Sweet Potato Hash

Ingredients:
2 BIG sweet potatoes, peel them, and dice them into one inch cubes
1 BIG red onion, dice it as well
1 bell pepper (red, orange, yellow - your preference), chopped 
1/4 cup EVOO or coconut oil
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprike
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup "ribboned" fresh basil
Optional – Kale, chopped fine

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400.
Mix up all ingredients in a bowl.
Spread it out on a cookie sheet. You can do a 9×13 pan too.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Stir it all around and then spread it all back out.
Bake it for 10 more minutes, repeat the stirring and spreading.
Bake for 5 more minutes or until the potatoes are soft.  Enjoy!

Thai Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

• ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 cup shredded red cabbage
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/4 of a red onion, diced
• 1 cup carrots, chopped or julienned
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• ¼ cup diced green onions
• ½ cup cashew halves
• Optional: 1 cup cooked chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces (rotisserie chicken would make this fast and easy!)
• For the peanut sauce: 
• 1/2 c peanut butter
• 1/2 c hoisin sauce (asian section of grocery store)
• 1-2T fresh grated ginger (you can buy this pre-ground, easy!)
• 1 t chili paste (asian section of grocery store)
• 1/3 c hot water

Instructions

1. To cook quinoa: Rinse quinoa with cold water in mesh strainer. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 ½ cups of water to a boil. Add in quinoa and bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes or until quinoa has absorbed all of the water. Remove from heat and fluff quinoa with fork; place in large bowl and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes. You should have a little over 2 cups of quinoa.
2. Make peanut sauce by whisking all peanut sauce ingredients together in a bowl.
3. Add as much or as little dressing as you’d like to the quinoa. I always start out with a little bit of dressing and usually add more to suit my taste preferences. Alternatively you can save the dressing for later and add when you are ready to eat; however the flavors of the dressing usually soak into the salad so I love adding it to the quinoa first.
4. Next fold in red pepper, onion, cabbage, carrots, and cilantro into the quinoa. Garnish with cashews and green onions. Serve chilled or at room temperature.  Delicious topped with extra peanut sauce and even fresh lime.

Although there is a bit of veggie chopping with this recipe, it was relatively fast, easy, fresh, and delicious!  We will definitely make it again!  I added chicken to serve it as a main dish, although that is nutritionally not necessary.  I would leave the chicken out if I was serving it as a side dish.

This recipe was inspired by ambitiouskitchen.com.  Photo credits to ambitiouskitchen.

Mama Marsh's Sweet n' Sour Green Beans

Ingredients:

• 4 cups fresh green beans
• 4 strips bacon (I used turkey bacon)
• 1/2 c chopped onions
• 2 T brown sugar
• 2 T white vinegar

Directions:

1. Boil water in large stock pot.
2. Cook green beans in boiling water 8-10 minutes.  Drain.
3. While cooking beans, in saucepan, cook bacon and onion until bacon is crisp and onions are tender.
4. Mix together cooked beans, bacon/onion mix, vinegar, and brown sugar.
5. Serve.

I am seriously addicted to this green bean recipe.  Mama Marsh first made this for me while we were in Hawaii and I fell in love.  MOVE OVER GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE!  I made these for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and a handful of other times just for our family.  They satisfy a million different flavor and texture cravings.  Seriously delicious and major thanks to Lynda Marsh for sharing the recipe with me!

Cornbread Stuffing with Sweet Peppers, Onions, and Celery

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 each red, yellow, and orange bell peppers, diced
1 1/2 medium onions, minced
3 ribs celery, diced
1 cup chicken or turkey stock
6 fresh sage leaves, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp minced fresh marjoram or oregano
1 to 2 tsp salt
1/2 to 3/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
7 to 8 cups baked cornbread, diced into 1/2 inch cubes

Directions:
1. Saute peppers, onions and celery in olive oil, cooking until tender but not browned, 10 to 15 min.
2. Add stock, sage, marjoram, salt, and pepper and cook over medium heat for 3 to 5 min.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine cornbread and vegetable mixture, being careful not to overmix.
4. Transfer mixture to a baking dish. Bake 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown and heated through.

Yield: 8 servings

I made this for Thanksgiving last year and LOVED it! It was a big hit. I'm pretty sure I'll never go back to regular stuffing again! If you like to put sausage in your stuffing, you could easily add it into this recipe as well!

Recipe from Country Living Magazine

Traditional Popovers

Ingredients:                                                        source
Non-fat cooking spray
2 large eggs, lightly beaten, at room temperature
1 cup milk, at room temperature
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400° F for 20 minutes. Coat each cup of a six-cup muffin or cupcake tin with non-fat cooking spray.

In a smaller bowl, lightly whisk the eggs until they change color. Whisk in the milk.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt until well blended. Gently whisk the egg mixture into the flour mixture until only small lumps are left, and set aside.

Place the muffin tin in the oven for 4 minutes. At 3 minutes, give the batter a light whisk. Using an oven mitt, remove the hot tin from the oven and immediately divide the batter among the prepared cups. Bake for 25 minutes without opening the oven door. The popovers will be puffy, with crisp brown crusts and hollow, moist interiors. Serve immediately, with butter if desired.

Quick Zucchini Saute

 recipe courtesy of smittenkitchen.com
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons thinly sliced almonds
1 to 2 small zucchini, cut into 1/8-inch matchsticks with a knife or julienne blade on a mandoline
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Few ounces pecorino Romano or paremsan, in thin slices — a peeler works great for this

Directions:
Heat the oil on high in a large skillet. When it is hot but not smoking, add the almonds to the pan. Cook them, while stirring, until the almonds are golden-brown, approximately a minute or two.
Add the zucchini to the pan, tossing it with the oil and almonds until it just begins to glisten, about one minute. The idea is not to cook the zucchini so much as warm it.
Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately, with or without cheese on top.

