Category Archives: Lunch and Dinner

Power Bowl Building Blocks

Lunch and Dinner

Hi all! It’s been a while since I’ve posted (kids take up a lot of time!) but I’ve come back to share a great recipe with you. I’ve recently been asked to consider allergen-friendly recipes and this came to mind as a super versatile and very healthy recipe: power bowls! They are modifiable to accommodate almost any allergy or diet, and with just a change of spices you can change the flavor profile significantly to keep it interesting. Another huge bonus- they often end up being sheet-pan meals that come together in 30 minutes! Here are the building blocks:

  • 1 cup instant brown rice or quinoa (or 2 cups cooked brown rice, wild rice, quinoa, or any other whole grain you prefer) – you can cook this in water or stock and can add spices as desired
  • Veggies of choice: I like using sweet potatoes, red onion wedges, broccoli, and cauliflower for roasting, and frozen peas, carrots, edamame, broccoli, and green beans for sauteing. You can also include kale or another hearty green for extra texture.
  • Protein: I love using chickpeas, edamame, or black beans, but I have used chicken and salmon as well (much to my husband’s happiness and relief) with great results.
  • Healthy fat: Avocado is my go-to here, but you could also include nuts for added crunch, or a drizzle of olive oil. Using a fatty fish like salmon is also a great way to get healthy fats into the dish.
  • Sauce: Greek yogurt-based, soy-sauce based, chili-based, lime juice-based… this is a great opportunity for rounding out the flavors and bringing the dish together.

Here are a couple of my favorite examples:

  • Sweet chili salmon bowl: Saute frozen veggies (listed above) with salmon fillets until cooked through; mix with brown rice and top with jarred sweet chili sauce, sesame seeds, and peanuts (as desired)
  • Turmeric chickpea bowl: Roast veggies (listed above) tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper at 375 degrees for 30 minutes; toss chickpeas in olive oil, turmeric, cumin, and a dash of salt and roast alongside other veggies. Combine with quinoa, massaged kale, and avocado. Mix plain yogurt with garlic powder, a dash of salt, and a splash of milk to loosen the texture; drizzle sauce over the top.
  • Taco bowl (pictured below): Roast veggies tossed with salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and olive oil at 375 degrees for 30 minutes; meanwhile, sprinkle thin-cut chicken breast with taco seasoning and bake or grill until cooked through. Layer quinoa or brown rice with roasted veggies, avocado, and thinly sliced chicken breast. Mix plain Greek yogurt with lime juice, garlic powder, cumin, and salt and drizzle over the top.

Power bowls are a great option for pleasing any palate and are very easy and user-friendly. Try it with your favorite grains, veggies, protein and spices, and see what you can come up with! Happy cooking!

Buffalo Spaghetti Squash Dip

Lunch and Dinner, Vegetables

Hello, all! Happy fall! It has been a very long time since I last wrote- but this recipe makes up for the wait! For anyone who loves buffalo chicken dip, this is a great option. It is a delicious vegetarian dish, but also flexes well to include chicken if you prefer. The added bonus of this recipe is that it uses up some of our local fall produce: spaghetti squash! I ran across a similar recipe a few years ago and have been making my version ever since. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium spaghetti squash, halved and seeds removed
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 cup shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
  • 1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/3 cup buffalo sauce
  • 2 cups shredded chicken (if desired)

Preheat the oven to 400F and cover a small baking sheet in aluminum foil. Rub the cut sides of the spaghetti squash with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Place the squash cut side down on the baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes.

Allow the squash to cool slightly so that you can handle it (or you can use oven mitts, like I do. I’m impatient.) Using a fork, scrape the squash into strands until all the flesh is in strands.

In a medium bowl, combine the squash with all remaining ingredients except the mozzarella.

Place mixture in an 8″x4″ baking dish and sprinkle with mozzarella.

Bake for an additional 25 minutes.

And that’s it! This dip goes really well with tortilla chips or veggie sticks. It’s really savory, has great texture, and as a bonus, it’s veggies!

Happy cooking!

Butternut Squash Soup

Lunch and Dinner, Vegetables

Hi, all! Happy February! I have a great recipe to share with you today- butternut squash soup! It’s super easy to make, is packed full of vegetables, and is deliciously sweet, savory, and spiced. It also goes very well with grilled cheese! You can make it in a stockpot or in the crockpot (my preferred option), and I’ll share both methods. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil (for stockpot option)
  • 2 cups vegetable stock
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 carrot, peeled and diced
  • 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 1 3-4 pound butternut squash, peeled and diced
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened light coconut milk

Stockpot Option:

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large stockpot. Add the garlic and onion and sautee until onions are translucent. Add all other ingredients except the coconut milk; stir to combine. Cook over medium heat until the mixture starts to simmer. Cover and reduce the temperature to medium-low and cook for 20-30 minutes or until the vegetables are easily mashed with a fork. Add in the coconut milk and blend using an immersion blender (if you don’t have an immersion blender, carefully pour the mixture into a blender or food processor and blend).

