Greek Chopped Salad

A Greek salad is my go to salad – I never get sick of the combination of these ingredients!  Although chopped salads require extra prep since you have lots of veggies to wash and chop, I think they are well worth it and delicious.

Servings:  2

Size:  Main course salad

Points Plus: 6pp (does not include pp value for dressing)

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time:  n/a

Rating: 4 stars – Very good

Ingredient List:

Chopped romaine

1 cup cucumber, chopped

1 cup red bell pepper, chopped

½ cup celery, chopped

1 cup chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

½ cup crumbled feta, reduced-fat

12 Kalamata olives, halved

Directions:

Chop up hearts of romaine and plate out portions for two main course salads. Wash and chop up your other veggies (cucumber, bell pepper, celery and grape tomatoes), make sure they are chopped into smaller pieces since this is a chopped salad.  Open a can of chickpeas and rinse and drain.  Slice the olives in half.  Throw everything into a large bowl to mix thoroughly.  Add in the crumbled feta and serve with your favorite dressing – I would recommend some sort of vinaigrette.

XOXO Megan

Ice Cream Cake

Today is my birthday ya'all!  In celebration, I have brought you a delicious ice cream cake recipe that you can eat for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner in this heat! (in moderation of course) It is loosely based after Dairy Queen's ice cream cake, and also loosely based of this recipe. I served this cake in 85 degree weather, 90% humidity AND outside.  Needless to say I didn't get to snap a photo.  But enjoy the one below from the Food Network that in totally actuality looks similar to mine! (for real)

Servings: 12

Size: 1/12 of cake

Points Plus: TBD

Level of Difficulty: Easy (for real it is, but you have to have patience)

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Chill Time: Overnight

Rating: 5 stars - Excellent!

Ingredient List:

1/2 qu. chocolate ice cream

1/2 qu. vanilla ice cream

4 oz. Mrs. Richardson's chocolate fudge

2 oz. Mrs. Richardson's caramel

1 sleeve Oreos (cream filled center removed)

2 c. heavy whipping cream

4 T. powdered sugar

Patience

Directions:

*This recipe would be 100 times easier if I had a deep freeze.  But I don't, so before doing anything I cleared off the largest spot possible in my side by side freezer. Also, this recipe takes a while (mostly waiting time).  I tried to split up the recipe so that it is easy to understand!

1. Place a spring form pan in the freezer for about 15 minutes.  At the same time, remove and thaw vanilla ice cream. When pan is cold and ice cream is a little soft, spread 1/2 quart of the vanilla ice cream on the bottom of the spring pan.  Spread it around so that it looks like an ice cream 'cake' and return to freezer for 1 hour.  
2. While the vanilla ice cream is re-freezing, remove the filling from the Oreos and discard.  Warning!!! Do not do this step when hungry.  You will:
1. Eat too much of the plain cream filling
2. Eat too many Oreos. 
3. Pulse Oreos in your medium sized food processor until chunky, not powdery.  After 1 hour remove the cake from the freezer and sprinkle the Oreos over the vanilla layer.  Gently press them down with a spoon and return the cake to your freezer for 30 minutes.  
4. After 30 minutes heat up your chocolate fudge so it is soupy.  Remove the cake from the freezer and pour the fudge over the cookies to coat.  Return cake to freezer for 30 minutes.  
5. After 30 minutes warm up 2 oz of Mrs. Richardson's caramel sauce. Remove the cake from the freezer and drizzle the caramel over the fudge.  Return to freezer for 1 hour. 
6. 45 minutes later remove your chocolate ice cream from the freezer and let soften.  15 minutes later remove cake from freezer and spread chocolate ice cream over caramel layer.  Return to freezer overnight.  Your spring pan should be full to the brim!  WOW that is a lot of in and out of the freezer, get what I mean about the deep freeze!
7. ...the next day.  Whip 2 c. of heavy whipping cream and 4 T. of powdered sugar with an electric mixer until very stiff.  Set aside. 
8. Fill your sink with 2 inches of hot water. Have a serving plate ready to go on your counter.  Gently dip your spring pan into the water for 5 seconds.  Seriously, any more and you will have a mess.  Bring your spring pan over to your plate and slowly open it, allowing the cake to drop onto the serving plate.  Return to the freezer for 1 hour.
9. After 1 hour remove cake from freezer and frost with whipping cream.  Use your fancy cake decorating skills to pipe around the edges if you would like.  Return the cake to your freezer for 2 hours. This step is very important.  The whipping cream will sort of seal the cake, allowing for it to stand outside of a freezer for longer periods of time (meaning 10 minutes max, this cake does need to be kept in the freezer).  
10. Remove from freezer a few minutes before serving.  Enjoy!

