a bit of heat, or some cardamom for another layer of spice, or maybe I'll just leave it as is. It was pretty darn good.

Pesto and Red Pepper Hummus

Yummmm!!! I am such a sucker for a good hummus recipe. I made this to go with my last post: Roasted Tomato Crostini with Pesto and Red Pepper Hummus. It turned out so good, and we had lots of leftovers for snacking the next day. Check out the recipe below!

Avocado & Chickpea Salad Pita with Cilantro & Lime

I don't know about you, but I practically live on Pinterest these days. DIY projects I'll never get around to, decorating ideas for my future mansion, fashion I could definitely wear if I just lost a few pounds, you name it! I mean, have you seen my Pinterest boards?? I'm pretty sure I'm a pin hoarder at this point...I might need an intervention. My favorite thing, though, is perusing all of the delicious looking recipes out there (these, at least, are within my grasp!). There are so many vegetarian and vegan recipes to try out, and lots of recipes that seem like they could easily be adapted to fit a vegetarian lifestyle. It definitely sets the wheels turning on Sunday afternoons when I'm planning out my meals for the rest of the week, especially when I feel like I've been stuck in a food rut...which is pretty much always.

One thing I've noticed a ton of in my searches lately is garbanzo bean salads. There are so many different kinds out there! And you can make them with just about anything your heart desires, which makes them great for last minute dinners or lunches when you're trying to figure out what the heck to do with the random ingredients in your fridge. I decided to throw in some of my favorite ingredients, like avocado, tomato, lime (I'm addicted to limes right now), and cilantro and came up with this yummy version, which I promptly stuffed into a whole wheat pita. This is a super versatile recipe and you could really add anything you like and have it turn out great. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Chicken-Less Orange Chicken Wraps

I'm just going to be honest here; I came thiiiiis close to pouring a bowl of cereal tonight and calling it a day, but I convinced myself, despite feeling totally exhausted, that I could make something relatively healthy and tasty in a short amount of time. My internal conversation went something like this:

"You know, I think I'll feel much better if I make a healthy meal tonight. I'm sure I could throw something together really quickly if I wanted to."

"No."

"But I already have all the stuff I need. It really won't take that long."

 "Noooooooo!"

"I even have that orange 'chicken' I can use."

 "Orange 'chicken', you say? Well, maybe just this once."

I'm actually not sure how I prevailed in that conversation, but moving on!

Quick Post: My New Favorite Sandwich

Oh man, this sandwich is my jam right now! It's so good I think about it during other meals, and wish they were this sandwich instead. I really love things that are spicy and tangy, so this kind of hits the spot for me.

Here's the deal: spread the olive mix on one side of the roll and avocado on the other; then pile everything else in between and mash together in a futile attempt to hold in all the deliciousness. Note: I cut the pickle and okra into strips and alternated them to make one layer - it was too overpowering to have a row of each.

Warning! This sandwich can get a little messy - proceed with napkins!

Kaiser roll (ciabatta also works really well)

1-2 Tbs MediterraneanBruschetta Olive Mix (I picked up a jar at Raley's)

Cucumber slices

1 pickle slice (sandwich style), cut into about 4 strips

1 spicy pickled okra, cut into fourths longways

Pepperjack cheese

1 Tbs feta cheese

Lettuce to taste

1/4 avocado

Pin It
Thanks for reading my blog! Please leave your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, or meals you would like to see me cook, in the comments below. Follow, share, and enjoy!

---

Heirloom Tomato and Mushroom Frittata

What can I say about frittatas? Actually, I could probably say quite a bit, but any anecdotal quips I might have regarding my love for them would invariably boil down to three main characteristics: they're delicious, easy, and versatile. Here are some more words of affirmtion in case you don't believe me:

Delicious - that one doesn't take a whole lot of explaining. If you've ever had a frittata, most likely you're on board with this statement. 

