Raw Zucchini Dressing

I'm usually quite happy with munching on veggies, be they raw or steamed for a snack without any extra amending, but today I had 1/2 a large zucchini in the fridge just begging to be obliterated in the blender. I found this recipe for a raw zuke dressing on Choosing Raw's blog and so I just halved it to able to use up my 1/2 zuke. It's pretty tasty, albeit not very zukey. I still haven't used it on a full on salad, but it was good as a dip for my red pepper strips today. Amounts below are for the full recipe.

Raw Zucchini Dressing:
(Choosing Raw)

1 large zucchini, chopped
½ cup lemon juice
¼ cup nutritional yeast
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil or flax oil
1 Tbs organic mustard (optional, but I added after tasting without first)
3 pitted dates or 1 packet stevia (I used dates)
3 Tbs shoyu or tamari (I reduced sodium and used less)
3 Tbs ground flax seed
¼ cup water
½ tsp ground coriander

Blend all dressing ingredients on high till smooth and creamy. Mix salad ingredients and top with the dressing as desired.

Behold...moody veg.

Quinoa Salad

I used the rest of the Orange-Pomegranate Dressing from yesterday's beet salad between baked tofu and this quinoa salad. The baked tofu was made in this manner, I just subbed ~1/2 cup of the dressing for all the other ingredients I normally use, plus some kosher salt and garlic powder sprinkled on top (next time I'd add more lemon too...or something zingy). The salad is from Cooking Light, only they make theirs with couscous...which you could most certainly do too. I just like the high protein content of quinoa, and didn't want any wheat in this meal. I also pulled out the last of the pinenuts and feta to top it off, because what isn't better with cheeeeese?

Quinoa Salad:
(adapted from Cooking Light)

just shy of 2 cups organic vegetable broth
1 cup uncooked quinoa (well rinsed if it doesn't come rinsed, if you bought it in bulk then it doesn't)
1 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup chopped green onions (I used red onion, since my green onions were slimerrific!)
1/2 cup diced English cucumber
1/2 cup diced tomato (I added this to the top of each serving so it wouldn't get mushy in the leftovers)
~1/2 cup Pomegranate-Orange Dressing
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Optional toppings:
feta
toasted pinenuts, or walnuts

Cook quinoa as per package instructions. Let cool.
Mix all other ingredients together (leaving out the tomato if you'll have leftovers) adding quinoa when it's cooled somewhat. Top each serving with tomato, feta and pinenuts.

Roasted Beet Salad with Orange-Pomegranate Dressing

I'm embarrassed to say that this is the first time I've EVER used the beet greens along with the beets. Usually they get lopped off and tossed, albeit with a twinge of guilt. No more! Who knew that they were so lovely...especially when boiled for 2 short minutes, then doused in the following dressing.
My new fave, Newflower Market here in Austin has great prices on wonderful produce. So after loading up on 2 bunches of organic beets (with their tops!) for 3 bucks, I came home and fired up my oven. I brought this to book club last night and as usually happens when I do that, forgot to take a picture. I've taken one of the leftovers, but know that it's much prettier the day you make it...greens are more green, less melding of colors, etc. It might sound like a lot of work, but it can be done in stages when you have the time. I roasted the beets the day before, and the dressing could certainly have been made the day before.

Roasted Beet Salad with Orange-Pomegranate Dressing:

Beets:
2 bunches of beets with nice healthy looking tops (I used red and golden beets)
olive oil, salt and pepper

Heat oven to 400. Wash, dry and trim beets not flush with the beet, but leaving about 1/4 inch of the stems. Individually wrap each beet in a square of foil after having lightly oiled, salt and peppered them. Place on a foil lined baking sheet and roast for 1 hour. Turn off the oven and just leave them in there while you do other things...make the dressing, wash/chop the beet greens, watch Dr. Oz play with brains on Oprah (or READ ZOMBIE BOOKS!) Just checking to see if you were still with me. Eventually, pull the beets out of the oven and let 'em cool on the counter.

