Raising the Bar

 

The other week I had a hankering for a good granola bar but all the one's in the shops taste really artificial so I decided to make my own recipe.  Feel free to use any combination of dried fruit.  I added blueberries and cranberries because that's what I happened to have in my cupboard.  Enjoy!

Healthier Granola Bars

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1/2 sunflower seeds, raw
• 6 1/2 ounces dried fruit
• 1 T. brown sugar
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• dash of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Spray 13 x 9 inch pan with cooking spray.  Mix dry ingredients in bowl.  Add wet ingredients and combine until mixed.  Spread into pan and bake about 20-25 minutes or until mixture is set and golden brown.  Let cool.  Cut into bars or break into chunks.

Recipes I Made Up And Liked

So my boyfriend Wendel (who is quite possibly the cutest guy on the planet) greatly appreciates my cooking - even when I try to make stuff up.  After pouring through piles of Gourmet, Bon Appetit and Donna Hay magazines over the years, I think I've gotten pretty darn good at it.

Well, he actually bought me a cool notebook for when I feel like playing "mad scientist" in the kitchen. 

So this weekend I made a delicious flatbread pizza.  And might I add, it was much healthier and tastier than Domino's or Pizza Hut.

VEGETARIAN FLATBREAD PIZZA
-1 or 2 rectangles of Trader Joe's flatbread or lavash bread (plenty of grocery stores now stock this.  I just like their brand).
-2 sliced plum tomatoes
-Trader Joe's meatless meatballs
-Shredded mozzarella cheese
-Arugula
-Olive oil
-Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Place 1 or 2 rectangles on large cookie sheet (depending on level of hunger).  Drizzle with olive oil.  Slice up tomatoes and place on top of flatbread.  Rinse arugula, pat dry and add to bread.  Garnish with cheese - I didn't measure it.  Just eyeballed how much I wanted.  Slice meatballs and place on top of bread.  These typically require 10 minutes of baking time at 375 degrees and if they're too difficult to chop when frozen, defrost them for a couple minutes before placing on flatbread.  Garnish with salt and pepper.  Bake in middle rack of oven for about 10-12 minutes.  Serve by itself or with a side of mixed greens. 

If you're feeling fancy, I sometimes serve the flatbread with a little bowl of tomato sauce on the side.  That way you can either drizzle it over the bread or rip off a slice and dunk it in the bowl.  Both methods work perfectly fine.  :-)

 

 

Quinoa & Sweet Potato Cakes

If you have an iPad and enjoy recipes from Whole Foods Market (a U.S. based grocery chain), then you might want to check out their iPad app.  It's chock full of delicious and nutritious recipes.  Many of the one's that I've saved have a manageable ingredient list and are easy to make.  See, I have a thing about recipes that require too many obscure ingredients.  I love food but have limited time during the week to cook as I'm sure many of you can relate.  Thankfully this recipe for Quinoa Sweet Potato Cakes is pretty easy.  I like to cook extra quinoa and lentils so that I can use it for other recipes later in the week. 

Hope you enjoy it.  I modified the recipe slightly by adding fresh garlic and omitting a random Whole Foods special seasoning b/c I didn't feel like spending the extra $$.  Not to mention, the exact special blend probably isn't available in other grocery stores.

Quinoa and Sweet Potato Cakes

Serves 4-6

These flavorful cakes make a unique appetizer or side dish. Try pairing them with vegetable soup or salad for a hearty meal.

Ingredients

1/2 cup quinoa
1/2 cup truRoots Organic Sprouted Green Lentils
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
3 tablespoons diced red onion
2 tablespoons Bragg Organic Sprinkle Seasoning
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Pinch ground black pepper
1 cup mashed cooked sweet potato, more if needed
Salsa or other condiments of your choice

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook quinoa and lentils separately according to package instructions. Drain lentils well. In a medium bowl, mix together quinoa, lentils, red pepper, onion, seasoning, chili powder, salt and pepper. Add sweet potato and combine using hands until mixture sticks together easily. If mixture is not sticking together, add more cooked sweet potato until desired consistency is reached.

