Homemade Red Sauce

I know Sarah is the Italian food authority here, but I'm Italian now, so I have the audacity to put up a recipe for homemade red sauce. Yes, it's so easy to pour this out of the bottle, but this recipe is actually really simple, and soooo much better than anything in the bottle (though I have to admit, Costco has a great pomodoro sauce). This recipe came from Alan's sister Julia.

Ingredients:
2-4 tbs olive oil
3 cloves garlic sliced thinly
1/2 onion diced
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped basil
1/4 cup red wine (optional, but highly recommended)
Salt and pepper
1 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning or oregano
1 T sugar
A little crushed red pepper (if you want it a little spicy)

1. Heat oil in a large pan and sauté garlic and onion in olive oil on low heat till onions are soft and garlic is a little brown.
2. Use a food processor, immersion blender, or vita mix to purée the canned tomatoes. I like to set aside about 1/4 or 1/3 of it to add later so there are some larger tomato chunks.
3. Add canned tomatoes to sauté mixture, and let simmer for about 5 minutes.
4. Add basil, sugar, and the rest of the spices.
5. If you're adding wine, throw in a few glugs (about 1/4 cup) and let it simmer for at least 5 minutes.

Serve over pasta topped with parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese, and/or breadcrumbs.

Crispy Kale "Chips"

I keep hearing about kale "chips" and the other day someone handed me one to try at a playgroup for my little boys. It was crispy and tasty.  So, I made a batch today. Yummm.  The only thing is that unless you have a 5' x 5' baking sheet, you will need to do what I did, which is do multiple rounds on your baking sheets in the oven. I used my salad spinner (thanks Britta!!) to dry the kale, which I think is important (but you could just use a towel). And I didn't have sea salt on hand, so I just used regular table salt.  I think these will be repeats in our house!

Ingredients

• 1 head kale, washed and thoroughly dried

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• Sea salt, for sprinkling
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Directions

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.

Remove the ribs from the kale and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Lay on a baking sheet and toss with the olive oil and salt. Bake until crisp, turning the leaves halfway through, about 20 minutes. Serve as finger food.

Recipe from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/crispy-kale-chips-recipe/index.html

Nikki's Healthy Cookie Recipe

You can use unsweetened carob, or grain sweetened chocolate chips, or do what I did and chop up 2/3 of a bar of Scharffen berger 70%. I sort-of shaved half the bar with a knife and then cut the rest into bigger chip-sized chunks. You can make your own almond meal by pulsing almonds in a food processor until it is the texture of sand - don't go too far or you'll end up with almond butter. And lastly, the coconut oil works beautifully here, just be sure to warm it a bit - enough that it is no longer solid, which makes it easier to incorporate into the bananas. If you have gluten allergies, seek out GF oats.

3 large, ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil, barely warm - so it isn't solid (or alternately, olive oil)
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 - 7 ounces chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, racks in the top third.

In a large bowl combine the bananas, vanilla extract, and coconut oil. Set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oats, almond meal, shredded coconut, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks/chips.The dough is a bit looser than a standard cookie dough, don't worry about it. Drop dollops of the dough, each about 2 teaspoons in size, an inch apart, onto a parchment (or Silpat) lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes. I baked these as long as possible without burning the bottoms and they were perfect - just shy of 15 minutes seems to be about right in my oven.

Makes about 3 dozen bite-sized cookies.

Revisiting

So, I don't have a new recipe to post (for now). But yesterday I spent some time going back over old recipes posted here, and tried a few out for the first time. Last night we had Sarah's black bean burgers and Sally's red cabbage salad, and both were excellent! Alan dragged his feet making the salad because he "thought it would be gross," but he loved it. Thanks for the recipes, everyone - keep trying old ones, and keep sharing!

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

This recipe from Epicurious called for couscous but I didn't have any, so I used quinoa, and the results were glorious. You can mix and match different vegetables in here. The fennel and feta together are super yummy, though, so I wouldn't substitute those out.

Vegetable-oil cooking spray
1 1/4 cups fat-free chicken or vegetable broth
2/3 cup couscous (or quinoa)
4 large bell peppers, mixed colors
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
6 oz zucchini, quartered lengthwise then sliced across thinly
6 oz yellow squash, quartered lengthwise then sliced across thinly
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
15 oz canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 oz crumbled feta cheese (about 1 cup)

Preheat oven to 350°F F. Coat a small baking dish with cooking spray. Bring the broth to a boil in a saucepan, add the couscous, cover the pan and remove it from the heat. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut the stems and top half inch off the bell peppers and scoop out the seeds and membranes. Boil trimmed peppers for 5 minutes, then drain them upside down. Heat oil in a nonstick skillet. Add onion, zucchini, yellow squash, fennel seeds, oregano, and salt. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened. Remove from heat and stir in the tomatoes and chickpeas. Using a fork, scrape the couscous into the skillet and toss with the vegetables. Stir in the crumbled feta. Place peppers upright in the baking dish and fill them with couscous. Bake 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Quinoa with Mango and Curried Yogurt

I stole this recipe from Epicurious, and I'm glad I did. I loved it - it was colorful, refreshing, and a little bit different from my usual. And really quick and simple. I had it with a little grilled Mahi, and it was much better than the fish.

Ingredients
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive
1 1/3 cups quinoa
1 pound firm-ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/2-inch chunks (2 cups)
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 fresh jalapeño chile, seeded (if desired for less heat) and minced
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
1/2 cup salted roasted peanuts or cashews (I used cashews), chopped

The recipe goes through a complicated series of steps for cooking the quinoa. I just put it in the rice cooker with 1.5 cups of water, and it turns out perfectly.

While that's cooking, whisk together yogurt, lime juice, curry powder, ginger, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add oil in a slow stream, whisking until combined. When the quinoa is done, fluff it with a fork and combine with the yogurt mixture Add the mango, bell pepper, jalepeño, mint, and nuts and stir everything together. That's it!

Brussels Sprout Sesame Slaw

I bought myself a mandolin slicer a couple months ago and have been looking for an excuse to use it. Enter the brussels sprouts I bought a couple weeks ago that were dying to be used, and the product is tonight's dinner. My poor husband, surely he never thought he'd be having brussels sprout slaw for dinner. The good news, though, is he loved it, and had several helpings. Took me a little while to get the mandolin down, but other than that it was pretty quick and easy. This would be great as a side dish with some fish.

As usual, I just throw ingredients together and I don't really know exact proportions of things.

Ingredients
-1 lb of brussels sprouts, shredded
-1 large red bell pepper, sliced into small strips
-half a red onion, sliced into small strips
-half a cup of peanuts
-crushed red pepper (optional)
-salt and pepper to taste

Dressing
-rice vinegar
-sesame oil
-fresh ginger, minced
-garlic, minced
-dash of honey

Heat a tiny bit of oil in a pan and add the onions. Let them soften for a few minutes, then add the brussels sprouts, bell pepper, and peanuts. Toss it in the pan a few times over the course of just a few minutes - you want it to wilt a little, but not cook all the way through. Remove it from heat and toss with the dressing. Add some crushed red pepper if you want it spicy. I didn't have any cilantro, but I think it would be a good addition. Finish with a little salt and pepper. Healthy yumminess!