Orange-Pomegrante Dressing:
(adapted slightly from a Cooking Light recipe)

1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
2 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary (please tell me you have this weed in your yard and aren't going to pay 3 bucks for a wee sprig)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
(the original recipe calls for 1 tsp brown sugar, I subbed 1 tsp agave nectar, but will nix next time, as everything else would have been plenty sweet I think. Use your own judgement)
1/4 cup extravirgin olive oil

Combine all ingredients except oil, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add oil, whisking constantly until well combined. (If you have an immersion blender...mix all ingredients except for orange zest, rosemary, and oil. Add oil while blending on low, then stir in the zest and rosemary at the end with a fork.)
This makes a nice amount of dressing that is great used in a couscous salad, with orange and mint, as a marinade for dark meat chicken, salmon, or tofu (which I'm trying tonight), roasted veggies...any number of things I'd expect. All this said, since you're going to have some leftover and it will keep for up to 5 days tightly covered in the refrigerator.

Salad:
2 bunches of roasted beets, peeled and cut into 8 wedges each.
beet greens from 2 bunches of beets, stems removed then washed and chopped
1/2 of a fist-sized (unless you have huge paws!) red onion, sliced very thinly
2 large oranges, cut into supremes
~1/2 cup or more Orange- Pomegranate dressing
feta (I probably used about 2 ounces)
toasted pine nuts...toast in the pot you're gonna boil the beet greens in so you don't have to wash two things :-)

Bring a sauce pan of water to the boil, add chopped beet greens and cook for 2 minutes. Drain greens, cool a bit, then squeeze out any extra liquid.

Cut off both tail ends of your oranges, set them on one of the flat ends and cut the skin off each, making sure to remove all the membrane. Now, holding the orange in one palm, carefully cut out the segments of orange, along either side of the membrane between each. Continue until you've cut them all out. These are your "supremes". Add them to a largish bowl.

Add the beet wedges, thinly sliced red onion, and 1/2 cup(+) dressing to the oranges and toss gently. Cover and let sit out at room temp for 1 hour. Mine sat out for at least 2 hours before it got eaten. Before serving, toss again in the dressing, crumble feta over the top, and finally sprinkle with toasted pinenuts.

Roasted Acorn Squash with Chile-Lime Vinaigrette and Chicken with Lime Sauce

In an effort to prevent any sudden outbreak of scurvy, we dosed ourselves heavily with lime juice last night. The acorn squash recipe was gleaned from a blog I read called traveler's lunchbox. Who in turn found it in Gourmet Magazine. Tasty way to prepare acorn squash and I don't know if we were supposed to, but we ate the skins right along with the squash (so make sure you wash them well). I halved the recipe, using only one squash, but made up almost the full amount of the vinaigrette (with less oil)...using the remainder on our salad.

The chicken is just sauteed up then finished with an easy pan sauce. A Cooking Light recipe that calls for using chicken breasts that have been pounded to 1/4" thickness, I used chicken tenders to cut that step out. I usually serve the chicken with cumin roasted potatoes and it's a great combo. Guess I'd better post about those sometime! I just looked at the comments on the chicken recipe at Cooking Light's site and found that people that weren't as into acidic sauces had a problem with the sauce, but others looooved it. So, judge for yourself. Me and tart are good friends...

Roasted Acorn Squash with Chile-Lime Vinaigrette:
(found on travelerslunchbox's blog...Source: adapted from Gourmet, October 2006)

2 large (1 1/2-1 3/4-lb/650-800g) acorn squash
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (90ml) olive oil (probably used less)
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, or to taste
1 tablespoon honey
1-2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh hot red chile, including seeds (I used a serrano pepper)
small handful chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat the oven to 400F/200C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Halve each squash lengthwise, then cut off and discard stem ends. Scrape out the seeds and cut the squash lengthwise into 3/4-inch-wide wedges. Toss the squash with black pepper, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons (30ml) oil in a bowl, then arrange, cut sides down, on the baking sheets. Roast the squash, switching the position of pans halfway through roasting, until squash is tender and undersides of wedges are golden brown, 30-40 minutes.

