Fresh and Fabulous

Tired of your regular, old, boring side dishes? Want something new that is satisfying and tasty? This recipe for Green Bean Salad has a boring name, but it was delicious!

Green Bean Salad

Ingredients:

3/4 lb Green Beans

3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

3 Tablespoons Reduced Fat Balsamic Vinegrette Dressing

3/4 pint Grape Tomatoes, halved

1/8 Red Onion, diced

1/2 can Garbanzo Beans, rinsed and dried

1/4 cup Reduced Fat Feta

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Boil water in a medium pot over high heat. Cook Green Beans until slightly tender, about 4 minutes. Immerse in an ice bath to stop the cooking. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together dressing and lemon juice. Stir in tomatoes, onion and garbanzo beans. Add feta and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange green beans on a platter and top with tomato mixture. Serve!

It feels like Summer!

It is amazing how in Palm Desert the weather turns from Winter, to Spring to Summer all in the matter of a month or two. We really barely get what I call "The California In-between Seasons": Fall and Spring. I am well aware that in other parts of the country there are 4 distinct seasons. Here in Southern California we have two distinct seasons and 2 "in-between seasons". Now that it is officially over 85 degrees most days, it feels like summer already down there! The thought of eating anything remotely hot, heavy or greasy just isn't appealing at all.

This salad is the perfect balance between sweet and savory and has all the flavors that remind me of summer. I think when watermelon is more in season you could throw that in as well. I made some BBQ chicken and roasted corn to compliment, but it could be a side dish to compliment a plethora of things. I would even dice up some rotisserie chicken and bring it to work for a really tasty lunch. That beats a boring old sandwich any day!

Summer Peach and Tomato Salad

Courtesy of Cooking Light

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Red Onion, thinly vertically sliced

1 pound Ripe Peaches, pitted and cut into wedges

1/2 pound heirloom beefsteak tomatoes, cut into wedges

1/2 pound heirloom cherry or pear tomatoes, halved

2 Tablespoon Sherry Vinegar

3 teaspoons olive oil

2 teaspoon Honey

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

4 teaspoons basil leaves, chiffonade or torn

Directions:

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl.

In another small bowl, combine vinegar, olive oil, honey, salt, and pepper. Stir with a whisk till well combined. Drizzle mixture over peach and tomato mixture. Toss well to coat. Sprinkle with cheese and basil.

Note: I took the liberty of doubling this recipe for you because I did the same thing when I made it as a side dish. I was serving dinner to 3 men, plus myself and it was all gone!

Belated Cinco de Mayo

Well, I know it is not Cinco de Mayo anymore...far from it, but things have been a little hectic lately and I haven't been able to post as much. May 5th was one of the worst days for me at work, but I had been planning to have a fun night making Mexican food for Cinco de Mayo and I intended to see it through.

The greatest part about these two dishes I made is that they can be started ahead of time and finished quickly before serving. You can use this marinade on anything: Chicken, Steak, etc. and it is always very flavorful.

Roasted Tomatillo and Apple Salsa

Courtesy of Marcela Valladolid via The Talk

Ingredients:

1 lb. Tomatillos, husked and rinsed

2 Granny Smith Apples, quartered

2 whole Garlic Cloves

1/2 White Onion

2 Jalapeno Chile, stemmed

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the tomatillos, apples, garlic, onion and jalapenos on a baking sheet. Toss with the olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Roast until the tomatillos are softened and slightly charred, about 20 minutes. Puree all the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Season with Salt and Pepper. Makes 3 1/2 cups.

Fajitas

Adapted from Tyler Florence

Ingredients:

1 Orange, juiced

2 limes, juiced

4 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 Garlic Cloves, roughly chopped

3 Chipotle Chiles, in adobo sauce

3 Tablespoons Cilantro, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

2 lbs Chicken, cut into strips

Salt and Pepper

2 Red Bell Peppers, thinly sliced

1 Large Onion, thinly sliced

Flour Tortillas

Roasted Tomatillo and Apple Salsa, recipe above

Guacamole, I make it simple with Avocado, Garlic Salt, Cilantro and Lime Juice

Directions:

In a measuring cup or bowl, combine all the marinade ingredients (Orange Juice through Salt). Using an immersion blender, puree the marinade until smooth. Pour into a re-sealable plastic bag and add the chicken, seal and shake to coat.

Refrigerate the chicken for 2-4 hours to marinate.

Using a large skillet or saute pan over medium high heat, heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in the pan. Remove the chicken from the marinade and place in the pan. Saute till cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate to rest while in the same pan add the bell peppers and onions. Saute for 6-8 minutes until just cooked through. Place the chicken back into the pan with the onions and peppers to combine and re-heat.

Meanwhile, using the burners on your stove toast the tortillas on each side.

Transfer to a plate covered with a cloth to keep warm.

Serve!

Hope everyone had a Happy and Fun Cinco de Mayo!

Mad Hungry

Last month at my mom's Passover Sedar, Lital brought this wonderful Cauliflower dish that was really interesting. I like cauliflower, but there really isn't too much that is naturally appealing to this vegetable. It is kind of one dimensional on its own and I would never put cheese sauce or something like that over it. This dish for Fancy Cauliflower is the opposite of one dimensional. It is spicy, savory and sweet balanced with the mellow cauliflower taste. Even if you do not care for cauliflower you will like this one! So different!

I served it with some pan roasted halibut with olives and rosemary which recipe I also found on this "Mad Hungry" list. It was not my favorite so I am not recommending it,

but try the other one! Happy Monday!

BLT...again!

I had another BLT reinvention the other night, but I wanted something that tasted a little fresher. We were in the desert, where inside every steakhouse you will find a wedge salad, so I morphed the two into this BLT Wedge Salad. I felt full and satisfied without a heavy hot meal in the 90 degree plus weather.

BLT Wedge

Ingredients:

Iceberg Lettuce, washed and quartered

1 cup Reduced Fat Blue Cheese, crumbled

2 cups Grape Tomatoes, halved

1/2 Red Onion, chopped

1 avocado, diced

8 slices Bacon or Turkey Bacon, cooked

Fat Free or Reduced Fat Balsamic Vinaigrette

Directions:

Place an iceberg wedge in the middle of each plate. Top each wedge with 1/4 of each ingredient. Drizzle with dressing. Serve!

This is a "no big deal" dinner that I was able to use all the ingredients for other things all week! So if you are in the mood for something simple and fun try this out!

One Grill Wonder

The other day I was searching around the Internet and found this hidden pocket of healthy recipes on the food network that all look great and seem like something different to throw into my repertoire. I particularly couldn't wait to try this one for Grilled Steak with Chimichurri Sauce because it was kinda like a "One Pot Wonder" only on the grill. The dry aged beef at Bristol Farms has also been calling my name for a while and thought this would be the perfect thing to test it out on because the flavors are so simple and classic.

This is the perfect Spring/Summer dinner and a perfect excuse to dust off your grill and enjoy the sunshine! I also grilled some baguettes rubbed with garlic and parsley. Enjoy!