Crockpot Option:

Add all ingredients except coconut milk to a crockpot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Add coconut milk just before serving and blend with an immersion blender or pour into blender and blend.

And that’s it! Either option is easy and equally delicious, and perfect for a chilly February day. Happy cooking!

Eggplant Parmesan Burgers

Lunch and Dinner

Hi, all! Hope your week is going well and that you’re enjoying the warmer weather! I’m coming to you on this lovely Wednesday with an absolutely delicious recipe for eggplant parmesan burgers! Even if you think you’re not an eggplant fan or if eggplant seems slightly intimidating, trust me on this one- these burgers are amazing! Here are the ingredients:

  • Olive oil
  • 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1″ cubes
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, minced (more or less to taste)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • red pepper flakes to taste
  • 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4-1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
  • Tomato sauce of choice (I use Prego Lower Sodium)
  • Mozzarella cheese
  • Hamburger buns

In a large ovenproof skillet or sauté pan, heat olive oil and add eggplant. Cook, stirring frequently, until eggplant is beginning to brown. Add salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste. Continue to cook until eggplant is fork tender. Add minced garlic and stir, cooking just until garlic is browning slightly and very fragrant. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

In a food processor, combine cooked eggplant, egg, breadcrumbs, and Parmesan. Process until smooth.

Remove blade from food processor and empty processor bowl onto a plate or cutting board. Divide mixture into four equal parts and shape into patties. Hint: it really helps to oil your hands so that the mix doesn’t stick to you! Add more olive oil to your skillet that you cooked the eggplant cubes in, and add the patties to the pan.

Cook 3-5 minutes over medium heat, and then flip to other side.

After you’ve flipped the patties, top with a dollop of tomato sauce and a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese. Preheat your broiler to high.

Cook 2-3 minutes on the stove. Then, place skillet under the broiler for 1-2 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Put the patties in a toasted burger bun, and you’ve got yourself a great sandwich!

And that’s it! Super quick and simple, and a really delicious way to get in some veggies at dinner. Happy cooking!

Salsa Verde

Lunch and Dinner, Vegetables

Hi, all! Hope you’re absolutely loving the warm weather we’ve been getting this weekend! I’ve been spending as much time as I possibly can outside biking, hiking, playing tennis, playing pickleball, reading… pretty much everything I can think of to do outside! Maybe you’ve been spending your time cleaning out your garden and pulling up the last of the tomato and pepper plants- as was the case for me a couple weekends ago. If you’re finding yourself with lots of unripe green tomatoes and a few straggling jalapenos, I’ve got the recipe for you! This salsa verde recipe comes from a canning book that my mom let me borrow a few weeks ago, and it is so good- it uses up those green tomatoes rather than using the traditional tomatillos, and is zingy, acidic, bright, and really flavorful. Here are the ingredients:

  • 7 cups peeled, cored, chopped green tomatoes (see tip below for easier chopping)
  • 3-6 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped (you can use more peppers if you have them, just take the seeds and ribs out if you need to tamp down the spice level)
  • 2 cups finely chopped red onion
  • 2 large cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup lime juice
  • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper

Ok, so first things first: how to easily peel and chop what seems like a gazillion green tomatoes. Take a potato peeler or a Y-peeler and peel all around the tomatoes. Using a potato peeler or a Y-peeler instead of a knife will make it go quicker and will also probably save you from wasting a good amount of each tomato. Then, instead of taking a corer to the tomato, just cut chunks off from around the core.

Green tomato chunks cut off from the core

Chop those chunks into pea-sized pieces, and keep working until you have 7 cups of chopped green tomatoes. It will take a little time, but it’s totally worth it and gets much easier after this point!

Next, chop up all your other veggies. Be careful when you chop the peppers to either wear gloves or to wash your hands VERY thoroughly afterwards, especially before touching your eyes/nose/mouth. Trust me, you don’t want jalapeno oils in your eye.

My last few home grown jalapenos!

Once you’ve got all your veggies chopped, combine the tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, and lime juice in a stainless steel sauté pan.

Stir the mixture frequently over medium-high heat until the mixture cooks down a bit and comes to a boil. Then, add the remaining ingredients and continue to boil the salsa gently for an additional five minutes, stirring frequently.

All done!

And that’s it! You can either let the salsa cool and put it in the fridge to use within a few days, or you can put it in canning jars to preserve for the winter (canning instructions below). Happy cooking!