Creamy Grilled Potato Salad

Ingredients:

• 8 medium red potatoes, cut into 1-in. slices
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
• 1/4 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 cup fat-free mayonnaise
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
• 1 dill pickle spear, chopped
• 3 Tbsp. dill pickle juice
• 1 Tbsp Dijon or spicy brown mustard

Preparation:
1. Place first five ingredients in a large bowl, toss to coat. Moisten a paper towel with cooking oil; using long handled tongs, lightly coat the grill rack. Grill potatoes, covered, over medium heat for 25-30 minutes or until tender, turning once. Cool. Cut into quarters and place in a large bowl.
2. In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Pour over potatoes; toss to coat. Serve immediately.

This is the best potato salad I've ever had! It literally tastes like french fries in tartar sauce! Delicious!

Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens

Red Lentil Salad

Ingredients:
1 lb. dried red lentils (I found these in the bulk section)
1 c. currants
1/3 c. capers
1 1/2 c. finely chopped red onion

Vinaigrette ingredients:
3/4 c. olive oil
1/2 c. white wine vinegar
2 T sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/4 t ground cloves
1/4 t cinnamon
1 t ground cumin
1 t dry mustard
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t turmeric
1/2 t coriander

Directions:

1. Wash lentils.  Cook in boiling water 5-6 minutes or until just tender.  Rinse and drain well.
2. Combine with dressing and let sit overnight.
3. At least 2 hours before serving, add currants, capers, and onions to lentils. Allow to marinate for several hours more.
4. Place in bowl or on platter and garnish as you please.

I first had this salad with a fabulous salmon dinner made by my step-mom, Kris.  Instantly fell in lurve with this salad.  GREAT flavor and obviously pretty darn healthy for you.  This recipe is very easy to make although with the marinating time, you obviously have to plan ahead.  Fabulous dish to take to or serve at a BBQ or picnic this summer.  This recipe is only slightly modified from one found on Cooks.com

Summer Asparagus Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 pound fresh asparagus, cut in one-inch pieces, grilled or steamed
2 ears of corn on the cob, grilled or steamed
1/2 pound cherry tomatoes, halved
1 ripe avocado
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup fresh cut cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, give or take
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Prepare the top 4 ingredients as listed above: cut the asparagus, either steam in microwave (cut and place in glass bowl, top with cling wrap and microwave for 2-3 minutes, stir and then microwave an additional 2 minutes.  Or place uncut asparagus on your bbq grill, after applying with non-stick cooking spray.  Grill on medium-low on one side for about 4-5 minutes and then turn over and grill an additional 4 minutes.  Cut the grilled asparagus when cooled.   Either grill the corn on the cob on your bbq, wrapping corn in foil and leaving on the medium-low grill for 10 minutes, or microwave for 4-6 minutes.  Once the corn is cooked, cut it from the cob with a sharp knife, and allow to chill.  Cut cherry tomatoes in half and place in a large serving bowl.  Peel and chop a ripe avocado into small pieces.  If unsure how to peel and chop an avocado, try this: with a sharp knife, cut through the avocado peel from top to bottom in two cross-wise sections, lengthwise; then take the peel right off the avocado and remove all four sections of the avocado "meat" from the pit and chop into desired pieces.   Add avocado, corn, and asparagus to the bowl of tomatoes.  Crumble the feta cheese into the serving bowl and mix in cilantro.  Toss the salad with the lemon juice and olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Coconut Rice

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Thai jasmine-scented white rice (note that other types of rice, such as brown rice, will not work for this recipe)
• 1 cup good-quality coconut milk (not "lite")
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2-3 Tbsp. dry shredded coconut, unsweetened or sweetened (baking type)

Preparation:

1. Place rice in rice cooker. Add the water, coconut milk, salt, and shredded coconut. Stir well (use a plastic or wooden utensil to avoid scraping off the non-stick surface). Cover and set to cook.
2. Once your rice cooker switches to "warm" mode, allow another 8-10 minutes for rice to finish "steaming". This will ensure your coconut rice is fully cooked and pleasantly sticky.
3. Gently fluff with chopsticks before serving (some of the shredded coconut may have risen to the surface - just stir it back into the rice). Taste-test it for salt, adding a little more until desired flavor is achieved.

For a recipe for the stove top: http://thaifood.about.com/od/thaisnacks/r/thaicoconutrice.htm

Chipotle Black Beans

Ingredients:

1- 16 oz. can of black beans
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup diced white onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
non-stick cooking spray
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1 tablespoon Cholula Chipotle flavored hot sauce

Preparation:

Spray a medium sized sauce pan with cooking spray.  Saute bell pepper, onions and garlic in bottom of sauce pan.  Drain some (~1/4 cup) of the bean "juice" into the sauce pan when sauteing is finished.  Drain the remaining juice from beans and rinse beans.  Stir in the beans and add chipotle hot sauce to the sauce pan.  Simmer beans mixture on low for 15 minutes.  Serve warm.  These beans go well with the BBQ Pulled Chicken Sliders from this blog!

Spinach-Strawberry Salad

A foodie friend of mine once told me that the best salads have four main ingredients: greens, fruit, cheese & nut.  The following recipe may not be new to you, but it's a very tasty go-to salad.  It pairs beautifully with the Maple-Glazed Salmon.

Ingredients:
10-14 oz. baby spinach
1 cup fresh sliced strawberries
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
4 oz. feta cheese
6 oz. can of Mandarin oranges (optional)
1/2 cup slivered almonds
low-fat poppy seed dressing

Preparation:
     So simple!  Just prepare all ingredients through Mandarin oranges as indicated.   Right before serving the salad, add in slivered almonds and dressing and toss well.  Delicious and nutritious!