Crunchy Asian Cashew Quinoa Salad

GThis is just so good. We do it as a main dish, but you could easily make it a side. It is so good chilled as leftovers for lunch the next day. The quinoa picks up the flavor from the sauce so well, and the crunchy bites from the cashews and cabbage give it a great texture. If you are wanting a good way to try quinoa this is a great example of how versatile it can be. I stumbled upon it when I was searching for new ways to eat quinoa on Pinterest., and just adapted it slightly. We certainly don't try to eat vegetarian but often do during the week because of the ease, and in this dish, you don't miss meat.

 

Crunchy Asian Cashew Quinoa Salad

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
• 2 cups shredded red cabbage
• 1 orange or yellow bell pepper, diced
• ½ red onion, very finely diced
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• ¼ cup chopped green onions
• ½ cup cashew halves (broken up into pieces)  
• 8 oz frozen shelled edamame, cooked

 

For the dressing:

• ¼ cup all natural peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
• 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

 

1. Cook quinoa by bringing quinoa and 1 3/4 cup water to boil. Cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook until all the water is gone, about 15 minutes. Fluff quinoa with a fork, remove from heat.
2. Use a microwave safe bowl to make the dressing. First combine peanut butter and honey; heat in microwave for 20 seconds to make it easier to stir. Add in ginger, soy sauce, both vinegars, lime juice, and both sesame and olive oil. Stir until mixture is smooth and creamy. You can adjust to your tastes here.
3. In a big bowl, toss the quinoa with about half the dressing.
4. Then add in the pepper, both onions, edamame, cabbage, carrots, and cilantro into the quinoa.
5. Add in more dressing and toss well.
6. Top with cashews before serving.

***Makes 4 servings
***This is 2 on Bryce's dish scale. Pot for quinoa, big bowl, small bowl, cutting board.

 

Greek 9 Layer Dip

I am always looking for new dips or things to bring to a party and I kept seeing recipes for Greek layer dips pop up on Pinterest. I combined about 5 different recipes and I came up with this.  I used a typical pie dish to create it so my portions are for that. A lot of recipes called for roasted red peppers to be included, but they cause major heartburn issues in my family so we skip them. Technically this has 9 layers if you count the parsley.- so that's why I call it a 9 layer dip. This is a great healthy spin on the typical 7 layer dip.

Greek 9 Layer Dip

• 1 3/4 cup Greek plain yogurt (I use non fat)
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup and 1/4 hummus ( I used garlic flavored)
• 1 chopped cucumber
• 1 large fresh tomato, diced
•  2/3 cup pitted and chopped kalamata olives
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 12 oz jar or can of artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped

 

 

1. In a bowl, Mix the yogurt, sundried tomatoes, salt and pepper, garlic salt, basil, and garlic.
2. In a pie pan start your layers. Layer yogurt mix spreading with a spatula. Next spread the hummus over that. Then top with cucumber, tomato, artichoke hearts, feta, olives, parsley and scallions.

Chopped Thai Salad with Kale and Edamame

 I was looking for some new salads to try on Pinterest the other day and this one was exactly the change of pace I was hoping to find. I loved the idea of shredding kale to take away some of the toughness. Plus the large amount of cilantro sounded awesome. I did make a few changes because we turned this into a main dish.  I also took a few shortcuts to make it a faster meal. Because I hate getting out major appliances for quick weeknight meals I once again use my awesome Magic Bullet Blender for the dressing.

