Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Another Easy Salad Dressing

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/3 of a slightly mushy large pear (Mine was a bosc pear but I'm sure a bartlett would work as well)
1/3 cup roughly chopped cilantro
1 small clove garlic roasted (I put mine in the toaster oven for a few minutes but I'm sure throwing it in a small pan would get the job done too)
Salt & Fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/4 tsp dried tarragon
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp onion powder

Directions:
Put everything in your food processor/magic bullet type apparatus and blend until you have a smooth mixture.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Itty Bitty Stuffed Peppers




Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 white onion chopped up
1 clove garlic minced
1-2 white mushrooms minced up
1 cup spinach chopped up
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 cup black beans cooked or from a can
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried taragon (If you don't have this don't worry... but, it's a REALLY nice addition to your stash of herb so keep it in mind next time you go to the grocery store!)
16 mini-bell peppers - with the tops cut off, seeds taken out and a lengthwise slit made in them.
Salt to taste

Directions:
** Pre-Heat Oven to 400 degrees **
1. Heat up the olive oil
2. Throw in the onions and garlic and cook until the onions get translucent.
3. Add in the mushrooms and red pepper and cook until the mushrooms start to soften
4. Next put in the spinach and cook it down until it's all wilty
5. Now throw in the beans and herbs.
6. Once the mixture has cooked off most of its liquid stir in your rice.
7. Fill up the bell peppers with the mixture and line them up on a cookie sheet.
8. Bake for 15 minutes, until the sides of the peppers are soft and wrinkled.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Asparagus!




So, for years now I've been a little scared of asparagus. I had a few bad experiences with it and swore it off. Finally, I decided to take a chance and buy some earlier this week and I am really happy! I can't believe it took me so long! Eeek!

Ingredients:
1 bunch of asparagus with the bottom 2-3 inches chopped off. (I know I hate wasting veggies too but the bottom part is just too tough and not yummy. Trust me.)
1/4 cup of chopped spring onions
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup fresh squeezed OJ
Salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste
2 tsps olive oil
1 cup grape tomatoes

Directions:
1. Steam up the asparagus until they turn a brighter green than they already are. Circa 15 minutes
2. While your asparagus is steaming throw some pepper, salt and the baslamic vinegar in a small sauce pan over low heat.
3. In a separate pan heat up 1 tsp of the olive oil. When it's nice and hot throw in the spring onions.
4. Once the onions start to brown add in your tomatoes and continue cooking until they're a smidge brown too.
5. Next put the steamed asparagus in with the onions and tomatoes and cook them for about 3 minutes on high heat.
6. While the tomatoes and asparagus are cooking add the OJ and last tsp of olive oil to the balsamic vinegar and stir.
7. Serve the asparagus with a few spoonfuls of the vinegar mixture over each serving.