For hot water canning: boil pint jars in canning pot to sterilize. Fill jars with salsa, leaving a 1/2″ space at the top. Put a clean lid on (one that has been dipped in hot water to soften the seal) and screw bands on until fingertip tight. Boil for 20 minutes, completely submerged in water. After 20 minutes remove the canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool, and store.

Slow Cooker Tomato Sauce

Lunch and Dinner

Hi, all! It’s been a while since I wrote last, and I hope you’ve been well since then! Hard to believe it’s already October, when all the good fall harvests happen. I’ve been hard at work tending my own little garden, and have suddenly been overwhelmed by a ton of tomatoes ripening all at once! I was wondering what to do with all my tomatoes until I saw a recipe in my favorite magazine, EatingWell, for a slow cooker tomato sauce. You don’t even have to peel the tomatoes! It fit the bill perfectly and the result is so good that I wanted to share it with you! This recipe works best when you use a fleshy, rather than a seedy, tomato, such as a Roma or Brandywine (which happens to be what I’ve been growing). Here are the ingredients:

  • 6 pounds tomatoes
  • 2 cups chopped white or yellow onion
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1, 6oz can tomato paste
  • 3 tbsp minced fresh garlic
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh oregano
  • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 4 tsp granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt, divided
  • crushed red pepper to taste

Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise. Gently squeeze out the seeds and discard them.

Before…
After!

Mix onions, oil, garlic, vinegar, sugar, tomato paste, oregano, and 1 tsp salt in the bottom of a 6 quart (or bigger) slow cooker.

Layer the cut tomatoes on top of the onion mixture.

Cover the slow cooker and cook on Low for 4 hours or High for 2 hours (I’ve used High both times I’ve made this). After the cooking time is over, uncover the slow cooker.

Puree the mixture until chunky using either an immersion blender, or a regular blender in batches.

Set the lid of the slow cooker slightly askew on the cooker and cook until the sauce has thickened, an additional 3 hours on High or 6 hours on Low.

Season with the remaining salt and crushed red pepper to taste. You can either use it now, or you can portion it into quart-size freezer bags and freeze it for up to 6 months.

All ready to freeze!

Ta-dah! No more tomatoes left on my counter (well, until the next day when I went back out to check my tomato plant) and I have sauce to last me for several spaghetti nights! I highly recommend this recipe (and EatingWell magazine!) and hope you enjoy it! Happy cooking!

Foodie Dice Chicken and Rice

Lunch and Dinner

Hi, all! It’s been a while since I’ve posted- I hope you all had a wonderful end to your summers and have been having a great fall! As is tradition for late summer/early fall, my sister and I ran our annual inflatable 5k race last weekend and also made a delicious dinner from my foodie dice. Our six ingredients/cooking methods that we rolled were: rice, chicken, oregano, brussels sprouts, bacon, and broiling. We decided to make a delicious one-pot dish of chicken and rice that we basically made up as we went along, and we roasted (and of course, broiled) up some Brussels sprouts with bacon for the side dish (recipe posted here)! Here’s the recipe for the chicken and rice:

Ingredients:

  • 4 chicken breasts
  • 1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 2 cups uncooked rice
  • 1/2-1 cup chopped yellow onion (to taste)
  • 1/2-1 cup chopped celery (to taste)
  • 1 quart low sodium chicken stock

Season the chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and oregano.

Heat oil in a large wok or deep saucepot over medium-high heat. Add chopped celery and onion to skillet and stir; cook until starting to soften, 2-3 minutes. Add chicken to pan, nestling among the onion and celery, and cook until chicken is seared on both sides (doesn’t need to be fully cooked through since it will continue cooking with the rice).

Pour uncooked rice into pot and then cover with chicken stock. Cover pot with lid.

Cook according to rice directions (cooking time will vary based on type of rice you use- we used white, so it took about 15-20 minutes).

And that’s it! Super easy and quick, and it ended up delicious. The rice was really nicely flavored from cooking it in chicken stock, and the chicken was very tender and moist. Definitely a win for the foodie dice! Happy cooking!

Kale & Roasted Tomato Pasta

Lunch and Dinner, Vegetables

Hi, all! Hard to believe how fast the summer is flying by! I’m trying to hold on to summer as long as I can and savor all the good summer dishes that I’ve been able to make with my veggies from Misfits Market. This past week I received a nice bunch of kale and some cherry tomatoes (along with a bunch of other goodies, of course) and figured there must be a good way to put them together other than a typical kale salad. I found a few good ideas for how to combine the two, riffed a bit on all of them, and made this delicious pasta dish from it! Here’s the recipe:

  • 8oz pasta (can be whole grain)
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, divided
  • Olive oil
  • 3 slices low-sodium bacon, chopped
  • 1 bunch kale, stems removed
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • dash salt
  • 1 tsp rosemary, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp pine nuts

First, preheat the oven to 375F. Slice half of the cherry tomatoes in half lengthwise. Toss in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and 1 clove minced garlic.

Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes. Set aside.

While the tomatoes are roasting, cook the pasta according to the box directions until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Meanwhile, cook bacon pieces in a skillet over medium-high heat until crispy. Remove from pan using slotted spoon and set aside. Chop the remaining cherry tomatoes into quarters and add to the rendered bacon fat in the skillet. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the tomatoes soften and release their juices.

Chop the kale into small pieces. Add the kale, rosemary, remaining 2 cloves minced garlic, and a dash of salt to the skillet. Briefly stir to combine all of the ingredients.

Add 1/2 to 1 cup of reserved pasta water to the pan; cover and let cook over medium heat until kale is wilted and cooked down.

While kale mixture cooks down, pour pine nuts into a small skillet over medium heat. Stir the nuts occasionally until they start to turn brown and smell toasty and nutty. Remove from heat and set aside.

Once the kale mixture is cooked down, add pasta, pine nuts, roasted tomatoes, and bacon to the mixture. Toss to combine ingredients.

Serve with Parmesan cheese, and enjoy! Happy cooking!


Easy Babaganoush

Lunch and Dinner, Vegetables

Hi, all! Happy August- I can’t believe the summer is flying by so quickly! I’ve been loving the summer produce coming from my garden and from my Misfits Markets boxes, and this new recipe takes full advantage of that! I had a spare eggplant that I needed to use up and had heard great things about babaganoush, a Lebanese dip, so I decided to try it. My hopes of liking it were pretty low, but I was very pleasantly surprised with how good it was- even my dad, who normally doesn’t like eggplant, enjoyed it! This dip has a really clean, refreshing flavor, with a little kick at the end from the garlic in it. Here’s the recipe:

  • 1 small to medium eggplant
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley or 2 tbsp dried parsley
  • 2 tbsp tahini (sesame seed paste)
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice

First, preheat a gas grill to 450F. Prick the eggplant all over with a fork. Grill the eggplant on all sides over the flame until all sides are charred and the skin is wrinkled, about 10 minutes. Alternatively, heat an oven to 450F and place the pricked eggplant on a foil-lined cookie sheet; bake in the oven for 20 minutes until soft.

Let the eggplant cool. Then, cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and drain any excess liquid. Scoop out the flesh into a food processor and process until smooth.

While the eggplant is processing, mash garlic and salt together with the flat side of a knife until they form a paste. Add the garlic paste, lemon juice, parsley, and tahini to the processor. Note: tahini tends to separate, so make sure to mix it up really well before using it!

Process all of the ingredients together until they are fully mixed and smooth.

Scoop the dip into a bowl and serve with pita chips or a veggie platter, and enjoy! This dip keeps well in a closed container in the fridge for 3 days- just stir it up before eating as it may slightly separate.

Happy cooking!

Arugula Pesto

Lunch and Dinner, Vegetables

Hi, all! Summer is in full swing and the summer produce is really starting to take off. Thanks to my Misfits Market box, I recently got some fresh arugula to use. I had some leftover pine nuts, so I decided to try making an arugula pesto- and it came out super well! It tasted delicious and really fresh, and went well with the pizza I made that night (recipe also below!). Here’s the recipe:

  • 2 cups arugula
  • 1/4 cup basil
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan
  • 1/3 cup pine nuts
  • 1 tbsp lemon zest
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed

First, toast the pine nuts in a sauté pan over medium heat. The trick to toasting them without burning them is to just toss the nuts in the hot pan and remove them from the heat as soon as you start to smell them.

Next, put all the ingredients (including the toasted nuts) into a food processor.

Process the ingredients together until they come together. If the consistency is too runny, try adding extra cheese; if too thick, try adding extra olive oil and pulsing the mixture to loosen it. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

And that’s it! You can freeze this pesto to use later, or you can make it up to 3 days ahead of when you’ll need it. This works well with pasta or as a sauce for vegetables, and also is delicious as a substitute for pizza sauce in the pizza recipe below:

  • 1 pre-made pizza crust (I like Stonefire crusts)
  • Arugula pesto
  • 1 heirloom tomato
  • Shredded mozzarella (or other Italian cheese blend)
  • Shredded Parmesan cheese

Spread a layer of the pesto over the crust. Slice the tomato and layer that over the pesto. Sprinkle the cheese over the top.

Bake according to the crusts’ reheat directions until the crust is fully heated and the cheese is bubbling. Slice it up and enjoy!

Happy cooking!