 

 

 

Chopped Thai Salad with Kale and Edamame

 

 

 

• 6 cups baby kale (getting the baby kale is important, its more tender)
• 8 oz frozen shelled edamame (cooked according to package instructions)
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots (I again buy them preshredded in the package)
• 6 mini sweet bell peppers (I prefer these because they are easier to slice into thin strips, if you can't find them an orange and yellow bell will do)
• 3/4 cup cilantro
• 3/4 cup of cashews (I buy the Kroger brand of Curry Cashews)
• 3 green onions

 

DRESSING:

 

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 1/2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 1/2 tablespoons lemongrass paste
• juice of one fresh lime

1. Firsh step is shredding/chopping all your veggies. Cut the kale into thin strips so it almost appears shredded. Do the same with the peppers. Cut into thin strips. Chop the cilantro. And slice the green onions very thin.
2. Toss the kale, carrots, peppers, cilantro, edamame and green onions in a big bowl.
3. Combine all your dressing ingredients in the blender and pulse until you have a smooth dressing.
4. Toss the veggies with the dressing until it's coated.
5. Break the cashews up a little either with your hand or a knife so they aren't all whole. Top the salad with cashews and serve!

****Makes 2 salad servings
****It's a 2 on B's dish scale. Not too shabby. Big bowl, cutting board/knife and the magic bullet.



Quinoa Veggie Fried Rice

I spent a lot of time trying to find the right way to do quinoa fried rice. I love fried rice, but wanted to find a way to make it healthier. I looked at a million recipes online and used a few tricks and ideas from all of them. You will probably find you want to tweak this one too. I think the key to it is the combo of flavors that come out of the sauce. You might want to adjust the Siracha if you don't like spicy.  The first few times I tried this I found when cooking the veggies it got watery. So the key is when cooking the veggies to make sure all the water cooks out before adding everything else.

Quinoa Fried Rice

• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 1 3/4 cup water to cook quinoa
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• olive oil cooking spray
• one teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• one head fresh broccoli cut into florets
• 8 ounces fresh sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup grated carrots (I shortcut and buy them pre shredded)
• one orange or yellow bell pepper chopped
• 4 green onions sliced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• one tablespoon grated ginger
• 2 tablespoons Siracha divided, plus more for serving
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce ( I use reduced sodium)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup frozen shelled Edamame
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• garlic salt and pepper (about a teaspoon each)

1. Cook quinoa using the standard method. Combine water and quinoa in a pan. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce to simmer and let cook until water is gone. about 15 minutes.
2. While that cooks, spray a pan with olive oil cooking spray. Over medium heat toss in your egg and fry until cooked. Cut into bite size pieces with your spatula and set aside.
3. I use a wok to cook the main part of this dish, but any large non stick will do. Heat olive oil and sesame oil. Toss in green onions and garlic. Cook until just soft.
4. Add in peppers. Cook for another couple minutes. Add your broccoli, carrots, and mushrooms. Season all with garlic salt and pepper. Let that mixture cook down until veggies are cooked.
5. While that cooks (reminder your goal here is to cook out the water the veggies release) in a small bowl combine soy sauce, Siracha and ginger. This will be your sauce for later.
6. Add in your quinoa to the veggies when it's cooked and the water has cooked out of the veggies. Then toss in the corn and edamame. Mix everything together well, then coat with your Siracha -soy sauce mix.
7. Cook until everything is heated through and crisps up, gently tossing every few minutes. Add in the egg at the last minute.
8. Serve with another drizzle of siracha on top.

**This is a 4 on Bryce's Dish scale. 3 pots. And I use a lot of bowls as I chop up my veggies.
**This makes about 6 servings depending on how many veggies you add in. 

A tradition unlike any other: Masters Golf Party

This is a first for me. Sharing a post of several recipes. But I just wanted to give you this all in one place. My husband loves golf. So I started to learn it since it's so important to him, and I fell in love. I like playing and I like watching. But my absolute favorite time of year, is Masters weekend. His family taught me this love from the moment we started dating. Masters weekend is an event  for them. 3 years ago, we started throwing a Master's party for our friends and I have tried to take it up a notch each year. 5 staples always on the party menu: a Bloody Mary Bar, pimento cheese sandwiches, Bourbon-soaked grapes on golf tees, Caprese salad on a golf tee, and hummus and broccoli shaped into a golf green complete with sand traps. This time I did a bunch of finger sandwiches and pinwheels (because I had stuff left from the cutest baby shower, I'll post that soon). I also did some quick pizzas and prosciutto wrapped melon . I have listed everything I did and how I did it below. These sandwiches are perfect for any party or shower and I would highly recommend them. I took some shortcuts to make life easier and everything was still a hit. The recipes for the pinwheels will come in the Baby Shower post.    