Easy - I guess this could be debatable depending on what you would consider easy. I usually consider things to be easy if there aren't too many ingredients, steps, or time involved. This particular recipe meets at least two of those three requirements, so I think we're good there as well. 

Versatile - that's a no-brainer. You can pretty much throw any suitable ingredients you have in your fridge into this thing and it will turn out great; it's kind of like soup that way. Also anything that can be prepared for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is a winner in my book. The only other food I can think of that has a similar versatility is cold pizza - I once ate leftover pizza for breakfast, lunch, and dinner the next day. I'm not necessarily proud of this achievement, but it was delicious nonetheless.

Now that we're on the same page, let's take a closer look.

Cheesy Twice Baked Potatoes with Black Beans & Olives

Have you ever bought a bag of potatoes, but couldn’t think of anything to do with them? Of course not! You can do practically anything with potatoes! Boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew (sorry, I couldn’t resist). They can be initially time consuming, but if you bake them in advance, you can quickly make roasted potatoes, homemade French fries, potato salad, and now these delicious twice baked potatoes. You’re welcome.

I got the idea for these from a cheesy bread recipe my mom used to make when I was a kid. She would scoop out the inside of a long piece of French bread, mix it with cheddar cheese, red onions, olives, and mayonnaise, then put it back in and bake it until bubbly and delicious. It was always the first thing to go at any party, and I thought it would be easy to adapt to twice baked potatoes. I was planning to make them ahead of time for dinner tomorrow, but we ended up eating most of them tonight. I think that means they’re blog worthy!

Peppers Stuffed with Couscous & Veggie Sausage

Lately it seems like I’ve had zero energy when I get home. I feel all kinds of motivated on my drive home, thinking about all the cleaning, cooking, and general productiveness I’m going to accomplish; but the second I kick off my shoes and put on my comfy clothes, all of that is pretty much out the lounge-loving, internet-surfing window. But today I found the solution…caffeine! Ha ha

I’ve been excited to make these peppers for a while now, so I took advantage of my sudden burst of energy and decided to finally give it a try. I used flavored couscous and Italian veggie sausages to make it easy, and even used baking time to do the dishes AND a load of laundry. That means I don’t have to be productive for the rest of the week, right?

By the way, I apologize for the bad pictures – I was hungry and impatient!

Thai Inspired Veggie Wrap

Do you ever find yourself in a serious lunch rut? I do on a pretty regular basis. My crazy kicks mixed with my desire to do as little as possible when it comes to prepping for the busy week doesn’t help. Taking a healthy lunch to work is a high priority for me, but I just don’t want to spend too much of my precious free time putting it all together.  So, in an effort to diversify my lunchtime experience while still being able to maximize my time, I’ve been experimenting with adding different flavors to some of my quick and easy favorites to bring a little life back to my boring noon-hour.

That’s exactly what I did with this spin on a typical veggie wrap. By adding some classic Thai flavors, like peanuts, peppers, celery and carrots, I added a lot more flavor and gave my taste buds a break from my usual hummus and feta combo. It was surprisingly good, and I’m actually looking forward to the work week now! (well, kind of…ha ha)

Herbed Flatbread Pizza with Artichoke Hearts and Sun Dried Tomatoes

Yumm - I am so glad I got a picture of this before we devoured it! Dustin actually gave it a 9 out of 10 on his "No B.S." scale (that's what he calls it), which is practically unheard of. Let me tell you a little about Dustin and his little scale. Most of the time when I ask him to rate my meals he takes a bite, churns it around in his mouth thoughtfully, swallows it, and the says astutely "it's a solid 7." Never. Fail. There has been one other occasion where he rated something higher than that, because, as he puts it "if you give everything a 10, then what are you going to give an actual 10? If everything you cook is a 10, then the scale becomes useless and you might as well not measure anything."

I give his reasoning a solid 7.

Anyway, where I was going with that is that if Dustin broke his own rule to give this recipe a 9, not an 8, mind you, but two full numbers above his usual rating, then it must be good!