Form the mixture into four (4-inch) patties and arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake 10 minutes. Flip and continue baking 10 to 12 minutes more until edges are dry and patties are heated through. Serve with your favorite condiments.

***NOTE:  I CREATED 6 PATTIES B/C 4 WERE TOO LARGE.  I ALSO NEEDED TO BAKE THEM FOR ABOUT 40 MINUTES IN MY OVEN.

Nutrition

Per serving: 230 calories (20 from fat), 2.5g total fat, 0g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 360mg sodium, 44g total carbohydrate (8g dietary fiber, 8g sugar), 10g protein

Greens and Grains

For 2012, my boyfriend and I are planning to eat more more vegetables and try to substitute them for meat in many meals.  Here's a perfect side dish that I easily created from items in my fridge/pantry one night.  It pairs well with seared tofu, tempeh, chicken, pork, or really any kind of meat.  And it's just as good alone.  I sort of threw it together so the measurements aren't exact but it's hard to mess it up.  Totally healthy, totally delicious.

Brown rice with chick peas, spinach and pine nuts

• about 2-3 cups of cooked brown rice
• half a bag of spinach, washed
• 1 t. chopped garlic
• 1 t. extra virgin olive oil.
• 1 small can of chick peas
• handful of pine nuts
• salt and pepper to taste

Cook brown rice and set aside.  I like to use Trader's Joe's frozen bags of brown rice.  Each bag only takes 3 minutes to cook.  Sauté spinach and garlic with olive oil in pan.  Drain and rinse can of chick peas.  Once the spinach is wilted, mix everything together in a bowl and sprinkle in pine nuts.  Season with salt and pepper.  Enjoy.

 

Roasted Butternet Squash w/ Couscous

One of my favorite things about fall is cooking with all the different kinds of squash available at the market.  Here's a simple recipe that pairs well with a roasted pork or chicken....

Roast Butternut Squash w/ Couscous

Ingredients

• 1 box of Israeli cous-cous
• 1 butternut squash, peeled and diced
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• minced garlic according to your taste
• salt & pepper

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Prepare cous-cous according to directions on package.  I usually boil the cous-cous in chicken stock instead of water for added flavor.    Peel and dice butternut squash.  Chop red onions.  Place on sheet coated with cooking spray.  Coat squash with cooking spray or use basting brush with olive oil to coat.  Dress with salt and pepper and place it in the center race of the oven for about 35 minutes (depending on your oven). 

Mix squash, red onions and cous-cous together and serve warm.  Yum.

Crunch N' Munch

One of my favorite types of breakfast food is granola.  What I don't love about granola is all the sugar, fat and processed junk that gets added to it when I buy it from the grocery store.  Hence, homemade granola.  Mind you, this is only one of a zillion granola recipes that can be found online.  I particularly like this version because it includes extras like wheat germ and flax seeds.

Also of note, I thought the amount of molasses and canola oil was a bit excessive so I cut out about 2/3 of it.  And secondly, I ran out of cinnamon so I actually substituted 2 t. of pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon and ginger.

Homemade Granola

4 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup toasted wheat germ
1/2 flax seed
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1 1/2 t. ginger
1 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1 cup chopped walnuts
5 T. blackstrap molasses
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup water
A couple handfuls of your favorite dried fruit like cranberries, raisins, dates, apricots, etc.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  Mix dry ingredients in one bowl.  Mix wet ingredients in a second bowl.

** In this recipe, I only ended up using a little more than 1/3 of the wet ingredient mixture so use your discretion.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix to combine.   Spread mixture over two baking pans and place in middle rack of oven.  Bake, stirring every 20 minutes for even cooking, until dry and lightly browned for about 45 minutes.  Cool in pan and transfer to airtight container.  Can be stored for up to 1 month.