Eating with your eyes

That's what they say right?  That we first eat with our eyes,  that if something looks good,  we can not wait to dig in!  That is exactly as I felt looking at this beautiful mound of greens on my plate! 

Dinner was turkey burgers, not homemade, I hesitantly admit! These are from Costco! They are all white turkey breast burgers and really handy to keep in the freezer and they can be cooked right from the freezer so they're great to have on hand for a quick meal.  And they only have 200 calories; portion controlled and tasty too!

I did mix in some of the roasted tomato pesto from yesterday with some of the hummus... that made a little appearance on my plate as well,  but the big star was the greens!

The greens are a mix of kale, spinach, beet tops and chard.  I added a bit of Greek feta and an heirloom tomato, tossed it all with the juice of half a lemon and a good drizzle of olive oil.  A little salt. A little pepper.  Another good toss and I was in love! 

Lemon juice and olive oil is a very simple dressing that I never do!  For some reason though it came to mind when I was thinking of these greens.  It is unbelievably delicious and fresh tasting.

Honestly,  I get a wee giddy now when I see food that really does look beautiful to my eyes first.   And then of course eating is the ultimate reward! 

Yum!

Some things you make and they make you go yum! 

I've done it before and I don't know why I haven't done it often but the other day I made hummus.  So easy and so up on the yum factor!  And tahini!....oh man... it's like I just discovered gold.... where have you been all my life? ! That is good stuff and I expect to use it more frequently! 

Roasted tomato pesto is the newest yum to pass through my lips.   The original recipe from Oh She Glows uses plum tomatoes but I just happened to have a wee shy of two pints of grape tomatoes so I decided to use them.  This is good stuff!  Highly recommended!

And as I write this I think... What if pesto met hummus? !  Hmm. ..I think I may have to venture back into the kitchen now! 

The recipes I used for guidance are:

http://ohsheglows.com/2011/09/06/roasted-tomato-basil-pesto/

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-easy-hummus-from-scratch-107560

Hummus...Yummus!

Getting ready for the oven!

Little roasted beauties!

Roasted tomato and basil pesto

Messy plate but I couldn't wait to eat!!

Chicken

What to do with chicken?  Isn't that always the question?  We eat a lot of chicken so I try to find ways to make it different yet tasty.

The other day someone mentioned to me melting boursin cheese atop a filet. That got me thinking that I could do the same but with chicken!  And goat cheese! 

I had also picked up some marinated green olives from the olive bar at the grocery store and thought the cheese and olives would go good together.  I had a tomato near by and thought what the heck!.... added that too!

The finished product. .. grilled chicken with garlic and herb goat cheese melted on top then topped with diced tomato and marinated green olives.  I did cook the tomatoes and olives together for a few minutes to release and juices but not long enough to cook down the tomatoes.

(Are they boxed hash browns on the plate as well! ! Horrors!!!)

Cauliflower Rice

Looking around Pinterest or the web these days you're likely to see a reference or 2 to cauliflower rice.  A low carb recipe to replace rice!

Before you can think about seasoning your 'rice', you must first get that head of cauliflower riced. I cut the cauliflower into florets,  placed them in my blender,  filled it with water then pulsed the blender on the crumb mode for a few seconds each until I was certain the florets had a good swirling around. Then strain. This produces what may appear more like couscous,  I've also read where you can grate the cauliflower and that may produce bigger pieces then the blender.

I strained the cauliflower and gave my colander a few good taps and pushed down to release any lingering water. It is now ready to cook! Oh,  it makes a lot!  Maybe start with half a head.

What's you're fancy?  What flavoring do you favor? I've made it twice now,  the first with a Chinese flare,  the second,  Mexican.

For the Chinese rice, I sauted a tablespoon of olive oil,  added 4 tablespoon of finely chopped peppers and onions,  gave them a swirl around the pan,  added the cauliflower and seasoned with salt,  pepper,  garlic powder and tamari. Let it cook for a few minutes giving it a stir every now and then until the cauliflower is cooked,  should take about 5 minutes total!  I also added in fried tofu that I had on hand and it made a filling lunch.

For the Mexican rice,  I started the same way with the oil and peppers and onions.  I then added to the pan 2 chopped tomatoes and 4 tablespoons of chopped banana peppers.  I then added in the cauliflower and seasoned it all with salt,  pepper,  chilli powder,  cumin and a bit of salsa.  Add as much of the seasonings as you like,  this is very customizable!  Again this only takes a good 5 minutes to cook.  I ate this with grilled chicken and avocado and a bit of corn.  I could see adding in a can of black beans or pinto beans (or any bean really!), and this would make a great vegetarian meal! 

