Sesame Radishes and Eggs

I have been cooking a lot of radishes for breakfast. I never would have bought them from the store in the past, let alone eaten them for breakfast! But we get such beautiful radishes from the CSA! How could you resist veggies like this?:

Corn, Cucumber, Feta, Mint Salad

This is a Mediterranean style salad. I served it for dinner with grilled chicken on the side. It was a super light but filling dinner.

Serves 6 (1 cup servings)
ww = 3 points per serving.

Basil, Tomato, Mozzarella Salad

I bought some beautiful tomatoes and purple basil from the farmer's market today.

I was really craving cheese so when I stumbled upon some grass fed mozzarella I bought that too. Keeping up with ww has made my relationship with cheese go through a rough patch...so it was time. But I decided to make a healthy salad for dinner. To make it more hearty I served it over some cooked spelt. This salad was delicious. The only thing I will change next time is that I will not mix all ingredients together at once, instead I will gently toss in the beans and cheese at the end. Because the beans were canned and the cheese was so fresh they started to fall apart with the mixing. I had wanted all the ingredients to marinate together while the spelt took its lovely time cooking (1 hour+!!). But I learned my lesson about this.

This spelt was leftover from my winter csa. Let me tell you, letting it do its' thing is worth it. This was a lesson I learned back in December. You don't want to eat crunchy spelt-- you will end up with a headache.

Serves 6 (1 cup servings)
ww points = salad alone (5 points); salad with arugula and 1/2 cup cooked spelt (7 points)

Healthy Sloppy Joes and Smokey Collard Greens

These collards are sooo good. You would think there is bacon, or some form of piggy pig in them, as they taste so damn good. It is the fennel, chipotle in adobo, and the smoked paprika which really give them their kick. Marc and I have made these two times and I will continue to go back to this recipe. The sloppy joes paired very well with these collards and are so low in points, that you can even indulge in a carby hamburger bun for dinner. These recipes call for Worcestershire and chicken broth but if you wanted to make this vegetarian you could substitute vegetarian Worcestershire and veggie broth.

The collard recipe serves 5 and was adapted from this site. ww = 1 point per serving
The sloppy joe recipe serves 5 and was adapted from this site. ww = 2 points per serving (no roll)
(The whole dinner with a hamburger bun is 7 points!!!)

Swiss Chard Pancakes

This morning I woke up with a REAL craving for pancakes. I would have settled for buckwheat pancakes, but those aren't even all that healthy either because of the carbs. Plus we have another fridge full of greens from our CSA.  This week we got: chioggia beets, lacinato kale, rainbow chard, baby fennel, green basil, red torpedo spring onions, garlic, parsley, tart cherries and blueberries.

What better thing to do with swiss chard and red torpedo spring onions than make pancakes!? This is adapted from an Epicurious recipe.

Serves 3.
ww points = 3 per serving

Anchovy-Caper Chicory Catalogna Puntarelle Salad

Well that is a long name! I got this Chicory Catalogna Puntarelle from our CSA this week. This veggie is a bitter, leafy green. You can see it in the picture below. Its' end starts right above the cherries. It is sandwiched between the sage (left) and swiss chard (right).

Needless to say, I had never heard of this veggie. Apparently it is pretty hard to come by in the US. Many people in Rome cook with this. Well, people in Rome and Mario Battali on occasion when he can get his hands on some. I had no idea what to do with this veggie but I was intrigued. There are not many recipes online for it either. But of the few that I could find, I saw a trend: caper, anchovy, garlic...you see where I am going here? So I decided to make up my own recipe.

Red quinoa and kale pilaf

This recipe kicks ass! It has such texture and flavor. I was inspired by Food 52 to cook it but ended up substituting almost all the ingredients. It is pretty easy, super healthy for you, and very filling without feeling like a piglet. The quinoa is a great source of protein, iron and fiber. Plus it is gluten free so it is easy to digest. I gobbled it up after I went swimming, which is my latest obsession. The dish has more kale than grain in terms of the proportion. I highly recommend making it as a main dish or you can leave out the beans and serve it as a side.

Beet Corn Summer Salad

This salad is very high in fiber, filling and super quick to make. I served it as an appetizer but it would make a nice side served with plain fish or meat. Then I ate the leftovers with a hard boiled egg.

Serves 6.

Summer Vegetable Pilaf

This is a great summer dish. It could be a main course, a side for a potluck or a good picnic food.

 

Roasted Beet and Tatsoi Salad

This is a very light and healthy salad bursting with flavor and color. It can be served at room temperature or prepared in advance and served slightly chilled. It is very easy to make but the beets take some time to cook.

Curried Egg Salad

This recipe is adapted from Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks. I wanted to eat something different for breakfast that wouldn't weigh me down. That and I knew I wanted to make homemade pasta for dinner so I wanted to budget the calories. This egg salad is delicious. It does require some chopping but it doesn't take forever to make. Next time I will double it and save the salad for lunch for the week!

Orange Fennel Salad

This is a great side to any fish. It is fast and healthy! I posted another fennel salad this past summer. This one is slightly different, but just as good.

Baked Garlic Chicken served with Bacon Mashed Potatoes and Beet-Arugula Salad

This chicken recipe I got from Marc's mom. She made it one night with baked potatoes and I nearly died. It was amazing. So after raving about it, she gave marc and I the spices so I could make it. So sweet! Like most recipes, this was told to me verbally so I'm sure that I don't make it exactly the same way...which is probably why it never turns out as good as when she makes it.

Tonight I decided that I wanted to use up some of the random things in my fridge like basil, heavy cream and bacon, soooo.....I made rather unhealthy mashed potatoes to go with the meal. I also made a beet-arugula salad. But other than the potatoes, the meal is really healthy. Serious food for fall!

This dish serves about 4.

Fennel Crusted Bluefish and Faux Panzanella

Veggie-Orzo Summer Salad

This summer salad is quick, healthy, and super yummy. It is loaded with vegetables but it has such a simple taste. I think that it will be the next picnic food for me. It would also be a great dish to serve on the side of some cooked fish.

It was inspired by this blog and that cook, Cate, was inspired by another blog! So as you can see, it is was a typical cooking experiment for me.

Kale Chips

These chips are a fun side to a meal. They are also a healthier snack alternative to potato chips and quite possibly the easiest thing to make.