I love the addition of an egg to pasta, salads and beans. This recipe was inspired by Food and Wine Magazine. I tried Justin Chapple's idea for poaching eggs in muffin tins here too.
Garbanzo Beans & Veggies with Egg
(Serves 2)
Rinse beans. In a saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil 2 minutes. Turn off heat. Cover and soak for 2 hours.
1/4 cup dry garbanzo beans
2 cups water
Drain and rinse soaked beans. Cover with water. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium high. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
Soaked beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups water
In a heated skillet, saute scallions, carrots and celery in olive oil for 3 minutes.
1/4 cup scallions, diced
1/4 cup carrots, peeled and diced
1/4 cup celery, diced
1 teaspoon olive oil.
Add garlic and squash along with another teaspoon of olive oil to the skillet. Saute for 2 minutes.
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 cup zucchini, diced
1/4 cup yellow squash, diced
1 teaspoon olive oil.
Start poached eggs here!
Stir sauteed vegetables into garbanzo beans. Add vegetable broth.
1 1/2 cups low sodium vegetable broth.
Bring to a boil.
Stir spinach and grape tomatoes into bean veggie mix. Cover and remove from heat.
2 cups spinach, stems removed and chopped
12 grape tomatoes, halved
Place 2 tablespoons each in 2 greased muffin tins. (I use an olive oil spray) Bake in preheated 350 F. oven for 12 minutes.
4 tablespoon water
2 eggs
Fresh ground pepper
Divide bean-veggie mix into 2 bowls. Using a slotted spoon, add egg.
Enjoy your week!
Farmers at our local winter market display a variety of fun squashes, very different in appearance yet very similar in taste. This Red Kuri squash served as the bowl and an ingredient in this Moroccan Lentil Soup. The recipe is in the current issue of the Food and Nutrition Magazine. Brienna Casperson's creation is aromatic and nutrient rich.
I substituted cooked hulless barley for the farro and diced red kuri for the sweet potato.
For an attractive plate presentation, these pumpkin patch picks can do the trick!
Have a great week!
I was inspired by a beautiful photo in Eating Well Magazine featuring their glazed delicata. Mine is mixed with my own Cranberry Chutney.
I cut, seeded and sliced the delicata squash. I did not peel this squash, as the peel is edible. I mixed the slices with 1 teaspoon of walnut oil and roasted at 400 F. for 40 minutes. Then I added 1/2 cup of cranberry chutney to the roasted vegetables and served. 1 delicata squash with 1/2 cup of chutney serves 2.
Cranberry Chutney
(6 cups)
On
stove-top, bring water, cranberries and sugar to a boil. Lower heat and
simmer for 15 minutes. (Reduce heat if the cranberries are popping and
breaking.) Stir frequently.
12 ounce fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
Remove cranberries from heat. Add orange juice, raisins, celery, apples and walnuts.
3/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup celery, diced
1 cup apple, diced
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped
The chutney is delicious freshly made. Since I purchased several bags of the fresh cranberries, I used my newly developed skill and home canned a batch. It was still delicious.
Happy Friday!
The recipe from Lauras Lean Beef for Enchilada Sauce was made even easier for me since canning my own tomato sauce. I made 4 enchiladas in an 8 X 5 inch baking dish which served as 4 meals for petite seniors.
Beef Enchiladas with Homemade Sauce
(4 enchiladas)
Enchilada Sauce
Heat tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin and oregano in saucepan.
1 tablespoon & 1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup tomato sauce, no added salt
Whisk flour into stock. Add to tomato sauce and heat, stirring, until thick.
1/2 cup low sodium chicken stock
1 tablespoon flour
Beef-Vegetable Filling
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil for 3 minutes.
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
Brown and crumble beef in onion-garlic mix.
6 ounce lean ground beef
Stir in spinach leaves and wilt. Add corn.
1 cup fresh spinach leaves, stemmed removed
1/2 cup corn
Enchilada Assembly
Grease 8 X 5 inch baking dish with an olive oil spray.
Place 1/2 cup sauce in bottom.
Fill tortillas with beef-vegetable mix.
4 corn tortillas
Lay enchiladas on sauce.
Top with remaining sauce.
Sprinkle with cheese.
2 ounce reduced fat cheddar cheese, shredded
Bake at 375 F. for 15-20 minutes.
Since retiring, I taught myself to can. Applesauce, cranberry chutney and tomato sauce are now on my shelves in 8 ounce Ball jars. I often made this homemade sauce every time I needed it for a recipe. Now I have the authentic version ready to go! The recipe was inspired by Vegetables Accidentally.
Homemade Tomato Sauce
(7 cups)
Saute onion in olive oil for 3 minutes.
1 tablespoon olive oil
2/3 cup onion, diced
Add tomatoes and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil; lower heat and simmer 20 minutes.
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste, no added salt
3 (14 1/2 ounce) cans diced tomato, no added salt
2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
Blenderize sauce until smooth.
