Barley Salad with Basil, Tomato and Feta

Barley is a grain that I have not cooked with much, but I continuously see it mentioned on lists of healthy foods to try. Apparently this versatile powerhouse is a great source of niacin, fiber, selenium and manganese all of which help to protect against heart disease and cancer, making it the perfect substitute for basic brown rice. For the sake of convenience, I tried to find the quick cooking kind but naturally my grocery store did not carry it. The one bad thing about Barley? It takes forever to cook. But I really wanted to try this salad, so I figured the long 50 minute cooking time would be less painful on a Sunday evening.
 

Dressing
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp honey
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Mix first 3 ingredients together in a bowl. Gradually whisk in olive oil. Season dressing with a little salt & pepper.
Salad
- 1 1/2 cups cooked barley, cooled (cook according to package directions and allow it to cool a bit)
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- about a cup of roughly chopped basil
- about a cup chopped scallions
- 1 7 oz package feta cheese
Mix the cooked barley with all other ingredients and top with dressing. Serve at room temperature.

I decided Greek style salmon would go well with this. I simply sprinkled salmon fillets with Greek seasonings and roasted at 400 for about 12 minutes (I have a pre-made Greek seasoning spice mix, but you can create your own at home by mixing onion powder, garlic, oregano and a little mint).

This was a delicious and healthy Mediterranean meal that I will definitely make again. I had some leftover barley I did not put in the salad and with it's nutty flavor, I am planning to try it for breakfast with a little milk, brown sugar, honey and almonds. YUM!

Happy Eating!

Visual Inspiration

Ever since I started this blog I have gotten into the habit of taking pictures of almost everything I cook and/or eat. Unfortunately, I don't have enough time to write a blog about everything I cook. As I was looking through some pictures today, I realized I had photographed a lot of meals recently that might be worth sharing. (I also realized I desperately need a new camera!) So this became more of a visual post. All of these recipes are simple and require few ingredients. Maybe this will inspire you to cook something pretty (and inspire me to take better pictures??)

Grilled Citrus Chicken in lettuce wraps with avocado and mango salsa

Steamed salmon with Rosemary and a side salad made of spinach, beets, artichokes, goat cheese and balsamic vinegar. All of these foods are very good for your liver!! 

 Edamame lomein with carrots, red pepper and sesame seeds. So delicious, easy and inexpensive!

 

  

This meal was grilled BBQ chicken pizza with a blue cheese side salad. I got a little adventurous and mixed some hot sauce with some balsamic vinegar dressing to toss the lettuce in. It ended up being pretty good!

Cajun tilapia with okra and baby tomatoes from the farmers market!! So simple, yet so good!

Happy Eating!

Summer Pastas

It seems like the summer is just flying by! I love this time of year, but we always stay so busy it goes by too fast. Between the vacations, weddings, showers, cookouts and other parties, I like to go to the farmers markets and then make up a meal with whatever looks good that day. One easy thing to do is mix some fresh veggies with fresh herbs and pasta. Here are a few pastas I made this summer that I think are worth sharing:

Eggplant Ragu
- Eggplant, peeled and cut into cubes
- tomatoes, chopped
- black olives, sliced
- dried thyme or oregano
- salt and pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- fresh basil leaves torn
- about 8 oz. angel hair pasta
- cheese for topping
Begin by sauteing the garlic in 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the eggplant and cook for another two minutes.Add in tomatoes, olives, dried herbs, salt and pepper. Cook for another few minutes, until the eggplant is soft.  Meanwhile, cook the pasta to al dente. Just before serving, stir the torn basil leaves into the ragu. Place the ragu on top of the pasta and top with cheese if desired (I went with parmesan here).

Shrimp and white wine pasta
- 2 tbsp butter
- about a pound of peeled, deveined shrimp
- 2 colves garlic, minced
- green bell pepper, cut into chunks
- crimini mushrooms, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- about 8 oz cooked spaghetti (I used whole grain)
- fresh dill
- cheese for topping
Start by sauteing the garlic in the butter. After a minute, add in the bell pepper and mushrooms. Turn up the heat and pour about a 1/4 c white wine into the pan. Add the shrimp and cook for about 2 minutes per side or until pink. Stir in the salt and pepper and fresh dill. Top cooked noodles with shrimp and veggie mixture. Top with shredded cheese (I used romano for this dish).

Happy Eating!

A Caribbean Feast!

Every year starting on the memorial day weekend we take a week long beach trip with several of our closest friends. This tradition started when we all went on our post-high school graduation beach week trip way back when. We look forward to this trip all year long and have so much fun relaxing (and partying) by the sea!

One of the many traditions we started on this annual beach extravaganza is how we do dinners. Each night a couple cooks a meal for the whole house. We all rotate and then we each only have to cook once. We love doing this and in recent years have started adding signature cocktails to go along with the amazing dinners we have! This year Ryan and I decided to do Caribbean night and came up with what I thought was an outstanding meal.

We started with a salad of papaya and avocado. I cheated and used the canned papaya to make it easier, but it was just as good. I dressed it with a simple mixture of fresh orange, lemon and lime juice and soy sauce.