Dogs

Posting pics of our dogs ...just because they are so darn cute!

I especially love the pic of Martini bopping Stoli on the head!

Sides

When it comes to side dishes, I have to admit I'm pretty boring. Steamed broccoli is my go to dish... horrible I know. 
So this one day I found myself with carrots,  more carrots than I normally have,  3 pounds to be exact.  I got to thinking I could make carrots as a side!  Novel idea,  I know. 

I found a simple recipe for dilled carrots.  I like dill, I could do this.

Cut up 4 carrots,  add to sauce pan with 1/2 water,  1 tablespoon butter,  1 teaspoon salt and a generous amount of dried dill.  Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer until most of the water is cooked off and the carrots are tender.

But wait! There's more!
The other day I realized I had carrots and green beans and potatoes... all veggies that go great with dill!  Into a pan they all went and the results were delicious and pretty!

Cookbooks?!

Who uses cookbooks!?  I really shouldn't neglect mine, I have so many.
Most of these dishes are all either from Pinterest or based on recipes found on Pinterest. At least I know I am not alone with my addiction when I read other blogs or Facebook posts.  It's an addiction on the rise!


Mexican chicken salsa soup.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Salsa-Chicken-Soup



Falafel crusted chicken with hummus coleslaw.  This one is actually from Food Network.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/falafel-crusted-chicken-with-hummus-slaw-recipe/index.html

And those fries...they're homemade! My first attempt and they came out great! Baked, not fried.


Red swiss chard with tilapia.  After jumping on the kale bandwagon, I decided there were many other greens  out there I needed to try.  Swiss chard is DEELICIOUS! Similar to spinach, maybe a wee bit earthier.  I made this recipe up.  Sauteed chard with onions (turns them a very pretty pink color!) in some olive oil and garlic, salt and pepper. Can't get any easier than that.


Lasagna cups.  Love the portion control with these, as well as total accountability of what exactly you ate if you're tracking your food intake (which I currently am).  I know each cup is 2 wonton wrappers, 1 T ricotta, 1 T mozzarella, 2 T seasoned ground turkey, 2 T sauce.  AND tasty! :)


Roasted chickpeas.  I could eat the whole bowl. Ok, I almost did.

http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/10/exactly-how-i-roast-my-chickpeas/

The nice thing with these is that you can make them any flavor combination you wish...salty, spicy, sweet.  Whatever you like!



"Great Grandma's hot chicken salad" and Parmesan roasted tomatoes.

http://honeywerehealthy.blogspot.com/2012/12/great-grandmas-hot-chicken-salad.html

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/baked_parmesan_tomatoes.html



Taco cups.  Wonton wrappers come in packages of about 40 or so...so I will be making cup sized food for a while! Not a bad thing though thats for sure!

http://www.emilybites.com/p/recipe-index.html
  is where I got my inspiration from and expect to get even more inspiration from!

Smooth smoothie

Want a real smooth smoothie? Try this one!

Blend together...
1 cup almond milk (or whatever milk you like)
1/2 an avocado
1 banana

optional...1 scoop of protein powder
I just started using Sun Warrior Protein - Natural...I was amazed at the benefits of the pea, hemp and cranberry proteins.

And it's a pretty color too!

Back to business

OK, the holidays have come and gone and we're back to business. The business of regular eating; no more of all that "special, rich, holiday" food.

I've finally jumped onto the kale bandwagon as well! I've always had this idea in my head that kale was more of a decoration, not a real edible food item.  One of my earlier jobs in life was in food service and kale is used to decorate, hence my reasoning.

Finally, I cleared all those memories to the way size, and bought some.  I chopped it finely, as I had heard to do since it is rather fibrous   Gave it a taste and my oh my...! Delicious! It reminds me of escarole, in a hearty greens sorry of way. Not in the limpy, spinach-y kind of way.

I've been eating kale raw in salads and sauteed with olive oil, garlic and onion. Throw in some chick peas or cannelloni beans and you've got yourself quite the delicious vegetarian meal!

Another great dinner idea is to take that same sauteed kale idea, add to it some spinach, artichoke hearts, and feta cheese and make yourself a calzone as seen below! I made the dough but you could easily use store bought dough.

Kale salad

Sauteed kale with beans

The kale, spinach and artichoke mixture for the calzone

Calzone ready for the oven!

Finish product...yum!