Here's what you do: Soften the butter in the microwave for a few seconds, then mix in the herbs and spread evenly over the flatbread. Top with parmesan cheese, artichoke hearts, golden cherry tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, and fresh basil; then pop it in the oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

Done and done!

I didn't measure anything out this time, but you can't really go wrong here. Just don't use too many sun dried tomatoes - they can really overpower a dish.

Ingredients

2 flatbreads (I use the StoneFire brand)
2 Tbs butter
Dried basil, oregano, and garlic powder (a few shakes of each)
Handful of golden cherry tomatoes, sliced into rounds
Marinated artichoke hearts to taste
Sun dried tomatoes to taste
A few leaves of fresh basil, thinly sliced
Shaved Parmesan cheese, about two handfuls

Servings: 2

 
Pin It
Thanks for reading my blog! Please leave your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, or meals you would like to see me cook, in the comments below. Follow, share, and enjoy!

---

Perfect Pasta Salad

Right now I’m on a serious pasta salad kick. I love it. I eat it for lunch every day…then I come home and have it again for dinner. Every day, you say? Yes (well, mostly for the last week anyway). Why, might you ask? Because it’s delicious! Also because it’s super-duper easy to make, and it’s ideal for leftovers (you don’t even have to heat it up, for goodness’ sake!). Are you crazy, you might think? That is yet to be determined, BUT, in my defense, this is a much better kick than the strawberry cake kick I was on a few weeks ago, or the McDonald’s dipped cone kick before that, or the hummus and spicy pretzel kick before that – none of those were doing me any favors. I’m also on a grape kick, and a carrot/cucumber kick at the moment, but I don’t have any recipes for those. You may or may not have come to a conclusion about my sanity at this point, so I will move on.

This recipe is pretty simple – the only thing you have to cook is the pasta! (are you on board with me yet?) I use a mix of fresh veggies and some favorite preserved items, like kalamata olives and marinated artichoke hearts. The thing I love is that it’s really adaptable for your taste preferences; and there’s nothing better than coming home and NOT having to cook dinner because it’s already waiting in the fridge.

Sweet Roasted Acorn Squash

This recipe started as most of them do, with meanderings in the grocery store. As usual, I was in the produce section picking out my week's larder, sorting through yams and gathering up potatoes, when my eyes wandered to the plump little acorn squashes nearby. I was intrigued by their shape, so without thinking much about what I would do with it, I nestled one in my basket and continued with my shopping.

A few days later when I realized that I actually had to cook the thing, I started looking for recipes online. I started out thinking I would make a savory dish, possibly stuffing it with rice and fresh herbs, but I started seeing all kinds of recipes that called for butter and sugar instead - it didn't take me long to jump on that train and pull out of the station! And, despite my husband's skepticism once it came out of the oven, it was delicious! I can't wait to make this one again.

Sweet & Spicy Grilled Cheese on Sliced Pugliese

The other day I was in the grocery store, wrestling to make my way through the hordes of holiday shoppers picking up their last minute Christmas dinner items (I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who waits until the last minute - high five, guys!), and I noticed these really wonderful looking, golden pineapples. 

This triggered a memory of a recipe I had seen recently for a baked, rice stuffed pineapple dish, and I immediately thought wouldn't that be the perfect side dish to bring for Christmas dinner?! I had visions of presenting this perfectly prepared dish, oohs and awws abounding as I placed it directly in the center of the table (ha!), so into the basket it went along with all my good intentions...then in a bag...then on the counter where it took up residence - long past the holiday festivities. My good ole friends Lazy and TV convinced me that it was too much trouble! (Perhaps it's time to make some new friends in the new year?)

Anyway! There was a point to this story, which was that I needed to do something with this miserable pineapple that I bought before it turned to mush on my kitchen counter. So it got demoted from Christmas side dish extraordinaire, to a sweet and spicy grilled cheese! Sorry pineapple!