 

 My favorite part of the meal was the jerk chicken. I have an awesome recipe for jerk chicken, but that recipe will be remaining my little secret :-)

For the sides (and the main course for the vegetarians) I made coconut red beans and rice and glazed sweet potatoes. For the rice I started by sauteing garlic, red onion and a diced habanero pepper. I added in the rice and browned it slightly before adding in the coconut milk, vegetable broth brown sugar and red beans. I then let it simmer for about 20 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed.

For the sweet potatoes, I just cut them up and glazed them with a mixture of lime juice, honey and Caribbean spices.

 For our signature cocktail we made Rum Apple Punch which was such a hit I did not even get a picture!

This whole meal was pretty easy to make and everyone seemed to really like it! We threw on some tropical tunes and Ryan wore his Hawaiian shirt and we made it a party!

Briana enjoying a sweet potato (before throwing it at uncle Trey!)

Happy Eating!

Chicken Pasta Salad

Several months ago I purchased a book called Food Cures. It lists out several ailments a person might have, and then details all the foods you should eat (and those you should avoid) to help with the health issues. It is an intriguing book that really focuses on the healing powers of food and your diet. There are also about 50 different recipes provided for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and snacks. I have slowly been cooking my way through the book and have been loving the recipes! Most of them are practical, easy and surprisingly tasty! Recently I was craving something comforting (but still healthy) and I found this recipe. It proved to be just that and was even good as we ate it for leftovers through the week!

Chicken Pasta Salad
- 6 oz whole wheat pasta (I used shells)
- 2 tablespoons canola mayo
- 2 tablespoons low-fat plain yogurt
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 1/4-1/2 cup kalamata olives, chopped (or halved)
- 2 cups arugula

Cook the pasta until al dente. Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk together the mayo, yogurt, vinegar, cheese and garlic. Add the chicken, tomatoes, olives and arugula and toss gently to coat. When the pasta has drained, let it cool slightly then gently toss with chicken mixture. Chill and serve.

This is a great addition to any summer cookout or luncheon. It's a much healthier pasta salad option with whole-wheat pasta and nutrient dense tomatoes, arugula and garlic.

Happy Eating!

Banana and Chocolate Quesadilla

I have never had much of a sweet tooth. I usually prefer something salty, cheesy or crunchy. However, I am human and do crave something sweet and chocolaty from time to time. The other night I wanted something warm and sweet so I took a Paula Dean recipe I found and figured out how to make it healthier (start by cutting all that butter out! haha). It is so easy and it turned out to be delicious, healthy and inexpensive so I had to share!


Banana and Chocolate Quesadilla 
- 1 Banana, sliced in rounds
- 2 whole wheat tortilla's
- a handful of chocolate chips (go with dark chocolate - at least 65% cocoa to get the
best antioxidant boost)
- about 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- about a tablespoon cinnamon
- about 1.5 tablespoons butter
- vanilla frozen yogurt

Start by melting half the butter in a skillet and sprinkle in some cinnamon. Lay one tortilla down and lay the banana slices on the tortilla. Top with brown sugar, chocolate chips and cinnamon. Top with second tortilla and cook until the chocolate melts. Put remaining butter and cinnamon in the pan as you flip the tortilla. cook until crispy. Serve with a scoop of frozen yogurt and enjoy!
This dessert was so good and full of nutrients in the tortilla's, banana's, chocolate and the yogurt!

Happy Eating!

Grill me Something Good!

I love this time of year when the whole neighborhood starts smelling like a backyard cookout . There is just something to be said about the taste and smell of food cooked on a grill! However, when most people think about grilling, they think about hamburgers, hotdogs, steak, chicken, etc. Now don't get me wrong, these things can all be amazing on a grill, but they are often loaded with saturated fats, cholesterol, preservatives, additives, hormones, etc. We made an awesome vegetarian meal on the grill the other night and didn't miss the meat at all. We still got to enjoy that wonderful grill flavor, but in a much healthier way.

Grilled Stuffed Portabello's with Sweet Potato "chips"
- large portabello caps for stuffing
- chopped tomatoes (depending on how many you shrooms you plan to stuff)
- sliced olives
- fresh mozzarella sliced into rounds (the fresher the better, trust me)
- olive oil
- balsamic vinegar
- fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
- Sweet potatos
- cumin
- cinnamon
- chili powder
- S&P to taste

Start by marinating the mushroom caps in a mixture of balsamic vinegar and olive oil for about 30min-1hour. Next mix the chopped tomatoes with the basil leaves and olives. Spoon the mixture into the mushroom caps and top with the mozzarella.
In the mean time, slice the sweet potatoes into about 1/4 in thick rounds. Toss them with a little olive oil, cumin, cinnamon and chili powder (I just mix the spices until it tastes right to me, equal parts usually gives a good flavor).
Next fire up the grill and put the sweet potatoes on first. Those will usually take about 7-8 minutes per side (or until they are fork tender). Next add the mushrooms (I recommend using a grill basket with cooking spray so they don't stick to the grill) and cook for about 10 min. or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

This meal was very tasty and the meaty texture of the mushrooms leaves you feeling satisfied. The mushrooms have immune boosting properties, the tomatoes give you a healthy dose of heart-helping lycopene, the sweet potatoes are loaded with vitamins and the rest just tastes good ;-)

Happy Eating!