winter recipes

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Harvest Grains Mac and Cheese and Peas

January 20, 2015 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 5 comments

It’s only a few weeks in, but I feel like we have made some big changes in the New Year, including cutting out weekday wine and cooking at home more often. It’s hard. We love food and wine and to go out around Boston and we have well-stocked wine fridge. It’s a constant temptation to stay in line, but I want to be back in shape and feeling more vibrant, so it’s a worthy cause.

We all know that healthier eating can be absolutely delicious. Case in point, this “Mac” and cheese I made last week with Trader Joe’s Harvest Grains, peas. a yummy cheese sauce, and a Ritz Chips topping. No butter involved.

 

shredded cheddar

The success of this healthier mac and cheese like dish comes from sharp cheddar, which comes with lots of flavor. As a result I only used a cup of the shredded cheese. A mix of Kerrygold cheeses would have been great as well.

frozen sweet peas

A veggie component also helped to add to the nutritional value of this dinner. I love sweet peas, and frozen peas are both delicious and a great value.

Harvest Grains Blend   Third, I replaced traditional macaroni with a Harvest Grains Blend, which includes Israeli couscous (one of my favorites), along with lentils and quinoa.

harvest grains blend

Since I wanted a true baked macaroni and cheese feel, I used toasted Ritz Chips, which are lighter than the crackers but super crunchy and yummy and browned up without the addition of butter. But oh how I wanted to melt some butter over the top. . .

Ritz Chips mac and cheese topping

healthy "mac" and cheese healthy mac and cheese

I am pretty much the worst when it comes to actual recipes, but I can tell you I cooked the Harvest Grains according to package directions, in chicken stock. I made about two cups of the grains.

Separately, I mixed in two cups of skim milk with a cup of shredded cheddar and some garlic and truffle oil and simmered until it thickened a little. I mixed the grains and the cheese sauce, added the peas and topped with cracker crumbs and baked at 350 for about 10 minutes. This dish was super easy and SO delicious. We had leftovers for lunch the next day and wished we had more.

It can be a fun challenge to make yummy, healthy dishes for every day, and we are getting back in the swing of things as we go along.

Have you been making an effort to be more healthy in 2015?

Tags: comfort food, cooking at home, Food, macaroni and cheese, recipes, Vegetarian, vegetarian recipes, winter recipes

Warm Tabouli Salad

January 20, 2011 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 12 comments

As is the case with many healthy eaters, salads make up a large part of my diet. I have been known to have salads, with various veggie, bean, meat, and cheese toppings twice a day. But as I know many of you have found, eating salads in the winter is more difficult due to lack of local produce and salad’s general lack of warmth and comfort. Since we had yet another snow day this week, I decided to make a hearty lunch salad for my husband, who had spent over three hours in the car trying to get to his office, only to end up turning back home because of the icy roads.

I started by thawing out some frozen yellow and orange carrots from Trader Joe’s. On the particular day I bought these, TJ’s had icky looking produce. I am not sure what was up that day, but nevertheless, I went straight for the freezer.

yellow and orange carrots

The base of the salad was a Near East tabouli bulgur wheat salad mix. I prepared the bulgur wheat and spice packet according to the box directions, then set it aside.

tabbouleh ingredients

image

While the tabouli waited, I diced a small yellow onion and grated several teaspoons of ginger.

cumin

I added a palm full of cumin to the onion and ginger mixture, then sautéed it in olive oil. I added the carrots to the onions in the pan, then tossed in some pre-soaked and partially cooked chickpeas.

chickpeas

When the carrots were warm and the pan sizzling, I added the tabouli mixture along with about 1/4 cup of water, stirred well, and let it all simmer.

warm tabbouleh salad

When everything was well-blended and cooked through, I served up the salad topped with crumbled goat cheese and golden raisins. I am loving these raisins and the sweet punch they bring to dishes with lots of spices.

goat cheese and raisins

As you can imagine, this dish was bursting with different flavors and textures. The hearty bulgur wheat was nice and chewy and provided a great canvas for the other ingredients. While I didn’t make the tabouli mix in a traditional manner, I loved this dish and felt like it really gave me energy which I seem to be lacking these days.

I am starting to feel a serious winter slump. As much as I love the possibilities my new career path could provide, being stuck inside all day with dreadful weather and icy sidewalks is bringing me down.

Any advice for kicking the winter blues?

Tags: carrots, chickpeas, cooking, ginger, health, healthy, healthy eating, recipe, recipe. tabouli, recipes, vegan, Vegetarian, winter cooking, winter recipes, winter salad

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