Monday, January 3, 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year, Everyone! We hope you had a fabulous Holiday Season...I can not believe how fast it goes, all the preparation and anticipation and in literally 5 minutes its all over :( Today was rough getting the kids back to school ~ I could have used 2 more weeks off. But today is Monday and it's a new year! This year we are going to cook healthier...I swear it!

So lets get right to it!

Quinoa-Cranberry Salad with Pecans


Ingredients


* 1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
* 2 cups water
* 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
* 1/2 cup dried cranberries
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 2 tablespoons lemon juice
* salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender, and the water has been absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes. Scrape into a mixing bowl, and cool to warm, about 20 minutes.
2. Once the quinoa has cooled, stir in the pecans, cranberries, olive oil, and lemon juice; season to taste with salt and pepper to taste. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before serving.

** This is so yummy ~ it may not look it but it will satisfy your sweet tooth while
also having a good grain.

Asian Glazed Drumsticks





* 8 medium chicken drumsticks, skin removed
* Pam spray oil
* 1 cup water
* 1 tbsp Sriracha hot sauce (more or less to taste)
* 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
* 1/2 cup soy sauce
* 4 tsp agave nectar (or sugar)
* 3 cloves garlic
* 1 tsp ginger, grated
* 2 tbsp chives or scallions, chopped
* 1 tsp sesame seeds

In a heavy large saucepan, brown chicken on high for 3-4 minutes with a little spray oil. Add water, balsamic, soy sauce, agave, garlic, ginger, hot sauce and cook on high until liquid comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for about 20 minutes. Remove cover and bring heat to high, allowing sauce to reduce down, about 8 minutes until it becomes a thick glaze, turning chicken occasionally. (Keep an eye on glaze, you don't want it to burn when it start becoming thick) Transfer chicken to a platter and pour glaze on top. Top with chives and sesame seeds and serve.


Caramelized Onion, Mushroom and Gruyere Quiche with Oat Crust




Ingredients
For the crust:

* Cooking spray
* 3/4 cup rolled oats
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 3 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
* 3 tablespoons cold, lowfat buttermilk

For the filling:

* 4 teaspoons olive oil
* 1 large onion, sliced thinly into half moons
* 8 ounces sliced mixed mushrooms, such as cremini, oyster, shiitake
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dry)
* 3 large eggs
* 3 egg whites
* 1 cup evaporated fat-free milk (not condensed milk)
* 2/3 cup grated Gruyere cheese (about 1-ounce)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch pie dish with cooking spray.

To prepare the crust, put the oats, flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse 3 times to combine. Add the butter and pulse about 12 times, until you get a pebbly course texture. Add the buttermilk and pulse 3 to 5 times more to combine. Form the mixture into a ball and place it between 2 large pieces of waxed paper. Roll out into a circle about 10 inches in diameter.

Remove the top sheet of waxed paper. Transfer the crust, still on the other piece of waxed paper to the pie dish, then remove the waxed paper from the top. Press the crust gently into the dish. Bake for 9 minutes, then let cool.

To prepare the filling, heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a large nonstick pan over a medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Transfer the onions to a bowl. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil to the pan and heat over a medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until they have released their water and begin to brown, about 6 minutes. Add the onions back to the pan, stir in the salt, pepper, mustard and thyme.

In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, egg whites and evaporated milk.

Sprinkle the cheese into the pie crust. Top with the mushroom-onion mixture and pour the egg mixture on top. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake for 35 minutes or until knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting into 6 wedges and serving.

***Note: Gruyere Cheese is freaking 21.99/lb so uhhh yeah we used mozzarella!!


We also made Marinated Vegetables with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peppers, zucchini, sugar snap peas and grape tomatoes covered in lite Italian Dressing.




Turkey Chili ~ Ground Turkey - a heavy pound, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of tomato sauce and chili beans, season with salt, pepper and chili powder then cook and simmer several hours.





Last was Mango Salsa. It was to have sweet potato chips with it but we got lazy and decided bagged whole grain jalapeno chips work fine and are already in the house! The salsa was a mango, cherry tomatoes, red onion, red chili and mint. The dressing on it is rice vinegar, olive oil and lime juice. Smells like summer :)

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