Summer Time Salad

Love this one!  Super simple, low in calories and tastes so refreshing. We paired it with Buffalo Chicken (I had a supreme craving!) and it helped to balance out the flavors!

Ingredients:

- romaine lettuce (1 head, cut into small inch long strips)

- corn (used frozen, steamed in bag, 1/2 bag/chilled)

- lemon juice (2 tbsp)

- feta cheese (1/3 cup)

- tomato (1 diced)

Toss it all together and enjoy! 

Fake-out Alfredo Pasta

I had leftover whole wheat noodles in the fridge and was trying to get a little crafty last night.  I got some inspiration from my Pinterest board and ran with the concept of garlic and asparagus. Price Chopper was good to me - 3 ingredients later (mushrooms, chicken sausage, and asparagus) and we were cooking.  The finished product?  Something that smelled way better than I anticipated and tasted delish!  Or as my dad literally just said to me "what is this Alfredo?"  Why no, and a thousand calories less, but thanks dad!

So, this recipe is obviously not 21 Day Fix approved mostly because of the Parmesan cheese and chicken sausage but when in moderation, and for a Friday night treat, it felt good.   You could also easily modify as I wrote below so that it could fit within your 21 Day Fix meal planning!  💛

Ingredients (makes about 4 servings)

- Chicken sausage (I used Al Fresco brand, Garlic flavor)  21DF substitute: cooked chicken breast

- whole wheat linguine (cooked)

- asparagus (cut to 1 inch pieces)

- mushrooms (sliced thin)

- minced garlic (3 cloves)

- lemon juice (3-4 TBSP)

- olive oil (1/2 cup)

- Parmesan cheese (1/2 cup)  21DF substitute: use the fresh Parmesan instead of the sprinkle cheese I used. :)

- salt & pepper (to taste)

Directions:

1. Lightly spray frying pan with olive oil spray and brown the sausage over medium heat. (I used fully cooked sausage so it only took about 5 minutes. This brand also offers the option of microwaving for 30 seconds - I am absolutely not above doing that when stretched for time, and it definitely endeared this brand to me.)  Set aside. 

2. In the same frying pan, over medium heat, add the garlic, olive oil, and veggies. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer. 

3. While that's going, cut your sausages into 1/4 inch rounds. 

4. Once the asparagus and mushrooms are soft, add your sausage. Let simmer for 2 minutes and remove from heat. There will be a little "juice" left in the pan.

5. Combine the pasta and the sausage/veggie combo in a large serving bowl. Toss together and add Parmesan cheese, while tossing. 

And there you go!  I think my dad and Marty (both serious eaters) were shocked at the flavor behind something seemingly healthy!

Asian Vegetable Stir Fry with Chicken

Okay, this meal is made thanks to Trader Joes. Delicious and the coconut oil made it taste like it came from a Thai restaurant!  Also, this is my first time cooking with coconut oil and I am a convert. 

Ingredients (makes 3 servings):

- Asian vegetable medley - I bought this one from Trader Joes for about $3.50. 

- chicken breast (3, cut into strips)

- brown rice (2 cups, cooked)

- coconut oil (2 TBSP)

- Teriyaki sauce (1/3 cup)

To make:

1. Make brown rice and set aside. (I made a big batch earlier this week and used leftovers!)

2. At the same time as you are making the rice, you can brown the chicken over medium temp. Set aside. 

3. Using the same frying pan as for the chicken, add the coconut oil and vegetable medley. Sauté over medium heat for 10 minutes or until the vegetables soften and slightly brown. 

4. Add the chicken, rice and teriyaki sauce.  Mix together well and let simmer for about 2 minutes.

And voila!  Enjoy!

Quick & Easy Veggie Burger Sammy

I love veggie burgers!  Not only do you get your serving of vegetables, but they are so EASY to make!  (Confession: I have yet to really learn how to make a hamburger on a grill, griddle, frying pan...) Marty and I came up with these Veggie Burger Sammies a few years ago when we had some leftover naan bread from Indian food. It's one of my favorite, quick dinners that requires minimal effort but tastes like more than a frozen dinner. 

Ingredients (per Sammie):

- veggie patty (traditional/regular flavor)

- naan bread (regular, tandoori)

- roasted red pepper hummus (tablespoon)

- fat free feta cheese crumbles (tablespoon)

- lettuce

- optional: tomato, cucumber 

And voila!  We had tonight's with edamame on the side. 

You can also totally play around with all of the flavors of these ingredients, like garlic naan bread, California burger, Mediterranean hummus, etc. Marty and I were talking about how good these would be Greek style with a little tzatziki sauce and some olives too.  (Next week!)

As for the edamame, we discovered our daughter is a BIG fan!  Veggies!  Score!

  

Dark Chocolate, Fudgy Brownies

Tonight, I made some brownies.   I've made hundreds of brownies over the years.  Many with my mom, who admittedly hates to bake but instilled in me an unabashed love for Betty Crocker and her boxed delights.   As such, I must admit that a brownie from scratch had never been poured into any baking pan of mine...before tonight.  

Sidenote: This week my beloved mom also happened to make brownies.  With great excitement, she found a "shake and bake" version of brownie mix at the grocery store; "You just add water, Jess!"  (It's real: Betty Crocker "'Shake-N-Pour'...)


So why no boxed delights for us this time?  Well, I was exceptionally inspired.  Marty made a delicious beef stew today, the perfect November-weekend dinner.  He had me feeling pretty inspired to put my own chef hat on and after he mentioned a craving for something fudgy and chocolately, we both looked to our cookbook collection to see what we could find.  I came to Sara Perry's Deep Dark Chocolate, a solid standby that had been purchased in the Harvard Bookstore while I was in pastry school.  Let me say that her "good ol' fudgy brownies" did not disappoint.  (BTW, she also has written a book called Everything's Better with Bacon; she has got to be a wise woman.) Note: I made a few additions to the recipe, like vanilla.


"Good Ol' Fudgy Brownies" Recipe:

• 7.5 oz Dark Chocolate (used Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Bars)
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter (room temp, cut into pieces)
• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1.5 cup granulated sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 3 large eggs (room temp)
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 12-by-8-inch baking pan.  Mix cocoa, sugar, and salt together in a bowl.   Set aside.   Melt butter, vanilla and chocolate over hot water in a heatproof bowl; stir occassionally.  (Will be really smooth.)  Remove from heat and whisk in cocoa-mixture slowly.  Whisk in eggs, one at a time.  Whisk in flour until blended.  Pour into pan and spread evenly - batter will be smoothy but not runny.  Bake for 32-35 minutes.

TA-DA!  (I've already had two.)  Overall, I was really happy with the results and found the recipe as a whole to be quite easy to execute and prepare.  The brownies are fudgy and moist but the level of chocolately-goodness is just right.  You could have milk with these brownies and it would be a fantastic accompaniment, but you don't need have milk when eating them because they're not that type of consistency.  (For an adult option, these would also taste great with a glass of Baileys on the rocks or a White Russian!)   Because I used a 12'x8" baking pan, they baked a little bit flatter than had I used a square 8"x8" pan, but I liked the thickness of these (about 3/4 inch) particularly given the desired fudginess.  I think I'd bake them in the same pan again, but I would be interested to see if a thicker brownie with this recipe would be even better.

If you're looking for a brownie recipe, and want to venture just a bit further beyond the box, I would definitely recommend.