Best Way to Use Fresh Corn: Corn Tomato Pasta

My family is from Iowa originally, so my Dad loves corn. He has made sure I know what good corn is and how to pick it. He loves it the orginial way, just boiled. But this recipe I found and tweaked on Pinterest from Rachel Ray is a great way to encorporate it into main meals and it is so easy and so good. This will make you want to run out and find fresh corn right now, and as we hit fresh veggie season I wanted to make sure you had this one on your radar. I bet it would be great with Zucchini noodles instead of bowtie if you wanted to make it healthier.




Fresh Corn and Tomato Bow Tie Pasta

• 1 pound bow-tie pasta (this is usually one box)
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 3 ears fresh corn, kernels cut off
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces
• salt and pepper to taste
• one teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/3 cup shaved parmesan

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta. 
2. While that cooks, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are softened, but not yet bursting about 5 minutes. 
3. Stir in the corn, salt and pepper to taste and raise the heat slightly and cook until the corn is heated through and golden. About 5-6 minutes. 
4. When pasta is done cooking, toss with the butter until coated.
5. Add vegetable mixture and basil to pasta and toss.
6. Top with a little bit of shaved parmesan as you serve. 

**Makes about 4 servings.

**2 on Bryce's dish scale. Pot, pan and bowl I cut the kernels off into. Easy. 

Cobb Salad with Spicy Salmon

 I have always loved the idea of cobb salads, but didn't think they were very healthy. I was so pumped when I saw this idea in an Eating Well magazine. It's a southwestern take on the cobb, packed with avocado and a healthier creamy dressing. I have tweaked it quite a bit from the original, to make cooking the Salmon easier and make it a meal for 2 because I don't think most of the ingredients would save well. It's a super easy weeknight meal now that I've cut the cooking time for the salmon in half. I use the method I blogged about previously, where you cook the Salmon in the microwave. Seriously don't knock it until you try it. Easy, fast, tender, good flavor and makes peeling the skin off a breeze.  

 

Cobb Salad with Southwestern Salmon and Creamy Chipotle Dressing

 

• 2 Salmon filets, skin on, thawed if frozen (2 filets come in a 12 oz. package at my Kroger)
• 2 tablespoons adobo sauce from canned chipotles (you'll use the chipotle for the dressing)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 6-8 cups mixed salad greens
• 1 avocado, diced
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (I buy reduced fat version)

 

Dressing:

• 1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced chipotle in adobo, divided

1. Divide lettuce, avocado. tomatoes between two bowls.
2. Sprinkle non-skin side of salmon with a little garlic salt, and brush with part of the adobo sauce. Put that side down on a microwave safe plate ( I use paper) and cover with saran wrap tightly.
3. Cook in microwave for 2 minutes.
4. Pull out of microwave use a fork to remove the skin. It should scrape right off. Then on that non sauced side, sprinkle a little more garlic salt and brush the rest of the adobo sauce on. Flip that side down on the plate. Cover again with saran wrap tightly.
5. Microwave one minute if the fish is less than an inch thick. 1 and a half if its a inch thick.
6. While that's cooling a little mix together your dressing ingredients in a bowl.
7. Layer your salad mixture with the salmon, as much dressing as you want and blue cheese.

 

**Makes 2 servings.

**2 on Bryce's dish scale since we use paper plates for cooking and other than that it's the cutting board and bowls we eat out of!

Roasted Indian Cauliflower and Quinoa Spinach Salad

This is my new favorite meal. I saw it in my latest health magazine and I thought it sounded ok - but it is not just okay - IT'S AWESOME. The smoky flavors from the Indian inspired spices bring something really great to mix and the  crunch from the cashews and grapes are amazing. And it actually saved for leftovers for lunch surprisingly well. The original recipe calls for using plain yogurt and I used Greek. Greek doesn't bother my lactose intolerant stomach as much and I like the tang it gives. The original also says it makes 6 servings and we only got 4 out of it since we made it our meal and didn't have any sides. Even with the bigger portion it's less than 500 calories a serving.   

Indian Cauliflower and Quinoa Salad

 

1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon plus 2 tsp. curry powder

3/4 teaspoons ground cumin

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon garlic salt

salt and pepper to taste

1 head cauliflower (about 2 lb.), trimmed and cut into small florets

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

1/2 cup non-fat Greek yogurt

3 cups baby spinach

1 cup red grapes, halved

1/2 cup cashews, toasted

 

 

1.  Preheat to 450°F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together oil, 1 Tbsp. curry powder, 1/4 tsp. cumin, half of garlic and 1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper, and garlic salt. Add cauliflower and toss to coat. Arrange in a flat layer on a large baking sheet and roast, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and tender, about 20 minutes.
3. 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.
4. While quinoa was cooking, I threw my cashews in the toaster oven to toast them up a little too.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together yogurt and remaining 2 tsp. curry powder, 1/2 tsp. cumin and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. In a large bowl (I used the one I seasoned the cauliflower in earlier) mix the quinoa, spinach and half of dressing. Top with cauliflower and grapes and drizzle with remaining dressing; toss again. Sprinkle with cashews and serve.

**Makes 4 Servings
**It's a 3 on Bryce's dish scale. Quinoa Pot. Couple of bowls. And a Baking sheet.

Perfect Pot Sticker Soup with Shitakes and Carrots

S

I had to hurry and post this one before it gets too warm. This is so very easy to throw together and makes great leftovers too. It's an old Real Simple recipe. The original calls to put watercress in it, which I'm sure would be delicious, but my grocery store has not once had it, so I have never done that, and haven't missed it. If you aren't a Siracha person you can leave that part off, but I love the flavor it gives.

