Two Great Veggie Dishes - Stuffed Avocado + Spicy Cauliflower

In the mood for something healthful and vegetarian, I recently cooked an all veggie dinner, composed of ideas I found on my Healthy Eating Pinterest board, which often gives me inspiration.  Being a total avocado freak, the above pictured stuffed avocado appealed to me right away, especially when I saw the easy mix of ingredients that went into the fool-proof recipe.  The cauliflower dish stood out in flavor too, but it takes longer to prepare, which lets you munch on the avocado ahead of time and save the spicy cauliflower for later.

Stuffed Avocado - Use a ripe (but not too soft) avocado and take out the pit.  You can then stuff it with other healthy ingredients such as freshly made pico de gallo, a few chunks of cheese, breadcrumbs and the like.  If you're not a vegetarian and you'd like to incorporate some meat, a modest helping of chicken sausage may be nice to throw into the mix as well.  Here's more details about the exact cooking method, as found on Pinterest.

Spicy Cauliflower - I love me some roasted cauliflower and was excited to prepare this one with a spicy method, using chili pepper and cayenne.  While the recipe for this is a bit liberal with the spices, I used them sparingly, and added my own elements too such as sunflower seeds for some crunch as well as a sweet red onion instead of garlic.  Take a look at the original recipe, courtesy of REMCooks blog. 

Deliciously Healthy Stuffed Tomatoes

Last night, I got inspired to make something healthy for dinner, while browsing through Tracey Medeiros' new cookbook, The Vermont Farm Table.  Also the author of Dishing Up Vermont, I respect Tracey's taste and choice of great quality ingredients.  Although I don't always follow the recipe to a T, just like here, looking through the pages of this cookbook was inspirational.

What I also like is that Tracey does her due diligence to shine a spotlight on the local Vermont farms and the people who run them.  I like learning and seeing the people who make these magical ingredients, that soon after become key components to hearty, healthy and comforting meals.  The tomato recipe I used as inspiration was created in honor of the fabulous heirloom tomatoes grown at Your Farm in Fairlee, VT.  And from the looks of those ripe babies, Kevin and Laura Channell, who own this farm should be very proud.  Here's my own rendition.

Fooditka's Deliciously Healthy Stuffed Tomatoes - Inspired by Summer Stuffed Heirloom Tomatoes from The Vermont Farm Table cookbook

Ingredients (serves 2)
2 large tomatoes, cut in half and scooped out
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small red onion, chopped
1 cup of baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 tbs grated parmesan cheese
1/2 lb of chicken sausage, casings removed
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Sautee the onions and garlic in olive oil for about 3-4 minutes, until softened.  Add mushrooms and chicken sausage and cook for another 5-6 minutes, until the meat is done.  Add salt and pepper.

Add above mixture into the scooped out tomatoes and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Place on an aluminum lined baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes until the tops are golden brown.

Enjoy with a side salad, quinoa, cous-cous or just on their own. 

Seared Scallops with Zucchini/Onion Cous-Cous

Since I was on vacation last week, my eating habits totally went down the drain - having French fries three days in a row is not exactly kind to your body.  So because of my over-indulgence, I wanted to cook up a healthy yet satisfying dinner this week that would put me back on the right track. 

I stopped off in Whole Foods after work the other day, and was delighted to see fresh sea scallops on special, so I got them.  I wanted to prepare them simply so I seared them in olive oil and seasoned them with basic spices.  A side of plain cous-cous with sauteed zucchini and white onions rounded out the dish and made it quite earthy.  Dan and I loved it and look forward to an encore soon.

Seared Scallops with Zucchini/Onion Cous-Cous

Seared Scallops (serves 2)
1/2 lb of fresh sea scallops (patted dry)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Italian seasoning

Zucchini/Onion Cous-Cous (serves 2)
1/3 cup of cous-cous
1 medium zucchini, diced into 1/2" pieces
1/2 medium onion, diced
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

Directions:
Pat the scallops dry once again to ensure a completely dry exterior.  If the scallops are even slightly moist (as mine were unfortunately), they'll stick to the surface of your pan and will fall apart.  Season scallops with salt and freshly ground black pepper as well as Italian seasoning (oregano, parsley, basil, etc). Make sure to rub in the seasoning well.

Pour oil in a medium - large sized skillet and make sure it's really hot.  Place seasoned scallops into the skillet and sear until the exterior is crispy and golden brown (about 3 minutes on each side). Turn over and repeat on the other side and remove from skillet when done.

For the cous-cous, cook it according to the directions on the box.  Sautee the chopped onions in a medium skillet with olive oil for about 5 - 7 minutes or until the onions get translucent.  Add salt and pepper and then include the zucchini and sautee for another 7 minutes until they get soft. 

When plating this dish, put the scallops to one side of the plate and fill the rest of it with cous-cous and then top that with the zucchini/onion mixture. 

Yum...just thinking about this dish makes me happy. I hope you enjoy it too. 

Moroccan Carrot Soup - A Spoonful of Honey Makes this Soup Go Down

Even though the weather is getting warmer, there are still those iffy in-between days when you don't know what to do.  Wear your heavy jacket or not? Eat a piping hot bowl of soup or not? My answer to the latter is always an enthusiastic YES.  I love soup, and growing up in a traditional Eastern European family, I ate it for lunch (yes lunch, not dinner) every day.

So when I saw this Moroccan Carrot Soup in this month's issue of Bon Appetit, I was intrigued.  It sounded great and quite exotic, through its use of fragrant spices such as cumin and allspice as well as sweet ingredients such as honey.  Yum! I love anything with honey and thought this soup would make a delicious dinner.  It did. Both Dan and I devoured it and especially loved making it a bit creamy with a dollop of Greek yogurt on top.  Don't worry, since this soup is low in fat, you can use a full fat Greek yogurt.  A little fat won't hurt you.

Here's the recipe for you to experiment with.  I recommend eating the soup with grilled pita bread drizzled with olive oil.

Back to Cooking - Baked Cherry Chicken

After being on vacation for two weeks, it was hard to get back into cooking, but I'm glad to have it back in my life.  Eating out is fun, but there's nothing like making your food, and knowing that you're eating well and healthy at the same time.

The below recipe for baked cherry chicken coulndn't be simpler, and the beauty of it is that you can use different substitutes for the veggies or dried fruit.  It's a relatively quick dish too that's great for weeknight cooking--preparation and cooking time taking about an hour.  I hope that you enjoy it and that it inspires you to cook healthier and lighter.

Foodista's Baked Cherry Chicken (serves 2)

Ingredients:
1 lb of chicken tenders (white chicken breasts)

2 tbs of olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Zest of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp of honey
1 tsp of grain mustard
1/3 cup of Panko breadcrumbs
Small handful of dried cherries, cut in half

Small handful of sliced almonds

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Prepare baking sheet and line with aluminum foil, and then gently grease with olive oil (about 1 tbs or less - just lightly brush the surface).

Season chicken tenders with salt and pepper.  Make marinade by mixing together the remainder of the olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, grain mustard, honey and salt and pepper.  Whisk until combined thoroughly. 

Place seasoned chicken tenders in a wide, shallow bowl and pour marinade over it.  Let rest for about 20-30 minutes. Take chicken out of marinade with tongs and place it on prepared baking sheet - leave excess marinade in the bowl and discard.

In a small bowl, mix breadcrumbs with a small glug of olive oil, salt, pepper, cherries and sliced almonds and mix together with your fingers until incorporated.  Top chicken with breadcrumbs, place in oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

While the chicken is baking, make a side dish such as a mixed salad or cous cous with vegetables. Enjoy!