Tip:

You could also probably make this in a normal 9x13 inch pan.  I would recommend lining the pan with wax paper, making the cake, and then flipping it when done before frosting.  Delish!

Tipx2 - it would be fun to experiment with ice cream flavors with this! Or, if you feel like spending the cash use two types of Ben & Jerry's!  2 pints per layer!

XOXO - Katie

Zucchini Medley

I love zucchini!  It’s one of my favorite vegetables alongside Brussels sprouts and asparagus.  This side dish is a new way to serve zucchini and is packed with veggies.

Servings: 6

Size:  1/6 of the serving dish

Points Plus: 2pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time:  30 minutes

Rating: 4 stars – Very good

Ingredient List:

2 medium zucchini, sliced

1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced

2 Tbsp. butter

2 medium tomatoes, sliced

½ green pepper, cut into ½ inch slices

2 tsp. oregano

Salt & pepper to taste

½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Arrange zucchini slices in layers on the bottom of an 8x8 glass baking dish.  Top with onion.  Sprinkle half of the oregano, salt & pepper on top of the veggies.  Place small pats of butter on top of the veggies (1 Tbsp.).  Next, top with tomato slices and finally end with green pepper slices.  Sprinkle the remaining oregano, salt & pepper as well as the last Tbsp. of butter.  Bake for 30 minutes or until the veggies look tender.  Serve with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Tip:

Make sure you slice the zucchini into thin slices (well all the vegetables actually) - this will allow the veggies to cook all the way through and be tender once the dish is done cooking!

XOXO Megan

Breakfast Bento Box

I eat some pretty cray (ie: non-traditional) things for breakfast to keep my foods interesting.  My favorite is almost anything mixed with cottage cheese.  Tomatoes, sliced up hard boiled egg, cucumbers, you name it!  Starbucks makes some pretty delicious bento boxes.  They are a mixture of low point and perfectly portioned snacks all in one box made for mixing and matching.  My fav is the chicken and hummus one, but at over $5 per box I rarely want to splurge for this tasty breakfast.  So, I made my own, and even put it in a rectangular glass container so that it felt special and fancy while I was eating it at work!  This is a spin-off of the chicken and hummus box, but as you can imagine the combinations are endless!

***I realize a normal person might eat this meal for lunch, so feel free to try that too!

Servings: 1

Size: 1 bento box

Points Plus: 5pp

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 5 minues

Cook Time: 0 minues

Rating: 4 stars - Very Good

Ingredient List:

3 little cuties

1 T. hummus

1/2 c. 1% cottage cheese

1 c. raw carrots

1/4 whole wheat pita cut into triangles

1 string cheese

Directions:

You really just measure and package people! Imagine, you can really dip everything together, and then eat the little cuties for dessert!

Tip:

Add an egg or 1 T. of peanut butter to increase the protein (and the pp value). As mentioned, the possibilities are endless, but this cute breakfast keeps me full all morning and also makes me feel like I am going to the local coffee shop to pick up a quick start to my day!

XOXO - Katie

Good Earth Turkey Sandwiches

This is a great lunch recipe and it happens to be my mom’s signature dish!  She loves to make these sandwiches.  A good hearty multi-grain bread works best with this recipe, especially since sandwich is open-faced so you are only eating one slice of bread. 

Servings:  2

Size:  1 open-faced sandwich

Points Plus: 6pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time:  5 minutes

Rating: 4 stars – Very good

Ingredient List:

2 slices of multi-grain or harvest bread

2 Tbsp. stone-ground mustard

4 ounces turkey, deli meat

Cucumber, thinly sliced

2 slices provolone, reduced fat

Directions:

Toast the bread slices in the toaster.  Spread a layer of stone-ground mustard on one side of each slice.  Layer on 2 ounces of turkey, top with a layer of thinly sliced cucumber slices.  Finally, top each open faced sandwich with a slice of provolone cheese.  Broil the sandwiches for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Tip:

You can really amp up the veggies on these sandwiches if you want.  I normally make them with sprouts, but didn’t find any at the store when I was shopping last.  You can add sprouts, sliced tomatoes, or even green peppers –all without adding any additional points to your meal!

XOXO Megan

Roasted Cauliflower, Chickpeas, and Olives

Here is a tasty little side dish (or even a veggie meal).  As you know, I love salt, and the combo here of green olives and chick peas works so well! I lightened the below recipe up just a bit from this recipe (also visit that site to see a more tasty looking photo) by totally eliminating the oil. I think you can for sure cut back the oil on most roasting recipes.

Servings: 6

Size: 2/3 cup

Points Plus: 3pp

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 22 minutes

Rating: 4 - Very Good

Ingredient List: 

1 lb. cauliflower, cut into florets

24 green olives, sliced

8 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

15 oz. (one can) chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1/2 t. crushed red pepper

1/4 t. kosher salt

3 T. fresh flat leaf parsley leaves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450

Combine first four ingredients in a small roasting pan.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss well.  Bake at 450 for 25 minutes, or until cauliflower is browned to your liking.  Stir after 10 minute. Garnish with parley and enjoy!

