Roasted Tomatoes, Shrimp, and Feta

Thank you, Real Simple! 

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/roasted-tomatoes-shrimp-feta-10000000780294/index.html

This was seriously delicious.

The combination of juicy roasted tomatoes, herbs, feta, lemon, and shrimp was just divine. 

I think it's a perfect dish to make for company. 

Seems really nice, but it only takes about 20 minutes

 of prep time and the oven does the rest. 

You can take a look at the link or keep reading...

Ingredients: 

5 tomatoes, cut into eighths

3 T olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

s&p

1.5 lbs shrimp, peeled

1/2 c chopped fresh parsley (or cilantro. i did a combination of both)

2 T fresh lemon juice

1 c reduced fat feta

Directions:

Heat oven to 450. Place tomatoes in a large baking dish. Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil, top with garlic  and 3/4 t each salt and pepper. Toss and roast for 20 minutes.

Remove baking dish from oven. Stir in shrimp, herbs, and lemon juice. Sprinkle with the feta. 

Return to oven for 10-15 minutes, until shrimp are cooked through. 

I served over quinoa with roasted green beans.

 Next time, I'll definitely have crusty bread with it. 

enjoy :) 

Crockpot Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

Growing up, my mom never cooked in a crockpot. Ever. 

Mom, do you own a crockpot??

I've been told many times that "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" 

when it comes to being like my mama. 

 Because of a busier work schedule this year, I've veered from "the tree" 

and started resorting to my crockpot. a lot! 

Life saver!
(thank you, Tom & Camille for my wonderful crockpot!)

In the original directions, this soup has a lot of fuss and hoop-la and 

stuff you're supposed to do before adding it to the crockpot. 

To me, that defeats the purpose of using a crockpot.
It's already hard enough to crawl

 into the back of my cabinet to lug the thing out....

So I decided to just dump all the ingredients in at once and voila.
Delicious. 

Ingredients: 
3 cans diced tomatoes, with juice (low sodium if possible)
1 can tomato sauce
1 cup diced celery
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped onion

1 T dried oregano
1 T chili powder
1/2 t cayenne pepper
4 c broth
1 bay leaf
1 c shredded parmesan cheese
2 T butter, optional
2 c skim milk (or fat free half and half)
1/2 cup fresh basil
1 t salt
1 t pepper

Directions: 
Add all ingredients to the crockpot
EXCEPT the fresh basil and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.

Cook on low for 5-7 hours.

Add basil and reserved parmesan for last 30 minutes of cooking time.


enjoy :)

Watermelon, Basil, Feta Salad

Get ready to impress.

  

With VERY little effort.

This salad is oh so pretty. 

It's like the perfect sundress...in a salad version. 

makes sense to me 

:)

Ingredients: 

Seedless watermelon, cut into bite-sized chunks

Handful (or more) of feta

Couple handfuls of basil, chopped

Lime juice

Sea Salt

Olive Oil
Tiny drizzle of balsamic vinegar and/or sprinkle of orange zest if desired.

Directions: 

 Chop of the watermelon and basil. 

Squeeze a little lime juice and add a few dashes of olive oil.

 Lightly toss together. 

Sprinkle the feta on top (don't stir or it gets messy looking)

Top with a little sea salt and vinegar/orange zest if you wish.

Serve on a bed of arugula or on its own.
Garnish with fresh mint or basil.

Enjoy! 

Spinach Lemon Pasta Bake

This pasta dish is fresh, summery, and simple.

 It's a good one to make for a crowd. 

Ingredients: 

12-16 oz. whole wheat pasta (not a spaghetti type of noodle)

1 lemon, zested and juiced (use 1/2 lemon if you don't love lemon)

2 c fresh spinach, roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 c milk or half and half, any kind 

1-2 T butter

1-2 T flour

1/4 c parmesan cheese

1/4 c shredded mozzarella

red pepper flakes

basil, dried or fresh

s&p to taste 

Directions: 

Preheat over to 350. 

Make pasta, drain, put back in pot with a dash of olive oil to prevent sticking.

Add butter to sauce pan and melt. Saute garlic in butter. 

Add milk, flour, lemon juice & zest, and spices (including basil).

Stir with whisk until it thickens.

Add sauce, spinach, and cheese to pasta (reserve a little parmesan for the top) Stir.

Transfer to casserole dish and top with remaining parmesan cheese.

Bake covered for 20 minutes.

Uncover and bake 5 more minutes. 

Garnish with fresh basil and serve.

Enjoy! 

