Mushroom with Orzo

Over the weekend I went to H&R block (not the tax preparation business) for a small gathering. It's been too long since I've seen Obi and I was excited to spend some time with them. H requested a mushroom and orzo salad, so I thought I would jazz it up a bit and add some more veggies to it. I recently bought The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook for healthy eating and I saw a quinoa with mushroom dish I thought I could twist with orzo. This recipe took 10 minutes to prep and 15 minutes to cook. This is the easiest recipe I've ever cooked!

 Photo courtesy of Angry Asian Creations

Mushroom with Orzo

Serves 8

3 cups of orzo pasta
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 of broccoli slaw (can be found in the produce section. Contains broccoli, carrots and red cabbage)
2-3 cups of diced mushrooms (any kind, I used button, shitake, and portobello)
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Directions:
Boil water and cook orzo to desired texture. While the water is boiling, put oil in a saute pan and saute onions and garlic for a minute. Add in mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes until tender. Add broccoli slaw and cook for another 2 minutes. When pasta is done rinse with cold water to stop from cooking. Add orzo to the vegetables and mix together. To serve you can sprinkle with a little parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Lamb & Mint Meatballs

I randomly browse through Food Gawker and Tastespotting when I need a little food inspiration. To be honest, if the picture looks good that's when I click on it. I noticed a picture that caught my eye and it was lamb and mint meatballs over farro risotto. I've never cooked with ground lamb before so I thought I'd give it a shot. The aroma of the mint while cooking the meatballs was incredible. I opted not to use risotto because KStead and I usually eat our meatballs like kabobs. We ate them with rice and naan. I am a huge fan of Greek food and especially tzatziki sauce. Below is my homemade version. I eat this with pita bread, veggies, and now with lamb meatballs.

Lamb & Mint Meatballs
Ingredients:

1 pound ground lamb
2 handfuls mint (chopped)
1/4 cup red onion (diced)
1 egg
1/4 cup breads crumbs

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon coriander (toasted and ground)
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil for pan

Directions:
1. Mix the lamb, mint, onion, egg, bread crumbs, cinnamon, coriander, salt and pepper.
2. Form the mixture into balls.
3. Heat the oil in a pan.
4. Add the balls a few at a time, without crowding the pan, and brown on all sides until the middle is cooked, about 10 minutes.

Adapted from Closet Cooking

Homemade Tzatziki Sauce

Ingredients:
Greek yogurt (any brand, any %)
Handful of dry or fresh dill
3/4 cup diced cucumbers
Pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined. Add more salt or pepper to taste.

Goat Vindaloo

So last week I flew home to Canada (Ottawa to be exact) to take care of some business and spend some family time with the cousin and her family. Well, my cousin, being as cute as  she is, insisted on cooking everyday in attempts to make me eat (let first say, I DO eat. I eat a lot, just not large amounts in one sitting). Anyway, so we had all this goat in the fridge (how much does it suck here that I've to drive two hours away to get fresh goat and they can go like 10 minutes?!) So yes, we had all this goat so we decided to make some vindaloo. How accurate our dish was to what you find in the restaurant, well that'll be for you to decide, but this is what we came up with.


Goat Vindaloo

• Make a paste in a food processor of a small/med onion, garlic, and ginger
• Make a powder w/ cumin seeds, black pepper, salt, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, two dried chilies, tumeric, coriander, and paprika (I used about 1 tsp of each)- stir in about 2 tbsp of rice wine vinegar (if you want, use distilled) and make a paste
• 2 lbs goat chopped in pieces
• 1 can of tomato paste
• 1.25 cups of water

Brown the goat in olive oil in batches and drain on a paper towel
Cook the onion paste to get the rawness out and then add the spice paste and mix well. 
Add the goat, tomato paste and water and stir well
Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer, cover, and cook ~ 45 minutes

Strawberry Cookies

For our friend's 25th birthday, Angry Asian Creations made Hello Kitty faces out of fondant and we put those on top of these strawberry cookies. They were pretty in pink!


Strawberry Cookies
Makes ~ 24 cookies

1 box strawberry cake mix, any brand is good
1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1-2 tablespoons of water
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, mix cake mix, oil, coconut extract, and eggs until just combined.
3. With a medium scoop, scoop onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Do not press down.
4. Take a pinch of coconut flakes and lay on top of each cookie. Do not press down.
5. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until cooked through. Let stand for 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.


Frosting (optional)
4 oz softened cream cheese
1 Tablespoons softened butter
1 1/2 Cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoons milk
Place cream cheese and butter in a large bowl. Whisk until smooth and creamy. Slowly add in powdered sugar, vanilla and milk until smooth. Spread frosting on top of cookies then sprinkle toasted coconut over top of frosting.