Tip: 

For some strange reason I HATE (which is a strong word) butting cauliflower (and broccoli for that matter) which is weird because I LOVE chopping veggies, even onions (those are my fav!).  Here is a little video that might help your cauliflower chipping skilz.

XOXO - Katie

English Muffin Pizzas

This is such an easy, quick dinner for when you are short on time!  Mini pizzas in the form of English muffins are a fun take and a lighter, healthier option if you are craving pizza.  Topping options are unlimited with this recipe too – just substitute whatever you are in the mood for or whatever is in your fridge.

Servings:  2

Size:  2 open-faced English muffin halves

Points Plus: 6pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time:  5 minutes

Rating: 3 stars - Good

Ingredient List:

2 English muffins

2 Tbsp. pizza sauce

Dried oregano

2 oz. mozzarella cheese, reduced fat

12 slices turkey pepperoni

Directions:

Toast the English muffins in your toaster.  Spread pizza sauce on each half.  Sprinkle some dried oregano on top of the sauce, this really helps bring out the pizza taste to these mini pizzas.  Next, top with cheese, split evenly across the 4 halves. Finally, add 3 slices of turkey pepperoni to each mini pizza.  Place pizzas on a cooking sheet and broil for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Tip:

Turkey pepperoni is a healhty option and a great way to save points!  If you haven't tried it before, you should.  You will be amazed at how much it tastes like regular pepperoni.

XOXO Megan

Parmesan Baked Spinach

Our first CSA came with about 2 lbs of fresh spinach.  Delicious, yes, but that is a LOT of spinach.  I knew that I had to think of a dish to cook up a large amount fast, before it went bad.  Who better to look for inspiration from than Julia Child!  This spinach side dish was really good, like, I wanted to lick the dish as well as use the ingredients with a veggie besides spinach.  Will have to experiment with that.  Anyways,

Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking - by Julia Child

Servings: 2

Size: about 1 cup

Points Plus: 5pp

Level of Difficulty: Medium

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Rating: 5 - Excellent 

Ingredient List: 

1 lb fresh spinach, cleaned with the stems removed

1 T. unsalted butter

1 T. flour

Salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup beef stock

1 T. panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (could also use Swiss but I didn't have any on hand)

Spray butter

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 375. Add spinach to large pan that has a lid. You will be really surprised how much 1 lb of spinach takes up! It filled up my entire 9 qu. Le Creuset. Add about 2 inches of water to bottom of pan and heat, covered, until spinach is steamed.  Keep an eye on the spinach so it doesn't burn.  I used kitchen tongs to stir a few times during the cooking process. Drain spinach in a colander and use another bowl to press down on the spinach while still in the colander in order to strain/drain so there is minimal water left in the spinach. Fill another bowl (perhaps the one used to press on the spinach) with cold water and add spinach to that to stop the cooking process. Let 'chill' for about two minuets.

Wipe out original pan and melt butter in.  Add spinach and sautee for about 3 minutes until all butter is absorbed.  Sprinkle four evenly on spinach and sautee about 1 minute to slightly cook flour.  Add in stock, mix together and let sautee about 3 minutes more until most liquid is absorbed.  Turn off heat and add 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.  Put spinach mixture into a small baking dish and top with panko breadcrumbs, remaining cheese and a few spritzes of spray butter OR use your misto with olive oil (this may increase pp). Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and browned.

Tip:

Mastering the Art of French Cooking is a FAB cookbook.  As I explore it further I wonder how many of Julia's other recipes can be 'lightened up' while retaining flavor.  Stay tuned on that one! The cookbook includes some challenging recipes, but also recipes that could easily be made by the beginner chef. 

XOXO Katie

Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Everyone needs a signature dish!  What is a signature dish you might ask?  Well it is recipe that you can make quickly and is something you can make well.  And it really becomes your signature dish when people come to know and remember you for this particular recipe!

This delicious breakfast cake might very well be my own signature dish.  It is SO good!  The cake’s consistency is moist, yet light and fluffy all rolled into one.  It’s kind of cross between a muffin and a coffee cake.  I came across this recipe on Pinterest and tried it out for a weekend visit from my family.  Soon after this visit, this recipe quickly became one of our favorites!