 

 

Easy Pimento Cheese Sandwich:

• 1/2 pound Deli made pimento Cheese (I buy this from the gourmet cheese section, or the from behind the deli counter. It's made with real shredded cheese, not the cheese spread thing)
• about a loaf of white bread

1. Spread about 1/3 cup of pimento on a piece of bread, not going all the way to the edges.
2. Top with another piece.
3. Cut off the crusts.
4. Cut down the middle on a diagonal to get triangles for easy finger sandwiches.

Ham Apple and Brie Sammies

• 1 French baguette
•  About 5 oz. crème de brie (this is the creamier, more spreadable brie)
• 1 granny smith apple thinly sliced
• about 9 oz. thinly sliced deli ham (I used honey ham from Hillshire Farms)

1. Spread a thin layer of brie on both top and bottom sliced of baguette.
2. Layer on apple slices and ham on bottom slice of bread.
3. Put sandwich back together and cut into mini sammies about 2 inches wide.

Cucumber Sandwiches

• One English cucumber thinly sliced
• 4 oz. spreadable garlic and herb flavored cheese (I used Alouette's)
• 6 slices white bread

1. Spread cheese on 2 bread slices. Layer cucumbers on one slice. Put together both slices.
2. Cut off  crusts of sandwiches and then slice into long finger sandwiches. Repeat. You'll get about three out of each sandwich.

Prosciutto Wrapped Melon

• One cantaloupe, cut into bite sized cubes (my Kroger sometimes has it already cut up, and it's amazing - I get about a pound worth)
• One package thinly sliced prosciutto (about 3 oz.)

1. Cut or tear prosciutto into pieces that will wrap just once around melon
2. Stick a toothpick through it to hold in place. Done.

Blue Cheese Pizza

• One thin pizza crust (pre-baked, I like Mama Mary's )
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 1/2 cups baby spinach
• 1/2 one red onion very thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup blue cheese

1. Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a pan. Add onions and sauté until caramelized
2. Brush the pizza crust with one tablespoon olive oil.
3. Sprinkle crust with onions and half the blue cheese.
4. Top with spinach and then other half of the blue cheese.
5. Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes or until cheese just starts to get gooey and spinach wilts.
6. Let cool for a couple minutes then slice into about 8 pieces, perfect size for snacking.

Margarita Pizza

• One thin pizza crust (pre-baked, I like Mama Mary's )
• One tablespoon olive oil
• one cup basil leaves, pull out 3 leaves and slice into thin strips
• one cup mozzarella cheese
• one large tomato sliced thin (or 2 mediums, or 3 Romas)

1. Brush crust with olive oil.
2. Layer tomato, basil leaves, and mozzarella.
3. Top with a sliced basil leaves.
4. Bake at 350 for about 15-18 minutes until cheese is melted
5. Let cool for a few minutes, then slice into 8 pieces for snack sizes.

Hummus Golf Green

• 3 crowns of broccoli broken up into various chunks to shape into a golf green
• One container of your favorite flavored hummus (I used Sabra garlic)
• Pita Chips for serving
• Tooth pick and yellow post it cut into triangle to make a flag for the green

1. On a long skinny platter first create two "sand traps" with your hummus.
2. Then shape the broccoli around those traps.
3. Place the flag in a broccoli crown towards the back
4. Serve pita chips in a bowl on the side.