While the squash roasts, mash the garlic finely with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a mortar (or side of your knife on your cutting board). Transfer the paste to a small bowl and whisk in lime juice, honey, chile (to taste), cilantro, and remaining oil until combined. Taste for seasoning and add more salt or lime juice as needed. Transfer squash, browned sides up, to a platter and drizzle with vinaigrette.

Chicken with Lime Sauce:
(Cooking Light)

4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I can fit a whole package of tenders in one pan, but when I use pounded chicken breasts I have to cook only 2 at a time.)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil
3/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon brown sugar, or sucanat
3 tablespoons lime juice, divided
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cornstarch (I usually use more, but forgot last night...a little thicker sauce is much nicer)
1 tablespoon butter

Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap (or ziplock bag); pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 4 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove from pan; keep warm.

Add chicken broth, sugar, 2 tablespoons juice, and mustard to pan; cook over medium heat, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.

Combine water and cornstarch in a small bowl. Add cornstarch mixture to pan; stir well with a whisk. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cook 1 minute or until sauce thickens slightly. Whisk in remaining 1 tablespoon lime juice and butter, stirring until butter melts. Return chicken to pan; simmer 2 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly heated.

Tilapia with Thai Coconut-Curry Sauce, Japanese Carrot Dressing

This is one of our favorite meals. I made this for my family while in California and my aunt hasn't stopped making it since! Good for a quick weeknight meal, or even nice enough for company. You can make the sauce ahead of time so you're not too harried while the fish is broiling. Just set it to the back of the stove and gently rewarm before serving if necessary.
Look for never frozen, fresh tilapia that's US farm-raised. Natural, if you can get it...no added hormones, etc. It's only about 2 bucks more per pound and in my book, totally worth it. The salad, albeit of Japanese influence, was a great compliment to the coconut-curry sauce.


Broiled Tilapia with Thai Coconut-Curry Sauce: (Cooking Light)

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil, divided (I actually use a lighter blend of canola and sesame)
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup diced red bell pepper
1 cup chopped green onions (they look pretty cut on the bias)
1 teaspoon curry powder (use hot or mild)
2 teaspoons red curry paste (or more if you're daring)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
4 teaspoons soy sauce (the recipe calls for low-sodium which I didn't have, just adjust the salt down)
1 tablespoon brown sugar (I subbed agave nectar)
~1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 (14-ounce) can light coconut milk (this dish is crazy good with whole fat coconut milk, but well...it's reaaaaally fattening. :-) I did go back to using the lite this time, but sometimes I use a half and half mix. Buy a can of regular and a can of lite, mix the two, and freeze the rest in 1/2 cup measures for future use.)
2 tablespoons or more, chopped fresh cilantro
4 (6-ounce) farm-raised natural tilapia fillets (I just used 2 really big filets, we have extra sauce and rice for lunch the next day)
Cooking spray
hot cooked brown basmati rice
lime wedges

Preheat broiler.

Heat 1/2 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add ginger and garlic; cook 1 minute. Add pepper and onions; cook 1 minute. Stir in curry powder, curry paste, and cumin; cook 1 minute. Add soy sauce, sugar (agave), 1/4 teaspoon salt, and coconut milk; bring to a simmer (do not boil). Remove from heat; stir in cilantro.

Brush fish with 1/2 teaspoon oil; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Place fish on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Broil 7 minutes (I flipped our large 8oz filets over at 6 minutes, and broiled for an additional 3 minutes for a perfectly done, moist fish) or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve fish with sauce, rice, and lime wedges.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 fillet, 1/2 cup sauce, 3/4 cup rice, and 1 lime wedge)

CALORIES 506 (30% from fat); FAT 17.1g (sat 5.9g,mono 6g,poly 2.5g); PROTEIN 29g; CHOLESTEROL 82mg; CALCIUM 47mg; SODIUM 616mg; FIBER 3.1g; IRON 2.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 56.6g



Japanese Ginger-Carrot Dressing:

We love this dressing that's always served at our favorite sushi restaurant. I found this recipe online and it's really, really good. I tend to use more carrots than called for...about a fistful of baby-sized carrots, but I'll type up as written and you do as you like. If it's a little too thick with the extra carrots just add a small amount of water to thin. I used orange juice last night and it just changed the flavor too much. It should be fairly thick. Just dollop a good amount in the center of your salad and scoop some up with each bite. Delish!
All of these ingredients can be increased to your taste of course.