Adapted from Picky Palate

Sweet Potato and Avocado Salad w/ Chicken

So my girl A and I decided we are going to create the best diet and exercise plan to get our bodies into bikini shape for Miami and the summer. Well, we totally are doing it! If there are any chicas that want to give it a try (or guys) lemme know how it works for you.
Here's our plan:
Breakfast- oatmeal with berries, fruit and skim milk
Snack- whole grain toast w/ peanut butter and fruit
Lunch- lean meat and veggies (salads are the easiest way)
Snack- fruit
Dinner- leam meats, tons of veggies, and 1/2 cup grains
Dessert- a little bit of chocolate to fix that sweet tooth

We run three days a week and some time of muscle toning workout another three days

So, today I decided to make a large amount of salad to last me the week so all I have to do is cook the chicken at lunch and be done. I have a Jamie Oliver cookbook where he makes this salad with new potatoes, watercress and avocados. Well I didn't have all the ingredients, but I think my version came out pretty nice.
Sweet Potato and Avocado Salad with Chicken
1 lb sweet potatoes
4 cups of mixed greens
2 T olive oil
2 T lemon juice
salt and pepper
1 avocado
1 lb chicken tenders
Clean the potatoes well and boil them until tender. Peel and cut the avocados in however size pieces you prefer and put in a big salad bowl. Take the potatoes and cut them into good bite sized chunks and add to salad bowl. Add the greens. Add the salad greens, the oil and lemon juice. Toss. Season to your liking and toss again. Pound the chicken tenders so they're flat and season with salt and pepper. Lay them on a well oiled pan and cook completely on one side then flip over and cook the other side. Make sure chicken is thoroughly cooked. Slice them and top the salad.

Turkey-Apple-Barley Risotto

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

So I wanted to make a special dinner for me and my baby (my lil' puppy) so I needed to make something not too spicy and no wheat or corn). Well RICE! I wanted to make risotto because its a dish both he and I could enjoy (normally I do not feed my dog people food). Well, first I googled healthy risotto recipes and I found one by Mario Batali which called for green apples, white wine, and a few other things I don't have so I took the recipe and re-invented it. Plus, I had to had protein in there too.
Enjoy!

Turkey Apple-Barley Risotto
3T margarine
2T EVOO
1/5 cups pearl barley
1/2 cup thinly slice red onion
1 thinly sliced gala apple
10 oz ground turkey
3-4 cups of low sodium vegetable broth
1 cup water
salt and pepper
1/4 cup parmesan reggiano
handful of cilantro
In a deep pan over medium heat  melt 2T of better with the EVOO and sautee the onions. Add the apple and meat next. Cook few more minutes and then add the barley. Once the meat starts look pretty cooked and the barley is nicely coated with the oil (4-5 minutes) add 1 cup water (I used water because I can't give alcohol to my puppy). Once the water has been absorbed, add about 1.5 cups of broth. Stirring occasionally, continue to add the broth when you see its mostly absorbed. The total amount of liquid will depend on your barley (keep adding liquid until its cooked). Add the cheese next and stir. I add salt and pepper next because the parmesan is kinda salty so if I add salt first the dish may turn out too salty. Turn the heat off and stir in cilantro.

Penne with Spinach and Ricotta

So first of all, no this recipe is not vegetarian, nor is it vegan. I, Lulu, have decided to go back to eating meat. Why? Because we humans are designed to eat meat. Our bodies need the amino acids from the breakdown of protein which comes from animal protein. And although yes, I could get sufficient protein from a vegetarian diet, I have to eat way too many soy and bean products. And honestly, there are so many chemicals and preservatives in vegan/veg products, I'd rather eat healthy and NATURAL. More important to me than eating veg is eating natural.

Ok so here's this recipe I adapted from Fitness Magazine. The original recipe calls for broccoli rabe and lean turkey sausage. I had neither and so I used ground lamb (mmm, lamb how I missed thee) and spinach.

Penne With Spinach and Ricotta
1/2 cup frozen spinach
3 oz whole wheat penne pasta
1 tsp olive oil
3 oz ground lamb
1/8 of a red onion sliced thinly
1 garlic clove thinly sliced
1 tablespoon of fat free ricotta
1 tsp parmesan 
salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste
Boil a pot of water seasoned with salt. Once the water reaches a boil add the spinach and cook about 4 minutes. Remove the spinach and add the pasta to the pot. Cook the pasta al dente. Save a little bit of the pasta water when draining the pasta.
In a skillet heat oil and cook the onions, garlic, and lamb with the chili flakes ~ 8 minutes. Add the spinach. Lower heat and add the pasta. Toss all the ingredients well. Add the ricotta and parmesan and mix well. Add black pepper to taste. Et voila, a terrific meat dish (just to show that not eating meat for three months doesn't diminish my abilities to cook the yumminess).