Caprese Tees

• 8 oz package of Ciliegine: or "Cherry Size" Fresh Mozzarella balls
• One package (usually a pint) of grape tomatoes
• about a cup of fresh basil leaves
• 1 cup balsamic vinegar
• About 30 white golf tees

1. Reduce the vinegar to thicken it by heating on the stove on medium for about 6 minutes.
2. Assemble caprese skewers on golf tees by first putting a basil leaf (I fold in half if they are big) then a tomato, then a mozzarella ball.
3. Lay down on a plate and drizzle with the balsamic reduction.

Bourbon-Soaked Grapes

• About a pound of green grapes, separated from their stems
• about 750 ml of your favorite bourbon
• about 30 white golf tees

1. Put the grapes in a sealable container.
2. Cover with bourbon until they are all covered and soaking.
3. Soak overnight
4. The next day skewer 2 grapes on each golf tee.
5. Serve in a bowl with a little of the bourbon they soaked in at the bottom.

Bloody Mary Bar

This one you can really do however you want based on your favorite Bloody Mary toppings. This combo always goes over well at our parties.

• Vodka
• Zing Zang Bloody Mary mix
• V8 juice (for those who want to spice themselves)
• Tobasco sauce
• Wochestershire Sauce
• Lime juice
• limes
• lemons
• salt
• pepper
• celery salt
• String Cheese Sticks
• Pickle spears
• Pickled Okra
• Slim Jims
• Garlic stuffed olives

Watermelon- Feta Salad

 It's watermelon season and this salad is a huge hit every time I make it. Its the perfect refreshing side for barbecue, burgers, steaks etc. It combines some of my favorite herbs and flavors. I have seen several spins on this, and I basically just combined them all! A lot of recipes I found on pinterest just had mint. But I recently had watermelon paired with basil and loved it - so I did both here. This is super easy.

Watermelon-Feta Salad

• 4 cups watermelon cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 one red onion very thinly sliced
• 1 cup feta cheese (I use reduced fat because it's healthier and I can't taste the difference)
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, sliced thin
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste (about a teaspoon of each)
• juice of one lime
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1. Combine watermelon, onion, mint, basil, lime, olive oil, salt and pepper and lime in a big bowl.
2.  If you are making ahead and storing for a while. Stop here and either top each bowl with feta basil and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar at the last minute. 
3. If you are serving a big bowl for a buffet style - still add the basil, feta and balsamic towards the end.

**Makes about 4 servings depending on how many other sides you have

**This is a 2 on Bryce's dish scale. Cutting board and you can make it in the bowl you serve it in.

Spin on the brown bag lunch: Hummus Avocado and Tomato Sandwich

I wanted to share with you an easy, healthy lunch if you are looking for a new spin on the brown bag. I got the idea after picking up some hummus and other veggies from our Farmer's Market. If you are in Central Arkansas - you must check out Geek Eats hummus. They are usually at the Hillcrest farmer's market on Saturdays. Below is the recipe I came up with after looking for a new way to eat the Hummus. I tried the original with Lemon Hummus, and have since had it with Siracha and chipotle flavored hummus and it gave it a nice spicy kick.  You could use your favorite flavor and make it work. The below recipe makes one sandwich. There are also times when I can't find watercress or basil,  so I have been using basil from our garden and it's delicious! Another key to this being good, is using good bread. Don't skimp on the bread! (try multigrains and things like Quinoa bread to change it up)



Avocado-Tomato- Cucumber Hummus Sandwich

• 6 tablespoons flavored hummus (Lemon or Spicy or whatever!)
• 2 slices heirloom tomato
• 4 slices English cucumber
• 3 thin slices of avocado
• one tablespoon Watercress leaves or 3 basil leaves or micro greens
• salt and pepper
• 2 slices whole wheat or multigrain bread (the big sandwich slices)

1. Spread 3 tablespoons of hummus on each piece of bread. This helps hold the sandwich together better.
2. Top one side of the bread with the tomatoes. Then sprinkle with a little salt and pepper
3. Layer with cucumber, avocado and watercress sprigs.
4. Top with other bread slice and done!