Mushroom Medley Burger with Feta and Herbs

Every now and then, while perusing my local grocery store, and usually while feeling totally unispired, I will come across something that totally sets my wheels in motion. What starts out as a mundane venture turns into a sudden surge of possibilities. A furry of ingredients leap into my basket, piling up into precarious positions; bags are flying; produce is being squeezed; and I can hardly keep up with my own train of thought.

I appreciate moments like that because they remind me of why I love cooking so much - that spark of an idea that gets ignited into something I can share with the people I love.

That is exactly what happened when I got the idea for this burger. I came across a package of fresh herbs, diced onions, and cheese intended for topping a steak, and instantly the mushroom medley burger unfolded in mind. I picked up some fresh herbs, two kinds of onions, crimini and oyster mushrooms, and some delicious onion rolls; I couldn't wait to get back and start cooking!

Red Pepper Quinoa and Chipotle "Sausage" Stuffed Yams

Nothing says fall like the vibrant orange and earthy goodness of my favorite root vegetable. Yams, with their rough and tumble outside and surprisingly sweet inside, are the one thing I always have to have after the long summer months are over. Even though they’re available all year round, they just don’t taste the same to me unless the air is a little cooler, the breeze a little stronger, and the leaves a little yellower.

I like to use yams in many different ways; they really are a versatile vegetable, pairing well with both sweet and savory dishes. I like to bake them, roast them, add them to stews and casseroles; sometimes I’ll even throw leftover yams into a nice autumn salad. This time I decided to bake them and stuff them with roasted red pepper quinoa and Mexican chipotle veggie sausages. I let flavored ingredients do most of the work for me, so this one is super easy!

Vietnamese Tofu Lettuce Cups

Recently I came across a recipe in one of my cookbooks for Vietnamese Pork and Lettuce Cups that looked incredible. As per usual, the first thing I did was think about how I could turn this scrumptious looking dish into something vegetarian friendly. The usual ideas popped into my head, i.e. using mushrooms or eggplant in place of the meat, but I’ve been wanting to try tofu for a while now and decided that this would be the perfect opportunity.

Although I’ve had tofu plenty of times, I’ve never actually cooked with it myself. To be honest, I was a little unsure about how it would turn out and, specifically, whether or not it would mimic the crumbly texture of ground pork, but a quick internet search regarding how to cook tofu gave me the extra boost I needed to give it a shot.

The end result was surprisingly good, and although the texture of the cooked tofu did not quite match what I saw in the original recipe, it was nevertheless tasty. Fresh bell peppers, carrots, and peanuts added a punch of color, gave the dish the crunch it needed, and also served to keep everything together in the lettuce cups. The peanuts and bell peppers were not in the original recipe, but paired well with the ginger and garlic and gave the dish a little oomph! I will definitely be trying this one again soon.

Pasta Malafemmina

Although fall is just around the corner, inspiring visions of the pumpkin pies, simmering soups, and steaming cups of hot chocolate to come, summer is still very much clinging on, outside as well as inside my kitchen. Usually I am ready for fall within the first couple of weeks of the sweltering Central Valley summer, but this time I'm holding on a bit - mainly because I'm still enjoying the myriad of produce the summer brings.

Indeed, I'm not quite ready to give up my favorites, such as the beautiful red, yellow, and orange tomatoes I used for this dish. But, luckily, I still have a few more weeks to get my fill before jumping headfirst into fall!

This recipe was inspired by a pasta dish I had while in Italy (Check it out here!). The original dish I had was literally one of the best things I've ever eaten in my life. I didn't know exactly what went into it, but I of course wanted to try it out as soon as I got home. I knew the original had a very light tomato sauce, which was probably more olive oil than tomato, so I started there. Then I added in a healthy helping of capers, some kalamata olives, and a few other ingredients I discerned from taste and picture. It turned out very yummy!