Coconut Date Balls – A Christmas Recipe Special

10. December 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Recipes · Tags: , ,

Click Here for Current Giveaways

2131686124_4979e49472No matter how healthy I eat all year long, the holidays come along and visions of high fructose sugar plums start dancing in my head.  Not that healthy!  I want to enjoy the seasonal goodies, but I still want to maintain my health.  I’ve been making an extra effort this year to find some recipe treasures that are still sweet, or rich, or decadent – without being bad for me and my family.  I love cooking and baking with dates because they are so sweet and wonderful, and they’re healthy too.  Here’s a recipe that will be added to our family Christmas recipe box:  Coconut Date Balls.

Ingredients:

2 pounds of pitted organic dates, cut in small pieces

3 tablespoons honey

¼ – ½ cup coconut oil (Using more oil gets them harder during refrigeration)

2 ½ cups organic shredded coconut

1 cup ground flax seeds

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Some extra shredded coconut for coating

In a medium sized saucepan, cook the dates, honey and oil over low heat until they’re blended together. Turn off the heat and add the shredded coconut and ground flax seeds. Let the mixture cool.

Once cooled, stir in the vanilla extract. Place the extra coconut in a shallow bowl. Roll the date mixture into small balls (about 1 – 1/2 inches) then roll them in the shredded coconut. Eat warm or refrigerate.

For more recipes, check out our Recipes tab above!

Mediterranean Noodle Salad Recipe

08. October 2009 · 1 comment · Categories: Recipes · Tags: , ,

Click Here for Giveaways & Coupon Codes

Add your giveaways

 

Unfortunate that my cooking photography is so lousy. Instead enjoy this stock photo of the Mediterranean.

Unfortunate that my cooking photography is so lousy. Instead enjoy this stock photo of the Mediterranean.

I happened across a great healthy recipe hooked to a package of recently purchased egg noodles.  As I always do, however, I altered things here and there until it was something that matched my family’s tastes as well as the contents of my refrigerator at the time!  The end result was quite delicious.  If you make this one the day before serving, you’ll find it’s even better on the second day after the flavors have a chance to marry.

Mediterranean Noodle Salad

8 oz. egg noodles

1 onion, chopped

2 – 3 garlic cloves, chopped

6 Tbs. good olive oil

30 cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered

1/2 cup feta cheese, cubed

2 – 3 handfuls chopped fresh dandelion greens

20 black olives, chopped

2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

1/2 – 1 Tbs. mustard (I used a stone ground one)

salt, pepper to taste

1 tsp. fresh oregano

Boil the noodles in salted water per package instructions.  Lightly saute the onions until just translucent. Prepare the dressing by mixing the vinegar and oil, along with the mustard, salt and pepper, and the oregano.  Blend the noodles with all ingredients, adding dressing last and gently stirring to coat.  Refrigerate before serving.

Arborio Rice Salad with Fava Beans and Asparagus

17. April 2009 · 1 comment · Categories: Recipes · Tags: , , , ,

Fortunately for our dinner table, my husband has been spending some time watching some cooking shows.  Recently he learned how to make this amazing salad, but he doesn’t know what channel, who the chef was, etc….  Following is his version of what he saw.  The original was made with cubed ham, but he made it vegetarian style.  It also called for Pecorino cheese.  We didn’t find any, so he substituted a Swiss Emmentaler cheese which was a great substitution.  

Arborio Rice Salad with Fava Beans and Asparagus

1 cup arborio rice

1 cup fresh fava beans

1 cup green peas (fresh or canned)

1 lb. fresh asaparagus

1/4 lb. Swiss Emmentaler Cheese (or Peccorino)

1/4 – 1/2 lb. cubed ham (optional)

2 medium lemons

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (really good oil makes all the difference!)

salt and pepper to taste

Fresh Parsley

Fresh Basil

1.)  Use a stock pot with about 1 gallon of water to start.  Add arborio rice to boiling water, a little salt, and stir.  Cook for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.

2.) Julienne the asparagus, discarding about the bottom 1/4 of the stalk.  Blanch the peas (if fresh), and the fava beans and asparagus in boiling water for 4 – 5 minutes.  Strain.  Peel the fava beans.  Set beans, peas, and asparagus aside.

3.)  Prepare Vinaigrette:  Zest both lemons and squeeze the juice into a bowl.  Add olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.  

4.) Chop some parsley and basil.  Set aside.

5.) Cut the cheese in small cubes (and ham if using); set aside.

6.) Drain the rice; mix together rice, peas, beans, asparagus, cheese, ham (if using), lemon rind, parsley, basil, and vinaigrette into a glass bowl.  Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

My husband’s final instruction?  ENJOY!!!