 

 

 

 

Pot Sticker Soup with Shitakes and Carrots 

   

• 2 32-ounce containers low-sodium chicken broth 
• 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced 
• 16-ounce package frozen pot sticker dumplings or Japanese gyoza 
• 3 medium carrots, halved lengthwise and sliced 
• 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and thinly sliced
• 2 cups frozen shelled edamame 
• 1  tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce 
• salt
• 1 bunch Scallions sliced
• siracha sauce to top

1. In a large pot, bring broth and ginger and a little salt to a boil.
2. Add pot stickers, carrots and simmer until tender about 10 minutes.
3. Add the mushrooms, and edamame (still frozen) and simmer until heated. About 3-4 minutes.
4. Stir in soy sauce, a little siracha, more salt (and if you find the watercress that here).
5. Sprinkle with scallions before serving. Add more siracha on top based on preference.

**Makes 4 servings
** This is a 2 on Bryce's dish scale. One pot. One Cutting board.

Couscous Stuffed Peppers with Feta and Apricots

 I'm sure you see recipes for stuffed peppers all the time and overlook them. Don't miss this one. It's easy and cheesy in just the right way. The couscous gives it a fluffiness and the apricots add a nice sweetness. I have thought about trying it with ground turkey instead of beef to healthy it up a little, but it's so good I hate to mess with it. The original comes from one of my very first Real Simple magazines, I really only tweaked portions to make things easier. While this is easy for a weeknight meal, make sure you plan ahead, because the peppers need to bake for a while.

Stuffed Peppers with Couscous Feta and Apricots

 

• 4 bell peppers (I do orange yellow and green, be sure you pick ones with flat bottoms)
• 1 lb ground beef (you really need a little less than a pound but most beef comes in a pound package)
• 1 1/2 cups cooked couscous (I sometimes do the garlic flavored one)
• 4 sliced scallions
• 1 cup crumbled feta
• 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Brown ground beef and season with salt and pepper.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3. Mix the beef, couscous, scallions, feta, and apricots. Season with a little more salt and pepper.
4. Cut tops off peppers and clean them out.
5. Stuff meat mixture into peppers and bake for 30-45 minutes.

**This is a 3 on Bryce's dish scale. You have lots to cook in separate pans so it adds up.
**Makes 4 servings. One pepper is plenty for a full meal.

Taco Salad, Without the meat and unhealthy stuff

I'm always looking for new ways to make healthy salads as a dinner entrée. Because I like things that are quick and easy, usually they don't involve meat. When I stumbled on this one on Pinterest, I almost overlooked it because the dressing involves using a blender and that is a tool I try to avoid. BUT I recently rediscovered my super tiny, easy to use and easy to clean MAGIC BULLET. And I'm so glad I did, because this dressing makes this salad awesome. I highly recommend getting one for things like this, you just throw everything in there, then stick it in the dishwasher. Bryce actually got me the Magic Bullet for our first ever Christmas together. I used to be obsessed with the infomercial. Now I remember why. Ok, Back to the food. This is a GREAT dinner salad. I had a little bit of some of the toppings (black beans, corn, and tortilla strips) left over and threw it on a salad for lunch at work the next day too! By the way, I love the blog I got this recipe from, she knows how to COOK and in a healthy way, I only tweaked to our tastes in this recipe.

 

 

  

 

Veggie Taco Salad

 

• 1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1 avocado, diced
• One pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup tortilla strips ( the bagged kind you find near the salad toppers)
• 3/4 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3/4 can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 small can sliced black olives, drained
• half of a small red onion, halved and thinly sliced

For the Dressing:

• 1/4 cup orange juice (no pulp, and get the good kind)
• 1 cup fresh cilantro, loosely packed
• 3 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil

1. Divide the salad ingredients between two big bowls.
2. Throw all the dressing ingredients together in the blender (or magic bullet) and blend.
3. Top the salad with the dressing!

**Makes 2 servings
**On Bryce's dish scale it's a 2. Cutting board, then you make the meal in the bowls you serve it in, plus the magic bullet!

Tasty and Healthy Side Dish: Roasted Asparagus

When we were at the store the other day, we were making up our dinner that night based on what looked good that day. After grabbing a steak to throw on the grill using the salt method (I'll blog about that later) we went looking for veggies and the asparagus looked awesome. I knew we had a ton of rosemary in our herb gardens that lasts all winter so I just made up the rest of this as I went.

 

 

 

 

Lemon-Rosemary Asparagus

• 2 lbs. asparagus, woody ends trimmed
• 1/2 one small yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1 large garlic clove minced
• 1 lemon, sliced very thin
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest from that lemon as well
• 5 small springs rosemary, plus one tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 teaspoons lemon pepper seasoning
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• a little black pepper and salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup shredded parmesan

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Toss the asparagus and onion with the oil, minced garlic, chopped fresh rosemary, lemon pepper, garlic salt, salt and pepper and lemon zest.
3. Place in baking dish. Top with sprigs of rosemary and sliced lemons.
4. Bake for about 25 minutes or until asparagus gets tender.
5. Shut off the oven. Top with parmesan and put back in oven for a couple of minutes so it melts.

**Makes about 4 servings.