1 small carrot (or more)
1 Tbs mirin (orig. recipe calls for 2, just add one then taste)
2 Tbs rice vinegar
1 Tbs soy sauce
couple drops dark sesame oil
1 Tbs prepared mustard (not French's)
1 Tbs grated fresh ginger root

Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender and mix until smooth. Well covered, it keeps in the fridge for about a week.

Salad Dressing for Thai Braised Beef leftover night...

Just use the ingredients listed in this recipe in any amount that tastes good to you really...and depending on how large your salad is.

I used this over a spinach salad with cucumber, red bell pepper, tomato, avocado and cilantro since it's what we had in the house.

Instead of using Chinese egg noodles as the original recipe called for, I felt the need for a whole-grain noodle. I love using Vita-Spelt noods...I like them much better regular whole-wheat noodles for some reason and they come in all the usual noodly shapes. I used their wide egg noodle variety tonight.

Thai-ish Salad Dressing:

Juice of 1 1/2 med.-small limes
zest of one of those limes
~ 3/4-1 tsp chili garlic sauce
rice wine vinegar
1 finely grated peeled lemongrass stalk
a dash of salt
and a glurg of agave nectar

Mix it all together and tweak until you're happy with the taste. :-)

Creamy Tomato-Balsamic Soup

Yet another Cooking Light recipe! This is the first time I made this recipe. I changed it up by nixing the half-and-half and used whole milk instead. I garnished with my favorite Bulgarian plain yogurt (whole milk this time). It might be a little on the tart side for some, but I loved it. Adding half-and-half would have tamed some of the tang, I'm sure. I'm only going to use 2 Tbs of balsamic next time. It was really good though, and really easy.

Creamy Tomato-Balsamic Soup:

1 cup organic beef broth, divided
1 tablespoon brown sugar (or agave nectar)
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (2?)
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
5 garlic cloves, whole
2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes, drained (I used one can of Muir Glen organic fire-roasted tomatoes, and one can of Italian roma tomatoes that had very low sodium content )
Cooking spray
~1/2-3/4 cup whole milk (I'm going to try Silk unsweetened soy milk here, next time)
Cracked black pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 500°.

Combine 1/2 cup of broth, sugar (agave), vinegar, and soy sauce in a small bowl. Place onion, garlic, and tomatoes in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour broth mixture over tomato mixture. Bake at 500° for 50 minutes or until vegetables are lightly browned.

Place tomato mixture in a blender. Add remaining 1/2 cup broth and milk, and process until smooth. Garnish with cracked black pepper, if desired. I served the soup with some cheesy Gruyere toasts with prosciutto. I just popped some slices of ciabatta topped with prosciutto and grated Gruyere under the broiler til toasty and melty.


Balsamic Vinaigrette:

I thought a hearty salad made with a Butler family classic balsamic vinaigrette would be great with this soup. I don't know who came up with this first, but it's a good one.
Use about 3-1 oil to vinegar ratio here...I'm more of a 2-1'er though, since I like a perky dressing.

balsamic vinegar
kosher salt
lots of fresh ground black pepper
a clove of minced garlic
a dollop of Grey Poupon, or other similar 'tard
a squeeze of honey (or agave nectar). Go easy on the sweet, since the balsamic is sweet too.
a couple splashes of Worcestershire sauce
original calls for dried oregano, but I leave it out unless I have fresh oregano
a wee bit of dried thyme, or fresh if you've got it
Good extra-virgin olive oil

Mix all ingredients together except oil. Slowly stream in olive oil while whisking to emulsify. You'll end up with a nice thick dressing.