healthy recipes

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Yesterday I had the pleasure of working from home, a rare and beloved occasion where I am quadruply as productive as I am in the office. I start early, there’s no commute or getting ready, and no distractions.

I started the day with a new product, Trader Joe’s Very Green powder.

Trader Joe's Very Green Powder

I have long been a fan of their Super Red Drink Powder, and I wanted to see how this green supplement would stack up. I mixed a couple scoops of this with Pom juice, banana, frozen pineapple, spinach, and a bit of almond milk. You couldn’t tell the green powder was in there at all, and the smoothie was delicious. I later tried a teaspoon of the Very Green powder in a glass of water with a shot of Pom juice, and it was just as easy to drink on its own. The powder is made up of all sorts of good greens like barley grass juice, alfalfa, spirulina, broccoli powder and other healthy stuff. It’s easy to drink and will likely last me awhile. Good deal.

Working from home also means a good lunch.

 

Dr. Praeger's burger with peach salsa and green beans

I whipped up a quick Dr. Praeger’s veggie burger and topped it with cheese and onion, then Trader Joe’s peach salsa and a bit of Greek yogurt with a side of green beans left over from the night before.

I should start doing before and after shots of my food. After I take a pretty picture of something like this, I usually smother it in hot sauce and more salsa. Messy 🙂

As the day turned into evening and I wrapped up my Marketing Communications real life job, I felt like making some homemade salsa for topping salads and eating with chips. Salsa, if you didn’t already know, is one of my favorite foods and would definitely be part of my last meal on earth.

This salsa started out with some frozen TJ’s pineapple and roasted peppers.

pineapple and roasted peppers

I gave them a good chop in the food processor, then added a can of Trader Joe’s fire roasted tomatoes and fire roasted green chiles.

roasted tomatoes and chiles

The spicier the better!

pineapple salsa

You can see that I also added in crushed red pepper flakes. 🙂 The sweetness of the pineapple balanced the spice out nicely, and the roasted tomatoes and peppers gave it a nice smoky quality.

After dinner, I dug into our wine collection and pulled out a bottle of Casa Zuliani Cabernet Franc.

Cabernet Franc

The second I opened it, I remembered why I bought it at the Bin Ends fine wine flea market. The nose on this wine is spicy and of dry leaves and tobacco. The flavor at first was almost TOO spicy, even for me. We let it breathe a little, then aerated it, and the flavors really opened up. It was still peppery but more in the sense of the white pith on the inside of a green bell pepper with a finish that brought more of a spicy black pepper. This wine is incredibly earthy. These are flavors that I really appreciate, and I am glad we have a second bottle of this Cab Franc.

So, now it is Thursday, the weekend is near, the World Cup starts tomorrow, and I get to go to Truro and Provincetown for an annual weekend with the girls.

Are you watching the World Cup? If so, who will you be supporting?

Salsa would be part of my last meal on earth (as would oysters, lobster with truffle butter, and wine). . . what would you choose for yours?

Tags: Cabernet Franc, Food, healthy recipes, Italian wine, Lunch, pineapple salsa, salsa, tomatoes, Trader Joe's, veggie burgers, Very Green powder, wine

Summer is a time for simple but bold, fresh flavors. I am back in the kitchen, and things have never been better. There were weeks of many salad meals, take out, and dinners out, and I am truly happy to be excited about developing new recipes again.

This weekend I made a healthy, spicy dish that had Greek, Indian, and Middle Eastern influences.

It all started with some fresh mint from my deck. I love being able to take a few steps and to come back inside with fresh ingredients.

Fresh mint from my garden 

First I made a cool yogurt salad with mint, garlic, thin slices of red onion, English cucumber, and tomato. Roughly, I used a cup of 2% Greek yogurt, a small handful of mint, 5 crushed and minced garlic cloves, 1 cup of sliced cucumber, maybe 1/4 cup sliced red onion, and 1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped. I stirred everything together, then covered it and let it chill for about an hour.

tiingredients for a yogurt marinade, yogurt, mint, red onion, garlic, tomato, and cucumber

red onion, mint, garlic, tomato, cucumber for yogurt marinade, tzatziki

 

preping cucumbers, red onions, tomatoes

Greek yogurt, red onion, tomato, cucumber, garlic, mint

Once the yogurt sauce was chilling, I coated free range organic chicken tenders with sriracha and a bit more Greek yogurt and set those in the refrigerator to chill as well.