A little labor intensive, but definitely worth the effort.  This made enough for us to both eat as a large side dish for about 2 – 3 meals.  If you’re looking for a great potluck dish to wow the diners, this is the one!

Note:  I’ll have a photo as soon as I can locate my camera!  The plate is ready and garnished, the sun is out and prepared for a photo shoot, but alas – the camera has grown legs and left the premises.  Bummer.

Red Lentil Dish with Pita Chips Recipe

13. February 2009 · 1 comment · Categories: Recipes · Tags: ,

Click Here for Giveaways & Coupon Codes

Add your giveaways here

Last week, my parents dropped by for a short visit.  But as often happens, we ended up having a wonderful spontaneous dinner party.  (No, that’s not us over in the picture – I didn’t have the forethought or the candles for a nice image like this.) This usually involves me pulling all sorts of things out of the fridge and feeding my parents some weird spur-of-the-moment concoction I’d just then thought up.  I don’t mean to experiment on the relatives – it just sort of happens.  What was going to be just a thrown together dinner for me, my husband, and our son, turned out to be a fun ethnic food experimentation!  I thought I’d share those recipes with you here.  I didn’t serve the lentils on rice, but a nice basmati or jasmine rice would work well here.  One nice thing about red lentils – they cook up pretty fast!  I’ve heard 10 – 15 minutes, but for some reason it usually seems to take me more like 20 – 30 minutes to get them how I like.

Red Lentil Dish:

2 cups dried red lentils, cooked until almost soft, then drained

8 – 10 cloves garlic

about 1/2 cup olive oil

1 red or yellow pepper

1 green pepper

2 small zucchini

2 medium onions

2 medium tomatoes

salt and pepper

dried basil

In a large pan, sautee onions until translucent.  Add peppers and zucchini, sprinkle with dried basil, and sautee until soft.  Add lentils and just enough water to barely cover.  Simmer until lentils are soft and much of the water has evaporated.  While simmering the lentil mixture, put the unpeeled garlic cloves in an oven-safe pan with about 1/4 cup olive oil. (I just trim the bottoms of the cloves off so it’s easier to remove later.)  At 350º, roast the garlic until soft.  Remove garlic cloves from their skins and save the oil for the pita chips.  Slice the roasted garlic and throw into the lentils. Place whole tomatoes in boiling water for about 30 seconds (until the skins crack), rinse under cold water, peel and chop.  Add tomatoes to lentils, stir, and remove from heat.  Serve over rice if you prefer.  Put pita chips in a big bowl as the centerpiece to enjoy with your lentils.  A nice tossed salad tastes great with the meal too!

Pita Chips:

3 whole wheat pitas

Reserved olive oil from roasting garlic

Oregano and paprika

Cut pita breads into about 8 pie-sliced shapes (in half, then the halves in quarters).  Place them on a greased cookie sheet and lightly oil the tops of the pita pieces with the garlic oil left over from roasting garlic.  Sprinkle with oregano, paprika, and salt if you prefer.  Place under broiler (on low) for about 2 minutes, turn, oil and sprinkle spices on other side, and put back in broiler for another 2 minutes.  WATCH them because they scorch easily!  Remove from oven, cool until crisp, and serve.  Very addictive!

Miso Soup Recipe

15. January 2009 · 10 comments · Categories: Recipes · Tags: ,

Click Here for Giveaways & Coupon Codes 

Made with fermented soybean paste called miso, miso soup is healthy, warming, and wonderful!  I’ve been hooked on this simple soup for quite awhile, only having it in Japanese restaurants.  But recently I tried making it myself and was surprised at how quick and easy it is.  I just couldn’t wait to share it with you.

Miso, the fermented soybean paste, can be found in specialty stores, Asian food markets, and some larger grocery stores.  Try and get one that advertises no artificial additives or preservatives, no MSG, and no GMO soybeans.  I found the brand Miko (by Miyasaka Brewery) at a Japanese specialty store, and we all liked it.

Ingredients:

12 cups water

12 Tbs. miso

2 Tbs. soy sauce

3 oz. firm tofu, cut in cubes about 1/2″ thick

10 shiitake mushrooms, sliced

3 baby bok choy, sliced or torn

6 scallions, sliced

Heat water to a boil; lower heat and add miso, stirring until it’s completely dissolved. Add soy sauce, tofu, mushrooms, and scallions.  Heat through.  At end, throw in bok choy and stir, heating through until bok choy is just softened.  Turn off heat and serve.

« Older articles