Chicken Salad with Avocado and a Kick

My husband eats the same thing for lunch every day. He is incredibly
patient with this and has somehow convinced himself that the turkey
sandwich I make for him tastes WAY better than the turkey sandwich he
makes himself (probably b/c I take an extra 3 seconds and put some
mustard on it...and if I'm feelin' real fancy that day, maybe even a
couple pieces of spinach).

I had a burst of creativity?, boredom?, pity?, love? last week and
decided to spice up lunch around here. I made chicken salad and I
liked it. I don't trust chicken salad usually because---why is the
chicken so small and fine and fluffy like that?? and what is this cream
substance?? no. I just don't usually love it. (I do like Whole Food's
sonoma chicken salad, but don't really buy it because mayonaise freaks
me out)

Here's what I did---I boiled chicken, shredded it, added avacado, a
little greek yogurt, a dash of mustard, and some spices. Ryan enjoyed
a fancy chicken salad sandwich with tomato, sprouts, cucumber, and
spinach for about 4 days.

He's back to turkey this week. Bless him.

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, boiled*, shredded, and cooled
2 avocados, pitted and cut into pieces
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/4 scant cup mustard (regular, honey mustard, spicy, whatever you
like. i used a sweet/hot blend)
1/4 scant cup greek yogurt (0% fat)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Add chopped celery, cilantro, or parsley if desired.

Directions:
Mix together all ingredients. Add more yogurt or seasoning as needed.
Serve with sprouts, tomatoes, other greens, cucumbers, celery, etc. on
a sandwich, with pita chips, over a green salad, or with raw
vegetables.

*Notes about boiling chicken---spray large pot with cooking spray
(pam) and turn heat to high. season both sides of chicken breasts with
a little bit of salt and pepper. when pot is hot, add chicken in
single layer and cook on both sides for about a minute each just to
char it a tiny bit. fill pot with water (chicken should not be crammed
next to each other) and bring to a boil. reduce to simmer and let
chicken cook through. mine took about 15-17 minutes total.


Enjoy!

cinco de mayo

We had our 2nd annual Cinco de Mayo party this weekend. 

So fun!!! 

I had a great time preparing for it, planning the menu, decorating, plucking fiesta-ish flowers from neighbors gardens (with permission, don't worry..), but the best was time with friends, 

sharing our home, and hosting with my man...oh and of course, delicious margaritas.

I loved it :) 

I didn't get as many pictures as I'd hoped to (I'll be better about it next year), but here are a couple pics and a few snip-its about the menu: 

"fiesta" streamers made from dyed
coffee filters

food table (dark, not very pretty picture :/) 

menu: fajitas, grilled veggies,
mexican rice, black bean salad, quesadillas, chips,
salsa, and guacamole

food labels-limes and
bamboo skewers...and "mexican" sangria bar in background.

sangria has oranges, cloves, cinnamon, and other goodies.
next time I think i'll add some brandy.

living room with fiesta banner

peonies and cute margarita straws :) 

my cute host partner :)
...and desserts in the background on the buffet

dessert menu: mexican brownies (picture and recipe below),
no bake oatmeal chocolate PB cookies,
margarita cupcakes, and
"scotcharoos" (rice crispy, butterscotch, chocolate goodness)
and m&ms to go with the fiesta theme! 

mexican brownies 

My very favorite brownies are ghirardelli dark chocolate brownies 

with chocolate chips...from a box. Yep, I said it. They are dang good. 

Trick: cook them 7 minutes less than the minimum cooking time says on the box. 

I use a glass pan usually and the cook time says 

45-50...no sirree, 38 minutes and those babies are perfect! 

My ultimate treat is these dark chocolate brownies with a scoop of Bluebell homemade 

vanilla ice-cream. That was before I had "Mexican-ized" these. 

Mmmmmmm! 

Recipe: add 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper to brownie mix. Follow all other instructions like normal. Try it, try it! So good and "fancy" in a split second.

Enjoy! 

 

grilled asparagus with lemon zest

This is too simple to be considered a "recipe", 

but here goes nothin'. 

This is a very easy way to add a fresh, 

new spin to asparagus. 

All you need:

asparagus (1 bunch)

olive oil (1-2 Tbs)

lemon zest (of about 1/2 a lemon)

s&p

fresh herbs

All you do: 

-trim asparagus (break off the ends. asparagus make a 

natural break with the last few tough inches of the stalk)

-heat grill (I used an indoor grill pan)

-toss asparagus on grill and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and lemon zest 

-grill until tender, but crisp, rotating as necessary

-serve with chopped fresh herbs sprinkled on top (mint or basil)

Simple, healthy side to compliment almost anything this Spring.

Oh yes, happy Spring!! My favorite :)