The starring ingredient in this dish was a new product that I found at Trader Joe’s, Masala Tandoori Naan. It is a little sweet, spicy, soft, and so good. I am not a bread person, but this bread is positively addictive. I kept stealing bites as I was cooking 😉

Trader Joe's Masala Tandoori Naan Bread

After the chicken had been in the marinade for about an hour, I pan sautéed them in the yogurt and sriracha mix, creating incredibly tender and flavorful meat.

I chopped the chicken and place it on top of the naan then dressed it with the yogurt and veggie sauce/salad.

marinaded chicken with yogurt sauce, naan, and kale salad

Served with kale and red beets massaged with olive oil and lemon juice. Simple, healthy, delicious. 

marinaded chicken with yogurt sauce, naan, and kale salad

Even though it was quick and barely heated up the kitchen on a VERY hot and humid day, it felt like a proper meal because of how well all of the flavors worked and how balanced it was nutritionally.

I love to create recipes based on various ethnic foods. Right now I am all about Indian spices. At other times, I am inspired by Japanese sushi or Thai curries.

If you had to pick a favorite ethnic food, what would it be?

 

I am looking for a few guest bloggers to submit posts for the coming weeks. Food, wine, travel, and fitness posts are all welcome. Please email me at traveleatlove (@) gmail.com.

Tags: Food, healthy recipes, Indian Food, Naan, recipe, salad

Oh yes. On our last trip to Bin Ends we just happened to taste some wine, and one of those wines happened to come from a box, and we kinda sorta liked it.

Wine in a Box Garganega Pinot Grigio  

Here’s a little info I found about this wine (source)

Cantina di Soave, which has been producing premium wines since 1898, incorporates 110 years of winemaking experience with cutting-edge viticultural techniques. “As the wine market continues to evolve, we recognized that the fastest growing category was missing its crown jewel—the world’s first Italian box wine,” said Enore Ceola, Managing Director of MW Imports, importer of Duca del Frassino (a Division of Mionetto USA, Inc.). “These wines represent our mission— to showcase premium Italian wine from the Venezie that over-delivers on quality, taste and appeals to today’s discerning wine consumer.”

Duca del Frassino Garganega/Pinot Grigio Tasting Notes

Duca del Frassino Garganega/Pinot Grigio, light straw in color, offers hints of white flowers on the nose followed by crisp, well-balanced flavors of stone fruits. This luscious, fruit-forward wine is a perfect aperitif, but also pairs well with seafood and light pastas. Garganega [gahr-gah-NEH-gah] is the dominant grape in Soave, the region’s signature white wine.

For $16 for 3 liters, this wine is a steal and an excellent summer barbeque option. It truly does have a lovely floral nose with some apple-y notes and a hint of peach. I think it would go really well with barbequed grilled chicken and salads, and it would be a great, inexpensive option. I am not sure exactly where I am in the boxed vs. bottled debate, and I am certain I won’t be drinking ALL of my wine out of a box, but it was fun to be able to try this. The BEST part about the Bin Ends experience for sure!

I normally try to spend some time pairing up our food and wine, but last night I just wanted to throw something quick and healthy together for dinner, regardless of its pairing with wine. I don’t know about you, but I have had an AWFUL allergy week, and all day yesterday I felt like I was half asleep. A rainy cold day did NOT help.

So I whipped up one of my favorite combos of flavors, a mixed bean coconut curry with some Trader Joe’s frozen edamame.

Trader Joe's edamame

The sauce contained a can of coconut milk, a big bunch of chopped cilantro, a bit of grated ginger, lemongrass paste, and curry powder. I added a dried bean mix, which had been soaked for a few hours and was also from Trader Joe’s.

Coconut Curry Sauce

I let the mixture simmer for about an hour, then added some pineapple for sweetness. On the side, we had our first corn on the cob of the summer, topped with Kerrygold butter, of course.

Corn on the Cob

Corn Cobs

It was yummy and filling,and although I was really tempted to just order some pizza based on how I felt, I am glad I pulled this together. Real food is easy, and it almost always feels better. Almost 🙂

What do you do when you REALLY don’t feel like cooking?

 

New England residents, don’t forget to check out my Olivia’s Organics giveaway!

Tags: box wine, corn, Garganega, healthy recipes, Pinot Grigio, Summer wine, vegetarian recipes, wine, wine and food

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