Servings:  12

Size:  1/12 of an 8x8 pan

Points Plus: 6pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Bake Time: 35-45 minutes

Rating: 5 stars – Excellent

Ingredient List:

½ cup unsalted butter

2 tsp. lemon zest

¾ cup sugar (+ 2 Tbsp. to sprinkle on top of cake)

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour (reserve ¼ cup to toss the blueberries in)

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. kosher salt

2 cups blueberries, fresh berries

½ cup buttermilk

Cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°.  In a large bowl, mix together the butter, lemon zest and ¾ cup sugar with a mixer until the texture is light and fluffy.  Add the egg, vanilla and beat until well mixed through.  Wash the blueberries and lightly pat dry with a paper towel.  In a cereal bowl, toss the blueberries in ¼ cup of flour (this helps the blueberries to stay whole and got get smashed and bleed into the rest of the cake).  Whisk together the remaining flour (1 ¾ cups), baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl.  Add half of flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture, mix well.  Next add ¼ cup of buttermilk to the batter.  Repeat these steps with the remaining flour mixture and buttermilk.  Using a technique of alternating your dry ingredients with buttermilk allows for easier mixing for your cake batter.  Once the batter is mixed well, use a large spatula to gently fold in the blueberries.  You will likely have leftover flour from the ¼ cup you used to toss the berries – you don’t need to add all of it into the batter.  Spray an 8x8 pan with cooking spray.  Spread batter evenly into the pan.  The batter consistency will be quite thick.  Sprinkle 2 Tbsp. of sugar on top of the cake.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the top is golden brown.  Use a toothpick to check to see if it comes out clean.  Depending on your oven, it may need to bake for an additional 5-10 minutes.

Tip:

Use this lemon zester I told you about last week to make zesting the lemon a breeze!

This recipe can EASILY be doubled and made in a 9x13 pan instead of the 8x8!  If you are serving this for a brunch I would recommend going with the doubled version since people will want seconds.

XOXO Megan

Harvest Pilaf With Sweet Peas and Green Garlic

On the first day that our CSA box came in we ordered pizza, oops!  The next day I made a delicious blend of veggies that were included in our box, some of which I was unfamiliar with.  For me, one exciting thing about a CSA is that you have the opportunity to use fruits and veggies that you have never tried, or even heard of before. I researched two of them, green garlic and garlic chives, and added them to this mix for a garlicy twist.

Servings: 4

Size: 1 cup

Points Plus: 8pp

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Rating: 4 - Very Good

Ingredient List: 

1 cup uncooked Trader Joes Harvest Grains

2 cups chicken stock

1 T. olive oil

3 stalks green garlic

2 cups raw and cleaned spinach

1 cup peas

4 oz fresh mozzarella

Garlic chives for garnish

Salt & pepper to taste

Directions: 

Bring stock to a boil and add Harvest Grains.  Cook according to package directions, about 10 minutes. Cut green garlic like you would a green onion, using white part and some of the green part. Head 1 T. of olive oil in a sautee pan.  Add green garlic and cook for about 3 minutes.  Add peas and cook about 3 minutes more. Add spinach and cover pan to allow spinach to wilt, about 2-3 minutes more.  When Harvest Grain is finished cooking add it to the sautee pan and mix, allowing flavors to meld.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve topped with 1 oz fresh mozzarella and chopped garlic chives.  Enjoy!

Tip:

Green garlic is a milder (in my opinion) form of regular garlic.  This pass weekend I added it to breakfast potatoes, spaghetti sauce and the recipe above. Seek it out at your local farmer's market and give it a whirl!

XOXO - Katie

Kitchen Tool Review: Lemon Zester

This is the most AMAZING lemon zester ever!  I have struggled to find a good one that is has sharp enough blades that make zesting or grating an easy task.  It always feels like it takes forever to get enough zest for what your recipe calls for.

Last summer my family was visiting MN and we were doing some shopping in 50th and France.  We wandered into Sur La Table. (Side note:  If you have never been in a Sur La Table... go find the closest one now!  It's a very fun kitchen store that offers lots of specialty tools and quality cookware, bakeware etc.  Think of it similar to a Williams Sonoma, but a bit more specialized).  I had made a breakfast blueberry cake for brunch for my family that weekend, but my recipe called for lemon zest and I didn't have the right tool so I omitted it.  As we were browsing in Sur La Table, I decided to ask an employee for any recommendations for a good zester.  I was pointed toward the zester below - it's a Cuisipro Fine-Rasp Etched Grater.  The saleswoman swore this was by far the best zester/grater out there!  She was right!  I am impressed by how quickly I can zest a lemon and how fine of a grate this tool produces.



Cuisipro Fine-Rasp Etched Grater



The uses of this tool go well beyond just lemon or orange zest.  I have used it to grate ginger for stir-frys.  And I have even used it to grate a carrot when you want a very fine, minced consistency for your vegetables. If you are in the market for a zester - this is the one!

PS Be on the lookout for the breakfast blueberry cake recipe on the blog in the future. :)



XOXO Megan