Canning note: I added 1 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice to each 1 cup jar of tomatoes prior to canning.
It's Meatless Monday in our household, and these party appetizers fit the bill and our tummies. The recipes were inspired by Family Circle Magazine. Spanakopita Cups and Ratatouille Skewers along with fresh fruit and milk comprise the menu. Here's how I put them together:
Ratatouille Skewers
(Serves 2)
Cut eggplant and squash in discs. Do not peel. Toss with vinegar, oil and seasoning.
Japanese eggplant, 6-1 inch discs
Yellow squash, 6-1 inch discs
Zucchini, 6-1 inch discs
2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon herbs de province
Roast in 400 F. oven for 15 minutes.
Toss tomatoes in pepper. Add to baking dish in oven and bake 10 more minutes.
6 grape tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Skew vegetables with olives on 6-6 inch skewers. (I kept mine warm in the toaster oven while the spanakopita baked)
6 calamata olives
For the spanakopita cups, I cut squares from the phyllo sheets and layers in the mini muffin tins. This takes longer, but is much more economical than the phyllo cups.
Spanakopita Cups
(2 entrees or 6 appetizers: 12 mini cups)
Cut phyllo sheets in squares, approximately 2 1/2 inch). Push one square at a time into tins. Spray with olive oil cooking spray. Sprinkle with wheat germ. Repeat until 5 sheets are in each muffin tin spray.
5- phyllo sheets-cut in 60-2 1/2 inch squares
Olive oil spray
1/2 teaspoon wheat germ
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil on stove-top 3 minutes. Add chopped fresh spinach and cook one minute until wilted. Drain on paper towels.
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon olive oil
Place 1/2 teaspoon spinach mix into each muffin phyllo cup.
Pour beaten egg into each cup.
2 eggs, beaten
Sprinkle with cheese.
1/4 cup feta cheese (I used bleu cheese since I had that on hand)
Bake at 350 F. for 20 minutes.
Read more about the Sideline Meat Challenge and enjoy your creations while watching Monday Night Football!
The holiday season is often full of deadlines and parties and high calorie foods and drink. With shopping, travel, a full calendar and less daylight to deal with the tasks- it's good to be prepared with healthy snacks. Dried fruits and nuts, properly portioned, provide fiber and vitamins and controlled calories that won't derail a diet.
Today I join the conversation hosted by Nuts.com about on-the-go snacking. I took the above photo of the snack packs I made for a 1400 mile trip earlier in the year. The little clementine tangerines are now in season. They are easy to peel and good to keep handy for any hunger attacks between meals.
I make healthy snack packs year round by packing snack size zipper bags with dried fruit and nuts, referring to the portion size on the label. Pecans, almonds and walnuts are easy to eat in the car. Raisins, dates, figs and apricots are good. Did you know that dried plums (prunes) are sold individually wrapped? I put the whole bag of these in the car-always handy when I need them.
While pistachios may take a little longer to shell, I often sit in the parking lot at my water aerobics class and take a few minutes to get some good fats and gain energy to last till my after workout meal.
I pack a carrier with snack packs in the middle and travel supplies (hand sanitizer, pen, coupons, etc.) on the outside
and store it between the seats in the car:
Nuts.com offers several Healthy Snacks handouts and sells nuts, flours, herbs and spices, seeds and more.
"Go nuts this holiday!"
In planning weekly menus, I opt to choose fish as the protein source for one or two entrees per week. I know seafood is a healthy choice for consumers, but is it a healthy choice for the species and the environment?
Sustainable agriculture is healthy for consumers and species with no harm to the environment. It supports the rural communities and is humane for the workers.
Guidelines for choosing sustainable seafood:
- Look for the MSC label. Seafood with the Marine Stewardship Council label comes from fisheries independently certified to standards and are well managed.
- Some trusted retailers now partner with sustainable fisheries. Look for information in the store and on the web sites. Talk to the worker at the seafood counter.
- Buy American when possible. Look for information on the package and at the counter.
- Eat an array of different species. The salmon and scallops we crave is depleting quicker than flounder and haddock.
- Smaller fish are more plentiful and have less mercury.
- Eat smaller portions of seafood, filling the plate with more vegetables and some grains.
My meal tonight features haddock fillets purchased frozen with the MSC label. There were 5 fillets in the 1 pound package. It's topped with a tomato-olive-parsley salsa and served over a brown rice and mushroom pilaf and sauteed zucchini. The fillet was sprinkled with Herbs de Provence and baked in the toaster oven at 350 F. for 15 minutes.
Brown Rice and Mushroom Pilaf
Serves 3
Saute celery, carrots and onion in olive oil for 3 minutes.
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup celery, diced
3 tablespoon carrots, peeled and diced
2 tablespoon onion, diced
Add garlic and mushrooms.
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup baby portobello, diced
In a separate pan, cook rice in water for 5 minutes. Stir in sauteed vegetables.
1/2 cup instant brown rice
1/2 cup water
