Mexican Quinoa Salad

I was looking to make something new and healthy for my lunches this week and settled for quinoa. Mixed with some veggies I had around the house and came up with this wonderful salad.

Mexican Quinoa Salad

• 1 cup dry quinoa, rinsed well through a fine strainer/sieve
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 3/4 to 1 cup fresh corn (sliced off the cob, raw)
• 1 diced avocado
• 1 cup chopped spinach
• 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
• lime wedges
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Dressing:

• 1 1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

 

Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.  Prepare the quinoa according to package directions. Cool slightly. In a medium bowl, toss the quinoa with the tomatoes, corn, avocado, spinach and cilantro. Add the dressing and toss to coat everything. Squeeze lime on top, and season with salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste.

 

Marinated Lime Shrimp Appetizers

It’s 2013 and I have made a resolution to post some more this year about anything and everything. I will start today by posting an appetizer recipe I made last night. Super easy to make and very tasty.

Marinated Lime Shrimp Appetizers

• 3/4  pound fresh or frozen peeled, deveined, cooked shrimp
• 1  teaspoon finely shredded lime peel
• 1/3  cup lime juice
• 1/4  cup cooking oil
• 2  tablespoons fresh cilantro or parsley
• 1  fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1  clove garlic, minced

  Thaw the shrimp, if frozen. Rinse shrimp; pat dry. In a medium bowl, stir together the lime peel, lime juice, cooking oil, fresh cilantro or parsley, jalapeno pepper, and garlic. Add the shrimp and toss to coat. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to 3 hours, stirring the mixture twice.

  To serve, drain shrimp and discard marinade. If you like, thread shrimp onto skewers. Arrange on lettuce-lined plate with fruit. Serve with toothpicks. Makes 6 appetizer servings.

Quinoa Pizza Bites

I keep hearing that quinoa is one of the best protein you can eat so I searched for some fun recipes I can use quinoa. I found these little appetizers Quinoa Pizza Bites and they were a hit. Very easy to make and I also froze some for future use. You can also omit the pepperoni and use diced tomato cherries for a vegetarian version.

Quinoa Pizza Bites

• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1 cup chopped pepperoni slices (~1/2 of a 7 oz bag)
• 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp dried crushed oregano
• pizza sauce for dipping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together all ingredients, except pizza sauce, in a medium mixing bowl.  Distribute mixture into a greased mini muffin tin, filling each cup to the top (1 heaping Tbs each), and press down gently to compact.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Breakfast Casserole

This is a nice casserole to make for morning breakfast with the gang. Quick and easy!

Cheesy Ham and Hashbrown Casserole (12 servings)

• 1 (32 ounce) package frozen hash brown potatoes
• 8 ounces cooked, diced ham
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of potato soup
• 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
• 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish. In a large bowl, mix hash browns, ham, cream of potato soup, sour cream, and Cheddar cheese. Spread evenly into prepared dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until bubbly and lightly brown. Serve immediately.

Apple Cinnamon Steel-Cut Oatmeal

Who doesn’t love waking up to the smell of breakfast? This winter favorite is a great way to start the day.

Apple Cinnamon Steel-Cut Oatmeal

• 2 apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (2-1/2 to 3 cups chopped)
• 1-1/2 cups fat-free milk (or substitute non-diary alternative like almond milk)
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 1 cup uncooked steel-cut oats
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1-1/2 tbsp butter, cut into 5-6 pieces (optional)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Optional garnishes: chopped nuts, raisins, maple syrup, additional milk or butter

Coat inside of 3-1/2 quart (or larger) slow cooker with cooking spray. Add all ingredients (except optional toppings) to slow cooker. Stir, cover, and cook on low for approx. 7 hours (slow cooker times can vary). Spoon oatmeal into bowls; add optional toppings, if desired. Store leftovers in refrigerator. Freezes well.

Quick Chicken Dish!

Made this chicken dish one night and it was an instant hit. Made with ingredients always on hand, it’s now a favorite in our house.

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 400 F. Cut chicken breasts in half, or thirds vertically. Use the thin sliced chicken breasts if you can and you may skip this step. Spray 9×13 baking pan with oil and spread chicken out along pan.

In a small bowl, mix together mustard, syrup, and red wine vinegar. Pour atop the chicken. Sprinkle with plenty of salt, pepper, and fresh rosemary.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Serves 4.

Mini-Meatloaves

My kids never liked meatloaf but I have been making these mini-meatloaves and they are so good! They disappear very quickly!

Meatloaf Muffins (Makes 12 muffin sized meatloaves)

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 medium onion
• 2 ribs celery
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 large egg plus a splash of milk, beaten
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp Montreal Steak spice
• 1 cup barbecue sauce
• 1/2 cup tomato salsa
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• Vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 450F.  Put ground beef into a big bowl. Put onion and celery into a food processor. Cut the pepper into a few pieces and add to the food processor. Pulse the processor blades to finely chop the vegetables into very small pieces then add them to the meat bowl. Add egg, beaten with milk, bread crumbs and grill seasoning to the bowl. Next, mix together the smoky barbecue sauce, the salsa and the Worcestershire sauce. Pour half the sauce mixture into the bowl with the meatloaf mix. Mix the meatloaf together with your hands. Brush a 12-muffin tin with vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil. Fill each tin with meat mixture. Top each meat loaf with a spoonful of extra sauce. Bake about 20 minutes.

Zucchini Time!

I buy all my fruits and vegetables at a little store where they have a lot of weekly specials, This past week the zucchinis were on sale and I went overboard and bought lots. Here’s a couple of recipes I made using these. They were a hit!

Zucchini Puffs

• 1 cup zucchini, grated
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 medium onion, diced
• 1/4 cup reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper to taste
• cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400°.  Spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray. Grate the zucchini into a clean dish towel.  Wring all of the excess water out of the zucchini. In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste. Fill each muffin section to the top, pushing down on the filling with your spoon so it’s nice and compacted so they don’t fall apart when you take them out of the tin.
Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until the tops are golden.

Zucchini Bread (Makes 2 loaves)

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325F. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl. eat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes.

Recipe: Chicken in Creamy Sauce

I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a while, life got in the way and I had other plans taking me away from this blog. Anyway, I am adding a great recipe I made tonight, not really knowing what to do with the chicken breasts I had defrosted. It turned out so good with ingredients I always have on hand at home.

Chicken in Creamy Sauce

• 4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 1 tbsp. oil
• 3/4 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, cubed
• 1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Coat chicken with flour. Heat oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken; cook 5 to 6 min. on each side or until done. Remove chicken from skillet, reserving drippings in skillet. Cover chicken to keep warm.

Add broth to skillet; stir to scrape up browned bits from bottom of skillet. Add cream cheese; cook 2 to 3 min. or until cream cheese is melted and sauce starts to thicken, stirring constantly with whisk.

Return chicken to skillet; turn to coat both sides of each breast with sauce. Cook 2 min. or until chicken is heated through. Sprinkle with parsley.

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Muffins

I bought a big container of sour cream at Costco to make the blueberry sour cream cake below but still had a lot in the fridge. I decided to make chocolate chips muffins using sour cream. Very easy to make and they turned out pretty good.

Chocolate Chips Sour Cream Muffins

• 5 tbsp butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 egg
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Mix together in a bowl: melted butter, sugar, vanilla, sour cream, salt and egg. In another bowl mix the rest of ingredients. Pour sour cream mixture in flour mixture and mix carefully. Pour in 12 prepared muffins cups and bake for 18 minutes at 350F.